Back in June I finally got a couple of the new Prospect Expedition Frigate but I couldn't comment on how the ship flies as I hadn't trained into it on any of my characters.
It took a week or so of training and I was finally able to fly the ship and its just like a Venture in how it handles but with the ability to warp whilst cloaked thanks to the Covert Ops Cloaking Device it can fit.
I haven't used it for any ninja site mining but I do have a couple of them squirrelled away in a couple of systems where I run mining missions and these ships really come into their own when doing this.
Suitably fit, to make them extremely difficult to probe down, they allow a pilot to mine ore or gas in relative safety. The only issue I have with the ship is the lack of a drone bay which means the ship is defenceless and as a result I only use it in missions I know there will be no rats.
There aren't many of these missions but when I get a chance to use the Prospect I do and I can finish an ore/gas site in about 30 minutes solo or around 12 minutes if I use two.
Fitting
The following fit is what I use and I've found it to be very good for the purpose and you can fly it without maximum skills but the closer your signature radius is to your sensor strength the more chance you have of being scanned down.
With maximum skills it tops out with a top speed of 475m/s, a Magnetometric sensor strength of 79.2 and a signature of 30m. This makes the ship extremely difficult to probe down, I tried and failed with all but a Mid-Grade Virtue Clone in a Covert Ops ship specially fit for the job.
[Grizzled Veteran, Prospect]
Covert Ops Cloaking Device II
Gas Cloud Harvester II / Miner II
Gas Cloud Harvester II / Miner II
Conjunctive Magnetometric ECCM Scanning Array I
Conjunctive Magnetometric ECCM Scanning Array I
Conjunctive Magnetometric ECCM Scanning Array I
Reserve Magnetometric Scanners
Reserve Magnetometric Scanners
Reserve Magnetometric Scanners
Reserve Magnetometric Scanners
Small Low Friction Nozzle Joints I
Small Low Friction Nozzle Joints I
The fittings, at current Jita price, are around 9.5m to 10m ISK with the hull just 20.5m ISK.
The meta modules fit are about 20% of the price of Tech 2 and there is plenty of CPU/PG for Tech 2 modules in the Rig/Mids/Low slots and low slots but as this ship doesn't have the +2 warp core strength the Venture has I don't want it to be pimped out too much that it causes a rather big dent in my wallet if lost.
And remember Rule #3, you should also be prepared to lose a ship; its not IF but WHEN it will happen.
Handling
The ship is rather agile and enters warp rather quickly when it needs to, I was not too happy that the +2 warp core strength bonus the Venture has is no longer present in the Prospect but instead of this being the "last resort" in case I'm caught the fact I'm much harder to probe down my best defence.
I was a little hesitant when I fit the ship that it didn't have a propulsion module as a lot of sites have objectives 20km/30km from the warp in point. Having a top speed of 475m/s has shown this isn't a problem and in all honesty being harder to probe makes up nicely for the lack of propulsion module.
Some missions are frustrating to mine, especially Ore missions, but the Prospect chews through them nicely and I most are finished in about 30 minutes. Some take longer when there are people trying to catch me but the Prospect has so far eluded them.
Venture or Prospect
The Venture is still the king, it requires considerably less skill training and is a fraction of the price even when T2 fitted compared to the Prospect.
I still use the Venture in 95% of the missions I get but in missions where I know there is no NPC's I will swap to the Prospect, especially if there are a few reds in local that I know may try to scan me down.
That said, the Prospect is certainly the more attractive looking of the two.
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