Sunday, July 7, 2013

EVE online: Ending the Impetus grind

After downtime I am still not done with the storyline so I jump into my caracal once more, accept the next mission (8 of 10) and warp to the lowsec system where it takes place.

The system is empty when I enter but as I warp to the mission site someone with a negative security status appears in local. I jettison some ammo at warp-in, move towards the red crosses and start shooting.

Before long I see probes and a legion on Dscan but before anything appears on grid I pop the rat that flags the mission as complete and warp out.

The final part comes up. The reward will be  1 x Eifyr and Co. 'Gunslinger' Medium Projectile Turret MP-805, worth about 40 million isk and a 1 million isk bonus. The mission objective is a structure that also drops a basic +3 implant.

At the same time my alt finishes the courier missions accepted before downtime.
lvl 1, The Heiress ( 4 of 5).
lvl 1, Lost that Bet (1 of 5), 1 m3, 1 jump, 21k + 25 LP and 25k bonus.
lvl 1, The Heiress ( 5 of 5), a kill mission against a defenseless ship. 27k + 23 LP and a 26k bonus.
lvl 1, Lost that Bet (2 of 5), this is a mission to pick up a doll in space.
lvl 1, Lost that Bet (3 of 5), this is a mission to pick up 4 dolls in space. 32k + 40 LP, 46 bonus.
lvl 1, Lost that Bet (4 of 5), a mining mission. 101k + 118 LP, 124k bonus.
lvl 1, Lost that Bet (5 of 5), a kill mission. 30k + 36 LP, 41k bonus.

Completion of the final Kidnappers Strike storyline puts Raziel at 5.53 Impetus standing.

As storyline mission rewards are not shared among fleet members my gallente alt still has some missions left to do.

Crooked Cop, 186k + 706 LP and 246k bonus.
Pick Your Poison, 476k + 1625 LP and 473k bonus.
Stop the Thief, 192k + 597 LP and 203k bonus.
No Excuses, 240k + 943 LP and 275k bonus.

After this I am offered two missions in a row against the Amarr and Caldari empire.
Since Raziel now has a standing of 5 with Impetus I decide to move to Azhgabid instead to do some level 4 missions to get Gabrielle's standing up to 5 as well.

In Azhgabid I get offered and run:
Silence the Informant, 1.060.000 isk, 5702 LP and 1.100.000 bonus.
The Assault, 1.370.000 isk, 6250 LP and 1.250.000 bonus.
Smuggler interception, 1.010.000 isk, 4893 LP and 1.090.000 bonus.
Buzz Kill, 1.440.000 isk, 5790 LP and 1.210.000 bonus.
The Score, 1.140.000 isk, 5421 LP, 1.200.000 bonus.
Rogue Drone Harassment, 790.000, 3634 LP, 773.000 bonus.
The Score, 1.250.000 isk, 5421 LP, 1.330.000 bonus.
Unauthorized Military Presence, 941.000 isk, 3846 LP and 821.000 bonus.
Damsel in Distress 797.000 isk, 4398 LP and 828.000 bonus.

After this I have the standings necessary to begin the first epic mission arc.
Impetus Standings are now Raziel 6.73, Gabrielle 5.21

Both characters had 8480 LP with Impetus before starting the level 4 missions and ended with about 30k LP each. With the LP collected for Impetus so far I decide to do some shopping:

2 x Memory Augmentation - Basic.

4 x Poteque 'Prospector' Environmental Analysis EY-1005 which gives a 5% reduction in cycle time of salvage, hacking and archeology modules. (Haven't those been renamed to data and relic analyzers?) But more importantly these add 5 seconds to the decay time of all scattered containers.

After this I take a much needed break before planning the start of what I hope is an epic adventure.

Saturday, July 6, 2013

EVE online: Impetus

This morning I got up to continue the grind for a 5+ standing with Impetus.
Mission rewards below are copied from the mission offer so are for one person.

