100MN Shield Vexor Navy Issue, the workhorse of 0.0 ratting

PvE Gameplay Center PvE Ships & Modules
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Note: the April 2019 nerfs and additional nerfs proposed in June 2019 will further bring an end to the VNI’s reign in null PVE. This guide is now inaccurate.

Until March 2019, the Vexor Navy Issue was the workhorse of money-making in null-security space. It puts out good drone damage, it signature-tanks very well, it’s a cheap upgrade from the Vexor, and it’s an excellent ship for those wanting to make money while only slightly paying attention to their screen. With average skills, the VNI is cap stable and moderately slippery for hunters to catch.

High slots

  • Increase drone control range with a Drone Link Augmentor (two is unnecessary because of the VNI’s max targeting range, and the CPU can be better used elsewhere).
  • NPC agression is a highly speculative topic, but fitting an Auto Targeting System may decrease the chance that your drones catch aggro.
  • A Cloaking Device. Note: this will drastically hurt your lock speed!! Only consider a cloak if you are ratting in very dangerous space with no standing fleet to defend you!

Mid slots

  • Nullsec VNI’s are typically shield-tanked, in order to increase drone-damage with the low slots. Fit one or two Large Shield Extenders. VNI’s can also be armor tanked (similar to many ratting Vexors) or hull tanked (for bait), but this guide will focus on the 100MN Shield VNI.
  • However, the shield tank is only necessary until you get up to speed (or get caught by a hunter). Fit a 100MN Afterburner. This oversized propulsion module will keep you at a high enough speed (and a low enough signature radius) to dodge most incoming damage. It also decreases the chances of getting caught; a hunter cannot shut off your afterburner with a scram, and you will quickly burn out of their range. Note: Turn off your AB if you need to warp out! Leaving it on slows your time-to-warp!
  • Fit a Drone Navigation Computer. This allows your drones to move faster and make you more money as the sites clear out quicker.
  • Consider the following modules:
    • An Adaptive Invulnerability Field (or a damage-specific hardener if you know what damage profile the rats are shooting) if you only have one LSE or if you are consistently at risk of dying. Get your AB skills up so you can sig-tank better!
    • A Cap Recharger can replace the navigation computer if you cannot stay cap stable even with power relays in the lows. Get your capacitor skills up!
    • You may find that a Capacitor Battery is superior to a Recharger; it also provides energy neutralizer resistance.
    • An Omnidirectional Tracking Link can help your drones hit harder. However this may be unnecessary if you have tracking enhancers in the low slots.

Low slots

  • Drone Damage Amplifiers are vital to a ratting VNI. Increasing your damage per second directly increases your ISK per twenty-minute-payout. Consider fitting at least three, if not four DDAs. The third will greatly increase your income; four will make you a bit more money at the cost of tank or capacitor.
  • One or two Omnidirectional Tracking Enhancers are considerably superior to tracking links on shield VNI’s because they don’t use cap and valuable mid slots. Fit these to make your drones hit hard and clear the site fast.
  • Consider the following modules:
    • A Damage Control will greatly increase your survivability. Never leave home without your briefcase!
    • A Capacitor Power Relay gives a better recharge bonus than the mid slot cap recharger. Pick this before considering an enduring AB or fitting a cap recharger.
    • You may need a Power Diagnostic System or two to fit the LSEs. Get your fitting skills up!

Rigs

  • If you didn’t fit an adaptive invuln or other hardener in the mids, fit some mix of Screen Reinforcers to match the incoming damage. Note: once your navigation skills are high enough, incoming damage may become negligible enough that resist rigs are unnecessary.
  • Capacitor Control Circuits are useful if you have bad cap skills or need to clear up lows.
  • Rigs are highly variable. You may need different Engineering rigs to better fit your VNI, or Drone rigs if you skipped tracking enhancers and damage modifiers, or Defense Field Extenders in lieu of LSEs. For example, if your speed-tanking is strong enough, you may find a Polycarbon Engine Housing and capacitor rigs useful to clear up other slots.

