Thursday, 19 August 2010
Do I need Tech 2?
It's no lie that tech 2 modules are better than tech 1 modules, excluding faction modules. But do you really need tech 2?
Yes, of course you do, tech 2 modules are usually far better than tech 1 and cost less than a faction or sometimes best named module. Not only are the actual modules themselves better but some specialisation skills give a bonus to tech 2 modules. Check out the description for 'Medium Artillery Specialization' for an examle.
When training for tech 2 modules, try to use the best named (meta 4) modules instead, if these are too expensive then use a lower meta level module. As a rough guide, try to use the named module that costs nearly the same as the tech 2 version and always have 'ISK to risk' in mind.
But do not be too strict, whilst aiming to skill for tech 2 modules is definately a good idea, there are some cases where tech 2 is not needed.
Often you may find squeezing everything in on your ship a little tricky, tech 2 modules use a lot more power grid and cpu than their best named (meta 4) variants, this is something to consider when fitting your ship especially when some best named modules have equal or better attributes to the tech 2 version. check out the stats for the 1600mm Reinforced Rolled Tungsten plates and its tech 2 version for an example.
Do take note however the cost of best named modules, some can be very expensive, something else to consider especially in a PvP situation. Remember, it's all about the ISK to risk ratio.
Also not having the skills to fit tech 2 modules does not mean you can have any less fun or be regarded as an unskilled player, you can have a lot of fun with a week old character in a properly fitted rifter!
Yes, of course you do, tech 2 modules are usually far better than tech 1 and cost less than a faction or sometimes best named module. Not only are the actual modules themselves better but some specialisation skills give a bonus to tech 2 modules. Check out the description for 'Medium Artillery Specialization' for an examle.
When training for tech 2 modules, try to use the best named (meta 4) modules instead, if these are too expensive then use a lower meta level module. As a rough guide, try to use the named module that costs nearly the same as the tech 2 version and always have 'ISK to risk' in mind.
But do not be too strict, whilst aiming to skill for tech 2 modules is definately a good idea, there are some cases where tech 2 is not needed.
Often you may find squeezing everything in on your ship a little tricky, tech 2 modules use a lot more power grid and cpu than their best named (meta 4) variants, this is something to consider when fitting your ship especially when some best named modules have equal or better attributes to the tech 2 version. check out the stats for the 1600mm Reinforced Rolled Tungsten plates and its tech 2 version for an example.
Do take note however the cost of best named modules, some can be very expensive, something else to consider especially in a PvP situation. Remember, it's all about the ISK to risk ratio.
Also not having the skills to fit tech 2 modules does not mean you can have any less fun or be regarded as an unskilled player, you can have a lot of fun with a week old character in a properly fitted rifter!
Fitting for PvP
Work in progress.
So I'll just stick a Warp Disruptor on my ship and get going right?
If you are going to PvP, buy a ship and fit it specifically for PvP, simply adding tackle to your mission runner just will not do.
A common mistake made when people start to PvP is taking what they have learned from fitting ships for PvE and applying it to a PvP fitting
Here are some key differences to PvE and PvP combat:
Fighting NPC's in PvE is essentially fighting a computer, you can predict what your target or targets are going to do easily and can calculate what amount of damage you are recieving what EW is going to be applied to you and can fit a ship to provail in the fight.
Most of the time you are recieving a fairly constant level of damage in PvE combat, it can be quite a suprise as to how much damage a player's ship can deal and is often considerably a lot more than an NPC.
Cap-stability is often regarded as an essential for a PvE fitting, especially when a new player is not used to controlling individual modules and baby-sitting the fight. Relying on cap rechargers, cap power relays, capacitor control circuits etc. will not always work for PvP, especially considering cap-stability isn't a major essential for PvP and energy neutralising modules are very popular to have on PvP ships. Using a capacitor booster with the appopriate cap charges is a much better way of keep up your capacitor in PvP.
*
I suppose this is apart of the learning curve of EVE and it doesn't help being relatively poor as a new player and not being able to afford numerous ships for PvE and PvP, but here are some tips for fitting for PvP.
