Is there any alternative to the Kronos?

PvE Gameplay Center PvE Ships & Modules
1

As the title gives away I’m looking for a blaster ship for pve. Took a few years break and now L4’s are the obvious starting point to get back into the game.
I don’t have the Marauder skill and this sort of siege module looks a bit counter intuitive on a blaster boat. Is the Vindicator or any other ship a good alternative for PvE ?
My first idea was to get a Hyperion but then I saw it lost two guns in exchange for more drones… bleh.

Any ideas for a ship that combines style with functionality as blaster boat ? Preferably shield tanked…
The ship just needs to shred Serpenthis/EOM/Guristas- for everything else I already have specific tools.

2

Have you looked at the Rokh?

3

Yes. I think it lacks in mobility and the cap is very weak. Was ok for it’s main purpose as passive tanked fleet sniper. But for an active PvE tank + guns + prop mod not up to the task imho.

4

Hyperion? Good repair bonus. Vindicator should work as well.

5

Fair enough. My other suggestions would be the Vindi (as you suggest), or the Megathron, but I suspect you looked at that already.

Honestly, blasters, shield tank, and mobility will be tricky to find, but I’ll be interested to follow this thread to see what you wind up choosing and what others recommend :slight_smile:

6

Add Navy Mega to the group, although the Kronos leaves all except the Vindi in the dps dust. Have to something about the stupid “Space Jungle” camo,though. Marauder still beats them all for ease and profit from loot/salvage if full clearing.

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7

Wait, are you telling me people can actually see my Fed Navy Comet and that I need to use the utility high for cloak?

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8

The Vindi can fit a pretty decent shield tank. That leaves a lot of lows for mag stabs and tracking enhancers.

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9

The Vindicator looks like the best option judging by paper stats. Alternatively I’ll have to polish my active armor tanking skills for a vanilla Gallente ship. With tech 3 battleships and tier 3 navy battleships nowhere in sight that seem to be the 2 alternatives.
Or screw blasters and just replace my Maelstrom with a Machariel and use phased plasma for Serp missions. Ticks at least the boxes for shield tank and manouverability. :thinking:

1 Like
10

I prefer a Pulse Paladin for L4s. Instead of carrying mountains of ammo, and struggling to hit targets at various ranges (Blasters are only good for spitting distance, and Rails are only good for hitting another time zone). I can carry a few sets of Multi, Conflag, and Scorch, and toss a script into my Track Comp when need be, and I can hit everything everywhere.

And the ability to Siege is awesome. Basically guarantees you cannot be killed. You can trigger every wave at once, and just sit and tank it. =)

1 Like
11

Go Kronos or go home. You can get a 75km blaster range on the Kronos which is impossible to touch with any other hull.

4 Likes
12

You seem to use the Kronos yourself. Do you have any issues with the bastion module, specifically it’s drawbacks ? I’m a bit sceptical about a stationary blaster ship. Especially as a good amount of that range is falloff.

13

I’ve got a Nightmare for npcs that can be efficiently killed with lasers. A Rokh with 425mm rails for the odd EOM or Guristas mission and a Maelstrom for everything else. I want a ship that is a bit different in playstyle. Not just sit there, shoot stuff while staring at the drones/blinky NPC frigates.

Edit: I may get that with a T3 cruiser or command ship, but efficiency will take a hit.

14

@Jacob_Stov None. With a 75km range, all you have to do is maneuver slightly each mission (I recommend a MWD). This usually places you within the 20-40km optimal arc for Blasters on the Kronos. Deploy Bastion and salvage as you go.

15

I’m not sure short range guns are a good choice for PvE. I certainly wouldn’t recommend them for missions, with maybe the exception of the Mach, but anyway what I wanted to comment on is this:

What do you mean it lost two guns? What matters is the number of effective guns after taking the ship bonuses into account, not the number of hardpoints. Actually, as long as this is compensated by an increase in the damage bonus, the lower the number of guns the better, as it means you have more slots available for other things.

I can’t check atm, but I think the Hype has 6 hardpoints, but a 50% damage bonus with L5 skills. That’s 9 effective guns…

1 Like
16

Sure, you could cart around half a dozen ships depending on what mission you fly. Or you just fly in and kill stuff. Even if the rats are less vulnerable to my EM / Therm lasers, they still blow up after being sufficiently laser’d.

