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Ninja Looting Fits For Pro Ninja Work

Author
Gogela
Epic Ganking Time
CODE.
#1 - 2012-10-10 20:44:53 UTC
Ninja Looting is a great way to make dough fast, and particularly for newer players, can be quite lucrative. Having seen some fail fits lately, I thought I'd post some suggestions for people who just want your stuff. I'm not going to get into highsec ninja looting, because it's not very profitable and I don't do it. Feel free to add your highsec ninja fits for Noctis or whatever though... someone might be interested. For me it's all null and lowsec.

*****

Hull: Tengu | Roll: Special Event Heavy Ninja

This is the king of ninja looting ships. I save this one for events that might go to null or WH space. (FYI: CCP Greyscale likes to drop PLEX and monocles.) No salvage tackle because with a ship this expensive, do you really care about salvage? Maybe a little... but it's not that important. Time over target can be a factor when you have to separate the PLEX from the cap chargers as you loot, so a little extra tank can help. However, I lost a similar Tengu to PL when they jumped in at the last event. Tip from me to you: You can't tank a Titan w/ this. Use this ship when going after dev loot or for those live events that could go anywhere. Gate-to-gate you are nearly if not totally invulnerable, so it makes a great ship for taking a sight-seeing cruise through null sec as well. You'll want that probe launcher to scan down ships in safe spots or wormholes if that's where the event participants be heading. There are 2 ways to tackle this ship (and bubbles ain't it): A heavy dictor w/ a focused interdiction script can get you: That's why you have a 100MN afterburner. You should still be able to go 1,200km/s scrammed. You'll get away from the HIC. Frigs are a problem though. You are only +3 to warp, so 2x scrams and you are not going anywhere. Don't get tackled by frigs is the takeaway... or be close enough to a gate or WH that you can jump. That warning aside, I've never been locked down w/ this setup. Do not use "the king" of ninja looting for tasks better suited to a peasant. Everyone wants to kill a T3. Everyone wants to kill a ninja looter. This ship will draw fire! I reserve use for when the potential exists for one big hit that pays for the whole setup. They are out there... but they are rare.

High:
3x Salvager II
Sister's Core Probe Launcher
Cov. Ops Cloaking Device II

Mid:
3x Large Shield Extender II
10MN Micro Warp Drive II
Federation Navy 100MN Afterburner <-- note oversize mod. Lifesaver if dealing w/ scripted HICs.
Adaptive Invulnerability Field II

Low:
3x 'Halcyon' Warp Core Stabilizer
Reactor Control Unit II

Rigs:
2x Medium anti-EM Screen Reinforcer II
Medium Core Defense Field Extender II

Subsystems:
Interdiction Nullifier
Covert Reconfiguration
Cap Regen Matrix
Supplemental Screening
Dissolution Sequencer


***

Hull: Eris | Roll: Professional LowSec Ninja

For me, this is the workhorse of my Ninja Looting. Presently in EvE this is the best ninja looting ship for low sec, which is honestly where I get the vast majority of my loot. You are going to love the CPU and the extra low on the Eris, which is why I select this 'dictor over the other races. With regards to the rigs, trust me... I's are plenty. You'll get most wrecks in one cycle. You can use II's, but if you are doing this regularly you will also be loosing ships regularly, so the savings from using T1s will be apparent in short order. This fit is pretty survivable and ideal for hanging 200km off a gate or belt where you anticipate combat happening. If you are doing Ninja smack as a profession, this is your ship.

High:
Prototype Cloaking Device I
5x Salvager II

Mid:
Medium F-S9 Regolith Shield Induction

Low:
Co-Processor II
3x 'Halcyon' Warp Core Stabilizer

Rigs:
2x Small Salvage Tackle I


*

Hull: Coercer | Roll: Budget LowSec Ninja

If you are new to the game and want to start making a lot of isk right away, ninja looting in low is a great way to go. Being new, low on skills, and low on isk, this setup will get you looting quickly. One thing you might do, though, is drop a couple of salvagers for a cap battery or a cap recharger. The Cap on this thing will drain in one salvager cycle otherwise (depending on skills). Still, for a risk/reward standpoint this fit can pay for itself in one run, easily.

High:
Prototype Cloaking Device I
7x Salvager I

Mid:
*empty*

Low:
3x 'Halcyon' Warp Core Stabilizer
Quantum Co-Processor I

Rigs:
2x Small Processor Overclocking Unit I
Small Salvage Tackle I





So, great.... Those are some good ninja fits. Why not other hulls? Bit of a repost but let's take a look:

Battle Cruisers / Command Ships
Just crazy. Slow to go to warp when you need to get in and out fast, these beasts of battle are way too bulky to ninja. Moreover, their slow velocity without a mwd will ensure that other ninjas will get to the wreck before you do. Fighting back isn't an option when all your high slots are filled with salvagers, so BC class wanna-be ninjas personify the tank and get spanked mantra. BC: a poor choice.

Signatures should be used responsibly...

Gogela
Epic Ganking Time
CODE.
#2 - 2012-10-10 20:45:02 UTC  |  Edited by: Gogela
Cruisers/HACs/HICs/Logistics
This is a lot closer, but still no cigar. You will find that T2 cruisers are expensive, yet STILL too slow to go to warp. The cargo capacity on some of these ships is sufficient for the job, and with all those mids and lows put up a fierce tank, but what I've learned being a ninja is that no tank is good enough. I've been in situations where both sides stopped fighting just to kill little old me! When 2 sets of tacklers is coming at you, there's not a lot of places left to go. For a long while I did all my ninja work in a HAC, and I still managed to stay positive in the ISK... but just barely. I lost a lot of HACs in part because they were still just too lethargic for the job. T1 cruisers have all the weaknesses of a HAC and none of the benefits. As such, though being a cruiser class ninja making isk is possible, there are better options.

