Bringing out the Big Boy

I've been ratting in the local belts. I'd like to say its for the ISK but its not, it's relaxing and something to do as I'm waiting on other things to be ready for my attention.

I logged in recently to see blog friend Acki furiously typing an asteroid belt location in Local. It took me a couple of seconds to realize he was calling for support not because he was tackled (which is laughable, Acki wouldn't need help) but because he had an Officer spawn.

Alas I was not able to help him, I was in undocking a Scimitar, as he killed the Officer spawn but he did make an interesting comment that his Machariel was able to solo kill this rat, if taking heavy damage.

Fitting On A Budget

I asked to have a look at the fit, after all I use a Gila for ratting and a chance to upgrade to something with some more firepower that will kill rats quick is something I'd like to see. The fit was not unsurprising in lack of bling, I really was considering something that had faction or deadspace modules but it was not, it was a relatively cheap T2 fit:

[Machariel, Rattler]
Gyrostabilizer II
Gyrostabilizer II
Gyrostabilizer II
Gyrostabilizer II
Reactor Control Unit II
Large Armor Repairer II
Armor Explosive Hardener II

500MN Y-T8 Compact Microwarpdrive
Sensor Booster II
Sensor Booster II
Tracking Computer II
Tracking Computer II

1400mm Howitzer Artillery II, Republic Fleet Fusion L
1400mm Howitzer Artillery II, Republic Fleet Fusion L
1400mm Howitzer Artillery II, Republic Fleet Fusion L
1400mm Howitzer Artillery II, Republic Fleet Fusion L
1400mm Howitzer Artillery II, Republic Fleet Fusion L
1400mm Howitzer Artillery II, Republic Fleet Fusion L
1400mm Howitzer Artillery II, Republic Fleet Fusion L
Drone Link Augmentor II

Large Trimark Armor Pump I
Large Trimark Armor Pump I
Large Trimark Armor Pump I

Bouncer II x5

The hull is what this ship is built on and it's a very good hull and all the bonuses the hull give are to Large Projectile Turrets thus why we're using the 1400mm Howitzers. It's also a great time to buy a Machariel as the price has dipped under 400m and this is half the cost it used to be when I started.

A faction battleship, from Jita, for under 500m excluding ammunition.

Playing To Bonuses

Warp speed and acceleration aren't wonderful, useful yes-ish as they do help moving between belts but it's those Large Projectile Turret bonuses that will make our Battleship one nasty mofo (to NPC rats at least):

The higher your Gallente and Minmatar Battleship skills the better you will be but I've found Level 4 is more than enough for the rats in Curse.

Not really much more I can say about the bonuses that they don't say themselves; Extra damage and rate of fire are just what we need with Howitzers. The RoF is still a pain in the arse (40s base) but with the hull and decent (Level 4 specialization and Level 5 Gunnery Support skills, which you should have as a minimum honestly) then you're looking at a 18/20 second RoF.

RoF is one thing but getting the extra 5% per level damage adds to the punch, with anything sub-Battleship sized is a one shot kill from one or two guns but Battleship NPC's will lose between 50% and 75% health per salvo. You'll be unlucky if you need more than two, three at the most, salvos for any ship but a Faction or Officer spawn.

How She Goes

She goes very well. I named her Litany of Fury after a Warhammer 40,000 ship I read about recently and she's been full of fury when I've used her.

Cruiser and Frigates are one shot kills, so annoying to deal with that I've actually grouped my guns into two groups of two and three single groups. That way i can just press F1-F5 to shoot my guns and use the singles for small stuff and the large to large.

Looking at my wallet I was averaging 18m per tick (~15 minutes) of ratting. Sure it ain't huge but its free money and can be used to buy better things. I've used her in sites as well, nothing overly dangerous but the simple ones and she does very well there too.

What we have here is a solid ship with a good fit that turns this ship into a great ratter. Change the armour hardener to whatever your rats do as primary damage and you'll have a ship that should work anywhere in New Eden.

The Week That Was

A Week with Phoebe

It's been six days (for me) since Phoebe was deployed. It was painless update for me and after I'd returned from an evening out I updated my client and was logged in about 30 minutes after Tranquillity came back online.

The new sensor overlay was amazing to see in space, my CEO had fits of pleasure when he saw all his tacticals, perches and other bookmarks when he undocked. I've turned most of the overlay stuff off for day-to-day use but there have been a few occasions, around camped gates, that having the bookmarks appear in space has saved me precious seconds that could have seen me captured. 

I haven't been doing jumps since before Phoebe so I can't say how much jump fatigue will effect me (not much is my prediction). I will be doing some jumps in the coming week, friends need stuff taken in/out plus its good to at least move my market items to high sec ready to move to Jita for sale.

Domination Commander

I've been doing ratting in Curse not because I was bored or in need of ISK but because I was testing out new ships and fits. My current Gila does the job but there are other ships I've never flown that may be better. It has been quite fun using different Faction and T2 ships to see what could replace my Gila as my primary ratting ship but nothing so far has come anywhere near the Gila in terms of cost/dps although I'm going to look at Polarized weapons as an extra 25% damage may be worth it.

