Strategic Cruisers: The Proteus

 recent change of requirements means that I have to be kitted up and ready to fly a T3 ship before the end of September!  The Tengu and the Proteus were the options but since I can fly a Drake pretty well and the Nighthawk is very close to the Tengu so I picked the Proteus to spice things up a little from my missile heavy background.

The Proteus has a huge swag of options to its name, certain fits let it tank like a capital, dish out Astarte level DPS, have multiple flights of drones or be an exceptional tackler.  I have gone for a middle of the road fit with a decent armor buffer with some heavy hitting Heavy Neutron Blaster II's and around 20k Armor hit points.

So that means roughly 30 days of training to have all of the Gallente Subsystems skills to 5 and Gallente Strategic Cruiser to 4, getting the Strategic Cruiser skill to 5 seems a little bit wasted for 18 days worth of training.  So I can essentially fly this fit now:

Which I am quite happy with but I need to invest some more SP into my gunnery skills, with only 3.2mil worth currently sitting in there it needs to be bumped up ASAP.  So I have got another plan setup to get my gunnery skills up to around 6mil SP which will take another 49 days, Surgical Strike 5 is a big portion of that though (14 days) so I will weigh up the 3% damage bonus when it comes around to putting it in the queue.

My lovely Thanatos will have to wait a few months but I will keep my eyes out for a cheap one in the interim - if you have one you want to let go of give me a yell.

For the T3 capable pilots out there, what are you flying and how are you fitting them?  For the EFT warriors this is the fit posted above:

[Proteus, T2 DPS TANK]
1600mm Reinforced Rolled Tungsten Plates I
Energized Reactive Membrane II
Energized Adaptive Nano Membrane I
Energized Adaptive Nano Membrane II
Magnetic Field Stabilizer II
Magnetic Field Stabilizer II
Magnetic Field Stabilizer II

Warp Scrambler II
Stasis Webifier II
10MN MicroWarpdrive II

Heavy Neutron Blaster II, Caldari Navy Antimatter Charge M
Heavy Neutron Blaster II, Caldari Navy Antimatter Charge M
Heavy Neutron Blaster II, Caldari Navy Antimatter Charge M
Heavy Neutron Blaster II, Caldari Navy Antimatter Charge M
Heavy Neutron Blaster II, Caldari Navy Antimatter Charge M
Heavy Neutron Blaster II, Caldari Navy Antimatter Charge M

Medium Trimark Armor Pump I
Medium Trimark Armor Pump I
Medium Trimark Armor Pump I

Proteus Defensive - Augmented Plating
Proteus Electronics - Dissolution Sequencer
Proteus Propulsion - Localized Injectors
Proteus Offensive - Hybrid Propulsion Armature
Proteus Engineering - Power Core Multiplier


Valkyrie II x5
Warrior II x5


I tossed up ECM drones but figure the more DPS the better with this ship, the web and scram could be switched out for different mods, I am still deciding if it is worth dishing out the 70mil for each mod.  Anyone who is running this able to sway me on going faction tackle?

CCP tells us about EVE and the battle against lag

Three blogs in very quick succession mark one of the pushes from the CSM for more communication from CCP about what they are doing and how they are exactly doing it.  The last CSM minutes can be found here and are a good indication of what CCP are reacting to and how they look at the items of importance raised by the players and brought forward by our representatives, eve-o forum follow up on the published minutes.

Fixing Lag: fostering meaningful human interaction, through testing and communication.

The Long Lag

Fixing Lag: and I, for one, welcome our new automaton overlords

If you have had any lag issues they are worth the few minutes to read through but it boils down to; CCP are working on fixing stuff server side but it all takes time.  After the recent CSM meeting instead of just plugging away at their tasks the devs are letting us in on the jobs they all do so we are in the loop and hopefully part of the solution (SISI mass testing).

SISI client changes are in the pipeline too which is very exciting, a single executable that copies your existing game files then grabs the relevant updates and lets you log straight on.  Hopefully that will see more things being mass tested before going live which should result in less buggy code going live and better overview of game changing features which might help prevent things like the NPC goods calamity.

Does the increase in communication make you feel better about the future of CSM within CCP or does the 18 month wait for anything beyond incarna/DUST integration negate any good intentions displayed from CCP?

Other people talking about it:

EVE Druid
Morphisat's Blog

The glorious Cyno alt

On your way to training a carrier?  It is most likely that you have to think about setting up some cyno alts in the very near future then and luckily I have just the plan for you!  For the unawares out there; a Carrier (and other capital ships) can jump without gates by utilising a Cynosural Generator which can be attached to a ship or a structure attached to a Player Owned Station (POS).
In under 5 days you can have your very own cyno alt that can fly every single T1 frigate in the game, I choose to train up all the frigate skills as you never know what is going to be available to fly when you need it.  I left cruisers off as there is always a frigate within a jump or two for sale.

The training time can be further reduced by training cybernetics and putting in a few +3 implants but that cost is slightly prohibitive to save 24 hours on training for myself, but if every minute of training is worth oodles to you then it would make sense to plug them in from the start of the plan.

