Best PvE T2 ratting/security mission ship?

PvE Gameplay Center PvE Ships & Modules
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Hey guys,

I’m sitting at about 80mil and an ok-level of skills and still building (duh) but all the advice I get seems to conflict and I’m not sure anymore.

Most advice (and I’m super grateful don’t get me wrong!) suggests ships that are Omega or that I just can’t afford right now.

Is there a good ship for T2 missions? My Myrmidon battlecruiser, focused around drones, seems to struggle a lot and I’d rather go for something else while I slowly build up my skills.

I made a similar thread if you want more info! Amarr ships - advice? (Which cruiser to pick, what skills to get, good N.Armageddon fitting?) - #13 by Astelon_Bheskagor

Except this thread is mostly for the best ship I’m able to get right now, whether it’s a destroyer or cruiser or even a frigate. It just can’t be over 80mil (fitting included, preferably) and has to be Alpha for now. My skills are mostly trained in drones and engineering/navigation at the moment, while I’m also training up lasers.

I realize I’ve made a lot of threads, sorry! It’ll be my last one for now.

Edit: To stay within budget, I thought about getting a Maller since it fits some drones and slowly building up that way. It’s cheaper and I can slowly level up my skills for better stuff in the meanwhile. But then I wouldn’t know what to fit.

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The challenge with a Battlecruiser with long range medium weapons in a Level 2 mission is you will face a lot of frigates that you can’t track on when they have closed you down.

This is the sort of fitting I first ran Level 2 missions with - if you have reasonable drone skills then it should serve you well.

Arbitrator

[Arbitrator, L2 mission]

Damage Control I
Drone Damage Amplifier II
Drone Damage Amplifier II
Compact Multispectrum Energized Membrane
Medium ACM Compact Armor Repairer

10MN Monopropellant Enduring Afterburner
Medium Cap Battery I
Cap Recharger II
X5 Enduring Stasis Webifier

Drone Link Augmentor I
Drone Link Augmentor I
Focused Anode Medium Particle Stream I
Focused Anode Medium Particle Stream I

Medium Thermal Armor Reinforcer I
Medium Explosive Armor Reinforcer I
Medium Kinetic Armor Reinforcer I

Hammerhead I x5
Hobgoblin I x5
Hornet I x5
Vespa I x5

Multifrequency M x2
Radio M x2
Standard M x2

Currently about 25m ISK on Amarr market prices. More if you can fly T2 drones or upgrade some of the components. I suspect 25m ISK is the going rate for a modest fit - I’d be thinking nearer to 30m ISK or more.

I’m suggesting an Arbitrator since if you are stronger in drones it will give you the best punch - the secondary weapons I’ve put on it are lasers as you will want to train them up for a Maller or Omen later on, but you could go with three missile launchers instead - Heavies/Assault/Rapid Light depending on your preferences.

If you do go for an Omen or Maller as a first T2 mission ship, the fit it with Pulse Lasers and consider adding a Webifier and/or Tracking Computer to give you a better application against small ships.
Drones on the Omen and Maller are very much a last resort weapon - I normally don’t bother deploying them unless I’m really after damage dealing.

Beam Omen

[Omen, Omen - PVE L2]

Reactive Armor Hardener
Tracking Enhancer II
Heat Sink II
Heat Sink II
Medium ACM Compact Armor Repairer
Compact Multispectrum Energized Membrane

Medium Cap Battery II
Cap Recharger II
10MN Monopropellant Enduring Afterburner

Focused Anode Medium Particle Stream I
Focused Anode Medium Particle Stream I
Focused Anode Medium Particle Stream I
Focused Anode Medium Particle Stream I
Focused Anode Medium Particle Stream I

Medium Auxiliary Nano Pump I
Medium Capacitor Control Circuit I
Medium Capacitor Control Circuit I

Hobgoblin I x5

Multifrequency M x5
Radio M x5
Standard M x5

30m ISK which happily ignores what I said above - but focused medium beams track better, and I’ve put a tracking enhancer in lows - This is for missions with frigates in them: application is important. Hence the full flight of five light drones rather than four mediums that it could also have.

The best upgrade to that Omen is to use Navy Crystals with it - they are more expensive but give you another 15% damage.

A good destroyer, flown well can do Level 2 missions, so an Omen or Arbitrator should be comfortable for you. Just don’t spend all your ISK on one ship! Only fly what you are happy replacing: it’s rough out!

Hopefully useful as a starting point before everyone piles on with their own equally individual opinions.

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Awesome advice, thank you! It really does seem like the Arbitrator is the best choice, even if I really don’t like the way it looks. I may just do that until I can properly afford better ones. :slight_smile:

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As a thought: if you are trained for medium hybrids, you can use them in place of the lasers on an Arbitrator without loss.

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Nah, I’ve got it very minimally honestly! I’m trained in small lasers and medium lasers 3 so far, small projectiles and like lvl 1 medium hybrids. I think the best I have right now are lasers and drones.

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As mentioned by Terak, with what you currently have as in skills and ISK , best choice for you for level 2 missions is Arbitrator or even a t1 destroyer as Dragoon or Algos .

1 Like
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Well, since he’s an alpha (and limited to 5mil SP passive training), and the Myrmidon can handle level 2’s just fine, I would have recommended that he improve his drone skills, his fit, and/or his execution rather than cross train into a completely different ship line. Moreover, if he’s anything like most players, he’ll probably want to move into to level 3’s sooner, rather than later, which the Myrmidon would have easily allowed him to do. Long story short, the Myrmidon may not have been the optimal ship for running level 2’s, but it’s probably the optimal choice for his particular circumstances (i.e. he has already trained for it, he already owns it, he’s an alpha, and will likely want to move to level 3’s soon).

