Is the Astero still a good ship for 75/25pve/pvp?

I’m very new, just working through my last career missions and I’m trying to figure out my plan.
I want to primarily do exploration, with enough mining to stay ahead of my building, and be capable in ratting with minor change outs from a mobile storage.

In my researching I came across a great video from Wingspan fitting an Astero for exploration and it makes a lot of sense with my limited understanding :slight_smile:
So my question is this with the new update are they still a good exploration ship properly fitted?

I’m about ten days out before I have the basic skills to fly and cloak it and then I’m working on hitting level 5 on the magic 14 skills, unless I find out other things I need to skill up first.

So any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance

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Astero is exceptional ship for exploration. Last patch did not change a thing on that. But since you are very new as you write, then I would advise against it for now. Use cheap T1 frig instead and learn basics of the tradecraft in it. Only after that, shift to Astero.
Concerning exploration - Astero is superb for hacking relic and data sites in J-Space (only pirate faction sites in C1-3 class), very good for Nullsec hacking, and superb for low sec hacking.
It can do some basic combat sites, but you will be limited by not that great DPS (despite good application, you will be around 100). There are better ships for this, like Stratios, T3D, T3C. Don’t forget ship sizes restrictions on entering combat sites though. Astero can get even to the lowest tier.
Astero can get into limited sleeper cache, since it is frigate, but the loot is usually not mind blowing. You can go into Standard and Superior Sleeper cache. It is dance on thin ice, but you may do some part of it.
And you can fit it to survive ghost site blast in high sec, but it is specialized fit with rigs, not that much suitable for other exploration.
Mobile depot kills most of the cargo hold which Astero has and I doubt that it will be compensated by benefit of refitting. I would not use it here.
Overall Astero is superb. If flown properly, it will reward you by riches and fun.
We didn’t scratch the thing and yet it is wall of text. It is too big topic. Hit me in game or just post here any specific questions which you might have. Worst case scenario I will tell you I don’t know, but Iam sure somebody else will have the answer.
Cheers

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The Astero is one of the finest exploration ships in the game regardless of how many skill points you have. The video you’re referencing is all still current and offers a good guide. I would recommend you go with his second fit with four warp core stabs if all you want to do is run exploration sites. You can refit into the first fit he shows if you decide you want to hunt other explorers. A combat fit Astero will kill every other frigate sized explorer in the game - even with low skills. However, it won’t stand up against a dedicated explorer hunter, which is why 4 WCSs are your best bet for not losing the ship.

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Just one thing to add to the already excellent advice given here. This ship is most effective when used by Omega characters due to the ability to use the Covert Ops cloak- a mod that Alphas cannot use.

This is not to say that the Astero is not still a great ship, but it does become much more of a target and potentially expensive loss without that module in dangerous space.

YMMV, but that is something to keep in mind as well. You did not mention your clone status, but I wanted to toss that info into the pot in case it affects your decision.

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Thanks for all the feedback. My main is recently omega because I couldn’t handle 18 day wait times for skills :slight_smile:i plan on working up to the Astero but I’m working out my skill path so that once I burn through my probes and other free ships I’ve got I will have a better idea of what I’m doing. Currently learning cloak 4 and then I think I need to work on weapons and hacking but I just want to make sure I’m on the right path. I’m hoping to only see pvp in my rear view mirror but I’m sure I’ll be caught and beaten senseless more than once.
Initially the want to concentrate on exploration and some mining if I happen to see something worth mining.

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The Astero is great for dual pve/pvp, although your main targets will be other frigate-sized explorers, and perhaps the occasional destroyer and cruiser. Keep a mobile depot with you so you have the option to outfit to full combat while in space. Or you can be full-combat fitted, and refit to hacking when you find something you’d like to hack.

Having said that, if you like hunting explorers, even a Venture will do. Although Ventures don’t get a hacking bonus, they’re still good enough to hack sites in null/WH space with a T2 analyser. Ventures also give you the option of mining gas sites as well, so there’s ALOT of gameplay options available with this unassuming ship.

Thanks
I’m not really planning on hunting early on. I want to get a feel for wormholes and escaping from hunters when found. I do want to be able to tank the pve pirates I find on lower level stuff but this is really more about exploring for a few months with the least amount of fighting once I board my Astero. I plan on burning through my free ships from the tutorial and agency missions to get a better handle on combat but I’m doing my skill plan based on competent fighting and good scanning/hacking. I’m new but I’ve been concentrating on the magic 14 and the skills needed to fly/cloak/scan. It’s a slow process but I’ve got loads to of time :slight_smile:

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