EVE New Citizens Q&A

So I played my first level 2 mission, Mission of Mercy. Eve survival labeled it hard, but I figured it wouldn't be impossible. Turns out I was wrong. I fly a Caracal with heavy missile launchers and I shield tank, but within a minute my shield was gone. I thought the Caracal was supposed to be good for level 2 missions, but I must have been wrong.
Is this just an especially difficult mission or am I doing something terribly wrong.

I have the following fitting:
10 MN Afterburner II (why, I don't know, I can't use it because It drains my capacitor)
Kinetic Deflection Field I
Medium Ancillary Shield Booster (also not very useful because it will drain off my capacitor and leave me with an extra 10s and no cap to warp with)
Thermal Dissipation Field I
Inception Target Painter (Another thing that may be useful to replace)

Damage Control I
Ballistic Control System I (x3)

Medium Capacitor Control Circuit I (x3)

So what am I doing wrong, I know I was probably too close at 15-20km but I still don't think it would have made much difference considering I was only able to destroy 2 ships of the 10+ before I had spent more repairing my ship than the mission would pay out and I gave up. (

First of all: No shame to get into trouble with a Level 2 mission as a beginner. Some can be though, and Mercenaries are often among the harder NPCs, that's also the case for higher level missions. It's a good idea to fit a little more tank than gank when you have to fight against them for the first time.

Specifically with your setup the lack of an EM hardener springs into mind. The Mercenary Commanders deal considerable EM damage and without a hardener you have 0% native EM resists on your Caracal's shields. That can bring your shields very quickly down, especially if you don't focus on the Commanders as primary targets and let them shoot for a while. EVE survival isn't always that precise. You can check the exact NPC stats here (Enter "Mercenary" in the Entity Name search box and take a look at the 4 right most columns for the damage distribution an NPCs deals.). Remove the Target Painter for an EM hardener. If you still have problems you can consider to even remove the AB and add a fourth hardener (maybe an Invulnerability Field). You can also try to find named hardener modules on the market with slightly improved resists (if you can't fit T2 hardeners yet).

Regarding missile launchers and shield booster I agree with Robot Robot above. Just keep in mind the you should have enough and the right shield hardeners so that you don't need to run the booster constantly, but can pulse it only in tough situations and when needed. You shouldn't get into cap trouble then.

Good luck with your next try!

I agree that is seems that you are probably not using the ancillary SB properly.

Also a fit is only one part of the equation. How you intend to fly the ship matters a lot and really we can't say much about the fit without stating uses. You have to fit the ship how you are going to fly it and fly the ship for how you fit it.

That being said, eve-survival says no aggro on warp in. That tells me that you could potentially use the AB to get some range and fit your ship for more range and use distance to mitigate damage.

Also the advice about double checking the resists is spot on. any time that I start loosing tank faster than I think that I should in a mission I double check damage profiles and my resists.

If you are having cap problems first check your skills. Cap recharge is based on a percentage of total capacitor per time frame. So anything that increases: cap amount, recharge amount or recharge rate will increase you capacitor recharge. Look at your cap skills and any that you don't have trained up to 3 get in your queue. You can also check through shield skills and see if you have any neglected skills that could become a quick pay off for a short train.

Beyond that a PDU ( Power Diagnostic Unit ) increases: Shield recharge, shield amount, cap recharge, cap amount. Oh and I guess that the are called PDS ( Power Diagnostic System ) now. They are a low slot item and can maybe be a better option than the DCU. Also a cap recharger in the mid might help. However from the sounds of it you might be better off with another resist mod.

My first advice would be to try kitting. That is make use of your AB with some range mods.

At this stage of the game, and in my opinion, the best thing that you can do is play around with different fits so that you can learn how stuff works and experience some of the various piloting tactics.

Had similar problems at first and made two caracals for level 2 missions, one with rapid light missiles and one with heavy missiles and a target painter. I switch ships according to EVE survival. (Bigger rats = bigger guns)


(I stocked up some Caracals anyway before the alphas will probably inflate the prices. Perhaps I fly them myself, perhaps I sell them for profit, but I am quite sure that popular cruisers won't get cheaper in November)

All the advice you need has already been stated. But nobody has actually highlighted the main problem. It is the missile type you are firing. There is no L2 mission that needs Heavy Missiles and in fact they are next to useless against the size of rats you are fighting. You should be fitted with Rapid Lights.

Sure the tank and cap can be improved, but you shouldn't need either in an L2 mission. The range of Rapid Lights on a Caracal (with perfect skills) is something like 63 Km. Frankly all you have to do is stay 30 Kms away from the bulk of the rats and they won't do any damage to you, then pop the fast ones that can reach you as they are MWDing in. The only cap you will need is for the AB and should be adequate to permarun it. Sort your overview by distance and just keep popping the closest enemy while burning away.

Caldari Cruiser bonuses (per skill level):
5% bonus to Rapid Light Missile, Heavy Missile and Heavy Assault Missile Launcher rate of fire
10% bonus to Light Missile, Heavy Missile and Heavy Assault Missile max velocity


Mission of Mercy was introduced later in the game, I consider it the hardest of the level2 missions.
Don't be ashamed to warp out, multiple times, it's part of the procedure

[Caracal, Level2]
Type-D Restrained Shield Power Relay
Crosslink Compact Ballistic Control System
Crosslink Compact Ballistic Control System
Crosslink Compact Ballistic Control System

10MN Y-S8 Compact Afterburner
Upgraded Kinetic Deflection Amplifier I
Upgraded Thermal Dissipation Amplifier I
Large F-S9 Regolith Compact Shield Extender
Large F-S9 Regolith Compact Shield Extender

'Arbalest' Heavy Missile Launcher, Scourge Heavy Missile
'Arbalest' Heavy Missile Launcher, Scourge Heavy Missile
'Arbalest' Heavy Missile Launcher, Scourge Heavy Missile
'Arbalest' Heavy Missile Launcher, Scourge Heavy Missile
'Arbalest' Heavy Missile Launcher, Scourge Heavy Missile

Medium Core Defense Field Purger I
Medium Core Defense Field Purger I
Medium Core Defense Field Purger I

If you can't fit both large extenders yet fit one medium and one large.

HMLs are the correct weapon to use for this particular mission as all you need to do is shoot the Lieutenants to complete it, ignore everything else. One of the keys to missioning efficiently is to learn to only shoot what needs to be shot. Killing everything is rarely the most profitable thing to do.

This fit is grossly cap stable and has an effective recharge that is more than sufficient for level 2s, change Shield Amps and missile type as the enemies dictate and consider using rapid light launchers for missions that have a lot of frigates.

Why not just get some help for that mission, there are only a few you would need help with.
As mentioned above, use a normal shield booster, drop the TP and try with light missiles.

Why do these responses always come back to max ISK? Especially when dealing with a new player that is having trouble with the mission to start with.

Wondering when was the last time you ran this mission with a new and low SP character in an all T1 fit ship?
Ignoring everything but the lieutenants in this mission means you have to tank about 50% of the applied damage for each wave, and the waves spawn on a timer so that damage continues to build, by time that last lieutenant spawns that applied damage can and often does overwhelm the T1 tanking ability of many low SP characters. All by itself this simple fact makes the blitz style for this mission very difficult for new players. And no speed tanking is not really an option either, although it does help. Actual damage spread depends on the spawns but on average 50% of the damage in this mission comes from the elite frigates and trying to speed tank them with a low SP character in a T1 fit cruiser that is not cap stable simply does not end well.