Learning to Fit Ships – BB57

The latest Blog Banter is up and I am going to participate.

The gist of it is: How can players learn (or be taught) to fit ships correctly – and what exactly does it mean to fit them correctly?

Lots of players and forums and sites get a big kick out of mocking badly fit ships in EVE.  Some corporations will even use this as a reason to boot players (supposedly).

I have flown (and still fly) ships that would probably get me mocked on killboards.  In fact, I tried a fit just a few days ago that was pretty bad.  Not only was it bad, but I even used it on new content at a warpable location in Lowsec.  But I used it because that is all I could cobble together with what I had in the area.

Anyway, I suspect lots of Eve players have used a few suboptimal (or even downright embarrassing) fits over the course of their playing careers.  So the first thing that I want to emphasize is the commonality.

Now I suppose there are different degrees of bad fits.  Some fits are actually fine – if you fly them correctly.  Some fits are correct for certain content, but fail in other content.  And some fits are pretty much bad at everything.

I think that part of the problem is that Eve is very different from other MMO’s when it comes to fitting ships.  For one thing, it is pretty common in other MMO’s to leave slots blank – especially early on.  You might have a sword and breastplate, but you might not be able to use a helmet or perhaps rings or whatever until you reach a certain level.  Or you might not be able to “enchant” your gear until a certain level.  But in Eve, empty slots are pretty much wrong.  You may occasionally leave a high slot open, but mid and low slots should ALWAYS have something.  However, this is not intuitive.  Rigs slots are not intuitive.  Knowing how tanking works and the different types of tanks is not intuitive.  This is further hurt by the fact that the only way to see how a module will perform on your ship is to buy it and equip it.  And if it is an active module, you have to undock and activate it to see how your stats are affected.

Now if you know how/where to find the out of game fitting tools, you can solve some of those problems.  But a new player isn’t going to look for out of game tools so he is automatically at a disadvantage.

And even if you use an out of game fitting tool, you can still get into a bit of trouble.  When I first played Eve, I thought of my weapons as “spells”.  So I thought I wanted to have some long-range “spells” for primary use with a short-range one as back-up.  From the perspective of another MMO, this made sense.  However, in EVE you pretty much never want to mix weapon systems.  You want all of your weapons to be focused on the same range and then fight at that range.

In other MMO’s, choosing talents/abilities/spells occasionally requires some out of game calculator or modeling tool.  But you can rarely make the level of bad choices that you can make in Eve.

None of this is particularly helpful to the new player.  Eve pretty much requires the player to do out of game research and read guides and using fitting tools.  That is fairly common to complex gaming these days and to some degree, that is part of the charm of Eve.  It is a complex game and it rewards those who enjoy learning its complexities.  There are always new things to learn and new ways to apply them.  That is probably what I enjoy most about it and it is one of the things that drew me to the game in the first place.

I also like to read blogs about games.  I like to read guides and learn tips and tricks.  In order for that to happen, the game and the varieties of fitting have to be complex enough to make writing about it worthwhile.  Reading about fits on other blogs – especially the why of the fit is one of my favorite things.  I will definitely miss Jester’s Fit of the Week.

Anyway, to sum of a rambling blog banter:

1.  We all making fitting mistakes.

2.  The game needs a better in-game fitting tool.

3.  Your perception from other games affects how you try to fit ships in Eve.

4.  Fitting ships is one of the most interesting aspects of Eve and is a great way to discuss and promote the game.

 

 

Tengu Fit: Exploration Travel

I have received a couple of emails and comments recently asking about my fit for scanning and travelling through lowsec before switching to some of my posted fits for lowsec exploration complexes.

I don’t have one “travel fit” that I use exclusively, it kind of depends on the space I am in, and what I plan on doing.  Occasionally, I travel in a PVP fit for snagging unobservant frigates in data or relic sites.  But most of the time, I use a fit that is focused on exploration efficiency.

Since I am currently in Blood Raider space again I will show my entry level BR fit.  Items in RED are just for travel.  The other items get re-used in combat complexes.

