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dual-boxing for exploration?
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Sam Redshift
PCG Enterprises
#1 - 2011-12-20 12:00:09 UTC
Can I ask the experienced explorationist's if dual-boxing is advisible for exploration and what your experiences are?

My main just skilled up fly an Ishtar all-in-one exploration fit Lol but I got a second account now with a beginner mini alt.
I am wondering what ship combos would work for exploration besides the obvious choice of Covop and Cane?
Or would it be even better to do exploration solo .. as originally planned .. because less multi-tasking when in lowsec and let the alt just do some independent missioning/mining?

Does anyone have some experience and feedback?

Thx, Sam
Czeris
Caldari Provisions
Caldari State
#2 - 2011-12-20 12:15:18 UTC  |  Edited by: Czeris
Sam Redshift wrote:
Can I ask the experienced explorationist's if dual-boxing is advisible for exploration and what your experiences are?

My main just skilled up fly an Ishtar all-in-one exploration fit Lol but I got a second account now with a beginner mini alt.
I am wondering what ship combos would work for exploration besides the obvious choice of Covop and Cane?
Or would it be even better to do exploration solo .. as originally planned .. because less multi-tasking when in lowsec and let the alt just do some independent missioning/mining?

Does anyone have some experience and feedback?

Thx, Sam


Dual boxing is the way to go for exploration, unless you happen to be doing just High and Low sec sites, where the hassle of managing a second account isn't worth the 2 minutes you shave off your completion time. Some of the null complexes have huge numbers of rats to grind through and you can cut your completion times down quite a bit dual boxing. Also, if you're exploring in hostile or semi-hostile areas having a second account to scout for you in a cheap and/or cloaky ship saves having to blind jump your 4 billion ISK Maze tank Tengu.

A great second account ship to train a brand new alt for is a stealth bomber, since it can fill the cloaky cheap scout role, as well as providing a good amount of extra DPS.

edit: dual boxing also lets you take advantage of Fleet bonuses from Leadership skills. I run a Tengu tank and a pure DPS Vindicator in general for secure null sec areas.
Sam Redshift
PCG Enterprises
#3 - 2011-12-20 12:23:07 UTC
Czeris wrote:
A great second account ship to train a brand new alt for is a stealth bomber, since it can fill the cloaky cheap scout role, as well as providing a good amount of extra DPS.

edit: dual boxing also lets you take advantage of Fleet bonuses from Leadership skills. I run a Tengu tank and a pure DPS Vindicator in general for secure null sec areas.


Ohh .. stealth bomber that is an interesting idea!

Thx for sharing, Czeris
St Mio
Imperial Academy
Amarr Empire
#4 - 2011-12-20 13:02:48 UTC
I toyed around with a Rapier + stealth bomber duo for a while, it was quite fun and the Rapier's TP and web bonuses really help the SB, but it can be a pain to get either of them in position to try and speed tank/kite lowsec sites, and of course, nowhere near efficient. Stealth bombers are also really fragile so you'll want to be careful with respawns/new waves.

I've also heard some guys like to run dual T3s, with one being your normal cloaky/probing/salvaging/codebreaking/analyzing T3, and the other one being normal tank/gank to run sites with. This is of course, character SP and wallet permitting.

More important that dual boxing I'd say would be to know your region, know the sites (how hard are they, what can they be done in, what are the shortcuts etc.), cherry pick them, and then work from there to choosing your 2nd chara's ship.
FloppieTheBanjoClown
Arcana Imperii Ltd.
#5 - 2011-12-20 14:32:10 UTC
For high/low stuff, I don't dual box.

In wormholes, I run a noctis alt to speed up salvaging.

Founding member of the Belligerent Undesirables movement.
Kilrayn
Caldari Provisions
#6 - 2011-12-20 15:58:19 UTC
Sam Redshift wrote:
Can I ask the experienced explorationist's if dual-boxing is advisible for exploration and what your experiences are?

