I am in a corp that mostly runs shield canes, but I love Amarr ships, so I’m wondering if I could pull it off?
I am a noob but I don’t see any glaring issues beyond the one extra mid slot that the cane has, and there are plenty of low slots that you could fill with heat sinks instead of an armor tank.
It can be done (anything can be done!) but there are a few things to be aware of:
You are going to be a slot short - that means you have to sacrifice something when shield tanking a Harbinger. One sacrifice will be capacitor improving modules - and the Harb’s a thirsty bird.
The base shield size of a Harbinger is two-thirds that of a Hurricane, so you are starting from a lower position.
I doubt you’ll be able to fit a shield much more than half the size of a Hurricane.
Minmatar ships are fast, and shield tanking works well with that since speed is also an effective defence. The Harbinger is slow. Most Amarrian ships are slower than their heretical equivalents. That armour fitting tends to slow a ship down isn’t a big deal for a ship that isn’t relying in mobility to survive.
So that’s the negatives. The upside is all the low slots will be free (after the obligatory damage control) - you can put three heat sinks in and tracking enhancers to make medium beam lasers more effective.
You are going to be a flying abomination: a thin tank with a kick like a mule - I’d be curious as to how you get on. I’ve flown Shield Arbitrators because there was shield logistics on the field and it felt very wrong. Slow, massive signature, smaller than normal tank. But it can be done.
If the fleet you are in doesn’t have logistics support, then why is shield being mandated? You’d be much more effective in the fleet with an armour tank, even if they are running shield command bursts, it isn’t going to compensate for your fundamental weaknesses if you shield fit.
I’ve flown a fair range of ships in my time: I’ll agree completely with your view that nothing is as smart as a freshly cleaned Amarrian hull with the sun glinting off it.
I find them much more satisfying to fly as well - they are demanding, but rewarding. You are always working to balance weapons, range, repair and cap, but get it right and it really works.
Have you considered a Navy Harbinger for that extra mid?
I have my doubt that this would work. Navy Harbinger has no activation cost bonus so you require huge amounts of cap to run the weapons alone.
really depends on what you are doing. Also since it’s the corp you are in you should probably ask them and not us.
the cane and harb have the same slot layout so a similar fit should probably work. That said projectiles don’t use cap where lasers do so there might be some issues on extended engagements.
I’m pretty sure that during the heyday of the roaming shield bc gang, shield harbs were a thing. You can do it.
it can pull an active shield tank fairly easy. and it probably works better than passive shield (not enough buffer, not enough shield recharge too, i think)
[Harbinger, *Simulated Harbinger]
Damage Control II
Capacitor Flux Coil II
Capacitor Flux Coil II
Heat Sink II
Heat Sink II
Heat Sink II
10MN Monopropellant Enduring Afterburner
Medium Shield Booster II
Adaptive Invulnerability Field II
Large Cap Battery II
Quad Light Beam Laser II
Quad Light Beam Laser II
Quad Light Beam Laser II
Quad Light Beam Laser II
Quad Light Beam Laser II
Quad Light Beam Laser II
Medium Processor Overclocking Unit I
Medium Anti-EM Screen Reinforcer I
Medium Anti-Thermal Screen Reinforcer I
the CPU rig is because of my skils but im pretty sure with good weapon and engineering skills it can be used to churn out another EM resistance rig.
if its for mission running it may get issues due to the difficulty and the lack of space to have a proper boosting with dedicated hardeners (it would be cool for wormholing tho).
fit says something like 5-6 minutes of cap while boosting. Quadlights are the only beams avaliable to fit due to the Large Cap Battery, which i the requirement to make this thing work properly.
The posted fit can be run without the CPU rig with better fitting skills.
As a mission ship, it’d work - though for missions you might as well play to it’s strengths and armour fit it.
In a Shield Logistics supported fleet, the need for your own Shield Booster is rather a moot point if you can be remotely boosted. You might as well fit more resistance to make the logistics’ chap’s life easier. And that’ll probably give you the fitting space for at least Medium Focused Beam Lasers.
I’m not convinced about the Capacitor Flux Coils since they reduce the capacitor size on a ship that’s already heavily capacitor dependant. It feels like you’re trying to mix an active shield fit with a passive shield defence. Personally, I like to focus on one or the other.
Unfortunately, the Harbinger normally says “Armour” at the start of that debate…
As I said earlier, it can be done. It’s just a really compromise whatever you try.
compared to the other capacitor lowslot modules its the best option. Power Relays nerf your shield boost so it would be counterproductive. Power Diagnostics enhance both cap and shield but it does it in small quantities so it would mean using multiple of them and adding CCC rigs to get the same result.
the oversized cap battery helps to compensate what several Cap Rechargers or CCC would require. it gives a large chunk of capacitor which means higher recharge rate. then, the Flux Coils shred out a part of that extra cap in order to boost recharge rates. in the end there’s still enough extra cap to keep things running smoothly with enough time to keep boosting shield if needed.
5-6 minutes is enough for most PvE engagements, unless you receive heavy fire of course. and for fleet well, there’s of course dedicated hardeners and an oversized extender.
Consider using the Omen Navy Issue instead. It’s 10mill more expensive but much better at kiting (as it is faster, has less mass and is more agile) and damage projection (with it’s optimal range bonus).
Harbinger:
Mass = 15.5mill kg
Speed = 175m/s
Inertia = 0.57
Omen Navy Issue:
Mass = 10.85mill kg
Speed = 265m/s
Inertia = 0.43
The main problem with the ONI is only 3 mids compared to the Harb’s 4 so you can’t fit tackle (unless you opt for a light shield tank) but if you fly with interceptors they can tackle for you. 300ish DPS @ 40km with Scorch is pretty nasty!
Thanks everyone for the responses.
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