Another EVE Online Thread

[Prannon]

I figure it's time to start another one of these since the old threads fell dead and I haven't heard much about what everyone's up to. These days I'm running around in Pure Blind in one of the NC guest alliances, and RedImperator is there with me although I don't see him very often. Wrong time zones and all that jazz. Still, interesting things have been afoot.

In Pure Blind you have Evoke and some of the old Triumvirate corps trying to take space wherever they can. NC recently kept them from taking the D2-HOS system, which was nice. Atlas Alliance has been invaded through Insmother and Scalding Pass, and they recently lost their capital system in Detorid with much forum drama. Word has it that they're retreating to Omist and that they may not even be able to hold that. The rumor mill is also flying about how Against All Authorities is also on its way to losing all of its space, which I haven't seen any real evidence for.

And of course, rumor also has it that IT Alliance is stirring in Delve and Fountain and will soon be campaigning...somewhere. Not sure where, although I've heard ideas ranging from Pure Blind to Atlas Space to Cloud Ring, some half serious and others not so much.

In any case, how's everyone doing these days? Still playing the game despite the lag?

[haard]

Still fighting the urge to get an account and start playing again.

I played the alpha, beta and for a while after launch, but as MOG:s usually do for me, things got too 'serious' and I quit when the game and forums became a chore.
During the last month or so I've been thinking that maybe, maybe, I could start playing just a little bit now and then, not getting involved in politics and stuff. Maybe.
But I don't know if there's fun enough to be had soloing/joining a loose outfit (also, SC2 and limited time to play games), so I've not downloaded the client... yet.

So, state-of-the-game, can the game be fun in less than five hours a week most weeks?

[atg]

I signed up recently. Generally been running courier jobs near Jita. Not sure where I'm gonna go from there though.

[Dartzap]

Still missoning in Essence, working on Stealth Bombers and Interceptors at the mo. Although, even with Evemon, I keep changing my miund every five minutes about what I want to do next, hah. Some of my Corp have moved down to 0-0 to nab a system with the alliance we're in. Once I get my arse into gear, I'll pop down there with a JC to see how long I last.

[Jaevric]

Currently running two characters, a Caldari and Gallente, and hotly debating which one to stick with. I can't deny the Caldari ships are currently superior to the Gallente ones (and Caldari uniforms are snazzier) but I have a deep and abiding love for drone spam that I just can't ignore. And for some bizarre reason I really like the looks of the Proteus, and want one badly. Considering training up to a Gila on my Caldari so I have the best of both worlds; missiles, drones, and a truly ugly ship that you don't see around often. I can't complain about the Drake but it seems like everyone and their retarded monkey flies one, sometimes. I'd rather have something a little exotic to tool around in.

Other than that, doing missions in high sec while I get money-making skills, ship skills, and standings up. I was briefly in a HUGE player corp on my Gallente but I didn't like it, too many people and it kept getting war-decced so it was literally impossible to actually do anything for a new player (which is what led me to create the Caldari character in the first place; getting station-camped blows chunks). Not to mention the recruiting standards were "Are you able to log into the game? Great! You're in!"

Waiting to start PvP once I have high enough standings to create a jump clone so I don't have to worry about losing all my implants. Besides, gives me plenty of time to skill up enough not to completely embarass myself.

I don't know if you can really have fun on the game in 5 hours a week or not; probably depends on whether you have a corp you enjoy shooting the breeze with and whether you enjoy running missions.

[Prannon]

To be honest, you could probably enjoy the game playing for five hours a week. You'll be slim on funds, but training always goes at the same pace no matter what. You'd be able to get into some good ships and gear soon enough, and with better ships you'd be able to make more money in less time.

Honestly, that would be the biggest problem for ya. Just making money in five hours a week would be difficult.

[haard]

mhm, but then I'm in no hurry to get all OMFGOWNZORMEGA. I'll probably set my aim on a nice Covert Ops, and try to have fun in that general direction.
Dammit. I'm convincing myself that this is a good idea.

[Molyneux]

Let my account go silent, given my current lack of funds...once I'm on a better footing I'll probably re-up, though.

[RedImperator]

I'm actually taking a bit of a break from the game. I've just got too much other stuff on my plate (including, erm, Europa Universalis III).

