Hello and welcome, everybody! After about a month of intensive testing, plus nearly a week of testing on TQ, myself and a group of dedicated PvE masterminds have collaborated to create fits capable of running the L5 abyssal sites (Chaotic) with minimal risk. We’ve stress-tested these fits in over 1000 abyssal sites between us (and beefed up our retirement funds heartily) so we’re ready to release our best fits to the public.
The following fits are versatile, able to run any type of site; they’re relatively easy to pilot. They are, however, highly expensive and skill-intensive. At present this is an excellent investment (I’ve personally made over 50b this week by blitzing over a hundred L4 abyssals, and maybe 50 L5s).
This guide assumes you’ve got some idea of how to run abyssal sites. If you don’t, grab a gila (you can use a less blinged version of this one) and take it to a calm or agitated filament to get a feel for abyssal mechanics.
This guide also assumes you have nearly perfect capacitor skills. If you don’t, take an antipharmakon aeolis/standard mindflood in pretty much every site.
Here’s a handy cheat sheet for abyssal site types & tiers (thanks to ParusLux!):
Warning: going into any L4 or L5 site in highsec will give you a short suspect timer when you leave. Only attempt to run these sites in isolated systems. I’m pretty sure people have lost 250b trying to run l4s in jita this week.
Fit #1: The gold standard “turbogila.” Runs all Abyssal sites:
[Gila, WTB Filaments]
Imperial Navy Drone Damage Amplifier
Imperial Navy Drone Damage Amplifier
Imperial Navy Drone Damage Amplifier
Shadow Serpentis 10MN Afterburner
Pithum A-Type Medium Shield Booster
Federation Navy Omnidirectional Tracking Link, Tracking Speed Script
Pithum A-Type Adaptive Invulnerability Field
'Thurifer' Large Cap Battery
Pith A-Type Shield Boost Amplifier
Black Eagle Drone Link Augmentor
Rapid Light Missile Launcher II, Scourge Fury Light Missile
Rapid Light Missile Launcher II, Scourge Fury Light Missile
Rapid Light Missile Launcher II, Scourge Fury Light Missile
Rapid Light Missile Launcher II, Scourge Fury Light Missile
Medium Core Defense Operational Solidifier II
Medium Core Defense Operational Solidifier I
Medium Capacitor Control Circuit I
Vespa II x10
High-grade Crystal Alpha
High-grade Crystal Beta
High-grade Crystal Gamma
High-grade Crystal Delta
High-grade Crystal Epsilon
High-grade Crystal Omega
Zor's Custom Navigation Link
Zor's Custom Navigation Hyper-Link
Agency 'Overclocker' SB7 Dose III
Is it really any surprise that CCP would release new PvE content, and an overdesigned AB ratting gila would be the perfect counter? Not to us. This gila can run 100% of all abyssal sites, although it really shines in dark sites where the speed/sig tank makes it incredibly powerful. It’s also the easiest-flying ship you can use for abyssal sites.
Piloting instructions: enter the site and take an overclocker 3 (only needed in l5s). Manually pilot to establish transversal on the targets, and use drones to eliminate them in the order of anything webbing you -> cruiser -> BS -> frigate. Try to angle yourself to bioadaptive caches early in the site, scoop them, then orbit the conduit at 20km until the site’s cleared. Rep up anything that you overheated before entering the next room. If you encounter a swarm of small enemies with an area-denial (point defense) pylon in the room, burn to the pylon (they’ll follow you and die), while siccing your own drones on something out of the pylon’s range.
Vespas are the best type of drone for all abyssal sites. Everything has either omniresist or a kinetic hole.
Protip: overheat your RLMLs, then rep them while they reload.
HG crystals are MANDATORY in l5 (chaotic) sites. You WILL die if you don’t have them. You can get away with no highgrades in a level 4 site, or with midgrades if you wanna be safer. (You can also downgrade to a b-type invuln and Republic Fleet cap battery if you want to run l4s only, but I highly recommend the a-type for a level 5; most of our testing losses had btypes.)