Destroyers
Much more attractive! Now you can fit 7 salvagers, a cloak, a stab or two, and MAYBE even a MWD! But oh snap... you'll find that even if you have the CPU to jam all this junk on your destroyer, using even half of it will drain your cap before your salvagers get to their second cycle. Survivability in being a ninja depends largely on minimizing your time around your target. The longer you stay around, the more time the guys who made all those wrecks your salvaging will have to come back and lock you. With half your modules inoperable, the length of time it takes to salvage even one wreck will greatly increase, and that MWD isn't coming back on if you need to run!

Interdictors
So this is it. Interdictors are the best ninja ship in eve hands down, but that's not to say it's great. Let's look at the pros and cons: PROS = Plenty of CPU for MWD, Cloak, 7 salvagers, 2 salvaging rigs (small ones at that! good news for wallet) and 3 stabs down low. Run it all and you can salvage a fair number of ships quickly and not run out of cap. Agile enough to enter warp quickly, and velocity + MWD/AB = fair getaway capability, AB if you are in a bubble. Ship is strong enough to take a few licks (unlike a destroyer that would otherwise be insta popped) during escape. CONS = almost too much power. If you can fly a dictor you can have an ideal setup right off the bat. Even with this fit you will have a fair amount of CPU and a ridiculous amount of power left to boot. Cannot warp cloaked. No bonuses for anything that matters. Otherwise, 'dictors are great ninja ships.

Cov Ops
Warping cloaked is nice, but you can't salvage cloaked! I see people try this all the time. Not many highs for salvagers, low on cargo space, and little HP makes for very few successful runs per ship. Those that are successful will be hampered by low cargo space. It's also hard to make successive runs when one shot puts you in structure. The one good point is that you can warp away quickly.

Other Frigs
A tendency to overshoot the target will leave you frustrated all the time. I can't tell you how many times a little frig zipped past me to get to a wreck first and than overshot it outside of loot transfer range... leaving me to the booty. Yar you very much speedy. All the disadvantages of a cov ops without the ability to warp cloaked. Fail ninja frig.

Noctis
Slooooooooooow. All the salvaging bonuses in the world won't matter if you try to ninja in this thing. It's like flying a dumpster. Everyone knows what you are there to do, and they already don't like Ninjas. The Noctis may be a good salvaging ship, but it's an expensive Ninja Looter coffin.

Honorable mention: the Blockade Runner
This is the one thing I haven't tried, though I have seen it work. During a large enough battle so many ships are lost on both sides that those few left standing can't even fit all the loot in their holds. This is particularly true when capital ships get involved. At those rare times it is very dangerous to be seen lurking about. Enter the ninja blockade runner. I've seen them fill up their entire cargo holds w/ faction frigs, drones, ammo, and fittings by warping to the wreck cloaked, immediately entering warp again, and on the way out grabbing their loot. It's quick to warp, and can be very effective in this scenario. Expensive ships tend to drop expensive mods. Down side: not many highs for salvagers, not quick in space from wreck to wreck, expensive to lose (particularly on a large and dangerous battlefield as described), and opportunities like the one described rarely present themselves to the ninja, who needs to be at the right place at the right time.



Welp... that's all I got. If you have suggestions or other fits, feel free to post!

Read more on Ninja Looting

Signatures should be used responsibly...

Karak Bol
Low-Sec Survival Ltd.
#3 - 2012-10-10 21:12:38 UTC  |  Edited by: Karak Bol
thx for the interesting read, made my first 100 mil ninja looting. Now a year later... maybe again.

Edit: btw. Any hints on how your find you marks? Ingame map maybe?
Gogela
Epic Ganking Time
CODE.
#4 - 2012-10-10 21:44:39 UTC  |  Edited by: Gogela
Karak Bol wrote:
thx for the interesting read, made my first 100 mil ninja looting. Now a year later... maybe again.

Edit: btw. Any hints on how your find you marks? Ingame map maybe?

When I started Ninja Looting I just went to the map and looked at "ships killed in last hour" and went to the lowsec heat plumes. Now there are a few ways I do it. I check the militia channels for where fleets are going. Militia members don't like to aggro unnecessarily, so often times you can just follow their fleet around GTG. Eventually they will find a FW fight or get caught by pirates... in any event wrecks are generated and you can loot them. Sometimes I just go where I know smack goes down a lot. There are 3 gates in the Tama system, for example, that are great to cloak out by (bit of a waiting game... beer helps). There are several FW systems that see combat on a very regular basis. (FW is my favorite space to ninja in b/c there are so many types of combatants, they tend to hesitate to shoot you while they work out the tactical situation... time enough to loot and warp.) Finally, sometimes I will take a ninja tengu similar to the above fit into null to go after those giant fleet battles. I've had problems with lagging upon jumping into system though. Warp, cloak. Even if nothing happens, something will happen. Because of TDi, your request to warp and cloak will be handled in turn and you *should* be OK. Not always the case but meh... I keep the "Live Events" channel open. The best thing you can do is make friends with other ninjas, though. Anytime there's a significant fight, it's going to be much more than any one ninja can handle, so the competition isn't as fierce. Friends can tell you where the action is or where the tension is building... exchanging these tips amongst ninjas nets out to be very profitable for everyone. In my experience, even otherwise unaffiliated ninjas tend to play well together.

Edit: In Tama my best spots are 200km off Nour gate and 200km off the station. Watch out for the pirates that frequently camp the station.

Signatures should be used responsibly...