There are so many different tactics to player versus player combat, there is no way to fit a ship that can do everything, every fitting and every ship will have a weakness, it is the players that identify there strengths and weaknesses before entering combat that provail in pvp.
As with every ship, fit it for it's purpose. Are you going to be a fast tackler? How fast do you need to fly? Are you joining a sniper battlship fleet? How far do you need to be able to lock and hit?
Ask yourself "what am I using this ship for?" and then fit it to do that the best it can.
To use create an example we will stick to the idea that you are a solo pilot looking for people ratting in asteroid belts, in low security space. Yes imagine you are a pirate, flying a T1 Cruiser.
Don't let your target escape.
Warping in and shooting at your target can leave you feeling embarassed if they can just warp away, you are going to need a warp disruptor at the very minimum.
Even if you have somebody else with you with a point, you don't know for sure they can hold that point for the entire fight, it is best that every pvp ship has tackle.
How much tackle do I need?
Be sure to check out the 'Warp disruptor or Warp Scrambler?' post!
It depends on how much you can fit, and what your target is.
Say you are flying a Rupture, or a Vexor. You have 3 mid slots to work with, that's just enough room to fit a prop mod, warp scrambler or disruptor and a webifier. Being able to stop your target from warping away, and also stop them from burning out of your point range is a great tackle.
However, say you are flying a Caracal, you are going to be shield tanking, so although you have plenty of mid slots, you are going to want to use those for your tank. You may only want to fit a warp disruptor or scrambler.
Imagine you are going to engage a battleship (very brave of you) consider the maximum velocity of this ship compared to your cruiser, he is going to have a tough time escaping your point range, so is a webifier really needed?
Now imagine you are going to engage a frigate, fitting a warp scrambler will shut down it's microwarp drive, but what if it has an afterburner instead? Are you going to be able to keep up with it to keep it pointed? You will probably need a webifier.
The need for speed
Realistically speaking every sub-cap PvP ship needs a prop mod. This is not always the case but fittings that do not use one are often very niche and have a specific purpose, if you are roaming and are jumping through gates or trying to catch people at a belt for example you are going to need a prop mod.
So do I use an Afterburner or a Microwarp Drive?
This is highly debated, and will be looked into further in another post.
But as a general rule, Frigates and Cruisers can get away with using an Afterburner, everything else will need a Microwarp Drive.
Think how fast your ship travels without a prop mod, think how much mass it has, then think about how fast you need to travel. Say you jump into a gate camp and need to burn back to the gate, will an afterburner be enough to get your cruiser back to the gate before the camp destroys you?
Right, I'm a flyin' I'm a tacklin' what now?
Alright so lets fit some firepower
Wait, not every ship needs to fit guns or launchers, some have specific roles and bonuses and could benefit from alterative high slot modules such as energy neutralisers or cynos for example.
But back to our T1 Cruiser example, you might want to go for a really high damage high dps fit and fit the biggest guns you can fit onto your ship. The bigger the module the more power and CPU it is going to use, so that leaves less room for your tank.
You may also want to consider other attributes such as tracking speed for example, yes 425mm autocannons do a lot of damage, but how much of that damage is actually going to hit a fast moving target? you may want to downgrade to 220mm vulcan's.
This leads to nicely to...
Tank vs Gank
This topic is also highly debated so check out the Tank vs Gank post in the blog archive.
Before you fit your ship, decide if you want to fit it for maxium damage, or maximum survivability or a balance.
You may even want to forget about both tank and gank and fit for high speed and fast locking time. Yet again, it depends on what you are using the ship for.
So I'll just stick a Warp Disruptor on my ship and get going right?
No.
If you are going to PvP, buy a ship and fit it specifically for PvP, simply adding tackle to your mission runner just will not do.
A common mistake made when people start to PvP is taking what they have learned from fitting ships for PvE and applying it to a PvP fitting
Here are some key differences to PvE and PvP combat:
Fighting NPC's in PvE is essentially fighting a computer, you can predict what your target or targets are going to do easily and can calculate what amount of damage you are recieving what EW is going to be applied to you and can fit a ship to provail in the fight.