Raziel gets offered and completes:
Gurista Extravaganza, in 0.7 sec, 737k + 2752 LP and  883k bonus.
Unauthorized Military Presence, in 0.5 sec, 371k + 1137 LP and 404k bonus.

After this I received a storyline mission, Kidnappers Strike - Ambush in the dark (1 of 10)
Usually I would decline a mission like this even though it was a storyline. That it is a 10-parter doesn't bother me, that it starts in low sec does.

While I spent an hour traveling to Jita and fitting up a caracal that is a bit more expendable as my tengu I run some missions with my alt.

Unauthorized Military Presence, in 0.5 sec, 388k + 812 LP and 283k bonus.
Mannar Mining Colony, in 0.6 sec, 176k + 393 LP and 137k bonus.
Rogue Drone Harassment, in 0.5 sec, 527k + 1011 LP and 393k bonus.
Down with the Legion, in 0.4 sec, 385k + 1063 LP and 462k bonus.
Stop the Thief, in 0.4 sec, 186k + 426 LP and 15k1 bonus.

After this I am offered a second mission against Amarr in 4 hours time so I decide to switch and accept some lvl 1 and 2 courier missions. The reason being that the nearest other Impetus security division agent is 15 jumps out.

lvl 2, Hunger Strikes, 280 m3, 4 jumps. 32k + 53 LP and 34k bonus.
lvl 1, Lost that Bet (1 of 5), 1 m3, 1 jump, 21k + 25 LP and 25k bonus.
lvl 2, Marriage, 200 m3, 0 jumps, 34k + 52 LP and 38k bonus.
lvl 2, Tourists, 250 m3 0 jumps, 35k + 30 LP and 31k bonus.
lvl 1, Beefing Up, 400 m3, 0 jumps, 39k + 52 LP and 37k bonus.
lvl 2, Move the Goods, 100 m3, 0 jumps, 30k + 28 LP and 28 bonus.
lvl 1, Wee Bug Problem, 420 m3, 1 jump, 37k + 57 LP and 35k bonus.
lvl 1, The Heiress ( 1 of 5), 0.0 m3, 1 jump, 28k + 27 LP and 23k bonus.
lvl 1, Homeless People Everywhere, 120 m3, 2 jumps, 25k + 23 LP and 19 bonus.
lvl 1, The Heiress ( 2 of 5), 1 m3, 1 jump, 15k + 14 LP and 15k bonus.
lvl 1, The Heiress ( 3 of 5), this is a mining mission, 320 m3, 58k + 66 LP and 53k bonus.
lvl 1, The Heiress ( 4 of 5).

After this downtime strikes.

My standings with Impetus are now 3.11 (unmodifed it's 1,8, both my characters have connections 4 ).

EVE online: Getting ready for Epic Mission Arcs

There are 7 epic mission arcs, a level 1 arc called 'The Blood-Stained Stars' featuring the Sisters of Eve, a level 4 epic mission for each empire faction and  two level 3 pirate arcs for the Angel and Gurista factions.

In the past I have completed Penumbra and The Blood-Stained Stars but now I am planning to complete all four empire arcs. And I am going to complete them all with the same character.

To start one of the arcs you need 5 standing with either the faction or corporation that starts the chain. Standings I do not have at this time.

Raziel has the following standings:
Gallente Federation 3.33
Federation Navy 7.35
Impetus 0.0

Gabrielle, my gallente alt has:
Gallente Federation 1.76
Federation Navy 4.52
Impetus 0.0

To start I have Gabrielle do some datacenter missions and then turn in about 25 million isk worth in serpentis dog tags, making my alt standings:
Gallente Federation 3.29
Federation Navy 6.69
Impetus 0.0

The goal of turning in dog tags and doing the datacenter missions is to increase standing with the Gallente Federation to at least 3 so I can then accept level 3 (Impetus) missions.

