EVE: Ganked 103

A while ago I participated in RVB Ganked 103 and the theme was rifter hulls. With the choice between rifter, jaguar and wolf I would have liked to fly a wolf for the dps but instead went for a jaguar, e a shield jag flies 3 km/s vs 2 km/s for the armor wolf.
Artillery over autocannons was an easier choice. A relatively big fleet like this and a horde of small ships means everything turns into a race to get on killmails. So I’d need the ability to close range fast and large as possible damage application range.
My fit had an invulnerability field that I forgot to activate when targeted so perhaps next time I’ll replace it with a sensor booster (pod catching, km whoring, kb padding, one of the better pvp modules).

 

 

It took a while to get started but eventually we undocked and headed for null sec space. While in high sec the fleet brought its own tidi wave but this passed once we got close to null. Our basic plan was to go to renter space and kill some ratters engaging anything we could handle while on our way. Mostly we jumped back and forth among the pipeline between Doril and HLW-HP, managing to get some fights. Outside combat (voice) chat was something of a mess but when action came targets were called out loud and clear (and sometimes broadcasted as well).

The most important events of note were encounters with bombers camping a gate, a CFC cruiser gang and some exchanges with an N3 interceptor gang. Guest of note was Sugar Kyle, CSM9 candidate, bringing along some support from her chat channel 'Spoonful of Sugar'.

After I lost my second ship I decided against reshipping and left fleet heading back to high sec in my capsule. On the way back I had a small adventure in one system with half a dozen drag bubbles and a hostile brutix but I managed to deny him an unsatisfactory empty clone kill and made my escape.

In the end I managed to get on 21 kills, 18 ships and 3 pods.

http://eve-kill.net/?a=pilot_detail&plt_id=593357&view=kills&m=2&y=2014

I lost 2 jaguars and one pod during the roam.

http://eve-kill.net/?a=pilot_detail&plt_id=593357&view=losses&m=2&y=2014

My fit:

http://eve-kill.net/?a=kill_detail&kll_id=21829639

Ganked 106 will be ECM themed and I would have loved to join hat one but I’ll be spending that day playing board games: Twilight Imperium (plastic space ships!), Civilization, Smallworld.

In other news:

 

My main finished Mining Director V, one alt finished Sentry Drones V and the other alt is little over a week away. A wormhole PI alt trained to get into a decently tanked but shitty dps drake. 

 

*Hint: don't spend 2 bil on a drake or legion*

EVE: High sec corporation

Some people feel that a high sec corp has no added value and only puts you at the mercy of awoxers. While there is some truth in that statement I still  jumped at the chance to join a new high sec corp: Lucifer’s Hammer.

Lucifer's Hammer is the industrial sister corporation of Stay Frosty and will primarily be a high sec corporation. We are still trying to figure out our identity and what direction to take so I took a look at what other high sec corporations advertise with.

• Mining ops with orca boosting.
• Ore refining service
• Ore buyback program
• Manufacturing
• Hauling and logistics
• Mission running
• POS research and invention
• POCO access at reduced tax rates
• Jump clone access
• Helpful advice

Which of these can I provide or assist with?

• Mining ops with orca boosting.
  I am currently training mining director V so I can use T2 mining links and the Mining Foreman Mindlink implant.

• Ore refining service
  My main industry alt is running mission for standings with Caldari Business Tribunal, Creodon and Quafe so I can offer perfect refine in all Everyshore high sec ice mining systems. I'll probably get standings with Core Complexion and Federal Freight Storage as well to offer the same service in Hevrice and Raneilles.

• Ore buyback program
  Since not everyone is interested in hauling ore and minerals around the universe the corporation could offer to buy these at a reasonable price. If my own manufacturing takes off I might want to do this myself because I don't think I can mine enough to

• Manufacturing
  I can build items for sale to Stay Frosty (I assume they tend to lose more ships as high sec players) and I can offer to build items for players that supply minerals but don't have the skills or blueprints.

• Hauling and logistics
  With an orca, freighter and multiple blockade runners I have no trouble moving items around for those with smaller cargo hulls or for our security challenged friends in Hevrice. While I am not yet considering a jump freighter, I am looking to get into a carrier.

• Mission running
  I could allow newer players to assist in shooting red crosses or contract a site bookmark so they can salvage missions after completion. Recruitment policy is still undecided but it seems likely Lucifer’s Hammer will adopt the same open door recruitment policy Stay Frosty has in use. So perhaps it's best to shelve any faction fit mission ships, run my own background checks or request api keys from anyone that wants to fly with me. 

