Rail Naga - Level 3 Security Mission Viable?

PvE Gameplay Center Missions
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Howdy,

So I’ve been using a Rail Moa for L2 security missions to great effect. It’s probably not the fastest or most exciting PvE build, but I’m enjoying it and it has been pretty “safe” so far. If I acceleration gate in at 40km or more, I’m golden - I just snipe away. If I acceleration gate in close I can just turn and MWD burn to the necessary distance.

I’m getting ready to move up to a BC and L3 missions. The Naga seems to be the inheritor of this play style, but I have concerns about how viable it is for L3. If I accelerate gate in at 15km from a swarm will I be able to MWD away before I get webbed? Do L3 missions warp scramble you? I realize that zero drones is a bit of a liability as well.

Is there a way to make this work? I’m really enjoying the railgun sniper style and I’d like to preserve it in L3 if possible. If the Naga is just totally non-viable, what about a rail Ferox? It has a lot more health and some drones, so would that be a safer bet?

Many thanks in advance!

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Ferox is probably what you want, it’s a great rail ship and can get nice damage with great range. And it has a drone bay so it can deal with things that get in too close. probably one of the best BCs in game.

Naga gets to fit large guns thanks to the role bonus but the main trade off is that it’s pretty much a glass cannon. You probably could use it for most lv3s but you might end up in trouble if stuff gets under your guns. It’s probably not non-viable, but it’s just specialized in a way that doesn’t work great for missions.

AFAIK lv3 missions won’t scram, but a few might warp disrupt you, and there’s a handful with spider drones which are small fast and web.

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Thanks for the advice.

So if I won’t have to worry about my MWD being countered in L3, I suppose my main concern as a railboat is the spider drones you mentioned. If I warp in like 10km from a swarm and get webbed I should do what? MWD away while launching my drones to kill the spider drones? Or is there something else I should do?

Can you imagine any other “Gotchas” I should look out for in L3s using a railboat?

Thanks!

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L3 missions has large number of small quick targets. Naga’s rails will have troubles shooting them. Just becasue you can use it it does not mean you should. ISK / time ratio will be low. Did you concider Sentry drones sniper boat? Gnosis, Myrmidon…

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Ferox. I love the Naga (I have a sweet rail fit gang/fleet PvP fit for it) but I wouldn’t use it on missions solo by any means. The detox does damn good damage. If you dont mind sacrificing some range for the ability to hit smaller ships, go with the duel smalls. It’s pretty brutal, good dps and usually shreds lvl 3 frigs… or it did back when I was still running missions.

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I usually just throw light drones at the small ships that get in close. If you are fast you can snipe most of them right when you warp in as they fly right at you with low transversal.

And not really, with skills I pretty much just warp in and blap everything. I usually go small to large in some cases it makes sense to do large stuff first to get DPS off the field, or pop a trigger early, but that’s just something to learn.

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Just wanted to remind you, that best ship to run L3 efficiently is still Machariel. At least concidered to be the one by many experienced mission runners…

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personally i love my rail eagle… tasty 50km OPTIMAL range *goes up to 80k fallout with ANTIMATTER ammo it’s likw 180km with spike

but this ship is probably overkill!

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The proteus might beat it, but it’s a contest I don’t care enough to have. If you have the isk and SP for a mach or t3c you are probably better off doing lv4s.

sounds fun, Ferox can do pretty similar numbers but I’d guess the eagle is a bit faster.

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As an update, I went with the Ferox and have run about 10 L3 missions. It works great! No close shaves yet, although a group of capacitor drain towers required some annoying hit-and-run tactics. I think I’m going to try to stick with the railboat setup long-term. Hopefully when I get there I can make a Rokh work effectively for L4s, but that’s weeks out, I’m sure.

Thanks very much to everyone for the advice! I’ll keep the Eagle in mind for later. I’d still like to figure out a place for a Naga - perhaps for incursions with fleet support?

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To answer the question: I’d be wary of using an Attack Battlecruiser such as the Naga for Level 3 missions - they have very low defences, and while the big guns can hit things hard they are really best operating at range. A MJD fitted one may work, but it could start feeling really awkward really quickly - jump to range and hope you can kill enough before they close you down while the MJD is re-cycling.

