Hello!
First of all, I am a total n00b but I was gifted a SoCT’s Gnosis by my friend (tried to talk him out of this but to no avail). So now I have the dream ship which I do not intend to fly right now because of the lack of experience and skills (and I could not replace it either) BUT I do intend to start fitting it and skilling for it.
I would like to ask you how to fit a SoCT’s Gnosis for such priorities:
1) Ganking-proof. I know that everything could be taken down but I would like to avoid silly mistakes from my side at least.
2) PVP (the “Light Side”). It’s foremost is related to (1-(ganking-proof)). (And also to drone-infested sites).
3) Exploration. This actually fascinates me the most right now. I know that there are no ‘universal’ ships in EVE but some of you use mobile depots to refit their ships on the go. However there is question of modifications too. Augmentations could help a bit here, I think - what would be your recommendations?
And, I really need your advices about tanking: shields VS armor?
The best way to be gank-proof is to not go AFK, and to have situational awareness at all times.
All you need for PVP is a warp scrambler or warp disruptor. Anything else can be different.
Again, all you really need is a data analyzer/whatever module you want to use to do exploration.
Theyre both good.
What you really need is experience. If you are afraid of losing the gnosis, well, first off, dont be, gnosises are cheap af and really easy to get your hands on. CCP kept handing them out for free for years, so theres a huge stockpile of it.
But in any case, ill go down to the basics.
First, always try to concentrate on one or the other, and never try to do too many things at once. A jack of all trades is a master at none, and this is true for Sheild, armor, weapons, etc. If you fit Autocannons, use all your slots with autocannons. If you fit shield, dont fit armor. Etc etc. Dont mix Autocannons with Artillery cannons, Railguns with blasters, etc etc.
With regards to sheild or armor, theyre both good. They have benefits and drawbacks.
Sheild takes up midslots. Which means more slots for low, which means more damage modules, like Gyrostabilizers or Drone damage amplifiers. Sheilds regenerate naturally, so they can always offer some level of regenerative buffer. Sheilds are the first line of defense, which gives you more time to think about what you want to do.
Drawbacks for sheilds, are higher signature, which means it will make you easier to hit/target lock. Cap usage for shield boosters are pretty high. Midslots are used for sheilds or utility modules, which means less utility modules such as target painters, stasis webifiers, etc. EM hole in sheilds so you are weak against lazers and Mjolnir missiles. Most good sheild hardeners are active, so it eats up cap too.
Armor is great, it gives decent, even resists, most resist modules are passive so no cap usage. You can fit tons of midslots which means you can do things like slow enemies down to a crawl or jam them, etc. Midslot modules can also increase damage by use of target painters, etc.
Not as much drawbacks for armor. I guess armor buffer increases mass, but you wont really see much difference. Armor repairers only repair at the end of their cycle, which can throw you off sometimes.
Personally, I prefer sheilds, but thats because i use a lot of sheild ships. If youre in a Gnosis, then you can go either way, and its really up to you. I just find shields give me a better balance between DPS and Defense.
But in the end, it doesnt really matter what sort of ship you field or fit. You have to go into it with the mindset that even if you lose it, you will go down smiling all the way.
Thank you very much for your so comprehensive and informative reply! There is a lot to think about. Still my problem is that I like switching from one type of activity to another to make my space life more various - from exploration to pve and back - so my fate as “master of none” is sealed.
I really love your informed analysis of shields VS armor (as all other advices of not mixing the things). There is a lot to think about but I think options are a bit clearer for me now. When one goes for DPS, then it’s shields. But for solo PVP it looks like having EWAR modules is crucial - so it’s armor. With exploration it’s mostly a cat’n’mouse game so it’s all about experience (=time+ISK), strategy, and speed (like a real mouse ), so no armor or shields
Anyway, love EVE - the choices are infinite and hard.
), so no armor or shields