Cargo/Drones

  • Use Heavy Drones as your primary damage-dealers. The tracking enhancers and navigation computer, as well as the VNI’s natural bonuses, allows heavy drones to blap frigates and chew through battleships.
  • Buy the correct drones for what rats you are shooting. Finding NPC damage types is easy with a quick search.
  • The Empire drones (Imperial, Caldari, Federation, and Republic) are worth their cost while you train for Tech II heavies.
  • Carry a set of Hornet EC-300s. These little ECM drones might save your life if a hunter has you pinned down. Just remember to abandon your heavies instead of recalling them before launching the EC-300s. The VNI is worth more than your drones.
  • Extra heavy drones or light drones can fill the rest of your drone bay. Light drones can be useful if you’re pinned down by a frigate, you can’t jam them with the EC-300s, and your heavies are too far away.
  • Nanite Repair Paste is always useful to fix overheated modules.
  • A Mobile Tractor Unit can increase your income. It pulls all wrecks to itself and loots them. Bookmark your MTU (!!! so you don’t lose it !!!), and come back in a ship fit with Salvagers once the site is clear to make extra money.
  • Bring along a Mobile Depot to store loot safely and refit your ship on the fly.

Example fit

This example is for EM/Thermal rats, like the Sansha or Blood Raiders. Change the rigs and heavy drones depending on what you are shooting.

[Vexor Navy Issue, VNI Ratting EM/Thermal rats]
Omnidirectional Tracking Enhancer II
Capacitor Power Relay II
Damage Control II
Drone Damage Amplifier II
Drone Damage Amplifier II
Drone Damage Amplifier II

Large Shield Extender II
Large Shield Extender II
100MN Afterburner II
Drone Navigation Computer II

Drone Link Augmentor I
Auto Targeting System I
[empty high slot]
[empty high slot]

Medium Anti-EM Screen Reinforcer I
Medium Anti-Thermal Screen Reinforcer I
Medium Anti-EM Screen Reinforcer I

Warrior II x5
Hornet EC-300 x5
Imperial Navy Praetor x6

The LSEs, Augmentor, and Afterburner can all be meta-d down without losing much utility. In a pinch, everything can be meta-d down; if you must pick a priority, put your skills into getting the Tech 2 DDAs.

How do you fly it? Warp in to the site (ask your corporation or the internet for help on which one to pick), find a structure or wreck near the center, orbit at 30-45km, and turn on your modules. Launch your heavies and start plowing through NPCs.

The VNI can be fit many different ways; this fit is merely a specific example.

Feedback welcome.

Edit July 2018: Formatting fixes; tweaked recommendations via feedback

Edit April 2019: Added note about VNI nerf

62 Likes
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Thanks for this - as someone who rarely PvE’s this explanation behind the thinking on a ratting ship is useful.

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Good write-up. Explains the fits well.
One thing I noticed with mid- teir skills is that cap is king. You don’t want to have your AB turn off because of low cap as you will die…fast.
So sacrifice whatever you need to in order to keep that AB running.
Another note is the AB fit is not as effective against rats that aren’t affected by tracking, correct me if I’m wrong but guristas use missiles I think which your AB won’t be as effective against.

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The AB is actually more effective than you think. It gives the same speed boost (or close enough) as an appropriately sized MWD without the cap penalty, weakness to hard points, or sig bloom. High speed + low sig = less missile damage. Guristas space is where these types of VNI fits excel strongly due to having such high transverse velocity that it’s ONLY the missiles that can hit. In those scenarios you can get away with purely buffer tanking as opposed to needing a shield rep as some lower-skill toons may need.

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I stand corrected.
I wasn’t implying that the MWD was a better option. I was just relaying from my experience of dying in guristas more often than anywhere else, but I would blame that more on user error more often than not. :grin:

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Can someone post different VNI fits for all the NPC damage types?