Anyway, as a reference, I’ve happily run Level 3 Security missions in Amarr space with a Ferox:

[Ferox, TES Abider]

Damage Control II
Tracking Enhancer II
Magnetic Field Stabilizer II
Magnetic Field Stabilizer II

Large Shield Booster II
Adaptive Invulnerability Field II
Adaptive Invulnerability Field II
10MN Y-S8 Compact Afterburner
Optical Compact Tracking Computer
Large Shield Extender II

250mm Railgun II
250mm Railgun II
250mm Railgun II
250mm Railgun II
250mm Railgun II
250mm Railgun II
Small Tractor Beam II

Medium Capacitor Control Circuit I
Medium Capacitor Control Circuit I
Medium Ancillary Current Router I

There are probably better set-ups - it does have weaknesses.
NPC Frigates are a real hassle - you will need to carry a flight of light drones for those if they get close; otherwise target them at range and pop them quickly. In the Level 3 missions, then the frigates will start to target your drones so keep an eye on them.

You can probably de-rate it if your skills are insufficient - drop some of the modules down to Meta rather than T2. The tracking computer is there to give you a chance to hit things - you’ll normally want a tracking script in it. Railguns have reach, but track poorly (try Minmatar Artillery - that’s really painful). The Tracking Enhancer helps quite a bit.

You’ve got a balance between an active and buffer tank; the limiting factor in active shield tanks is normally the Capacitor, so this gives you chance to trade a buffer for killing time. I’ve not normally struggled - though Angel Extravaganza is always a grind. The Tractor Beam is optional - I use it for gathering wrecks to loot.

I’ve a motto: There may be better, more optimal ships (so everyone buy a Machariel lets make life all same-y and boring) but flying something you want to fly and succeeding with that is more fun. It’s not just about the ISK/hr. If It was, then My Credit Card beats your Machariel.

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Ah, You just hit send before me @Ian_Malcomb - glad the Ferox is working out for you; it’s become a good workhorse for me.
If you find yourself over in Amarr then drop me a line and we’ll run some Level 4 missions.

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This is untrue.
A mach is overkill for L3s; as you are downshipping for all targets. Between slower lock speeds, worse overall tracking due to the signature resolution on large guns (which also applies to an ABC such as the naga), higher ammunition costs, and longer align times than a T3d, pirate cruiser, HAC, T3c, BC, or command ship, it isn’t the best option to quickly complete L3s.

If you need to crush L3s (one of the quickest ways to gain standing), there are better options than the machariel.

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With enough tracking support modules large autocannons do not have problem to track small targets as they burn toward you with almost 0 transversal speed. Machariel has very nice speed bonus for both warp and sub-light speed. It has awesome falloff range for L3, so you can apply instant damage (without missiles or drones fly time ) and be moving all that time.
If you think you have T3 ships that can do better, please post here your fit. I wonder what application will have your weapon systems and how much bling you will need to apply to get serios DPS and tank out of it…

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I can sell you a cheap naga with rigs for 52.5 million.
EVE mail me ingame

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tl;dr it’s true, mach is amazing for lv3s.

a mach warps like a frigate, flies like a cruiser, and hits like a BS, It’s hard to believe anything beats it for lv3 mission completion times in general.

all this combined means you can glass cannon fit it, and use sensor boosters to get good lock times, tracking comps to get range (honestly don’t need the tracking, 800mm ACs track fine). Ammo is cheap, you are going to spend so much more time in warp than shooting stuff blitzing lv3s I don’t even think about ammo cost, and that’s with faction ammo, worst case ammo is ~7mil/hr (literally non stop shooting for an hour) I doubt you are going to use even 1/4 of that much, and the efficiency gains on the mach easily pay for it. Align times, not really an issue imo, it’s within a few seconds of most BCs and it will make up for that second or two with the increased warp speed, and you could fit nanos if you really wanted, there’s some slots for it.

pre t3c changes the tengu was the only thing I saw tested that came close, I thought the proteus would compete but I haven’t seen anyone fully test it. Now post t3c changes I think proteus is the only thing that can come close as it still has a warp speed sub which is the main reason it comes close.

t3d: lol come on, not going to have a chance.
pirate cruisers, hacs, BCs, CS: some decent choices here but aren’t going to compete, mostly on warp speed, also damage and damage projection are lacking for many.
t3c: like I just said about the proteus, Tengu probably still pretty good, great mix of damage and range, but not going to win thanks to warp speed.

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Hey man you can fit a micro jump drive to the Naga to jump you 100km away if you’re too close! Then you can snipe away to your hearts content. :slight_smile:

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