OK so TL;DR I’m on the cusp of committing myself to a marauder. I was going for Golem but have gotten cold feet.
Anyway
So I’ve been building through Raven navy issue. I have a lot of cruise missile skills.
I’ve been saving up and farming SPs I have easily enough now to be able to get into a Golem with bastion and level V marauder, although maybe I need to save up more isk after the last time I got angry and blew up 2 or maybe 3 Praxis.
Anyway (frequent word for me, yes)
I mainly want to press the bastion button
I’ve been doing Lvl4 security missions for a while, doesn’t feel fast enough
I like the idea of being able to rat C3 Wormholes
I’m terribly scared of getting ganked because I have no ability at all to avoid another billion isk death and it scares me
I’ve been farming SPs, I have a lot. I could climb into a Golem easily right now
I’m getting cold feet because well should I?
Paladin looks ok, because goodness missiles can take a while can’t they
I do want to just wreck Lvl4 security missions, after all this time tip toeing around at 100km in my Raven.
I’d quite like to do VG fleets in this thing, so I know missiles aren’t so good
I realise you shouldn’t fly what you can’t replace, but this isn’t going to be the case. I don’t make billions. So if right now I spent all my SPs to get into a marauder and then bought one, I’d be right back down to hundreds of million isk. So I kind of want to get into the right one.
I suppose at first I just want to do some level 4 missions to get a feel of it, but really I’m looking at doing wormholes. I’m mainly solo, though I realise this is bad. Still, I’d quite like to be dangerous. I realise how stupid that sounds.
Anyway. Big thing is, I’m just about to splurge all my SPs and I want to feel like maybe I’m doing it in the right direction. I was always focussed on Golem, and I’m skilled up for cruise missiles already. I do like the immediate application of lasers though, so Paladin seems good even though it looks like a new dildo.
I’ve flown a laser ship one single time so far
Bit scared about about frigates getting under my lasers
in this order. Not being ganked. Level 4 missions. Wormhole ratting hopefully. Being able to run incursions. Blasting apart the escalations that i find when I’m farming skills on my other character accounts. Just being able to press the bastion button and thinking that I’m awesome.
I mean I don’t know. Vindi? the fleets I fly with seem to love those. Certainly there’s no Golems in their doctrines.
None of these are Noob friendly ships. You’re sure you want help in the New Citizens Q&A?
If you are afraid to lose a Marauder, fly a Praxis
But as you are thinking mainly about PvE, did ou have a look here? PvE Gameplay Center - EVE Online Forums
If you want to rat in wormholes, I’d highly recommend joining a wormhole corp. There’s no other better piece of advice I can give you if you want wormhole content. Basing in a wormhole is going to be a lot easier and safer than daytripping in random wormholes. The residents know all the tips and tricks that would take too long to type out here. Plus, every extra set of eyes on dscan is exponentially better when you don’t have local.
As far as first Marauder, the Golem is a solid choice, though you’re not going to find a lot of difference in game play between that and a Raven. They’re almost the same fit. My preference would be a Vargur, because Vertical Supremacy and it deletes everything battlecruiser and smaller with a single shot. Love the alpha projectiles have. Since your stated goal is to do wormholes sites with it, which one you ultimately choose is down to preference. Sleepers have omni resists, so picking a particular damage type doesn’t matter.
Yeah, this is going to happen. Not a big deal, though, just shoot them first and you can usually clear them as they’re burning into range. If they do get in range, smartbombs eventually deal with them. Just takes an annoyingly long time.
Something to think about. Now that you’ve got Marauders, it’s a nice, easy 6 month skill skill train on the jump drive skills for Black Ops. Having both will allow you to enjoy the best of what wormhole life has to offer. And later on, if you decide to go for capital ships, you’ll already have the tedious part trained, the Jump Drive Calibration 5.
Welcome (almost) to the Marauder family! I’ll just address a few of your specific points/questions above:
• Bastion is very much the “fun” button. Once you’ve started pressing it, it’s really hard to go back to other battleships…
• L4 missions are significantly faster in a Marauder.
• If you ‘brick’ (ie: 300k+ EHP) your Marauder and stick to 0.7 systems or higher - you’re generally a lot safer from ganks. Use T2 modules where possible and you’ll pretty much be left alone.
• Should you? Sure, why not. In terms of additional income earning - Marauders quickly pay for themselves.
• Guns rule (Vargur, Paladin, Kronos). Golem is universal damage application but you’ll be counting volleys. That being said, torpedo Golem is a riot! Autocannon Vargur is good anywhere, pulse laser Paladin is best in Amarr space and railgun Kronos is really good everywhere but Amarr space.
• You can still wreck L4s @100km (railgun Kronos and cruise Golem are very good at this).
• The “right” Marauder really depends on your play style. Missiles can hit anything (albeit with reduced damage to smaller targets). Guns have instant damage application but will struggle with orbiting frigates (etc.) If you’re running in Amarr space, I’d go Paladin. If you have mainly missile skills and are used to flying missile ships, go Golem.
• You’ll want a few flights of light drones for handling those pesky frigates. It’s almost not worth running a pair of tackle. If you go with a Golem, bring some precision cruise missiles and fit a target painter.
• Last but not least, ganked - safer systems, tank - don’t fit expensive modules. L4 missions are a lot faster. Bastion is fun.