While my alt is busy with the datacenter missions my main locates an Impetus agent and runs a few lvl 3 missions. As I am fleeted the rewards for the three missions are split so the reward below is just half the mission reward and bonus.

The Black Market Hub x2
291k reward + 273k bonus in 0.5 sec system.
267k reward + 229k bonus in 0.7 sec system.

Rogue Drone Harassment x1
245k reward + 198,5l bonus.

End standings:
Raziel: Impetus 1.98 (0.45)
Gabrielle: Impetus 1.98 (0.45)

Had I just started out running lvl 1 missions for Impetus I probably would have had higher Impetus standing by now.

Saturday, June 29, 2013

EVE online: T1 Industrial revamp: round 2

After player feedback CCP has come up with new plans for the T1 industrial revamp.

The Sigil will have the most HP.
The Wreathe will be the fastest.
The Iteron will be the best allround and feature a drone bay of 30m3 and 15 mbit bandwidth.
The Badger will have the most base and potential cargo (of the fast/tanky haulers), maximum cargo space will be just below 20k m3. It also has 2 high slots, with 1 turret and 1 launcher hardpoint.

All four of the above will also have their base warp speed increased to 6 AU/s.

The Bestower will have the most potential cargo.
The Badger Mark II will have the most base cargo and a launcher hardpoint.
The Mammoth will have the best travel time among the cargo role.
The Iteron Mark V will be an average ship.

All industrials will get at least 2 high slots. The hoarder will get 3 of which 2 will be turret hardpoints.

The Gallente will remain the best race to train industrial for because the Iteron II, III, IV remain Gallente instead of moving to ORE.

The Iteron Mark II will get a mineral bay (43k m3 +10% per level)
The Iteron Mark III will get a PI bay (45k m3 +10% per level)
The Iteron Mark IV will get an ore (includes gas/ice) bay (42k m3 +10% per level)
They will all get the same 2H, 4M, 4L slot layout.

The Hoarder will get an ammo bay (41k m3 +10% per level)
The ammo bay can contain anything from the charge group like ammunition, cap boosters and bombs.

CCP Rise warned us not to expect a third round of changes. I will try out the specialized haulers but I think the cargo at that those volumes is worth too much for me to risk moving in a tech1 hauler.
But if you can't fly a tech2 hauler, freighter or Orca your life may become just a little bit easier.

Do you feel the specialized ships should remain with their respective races or should they move to ORE or an alternative?

Thursday, June 20, 2013

EVE online: T1 Industrial revamp

In https://forums.eveonline.com/default.aspx?g=posts&t=250079 CCP Rise tells us about plans to reduce the number of useful T1 industrials per faction to two.

One version for cargo and another version that is both fast and tanky. Some players propose three industrials per faction splitting the fast and tanky in fast or tanky.

One reason for sticking to only two version could be the Tech2 variations. By giving a T1 that is fast and tanky (but not excessively so) you open up the option for more as two specialized T2 versions that are either very fast or very tanky or have the biggest cargo ( or ship/ore) hold.

It's easy to understand why someone would fly the max cargo version. It's also easy to understand why someone would fly the fast and tanky version. But with three versions, when would you fly the tanky version and when the fast version?
Since they are tech1 industrials I wouldn't really call them either fast or tanky, although perhaps I am spoiled by flying Tech2 industrials and the effects of skills and fitting.

At first I thought three versions would give more options but looking at the stats I don't think I would ever choose a tanky version over the fast variation. Tech1 haulers simply don't have the EHP to be called tanky.

To get a tanky hauler they need to buff the EHP to levels between that of a skiff and orca, something in the range of 30-80k EHP at least. And with those numbers you are getting into Tech2 territory.

Another players suggested that each race can have unique ships because of the ease with which you can train for other races. My issue would be that you still need the industrial at rank 5 to gain access to the Tech2 version.
Another problem might be more lore-wise. Do you really think that empire factions/corporations would just allow one Gallente model to monopolize the market without offering their own Itty V variation for sale?