Currently running two characters, a Caldari and Gallente, and hotly debating which one to stick with. I can't deny the Caldari ships are currently superior to the Gallente ones (and Caldari uniforms are snazzier) but I have a deep and abiding love for drone spam that I just can't ignore. And for some bizarre reason I really like the looks of the Proteus, and want one badly. Considering training up to a Gila on my Caldari so I have the best of both worlds; missiles, drones, and a truly ugly ship that you don't see around often. I can't complain about the Drake but it seems like everyone and their retarded monkey flies one, sometimes. I'd rather have something a little exotic to tool around in.

The thing is, there's no racial penalties to cross-training, so really, the only thing that matters is the picture. The biggest problem with Caldari and Gallente is that they tank in completely different ways, so you need to spend twice as long training tanking skills (I had the same problem when I decided to cross-train Amarr and Caldari). They do both use hybrids, but they're kind of a secondary system for Caldari (I don't fly Gallente, but my impression is they have more viable hybrid platforms than droneboats, but their droneboats are dynamite).

Other than that, doing missions in high sec while I get money-making skills, ship skills, and standings up. I was briefly in a HUGE player corp on my Gallente but I didn't like it, too many people and it kept getting war-decced so it was literally impossible to actually do anything for a new player (which is what led me to create the Caldari character in the first place; getting station-camped blows chunks). Not to mention the recruiting standards were "Are you able to log into the game? Great! You're in!"

Yeah, corps like that will always get wardecced, because they're full of nubs and dumb carebears who die stupidly. Honestly, I think you're better off in an NPC corp than a faceless nub blob. Half the guys in NPC corps are alts of nullsec players anyway, so you'll learn more about the game from them than you will your corpmates.

Don't stop looking for a good corp, though. Playing with a good bunch of guys makes the game so much better; even being station camped isn't so bad if you're having fun in corp chat.

Waiting to start PvP once I have high enough standings to create a jump clone so I don't have to worry about losing all my implants. Besides, gives me plenty of time to skill up enough not to completely embarass myself.

Skills are important, but experience is worth more. Since you've been wardecced, you're probably not a total PVP virgin...but it takes time just learning not to panic when you see someone flashy red on your overview.

I don't know if you can really have fun on the game in 5 hours a week or not; probably depends on whether you have a corp you enjoy shooting the breeze with and whether you enjoy running missions.

Like Prannon said, the biggest problem you'll have is making money. That's part of why I stepped away; I just had no time to make money, which meant that losing ships stopped being fun. Once you can run level 4 missions, 5 hours a week will be more than enough to make decent money (20m isk counting bounties, loot, and salvage).

[Jaevric]

Going by the forums, hybrids are pretty gimped at the moment, both blasters and railguns. I've had reasonably good results with a Myrmidon loaded up with drones, however. The only real advantage to a drone boat seems to be flexibility; if I'm fighting frigates I use light scout drones, if I'm fighting cruisers I use mediums and start shooting. Shooting frigates (and, especially) rogue drones with heavy missiles on my Caldari sucks, but by the same token shooting light missiles at a cruiser or BC doesn't work terribly well.

You're correct that Caldari don't cross-train well since they're shield tanks and missile users -- though their hybrid platforms aren't bad for a sniper role.

The main weakness to the Gallente seems to be that they just don't make sense. Their blasterboat cruiser and battlecruiser both lack tank (going by the forums, which may or may not be a good idea) and dps compared to their Amarr counterparts. Drones by themselves aren't a huge amount of damage. More importantly, drones seem like a medium- to long-ranged weapon and the Gallente don't seem to have ships that take advantage of that; I'd be interested in seeing a Gallente ship with a ton of drones and an "optimal range" increase on railguns similar to the Rokh. Just seems to make more sense than a doctrine of "rely heavily on drones to keep some of our pilots safe, then put our other pilots in under-armored, slow, close-ranged brawlers."

Maybe being assigned to a Thorax or Brutix in the Gallente navy is a sure sign your commanding officer doesn't like you much.

[Molyneux]

Does anyone know, by the way, if there's any way to change your character's portrait? If/when I come back, I really don't like my dude's face, but I don't want to have to start training again from scratch.

[Jaevric]

Does anyone know, by the way, if there's any way to change your character's portrait? If/when I come back, I really don't like my dude's face, but I don't want to have to start training again from scratch.

Yeah, actually, but you have to pay CCP $10.00 (I believe, it may be $20.00) to change his portrait to another portrait on the same account. As far as I know you can even use a portrait from a different faction.

[Nathaniel]

Does anyone know, by the way, if there's any way to change your character's portrait? If/when I come back, I really don't like my dude's face, but I don't want to have to start training again from scratch.

