Now the vni has been nerfed, what would you guys advise for null ratting vs blood raiders. Thoughts of mine Inc ishtar, domi, gila or multi purpose tengu.
Sorry if this has been asked before.
Why you don’t ask in your corp/alliance for doctrine?
Because I’m asking a wider audience here.
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You could upgrade to a Battleship-size ship like the Rattlesnake or Marauders, I’m sure they could fit your needs. Then it’s just a matter to prioritizing the right targets first.
3 options:
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upsize to a Dominix or Myrmidon and do the same thing as the old VNI but having to facetank the rats while being slower to warp out
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embrace the changes and refit the VNI to make use of its new bonuses for farming even if it cant use 5 heavy drones anymore
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swap to another weapon system and ships
either way you’re gonna have to adopt a much more active playstyle and actually be at the keyboard.
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Was always active. I’ve never left a vni to its own devices.
Myrmidon seems much lower dips than a vni. Bout 30% lower. Don’t want to risk rattle cost in null so domi it is.
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False, the new vni rats just like the old vexor did(still does) 12-14m ticks 100mn ab near 0 effort.
the myrm does a little better than that running circles just like the vni.
Stratios can crank out exactly the same as the myrm, while still more mobile since it’s a cruiser.
The Domi is the face tanker, and it has always been an option. It will do near about what the vni used to do but is 100% active.
You’re seriously suggesting players upgrade from a t1(empire faction) cruiser ~100m to a Rattlesnack ~1b or a Marauder ~2b. Why not just the ishtar? Does it not do exactly what the vni used to do for ~300m? I still say a stasis tower and/or drone aggressive ai(copy paste sleeper ai code) would’ve been a much better solution than what they came up with.
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Myrmidon or Dominix is a 100% Replacement for the VNI.
Few months ago I would fly the abbadon into blood raiders with pulses.
Doing the (I beleive forsaken?)
Which ever is the spawn more elites 7/10,
I would pull in between 22mil ticks.
And that was before I had T2 laser, T2 drones, and the abbadon getting a 5% per level to a 7.5% per level to damage buff.
Went from 980 to 1220 dps, dont even know with conflag.
I dont know what the ticks would be now, but the prophets would probably just melt now.
No prop mod, em/therm resistors and pulses.
Warp to zero focus prophets, then the short ranged battleships, and frigates last.
Soon enough you’ll be rolling in that dank isk.
Ishtars & Myrms 
Null ratting is still possible in the VNI, however is definitely sub-optimal as there are a few other nerfs as well as the drone bay size. combined, it makes it harder for the ship to maintain the high speed and relatively small sig using a 100mn AB. The ishtar is a very viable alternative, however with the lack of local, you are going to be a target if you are trying to AFK rat. There are only a small number of ships that have a 125m3 drone bay or drone damage equivalent.
Gila (possibly has similar dps with med drones) Myrmidon (100m3 but has bonus to damage) Domi (125 and has bonus) Armageddon (125 and has drone bronus) Hyperion (surprise! no bonus to drone, but high dps from rails and also has 125 drone bay) Rattlesnake (excellent, v costly) . Sin (dont. just dont. this is a ratting list.) Navi domi (ok, maybe better tank and rail dps, not that mush better than the domi, arguably worse for drones) Praxis (is ok i guess. bit slow, even for a BS.) Orca (surprisingly is on the list, as it can dish over 500 dps with med drones. Also has a monster buffer tank, however is a mining ship and should only be taken NS ratting with the assumption that the ship will die.)
IN short, Ishtar is the closest to the old VNI playstyle, however is much more expensive, harder to skill for and actually slightly slower than the old VNI (which means that it will take much more incoming damage and therefore not as easy to AFK rat).
Dominix has a viable alternative playstyle to this, with sentries, or heavies - twin accounts with these rreping is entertaining. hull + fit will be slightly more expensive than the VNI. Amarr ships and hyp are ok, but have no tracking bonus.
Rattlesnake is a beast. still, expensive for ratting unless you are in corp safe space (no local so this no longer really exists).
Use a carrier?
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got the isk together - got a nidhoggur - great ticks and fun to scare off would be gankers of corp members
we definitely need a DISLIKE button 
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It would have been better if instead of nerfing something so active people can’t use it they came up with creative ways to thwart afk’rrs instead.
Those ships have way higher isk and agility costs…another example of CCP Asking their players to do more for the same.
Getting sick and tired of ‘because bots’-nerfs crimping active player game play.
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To be clear it’s less of a nerf and more of a rework. You just can’t sit back while drones do the work anymore. You have to use the guns to attain the same effectiveness. If you’re actually active with the thing, there shouldn’t be an issue.
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No… I wish. It ruined my pvp use of the vni as well.
You cannot get the same bounty numbers out of the vni regardless of the technique used. Period. That was the intention of the nerf, and it worked. You have to fit a strong tank to use rails and sentries and you won’t get anywhere near what a domi/hype can. That being said the domi barely keeps pace with the old vni.
I don’t rat in that way much anymore because I find it to be brain cancer. I now use a pair of smart bombing praxis(two actual players) with a rail/sentry vexor(alt) for overwatch (anything that gets out of bomb range dies to the vexor). I do this entirely to keep the adms high, and to farm 6/10 escalations that have a chance of actually paying out(usually do not).
Ishtar can permanently run an active tank and prop mod. Orbit something to keep transversal up and let the drones deal with the rats. A set of rail guns can help snipe frigates.
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