Mammoth POC by surlybadger42

The proposed new statistics: fast and tanky.
Base cargo capacity would be about 3000 m3 unfitted and 20.000 m3 with a max cargo fit.

The Sigil, Badger, Wreathe and Iteron will get a second high slot if they didn't have one already, so all you wormhole fans can now fit a cloak and probe launcher.

They all get enough PG to fit a MWD and except for the sigil that gets 4 mid and 6 low slots they all get 5 mid and 5 low slots.

The proposed new statistics: max cargo.
Base cargo capacity would be about 6000 m3 unfitted and over 35.000 m3 with a max cargo fit.

These ships are all reduced to one high slot.

All other stats are basically worse as their fast and tanky counterparts. Align times, mass, EHP, signature radius. They do have the same 10 combined low and mid slots though.

The proposed new statistics: the leftovers.
Didn't want those Iteron's anyway.

Let me end with the statement that I want to keep the mammoth as biggest minmatar hauler. If I can keep only two tech1 minmatar industrials it will be the mammoth first and while I don't care much about hoarder vs wreathe I would prefer to keep the wreathe in a useful role over the hoarder.

How do you feel about these proposed changes?

Wednesday, June 19, 2013

EVE online: Small stuff

"Basically anomalies are now the same as any celestial, they just don't show up in the OV list".
I came upon this when reading http://turamarths-evelife.blogspot.nl/2013/06/to-boldly-go-where-hopefully-not-too.html

This reminded me of some other comments I read that CCP would like to totally revamp or get rid of the overview.

Ice belts have been removed from the overview and can now be found using the system scanner on your ship. Perhaps this is just the first step of replacing the overview with a system or directional scanner?

***

Why can't I use real tractor beams for those data/relic sites?

***

Burn Jita 2 (yes it's a bit late)

I knew it was coming but on the day itself I had totally forgotten about it.
When I was unable to log on to my freighter alt because Jita was full I remembered it might be a bad idea to undock a freighter the next 24 hours or so. Instead I put 1.5 billion isk of salvage into a rattlesnake with with max tank (it had about 200k EHP.) and warped off with that.


***

This week was the first time I used the safe logoff feature.
It makes me feel safe when logging off in space.



Tuesday, June 4, 2013

EVE online: First Odyssey impressions

First impression of Odyssey is positive. The undocking and stargate jumping is more immersive and the new overlay effect just begs me to explore those new signatures that show up on scan.

I undocked in an Algos and warped to a gurista site just as a vexor cleared away the last two rats, decided to switch to a retriever and warped to an Average  Hemorphite, Jaspet and Kernite Deposit to mine away the last three rocks with two other miners.

Before that I also undocked my Apocalypse for a quick lvl 4 mission. Didn't really get to see any real changes because all I shot was 4 cans. It gained a big tracking bonus but even before the expansion it already tracked way better as my railfit Megathron that puts out similar dps with antimatter with the same 64 km optimal.
Apocalypse with Mega Pulse Laser II and scorch has 0,0411 rad/sec tracking speed
(also about 500 dps with 58,5 km optimal and 1,6 falloff) This means 0,029 rad/sec tracking before Odyssey. 
Megathron Navy Issue with 425mm Railgun II with antimatter has 0,016 rad/sec tracking speed
(also about 550 dps with 36 km optimal and 28,8 falloff.)

That was the 16th lvl 4 mission so triggered a storyline mission. After some quick courier work my two alts now both have 6.69 or better standing with the Caldari Navy and get a perfect refine in their stations. One character has a 100% refine, the other a 90,5% with refining 4.
It's likely I will go on to get 8 standing for the ability to make jump clones in caldari space. And I get to fly some more of the rebalanced battleships while at it.

How many missions are run each month by players and how are those divided among level 1,2,3,4 and 5? Are those statistics available anywhere?