Yes, you can change the portrait, but it's an expensive and largely pointless process. IIRC you have to create a new character with the same gender, race and bloodline as the original, then use the portrait swap part of account services.

It'll cost you ten euros though, and since all you get is a small change to something that nobody looks at and fewer people care about, I'd recommend that you put the money towards a PLEX instead. Your game experience will be improved significantly more by buying half a dozen faction frigates or a couple of HACs than it will by changing your portrait.

Unless you absolutely have to waste that money immediately it's not worth the bother. Hell, even if you do want to waste it you'll do more good buying a nice Pizza or donating it to flood victims.

[RedImperator]

Going by the forums, hybrids are pretty gimped at the moment, both blasters and railguns. I've had reasonably good results with a Myrmidon loaded up with drones, however. The only real advantage to a drone boat seems to be flexibility; if I'm fighting frigates I use light scout drones, if I'm fighting cruisers I use mediums and start shooting. Shooting frigates (and, especially) rogue drones with heavy missiles on my Caldari sucks, but by the same token shooting light missiles at a cruiser or BC doesn't work terribly well.

From what I understand, blasters were indirectly nerfed by the speed nerf, which made it much more difficult to close to blaster optimal before getting killed. Rails have, from what I know, always been weaksauce, but their range gives them a niche.

You're correct that Caldari don't cross-train well since they're shield tanks and missile users -- though their hybrid platforms aren't bad for a sniper role.

100km sniper Cormorants FTW.

The main weakness to the Gallente seems to be that they just don't make sense. Their blasterboat cruiser and battlecruiser both lack tank (going by the forums, which may or may not be a good idea) and dps compared to their Amarr counterparts. Drones by themselves aren't a huge amount of damage. More importantly, drones seem like a medium- to long-ranged weapon and the Gallente don't seem to have ships that take advantage of that; I'd be interested in seeing a Gallente ship with a ton of drones and an "optimal range" increase on railguns similar to the Rokh. Just seems to make more sense than a doctrine of "rely heavily on drones to keep some of our pilots safe, then put our other pilots in under-armored, slow, close-ranged brawlers."

Maybe being assigned to a Thorax or Brutix in the Gallente navy is a sure sign your commanding officer doesn't like you much.

The Gallente T1 cruisers are considerably better than the Amarr cruisers, though (with the exception of the Arbitrator, which is...a drone boat). A droneboat with sniper bonuses would be pretty win (and would make a lot more sense in-universe), but my guess is that would be overpowered--sniper ships are supposed to be vulnerable if you close to their optimal, but a sniper with a big drone compliment could deal serious damage at medium and close range. Drone ships in general tend to be bad gun platforms (the Arbitrator, for example, has bonuses to neutralizers and tracking disruptors but not lasers, the Domi can barely even fit battleship guns, and none of the carriers can fit guns at all).

The blaster problem is really gimping the Gallente, honestly. Their light T1 ships are pretty nice, and their capital ships and T3 are well-regarded, but there's a gap in the middle ranks. Of course, the middle ranks have the Ishtar and the Dominix, which are famously versatile (ever seen a hull-tanking cyno bait Domi?), but they might have the weakest heavy sub-cap lineup of the four races.

[Prannon]

I'm a Gallente pilot myself, so I've had to face some of these problems. Gallente mid-line ships aren't the best ships out there for the roles they're supposed to fill, but there are ways to make them work.

Let's take the Brutix. I actually really like this ship. The key thing is to shield tank it, if you can believe that. It has enough midslots to fit a couple of Large Shield Extender IIs and an Invul Field II, and then you put some shield extender rigs on it. And then you can stack the lows with a damage control and a bunch of turret enhancements like tracking enhancers and magnetic field stabilizers. Seven blasters, plus drones, and all that, and you're looking at a battlecruiser with a decent tank and about 700 dps. Goes about 1000 m/s. It's not a Drake, and won't be able to tank or hit out at range like a Drake, but the sheer dps and volley that ship could put out once in range on a gate is worth the trade off in my opinion.

The Myrmidon you could actually fit in a similar way, but it's a little more versatile because it has more midslots and a bigger powergrid. I typically shield tank my Myrms too, even for PvE because it's honestly just a stronger tank than any armor one you could put on there. On the other hand, for solo PvP, you could fit a couple of medium armor reppers and some hardeners, plus tackle and all that good stuff in the mids, and some sort of weapons in the highs depending on what you can fit. Autocannons are usually a pretty good choice, or neutralizers.