[Tengu, ham tengu ls travel (BR) ]
Nanofiber Internal Structure II
Expanded Cargohold II
Damage Control II
Nanofiber Internal Structure II

Relic Analyzer II
Experimental 10MN Microwarpdrive I
Explosive Deflection Field II
EM Ward Field II
Experimental 10MN Afterburner I
Large Shield Extender II
Cargo Scanner II

Sisters Expanded Probe Launcher, Sisters Core Scanner Probe
Covert Ops Cloaking Device II
Heavy Assault Missile Launcher II, Mjolnir Rage Heavy Assault Missile
Heavy Assault Missile Launcher II, Mjolnir Rage Heavy Assault Missile
Heavy Assault Missile Launcher II, Mjolnir Rage Heavy Assault Missile

Medium Hydraulic Bay Thrusters I
Medium Rocket Fuel Cache Partition I
Medium Capacitor Control Circuit II

Tengu Defensive – Amplification Node
Tengu Electronics – Emergent Locus Analyzer
Tengu Offensive – Covert Reconfiguration
Tengu Engineering – Capacitor Regeneration Matrix
Tengu Propulsion – Gravitational Capacitor

 

In this fit, it is really all about the mid-slots.  I pretty much always dual-prop my travel fits.  I used to dual-prop with a 100MN afterburner, and that is still a pretty good idea for Null-sec, but I have gotten lazy about this.  I haven’t seen a gate camp for several weeks and I haven’t seen a GOOD one for several months so even if the 100MN afterburner would help me escape, I would probably screw it up for lack of experience.

After a dual prop, every thing else in the mids is for being able to clear a Ghost Site without refitting.  Ghost Sites deal explosive damage when the cans pop so an explosive hardener and LSE are very important.  The rats at Ghost Sites deal damage according to the space they are in so having an EM hardener is required.  Even if they didn’t, you have a gaping EM hole and keeping it plugged is a good idea.  Finally, having a cargo scanner and relic (or data) analyzer is required for scanning and getting the Ghost Site loot.

I use a relic analyzer because in lowsec I am (slightly) more likely to run relic sites than I am data sites.  I will sometimes scan data sites, but I won’t run them unless I see a good BPC that is worth refitting for.

In the high slots, I have my probe and cloak.  The missile launchers give you some dps, but it is really more about storage than anything.

The low slots are open to individual preference.  I like a DC, and having an expanded cargohold helps me carry enough missiles to run several sites without restocking.  The NIS’s bring your align time down and help with navigating the debris of relic sites.  I used to use WCS’s, but I hated what they did to my targeting range.  I eventually dropped them entirely.

This is what the fit looks like in EFT along with storing the modules needed for running combat sites.  If I have no other modules or loot, I have enough space for about 300m3 of missiles (I usually carry a medium secure container so that adds a spare 90m3 of space).

And just for reference purposes, here is the BR combat site fit that I am carrying:

[Tengu, ham tengu ls combat (BR)]
Ballistic Control System II
Ballistic Control System II
Ballistic Control System II
Caldari Navy Ballistic Control System

Cap Recharger II
‘Copasetic’ Particle Field Acceleration
Pith C-Type Large Shield Booster
EM Ward Field II
Experimental 10MN Afterburner I
EM Ward Field II
Cap Recharger II

Heavy Assault Missile Launcher II, Mjolnir Rage Heavy Assault Missile
Heavy Assault Missile Launcher II, Mjolnir Rage Heavy Assault Missile
Heavy Assault Missile Launcher II, Mjolnir Rage Heavy Assault Missile
Heavy Assault Missile Launcher II, Mjolnir Rage Heavy Assault Missile
Heavy Assault Missile Launcher II, Mjolnir Rage Heavy Assault Missile

Medium Hydraulic Bay Thrusters I
Medium Rocket Fuel Cache Partition I
Medium Capacitor Control Circuit II

Tengu Defensive – Amplification Node
Tengu Electronics – Emergent Locus Analyzer
Tengu Offensive – Accelerated Ejection Bay
Tengu Engineering – Capacitor Regeneration Matrix
Tengu Propulsion – Gravitational Capacitor

Here is that fit in EFT. 

