EVE New Citizens Q&A

The Apocalypse is not exactly a drone boat by EVE standards as it only has the capacity to field 5 Medium drones (or two Heavy/Sentry drones).
It is actually a medium to long-range gun boat with drones acting as supplemental damage and point-defense.

If you want a ship that works better with drones, I would suggest an Armageddon.


Also... using NPCs to maintain capacitor power (by draining them) won't work in most situations.
For starters, you can only drain capacitor power from ships whose absolute capacitor amount is higher than yours (see: a battleship won't drain a frigate unless the battleship has less total capacitor power).
Second, there are too many NPCs. And the longer you let them live, the more damage you will take.
Third, on an Apoc... you have to give up guns to fit energy vampires. Which means you deal less damage and take longer to clear out missions.


edit: This is an Apocalypse fit I just slapped together. Someone can probably come up with something better, but it should give you an idea on what you should be aiming towards.

[Apocalypse, PvE-Fit]
Heat Sink II
Heat Sink II
Heat Sink II
Armor EM Hardener II
Armor Thermic Hardener II
Large Armor Repairer II
Reactor Control Unit II

Tracking Computer II, Optimal Range Script
Large Micro Jump Drive
Target Painter II
Heavy Capacitor Booster II, Cap Booster 800

Mega Beam Laser II, Imperial Navy Standard L
Mega Beam Laser II, Imperial Navy Standard L
Mega Beam Laser II, Imperial Navy Standard L
Mega Beam Laser II, Imperial Navy Standard L
Mega Beam Laser II, Imperial Navy Standard L
Mega Beam Laser II, Imperial Navy Standard L
Mega Beam Laser II, Imperial Navy Standard L
Mega Beam Laser II, Imperial Navy Standard L

Large Processor Overclocking Unit I
Large Processor Overclocking Unit I
[empty rig slot]

Curator II x2
Hobgoblin II x5


Tactics:
- When you warp in, pick a spot 100km out that is relatively free of NPCs... manually point your ship towards it and activate the Micro Jump Drive.
- Come to a full stop, deploy sentry drones, and pick the closest targets to you... prioritize them (Frigates and Destroyers first, Cruisers second, big stuff third)... and then start nuking them one by one.
- If anything gets too close and your repper can't handle it, perform another MicroJump and rise and repeat.
- Use your light drones if you have frigates buzzing all around you. You can't hit them with your guns (see: big guns have poor damage application against small targets)

Notes:
- This is a VERY VERY tight fit even if you have "perfect" skills. Make changes according to what you can fit and afford. If it is still too troubling, downgrade the guns.

- range makes up the majority of your tank.
------ DO NOT brawl with this fit as it will die a very miserable death.

- the repper is there to soak up any damage you take out at range, if you are taking more damage than it can handle, pull more range.
------ DO NOT run it all the time as it will drain your capacitor power to nothing. Pulse it when you have to.

- The Capacitor Booster is there when you start running low on power. Use it only when you have to.
------ The reason I prefer a Capacitor Booster compared to say, a Cap Recharger or Cap Power Relay, is because the Cap Booster only requires one fitting slot and forces you to learn good capacitor management (which helps you if you try to get into PvP).
------- Cap Rechargers and Cap Power Relays are good when you want to focus on maintaining a good capacitor over long periods of time... but it comes at the cost of gimping all other aspects of the ship (see: they turn you into nothing more than an oversized battery).

- I personally like to slap on a Target Painter on ranged fits because it increases the "sig radius" (see: "sensor footprint") of ships you hit it with. This makes stuff easier to hit and increases the quality of your hits.
------- You can easily replace it with another Tracking Computer if you want more gun range and/or tracking.

Whoops. I meant that one. Not the apoc.



I have eft but it does not work as expected for some reason

It doesn't use the same graphics as the game, but you can still fit modules to ships and figure out their final stats.

The steps are this:

1. Go to the official EVE Online API Management web page and create a full API for yourself. Call it "for EFT" or whatever. You won't give this to anyone.

2. Start EFT and go to View -> Character Editor. Click either New Character or API Skil Import, and when you type the API codes in, EFT will go grab the skills that you've already trained. This will let EFT apply your skills to the ships, and show you whether you can fly them, and/or what skills you need to train to fly them.