• POS research and invention
  I could research or invent blueprints for corp members that don’t have the skills when not researching anything for myself.

• Jump clone access
  Estel Arador corp probably has more to offer as any other corporation in this regard.

• Helpful advice
  Yay! Advice I can do, how helpful this is can be open for discussion.

Which of the above am I looking for?

• POCO access at reduced tax rates
  Currently I do PI in a wormhole but if Lucifer’s Hammer or Stay Frosty can offer support for local PI that would be great. This is certainly something I will look into.

• POS research and invention
  I have a small collection of blueprints but he majority needs to be researched before I can compete with established manufacturers so access to a research POS is almost mandatory for me. This is also the first thing I made inquiries about but since the Stay Frosty Frigate Free For All was coming up  most of the leadership was otherwise occupied.

The main benefit of a high sec corp I see is perhaps the social environment and being part of a group. What I want from my corporation is a sense of purpose. Instead of manufacturing the most profitable items to sell in Jita I’d rather build ships and modules that my friends plan to fly and instead of being fleetbear 254 I want to feel useful and appreciated .

This will be my first real high sec corporation. Most directors are alts of Stay Frosty members and have no real experience with high sec corporations either so we will probably hit our head a few times trying to get everything up and running. This first became obvious when I started a discussion about anchoring a research POS because until I mentioned this nobody had considered the requirements of anchoring a POS.

As self-proclaimed carebear my first step was to push for anchoring a POS in high sec. Unfortunately anchoring a POS in high sec requires the corporation to have good  faction standings. With over 30 members in just a matter of days this was not going to happen without first purging a lot of players, including myself.

I didn’t even consider anchoring a POS in low sec because that is where the evil pirates live. But with almost 200 of those pirates on our side a low sec POS might not be as suicidal as it appears. Scientific networking allows you to research blueprints remotely as long as they are stored in a corporation hangar in the same system so there is no need to turn the POS into a loot pinata either.

The close relationship with Stay Frosty and the pirate/low sec background of our leadership and perhaps players is probably what will make Lucifer’s Hammer stand out and differentiate it from most other high sec corporations.


The future?
  

EVE: PI setup guide

This will be a step by step guide on setting up a PI planet, in this case we will produce coolant on a single planet. I am using a wormhole system, high sec planets will have a substantially lower amount of resources available.

The most important thing to remember is the routing, always route your extractors and factories to a launchpad or silo instead of directly to the next production step. This will prevent you from losing production because of lack of storage space.

Coolant is produced by combining water (refined from aqueous liquids) and electrolytes (refined from ionic solutions).

The actual numbers are 6k P0 materials to 40 P1 materials (times 2) to produce 5 P2, my numbers are multiplied by 4 so it is a nice round figure for P3 or P4 production.


The first thing we have to do is locate a suitable planet. Coolant can be produced locally on gas and storm planets. In this case I chose a storm planet as these are generally smaller in size and have a better supply of aqueous liquids. We are looking for a place that offers both of these resources close together.

An image showing availability of aqueous liquids


The same area showing ionic solutions


Once we have located a suitable spot it is time to put down a command center and upgrade it.

Command center, upgraded to level 4, placed roughly between the two extraction materials.


Next I put down a launchpad and two extractor control units. One ECU to extract aqueous liquids and another one for ionic solutions. In our example we can place the extractors right next to the launchpad. To finish I create planetary links between the launchpad and the ECU's.

Image showing the CC, launchpad, ECU's and planetary links.


After this it is time to place some factories on the planet. I will start with the minimum, one basic factory to refine water from aqueous liquids, one basic factory to refine electrolytes from ionic solutions and one advanced industrial facility to produce coolant from the water and electrolytes. With planetary links connecting the factories to the launchpad.

Image showing the factories being added to the setup.


Next we will add some extractor heads to the extractor control units. Select the ECU and choose 'Survey for Deposits'

ECU selected for surveying


On the ECU I now select aqueous liquids as materials to extract, I set a program duration (3 days for now), I select how many ECU heads I want (I start with 4 in this example) and place them on the highest concentration of aqueous liquids.

Program output will average 14.000 aqueous liquids per hour, the initial rate will be higher and drop over time.


Repeat this step for the second ECU.

Ionic solutions ECU with 4 heads, 3 days run time.