Most of the time you are recieving a fairly constant level of damage in PvE combat, it can be quite a suprise as to how much damage a player's ship can deal and is often considerably a lot more than an NPC.
Cap-stability is often regarded as an essential for a PvE fitting, especially when a new player is not used to controlling individual modules and baby-sitting the fight. Relying on cap rechargers, cap power relays, capacitor control circuits etc. will not always work for PvP, especially considering cap-stability isn't a major essential for PvP and energy neutralising modules are very popular to have on PvP ships. Using a capacitor booster with the appopriate cap charges is a much better way of keep up your capacitor in PvP.
*
I suppose this is apart of the learning curve of EVE and it doesn't help being relatively poor as a new player and not being able to afford numerous ships for PvE and PvP, but here are some tips for fitting for PvP.
There are so many different tactics to player versus player combat, there is no way to fit a ship that can do everything, every fitting and every ship will have a weakness, it is the players that identify there strengths and weaknesses before entering combat that provail in pvp.
As with every ship, fit it for it's purpose. Are you going to be a fast tackler? How fast do you need to fly? Are you joining a sniper battlship fleet? How far do you need to be able to lock and hit?
Ask yourself "what am I using this ship for?" and then fit it to do that the best it can.
To use create an example we will stick to the idea that you are a solo pilot looking for people ratting in asteroid belts, in low security space. Yes imagine you are a pirate, flying a T1 Cruiser.
Don't let your target escape.
Warping in and shooting at your target can leave you feeling embarassed if they can just warp away, you are going to need a warp disruptor at the very minimum.
Even if you have somebody else with you with a point, you don't know for sure they can hold that point for the entire fight, it is best that every pvp ship has tackle.
How much tackle do I need?
Be sure to check out the 'Warp disruptor or Warp Scrambler?' post!
It depends on how much you can fit, and what your target is.
Say you are flying a Rupture, or a Vexor. You have 3 mid slots to work with, that's just enough room to fit a prop mod, warp scrambler or disruptor and a webifier. Being able to stop your target from warping away, and also stop them from burning out of your point range is a great tackle.
However, say you are flying a Caracal, you are going to be shield tanking, so although you have plenty of mid slots, you are going to want to use those for your tank. You may only want to fit a warp disruptor or scrambler.
Imagine you are going to engage a battleship (very brave of you) consider the maximum velocity of this ship compared to your cruiser, he is going to have a tough time escaping your point range, so is a webifier really needed?
Now imagine you are going to engage a frigate, fitting a warp scrambler will shut down it's microwarp drive, but what if it has an afterburner instead? Are you going to be able to keep up with it to keep it pointed? You will probably need a webifier.
The need for speed
Realistically speaking every sub-cap PvP ship needs a prop mod. This is not always the case but fittings that do not use one are often very niche and have a specific purpose, if you are roaming and are jumping through gates or trying to catch people at a belt for example you are going to need a prop mod.
So do I use an Afterburner or a Microwarp Drive?
This is highly debated, and will be looked into further in another post.
But as a general rule, Frigates and Cruisers can get away with using an Afterburner, everything else will need a Microwarp Drive.
Think how fast your ship travels without a prop mod, think how much mass it has, then think about how fast you need to travel. Say you jump into a gate camp and need to burn back to the gate, will an afterburner be enough to get your cruiser back to the gate before the camp destroys you?
Right, I'm a flyin' I'm a tacklin' what now?
Alright so lets fit some firepower
Wait, not every ship needs to fit guns or launchers, some have specific roles and bonuses and could benefit from alterative high slot modules such as energy neutralisers or cynos for example.
But back to our T1 Cruiser example, you might want to go for a really high damage high dps fit and fit the biggest guns you can fit onto your ship. The bigger the module the more power and CPU it is going to use, so that leaves less room for your tank.
You may also want to consider other attributes such as tracking speed for example, yes 425mm autocannons do a lot of damage, but how much of that damage is actually going to hit a fast moving target? you may want to downgrade to 220mm vulcan's.
This leads to nicely to...
Tank vs Gank
This topic is also highly debated so check out the Tank vs Gank post in the blog archive.
