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.

Victor(ieux)!

Serenity vs. Tranquillity took place today, yesterday or even tomorrow, depending on your time zone and it was great to see the best of the Chinese server versus the best of Tranquillity .

Camel Empire were Tranquillity's representatives and apparently have acquitted themselves superbly. I did not see the matches nor have I been able to see the replays (as of yet) but in a best of 5 setup they won 3-1.

The win secures for the players of Tranquillity the Victorieux Luxury Yacht whilst Serenity will never see this ship.

The Matches

JesterTrek on Reddit posted a great summary of the matches (and I will reproduce here but the content is his):

Match 1: Serenity Fleet Typhoon comp v. Tranquility Ishtar comp. Serenity wins 5-3. TQ kills all the tackle, neither of the Fleet Typhoons, which were hull tanked and used Rapid Heavy Missile Launchers.
Serenity takes first blood 1-0.

Match 2: Serenity Cerb/Cynabal comp v. Tranquility Ishtar comp. TQ wins 5-0 in a pretty straight-forward dunk.
Tourney tied 1-1. 

Match 3: Serenity Cerb/Cynabal comp v. Tranquility Confessor/Damnation comp. TQ wins 5-2. Malediction spiked in the first minute, excellent damps from Niart in the Maulus, but then Eshnala/Confessor and Niart got missile-eaten very quickly. TQ pulled it back together and slowly beat Serenity in a war of attrition.
TQ up 2-1. 

Match 4: Serenity Hyperion comp v. Tranquility Astarte/Heretic comp. Man mode activated. TQ wins 5-0. Heretics eat Stiletto and Rifter (the frigs pretty clearly underestimated them). Rail Hyperions tank fairly poorly but is balanced by pretty poor damage application from the TQ team. First Hyp visited the Edge of Glory, baited there by Sturm in the Exeq (nice!), followed slowly by the Caracal and second Hyperion. So the match went on a long while but was never in doubt.

Both TQ and Serenity players were excellent but in this battle TQ have prevailed.

Victorieux Luxury Yacht

The ship that will be released to TQ in the future is something special, designed to avoid interdiction as well as possessing the ability to fit quite a decent tank and, most wonderfully, a covert ops cloaking device.

Released statistics for the ship are available at this post on Reddit but in summary:

• 50% bonus to warp speed and warp acceleration
• Immune to Interdiction Sphere Launcher, Warp Disruption Field Generator and Mobile Small, Medium and Large Warp Disruptor
• Can fit Covert Ops Cloaking Device
• High Power Slots 1
• Medium Power Slots 1
• Low Power Slots 4
• Medium Rig Slots 3

Wow.

This ship is going to be very good for covert ops or even recon use, and that's just from the role bonuses. Add in the ability add a shield tank via rigs, scram/point in the mid and speed tanking modules this could be a very real threat in fleet situations.

Some theorycrafting I've seen have suggested that this ship could even be fit to have a warp speed of 9/10AU per second and an align time equivilent to a travel interceptor fit (2 seconds).

A new ship is good and I'm going to be looking forward to updated EFT/Pyfa releases when I can have a play with this ship.

Confessor vs. Sleepers

Background

A competition was held, in-game, that would determine the release order of each of the racial T3 Tactical Destroyers. Just before EVE Vegas 2014 a devblog was released where capsuleers were asked to donate Sleeper loot to secret research projects. The research projects turned out to be contest where the order, that the new Tactical Destroyers, would be determined by the amount of donated Sleeper loot.

At EVE Vegas it was revealed that the Amarr won and the Confessor would be released as part of the Rhea expansion in December 2014.

The Ship

The Confessor appears to be a radical new design for the Amarr, its different but retains the patterns and appearance people expect of Amarrian ships.

Slot layout is VERY Amarrian, 7 high (6 turrets), 3 mids and 5 lows, showing that is supposed to be an an armour ship.

Like the original Tech 3 cruisers, Tech 3 tactical destroyers add a new mechanic that is unique to the hull. Instead of being modular design with sub-systems the destroyers have three different modes (Speed, Sniper and Defensive) of operation, that can be changed 'on the fly' (but with a 10 second cool down).

These modes certainly make the Confessor a very flexible ship and a somewhat unpredictable foe in space.

If you want more information on the ship and its fittings please check out the linked article above.

Heavy Hitter

The Confessor is a great little ship, light on tank but not as much as you'd think considering its size. I've seen many fits, a lot theory-crafted but some actually used and very dangerous.

