So I got back to the game as my employer has us working from home during the “flu”.
Got an Ishtar sitting in the hangar and I was thinking of making some AFK ISK doing L4 for SoE. Basic armor tank fit, T2 all mods, sentries/heavies and tracking mods. Works just fine, but I’d like to up the pace a bit.
Caldari and Gallente BS V with all corresponding weapon and tank skills so I could invest in a Rattlesnake for example.
Or is my good old Ishtar just good enough? >900 DPS that I can apply all over the field and can tank pretty much everything. I can bling it a bit but with 3xDD amps how much more DPS can I squeeze?
Hence, is it worthwhile investing in a Snake, or could a bling Navy Ship or Hyperion (MJD rail fit) speed it up?
An Ishtar and a Snake will perform similarly if you’re doing AFK PVE, however if you’re actively performing the PVE the Snake is much stronger in almost every way. Also much more expensive. If you’ve got Gallente and Caldari BS V you should probably invest in one. Make sure you’ve got shield and missile skills to get the most out of it.
When I do lvl 4s I like to use two passive Rattlesnakes and it’s ridiculously strong. It’s not AFK but I prefer to blitz the missions and get them done quickly to maximize that sweet sweet LP. Don’t get me wrong I’ve flown the Ishtar for hundreds of hours and its great, just not on the same level as the Rattlesnake. I’ve put hundreds of hours in the Machariel as well and the Mach is in fact better, but takes a lot more work and attention because it relies on speed & positioning and has a weaker tank. Rattlesnake is much more hands off, much more forgiving–easier to duel box.
I’d stay away from the Hyperion and most Navy ships. They’re typically better suited for pvp.
hyperion is good, but does not hit that much with rails. grapplers+mega blaster also consume less fit, but require an AB and so cap charges.
here is the fit I used.
hyperion
[Hyperion, *Simulated Hyperion Fitting]
Reactive Armor Hardener
Magnetic Field Stabilizer II
Large Armor Repairer II
Energized Adaptive Nano Membrane II
Large Armor Repairer II
Energized Adaptive Nano Membrane II
Magnetic Field Stabilizer II
Heavy Stasis Grappler II
Large Cap Battery II
Heavy F-RX Compact Capacitor Booster
100MN Afterburner II
Cap Recharger II
Neutron Blaster Cannon II
Neutron Blaster Cannon II
Neutron Blaster Cannon II
Neutron Blaster Cannon II
Neutron Blaster Cannon II
Neutron Blaster Cannon II
Large Capacitor Control Circuit II
Large Auxiliary Nano Pump I
Large Capacitor Control Circuit II
Hobgoblin II x8
Republic Fleet Berserker x5
Navy Cap Booster 3200 x5
Null L x3026
Caldari Navy Antimatter Charge L x2141
Void L x4325
I think I never activated the second rep. so maybe replace it with a ancil, adn drop the cap recharger for a MJD (mobility was missing)
Got both BS to V as well as shield, missile and drone skills to max (80m sp sub cap).
Do I run the snake with cruise and sentries or brawler? A cruise fit seems more allround as I can drop some tank slots for TP, mjd and mwd/ab. I’ll use a cap booster and do active tanking when needed. Brawler might have more DPS on paper I guess.
You can use it a number of ways. Passive tanks are particularly strong on the snake. For weaponry I carry a full set of cruise launchers and a full set of rapid heavies and ammo for each and I switch fittings for different things. I usually use a MWD but will switch to MJD for certain missions. In general I prefer to use the rapid heavy fit. I carry extra shield power relays and a variety of shield hardeners and extra shield extenders for different situations.
As for drones, I’ll use augmented in safe situations or t2 heavies when I want to keep costs down. I rarely use sentries on the snake because the ishtar has a tracking bonus to sentries and gets better performance out of them whereas the the rattlesnake excels more with some pimped out heavies or geckos. Because of the hitpoint bonus there’s less risk in fielding expensive drones.
If you are particularly into ranged stuff and want to use cruise I’d recommend the barghest. The rattlesnake can be setup to engage at range but the barghest does that better. Remember, the snake has a shield bonus and a drone hitpoint bonus, it wants to be up close.
Edit:
Fit
[Rattlesnake, Rogue Spy Part 1]
Ballistic Control System II
Drone Damage Amplifier II
Drone Damage Amplifier II
Caldari Navy Shield Power Relay
Caldari Navy Shield Power Relay
Caldari Navy Shield Power Relay
Rapid Heavy Missile Launcher II, Inferno Fury Heavy Missile
Rapid Heavy Missile Launcher II, Inferno Fury Heavy Missile
Rapid Heavy Missile Launcher II, Inferno Fury Heavy Missile
Rapid Heavy Missile Launcher II, Inferno Fury Heavy Missile
Rapid Heavy Missile Launcher II, Inferno Fury Heavy Missile
Drone Link Augmentor II
Large Anti-EM Screen Reinforcer II
Large Anti-Thermal Screen Reinforcer II
Large Core Defense Field Purger II
‘Augmented’ Ogre x2
Imperial Navy Curator x2
Praetor II x2
Warrior II x5
Inferno Fury Cruise Missile x1500
Inferno Precision Cruise Missile x1500
Inferno Fury Heavy Missile x3000
Inferno Precision Heavy Missile x1500
Caldari Navy Inferno Cruise Missile x1500
Caldari Navy Inferno Heavy Missile x3000
Nanite Repair Paste x250
Mobile Depot x1
Inertial Stabilizers II x6
Large Micro Jump Drive x1
Cruise Missile Launcher II x4
Republic Fleet Large Shield Extender x1
Caldari Navy Shield Power Relay x3
Republic Fleet Shield Recharger x1