Before you fit your ship, decide if you want to fit it for maxium damage, or maximum survivability or a balance.
You may even want to forget about both tank and gank and fit for high speed and fast locking time. Yet again, it depends on what you are using the ship for.
Fitting for PvE
There are many ways to mission / rat / run complexes, here is some advice for fitting your ship for solo PvE.
Firstly, decide how you are going to complete your objective. Are you going to be killing a lot of NPC's? Are you going to be speed tanking? or are you going to flat out tank all the damage? Do you want to kill everything as fast as possible and get out quickly?
What weapon should I use?
This is the easy bit. You will have already decided what is the most appropriate weapon type by looking at what bonuses your ship gives (If you haven't done this, show info on your ship and read the description!) for example, If you are flying a Minmatar ship, you will be using either autocannons or artillery.
Next decide what range you are going to need, long range? medium range? short range? This should narrow down your weapon choice (see the 'Range' post for more info.)
What ammo should I use?
Use the ammo that fits in your gun or launcher, some types of ammo uses different damage types, use the appropriate damage type depending on what you are shooting at. Hybrid weapons can only deal kinetic and thermal damage, lasers can only deal EM and thermal damage. For projectile weapons and missiles use the following damage types:
Faction - Primary / Secondary
Angel - Explosive
Blood - EM / Thermal
Drones - Thermal / Explosive / EM / Kinetic
Guristas - Kinetic / Thermal
Mercenary - Thermal
Mordus - Thermal & Kinetic
Sansha - EM / Thermal
Serpentis - Thermal
Armor or Shield tank?
Chose either shield or armor, this decision can be easily made by checking if your ship gives any bonuses to either shield or armor, and how many mid and low slots you have.
As a general rule, if you have more low slots then armor tank, if you have more mid slots then shield tank.
Generally speaking....
Caldari = Shield tank.
Gallente = Armor tank.
Amarr = Armor tank.
Minmatar = Either. (Minmatar ships are rather versatile)
Active, Passive or Buffer?
Most players opt for either active tanking or passive tanking for PvE, it requires less manual piloting and is generally more reliable than speed tanking. Buffer tanking is definately not recommended for PvE.
So, what now?
Resistances. EM / Thermal / Kinetic / Explosive
What about them?
You need high resistances when tanking. I'm not going to start talking about the maths but higher resistances makes repairing damage easier.
Shield Hardeners, Shield Resistance Amplifiers, Armor Hardeners, Resistance Plating and Energized Plating all add extra resistances to your ship, either to all resistance types such as an Invulnability Field and Energized Adaptive Nano Membrane, or to specific resistance types such as am Armor EM hardener ot Photon Scattering Field for example.
Chose what resistances you are going to need. Here is a list of what damage types certain NPC's will be shooting at you:
Faction - Primary / Secondary
Angel - Explosive / Thermal
Blood - EM / Thermal
Drones - Omni
Guristas - Kinetic / Thermal
Mercenary - Omni
Mordus - Kinetic / Thermal
Sansha - EM / Thermal
Serpentis - Kinetic / Thermal
EoM - Kinetic / Thermal
So how many resistance modules should I fit?
It really depends on what ship you are using.
As a general rule for battleships and maybe battlecruisers:
3 or 4 for armor tanking
2 or 3 for shield tanking
When shield tanking you can also fit Shield Boost Amplifiers, which as you might be able to guess, increases the effect of shield boosters. So once you have enough resistance of the damage type you are tanking, fit shield boost amplifiers.
And yes, do use multiple resistance mods of the same damage type, for example when tanking Blood Raiders, use 2 Armor EM Hardeners and 2 Armor Thermic Hardeners.
Do I need a Damage Control?
Damage Control is the king of all modules, it applies a baseline level of resistance to all damage types across shield armor and structure.
Technically for Active and Passive tanking PvE you do not need a damage control since you should not be tanking on structure and there are more effective modules available to apply resistances to shield or armor across all damage types.
However, if is highly advisable to use one if you are inexperienced with the ship you are using do fit a damage control, just incase your tank breaks.