Taking use of the skill remappings now available will also reduce your training time, so here is the base build for your cyno alt:

Total time: 4 days, 17 hours, 39 minutes, 24 seconds; Cost: 10,355,000

***Remapping (active) : i15 p5 c5 w5 m9***
Instant Recall I
Analytical Mind I
Learning I
Instant Recall II
Analytical Mind II
Learning II
Instant Recall III
Analytical Mind III
Iron Will I
Iron Will II
Spatial Awareness I
Spatial Awareness II
Electronics IV
Electronics V
***Remapping (active) : i5 p15 c5 w9 m5***
Cynosural Field Theory I
Caldari Frigate I
Caldari Frigate II
Caldari Frigate III
Gallente Frigate I
Gallente Frigate II
Gallente Frigate III
Minmatar Frigate I
Minmatar Frigate II
Minmatar Frigate III
Amarr Frigate I
Amarr Frigate II
Amarr Frigate III

I put in all the frigate skills, but depending on what race you start off as you will already have the frigate skill trained to level 2.  One additional thing to take into consideration is Jump Clones, setting up the ability to have 3 jump clones will add about 5 hours onto the training time but it will allow you to blip around the galaxy much faster and help you make the most out of your alt.

Joining the CK blog roll

I feel like I just received an Internet medal! Joining 51 other people on the CrazyKinux blog pack, which is also featured on the iphone application: Capsuleer, is pretty cool.  The blog pack started me off in the EVE community, with great sites like the Rifter Drifter fueling the desire to add something of my own to the realm of EVE stuff.

For the new comers to my blog, I have written a menial slathering of posts on general subjects with the one crown jewel so far being the ECM guide.  Part 5 is soon to be released and it will focus on the Scorpion and a recap of all the parts published so far, within a few weeks I will see it put into a refined PDF for easier reading.

EVE stuff is happening more for me at the moment and just having moved alliances I hope to have a bit more of a focus on engagements, emerging fleet tactics and further instructional guides on ships that I fly on here.

Welcome to the other members of the pack too:

Ardent Defender
Tiger Ears
Cogito Ergo Yarr
TooNu
Venoms Bite
me!
Faction Warfare Military Career Center

EVE bloggers checklist

After reading CK's stuff about writing a good blog I came up with a quick checklist of my own that I will start to follow for all future posts.

Do you like what you’re writing today?
Chances are if you dont no one else will, so if you have an article that doesnt sit well with you right now then save it as a draft and revisit it down the track.


Is the page one big block of text?
If it is then you are doing it wrong, walls of text make it hard for you to grab attention and since EVE has no sound EVE players are used to being drawn towards pretty pictures or red squares.



Does everything look right?
Layout, cohesion, image sizes, text colour and fonts being used can be a harsh mistress if treated disrespectfully.  Doll the stuff up but dont dress her up like hooker looking for her first paying customer for the day - unless you are a hooker looking for your first customer...

Does it make sense?
dabbjabazai    ...exactly!


So with these few points I hope that my next few posts should be my best yet.  For the rest of the bloggers out there what steps do you go through (if any) before pushing that publish button?

Character development

6 million Skill Points later on from the last report and I am just around the corner from flying a Thanatos.  Getting into a Carrier has been one of my long term objectives but nothing that I specifically trained towards until only a few weeks ago.

Picking up over a million skill points recently in drone related skills I will be able to use Fighters proficiently but not perfectly, training those skills to level 5 can wait until I am in a Super Carrier. 

I am currently pumping out Long Range Targeting to 5 so that I can jump into Logistics ships to be a general handy fleet participant, everyone loves a healer!  It will also be great for everything else that I fly so the 9 day training time is justified.  Having Cruiser 5 for Gallente and Caldari gives me the ability to do armor and shield logistics, with the armor HAC gangs that are popular right now it will be something new to try out.

The plan for the future is spread across 3 months, with plan one having roughly 60 days of carrier related skills to make sure I am well equipped to fly the Thanatos, field a wing of Fighters and be able to jump a reasonable distance by training up my navigation skills.

Plan two consists of getting into Interdictors and Heavy Interdictors, another support role but something that is always handy for any corp roams that comes along.  

So with 95 days planned I think that will be enough before I find something else that I MUST TRAIN FOR IMMEDIATELY!

Current EVEMon status looks a little like this:

ECM in depth: Part 5 RECON SHIPS

With a long break I am back doing EVE related things, following on from the previous entries on ECM I am a short way from finishing the series off.  In part 5 the focus is on Recon Ships and while I have posted a few fits there is at least 5 or more viable fits for each and I would be interested to hear back on fits that you may have used or be using right now.  So lets get into it!