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The 100mn AB is extremely effective vs missiles, I’ve used 10mn ishtars to afk lv4s and most bs sized missiles hit for ~9 damage. Sure the ishtar has better kin resists, but the 100mn VNI is going much faster.

The missile damage formula looks at the ratios of sig to explosion radius, and the ratio of speed to explosion velocity. With a cruiser hull the sig radius side is already favorable, and with an afterburner the velocity side becomes very favorable.

I looked in EFT and a 689 dps cruise raven hits a 100mn vexor for 53 dps

You can see the formula here: Missile mechanics - EVE University Wiki

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Its amazing. We switch forums and the quality of content goes thru the roof.

Well done guide!

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I’ll have to give it a try, in a slightly different fit, it’s nice to have ideas like this one floating around.

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Just you wait till the general population finds out about the new forums and has to come over

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I’ll give you a hint, rigs.

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I haven’t ratted in null in a few months. Are people still using afk ishtars or something changed it’s not viable anymore?

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Same ol same ol. VNIs are just cheaper and do the same thing. Also easier to get into to and alphas can fly them.

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The VNI isn’t quite as useful for an Alpha because they can’t use the extra drone control bandwidth because they can’t use heavy drones. In their case probably better to just stick with the basic Vexor.

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And matching drone type to the type of damage you wanna deal.

(Google Doc link)

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A few thoughts - you really ought to be armor tanking for most rat types. All you need is a Medium Armor Repairer II and Reactive Armor Hardener, that’ll get you through the tough spots so your 100MN AB can save you. With that, you can still cram in 4x DDAs.

Add in a Large Compact Cap Battery if your fitting skills are good, or a Cap Recharger II if they aren’t, and a CCC t2 rig, you should be just about cap stable. That opens you up to have an Omnidirectional Tracking Computer in the mids, which is scriptable and stronger than having it in the lows.

Also, fit a Cynosural Field to your high slots if you have alliance members who have capitals. Even if they’re focused on ratting, there’s a decent enough chance to convince some folks to cyno in and save your butt. Don’t worry about the autotargeter, if your drones get attacked at all, you need to refresh them, the auto targeter only helps a little.

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Blood Raiders, cap stable afker. Orbit 20km+

[Vexor Navy Issue]
Drone Damage Amplifier II
Drone Damage Amplifier II
Drone Damage Amplifier II
Drone Damage Amplifier II
Medium Armor Repairer II
Reactive Armor Hardener

100MN Y-S8 Compact Afterburner
Cap Recharger II
Drone Navigation Computer II
Large Compact Pb-Acid Cap Battery

Auto Targeting System I
Drone Link Augmentor II

Medium Ancillary Current Router I
Medium Anti-Thermal Pump I
Medium Capacitor Control Circuit I



Praetor II x 5

Personally, I would not bother fitting a cyno to a VNI. If you get tackled, you’ll be dead within 30 seconds. It’s hardly worth the LO. The ships are are disposable, less than 100m a go.

3 Likes
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THANKYOU, i’ve been trying to figure out how to fit a PVE VNI, but i could never get it cap stable enough to be semi AFK (not fully AFK, i never do that. i atleast have the game open on my main screen and chrome or something on youtube on the other screen) But i have a question, there isnt a orbit at 35-45km option (maybe ill have a harder look today after school), how do i make the ship orbit at 35-45 km?
Anyway thanks for the post its gonna help me alot in making ISK, i haven’t had a way to get decent isk since getting the game a few months ago lol. o7.

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You have several different options to extend your orbit distance beyond 30km.

  1. Get to your desired distance (say 45km) from the orbit object. Right click on it >> Orbit >> Current 45 km.
  2. Set your default orbit distance to 45km. You can achieve this by either right-clicking on the orbit button in the selection pane which brings up a text entry box, or by using the radial menu on your own ship (the orbit selector is in the top-right).
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Ahh okay thanks for explaining that to me :smiley: -wow it turned that into a smiley and i can’t make it not a smiley, fun- Anyway thanks for the great post, fly safe o7