We still have to route the extracted materials to a destination so I select the ECU and select the products button to create a route to the launchpad. Do this for both products.

Products tab on the ECU


Creating a route to the launchpad


After this it is time to select factory schematics. I select the first basic factory and scroll down to select water as the product to create and routing the output back to the launchpad.

Selecting water as product


Routing output to the launchpad


The other basic factory will build electrolytes and the output will be routed to the launchpad again.
The advanced factory will produce coolant and output will be directed to the launchpad.

Advanced industrial facility schematic selection.


Routing the coolant output to the launchpad


The final step before our planet is operational is routing aqeous liquids and electrolytes to the basic facilites and routing water and electrolytes to the advanced facility.

To create routes while there is no product in storage we can select the launchpad and view the existing routes. This will allow us to create a new route. Select the incoming product you wish to route, click the create route button and select a destination (the factories you need to supply with materials).

Aqueous liquids are selected to create a route from the launchpad to a factory.




Do this for aqueous liquids, ionic solutions, water and electrolytes. You cannot create a route to send materials to a factory until that factory has a schematic selected and you can only route materials used in the schematic.

After this step your launchpad routing will look something like this.


Finally you can add more factories and if storage space is an issue you can use silos or lauchpads for additional storage. Each P1 factory consumes 3000 P0 materials during its 30 minute cycle or 6000 per hour and produces 20 P1 per cycle, 40 per hour.
A P2 factory requires 40 P1 materials as input for its one hour cycle and produces 5 P2 output.

This means that for every 6000 P0 you extract per hour you can put down one set of factories. Our setup extracts about 14k P0 per hour so can feed 3 factory sets.

With CCU 4 my planet lacks the PG to add a third coolant factory


As stated right at the start the most important thing is setting up your routes correctly.
Extractor > launchpad/silo > basic factory > launchpad > advanced factory > launchpad

This is just one example on how to set up a planet, it might not even be the most effective and in fact probably isn't. It certainly is the lowest maintenance I can come up with.

If you have any suggestions for improvements or if I missed something I'd love to hear it. And despite the length of the post, setting up PI is easier as it seems. But the initial setup certainly does involve a lot of clicking.

EVE: The Blood-Stained Stars

As I am close to Arnon I jump over to see if sister Alitura is willing to talk to me. Apparently she likes me because she asks me if I want to reset The Bloodstained Stars. I confirm and accept the first mission before undocking in my interceptor.

52 Missions and 3h40m later Dagan is a smoking wreck.

The Bloodstained Stars includes a lot of travel time which is why I used a fast frigate. My 130 dps interceptor was unable to break Dagan's tank until I overheated though, so unskilled players might want to use a cruiser to finish him off.

Incidentally: post #100

EVE: Tengu mission fit.

This is basically a reply to this and this where I promised Troy Wexler of High Sec Carebearing Extravaganza to post my fit.

My high sec mision tengu fit:



Subsystems:
Amplification Node, this subsystem gives a big bonus to active tanking. The Adaptive Shielding subsystem would trade a mid slot for a high slot resulting in slightly less ehp and a 50% reduction in active tank capabilities.

Accelerated Ejection Bay, it should be obvious that this subsystem allows you to put out the most dps.

Augmented Capacitor Reservoir, this subsystem adds a 6th launcher hardpoint for more dps.

Fuel Catalyst, this increases your AB speed increasing your tank and allowing you to close range faster. The other subsystems are more situational, e.g. the Interdiction Nullifier is only useful in nullsec where bubbles exist.

Dissolution Sequencer, more sensor strength to reduce the chance of jams from gurista rats. This subsystem also adds 3 mid and 1 low slot compared to the 4 mid slots of the Emergent Locus Analyzer. I use the EML for exploration fits and usually combine it with the Adaptive Shielding subsystem in case I need the high slot for a cloak or probe launcher. I went for the Dissolution Sequencer because the extra low slot allows for an additional BCS, increasing dps output.

High slots:
6x Heavy Assault Missile Launcher II, less range but more DPS compared to Heavy Missile Launchers. I noticed HAM launchers also use less cpu .