So now I need a shield booster or armor repairer right?
Yes.
But what size?
That depends on a few things.
For armor tanking it is simple:
Frigate / Destroyer: Small Armor Repairer
Cruiser / Battlecruiser: Medium Armor Repairer
Battleship: Large Armor Repairer
However, for shield tanking is a bit more flexible, for frigates you are rarely going to be able to fit anything bigger than a Small Shield Booster, and for cruisers perhaps a Large Shield Booster is best.
When you start flying Battlecruisers and Battleships you can fit any sized booster, it all depends on whether you want your tank to be cap-stable, or if you are just going to pulse your shield booster. You have to make the decision here I am afraid!
Help! I keep running out of capacitor!
Ok so you want a cap-stable fit, this is where you need to 'fine-tune' your fitting so that your capacitor regenerates faster than your modules can use it, here are some things to keep in mind.
Firstly, do you even need a cap-stable fit? It is not always neccessary and you should only really activate your shield booster or armor repairer when you need to repair damage.
It is far easier to have a cap-stable armor tank than a cap-stable shield tank, the best module to regenerate capacitor is the 'Cap Recharger' which uses a mid slot, which you need for shield tanking modules.
Typically active tanking PvE ships have their mid slots filled with Cap Rechargers.
Hybrid weapons and Lasers both use capacitor aswell, you may wish to downgrade your guns if you are using these, but is not often needed.
You could fit Nosferatu's in your high slots, but be warned this will only work if you have an NPC in range to suck cap from.
Use Capacitor Control Circuit rigs. They regenerate your capacitor, simple.
Hey! I want to passive shield tank!
Fill every low slot with Shield Power Relays, fit a minimum or 3 Shield Resistance Amplifiers of which damage types you are tanking then fill the rest of your mid slots with the biggest Shield Extenders you can fit, afterburner is optional, put 3 Core Defence Field Purger rigs on there, was it really that hard?
Firstly, decide how you are going to complete your objective. Are you going to be killing a lot of NPC's? Are you going to be speed tanking? or are you going to flat out tank all the damage? Do you want to kill everything as fast as possible and get out quickly?
What weapon should I use?
This is the easy bit. You will have already decided what is the most appropriate weapon type by looking at what bonuses your ship gives (If you haven't done this, show info on your ship and read the description!) for example, If you are flying a Minmatar ship, you will be using either autocannons or artillery.
Next decide what range you are going to need, long range? medium range? short range? This should narrow down your weapon choice (see the 'Range' post for more info.)
What ammo should I use?
Use the ammo that fits in your gun or launcher, some types of ammo uses different damage types, use the appropriate damage type depending on what you are shooting at. Hybrid weapons can only deal kinetic and thermal damage, lasers can only deal EM and thermal damage. For projectile weapons and missiles use the following damage types:
Faction - Primary / Secondary
Angel - Explosive
Blood - EM / Thermal
Drones - Thermal / Explosive / EM / Kinetic
Guristas - Kinetic / Thermal
Mercenary - Thermal
Mordus - Thermal & Kinetic
Sansha - EM / Thermal
Serpentis - Thermal
Armor or Shield tank?
Chose either shield or armor, this decision can be easily made by checking if your ship gives any bonuses to either shield or armor, and how many mid and low slots you have.
As a general rule, if you have more low slots then armor tank, if you have more mid slots then shield tank.
Generally speaking....
Caldari = Shield tank.
Gallente = Armor tank.
Amarr = Armor tank.
Minmatar = Either. (Minmatar ships are rather versatile)
Active, Passive or Buffer?
Most players opt for either active tanking or passive tanking for PvE, it requires less manual piloting and is generally more reliable than speed tanking. Buffer tanking is definately not recommended for PvE.
So, what now?
Resistances. EM / Thermal / Kinetic / Explosive
What about them?
You need high resistances when tanking. I'm not going to start talking about the maths but higher resistances makes repairing damage easier.
Shield Hardeners, Shield Resistance Amplifiers, Armor Hardeners, Resistance Plating and Energized Plating all add extra resistances to your ship, either to all resistance types such as an Invulnability Field and Energized Adaptive Nano Membrane, or to specific resistance types such as am Armor EM hardener ot Photon Scattering Field for example.
