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[Noob needs help with ship fitting/suggestions. Caldari. Harpy. PvE. ]
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Casey Colt
Subsidy H.R.S.
Xagenic Freymvork
#1 - 2011-12-05 03:58:22 UTC
Hey folks. I'm a new player and I need some help in progressing along my career as a combat pilot.
Now I'm bored of level 1 missions, which I currently run in a merlin.
I would like to move on to level 2 missions, but understand that I'll need to upgrade my ship.

I have trained up to assault ships, and currently have about 1.5m SP, not focused in any particular area.

Flying caldari, Im interested in rail gun boats.

I can use T2 small hybrids, but aside from that most other areas are fairly basic.
At this point I havent yet trained up much in power management/shield skills, etc.

In any case, I'm thinking about investing in a Harpy Caldari assault frig.

I don't have the skills necessary to fully equip a Harpy, (according to most recommended PvE fits on battleclinic, etc) but I'm hoping somebody could recommend a basic fit capable of completing level 2 missions.

For example, my merlin is merely equipped with a small shield booster, 2 rail guns and 2 missile launchers.
A set up in this vain, for a harpy, capable of completing the level 2s without much difficulty or skills necessary would be swell. I'm willing to take advise on the best manner in persuing future skills as well.
I figure this is a good time to utilise what skills I do have and grow into the other basics of more advanced ship fitting (than what I use now).

I have about 40M~ isk to drop on this ship, hoping I can fit for around half that and make some cash doing these missions, and progress from there to level 3s once I'm able to fit the ship better.

Hopefully that makes sense enough to get some help. =) thanks

- Casey Colt
Seigfried Hakaari
Dark Gaia Corporation
#2 - 2011-12-05 04:23:26 UTC
If you want to use Hybrids, cross train Gallente. Stop focusing on Frigates, for level 2's a Cruiser is much better. It's not the tank, so much as it is Frigates, even AS, take an annoying amount of time against active repping NPC Cruisers. A Tech 1 Cruiser is about one tenth the price of an AS as well.

You can get Gal Frigate and Cruiser to 4 in like 2 days, and Medium Hybrids won't take too long if it's just for basic fitting.

Train Drones, and Scout Drone operation asap. Rails can't hit things too close very well, and Blasters can't hit too far away well, you need Drones to compensate in many ships, plus they're basically free damage, AND they can be used for practically every ship you're going to fly.

On the other hand, if you train for a Drake and some decent shield skills you can passive tank and do Level 3's.
Casey Colt
Subsidy H.R.S.
Xagenic Freymvork
#3 - 2011-12-05 05:12:10 UTC  |  Edited by: Casey Colt
At this point I'll consider just about anything - but I maintain a prejudice against Gallente/Minmatar.
I suppose I could work on a moa.. but only as a layover between here and battlecruiser Twisted
Kahega Amielden
Rifterlings
#4 - 2011-12-05 05:19:30 UTC  |  Edited by: Kahega Amielden
Quote:
If you want to use Hybrids, cross train Gallente.


the Harpy is amazing, you shut your whore mouth right now.



OP: from a pure mission efficiency standpoint, the Harpy is not great. Missions pretty much subscribe to the 'bigger is better' philosophy. The advantage of frigates (Speed, cost, agility) aren't all that useful in missions, and cruisers do work better.

that said, an AF is still more than capable of running level 2 missions. Here's a basic fit to get you started:


[Harpy, L2 Missions]
Magnetic Field Stabilizer II
Magnetic Field Stabilizer II

1MN Afterburner II
Small Shield Booster II
Cap Recharger II
Kinetic Deflection Amplifier II

125mm Railgun II, Antimatter Charge S
125mm Railgun II, Antimatter Charge S
125mm Railgun II, Antimatter Charge S
125mm Railgun II, Antimatter Charge S
[empty high slot]

Small Hybrid Collision Accelerator I
Small Hybrid Burst Aerator I

I haven't done L2 missions in years, but I'm thinking that should be enough if you keep your AB on, only turn your shield booster on when you need it, and stay at your optimal (15km with antimatter, but you can get much further by swapping out ammo). Of course, you can replace pretty much any of that with its t1 equivalent, it's all the same idea.