I'd love to share one particular fit that I'm familiar with that is excellent as a station undock killer but I promised the pilot I would not because the potency of the fit is something that, so far, everyone has underestimated. Perhaps after the release of all the T3 Tactical Destroyers I will be able to share that.

Most fits are built around a passive tank (no plate) and a couple of damage mods to increase the dps from the Small Focused Pulse lasers that will be fitted. A decent pilot will easily get around 400 dps from the ship but there is one environment where a well skilled pilot can get over 1000 dps.

Wolf Rayet

Of all the wormholes in EVE Online those that have the Wolf Rayet have the most impact on small weapon armour ships. Shield ships need not stay, they will suffer badly from the effects this wormhole will have:

Affected Stat	Wormhole class
	1	2	3	4	5	6
Armor Resist	+10%	+18%	+22%	+27%	+34%	+50%
Shield Resist	-10%	-18%	-22%	-27%	-34%	-50%
Small Weapon Damage	+25%	+44%	+55%	+68%	+85%	+100%
Signature Size	-10%	-19%	-27%	-34%	-41%	-50%

C1 through C3's are profitable, now more so, but lets look at C4 and C5's because they offer the most "bang for your buck".

The Fit

The fit spec was simple, cheap where possible but designed to maximise damage and try to use the speed of the ship to limit the incoming dps. Of course being a wormhole ship we must have a probe launcher fitted, that was the only requirement I had for a module that must be present.

[Confessor, Confessor]

Coreli C-Type Small Armor Repairer
Energized Adaptive Nano Membrane II
True Sansha Adaptive Nano Plating
Heat Sink II
Heat Sink II

Cap Recharger II
Cap Recharger II
Coreli C-Type 1MN Afterburner

Expanded Probe Launcher II, Sisters Core Scanner Probe
Small Focused Beam Laser II, Gleam S
Small Focused Beam Laser II, Gleam S
Small Focused Beam Laser II, Gleam S
Small Focused Beam Laser II, Gleam S
Small Focused Beam Laser II, Gleam S
Small Focused Beam Laser II, Gleam S

Small Energy Metastasis Adjuster II
Small Energy Metastasis Adjuster II
Small Capacitor Control Circuit I

Aurora S x6

Sisters Combat Scanner Probe x8

Yes, beam lasers over pulse, we don't want to be close to the Sleepers. We want to be able to kite at least 15/20km from them whilst maintaining a good speed so as to limit the effectiveness of their fire. 

Tanking modules occupy three of the five low slots, we've got two resist modules and a deadspace repairer. The wormhole effects are going to significantly improve our resistances so lets make them as high as possible before the bonus. The final two low slots we'll use for heat sinks and thanks to the Energy Metastasis Adjuster rigs we get the benefit of an extra one or two heat sinks but without using the low slots.

We're far from cap stable, especially with the repair module running, so we use cap rechargers to help maximise the time we can remain on field. We aren't designed for PvP so no need for point, our tracking from the guns is enough to be able to kill frigates as is without the need for a web.

Conclusion

This ship, in the W-R setup, is a beast and can easily complete sites here without support. Two chew through the sites like a Drake (pre-nerf) did or the Ishtar does now ratting in anoms.

The whole fit does require a bit of ISK to setup and run but its not overly expensive compared to other more dedicated fits for these sites. You could add more ISK but we use the ISK for modules where they will do the most good. You could shiny more modules but then the ISK-Loss ratio weighs more to the loss should you lose it to a ambush or the sleepers.

This is a great PvE ship for sleepers but its also a fantastic PvP ship. The new Minmatar Tactical Destroyer will certainly add a new element to the game but since release the Confessor has curved a great niche in New Eden.

Hunting Rook

Combat Recon's are the Ship of the Week at the moment. At least I think they are, I've seen lots of them on station undocks but for some reason my d-scan is always clear of them... The Combat Recon's are great and especially so in wormholes where Local is empty and d-scan is King. 

I've always liked the Rook and whilst it has its detractors it is a solid ship that perhaps has an edge over some of the others so lets see if we can come up with a fit that could be used to kill site runners in C1 and C2 wormholes.

The Ship

The Rook is Caldari by origin so it will be shield fit, armour is just not viable with only three low slots. Seven mid slots gives us a nice option for tank/ewar and the five highs mean we can get some decent dps (which will be supplemented by a full flight of drones).

