Missions & Complexes

Hello fellow capsuleers,

I've been wanting to run low sec (and maybe even null sec) complexes for a while now and I recently started training skills for the Ishtar. I found some fits but most of them are shield fits which aren't the same after the changes to the ship (-1 mid, +1 low slot).
I don't know which pirate faction's sites I should run but I guess that Guristas/Serpentis would be my best bet because of the Ishtar's high base resists, but since Gurista low sec is so crowded I suppose that Serpentis is my only real option.

Making a fit that works without even knowing how much tank and DPS I need is pretty hard for me, but I tried making 2 fits - one is shield tanked and the other is armor tanked.

[Ishtar, Ishtar shield serpentis]

Drone Damage Amplifier II
Drone Damage Amplifier II
Drone Damage Amplifier II
Drone Damage Amplifier II
Damage Control II
Capacitor Flux Coil II

Pithum C-Type Medium Shield Booster
Federation Navy 10MN Afterburner
Pith C-Type Thermic Dissipation Field
Pith C-Type Thermic Dissipation Field

Improved Cloaking Device II
Core Probe Launcher I, Sisters Core Scanner Probe
Drone Link Augmentor I
[Empty High slot]

Medium Anti-Kinetic Screen Reinforcer II
Medium Anti-Kinetic Screen Reinforcer II


Federation Navy Garde x5
Federation Navy Ogre x5
Vespa EC-600 x5
Federation Navy Hobgoblin x5
Federation Navy Hammerhead x5

Tanks 851 Serpentis DPS
Deals 606 DPS at my skills, will be slightly higher when I finish Gallente Cruiser V
Costs around 325 million ISK


[Ishtar, Ishtar armor serpentis]

Corpum C-Type Medium Armor Repairer
Drone Damage Amplifier II
Centus B-Type Armor Kinetic Hardener
Drone Damage Amplifier II
Centus B-Type Armor Thermic Hardener
Drone Damage Amplifier II

Federation Navy 10MN Afterburner
Drone Navigation Computer II
Cap Recharger II
Omnidirectional Tracking Link II, Tracking Speed Script

Drone Link Augmentor II
Core Probe Launcher I, Sisters Core Scanner Probe
Improved Cloaking Device II
[Empty High slot]

Medium Auxiliary Nano Pump II
Medium Anti-Thermic Pump II


Federation Navy Ogre x5
Federation Navy Garde x5
Vespa EC-600 x5
Federation Navy Hammerhead x5
Federation Navy Hobgoblin x5
Optimal Range Script x1

Tanks 723,6 Serpentis DPS - sacrificed a big chunk of my tank to fit the third drone damage amplifier
Deals 573 DPS at my skills - will be a bit higher after Gallente Cruiser V
Costs around 446 million ISK - might want a bit less bling


I'll most likely use faction heavy drones because of their superior DPS compared to sentries - will later upgrade heavies to T2.
The shield fit has good DPS but no omnidirectional tracking links / drone navigation computers which benefit heavy drones and the armor fit has those but lacks DPS, especially if I want to tank it a bit more. Drone interfacing V and Heavy drones V will be my main goals after training for the ship itself.

So, here are the main questions that come to my mind:

1. Which pirate faction's sites are the best to run - easy to tank for and still deal damage while being in quiet space?
2. How much DPS tank and damage should I really have to be able to comfortably run the sites in low sec?
3. Are sentry drones worth it despite the major DPS drop and being unable to move?
4. Does anyone have a fit updated after the changes or ideas on how to make my fits better?
5. Is running sites in null sec a better idea?

I am stuck right now and I hope that you will help me with your knowledge.

I don't know why you thought that I would be running 3-4/10s in low sec, I was thinking more about 6/10s and such, maybe higher, don't know what the ishtar can handle. Didn't know about low slot omnidirectionals but the lack of drone nav comps would still be problematic. I do run 3-4/10s in my high sec gila but if I wanted to keep running these sites I wouldn't have created this thread.

