More EVE reporting for today, as I had quite an eventful weekend in New Eden. It started off on a high note, as I was joined by two members of Black Lion Legion to assist me with a level 4 mission in Aband. I forget the name of the mission now (I should write this stuff down…) but it was tough and featured Blood Raiders. While we finished up the mission, we were joking about tough missions, and they both stated Blockade was the only one that really gave them trouble. They were both flying Ravens, one a standard Raven the other a Caldari Navy Raven, both fitted with tech II fittings. As luck would have it, my next mission was indeed Blockade, and since the two of them were already in the area, we all figured why not. The mission went nice and quick, as our three battleships had little trouble taking everything down. That night I made a nice chunk of ISK between the bounties and mission pay, plus earned a respectable amount of loyalty points, which I am saving up to buy a +5 implant, as I currently have a mix of +3 and +4’s.
Last night did not go so well, as I drew Recon, then Angels Extravaganza, then Pirate Invasion, all missions I knew I could not solo. I was hoping to log on and do one quick mission, and bring out my new salvager ship (destroyer with 4x salvagers and 4x tractor beams) to test out. All that ended up happening was me losing about 1.2 standing with my level 4 agent, and not being able to do much of anything else. I did not have enough time to make asking for help worthwhile, and the normal hangout area for Black Lion Legion is about 10 jumps away. So far I’m impressed with them though just based off that one night of missions, and chatting with them in their general channel, enough so that I might pack up and fly my stuff over closer to their HQ. If nothing else, I can tag along when they mission and build my standings with the local agents.
As for my Rohk, I made a few improvements to the setup, with some noticeable results. First I changed up the guns, going with 5x 350mm rails and 3x 425mm rails (still not tech II, got a bit of training before I can use those) all shooting antimatter ammo. With my current skills, that gives me an optimal of around 60k with the 425mm, and a bit less with the 350mm, more than enough to pick off cruisers and battleships. I have 5 Vespa II drones to deal with frigates and any cruisers that get too close. For the mid slots, I am currently running a T2 Large Shield Expander, T2 X-L Shield Booster, T2 Cap Recharger, T2 Shield Boost Amplifier, and two T1 Shield Hardeners (mission specific). A day or so of training will allow me to use T2 hardeners. The bottom slots feature two T2 Power Diagnostics Systems, two T2 Magnetic Field Stabilizers, and a T2 Targeting Enhancer. I currently do not have any rigs, but I’m planning to buy 3x CCC rigs shortly, which hopefully will help a great deal with cap energy. Currently with all 8 rails going, it’s very tough to run the X-L booster for more than just quick bursts. Anyone see any glaring errors with the setup?
I’m still hurting for ISK, as I need to buy a Hulk and fittings for my mining pilot, the three CCC rigs for the Rohk, and eventually the T2 large rails. Currently my combat pilot sits at around 70 million ISK, and my miner at 35 million. Hopefully a few more nights of successful level 4 mission running will get me in a comfortable spot.
Hardcore Casual 
Where are you running missions? I just started level 4s myself and having someone to run the hard ones with periodically would be nice.
You’re hitting the reason I stopped playing Eve last fall. I trained up my BS skills and started level 4’s, but they took too long solo (or got me near killed solo).
The Empyrean Age “free 14 days” for ex-players dragged me back in this weekend, and I decided I would run level 3’s for a while. I need to up more BS support skills (notably drones, so I can fend off the webbers and scrammers, especially the scrammers), and I need to figure out how to best fit my BS before I try 4’s again.
I can tear through most level 3’s in my Hurricane, and I make decent money with bounties and salvage.
Level 4’s seem to be just beyond the amount of time I have available to really enjoy. I like my adrenaline to come from the mission, not from trying to finish a mission before I get RL aggro :)
Fitting looks sound, although I’ve never flown a Rohk. Might want to make room for three, or even four, shield hardeners – aim for 80%+ in the relevant incoming resistances for Agent 4s.
I think you’re seeing the main reason that so many Agent 4 runners use the Raven instead; that uses a similar shield tank, but with launchers instead of railguns, so doesn’t need as much cap for the top end.
I’m using a 450mm Rail Armour Tanked Megathron, (Which isn’t really ideal for Agent 4s either, but gets me by) and even with only one CCC, I’m seeing a noticeable improvement in cap use – definitely want three of those when you can!
Yea I avoided the Raven just to not be a cookie cutter. Kinda regretting that now, but ah well. Hopefully the three CCC rigs give me a strong enough tank to feel a bit safer.
Van Hemlock, are you saying use two copies of the same hardener then? I thought you could only run one type at a time?