I just finished training for Recons, what do i need to know?
1. Recons are expensive loss mails, practice with their cheaper cousin (Blackbird) if your funds are limited
2. You will be the primary target for hostile fleets
3. Train Recon Ships to level 4 and to 5 if you have the patience, ship bonuses are king
4. Fit for your situation, cookie cutters are out, task specific are in. Rigs are cheap, remove and interchange as needed.
5. Based on fitting hard points and ship bonuses Rooks use missiles, Falcons use hybrids - neuts are also an option for the highs.

Skills and Skill Plans
Here are the main skills you will be requiring to get yourself in the cockpit of a Caldari Recon ship:
Caldari Cruiser 5
Covert Ops 4
Spaceship Command 3
Electronics Upgrades 5
Signature Analysis 5
Spaceship Command 5
Recon Ships 1 (train this puppy to at least level 4)

Rook

Caldari Cruiser Skill Bonus:
5% Bonus to Heavy and Heavy Assault Missile Launcher Rate of Fire per level
10% Bonus to ECM Target Jammer capacitor use per level


Recon Ships Skill Bonus:
30% Bonus to ECM Target Jammer strength per level
10% Bonus to Heavy Assault & Heavy Missile velocity per level



I have tried to remain impartial to the choice of weapons for all fittings so far but you are stuck with using the ship bonuses if you want to swat more than flys away from you.  Rooks, go with Heavy Assault Missiles (HAMS) for small gangs and gate camps and plain Jane Heavies for anything else.  Falcons, stick with hybrids to make use of the bonuses or fit neuts/smart bombs for anti-tackler/drone work.

Fitting the Rook

ECM Fit
Just under the maximum possible fit for all ECM related modules.  10MN MWD and a Damage Control II fitted to keep up with the gang and to help dictate range.  Pick your own flavor of drones and overheat your modules as needed, but be careful not to burn anything out.

ECM + DPS Fit
This ship is made for small gang warfare, it packs a punch that is very respectable (around 490dps with lvl 5 skills, 429 with my skills). A racial jam strength of up to 13.4 with the only downside being a very limited tank, so stay aligned or keep 'em jammed!  You can drop one of the racial jammers for a Warp Disruptor if your gang needs additional point and considering you will be in disruptor range while using HAMS it wont hurt to much to fit it.


Falcon

Caldari Cruiser Skill Bonus:
5% Bonus to Medium Hybrid Damage Per Level
10% Bonus to ECM Target Jammer capacitor use per level

Recon Ships Skill Bonus:
30% bonus to ECM Target Jammer strength per level and -96% to -100% reduced CPU need for cloaking device per level.

Role Bonus: 80% reduction in liquid ozone consumption for cynosural field generation and 50% reduction in cynosural field duration. Note: can fit covert cynosural field generators

Fitting the Falcon

Prober
You can fit better things than just guns in your highslots! A Covert Ops cloak and a probe launcher is a great combo that any FC would be happy with.  You are a force multiplier, scout and prober in one sleek package of scariness.  Drones can either be Hobgoblins, Warriors or EC variants.  I like using Warriors as they are the fastest and immediate DPS is called for in most situations.

Jamming
This is what you should be doing with your ship!  Working with max range in mind to get the best fit possible using rigs and Signal Distortion Amplifiers.  Go with EC drones or your favorite flavor of light drones.  The 3 x 250mm Railguns add some decent damage to small targets, load up with Spike and Antimatter ammo in case you cannot dictate the range.

Tank
Having invested a substantial amount in your ship and being the designated primary is a health hazard, to help you reduce the risk of a nasty loss mail fit yourself with some tank.  1600mm Tungsten plate is the key here, a Damage Control II is also on the shopping list.  The plate does increase your align time though so make sure you are keeping right on the tail of your gang if they are in small ships or you will find yourself a gate or two behind over time.  With my skills this fit requires a 1% PowerGrid implant, they are cheap and cant be found at any major market hub, go to a 3% implant if need be or reduce the plate to an 800mm and upgrade the weapons from 150mm to something bigger.


The Falcon can also fit another role and that is the role of a cynosural field generator (cyno), fitting the covert variant will allow you to open up a portal to ships that can make use of a COVERT cynosural field generator. Black Ops, Stealth Bombers, Transport Ships, Covert Ops, T3 (with the right modules) and Recon Ships.  There have been some pretty impressive stories out there of covert fleets hot dropping mining ops and ratting carriers to wipe out everyone on grid so with the right crowd it can be something worth doing.  YouTube has a few videos covering 'covert hot drops' and 'black ops' that show how quickly a focused gang can tear down a carrier.


So wrapping up, practice with the ships on SISI if you can or failing that option on some willing corp/alliance buddies.  You want to hone your locking/jamming tactics based on threat assessments to yourself then your gang, dictating and maintaining range and overheating to get the most out of your setups.  By this time you should have some very lean overview settings established, if you dont, configure a tab to show only ships that are not blue to you.  You can find overview guides here, here and here and pre-configured tabs here.


Enjoy flying your shiny new Recon Ship and dont forget to insure it!  The next and last part of the ECM series will be covering the Scorpion and a recap of everything to ensure all the information is still relevant.