The Thorax? Eh...that one is kinda tricky. It needs more powergrid to be able to fit bigger blasters, to be honest. Either that or change the bonus for Microwarpdrive speed instead of capacitor consumption.

The Vexor is a pretty good cruiser though, for its cost. It doesn't tank much better than a Thorax, but it will put out good dps and has a lot of versatility.

And yes, Dominix's and Ishtars are amazing. I've got several fitted and it's difficult to find any one fit that's the standard because there are just so many ways to fit them.

[RedImperator]

You can shield-tank a Harbinger, too. It lets you put a full rack of Heavy Pulse Laser IIs in the highs and three heat sinks in the lows, plus nano. What you get is a BC that can kite at 20km and roast people with Scorch crystals, way outside the optimal of everyone else's cruiser-sized short range weapons--plus, of course, the Harby can carry a full flight of medium drones. The tradeoff is that if you want a reasonable tank on it, you can't have any tackle--two LSEs and an invuln field take three of your four mids. Plus, you're even more vulnerable to neuts than a Harby usually is. It's really not a ship that can stick around too long in a fight. But it's a mean run-and-gun platform.

[Prannon]

mhm, but then I'm in no hurry to get all OMFGOWNZORMEGA. I'll probably set my aim on a nice Covert Ops, and try to have fun in that general direction.
Dammit. I'm convincing myself that this is a good idea.

Actually, probably what you could do is get yourself into a stealth bomber. With a good fit, you could jump deeeep into 0.0 space somewhere. Somewhere with a lot of carebears, preferably. So long as you're able to avoid gate camps and all that stuff, which shouldn't be too difficult with a stealth bomber, you can set yourself up on a random gate and try to nab haulers as they move around between systems. It'd be loads of fun, and you'd probably be able to nab yourself enough loot to make a decent living.

What race are you thinking about flying? I can get you a good fit to aim for and it'll probably take you only a month of training to do. I imagine that you'll have the funds to get a few ships by then.

[Prannon]

You can shield-tank a Harbinger, too. -snip-

Damn... just goes to show you that there are lots of things you can do with all kinds of ships. Don't go with the orthodox "this is an armor tanking ship" routine that you hear people trot around. A lot of the time, ships can be really good with all kinds of tanks. That's why I'm happy I have shield and armor skills. Not to mention it'll help me further down the line when I start cross training something.

[haard]

mhm, but then I'm in no hurry to get all OMFGOWNZORMEGA. I'll probably set my aim on a nice Covert Ops, and try to have fun in that general direction.
Dammit. I'm convincing myself that this is a good idea.

Actually, probably what you could do is get yourself into a stealth bomber. With a good fit, you could jump deeeep into 0.0 space somewhere. Somewhere with a lot of carebears, preferably. So long as you're able to avoid gate camps and all that stuff, which shouldn't be too difficult with a stealth bomber, you can set yourself up on a random gate and try to nab haulers as they move around between systems. It'd be loads of fun, and you'd probably be able to nab yourself enough loot to make a decent living.

What race are you thinking about flying? I can get you a good fit to aim for and it'll probably take you only a month of training to do. I imagine that you'll have the funds to get a few ships by then.

Downloaded the client, getting closer. Not starting trial - yet - due to going out-of-town next week.

I'm kinda defaulting to Minmatar, since that's what I played back in the day, but it's not really important, I guess. I would aim for owning both something that can take out haulers, and a scout and/or assassin. But mostly I aim for having fun on the way there, or I'll just ragequit anyway =)

[RedImperator]

Hound is one of the two decent solo bombers, so Minmatar works.

[Prannon]

Mmm...I dunno. What makes you say that? See, I got some advice from a friend of mine in PL about how to fit a stealth bomber properly, and his advice pretty much works.

High slots for a stealth bomber are pretty much standard. Covops cloak, three torp launchers, and bomb launcher. Offline the bomb launcher, because most of the time you aren't going to use it. Midslots are microwarpdrive, named warp disruptor, target painter, and MSE II. Low slots will include a micro aux power core, and ballistic control systems. Rigs are there to either buffer the shields up more, give it extra power grid, or modify the torps in some way.

I've actually found a really good fitting that works on the Nemesis with all that stuff. Does about 300 dps with 3000 volley. Not entirely sure why that's not as decent as the others, unless the others are just that much abler in the damage department.