My main just skilled up fly an Ishtar all-in-one exploration fit Lol but I got a second account now with a beginner mini alt.
I am wondering what ship combos would work for exploration besides the obvious choice of Covop and Cane?
Or would it be even better to do exploration solo .. as originally planned .. because less multi-tasking when in lowsec and let the alt just do some independent missioning/mining?

Does anyone have some experience and feedback?

Thx, Sam

In Empire, you'll fall behind anyone flying an exploration fit t3 (as long as they're doing it right Cool). In low/null however, you could use the alt to scan ahead for camps/ambushes while your ishtar clears a site, so I can see an advantage there.

"Music is a mysterious thing. Sometimes it makes people remember things they do not expect. Many thoughts, feelings, memories... things almost forgotten... Regardless of whether the listener desires to remember or not." - Citan Uzuki, Xenogears
Tanjo Janau
Doomheim
#7 - 2011-12-20 16:05:21 UTC
Kilrayn wrote:
Sam Redshift wrote:
Can I ask the experienced explorationist's if dual-boxing is advisible for exploration and what your experiences are?

My main just skilled up fly an Ishtar all-in-one exploration fit Lol but I got a second account now with a beginner mini alt.
I am wondering what ship combos would work for exploration besides the obvious choice of Covop and Cane?
Or would it be even better to do exploration solo .. as originally planned .. because less multi-tasking when in lowsec and let the alt just do some independent missioning/mining?

Does anyone have some experience and feedback?

Thx, Sam

In Empire, you'll fall behind anyone flying an exploration fit t3 (as long as they're doing it right Cool). In low/null however, you could use the alt to scan ahead for camps/ambushes while your ishtar clears a site, so I can see an advantage there.



I pretty much have an alt in a Covert ops who scans/scouts ahead. He also has the codebreaker/analyzed modules.

Main is in an Ishtar, fit for DPS.

My alt has far better scanning skills and can scan down the sites much faster (yay DSP).

I can also use the alt to pick up the loot while the main tanks (Main pulls all aggro, pops boss, alt scoops loot).

In low I can use the alt to watch cloaked for pirates warping to the site etc.
Mnemosyne Gloob
#8 - 2011-12-20 16:30:09 UTC  |  Edited by: Mnemosyne Gloob
I used my other account to tag along since quite early on (navy comet i think it was, then rupture and now hurricane). It's basically just there for dps and to deal with some special cases (pop the webbers in 5/10s for instance). I could use a battleship or something like a hac, but i have found that flying the cheap stuff is better - scout ahead, peek into suspicious sites and so on.

I agree that in highsec it is prolly not justified but in anything like 5/10s or up the added dps will let you be way faster. I also realize most ppl would rather use a covops or so for scanning and the other account to do the sites, but since my first character is kinda set up do do all the scanning and also tanking really this works well for me.

But yeah i guess the desired thing would be 2xtengu, since everyone knows that every annswer regarding exploration ships is tengu ... :/

[edit]I have also heard that there are actually people who scan with 2 characters ... now i don't know i guess to cover empire regions or so it might work, but i personally wouldn't want to try it ^^[/edit]
Sam Redshift
PCG Enterprises
#9 - 2011-12-20 18:01:29 UTC  |  Edited by: Sam Redshift
Tanjo Janau wrote:
[ I pretty much have an alt in a Covert ops who scans/scouts ahead. He also has the codebreaker/analyzed modules.

Main is in an Ishtar, fit for DPS.

My alt has far better scanning skills and can scan down the sites much faster (yay DSP).

I can also use the alt to pick up the loot while the main tanks (Main pulls all aggro, pops boss, alt scoops loot).

In low I can use the alt to watch cloaked for pirates warping to the site etc.