Skillwise, this pilot has 5’s in Engineering fitting skills, 4’s in rigging skills, 5’s in Tengu subsystems, 4’s in Navigation, 4’s in shields and 4’s in missiles (except where 5’s are required for T2 missiles)

 

 

Blood Annex

The Blood Raiders Blood Annex is an unrated complex found by scanning cosmic signatures in the low-sec regions of Aridia, Genesis, Kador, Khanid, Kor-Azor, and The Bleak Lands.

It is the big brother to the Blood Raiders Minor Annex and only slightly less unpopular.

Starting off, I use a variation my standard Tengu Lowsec DED complex fit.

There are probably better fits out there, but I can guarantee that this one works.

 

[Tengu, HAM Tengu Blood Annex – Blood Platinum Tag]

 

Capacitor Flux Coil II

Ballistic Control System II

Caldari Navy Ballistic Control System II

Caldari Navy Ballistic Control System II

 

Cap Recharger II

Pith C-Type Large Shield Booster

EM Ward Field II

Dread Guristas EM Ward Amplifier

10MN Afterburner II

Large Shield Extender II

Large Shield Extender II

 

Heavy Assault Missile Launcher II, Mjolnir Rage Heavy Assault Missile

Heavy Assault Missile Launcher II, Mjolnir Rage Heavy Assault Missile

Heavy Assault Missile Launcher II, Mjolnir Rage Heavy Assault Missile

Heavy Assault Missile Launcher II, Mjolnir Rage Heavy Assault Missile

Heavy Assault Missile Launcher II, Mjolnir Rage Heavy Assault Missile

 

Medium Capacitor Control Circuit II

Medium Hydraulic Bay Thrusters I

Medium Rocket Fuel Cache Partition I

 

Tengu Defensive – Amplification Node

Tengu Electronics – Emergent Locus Analyzer

Tengu Offensive – Accelerated Ejection Bay

Tengu Engineering – Capacitor Regeneration Matrix

Tengu Propulsion – Gravitational Capacitor

Room 1 – use a Blood Platinum Tag and skip this room!  They are only about 1million isk or so and they save you a ton of time.  Buy a handful next time you are in a hub.  Otherwise you face being neuted twice.

6 Missile Batteries

3 Battleships

1 Cruiser

2 Stasis Webs (stasis web on warp-in)

1 Blood Raider Chapel (destruction unlocks gate – or use a Blood Platinum Tag)

– shooting the Blood Raider Chapel triggers another wave:

6 Battleships (3x Archbishops neut)

2 Cruisers

2 Elite Frigates (web, warp scramble)

Room 2:

The first 5 minutes of this room are the toughest.  On warp-in, you are faced with the following:

6 Battleships, 3 Destroyers, 3 Frigates, 2 Missile Batteries, and 2 Stasis Towers.

Also, there are 4 EM Forcefields that must be destroyed first or they will almost immediately repair anything else you damage.  They are 18-35km (varies) away.

Basically, your are webbed and neuted by 3 battleships at warp-in.  The battleships neut somewhat sporadically and with the fit above I usually don’t get neuted out completely as long as I don’t run the shield booster.  The 2 Large Shield Extenders give you the buffer and the active/passive EM shield hardeners give you about 70-75% EM resistance.

The EM forcefields must be killed first.  They have no resistances so using Scourge missiles is best.  I usually warp-in with Javelins loaded.  I destroy any forecields that are outside of my Rage range and then reload to Rage to finish off the rest.  It is worth losing 10 seconds of reload to use the higher damage missiles.  After that, either the stasis web towers (if you don’t have to reload) or the neuting battleships (switch to Mjolnir Rage missiles) are next.

Once the neuting battleships are down, I can safely run my shield booster and tank the rest of the damage.  Occasionally you will get web/scram frigate that needs to be killed.  Sending a volley at the Blood Raider Battlestation spawns the Overseer wave.

The Overseer (Corpus Station Manager) is fairly easy to kill and has a chance to drop Dark Blood loot.  Killing him may also spawn the escalation Blood Raiders Powergrid.  If you don’t get an escalation message, try destroying the Blood Raider Battlestation – it is the alternate trigger for the escalation.  It has a 175,000 HP (25k / 50k / 100k) with no resistances.

The complex can be run in 15-25 minutes and it is usually worth doing.

