EVE New Citizens Q&A

Hello, I am looking to decide on a course for my character and I have a couple questions

How strong is the stratios? from what I have been reading if you explore for instance you will come across a lot of sites that your ship can not handle, that you would need to go get a tengu or something to be able to kill.

Is that also the case with the straitios? can it handle t he same sort of things a tanky tengu can handle? and how comparable is the dps?

I like the fact that it can cloak which would allow me to go places I couldn't in what I figure are traditional T3 builds, and it would allow me to probe things down.

So am I picking a good ship to aim for with the straitios or would I be better off aiming elsewhere? Id like to see myself able to do most missions and exploration without needing the help of others, if I get it great, but I dont want to depend on their schedules.

Toodles

Go Astero. Also bonused for exploration, can also use covert cloak, warps out fast, cheaper to lose it.

Stratios is a fun ship, but I don't know about it being all that great at taking on what you're talking about. Tengu and other T3s can be cloaky and more but the dps is severely gimped then. Tanky dps tengu is better than stratios.

Are there any decent fits for these explorer ships?

In both cases you're looking at cruiser hulls, which, depending on fittings and your skills, can range in performance from weak "cruiser" level, to battlecruiser, to almost-battleship.

The Stratios has the exploration bonuses, combat bonuses for drones and lasers, and the ability to fly cov-ops cloaked.

T3's get built-in abilities, depending on what components you use to assemble the ship. Some of these are unique, such as "immunity to warp bubbles," which is a critical thing to have if you're travelling through 0.0 space looking for exploration sites there. You can also get cov-ops cloak, bonuses to exploration/probing, and combat bonuses for the appropriate weapons (if you want drones, the T3 Proteus is as much a favorite as the Stratios is, for exploration).

So if you're going to do high-sec exploration, there are no bubbles at the gate camps, so interdiction nullification is moot, go with the Stratios. 0.0 space, though, people prefer the Proteus I think.

Whenever I see a new player asking for a ship to "aim for" I always feel the need to advise against doing so. What I picture is you skilling up for that ship for a long time and waiting for skills to get "high enough" and then flying one into a wormhole with less experience then you should be thinking about doing so.

In a situation like that you will loose that expensive ship in short order. I would rather see you playing around in wormhole combat sites in cheaper ships and learning how to operate in wormholes with easily replaceable stuff so your lessons are easier to shrug off.

My advice would be:

For now use a T1 exploration frig to scan down the sites then jump back to high sec with all of your holes bookmarked and come back in a T1 cruiser. After you feel more comfortable and confident with how you operate in UK space then maybe try some navy cruisers.

At that point you'll have enough experience with operating in UK space in various ships with different damage an tank profiles that you'll have a good idea of what you can do in a Stratios without having to ask us. Further you'll likely be able to fly it long enough to have it pay for it self instead of loosing it quickly.

I too support erghaerhdfgh's advice, entirely. Fly cheap ships.

Also, fly a variety of cheap ships. Don't focus on a particular ship too hard. Instead focus on the activity, if you enjoy it, and train as broadly as is convenient. Focused SP won't get you nearly as much benefit as wide-ranging, versatile SP. A ship hull is a disposable tool, and it is better to have maximal tools available than it is to be very good at one or two tools. Train toward the low-hanging fruit in almost all situations. If it's a long train, skip it, unless you absolutely need it. Act now, using what you have available now, and don't worry about your competence. Unlike in other games, capability in Eve is largely capped by personal experience, not mechanics, like ship stat bonuses.

Do now. Learn now. Don't wait until you're 'ready.'

...Unless you're talking about whether your WALLET is ready. But again, fly cheap.