Looking to get into a marauder for lvl 4s, is an artillery Vargur viable ? How would it handle elite cruisers (with painter and a tracking of 2.3) ?
I could go with autocannons but i don’t like the range on those , looks to me like you lose most of your dps at more than 30 km away and will have to constantly position yourself with the MWD then siege, then reposition and so on . There’s depleted uranium , titanium sabot for a bit of extra range , but it ain’t much , just about 10 km and while barrage is nice for about 70 km , you are stuck with explosive damage.
If anyone had used an artillery Vargur for this, I would appreciate your input.
I personally don’t like an artillery fit (at least the very large 1200mm), due to the cycle times, just painfully slow and most frigates will reach you before you can pop enough of them same with cruisers, I would go with auto cannons, less range for sure but way better cycle times.
They work, but they will be towards the lower end of Marauder DPS (still insanely high compared with any other battleship). The range is enough that you can comfortably use the high damage types such as EMP or Fusion on everything, so you’re not damage-tied.
The RoF isn’t as much of an issue as you would think. I use 1400s on mine. Firstly, the hull gets a 100% bonus to RoF when in Bastion. Secondly, you are going to want to group your guns into 2 separate groups anyway, as you only need a half volley to kill most frigates, cruisers and even battleships. If things are getting too close, just MJD to another sniping position and blast everything at zero transversal while it approaches. Expect to kill elite cruisers with 2 half-volleys.
Faction ammo is essential. With 1400 artillery and only 4 turrets to feed, a few thousand rounds of fleet ammo will go a very long way.
Thank you ! This helps a lot. I have a Machariel that I use with autocannons and while it is fun to do the lvl4s with it, I don’t quite like that I have to chase the rats around. There are missions where they spawn 100km away from you (MJD is not always practical and i often prefer the MWD for more grid positioning versatility) and I lose a lot of my dps for anything that is more than 30 km from me.
What i like about the artillery Vargur it’s the volley damage and the great range that it has and as you said the cycle time is not that bad ( i have on a simulated fit about 10s rate of fire), you sacrifice tracking on the other hand which gets me worried. I suppose it will be fine if i reposition in time.
Would you be kind to take a look of the fit i have in mind for when my training will finish ?
[Vargur, lvl4 artillery]
Gyrostabilizer II
Gyrostabilizer II
Gyrostabilizer II
Tracking Enhancer II
Tracking Enhancer II
500MN Quad LiF Restrained Microwarpdrive
Multispectrum Shield Hardener II
Multispectrum Shield Hardener II
Pith C-Type Large Shield Booster
Tracking Computer II, Tracking Speed Script
Target Painter II
Bastion Module I
1400mm Howitzer Artillery II, Republic Fleet EMP L
1400mm Howitzer Artillery II, Republic Fleet EMP L
1400mm Howitzer Artillery II, Republic Fleet EMP L
1400mm Howitzer Artillery II, Republic Fleet EMP L
Small Tractor Beam II
Small Tractor Beam II
Small Tractor Beam II
Large Projectile Burst Aerator II
Large Projectile Metastasis Adjuster I
I’m not a fan of microwarp drives on mission ships. They wreck your capacitor, even when switched off. I’d personally switch to an afterburner instead. You’ll generally only use it to burn between gates. You should also fit a microjump drive as your main method of repositioning during a mission. Marauders get a massively reduced cooldown with microjumps, so you can hop between sniping positions at-will.
I don’t see any need for a target painter. Most of your shots will be taken at targets burning directly towards you, so you’ll mostly be hitting for max damage anyway.
I have tested ArtyVargurs vs AC Vargurs in L4s very extensively and the AC Variant wins by a large margin when it comes to efficiency (aka completion time / blitzing). But the Artyfit you posted will work for sure if you prefer a chilled sniping gameplay style.