Tengu Fit: Lowsec DED Complexes

I previously posted a fit for a HAM Tengu for Blood Raiders sites and it is one of my most viewed posts.  I was originally going to do a fit for each faction, but since you can use almost the same fit for all of them, it seemed to make more sense to combine them all in one post.  This fit works for all DED 5/10 and 6/10 complexes in lowsec.  It works for the unrated complexes too, but sometimes additional modifications are required (generally to add a shield buffer or a web).

[Tengu, HAM Tengu complex 5-6 ]

Ballistic Control System II

Ballistic Control System II

Caldari Navy Ballistic Control System

Caldari Navy Ballistic Control System

 

Cap Recharger II

Cap Recharger II

10MN Afterburner II

Shield Boost Amplifier II

Pith C-Type Large Shield Booster

[empty med slot]**

[empty med slot]**

 

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

 

Medium Capacitor Control Circuit II

Medium Hydraulic Bay Thrusters I

Medium Rocket Fuel Cache Partition I

 

Tengu Defensive – Amplification Node

Tengu Electronics – Emergent Locus Analyzer

Tengu Offensive – Accelerated Ejection Bay

Tengu Engineering – Capacitor Regeneration Matrix

Tengu Propulsion – Gravitational Capacitor

**The empty mid slots are all that need to change from faction to faction.

For Blood Raiders and Sansha’s, use two EM Ward Field II’s.  Use Mjolnir missiles instead of Scourge.

For Angels, use an Explosive Deflection Field II and an Adaptive Invulnerability Field II

For Guristas, use an Adaptive Invulnerability Field II and a Conjunctive Gravimetric ECCM Scanning Array (to help with jamming resistance)

For Serpentis, use and Adaptive Invulnerability Field II and a Sensor Booster II (to help with sensor damp resistance)

For Angels, Guristas, and Serpentis, you tank about 900dps and deal about 750dps (34km range) / 500dps (62km) using Scourge Rage and Scourge Javelins respectively.

For Bloods and Sanshas you tank just shy of 900dps and deal about 610dps (34km range) / 400dps (62km) using Mjolnir Rage and Mjolnir Javelins respectively.  Due to resists, you deal more effective damage using Mjolnir than you do with Scourge.

You can downgrade the faction ballistics controls to save isk, but you will need to use faction or meta modules or implants to make up the additonal CPU.  If your capacitor skills are lacking, you can drop a Ballistic Control for a Capacitor Flux Coil.

If you are nervous about running a complex for the first time and want even MORE tank, you can drop a Ballistic Control and add a Damage Control II.  You will lose about 30dps in damage and gain about 100-150dps in tank.  Want to really, really tank it?  You can get up to a 1300dps tank by dropping a second Ballistic Control and replacing it with a Capacitor Flux Coil II.  Then drop a Cap Recharger II and replace it with a second Shield Boost Amplifer (for Guristas/Serpentis you can use a Kinetic Deflection Field for even more tank, but it isn’t cap stable without perfect skills).  This is way overkill, but you can do it the first time and then drop your tank down gradually as you get more comfortable.

 

 

Blood Raiders Minor Annex

The Blood Raiders Minor Annex is an unrated complex found in the low-sec regions of Aridia, Genesis, Kador, Khanid, Kor-Azor, and The Bleak Lands.

It is probably one of the least popular complexes in lowsec.  If you search for fits or tips on it you will get answers like: “remember when your ship had capacitor?” or “remember when your ship could move?”  If you like a little excitement in your PVE, then this complex is for you!  Neuting, webbing, warp scrambling, and tracking disruption are all featured.  Make a mistake in this complex and you will be flying home in your pod.  After all that, the reward for completion is usually some Blood Raider ammo and possibly multiple escalations before maybe providing Corpum A-type loot.  There are certainly easier ways to make isk.

Having said that, I rather enjoy this complex.  It is certainly engaging and it doesn’t take all that long to run.  It is a fight that happens in stages and each stage requires something a little different.  I am showing the fit that I use.  It is perhaps a little unusual so I will show the fit first and then attempt to justify it.  There are probably better fits out there, but I can guarantee that this one works.