Chose what resistances you are going to need. Here is a list of what damage types certain NPC's will be shooting at you:
Faction - Primary / Secondary
Angel - Explosive / Thermal
Blood - EM / Thermal
Drones - Omni
Guristas - Kinetic / Thermal
Mercenary - Omni
Mordus - Kinetic / Thermal
Sansha - EM / Thermal
Serpentis - Kinetic / Thermal
EoM - Kinetic / Thermal
So how many resistance modules should I fit?
It really depends on what ship you are using.
As a general rule for battleships and maybe battlecruisers:
3 or 4 for armor tanking
2 or 3 for shield tanking
When shield tanking you can also fit Shield Boost Amplifiers, which as you might be able to guess, increases the effect of shield boosters. So once you have enough resistance of the damage type you are tanking, fit shield boost amplifiers.
And yes, do use multiple resistance mods of the same damage type, for example when tanking Blood Raiders, use 2 Armor EM Hardeners and 2 Armor Thermic Hardeners.
Do I need a Damage Control?
Damage Control is the king of all modules, it applies a baseline level of resistance to all damage types across shield armor and structure.
Technically for Active and Passive tanking PvE you do not need a damage control since you should not be tanking on structure and there are more effective modules available to apply resistances to shield or armor across all damage types.
However, if is highly advisable to use one if you are inexperienced with the ship you are using do fit a damage control, just incase your tank breaks.
So now I need a shield booster or armor repairer right?
Yes.
But what size?
That depends on a few things.
For armor tanking it is simple:
Frigate / Destroyer: Small Armor Repairer
Cruiser / Battlecruiser: Medium Armor Repairer
Battleship: Large Armor Repairer
However, for shield tanking is a bit more flexible, for frigates you are rarely going to be able to fit anything bigger than a Small Shield Booster, and for cruisers perhaps a Large Shield Booster is best.
When you start flying Battlecruisers and Battleships you can fit any sized booster, it all depends on whether you want your tank to be cap-stable, or if you are just going to pulse your shield booster. You have to make the decision here I am afraid!
Help! I keep running out of capacitor!
Ok so you want a cap-stable fit, this is where you need to 'fine-tune' your fitting so that your capacitor regenerates faster than your modules can use it, here are some things to keep in mind.
Firstly, do you even need a cap-stable fit? It is not always neccessary and you should only really activate your shield booster or armor repairer when you need to repair damage.
It is far easier to have a cap-stable armor tank than a cap-stable shield tank, the best module to regenerate capacitor is the 'Cap Recharger' which uses a mid slot, which you need for shield tanking modules.
Typically active tanking PvE ships have their mid slots filled with Cap Rechargers.
Hybrid weapons and Lasers both use capacitor aswell, you may wish to downgrade your guns if you are using these, but is not often needed.
You could fit Nosferatu's in your high slots, but be warned this will only work if you have an NPC in range to suck cap from.
Use Capacitor Control Circuit rigs. They regenerate your capacitor, simple.
Hey! I want to passive shield tank!
Fill every low slot with Shield Power Relays, fit a minimum or 3 Shield Resistance Amplifiers of which damage types you are tanking then fill the rest of your mid slots with the biggest Shield Extenders you can fit, afterburner is optional, put 3 Core Defence Field Purger rigs on there, was it really that hard?
Range
Quick and easy...
Short Range:
Blasters
Autocannons
Pulse Lasers
Siege Missile Launcher (Torpedo's)
Rockets
Assault Missiles
Heavy Assault Missiles
Long Range:
Railguns
Artillery
Beam Lasers
Cruise Missiles
Standard Missile Launcher (Light Missiles)
Heavy Missiles
Short Range:
Blasters
Autocannons
Pulse Lasers
Siege Missile Launcher (Torpedo's)
Rockets
Assault Missiles
Heavy Assault Missiles
Long Range:
Railguns
Artillery
Beam Lasers
Cruise Missiles
Standard Missile Launcher (Light Missiles)
Heavy Missiles
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