The ship had a graphical make over in the Rhea expansion and now really looks good (pretty even) but not only does it look good it now has teeth thanks to the changes to its characteristics:

Caldari Cruiser bonuses (per skill level):
7.5% bonus to kinetic Light Missile, Heavy Missile and Heavy Assault Missile damage
10% reduction in ECM Target Jammer activation cost 

Recon Ships bonus (per skill level):
30% bonus to ECM Target Jammer strength
10% bonus to Heavy Missile and Heavy Assault Missile velocity 

Role Bonus
Cannot be detected by directional scanners

The Role Bonus cannot be understated as this will allow us to sneak up on site runners before we prevent their escape and then use one of the listed missile types to turn them into a wreck.

With decent Tech 2 shield resistances (before modules/skills) of 0%/50%/62.5%/70% (EM/THE/KIN/EXP) the only worry is that EM hole but we can plug that either with a specific Field or rig.

Our Target

The purpose of this fit is to kill site ratters in C1 and C2 wormholes. Typically these will be cruiser/battle-cruiser class with the possibility of a battleship in the C2. 

Drone based ships are common for wormhole site runners so we'll assume that often than not we will be facing a drone ship. That means facing thermal/kinetic damage, which the Rook has strong resists too by default. Score!

Contrary to logic, these guys may help kill your target.

The Rook has a ship bonus to ECM so we really should bring at least one ECM module as it'll be effective against not just other ships but their drones too.

Fitting

Here is our first fitting for the Rook:

[Rook, Solo WH Hunter]
Damage Control II
Ballistic Control System II
Ballistic Control System II

Experimental 10MN Microwarpdrive I
Large Ancillary Shield Booster, Navy Cap Booster 150
Large Ancillary Shield Booster, Navy Cap Booster 150
Adaptive Invulnerability Field II
Warp Scrambler II
ECM - Multispectral Jammer II
ECM - Multispectral Jammer II 

Rapid Light Missile Launcher II, Scourge Fury Light Missile
Rapid Light Missile Launcher II, Scourge Fury Light Missile
Rapid Light Missile Launcher II, Scourge Fury Light Missile
Rapid Light Missile Launcher II, Scourge Fury Light Missile
Rapid Light Missile Launcher II, Scourge Fury Light Missile 

Medium Anti-EM Screen Reinforcer II
Medium Particle Dispersion Augmentor II 

Hobgoblin II x5

The Rapid Light Missiles and Drones give you around 475 dps, more than enough to kill most ships (and remember you'll most likely be getting help from any Sleepers that are still alive).  The Warp Scrambler is there to prevent ships escaping via MWD or a MJD.

Tank is great, you have overheated tank of around 465 meaning that even if sleepers join in the tackle ship and shoot you, you'll be able to tank them and continue killing your target.

Usage

This ship is designed for a singular purpose, that of killing site runners in low class WH's (C1/C2). Your targets should be battle-cruiser and smaller ships (ideally ones that use drones as their primary weapon), on paper you could take on a battleship but I would not recommend it.

The short range of the Warp Scrambler is going to dicate how you fight, you're orbit close at between 5000 and 7500 metres using your ECM to either jam the target or their drones (Sleepers too if they shift fire to you). The RLML will do serious damage but have a long reload time so you must make sure you deploy your drones to keep the target under pressure.

You will take damage but by pulsing one shield boosters when you hit 75% shields (and swapping to the other if you run out of charges) you will be able to absorb significant punishment and, ideally, be the last ship standing.

A New Wormhole Tear Extractor

It was just a line in the release notes but with the release of Phoebe came the adding of null sec data and relic sites to low class wormholes (C1 thru C3).It doesn't seem like much of a change but its actually rather an excellent one as many high sec pilots won't venture into null sec but will enter wormholes to run sites.

Aside from the oddness of this behaviour this obviously shows that the day-raider pilot certainly exists and by adding the Data and Relic sites to low class wormholes should see an increase in the loot that comes from them.

Thus was born a new variation of the Wormhole Tear Extractor.

Hypothesis

From this its possible to come up with a hypothesis:

The adding of Data and relic sites to low class wormholes will see an increase in nano'd, warp core stabbed covert ops frigates who are fit to find and complete these sites as quickly as possible.

To a wormhole dweller this means one glorious thing: More Targets.

Catch Me If You Can

However catching them will be difficult as you'd have to allow at least seven seconds, more likely ten, during which time they could easily align and warp out. The delay is caused by deactivating a covert ops cloak and then the time to actually lock a target and activate any warp disruption module(s).

