If this should be posted elsewhere, please tell me. Recently returned to New Eden and now in a gas Prospect in losec for the first time in a few years. I have revisited the fit and I am left with two spare slots - either low or rig. I have searched for fits but very few offer the same low sig radius combined with a sub 3sec align and those that do, include overkill on align time; as I understand it with the 1 second tick mechanics, any sub 3sec time is equivalent, whether it is 2.5 or 2.9 (correction appreciated if appropriate).
This is my current fit (no need to probe, an alt does that). 43.6mill:
High - Covops cloak, 2x scoop II
Mid - 1MN Y-S8 AB, Med Azeotropic extender, Survey scanner II
Low - WC stab, Damage control II, 2x Type-D nano
Rigs - both empty
Align 2.94sec, sig radius 32m, 6,395 EHP.
I can remove the nanos and fit 2x nozzle joints II instead, achieving a similar align time. As I understand it (as above) there is no point in fitting nanos and nozzles together if I can’t get sub 2sec align, which I can’t. I don’t want to fit shield rigs because they increase the sig radius. I have even considered Trimark pump rigs, even though that goes against the usual advice of not mixing defence strategies but at least they would give a better chance of surviving smart bombs and affect only top speed, which is no biggie.
Your suggestions for how to use the two spare slots please?
Not sure if it’s a good fit, but you could bring the signature radius even lower if you don’t use a shield extender at all, but use an active shield tank instead.
That also gives a good choice for rigs without drawback: better capacitor. It’s not cap stable, but you could pulse the booster quite often when necessary, I guess.
[Prospect, Gas]
Warp Core Stabilizer II
Nanofiber Internal Structure II
Nanofiber Internal Structure II
Damage Control II
1MN Afterburner II
Multispectrum Shield Hardener II
Medium Shield Booster II
Gas Cloud Scoop II
Gas Cloud Scoop II
Covert Ops Cloaking Device II
Small Semiconductor Memory Cell II
Small Semiconductor Memory Cell II
Thanks, I’ll have a look at that later (logged out right now). Whatever shield strategy I use, I think if I really need it I will be dead anyway, except maybe trying to get back through a gate. I like the thought of an even lower sig. Also, from memory (I haven’t tried huffing yet, this time round) I like the survey scanner since sometimes the clouds are partly depleted and I can waste 30 seconds sucking up almost nothing.
A med shield booster is going to last some 40 seconds at best and it lacks ehp meaning it’s entirely useless. The increased sig radius from the rigs is mostly meaningless, it’s not going to make a difference.
Fit T2 medium extender, multispectrum, 1 EM rig and one extender rig. Also I would suggest to fit MWD over AB for general use but I don’t do gas huffing so I don’t know of any detailed requirements for that.
Thank you. I have looked at that in the simulator and I get 7,620 EHP while maintaining sub 3sec align. The sig radius (MWD inactive) increases to 39m . I don’t fully understand the resolution/radius calculation, so can you confirm that, for example against a 1,000mm+ Stiletto, my increase from 32 to 39 would indeed be “meaningless”.
Your sig radius while MWDing doesn’t do much as you should be cloaked. What you use the MWD for is a burst of speed as you cloak so you have the extra speed to make it back to the gate, out of the bubble or away from any other nasty situation. It’s better to have speed and not need it than need it and not have it, an AB won’t get you out of any real trouble.
So unless you need AB to sig tank IN the gas sites (as said, no idea) always fit mwd.
Thanks again. I will dig out the calculator to figure out the difference in potential lock times between 32 and 39 against a variety of hostiles - I used to know this stuff, a lifetime ago.
Yes, I’ve seen that but it relates to a few distinct scenarios, none of which relate directly to the Prospect and whichever other ship. I will play with it but I do take on board your “Your sig radius while MWDing doesn’t do much …” comment, so I think I am all set now. Thanks again.
Honestly in lowsec you don’t need tank. If they can pin you down you’re toast and no amount of tank on your frigate will save you. Personally I like bringing a burst jammer as a hail mary in case you do get tackled since that might break the hostile lock and give you a second to warp out. And yeah I’d definitely use an MWD over an AB.
I used the formula from the Uni page that has the graphs you showed, calculating the lock time for a 1000mm Stiletto against a Prospect with 32 and 39 sig radius. If my calculations are correct, the results are 2.3 sec and 2.1 sec respectively, so you are right - with the one second tick mechanics, lock time would be 3 seconds in both cases. I have a Stiletto (that I never use) with a 4 point scram and scan res of 1,091, meaning with my 3 sec align Prospect I’d have a good chance of going Pop!
Keep in mind that sig radius not only affects how fast you get locked, but also how hard it is to find you with combat probes, as well as how much damage ships deal to you.
People can of course can your gas site with regular probes, but if your sig radius is big enough they can also warp straight to you while you are mining.
+9m sig radius on a ship as tiny as a Prospect is a 30% increase.
That’s a pretty big difference when the Prospect is small enough by default that many players cannot probe it down. It may be the difference that allows players to find you.
The Prospect is not a basic frigate though, it’s a T2 frigate (better sensors) with a bonused tiny sig radius.
I’m not at my PC to try it at the moment, but I think the difference between 30m and 39m at 12 sensor strength is the difference between 36 and 47 scan strength required to get a 100% signal to warp to you, depending on how well you place your probes.
I don’t recall by heart what the scan strength is you can reach on an unbonused ship (like a hunting bomber, T3D Monitor or Arazu) but I do think it’s somewhere in the 30s.
Yes, the additional sig radius may allow you to get probed by ships that otherwise couldn’t pinpoint you.
A Kestrel has more sensor strength than a Prospect and has a sig radius of 38. If people can’t probe down a Kestrel they’re probably not worthy of hunting people in WH space and no one flies ships like bombers and Arazus in WH space with crap scanning skills.
Yes. My point is that going “well the prospect is T2 so that makes it special” doesn’t really apply. The sig bonus certainly IS special and it can have its uses but it’s not really a super difficult ship to scan down for people who know what they are doing, which generally are the type of people who hunt in WH space.
