Ships & Modules

The Machariel and Nightmare are the top-of-the-line mission runners for many people, if you've got the money and skills for them, but if the ISK is a little tight, I've found the Maelstrom to be a solid (really solid), dependable boat which can be reconfigured to take on practically all the rat factions. It's slow, but it can be fit with a micro-jump drive if you need to bug out in a hurry, or AB or MWD if you want to control range more traditionally; it can seriously hammer long-range kiting rats with artillery or chainsaw short-range rats with autocannons (with selectable ammunition to shoot into the resistance hole of whatever you're facing); and you can swap out hardeners to fit an insane burst tank.

This.

This reply and seeing some of your other comments about Drones/Gallente ships you obviously don't know how to play Eve. LvL 5 Gallente BS + even 3 DDA's (Sentry dmg Rig is crap) gives you 800 DPS with Sentries, 825 DPS with Heavy Drones. Add 2 Navy Omnis and even Guardes have 57km Optimal (+12km Falloff) with more tracking than enhanced Rails. However, I agree Rails suck. The current kings of Minmatar space are the Navy Domi/Vindi as both can apply over 1800 DPS to Angels (Heavies/Sentries + Blasters + Imps) while still maintaining ~1K DPS 3-slot Shield Boosted Tank (even without Crystals). The incoming TE nerf will hurt this as the Vindi will have to switch to Null ammo and drop down to ~1550 DPS just to maintain the same range as now (most Angels orbit below 30km), the incoming Domi change will drop it down to ~1400 DPS but you will gain SERIOUS hit ratio for Drones.

The 3rd highest gank fit is the Mach with 16-1700 DPS while having the same tank as the above ships (3-slot Shield) but tracking still isn't very good compared to Blasters. The Mach is much faster with lower scan res than Vindi, uses ammo at a slightly faster rate as Vindi/Domi and all 3 need cap boosters (if you are worried with a ~3min tank). the Domi is slow as balls, but the Rattlesnake is even worse. Rattlesnake can have the highest LOL-Tank while still dealing 8-900 DPS and the incoming 30% buff to Cruise will help but not even 100 DPS with only 4 launchers. Mauraders aren't that good except for the ability to loot/salvage on the go (many mission runners dual box a salvager in a Noctis along side the mission ship, or 1 pocket behind).

The changing of dmg type is moot when you're pushing 1500+ DPS, even if an extra 15-20% of that DPS is being resisted. I rarely swap out Sentries or missles in my Rattlesnake, and my Vindi/Domi kills Angels WAAAAY faster even using Guardes/blasters. The base scan res of most BS's suck so expect a long wait to target inties or your Sentries for RR unless you waste a valuable mid for a SeBo. Personally LvL 4's if you are near or max skills should be fitted for MAX GANK with only enough tank to survive each pocket while you destroy enough ships to lower incoming dmg. This is the most efficient way. forget "cap stable" or "and it has a 1500 DPS Omni tank"

Navy domi:

pretty much immune to TD, damping and ECM.

What's your mach going to do while it's got 25km range on its guns, 15k targeting range or jammed?

I soloed the Gallente epic arc with a Normal Domi with a MJD and t2 sentry drones, fitting was T2 except for the rigs they were T1. In the last mission i used T1 sentries cuzz the boss kept killing my sentries. this was the high sec variation btw.

I cant comment on the other arcs (for now)

the hardest part was avoiding wartargets on the way since i did it with a toon that is in TEST.

I use a blaster Proteus for low sec lvl 4's and I can run them much faster than my highsec tengu pilot can

I dare say even with the TE nerf it will be a bit better than that in a MWD Mach. I too like the Navy Domi but c'mon, no contest.

The top few 'best' mission running ships are so hilariously close to each other in terms of effectiveness, that you can safely pick whichever one you like. You might save a couple of seconds on each mission depending on your choice, but its not going to make a huge difference.

I have a Nightmare, a Machariel, a CNR and a Tengu. I use them for different missions, but honestly, as long as you're not doing something stupid like shooting Angels with the Nightmare, or Guristas with the Machariel, they're all pretty much interchangeable.

And before it comes up again, no, I have no trouble at all with Tracking Disruption. And yes, I have done both the Blockade and Vengeance with my Nightmare in the last week, and several times each since the NPC changes. Stop being bad.

Honestly, anything. If you have the right skills and adjust resists as needed any battleship, t3, or stuff can level 4 easily.