Feel free to round out the capacitor stability with an antipharmakon aeolis, or an 803 cap implant if you aren’t using a zor’s. You don’t actually need to (you’re never gonna run everything w/heat for 10 minutes) but it makes it more comfortable. An Aeolis + EM-804 is mandatory if you don’t have perfect cap skills.
A note on augmented drones: You can push out a little more DPS by using aug vespas. I don’t recommend it because you tend to lose drones a lot, but I sometimes carry 1 set of aug vespas and recall them for t2s if they start taking heavy damage.
Estimated clear times: L4s 10 minutes, L5s 15-17 minutes.
Fit #2: Polarized blitzing sacrilege:
I know, I know, but hear me out. Most sac losses happen because you run out of time – the ship is tanky as hell, but doesn’t match the gila’s DPS. Essentially a modified, higher-dps version of a normal abyssal sac, this will run any l5 site, and is best in Firestorm sites. The lower resists are countered by running pre-overheated dual reps.
Runs: all Abyssal sites
[Sacrilege, Polar blitz]
Caldari Navy Ballistic Control System
Caldari Navy Ballistic Control System
Caldari Navy Ballistic Control System
Corpum A-Type Medium Armor Repairer
Medium Ancillary Armor Repairer, Nanite Repair Paste
Domination Target Painter
Republic Fleet Large Cap Battery
Gistum A-Type 10MN Afterburner
Missile Guidance Computer II, Missile Precision Script
Polarized Heavy Assault Missile Launcher, Scourge Rage Heavy Assault Missile
Polarized Heavy Assault Missile Launcher, Scourge Rage Heavy Assault Missile
Polarized Heavy Assault Missile Launcher, Scourge Rage Heavy Assault Missile
Polarized Heavy Assault Missile Launcher, Scourge Rage Heavy Assault Missile
Polarized Heavy Assault Missile Launcher, Scourge Rage Heavy Assault Missile
'Lance' Medium EMP Smartbomb I
Medium Nanobot Accelerator II
Medium Auxiliary Nano Pump II
Vespa II x5
High-grade Asklepian Alpha
High-grade Asklepian Beta
High-grade Asklepian Gamma
High-grade Asklepian Delta
High-grade Asklepian Epsilon
High-grade Asklepian Omega
Zor's Custom Navigation Link
Inherent Implants 'Noble' Repair Proficiency RP-905
Agency 'Hardshell' TB7 Dose III
Synth Exile Booster
Scourge Rage Heavy Assault Missile x2000
Caldari Navy Scourge Heavy Assault Missile x2000
Nanite Repair Paste x1000
Piloting instructions: take your drugs, then go in with both reps overheated. Run the AAR as you clear DPS from the room. (Remember to start the first rep cycles as damage starts landing on you, since armor reps apply their repair at the end of a cycle, a roughly 5-second delay from when you push the button.) Make sure you have auto-reload off on the AAR. Reload it at the end of a room, once you can tank it on just the normal rep; repair it while it reloads. Don’t forget to start the reload before you’re completely done with the room, otherwise you lose an extra minute on each room.
Heat your launchers a bit at the start of each room (I usually heat to about 35% damage with thermo 5) to help clear dps early. Use faction torps on small targets, rage torps on BS. Watch out for the shorter range on rage torps. Tactically overheat the guidance comp + TP if you’re having trouble applying to frigates.
This fit can have some close shaves, but I’ve never lost one yet. HG Asklepians are MANDATORY for this fit in ALL abyssal sites – don’t undock without them!