[Tengu, HAM Tengu Blood Minor Annex – Blood Crystal Tag] 

Capacitor Flux Coil II

Ballistic Control System II

Ballistic Control System II

Ballistic Control System II

 

Large Shield Extender II

Cap Recharger II

Pith C-Type Large Shield Booster

EM Ward Field II

Dread Guristas EM Ward Amplifier

10MN Afterburner II

Fleeting Propulsion Inhibitor I

 

Heavy Assault Missile Launcher II, Mjolnir Rage Heavy Assault Missile

Heavy Assault Missile Launcher II, Mjolnir Rage Heavy Assault Missile

Heavy Assault Missile Launcher II, Mjolnir Rage Heavy Assault Missile

Heavy Assault Missile Launcher II, Mjolnir Rage Heavy Assault Missile

Heavy Assault Missile Launcher II, Mjolnir Rage Heavy Assault Missile

 

Medium Capacitor Control Circuit II

Medium Hydraulic Bay Thrusters I

Medium Rocket Fuel Cache Partition I

 

Tengu Defensive – Amplification Node

Tengu Electronics – Emergent Locus Analyzer

Tengu Offensive – Accelerated Ejection Bay

Tengu Engineering – Capacitor Regeneration Matrix

Tengu Propulsion – Gravitational Capacitor

First off, the rigs and subsystems are what I am already carrying with me from this fit.  Actually this whole fit is really just a modification of my base fit to deal with the various stages of the complex.

(For a full description of the ships in each room, look at the official wiki.  It does a pretty decent job).

Room 1 – use a Blood Crystal Tag and skip this room!  Seriously.  They are only about 1million isk or so and they save you a ton of time.  Buy a handful next time you are in a hub.  If you are an absolute glutton for punishment, know that this room includes multiple waves of webbing drones combined with neuting cruisers (from 40km) along with 12 battleships.  The webbing drone is the trigger for the next wave so kill it last.  Having a stasis web (preferred) or target painter is almost required for killing the drones.

Room 2:

Stage 1 (passive tank, neut resistance):  Upon warp-in, you will be webbed by 2 stasis towers, 1 drone (trigger for next wave), and 2 elite frigates.  The 2 elite frigates will also warp scramble you.  You will also be neuted immediately by 3 elite cruisers about 30km out.  Killing the cruisers is your first priority.  Using the fit above, you are remarkable resilient to neuting as long as you are not running your shield booster.  I run just the shield hardener and let my buffer soak the damage.  I usually kill the 3 cruisers at 50% shields.  After all 3 cruisers are dead, you can safely run the booster as soon as you get back above 30% capacitor.  Usually, I am above 50% capacitor when they die.

Next, web and kill the scrambling frigates – just in case you need to make an exit.

Stage 2 (clear the webs):  Now you are at crossroads, you can start clearing off the cruisers and battleships or you can try to blitz it.  I usually blitz it.  To do this, kill the stasis towers and then web and kill the drone.  This will trigger the next wave including another web drone.  I immediately web and kill this drone as well triggering the last wave.  (If you opted for a passive tank and no afterburner, then just stay put and kill off the highest dps ships and kill the drone last).

Stage 3 (run & gun): I then activate my afterburner and start kiting. Once moving, my hardeners and cap stable booster easily cover all the incoming damage.  Send 1 volley at the Blood Raider Cathedral to trigger the Cathedral wave.  Kill the Corpus Militant Supervisor (may trigger escalation, may trigger Commander)

If you get a Commander (Dark Blood Seer battlecruiser) he will come with 4 elite frigates that can web and warp scramble.  I recommend killing them first.  Then kill the Commander (may trigger escalation and drop Dark Blood loot).

If you don’t get the escalation, you can destory the Blood Raider Cathedral.  It is also a possible trigger.

Loot: Bounties are 8-15 million isk.  If you get a Commander, he may drop Dark Blood loot.  The best loot is worth about 80 million isk.  You also may get an escalation.  Each escalation site has the chance to drop Dark Blood loot.  The final escalation will be in null sec and may drop Corpum A-type loot (best drop is worth about 900 million isk).

This site has only escalated all the way for me one time and I didn’t take very good notes.  If I get the chance to run it again and it escalates, I will post the results.  I would love it if someone could provide more details from their experiences.