Replace the kinetic deflection amplifier with an equivalent depending on the type of rats you're fighting. They all do different damage types. Guristas, for example, are primarily kinetic with some thermal.


That said, AFs do happen to be rather awesome for running lowsec exploration complexes (radar/mag sites). This is much more profitable than l2 missions but does require you learn scanning skills, as well as how to locate a quiet area and watch for hostiles...But the latter is at least a skill you'll need eventually.
mxzf
Shovel Bros
#5 - 2011-12-05 05:21:04 UTC
If you want to use Caldari ships for lvl 2 missions, a Caracal is by far the best ship for the job. If you are dead set on hybrid boats, you can try to make due with the Caldari or Gallente hybrid boats, but they're really just not as good in general.

As with almost everything in Eve, you can either do things the conventional way that will work well or you can choose to do things your own way, though sub-optimally.

I would strongly suggest going with the tried and true Caldari missile ships (especially with low SP), but doing your own thing can work fine if you decide to be stubborn and are willing to sacrifice efficiency and ISK income in return for doing your own thing.
Xindi Kraid
Itsukame-Zainou Hyperspatial Inquiries Ltd.
Arataka Research Consortium
#6 - 2011-12-08 01:16:40 UTC
Back in the day, I actually used a Cormorant for level 2s. Had T2 rails and shield tank. Did fairly well and even with the mods was cheaper than the caracals that always seemed to run into gate camps
Now that they have removed the range penalty and upped the tank (and now that we have small rigs), the cormorant should be even better.
Mike Whiite
Deep Core Mining Inc.
Caldari State
#7 - 2011-12-08 09:07:31 UTC
if you want to stay with rails, go Comorant - Moa. I haven't tried the comorant since Crucible, it used to be a fitting nightmare for a new player but it should be better now.

Leave the assault frigates for now, when all you've done untill now is lvl 1 missions, you can't afford to loose it. insurance doesn't isn't worth it with T2 ships.

When running lvl3 missions it gets easier to afford T2 ships.

If you want speed up the process go Caracal, Drake and you could run up to lvl 4 missions., wich bring you enough cash to expiriment with al others.
Iakop
Insanity Reigns
#8 - 2011-12-08 10:49:14 UTC
Maybe something like this:

[Harpy, Harpy Rail]
Magnetic Field Stabilizer II
Micro Auxiliary Power Core I

1MN Afterburner II
Medium Azeotropic Ward Salubrity I
Invulnerability Field II
Prototype I Sensor Booster

150mm Railgun II, Spike S
150mm Railgun II, Spike S
150mm Railgun II, Spike S
150mm Railgun II, Spike S
[empty high slot]

Small Hybrid Burst Aerator I
Small Hybrid Collision Accelerator I

I would personally prefer blasters for higher damage, but i think that should work for lvl 2 missions.

If you have to save cpu drop the invul to a meta, for powergrid afterburner to cold gas and/or leave a rig slot empty till you can fit it.

If it still does not fit drop the guns to 125's.
Jose Black
Royal Amarr Institute
Amarr Empire
#9 - 2011-12-08 14:55:14 UTC
You can go entirely with the hybrid line of caldari ships if you want to. That would be Merlin or Cormorant for 1's, then Harpy, Cormorant or Moa for 2's, Moa (with decent overall skills) or Ferox for 3's and finally Rokh for 4's.
However a) the Missile lineup would be more effective and more convenient to use and b) Pilots of (PVE) Gallente hybrid vessels could always - and rightfully - laugh at you.

With hybrids on Caldari ships you get comparably low damage at high ranges. High range may be good as long as you have very low damage output or don't know how or don't have to skills to effectively tank your ship.

You could - and often even just have to - compensate the high range and low damage with using close range ammunition. Unfortunately low range ammunition both costs more and uses more capacitor. High capacitor use is even worse when you consider the ships aren't all that good when it comes to capacitor anyway.

I'd post setups, but I haven't updated any to meet Crucible changes yet. I suggest you download a current version of Eve Fitting Tool and give it a try yourselves.