During one run I even managed to get my first ever Domination Faction Battleship spawn, previously I'd always gotten Cruiser sized faction spawns, I was hoping that this time I'd get some decent loot and I kind of did but a Domination Shield Amplifier, 1,000 faction ammo and a faction tag was quite a let down. I swear I had better cruiser faction spawns in Providence when I was there, Domination just seem to be ammo, tags and not much else. 

I shouldn't complain too much the Domination Shield Amplifier was worth around 60m.

Results of my tests have been mixed and as much as I love my Amarrian Lasers I've found them to be seriously wanting against the local rats and I've not been at all happy with the fits I've been using. I've been keeping copious notes so in the future you can expect to see a blog post on what I've been doing.

Metamaterials Pricing

Being a producer of Metamaterials I've been saddened by the unit price over the past 8 months. As I've previously written, the price has been very volatile but not in a predictable way. Sure its market so its dependant on other factors but the more T2/capital ships destroyed the more metamaterials will be needed to build new ones. We've seen a lot of ships destroyed but volume of metamaterials sold has been all over the place and pricing with it.

I'm going to see if I can get Lockefox (EVE-Prosper Market Show) to have a look at the prices to see if there is an correlation or pattern to the pricing/volume. I am certain there should be correlation, i.e. certain ships need metamaterials thus more of these destroyed the need for metamaterials increases, but I'm yet to see any proof that this is true.

All Quiet on the Southern Front

There is an active war front near to my home system and as I said last week having PL as nearby neighbours is somewhat concerning but I'm happy to report so far that aside from a few PL or PL-affiliated characters passing through I haven't seen any of them.

I've seen Battle Reports and linked kill mails about what their exploits against HERO but they seem to be nice and busy again them rather than trying to take over the region.

Of course that could change tomorrow but at the moment things are quiet.

Market Activity

Since coming into a "gift of ISK" I've changed my approach to my market activities because I no longer need to make "x ISK per day" in order to keep my accounts active and buy what I need. 

I'm stockpiling the materials I'm making at the moment with no plans to sell unless there is a major market price change. Hopefully what I learn from EVE-Prosper will help me see that well before it happens and I can take advantage and profit greatly :)

EVE-Prosper Show Update

Episode 003 is live and it is much better than previous episodes. Best. Episode. So. Far. as comic book guy might say. The show was more polished this week and I'm sure we'll only be hearing less err.. and ah's" from Lockefox as he gains more confidence in his presenting.

*drool* graph p0rn

The interview with Diana Dial was interesting but it was frustrating with the delays and empty air that happened a few times. Not a production issue more Skype or whatever method of communication they were using (I believe) but this was more than compensated by the excellent discussion between Lockefox and Diana.

I'm loving the graphs that are appearing, as well as looking great they are presented so simply that even an idiot like myself can see the important bits without needing a degree in mathematics.

Ratting with Angels

After I moved to Curse I followed the lead of my CEO and started ratting in a shield Tornado fitted with 800mm Repeating Cannon II's using Fusion L. It worked well and handled everything that the rats in Curse could throw at it.

I can remember only two occasions I had to warp out due to getting precariously low into shield, both times were because I was webbed and my speed was insufficent to deflect any of the incoming dps. T5, as it was named, was a solid ratting ship for my local rats and I'd still be using it today if I hadn't seen an alliance mate using a Gila and witnessed the utter devastation the two medium drones that ship can field did.

Sleek and sexy, the reborn Gila.

Ship Fit

The Gila is a great Caldari/Gallente crossed cruiser with a specific role bonus to medium combat drones (500% bonus to damage and hitpoints) so whilst you'll have some form of missile weapon these will be your secondary attack method with medium drones being primary.

[Angel Gila]

Heavy Assault Missile Launcher, Caldari Navy Scourge Heavy Assault Missile

Heavy Assault Missile Launcher, Caldari Navy Scourge Heavy Assault Missile

Heavy Assault Missile Launcher, Caldari Navy Scourge Heavy Assault Missile

Heavy Assault Missile Launcher, Caldari Navy Scourge Heavy Assault Missile

Salvager II [OFFLINE]

10mn Afterburner II

Large Shield Extender II

Large Shield Extender II

Adaptive Invulnerability Field II

Federation Navy Omnidirectional Tracking Link

Pithum C-Type EM Ward Amplifier

Drone Damage Amplifier II

Drone Damage Amplifier II

Drone Damage Amplifier II

Drone Damage Amplifier II

Medium Core Defense Field Extender II

Medium Anti-Kinetic Screen Reinforcer II

Medium Anti-Thermal Screen Reinforcer II

6 x Valkyrie II

2 x Hammerhead II

2 x Infiltrator II

When I bought this it would have cost me a little over 500m ISK for the ship and all the modules/rigs in Jita but as I horde most of the modules I had already and I only had to buy the rigs and Deadspace/Faction modules and a new supply of missiles.

