Missions & Complexes

Talos is generally a poor choice for mission running. It does not have the tank to run level 4s and is inefficient in level 3s due to the fact there are generally no Battleships in those missions and using large guns to shoot small ships is very inefficient.

Using blasters is also generally not recommended for missions as the rats spawn too far away and you waste a lot of time flying to the rats to shoot them, it is better to do less damage and shoot from farther away, so railguns are generally recommended over blasters, there are some missions where the rats are all close so blasters will be fine but again, generally they will be far away.

Also I noticed your fit has a lot of meta 0 mods, use higher meta mods as their stats are much more enhanced than the meta 0 mods.

A Brutix would be a much better choice for level 3 missions.

[Brutix, Starter Lvl3]
Medium 'Accommodation' Vestment Reconstructer I
Prototype Armor Kinetic Hardener I
Prototype Armor Thermic Hardener I
Magnetic Vortex Stabilizer I
Magnetic Vortex Stabilizer I
Pseudoelectron Containment Field I

Experimental 10MN Afterburner I
Optical Tracking Computer I, Optimal Range Script
Optical Tracking Computer I, Optimal Range Script
F-90 Positional Sensor Subroutines

250mm Prototype Gauss Gun
250mm Prototype Gauss Gun
250mm Prototype Gauss Gun
250mm Prototype Gauss Gun
250mm Prototype Gauss Gun
250mm Prototype Gauss Gun
[empty high slot]

Medium Auxiliary Nano Pump I
Medium Auxiliary Nano Pump I
Medium Nanobot Accelerator I

Hobgoblin I x10

I would use this to start out. Upgrade armor tank to T2, then upgrade mag stabs, then guns, then tracking computers and drones.
I would carry both Tungsten (longer range) and Antimatter (shorter range) and switch depending on how close the rats are. You can use medium drones on this boat but I would stick to lights as they can kill frigates that may get too close to hit with your rails. If/when you are having trouble hitting ships, make sure you are going directly away from them (if they are getting too close) or towards them (if they are far away), this will reduce their transversal velocity and make them easier to hit.

the good:
blasters usually have enough tracking I wouldn't worry about it too much (in a lv3 mission context).
plus the t3 bcs are pretty fast and agile, so they should be able to apply damage well with some manual piloting.
the Talos has a drone bay.
gank is tank, so a t3 bc should provide high kill speed

the problems (and they are fairly big ones):
t3 bcs don't have very much staying power. very limited tank, might be forced to warp off often
without t2 blasters no access to Null ammo, and thus huge range problems. severely reducing kill speed
as a new player I would expect to make mistakes, and a t3 bc won't handle a mistake well. I still make mistakes all the time.


I think the brutix route is probably a better idea.

When I started out my progression was something like - rail catalyst for lvl 1's > rail thorax for lvl 2's > rail brutix similar to above fit for lvl 3's.

For level 4's I would highly recommend training drones or another weapon system; I was not impressed with the utility of rail battleships for mission running.

Talos is a pvp ship really; it's entire purpose is to provide a large weapons platform with cruiser equivalent mobility. It is not designed to tank heavily and for higher level missions you need a ship that can regenerate armor or shield at a decent rate for a long period of time. You basically either need enough cap recharge rate to run a shield booster or repper pretty heavily with high damage resists or something with high resists that can passive tank i.e. a high shield recharge rate. You also want something that can engage rats at a variety of ranges.

I would train towards a sentry drone dominix or if you are heavy into gun skills start training large projectiles and get a machariel.

Exception to the loot value worth noting is faction missions - empire faction rats do not have bounties but can drop valuable tags instead; if you run these missions you need to loot to get a good return.

Of course you also lose standings with those empires so many people decline all faction missions.

Armor repair.

Thanks so much for the comment. I must have missed the post that talked to the Vestment Reconstructer - thanks for restating though.

I've always wondered about the salvaging aspect of mission running - if it was worth it or not. I appreciate the advice on it. I'll stick with the flight of combats as you suggested.