Well ... that makes sense. But my main has trained up the skills for the Ishtar and scanning (Caldari shield & missile / Gallente Drones). I rather spontanteneously got my second alt and I am a bit reluctant to skill the alt to comparable scanning abilities. It seems to be duplication of expertise. The alt is a mini character, probs I should consider to train her gunnery skills and get her in a scouting/dps support role.

Thx for all the comments Lol. Scouting/dps [ALT] and scanning/tanking/dps [Main] sounds good. With my main in an Ishtar, I can try different inexpensive support ships for my alt.

Dual-Tengu setup sounds really posh .. but this will take some time to accomplish.
FlameGlow
Perkone
Caldari State
#10 - 2011-12-20 18:27:24 UTC  |  Edited by: FlameGlow
Dual-boxing Tengus is so 2010, tier 3 BC is the new choice for second account DPS alt, dealing 700 or so to 40 km. I like tachyon oracle, but maybe there are better ones, who knows.
Even with damage type not optimal against guristas Oracle 1-2 shots most medium size rats and melts battleships in 7-8 volleys
St Mio
Imperial Academy
Amarr Empire
#11 - 2011-12-20 18:58:28 UTC
Mnemosyne Gloob wrote:
[edit]I have also heard that there are actually people who scan with 2 characters ... now i don't know i guess to cover empire regions or so it might work, but i personally wouldn't want to try it ^^[/edit]

I've scanned with two separate characters in two regions simultaneously for a while... my wrists almost disowned me after that Sad
Anya Ohaya
School of Applied Knowledge
Caldari State
#12 - 2011-12-20 22:51:18 UTC
If you plan on taking the alt into a wormhole then they will need their own scanning skills, in case you get trapped on the wrong side of a collapsed hole, or your main gets ganked.

Train the alt up for a drake. Dual drakes is wormholes on easy mode.
Tanjo Janau
Doomheim
#13 - 2011-12-20 23:23:06 UTC
Sam Redshift wrote:
Tanjo Janau wrote:
[ I pretty much have an alt in a Covert ops who scans/scouts ahead. He also has the codebreaker/analyzed modules.

Main is in an Ishtar, fit for DPS.

My alt has far better scanning skills and can scan down the sites much faster (yay DSP).

I can also use the alt to pick up the loot while the main tanks (Main pulls all aggro, pops boss, alt scoops loot).

In low I can use the alt to watch cloaked for pirates warping to the site etc.


Well ... that makes sense. But my main has trained up the skills for the Ishtar and scanning (Caldari shield & missile / Gallente Drones). I rather spontanteneously got my second alt and I am a bit reluctant to skill the alt to comparable scanning abilities. It seems to be duplication of expertise. The alt is a mini character, probs I should consider to train her gunnery skills and get her in a scouting/dps support role.

Thx for all the comments Lol. Scouting/dps [ALT] and scanning/tanking/dps [Main] sounds good. With my main in an Ishtar, I can try different inexpensive support ships for my alt.

Dual-Tengu setup sounds really posh .. but this will take some time to accomplish.



You say that now.

I started an alt to do the things i didnt want to waste time on my main. Started him with haulers/noctis/PI etc. Now he can scan better than my main, fly covert ops, SB, Drake, and almost tengu.

Either way, you cant have too many good scanning toons IMO.
Arazel Chainfire
Aliastra
Gallente Federation
#14 - 2011-12-21 00:58:58 UTC
In highsec, having an orca + main who scans/runs sites is nice. Like hauling around a mobile station. Lowsec I like t3 scanner/dps + spare dps. Nullsec I've been pretty lazy so far - scan, go back for t3's to run sites. I just defaulted to the tengu because its easy, has good damage projection and enough tank. I could do better, but that would mean paying more attention to the PvE and I'm out here for the PvP atm.

-Arazel
Sam Redshift
PCG Enterprises
#15 - 2011-12-21 08:48:33 UTC
Tanjo Janau wrote:


I started an alt to do the things i didnt want to waste time on my main. Started him with haulers/noctis/PI etc. Now he can scan better than my main, fly covert ops, SB, Drake, and almost tengu.