Est clear times: L4s 8 minutes, L5s 10-12 minutes
Fit #3: Polarized blitzing Deimos:
I wasn’t sure about putting this fit in the guide, since I know someone’s gonna screw up and die in it. But a lot of people seem to want a blaster fit for these sites, and the kinetic damage is good for abyssal NPCs. This isn’t as good a fit as the sac or gila IMO, but it’s a solid option if for some reason you can only fly Gallente. I’ve run about 50 L5 sites on this between Sisi and TQ and haven’t died yet, but I’m using perfect skills and know what I’m doing; if you’re not confident, stick to L4 sites until you know you can take on the 5s.
Runs: all non-Dark sites (don’t even try a l1 dark)
[Deimos, Polar Blitz]
Shadow Serpentis Magnetic Field Stabilizer
Shadow Serpentis Magnetic Field Stabilizer
Shadow Serpentis Magnetic Field Stabilizer
Corpum A-Type Medium Armor Repairer
Medium Ancillary Armor Repairer, Nanite Repair Paste
Republic Fleet Tracking Enhancer
Shadow Serpentis Stasis Webifier
Shadow Serpentis Stasis Webifier
Thukker Medium Cap Battery
Corelum C-Type 10MN Afterburner
Polarized Heavy Neutron Blaster, Caldari Navy Antimatter Charge M
Polarized Heavy Neutron Blaster, Caldari Navy Antimatter Charge M
Polarized Heavy Neutron Blaster, Caldari Navy Antimatter Charge M
Polarized Heavy Neutron Blaster, Caldari Navy Antimatter Charge M
Polarized Heavy Neutron Blaster, Caldari Navy Antimatter Charge M
Medium Hybrid Metastasis Adjuster II
Medium Hybrid Metastasis Adjuster II
Vespa II x5
High-grade Asklepian Alpha
High-grade Asklepian Beta
High-grade Asklepian Gamma
High-grade Asklepian Delta
High-grade Asklepian Epsilon
High-grade Asklepian Omega
Zainou 'Deadeye' Medium Hybrid Turret MH-805
Agency 'Hardshell' TB7 Dose III
Synth Exile Booster
Antipharmakon Iokira
The main problem with this fit is the range and tracking on blasters; you need to AB into range of targets & apply dual webs to track effectively.
Piloting instructions: turn auto-reload off on the AAR. Take a hardshell 3 going into the site (go pyro 2 if you’re in an l4). Preheat both reps at the start of each room. Run the reps as you start taking damage (remember that armor reps apply repair at the end of their cycle, so there’s a 5-second delay between hitting the rep and getting reps). Only start reloading the AAR once you’re confident you can tank the site on 1 rep, and repair the AAR while reloading. I’m not kidding about packing 1k nanite.
Preload antimatter and use your drones to help eliminate small NPCs. Switch to void for BS-sized targets. If a drifter battleship spawns, burn towards it immediately and melt it with void ammo. If you’re tanking fine, cut your propmod when in range of targets, to reduce transversial. If you get a swarm of small NPCs, bait them into range of a point defense pylon (these always spawn when a rogue drone swarm spawns).
Iokira helps with tracking, but if you have time to kill, take an improved or strong drop booster, then wait for it to wear off if you get a bad side effect.
As with the sac, HG Asklepians are mandatory in ALL sites. Feel free to try a level 2 without ‘em, but everything else, you need the maxed burst rep.
Estimated clear times: L4s 10 minutes, L5s 13-16 minutes.
For all of these fits, make sure to keep an eye on your capacitor (they’re stable with max skills, but not without max; use an aeolis to fix this). Also, feel free to upgrade your mods (especially propmods) with abyssal gear; in particular, if you can get a maxed fitting propmod onto the gila, you can also swap out for an RF cap batter and save some isk on the thurifier. (My current gila has an all-green abyssal 10mn I mutated myself out of a shadow serpentis AB.)
Troubleshooting: we’ve tested these fits extensively but if you have any problems, please evemail me. if you have suggestions, also shoot me an evemail on Garry. I look forward to hearing form you!
That’s all for now. Happy hunting!