Mid slots:
1x 10 MN Afterburner II, to close range and increase speed tank.
1x EM Ward Field II, to close your EM resist hole.
2x Adaptive Invulnerability Field II, more tank. You can exchange one for a target painter if you don't need the tank.
1x Gistum C-Type Medium Shield Booster, least cap intensive and relatively cheap. Uses less cpu as a techII Medium Shield Booster. The first incarnation of this tengu used a small deadspace shield booster. While it might not look like much a small shield booster probably offers enough tank for all but the hardest missions.
1x Shield Boost Amplifier II, feel free to drop this for a target painter or other module. Slightly more efficient as the second Adaptive Invulnerability Field so drop that before you drop the SBA. With exploration fits I will often this and the invulnerability field to fit a relic and data analyzer.

Since I am lazy and don't want to change fits I fly an omniresist profile. It is of course possible to fit rat/mission specific hardeners.

Low slots:
3x Ballistic Control System II, more dps
1x Damage Control II, it's a rare fit where I don't use one. On a passive tanked nighthawk or rattlesnake a SPRII is usually more effective if you don't mind the drawback in capacitor recharge rate.

Rigs:
Medium Rocket Fuel Cache Partition II
Medium Capacitor Control Circuit II
Medium Semiconductor Memory Cell I

A real carebear can be recognized by his need for cap stability. The first incarnation of my fit featured three CCC rigs. Feel free to use 3 damage/rof rigs if you like. The rigs I use were a personal preference at the time. If I ever fit up a new tengu I will probably use different rigs.

Ammunition:
I use normal scourge heavy assault missiles. Faction missiles will do more damage but HAM launchers have a high rate of fire. On occasion I have used use fury or javelin missiles but reload times reduce dps while fury missiles ask for target painters to be really effective.

Implants:
An easy way to increase the effectiveness of your ships is to use implants.
This is the first clone I have with Genolution CA-1 and CA-2 implants to get some extra cpu/powergrid for additional fitting options.

Slot 6 is usually filled with a 3% cpu or powergrid implant.
Slot 7-10 are not in use right now but I have a jump clone that does have some 3% Zainou 'Deadeye' implants in his head.
Slot 7: Zainou 'Deadeye' Missile Bombardment MB-703,  3% missile flight time.
Slot 8: Zainou 'Deadeye' Guided Missile Precision GP-803, 3% missile explosion signature radius.
Slot 9: Zainou 'Deadeye' Target Navigation Prediction TN-903, 3% target velocity factor.
Slot 10: Zainou 'Deadeye' Rapid Launch RL-1003, 3% missile launcher rate of fire.

Pimping your fit:
An old version of my tengu used two CN BCS. These increase your dps but also increase your gank value. One significant advantage is the fact they use a lot less cpu as TechII BCS.



The tengu was my main mission ship for a long time but after Rubicon I bought a cruise Golem and made that my main mission ship. I do have a heavy missile nighthawk but it rarely sees any use.

My minmatar alt main mission ship is a Vargur, my golem is named 'Vargurs do it better'. Though I have to admit I haven't even flown the Vargur since Rubicon was released.

EVE: Mr nice guy.

Right after I finish the rats in a data site and start hacking the first container a magnate warps in at 100. Because I am lazy I did not put a scout on the high sec static but instead trusted on dscan to give me enough advance warning of incoming hostiles. Obvious mistake, I really should know better by now.

Because I do not want to abandon the site I watch to see what the magnate does while getting ready to warp off in case it's just bait pretending to be new. The magnate warps off and I decide to put my scout on the static after all and see the magnate jumping back to high sec. I complete the minigame triggering loot spew and get nothing of value.

Just as I am working on the second container the magnate jumps back in and warps to the data site again. I warp a myrmidon to the static while I approach him and lock him up. I also start typing a message in local but before I can press enter he warps off again.



My myrmidon on the static deploys sentry drones and when the magnate lands (20 km from the hole) I lock him up again but don't shoot because I suspect he might be new and typing a reply. Instead he opens up a convo:



One of these days that 'new player' won't be new and will just point and kill me.

EVE: No combat, no loss

After losing a battlecruiser a few days ago I wanted to try running the available combat sites again but saturday we had 3 incoming wormholes so I deemed it unsafe. Today we didn't have any incoming wormholes so right after downtime I logged in and warped one harbinger with auguror support to the first combat site.

I was almost done when I noticed a new signature on the probe scanner. I immediately refreshed dscan and spotted a loki, which meant that a loki had spotted me and a collection of sleeper wrecks so I immediately warped off, leaving behind my MTU.