Theorycraft

In a deep dark wormhole somewhere my friend Bex and his cohorts decided to come up with a solution. Bex summed up the task ahead so succinctly:

So what can I produce that is able to efficiently scan out a site, arrive on location cloaked and prosecute the little thieving bastards with impunity.

Much theorycrafting was then performed and eventually the following fit was produced:

[Night Fever, Proteus]

Large 'Vehemence' Shockwave Charge

Large 'Vehemence' Shockwave Charge

Large 'Vehemence' Shockwave Charge

Large 'Vehemence' Shockwave Charge

Large 'Vehemence' Shockwave Charge

Covert Ops Cloaking Device II

Expanded Probe Launcher II, Sisters Core Scanner Probe

Experimental 10MN Microwarpdrive I

Warp Scrambler II

Medium Capacitor Booster II, Navy Cap Booster 800

Reactor Control Unit II

Reactor Control Unit II

Reactor Control Unit II

Reactor Control Unit II

Reactor Control Unit II

Medium Ancillary Current Router I

Medium Ancillary Current Router II

Medium Ancillary Current Router II

Proteus Defensive - Adaptive Augmenter

Proteus Electronics - Emergent Locus Analyzer

Proteus Offensive - Covert Reconfiguration

Proteus Propulsion - Interdiction Nullifer

Proteus Engineering - Power Core Multiplier

Not pretty but the fit has one purpose and you're certainly not going to be tackling anything larger than a Destroyer/Frigate sized hull in this because there is no tank outside of the base the T3 hull gets and all the rigs and low slots are used to provide the Power needed to fit and run the smart bombs.

Testing

It didn't take long for the first test to occur and that was rather successful.

A site was scanned down, with a perch bookmark generated that made all the loot containers warp-able and then it was just a waiting game.

Eventually the fly entered the web and as soon as they moved to a container the ship warped to the container and the smart bombs activated. 

Kill: Atherios Lincestor (Helios)

Kill: Atherios Lincestor (Capsule)

Covert Ops ships don't have much tank, especially configured for ninja missioning like the was. 

The test was a resounding success but as with any prototype further refinement could be made. So it was back to the fitting tool but at least the basic ship premise had been verified and now a new weapon could be bought into the fight against "the little thieving bastards" that visit wormholes daily.

I've not seen or been provided any details of changes to the fit above, as of yet, but I know that additional variations have been produced for all T3 hull except the Tengu. I guess its only a matter of time before we see, and hear, of smart bombing T3's protecting wormhole Relic and Data sites.

Conclusion

The fit is solid, if a little light on tank however the use is not as a brawler but as a surprise and designed to go after lightly or no-tanked frigates/destroyers. As I've been writing this I have been sent this kill mail:

Kill: Eryx Vanguard (Astero)

which prompted this 'feedback' in Local:

Eryx Vanguard > ps - douche bag move
Apex Bex > bahahaha

Alas Vanguard's pod was able to escape thanks to being ejected just outside Smart Bomb range but regardless the effectiveness of the ship and fit has been proven and I'm sure there will be plenty more killmails to come.

Expanding the Capital Fleet

I have a number of Capital ships on my characters, the investment in these ships is not inconsiderable and usually I've had to purchase bits over time rather than in one large swoop.

Recently I've found myself in need of a Moros as it provides the best offensive fire power and survivability. It helps too that a lot of my friends have these at their disposal so I've been able to get good example fits to help plan my expenditure.

Fit

I've decided on the following fit, it has maximum punch but also should survive all but a counter drop and, of course, I won't be using it solo it will be used in a fleet where I'll have sub-capital and logistics support (hopefully):

[Moros]

Limited Mega Ion Siege Blaster I, Guristas Antimatter Charge XL

Limited Mega Ion Siege Blaster I, Guristas Antimatter Charge XL

Limited Mega Ion Siege Blaster I, Guristas Antimatter Charge XL

Siege Module II

Heavy Capacitor Booster II. Navy Cap Booster 800

Heavy Capacitor Booster II. Navy Cap Booster 800

Sensor Booster II

Tracking Computer II, Tracking Speed Script

Tracking Computer II, Tracking Speed Script

Damage Control II

Imperial Navy Energized Adaptive Nano Membrane

Imperial Navy Energized Adaptive Nano Membrane

Capital Armor Repairer I

Federation Navy Magnetic Field Stabilizer

Federation Navy Magnetic Field Stabilizer

Federation Navy Magnetic Field Stabilizer

Capital Hybrid Collision Accelerator II

Capital Trimark Armor Pump I

Capital Trimark Armor Pump I

The Mids and Low can be interchangeable and I will make sure to keep a Reactive Armor Hardner and extra Tracking Computers/Tracking Enhancers/Magnetic Field Stabilizer's (using faction modules over 3 is a waste I believe, the benefit is outweighed by the stacking penalty) over handy for quick refits as with carrier support I shouldn't need the Capital Armor Repair