Either way, you cant have too many good scanning toons IMO.



Lol ... I see the problem already. Even with 2 chars the wishlist for the skill plans is still too long and somehow one toon ist just missing the skills of the other one Blink.

Of course, I plan to get decend scanning skills and covops for my alt, too .. just (hopefully) not up to DSP's etc. Right now the alt is so newish (8 weeks young) that I work on basic fitting skills and T1 cane skills to get her in dps support for lvl4s and exploration.

Thx for all your helpful comments.
St Mio
Imperial Academy
Amarr Empire
#16 - 2011-12-21 08:59:44 UTC
Remember that NPCs only target one ship at a time, so even if you have a Rifter or a Kestrel orbiting them at 100km, it means they won't be shooting at your other ship :)
Sam Redshift
PCG Enterprises
#17 - 2011-12-21 09:09:31 UTC  |  Edited by: Sam Redshift
St Mio wrote:
Remember that NPCs only target one ship at a time, so even if you have a Rifter or a Kestrel orbiting them at 100km, it means they won't be shooting at your other ship :)


Hhhmmmm .. you are right Big smile but does this not mean that the rifter needs to come closer Shocked to pull all agro in the roam? Can a fast rifter still survive this with the right fit (speed tank?)

Any suggestions how to pull this stunt would be appreciated. I just have not enough experience with all your pro tricks.

St Mio ... btw ... your DSP guide is absolutely amazing ... thank you for all the hard work put into it. The best Eve guide of 2011
Danny John-Peter
The Congregation
RAPID HEAVY ROPERS
#18 - 2011-12-21 09:22:50 UTC
o/ Sam

Dual boxing most things makes it more efficient, I know a reasonably tanked Harby can clear a lot of low level Null Sites with fighter support very quickly Twisted
Sam Redshift
PCG Enterprises
#19 - 2011-12-21 09:41:18 UTC  |  Edited by: Sam Redshift
Danny John-Peter wrote:
o/ Sam

Dual boxing most things makes it more efficient, I know a reasonably tanked Harby can clear a lot of low level Null Sites with fighter support very quickly Twisted


\o/ Danny .. what a surprise to see you here. I wish you a Merry Christmas ..hope you get some shiny ships from Santa.

I have not tried dual boxing for combat more intensily with my new alt. I guess I just need to jump straight into it and learn it by doing as always in EVE. But getting some feedback from the community is showing me all the different strategies. Very helpful indeed.
5nipe
Pator Tech School
Minmatar Republic
#20 - 2011-12-21 12:54:04 UTC
Sam Redshift wrote:
St Mio wrote:
Remember that NPCs only target one ship at a time, so even if you have a Rifter or a Kestrel orbiting them at 100km, it means they won't be shooting at your other ship :)


Hhhmmmm .. you are right Big smile but does this not mean that the rifter needs to come closer Shocked to pull all agro in the roam? Can a fast rifter still survive this with the right fit (speed tank?)

Rifter is ok for entry level sites. But if you consider double boxing speed tank+DPS dealer I would recommend you Dramiel+Bomber duo. I have used it for long, long time. It is extremely efficient to run DED plexes in low sec. Dramiel capable speed tank Guristas 4/10, 6/10 and even 8/10 (0.0). And Manticore can clean 4/10 within 10 mins, 6/10 in about 30 mins and 8/10 takes a bit more then an hour.

Therefore, Dramiel (or any other frig class ship) can't speed tank Guristas 5/10 due to the presence of web towers, neither few other sites as well.

So, you should be quiet selective what kind of exploration and were you are going to do.

Another thing you need to think about is potential "guest" while you running for example 6/10. Typically it would be Tengu in PvE fit, but very capable to force you leave the site. Ofc, there are some countermeasures to this situation even with Drami/bomber setup, but it is completely different story.
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