[RedImperator]

I think the idea is mostly damage types--Purifiers will annihilate shield tankers, and Hounds will make fast work of armor tankers.

[Mr. Coffee]

Going by the forums, hybrids are pretty gimped at the moment, both blasters and railguns. I've had reasonably good results with a Myrmidon loaded up with drones, however. The only real advantage to a drone boat seems to be flexibility; if I'm fighting frigates I use light scout drones, if I'm fighting cruisers I use mediums and start shooting. Shooting frigates (and, especially) rogue drones with heavy missiles on my Caldari sucks, but by the same token shooting light missiles at a cruiser or BC doesn't work terribly well.

It's pretty simple, if you're Caldari use a drake and toss a rack of hobo IIs in your drone bay and make sure to have a target painter in your mid slots. Use the hobos for engaging frigate rats, use your missiles for everything cruiser and bigger. Just keep an eye on your drones health and be mindful of new spawns so you can control aggro and you're set.

You're correct that Caldari don't cross-train well since they're shield tanks and missile users -- though their hybrid platforms aren't bad for a sniper role.

Caldari cross-train just fine. I've cross-trained my main over to Amarr and Minmatar hulls frigate through BC along with T2 weapon systems for both races. I can armor or shield tank with no problems (it really doesn't take that long to train up the skills needed for either). Also, if anyone tries to tell you Caldari aren't useful for PvP they're full of shit. Drakes can be nasty as all hell in PvP either long or short range, and the Caldari absolutely rock at electronic warfare.

The main weakness to the Gallente seems to be that they just don't make sense.

They make perfect sense if you know what you're doing. The Gallente have some of the most potent PvP BSs in the game, insanely easy to tank, either buffer or active, and Large T2 blasters melt faces at close range which makes them damned near perfect for the sort of close range encounters you get in low-sec/0.0 on gates. While the Amarr arguably have the best sniper BSs in EVE, the Gallente definently have the meanest close range BSs outside of faction BSs (and even then, the two best faction BSs, the Vindicator and the Machariel, both require Gallente BS 3 in order to fly them).

Their blasterboat cruiser and battlecruiser both lack tank (going by the forums, which may or may not be a good idea) and dps compared to their Amarr counterparts.

Yeah, say that to someone with good skills flying a blaster Brutix before they melt your face off. The Amarr cruiser and BCs are better at certain applications, but it's mainly the Zealot people are talking about when they go on about Amarr cruisers being great at PvP.

Drones by themselves aren't a huge amount of damage.

Drones are great for supplemental steady DPS and they're hard to hit. That's ne of the reasons why you see so many PvP fits that require Warrior II drones, so you can kill the other guy's drones. Another thing is that once they're targeted, drones will continue to attack regardless of if you're being jammed or not.

Maybe being assigned to a Thorax or Brutix in the Gallente navy is a sure sign your commanding officer doesn't like you much.

Until you find out that the Thorax and Brutix are capable of insane amounts of DPS at short range and they're fast enough to get on top of you real damned quick. The only people that have faster Cruisers and BCs are the Minmatar, and they don't quite have the same level of "OH GOD IT BURNS!" DPS the gallente boats can throw at you.

[Losonti Tokash]

I've been on a break for a while too. I managed to convince myself to not resub until I've got a laptop that isn't a total piece of crap, and that's worked for a few months now.

I'll definitely hit one of you guys up when I finally do rejoin, though.

[Prannon]

I've been on a break for a while too. I managed to convince myself to not resub until I've got a laptop that isn't a total piece of crap, and that's worked for a few months now.

I'll definitely hit one of you guys up when I finally do rejoin, though.

Hey, if you need a corp, hit me up. I'm in a very solid corp out in 0.0 space, in a pretty good alliance as they go.

Also, agree with everything that Coffee says. People honestly don't give the Gallente enough credit. They have a large number of fine ships, and I never really find myself at a terrible loss when pvp-ing. Since most engagements tend to happen on gates at close range anyway, you're not too terribly gimped as a blaster boat. The real trouble would come for you if you were trying to fight in one of those HAC engagements, sniping stuff at 70 km. But even then, just train up for Heavy Assault Cruisers and fly either an Ishtar or Deimos.

I recently put a fit together for the Deimos. Fragile in the tanking department, but an excellent sniper it is. Hits out to 110 km and does about 700 volley with my skills. That's pretty damn good for a sniper HAC.