Out of Siege this should put out (with Level V skills) 1598 DPS or 7013 per volley but in Siege it increase to (a quite ridiculous) 15018/65925 using Guristas Antimatter Charge XL.

Hull

I wasn't interested in manufacturing my own hull this time, had it been six months ago that would be different and I could use blueprints either I own or my corporation has to make the ship hull myself., but at the moment I wasn't interested in the logistics of getting minerals and manufacturing the parts in my Null sec home.

Distant, mechanical, relative of Slimer from Ghostbusters?

A friend linked that he was selling his T2 fit Moros, that was worth about 3.1b according to Evepraisal, located in Low Sec near to Jita and was asking for offers, after analysing the fit and consulting other contracts on sale I decided to offer 2.5b with an upper limit of 2.75b. I made my offer but unfortunately he didn't come back to me for a few days and in that time I managed to find and purchase a Moros with meta guns from another friend.

Had he come back earlier I would have taken the ship but alas it was another good friend, Grand Visor, who manufactured the ship, meta guns and two of the rigs for me at a price under market value. He was even kinda enough to move it to a system closer to me so I could easily get access to fit it out.

If you're interested in capital ships and are looking for excellent service and competitive prices contact Grand Visor.

Modules

I'd already worked out the fit via pyfa and fortunately a lot of the modules I needed I already owned and had stored in my home system but I would need to get a small shopping list of items unfortunately these were reasonably expensive items.

Once I determined what I had and needed my shopping list looked like this:

• Capital Hybrid Collision Accelerator II x 1
• Imperial Navy Energized Adaptive Nano Membrane x 2
• Federation Navy Magnetic Field Stabilizer x 3
• Capital Armor Repairer I
• Guristas Antimatter Charge XL x 10,000 
• Shadow Antimatter Charge XL x 10,000
• Antimatter Charge XL x 20,000
• Navy Cap Booster 800 x 200

All up my shopping list meant I would not be getting much change out of 750m ISK, still a ship deserves the best fit you can afford and so I've bought what I needed and moved it to the ship for fitting.

The ammunition for the guns was the hardest decision I had to make, a lot of people had differing opinions on what to carry and use in various circumstances but the one type always listed was Antimatter. Faction ammo is hard to find and can be expensive but the extra few % damage it provides is worth it.

Cargohold

Aside from extra cap boosters, scripts, stront and extra ammo the one thing I was reminded to keep in the cargohold was a Mobile Cynosural Jammer. You may not need to use it but having one available when in a situation that calls for one is very useful.

Of course in larger fleets this can be delegated to other support ships but it doesn't hurt to be carrying one for those "oh shit" moments when you really need one.

Name

The ship was called "1" when it arrived and I decided this needed to change, I couldn't think of anything I really liked when I was fitting the modules but later I had an epiphany and decided I'd name it after a ship I once saw Grand Visor flying that I loved the name of.

As such, and I couldn't get anyone famous to smash a bottle of Quafe on I so I had to do it myself, I named the ship "Fuzzy Bear Limited".

The name makes me laugh every time I see it and has actual connotations in real life to a nickname I once had in school. I'm probably going to regret mentioning that when my friends see this but what the hell...

Skills To Complete

The pilot of this Moros has, what I'd classify as, basic skills for the ship and its weapons but he is training those now and should, in about 100 days have Gallente Dreadnought V, Capital Hybrid Turret V and all the gunnery support skills to Level V.

He's finishing off the Siege Module skill now so that he can use the Tech 2 version and once he's done that he'll be ready for use and then in about 100 days he'll be maximum skilled in flying this ship and applying the maximum fire power that he can from it.

To Finish 

The skills need some work but the ship is assembled and now in a staging system ready to be called upon when needed.

I'm almost tempted to put up a small tower myself just to have an excuse to get Fuzzy Bear Limited. out and pulverize it.

Prospecting

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. 

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.