In fact, if you haven’t yet invested training or isk into a new ship, reply to me with your fit, and I’ll try to get you sorted. Also, you should probably be using light drones to attack frigates and destroyers. They don’t do as much paper damage, but they’ll apply their damage better to small targets (better applied damage). Yes, some people will use mediums, heavies, or sentries to attack small targets, but they do things to help those drones apply (i.e. spaceship command skills that give drone tracking speed bonuses, scripted omnidirectional tracking computers, webs, and/or posting up far away from spawn points so that ships fly in a straight line toward their sentries).

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what rats do u usually fight ._.

as in like what faction

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A myrm should be crazy overkill for lv2 missions. A rack of guns and drones should just eat anything they can throw at you. Throw some experience and SP at it and should work well for lv3s too.

what is your fit and how are you flying it?

it’s a myrm, should have a flight of light drones that completely destroy any lv2 frigs. and that aribtrator fit you linked is pretty much a worse myrm by most stats.

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Yep, that’s comparing a Battlecruiser with a Cruiser - so it’s not really surprising. The Prophecy also out performs an Arbitrator. Myrmidon v Prophecy? depends on what you need - and the situation you are in. Either Battlecruiser is overkill for a Level 2 mission. A Cruiser is normally adequate.

Importantly, given the OP’s other thread he linked to about looking for Amarrian ships and the budget available to him for a Level 2 mission ship, the Arbitrator has the advantages of:

  • It’s Amarrian.
  • It’s cheap.

The biggest tip for the Myrmidon (which I know he already has), and indeed for the Arbitrator or any other drone boat in missions, is use small drones against small targets (frigates and destroyers), mediums against medium targets and so forth. And train up the various tracking skills.

At least no one has said “get a Gila” yet!

@Chainsaw_Plankton - please don’t take this as be having a go, it’s not intended as that and if it reads that way I apologise in advance.
I like to see new players trying other races ships - they all fly differently and the most important thing is “do I enjoy flying this ship?” rather than simple “what is the mathematically optimal configuration”.

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My point is mainly if they are having problems in a myrm they will be having the same if not more problems in an arbitrator, seems best to figure out what’s going wrong with the myrm and try to fix that.

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True, a Battlecruiser gives a lot of forgiveness if things go wonky. There’s a lot of new players fixate on damage and range rather than application and tracking.

I don’t know if that’s taught in the career agents - but if it isn’t then (@CCP_Aurora) it may be worth adding to the “mechanics that a new player should be aware of”.

I remember having a miserable time in a railgun fitted Moa. Couldn’t hit frigates for toffee. Really put me off Moas as a ship - and it isn’t it’s fault.

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It’s usually around this time that people start learning about tracking. It’s super important to understand in this game.

I did a video podcast with a newbro interviewing me and we discussed transversal velocity. He was flying a stabber and couldn’t hit the broadside of the barn. I fixed a few things on his ship, helped him understand tracking, and it was night and day difference.

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Please correct me, if I gravely misunderstand. things…but we are discussing lvl 2 missions here, right? And people talk about battlecruisers?

A destroyer can do most of them…easily.
Take a talwar and range kite 90 percent of the problems. Or look into an algos, if you are with gallente anyway.
DadDex on YouTube has formidable vids on that one. Look him up!

I take my thrasher to rat and hunt clonesoldiers down to .1 sec space…
Did the whole grind to lvl 3 SoE missions in a talwar.

The main enemies are frigs and destroyers in lvl 2s…and thus you have a hard time hitting them with big guns.

If you want more tank and flexibility - try a vexor. And yes…work on your drone skills to improve damage, application and durability.

Again…please…if I gravely overlooked something…let me know. Just want to help.

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Yea I remember trying a beam harbinger with way too low skills, put me off guns for a while

and yea, I think so? that said OP had a BC so imo not really worth swapping ships, might as well go the over kill option.

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But it’s ineffective.

If OP wants overkill…go for a t3d.
The benefit of going for destroyers is their speed and tracking.
You can run missions faster than in a BC most of the time, because you have frigate like speed and cruiser like damage with almost perfect application.

That’s why I don’t get the idea really.

The benefit would also be, that OP trains more into the guns that he has used so far anyway and starts to focus SP a little instead of spreading them out to quickly.

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I’ll be sure to try and discuss this in the ship fitting and combat mechanics scripts :wink:

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if they are struggling in a BC things like warp speed don’t matter. A myrm should be able to warp in, drop drones, shoot whatever, and be done in moments. And they can take that same ship into level 3s with a bit more sp/experience.

min maxing a t3d or cynabal would probably be optimal but like not worth it at all for lv2s

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I’ll be honest I totally forgot to check this thread. I ended up with a more pricey thing because I really wanted it, a Navy Omen.

I easily do the T2 missions here, even the ones where you are meant to run. The reason I didn’t want to stay with Myrmidon either is because I like the look of Minmatar and Amarr ships a lot.

I didn’t read most of the replies as it seems to be a vast argument at this point.

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That reminds when I started. The first ship was a Comorant and since this one had rails the natural progression seemed to be the Moa as a cruiser. But I had souch a hard time completing lvl 3 missions in that ship that I skilled right into a battlecruiser. Got myself a Ferox and I hated that as well, so I went for a Drake. Since missiles seem to be much more forgiving in hitting targets I only ever flew missile ships from that point on. At some point I bought myself a Gila and I did practically everything with it.

But the bad thing about missile or drone boats is that you start to ignore any and all of the turret Weapon mechanics. The first time I flew a turret ship after 2 years I could practically start from the scratch.