Ships & Modules

I think that the best PvE L3 DPS you can really get is the following...here is an example against Guristas..

[Drake, L3 T2 HAM]

Ballistic Control System II
Ballistic Control System II
Ballistic Control System II
Ballistic Control System II

Large Shield Extender II
Large Shield Extender II
Phased Weapon Navigation Array Generation Extron
Kinetic Deflection Field II
Limited Thermic Dissipation Field I
10MN Afterburner II

Heavy Assault Missile Launcher II, Scourge Rage Heavy Assault Missile
Heavy Assault Missile Launcher II, Scourge Rage Heavy Assault Missile
Heavy Assault Missile Launcher II, Scourge Rage Heavy Assault Missile
Heavy Assault Missile Launcher II, Scourge Rage Heavy Assault Missile
Heavy Assault Missile Launcher II, Scourge Rage Heavy Assault Missile
Heavy Assault Missile Launcher II, Scourge Rage Heavy Assault Missile
Auto Targeting System I

Medium Bay Loading Accelerator I
Medium Warhead Calefaction Catalyst I
[Empty Rig slot]


Hobgoblin II x5

579/659 DPS HAMS+Hobs (T1 kinetic and reload times are factored in, always post DPS stats with them)
745/855 DPS HAMS+Hobs (T2 kinetic rage)
66.8k/82.2k buffer
134/171 HPs tank

This is before implants, boosters or links. Also have in mind that all missile ships encounter damage application issues due to elevated explosion radius/speed problems against small targets. Thus, a TP is necessary, and depending on the difficulty level or mission profile you might need rigor/flare rigs too. For the above example, the applied DPS from HAMs against an elite NPC frigate without using the TP is 75 or so (and with T2 rage, even worse). This makes it actually suboptimal for mission turnaround times, especially when you have to factor in the flight times due to the unbonused HAM range.

Now, take for example an equivalent HML setup.

[Drake, T2 L3 HML]

Ballistic Control System II
Ballistic Control System II
Ballistic Control System II
Ballistic Control System II

Large F-S9 Regolith Shield Induction
Large F-S9 Regolith Shield Induction
Phased Weapon Navigation Array Generation Extron
Limited Kinetic Deflection Field I
Limited Thermic Dissipation Field I
Experimental 1MN Afterburner I

Heavy Missile Launcher II, Scourge Heavy Missile
Heavy Missile Launcher II, Scourge Heavy Missile
Heavy Missile Launcher II, Scourge Heavy Missile
Heavy Missile Launcher II, Scourge Heavy Missile
Heavy Missile Launcher II, Scourge Heavy Missile
Heavy Missile Launcher II, Scourge Heavy Missile
Auto Targeting System I

Medium Rocket Fuel Cache Partition I
Medium Warhead Rigor Catalyst I
Medium Warhead Rigor Catalyst I


Hobgoblin II x5

439/497 DPS HMLs+Hobs (T1 kinetic and reload times are factored in, always post DPS stats with them)
558/635 DPS HMLs+Hobs (T2 kinetic fury)
59.1k/70.1k buffer
116/142 HPs tank

At first look, it seems rather underpowered compared to its max DPS HAM cousin. But if you fly both, you will find out that it finishes L3s much faster. Applied DPS against small targets is better, you have almost quadruple the range and since your salvo/alpha is much, much higher you end up needing less than double the salvos needed to farm all spawns. Oh...and since you are range tanking, you need less tank too..So paper DPS can be really misleading...;)

Of course, the above remain true as long as we use our Drake in L3 PvE. In L4s, PvP fleet, SG PvP, solo etc the answer might be completely different. Hope that helps, Cheers..C: