I’m looking for some advise on what BS skills to train next. Right now I’m running level 4 missions in the Praxis. I’m using, and have decent skills in, cruise missiles and shield tanking. I’m a bit confused on what racial battleship to move into. I can’t find any battleship that really fits my skills that would be an upgrade to the Praxis.
At this point, I have only trained up to cruiser, so I could go any direction from here. I have minimal projectile skills, only the very basic up to medium.
I’ve looked at the raven, and it’s variants. Also the rattlesnake. It looks like I’ll need a large amount of skills before any of those are upgrades to the Praxis. Any suggestions?
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The Golem is kinda your endgame here. The Raven or Navy Raven is your logical next step.
The Rattlesnake is a beast, but it’s more drone focused. It’s a really great ship, but you’d probably have to pivot your training plan a little to make it really shine.
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Thanks, that’s pretty much what I had found. I do have sentry drones in the queue, but they seem to need a big investment to be good.
I’ll keep plodding along 
Sentry drones are definitely worth getting to t-2.
If your strictly missioning for isk and LP then a navy raven will be your friend, plenty of dps to burn through quickly and when set up with range in mind mostly untouchable, drones boats are good but if you are not wanting to manage your ship, the battle and drone at the same time then go after a missile boat.
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Scorpion Navy Issue is a good choice, lots of tank and good slot layout.
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I went straight for the Rattlesnake. I don’t know why people insist it is drone focused, but ok…
I use a single Gecko and Rapid heavy missile launchers and there’s no lvl 4 that even make me lose even 1/4 of the shields. Does Epic arcs with ease, too.
Other than that, I would go Caldari and aim for the Raven line.
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It would be the 275% drone damage bonus.
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What is your fit? The rattlesnake was my choice to move to next, but I can’t decide if it’s worth the cost and skill time.
Yeah, but with the skills at 5/5 and considering missile damage +50% and shield resistances +20%, the drone bonus is more like 1/3 of the kickass trifecta. Before the drone damage nerf, I would have agreed that it was drone focused, but not now.
Fit is below
I have mine set up as a bit of a jack of all trades type of PvE fighter…tons of different uses in my ship, all of which came from experience over time, and needing it to do one thing or another. Lots of versatility in my fit. I keep both a MJD and MWD nearby as well as a few different Resistance mods for specific uses, but this is the general use cap stable Omni tank fit that I use 90% of the time.
Of course, other players will criticize, but it’s not their ship…it’s mine, and it can do a helluva lot. Keep in mind, this took me a while to skill and I kept upgrading over time…and I’m still not finished. There’s lots of ways to fit this ship, so yours will have to be suited to the way you play.
It is expensive. It may seem daunting, and not worth the time and effort, but once you build a cheaper one initially, with a basic fit that can do lvl 4’s with ease…which doesn’t take long to get…you’ll make the ISK faster, and can upgrade quickly. The only thing that takes a long time, is the Gallente/Caldari Battleship skills, and the related missile and shield skills.
Once you have those up, and you build a nice fit that suits you, you will look back and KNOW that it was all completely worth it. There’s no doubt in my mind that you will feel zero regret for putting in the time and effort to make it.
I LOVE this ship, and I am so glad I made the decision to focus on it. Also, I put all the Crystal implants, plus a bunch of other applicable skill hardwiring on my clone, which make the experience even better, so keep that in mind for yourself as well. I wish I could figure out how to show you the stats after my implants/skills…the shield boost is much higher, etc.
Click here for Workbench fit (shows more stats)
Click here for basic fit
[Rattlesnake, *Simulated Rattlesnake Fitting]
Damage Control II
ML-EKP 'Polybolos' Ballistic Control System
ML-EKP 'Polybolos' Ballistic Control System
ML-EKP 'Polybolos' Ballistic Control System
Dark Blood Power Diagnostic System
Dark Blood Power Diagnostic System
Large Micro Jump Drive
Domination Large Shield Booster
Dread Guristas Multispectrum Shield Hardener
Dread Guristas Multispectrum Shield Hardener
EM Shield Hardener II
Dread Guristas Shield Boost Amplifier
Imperial Navy Cap Recharger
Dread Guristas Rapid Heavy Missile Launcher
Dread Guristas Rapid Heavy Missile Launcher
Dread Guristas Rapid Heavy Missile Launcher
Dread Guristas Rapid Heavy Missile Launcher
Dread Guristas Rapid Heavy Missile Launcher
Black Eagle Drone Link Augmentor
Large Capacitor Control Circuit II
Large Capacitor Control Circuit I
Large Thermal Shield Reinforcer II
Gecko x2
Salvage Drone I x5
Caldari Navy Wasp x2
Caldari Navy Scourge Heavy Missile x3130
Thanks! That’s a great fit, very similar to what I have on the praxis, minus all the expensive gear :). So you like RHML over cruise?
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Thanks, and yes, for what I use it for primarily RHML is better because I have to spend a lot of time killing smaller, faster ships. The range of cruise missiles is great, but they suck at killing fast orbiting frigate swarms…and when you get a lot of ewar, you want them dead fast. Pretty much every enemy I run across comes close enough for Heavies, and my build can sit still and take just about any punishment, so there’s no need to kite or move for that matter. I just let them come in close, wait for them to go red, pop out a Gecko, drop an MTU and splat at will.
Like you, I started with a Praxis. I still love that ship, but I needed something a bit stronger, that could take more punishment. I had no idea how much better the Rattlesnake would be. SO much better. I still keep the old Praxis around for when I need to go do something with a BS that runs the risk of me losing it. Also, as a side note, it works surprisingly well for gas mining in a hostile area…lol.
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You don’t know why the ship line with massive drone bonuses is drone focused?
You’re a little slow, aren’t you…ok then. I’ll go ahead and quote myself from up above where I answered the last guy that said this, since you can’t be bothered to read.
My opinion and logic does not require your approval, so take your lame attempt at a passive aggressive dig, and shove it. Oh, and one more thing…missiles on my ship do more damage than the drones. Normal missiles…not even faction. So…not drone focused.
The drone bonus is always there, even with Caldari Battleship at 1. But you need Battleship 5 for the 50% missile damage (this is the main reason why it is such a great drone ship, especially for Alpha).
Second: The reason for your higher missile damage is maybe because your missile skills are higher than your drone skills? Or because you are only using Ballistic Control Systems and no Drone Damage mods?
Your posted fit shows 3 BCS and no Drone Damage mod. This “might” be the reason why your missile damage is higher than the drone damage.
The drone DPS should be higher than the missile DPS when there are Drone Damage mods in the low slots. On your fit maybe up to 25% higher, even when you are using faction missiles.
And next tip. Instead of a Gecko you could use Augmented drones. They are cheaper and deal more damage.
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There’s also the fact that the Rattlesnake only has bonuses for kinetic and thermal missiles where as the drone damage bonus is for all damage types.
I’d also argue that you really want Hivaa Saitsuo BCS on a Rattlesnake. It makes no sense to me to spend so much on a bling ship and then miss out on a module that seems to have been specifically designed for it.
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Barghest
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Still running the praxis. Just working missile skills while I decide, have about a month to go 
So I’m up to 800 DPS in the Praxis, and nothing else is coming close on paper. Are there hidden bonus to the other ships that I don’t know about?
The Rattlesnake is now a sidegrade on paper, with a hefty cost attached.
Don’t forget, DPS doesn’t mean much if you can’t stay in the fight. Defense is just as important, if not more. Get that EHP up through the roof and you can take a hell of a beating without breaking a sweat. In the stronger LVL 4’s and epics, defense is everything.
(Snapshot from the Rattle)