3. In EFT, go to File, Open Ship Browser, and pick a ship like "Battleships, Armageddon". Create new ship setup? Yes.

4. From the left, expand the various modules and drag modules such as armor repairers, hardeners, lasers, etc. to the right onto the ship slots.

Well I went with Amarr due to lasers (No ammo costs.) then I discovered drones are more fun and require less SP to be effective from a distance.


I want to work towards a Domni, but I do not have the skills yet. For future reference, what is a decent Domni or Vexor fit for the same purpose?

I also know gallente and Amarr both armor tank. Am I correct inthis assumption? What skills, items or otherwise do I need to be a tought nut to crack (armor wise)?

The only advantage I see the geddon for missions is its ability to drain for capacity recharge. I know the NPCs do not run out, but its me not running that is more important.

Drones don't really require less SP; most people train for Tech 2 weapons (for extra damage), and training for Tech 2 drones is just as long as training for Tech 2 lasers.

NPC's will shoot your drones, keep that in mind.

A Dominix fit is similar to the Armageddon fit above: heavy or sentry drones, armor tank + drone damage amps in the lows, drone range + guns in the high slot.

Most NPCs will rush towards you and then stay at close and medium range, and you'll need the armor tank to withstand their damage.

If you choose the micro-jump-drive MJD tactic, you jump 100 km away every time the enemies try to approach you, so you don't need that big of a tank, but you absolutely need the drone upgrade and drone range modules. This is because you need the drones to be able to travel 120 km (default max range is 20-40 km), and you need them to return to you FAST if they start getting shot. If you're not in range, NPCs will start shooting your drones, and they are paper-thin.

The reason I am aiming for battleships for mission running is for higher mission levels later on. According to some, if I want to run level 5s, I have to have a maurader? Is this true or do battle ships (Domni, Argeddon) suffice?

Would drones work at that high of a level?

Erm.... they actually require more dedicated skillpoints.

The nice thing about turrets is that the support skills apply for all racial turrets.


Take the Apocalypse fit I gave above and apply it towards drones (see: ditch the guns and Heat Sinks, dedicate more modules towards drone damage and damage application).


Yes.

And you should focus on skills in the Engineering and Armor skill tabs.
Skills affecting capacitor, CPU, Powergrid should be given priority.


Again... draining energy has some rules attached to it. You cannot drain things that have less absolute (see: numerical) capacitor energy than you do.

Also... bear in mind that all ships are balanced around Player versus Player conflict and engagements. Not around Player versus NPCs.

Speaking as a grizzled PvPer...

PvP is generally a money-negative activity. Most of the time, you do it to...
- further your own (or a collective's) ambitions
- for fun
- to make money in the long run


Most of the money that can be made through PvP comes from...
- Faction Warfare (where you earn Loyalty Points by "capturing the flag" while fighting other players),
- ransoming/blackmailing others (which is legal in this game),
- or by suicide ganking (see: suicide bombing) people who are ferrying more than it costs to perform the act.



No. Mining efficiently is best done with specialized ships. Mining Barges and Exhumers specifically.

I'm planning to get alts for other roles. As mentioned, I have one meant to be the isk earner. Trade, mission running, hauling, and corporate skills. I'm going thrown in leadership just cause I can. After I get the isk a flowing, I plan to have an another account and alts meant for combat (pve and pvp), faction warefare, industrial (including mining)

Yes Amarr and Gallente both armor tank so in that respect it's a decent cross train. However the draw back is that it limits your options.

Drones versus guns versus missiles we could go on all day and the benefits and drawbacks of each but I honestly feel that they are very well balanced in that respect and it comes down to which fighting style that you like.

That being said I feel that newer players are far better off letting go of any long term planning and not trying to think too far ahead of yourself. Just play the game and play around with various aspects of the game. Figure out what you playstyle is and how you like to do stuff and train more of that.

Don't try to figure out what is the best thing for you to train and then train that as those concepts don't fly well in Eve. There is no Eve equivalent to elitistjerks.com where you can go and find the best class for something or the best spec or the best rotation or best in slot gear. In Eve you find a playstyle that works best for you and make the most of the strengths of that playstyle while minimizing it's weaknesses.