I used to fly L4s with a Legion. And yes, it’s a lot more involved. But it is, as you said, a lot less efficient. You can’t just blast everything out of the sky and clean up the wrecks. You have to chase them around and make sure you’re in range.

I still think a Marauder is the way to go. You don’t need to Siege in most instances. The only times I’ve felt compelled to Siege is if I triggered the whole damned room at once, or if I was swarmed by EW that was holding me back. While Sieged, you’re immune to most EW, and it boosts your range and such.

17

Short-range weapons are perfectly fine for PvE. There are very few NPCs that will remain at distances further than 50km (Guristas). For the odd mission where you need to close distances (such as Worlds), a MJD works great.

18

I’ve tried the blaster fit kronos that @Arthur_Aihaken is talking. It’s a beast, true childeater. Just use MWD to get into range, pop bastion and salvage the wrecks.

19

The only downside to the Kronos is that it’s not strong against Angel NPCs. As Null ammunition has a bit more thermal damage it’s actually quite effective against Sansha, Blood Raiders and Drones. It really excels against EOM, Guristas, Mercenaries and Serpentis.

A MJD is recommended to swap-in for Guristas missions as they typically remain at ranges in excess of 50km. You can MWD to within range but you burn a lot of capacitor in doing so.

1 Like
20

Kronos is the best option because of already stated reasons. Apart from Vindicator I would also try to use DNI:
[Dominix Navy Issue, PVE Brawler]

Fourier Compact Tracking Enhancer
Drone Damage Amplifier II
Drone Damage Amplifier II
Mark I Compact Power Diagnostic System
Magnetic Field Stabilizer II
Damage Control II
Magnetic Field Stabilizer II

Tracking Computer II, Optimal Range Script
100MN Afterburner II
Pith B-Type X-Large Shield Booster
Heavy Capacitor Booster II, Navy Cap Booster 3200
Dread Guristas Kinetic Deflection Field
Dread Guristas Thermal Dissipation Field

Neutron Blaster Cannon II, Void L
Neutron Blaster Cannon II, Void L
Neutron Blaster Cannon II, Void L
Neutron Blaster Cannon II, Void L
Neutron Blaster Cannon II, Void L
Neutron Blaster Cannon II, Void L

Large Anti-Thermal Screen Reinforcer II
Large Polycarbon Engine Housing II
Large Polycarbon Engine Housing II

small drones
Garde II x5
Ogre II x5

Over 1500 DPS cold, over 900 DPS tank vs serpentis, but speed is only 422 m/s and you need rather expensive, very large cap boosters (cargo hold was buffed on Battleships, remember :slight_smile: ? )

Fit is less, than 1 billion at current prices and any decent RHML Rattlesnake will beat it by mile… But you were asking for blaster brawler and here it is…

Vindicator will be more effective (more DPS, much quicker etc) but will eat even more cap boosters (fit also less than 1 bilion). Unlike DNI, it relyes on webs and guns, so it will work less quick versus scattered targets (DNI use bounced large drones, that are 60 km range sphere of influence, Vindicator will have to fly those 60 km by itself)
[Vindicator, Pve ]

Damage Control II
Magnetic Field Stabilizer II
Magnetic Field Stabilizer II
Federation Navy Magnetic Field Stabilizer
Co-Processor II
Drone Damage Amplifier II
Drone Damage Amplifier II

Dread Guristas Thermal Dissipation Field
500MN Y-T8 Compact Microwarpdrive
Federation Navy Stasis Webifier
Pith X-Type X-Large Shield Booster
Heavy Capacitor Booster II, Navy Cap Booster 3200

Neutron Blaster Cannon II, Void L
Neutron Blaster Cannon II, Void L
Neutron Blaster Cannon II, Void L
Neutron Blaster Cannon II, Void L
Neutron Blaster Cannon II, Void L
Neutron Blaster Cannon II, Void L
Neutron Blaster Cannon II, Void L
Neutron Blaster Cannon II, Void L

Large Processor Overclocking Unit I
Large Anti-Thermal Screen Reinforcer II
Large Anti-Kinetic Screen Reinforcer II

Hobgoblin II x5
Ogre II x4