 

Switching so a scanning frigate I scanned down the new wormhole and took a peek inside. A C5, J114353. Two POS-es and a Rorqual were in dscan range of the hole and a quick look at the poco owners gave me at least some intel on who I was dealing with, Section 2. I added their alliance to my contacts with bad standing so they would stand out in local and added all corp members to my watchlist to see who was online. A quick look at their killboard revealed they like to use bait and to fight with odds on their side.

After all this I scanned down my abandoned MTU (forgot to bookmark it after dropping) and put my alt in a salvaging catalyst. While in warp to the site I noticed a myrmidon appearing on dscan but I landed first, scooped up the MTU plus loot and was back in warp right as the myrmidon landed at zero.

I then went off to do some other stuff besides playing EVE and when I did return I decided to go out shopping for a new battlecruiser. As my capsule landed on the N110 there was a drake loitering which warped off as my capsule landed. What a coincidence that I would spot a visitor just as I returned from my break, I thought to myself.

The drake then started running a combat site in dscan range of the static and wrecks started to appear. Even though the drake was from a different alliance as the C5 corporation I suspected it was bait so I parked my new myrmidon battlecruiser on the high sec side of the static instead of jumping back in. The drake didn’t salvage wrecks as it went about and after completing a site it took a convenient break outside of dscan range of my scout. 

 

After I entered the C1 and warped to the POS the drake returned and started clearing his second combat site. When I boarded my salvaging catalyst my scout in the C5 noticed a switch from ventures to a HIC and combat ship. When the drake started site running I had bookmarked all anomalies so I now warped to the first cleared combat site, no ships appeared on dscan in our C1 but a sleipnir and devoter appeared on the C5 wormhole. I quickly salvaged all wrecks and came away with 23m in loot. After this the sleipnir was exchanged for a noctis that jumped to our C1 and wrecks started disappearing from dscan. I asked in local if this meant no more salvaging after the bait drake was done with sites but I got no response.

Apparantly they got the clue because after the last wreck disappeared from Dscan the drake jumped to high sec, followed by the noctis. My guess was the noctis was going to give the loot to the drake player. Since that noctis was probably going to return to the C5 (which still had a devoter waiting on the wormhole) my plan was to try and catch it as it returned from high sec. Since I didn’t have a tornado available I thought about using the newly bought myrmidon and sentry drones but the noctis returned right as I landed and warped off before I could attain lock.

A short while later I went afk again to visit my parents. Little over an hour later I returned, just in time to see yet another battlecruiser running a combat site in our static. A two month old character in a venture also made a quick apearance at the static before jumping back to high. Perhaps I should mention that or static for the day exited in Frarn, just one jump out of Rens and a system with plenty of new characters in exploration frigates. During the course of the day I think I saw at least half a dozen newbie players entering our system.

Not two minutes after my return the N110 activated again and in came a proteus, onyx and drake. Apparantly this spooked our site running visitor because he warped right on top of the bubble that had gone up. http://eve-kill.net/?a=kill_detail&kll_id=21362413 and http://eve-kill.net/?a=kill_detail&kll_id=21362412 The venture choose this time to return to wormhole space as well and was quickly obliterated, http://eve-kill.net/?a=kill_detail&kll_id=21362411.

Because we had so much traffic on the static I brought in a sensor boosted oracle to try and pop small stuff on the static as well. After I jumped the oracle in and got some range on the wormhole the proteus from before returned and started to approach me, the onyx returned as well and bubbled up while at the same time the devoter in the C5 bubbled up as well so I shelved my oracle and started watching my scouts again. 

 

A lot of the newbie visitors that day scanned down the C5 and made an appearance there as well. When one of the newbie visitors jumped back from the C5 to our C1 I opened a convo and warned him not to warp directly to the C1 static because there was a bubble up and people might try to kill him. He thanked me for the information but still went for the bubble and didn't cloak up after landing. He moved out of the bubble and warped off again only to return a minute later to repeat another warp-off and return before the inevitable pop and pop.

 

I asked the proteus pilot if they were related to the C5 crowd but they answered negatively. I hoped these pilots would get a fight with the C5 crowd but these were very timid and didn’t engage, much to the chagrin of the proteus pilot. All the jumping around had caused our wormhole to pass it's 50% mass limit so the high sec crowd decided to permanently leave because they were afraid of getting trapped in our wormhole. 

 

In all it was an exciting day and after I decided the hole had gone without activity long enough I decided to clear the last few combat sites that remained. Together with the ninja salvage earlier I ended up with 140m ISK in salvage and loot after which I went off to get some sleep.