Veltin, I’m in Aband (Kador region), if you are around, message me and we can run a few. They are much safer/easier with a few people, at least until someone has something awesome like a CNR in full tech 2.
The modules are subject to stacking penalty – I forget the exact maths; I think each successive module of the same stat has half of the effect of the previous. Common wisdom is that beyond three of the same type is no longer worth it, but you’ll have trouble fitting more than that anyway. I typically go with four hardners; two in each damage type I’m expecting.
Launch, turn them all on, then Show Info on the ship in flight – that’ll show you your final resistance tallys. I’m not happy unless they’re at least 75% :)
The same principles apply for armour tanking, only you have to get used to a constantly missing red shield gauge, and have much less time to run away if it starts going wrong. Yay DCU! :)
Modules are subject to a stacking penalty like Van Hemlock says, but that doesn’t make a difference until you’re fitting more than 3 mods of the same type. Personally, I’d recommend swapping the extender for another hardenery, and make em all rat specific, obviously. Two for primary damage, two for secondary. For stuff that’s tossing all types, I’d say an EM to cover the weak spot and two invulns.
As for rails, I’d suggest fitting all 350mm rails. In general, you’ll want to avoid mixing rail types due to range, reload and tracking differences putting a dent in your dps. I can’t fly a Rokh yet, but am currently cookie cutting my way towards one in a drake I can barely fly, but well enough to get by. Here’s the fit I’m shooting for:
Los:
3x Mag Field Stab IIs
2x PDS IIs << I don’t actually need these for fit, but they provide a nice boost to shield hp, recharge along with cap total and recharge. Awesome mod for caldari flyers.
Mids:
XL Shield Booster II
Shield Boost Amp II
Cap Recharger II
3x Hardeners, rat specific
His:
350mm Compressed Coil Railgunx8, Antimatter L, Iridium L, Thorium L
Rigs:
3xCCCs
The reason I take three ammo types is because while I prefer to keep the range, sometimes that isn’t an option. So when I can get good range, Iridium. When I start losing it, Thorium and when it’s gone, Antimatter.
Some other mods you could look at swapping around would be a tracking enhancer for one of the mag field stabs.
All in all it’s not a bad fit, and will certainly get the job done, I think. 471 defence with everything turned on. Current skills give me 1 min 46s of cap with it all on. DPS is 308/247/206
GL to ya.
Yea I like having the tracking enhancer for now, until my skills catch up a bit more and I feel that I don’t need it, then it will be 3x Mag Stab.
I never thought to go with so many hardeners, I’ll have to try that out, it makes a lot of sense on paper. Also, now that I have a salvager ship, I can fill the Rohk with ammo types and not worry about it. Another job for the miner pilot! I agree on the rails too, I was testing out 425s more than anything. I do love the huge damage they provide on a good hit, but the low ammo capacity and the total inability to hit even cruisers close is a major downer.
How big a jump is it from tech I named hardeners to tech II? Worth dropping everything and training for it?
Wow I actually just checked using my Raven setup in EFT. The difference with Tech II hardeners for me is just over 100 sustained defense efficiency (555 > 656) and almost 130 in reinforced defense efficiency (633 > 762). I think I will be taking the 4 days it takes to train for Tactical Shield Manipulation IV. I guess I can wait awhile longer for HICs.
Ravens are better for missions, but yeah I like the Rokh too. I am not sure that 3 CCCs are needed (other than for lev 4) because they are so damned expensive, and there are other shield rigs that are also good (trimark pump). But makes a big difference when you have those rails. I have 6x425s and that still drains the power fast. Salvage ships – very nice, been using them for a good while, very good investment as long as you’re not in a crowded area where others are stealing salvage.
If you’re looking for a strong caldari BS tank with low SP take a look at the scorpion. With some cap power relays in the low slots and 3x CCC’s you’ve got perma tank with an xl-booster (You’ll have plenty of room for boost amps + resist amps) This is an extremely powerful shield tank. I have yet to meet the L4 that scares my scorpion’s shields. However you do need to know your NPC damage types and use the right resists. Also you need to be sure to have the proper pew pew skills as this doesn’t give you much in the way of dps. My current rig is doing about 200dps (This isn’t very fun on missions with a lot of BS) so I generally bring a friend.
To add some EFT numbers to the scorpion shield tank setup. With T2 mid fittings defence is around 1200.
Dont know why everyone complains about lvl 4 missions, i can usually run one solo in around 30-60 mins in a Myrm or Drake. There are only 2 or 3 that take me more than an hour.