Defensive

Damage is reasonable and the tank is designed to be around the same level with resists (rounded up) of 74/69/77/72 and total EHP of 54,300. This is good and subsequent flight tests have shown this to be more than enough to deal with the Angel rats of Curse and the one rat who nearly killed my ship is not something you see everyday and would face with assistance anyway.

Offensive

The HAM's provide only 215 dps out to a range of 20.2km with Caldari Navy Scourge, this goes up to 253 dps at 16.8km if I use T2 Scourge Rage but the majority of my damage comes from the two medium drones I can deploy.

I use Valkyries as these are perfect to hit the resistance hole (explosive) that Angel rats have and the two (thanks to the Gila Role Bonus) put out a magnificent 549 dps. Other drones do more or less the same damage but not being explosive these aren't as good against the rats.

Upgrades?

Improvements could always be made, I could use more Faction or Deadspace modules but I don't see the point. I have a half billion ISK ship that does a single job and does it very well, incoming dps is killed off quickly and the HAM's mean any frigates that do get close can be removed without shifting the fire of the drones from the larger targets.

Any improvements from 'bling' would be negligible and just add to the risk should the ship be lost.

Usage

Using this ship is simple, warp to belt/anom and deploy drones. Lock up largest targets and then let the drones loose on them. Any frigates or cruisers that come within missile range but haven't been engaged by the drones are attacked with HAMs.

Rise, repeat until all targets are dead, move to next belt.

Most of the time I move off the warp in point under normal speed but should I get a convoy or larger than normal battleship group (4+) I will orbit an asteroid or ship at range with my afterburner active. This helps lower the incoming dps so I can avoid having to warp out.

Conclusion

The Gila is a beast of a ratting ship, a little expensive but worth the extra ISK for the hull. The drones really eat Angel ships and each belt can be cleared in a a minute or two. A couple of anoms I've tried were much simpler than using my old Tornado and I'll seriously consider doing anything up to 7/10 in the Gila without support (obviously managing the spawns).

T5 has been retired but will not be ignored. I've already moved 1400mm Howitzers to replace the 800mm's so I can use it as a long range PvP ship.

Luck Be The Lady Tonight

When not updating my PI, Market Orders or running missions I've spent today ratting and collecting as much salvage as possible. Its been quite profitable in salvage and bounties but earlier today the alliance "Officer Expert" got himself quite a lucrative drop from our friend Tobias Kruzhor.

However I got a shock when I warped back to start another run through of the belts. Unfortunately I didn't grab a screenshot but I had six battleships appear in my overview. At first I thought it was a convoy that had spawned but closer inspection of the names of the battleships showed that I was quite wrong.

Gotan Kreiss

Sly and tricky, Kreiss is the head of Internal Security and is feared almost as much within the Dominations as without. Almost. Threat level: Deadly

This was my first solo officer spawn, I'd been part of group who had killed two previously (one even I wrote about not a couple of weeks ago) but this was my first where I found him. A quick message and a drag/drop of the asteroid belt where he was into our local channel summoned reinforcements but I was on my own for at least a minute or two.

I immediately deployed drones and started to approach Gotan, making sure it was at an angle and not directly, but suddenly his distance to me dropped and then kept dropping. He was coming straight at me.

My drones started to eat into his shields and as soon as he came within range I opened up with my Heavy Assault Launchers too. So far I'd taken a little damage, foruntaltey his "escort" were still over 40km away and weren't hitting me but Gotan got a couple of hits on me and I was at 76% shields.

To Worse

All of a sudden I noticed I was nearly stationary, was he webbing me? No he wasn't but my Afterburner was turned off and so was my Adaptive Invulnerability Field. This was quite an issue as maintaining a good speed AND the resist buff the Invulnerability Field provided were vital to my surviving. Why were they off?

I looked and saw my capacitor was empty and the neut icon was appearing above it. Gotan was sucking my capacitor dry and as such I was in a very precarious position. As if to punctuate the point I took a couple of hits at that time and went down to 45% shields.

I sent my alt off to station to reship to a scimitar, at least that may be able to keep me alive until help arrived.

Fighting Back

I was less than 10km from Gotan and he was well into armour now but I wasn't able to take him into structure. My shields had now dropped to less than 15% but help was at hand as I saw a couple of ships exiting warp besides me.

My shields dropped to 3% and I decided it was time to leave.

As I was aligning I noticed that Acki Juc had opened fire on Gotan and this was enough to tip him into very low armour and this was punctuated again when Raven Renelard opened fire too. I saw my shields restore to above 10%. and realised my CEO, Disposable Ensign, locked me up in a "four rep-afterburner scimi" and was sending repairs my way.

Yay! Logi was here.

I cancelled warp and overheated my HAM's. Gotan was going down.

Looting The Wreck

Gotan exploded and I moved into the wreck, this was what I saw upon opening it:

A nice collection of Green and Purple there with a yellow just to be different. All up that's about 1.8 billion ISK worth of loot. The Officer BCU is not as expensive as you might think at around 500m, the implant is actually the best of the lot with that selling for nearly 900m in Jita.

If I'd killed him solo the lot would have been mine but as it was a team effort (myself + 3 others) a cut of 300m per pilot was decided on with the remainder being mine.