Get a gila, its way better as you can t2 active shield tank it and have a slot or 2 spare in the mids and still have a huge tank with 4 x dda's in the lows, if of course you specifically want to use sentries, ignore this :) This btw will also do great in null anoms.

I have a t2 fit passive tanked gila which I use for wh diving which has 2 dda's 2 x SPR, 50w neut and a warp disruptor which works like a charm in c2 wh's, just not sure it will do well in 6/10's as I would normally go with an active tank for them.
But of course there is the test server you can try it on :)

You need a passive tank for the 6/10.

https://wiki.eveonline.com/en/wiki/Sennen's_Tip

Edit: your fit will actually do the 7/10 just fine. It's much, much easier. Possibly the 8/10. Serpentis 6/10 is one of the harder complexes out there.

Confirming that the Serpentis 6/10 is no joke. Now, the Guristas 6/10 is one of the easiest complexes out there.

No need to tank that much.

The following fit is tested for
Serpentis 5/10, SErpentis 7/10, 8/10, 10/10
Gurista 6/10 (dont like them)
Blood raider 5/10, 6,10

High:
Improved Cloaking Device II
Core Probe Launcher I, Sisters Core Scanner Probe
Drone Link Augmentor I

Middle:
50mn MWD II
2* Cap recharger 2
(last place for anything you wish)

Low
3* DDA2
1600mm Steel plate 2
1 t2-hardener of your choice

Corpum C-Type medium armor repairer
or
Corpum B-Type medium armor repairer


Rigs:
1* medium capacitor control circuit 2
1* medium auxillary nano pump


Drones:
5* navy curator (you NEED them for blood raider 6/10 in room 3, the BS)
2 Geckos (if you are lazy like me and have enough money)
some heavy/middle/small drones
dont forget: 5* Vespa EC-600

In cargo:
Mobile depot,
some t2 hardeners (like 3 t2 EM-Hardener for the last room in blood raider 5/10)

you need some good engineering skills for this fit. (or 3% hardwiring upgrades, they aren't expensive)
The highest dps is in the last room of the blood raider 5/10 site. Fortunately you only need to kill the boss, bookmark it's wreck and warp off. Wait 3 mins for the site to despawn and warp directly to the wreck (don't forget to salvage the wreck!)

For all other sites it's the same procedure. Read about the site and fully tank your ship. When you know the site you can take away your tank. The 1600mm plate gives you enough time to either warp off or flee from the incomming dps. As you can't tank the damage in most sites with 3 dda's in your lows. You don't need to! Use your plate(=time)+MWD to get some range and then either drop sentries (for frigates) or heavies/geckos.

and:
-with ok scanning skills you can probe everything except the 10/10 site. You would need excellent skills for this. Which means you need another ship(like an imicus) or a scanning alt for it. It's worth it though. The serpentis 10/10 site is very easy ( use 60km range from the station in the last room + sentries!) and can give good loot.
-the 8/10 serpentis site is doable BUT really really annoying. Just not worth the time.
-the 7/10 site is easy it just takes some time to kill all those battleships.

I prefer the serpentis 5/10 or blood raider 5/10 and 6/10 sites.

Personally? I'd just run the ones I can run. The Serp 6/10 is brutal and doesn't really pay any better than any other 6/10 -- and it's worse than Guristas, which is a cakewalk.

But at the end of the day, no, if you have active modules on your ship and are solo, you are pretty much dead in that site. Skip it. Or just keep a passive fit around to grab if you need it. I'd personally aim for over 1000 Serpentis-specific fully passive tank for the second site.



It's really just this one site. BR play cap warfare games, not Serps. Serps, as you note, damp (which they also do in the 6/10, making it even more annoying to take down the neut towers and/or lock tackle frigs in a timely manner).

Now that's really good to know, I'll switch to kinetic. Also, do 7/10s spawn in low sec? Having a bunch of sites I'm able to run would be really nice.

Is the choice of more tanky faction drones over T2 deliberate or is it merely an option for no SDI V characters?