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=== Level IV === | === Level IV === | ||
In level 4 missions, you face mostly battleships supported by all the smaller ship classes. This means the incoming damage is generally significantly higher than before. Also in many missions some of the frigates warp disrupt you. | |||
While the previous levels are mostly run to progress to higher levels, level 4 missions are widely run for profit as they're usually the highest level available for an NPC corp. (Level 5 missions only exists for a few corps.) We're discussing here ships and their fits who are good all-around level 4 mission runners that means you use one ship for all mission and do pretty much all sort of missions. This means we don't discuss ships for [[blitzing]] in detail, please check there for those. Also some people might extensively switch between ships to achieve the best possible results. This is also not considered because it's not very common as the benefits aren't that big and it requires extensive investment in skills and ISK. There is an important exception to that and those are [[anomic missions]] aka burner which require specialized fits which are widely used. | |||
There are a lot of options for level 4 missions. We'll start the discussion with the best options which are expensive and require a lot of skills, then move on to some less skill intense and cheaper options, to then discuss a wide range of options and in how far they're less optimal than the before but still interesting to you. | |||
=== Marauders === | |||
[[Marauders]] are the strongest all-around level 4 mission runners by a large margin. There are extensive discussions which Marauder is actually the best. This mostly depends on the mission you run. As each agent has his own pool of missions, people might have a very different experience on how a specific marauder performs depending on their agent's mission pool. It's usually considered better to fit short range weapons on a marauder as even with those it can reasonably project its damage to 100 km and more with long range ammunition plus appropriate fitting. At the same time you are highly mobile due to the MJD bonus. That said in a few missions long range weapons perform better; you could refit for those. There are also a few advocates for long range weapons all around but they are certainly in the minority. | |||
'''{{co|red|Warning}}''': Marauders are frequent gank targets just for their base hull value. Do not use them at ganking hotspots such as popular mission hubs like Lanngisi and refit for tank when travelling when you relocate to another agent. Also obviously do not use them when you are wardecced. | |||
The | === Gila === | ||
The [[Gila]] can run level 4 missions reasonably well. The important part is that it already can do so with relatively low skills i.e. the relevant skills at three or four. This is because its drone bonuses aren't linked to any skill. As it is a cruiser, you can dissipate a lot of the incoming damage from battleships by fitting an afterburner. A shield regeneration tank works well on an Gila and is easy on fitting and capacitor skills. If you have low skills, you probably want to switch your shield hardeners according to the incoming damage though. Rapid light missile launchers allow you to quickly clear webbing or warp disrupting frigates. | |||
=== | That said at maximum skills the better T1 battleship options outperform an Gila in mission running. But as a low skill option to check out missions it is very well suited as it can also be used for a number of other PvE activities such as [[Abyssal Deadspace|abyssals]] or [[combat sites]]. The skills trained are also beneficial to a lot of other ships. | ||
=== Cruise missile battleships === | |||
Cruise missiles have general attributes which make them strong in level 4 missions. They have sufficient range to cover the whole room in a mission. So you do not have to move towards targets to deal damage. They have choosable damage types so you can adapt that to increase your realized damage. There are downsides though, one of them is the travel time of missiles. When you just put damage on a far away target it might die while the next volley is still in flight and thus you lose DPS. You can mitigate that by switching to the next target in time but that requires more attention than with turrets. Cruise missiles also struggle to apply well which means you have to fit for additional application and ideally have an application bonus on your hull. | |||
There are three T1 battleship hulls which work well with cruise missiles: the [[Praxis]], the [[Raven]], and the [[Typhoon]]. The Raven is more suited to a shield tank and the Typhoon rather an armor tank. The Praxis can use fits very similar to either. If the Praxis is shield tanked it usually needs one or two co-processors in the lows for enough CPU. | |||
The Praxis is the best low skill option as its bonuses don't depend upon skills. The Raven nicely leads into the Golem as a progression. The Typhoon is the best if you see it on its own as the application bonus (expl. velocity) is rather beneficial. | |||
Meta 4 launchers ('Arbalest' Cruise Launcher I) are sufficient for the start but it goes without saying that T2 launchers are obviously to be aspired for to achieve the best performance. | |||
The [[Raven Navy Issue]] and [[Scorpion Navy Issue]] are straight upgrades from the Raven. The Raven NI gains an application bonus and the Scorpion NI has a mid slot more which can also be used for more application. The [[Barghest]] can also be used with cruise missiles. Nevertheless, it's probably more worthwhile to go straight from a Raven to a Golem than to go for the navy versions. | |||
=== Other battleships === | |||
All battleships are able to run level 4 missions if fitted accordingly. Navy and pirate faction battleships are strong but they are also expensive and Marauders are significantly stronger still. Thus faction battleships are mostly an option when you can't fly a marauder but really feel the need to upgrade from a T1 hull. The [[Machariel]] and [[Barghest]] have their places when [[bitzing]]. And the [[Rattlesnake]] is the strongest option when you have committed to drones. The [[Dominix]] is a good T1 option there. Blaster based T1 battleships struggle with range and battleships are slow to move around; railguns also don't work out especially well; still they both work if you really want to. Energy turrets have the issue of being damage locked but again you can make them work. Autocannons on T1 hulls struggle again to project damage; artilleries have much less damage and don't track well; still you can make things work in like artillery + MJD setups. | |||
=== Other general options === | |||
[[Heavy Assault Cruisers]] should all be possible if fitted accordingly. The Ishtar would be among the better options and perform similarly to an Gila. They are more skill intense to get into than an Gila or T1 battleship. Thus HACs are mostly an option if you're character has narrowly trained into one of them. | |||
[[Strategic Cruisers]] often come up probably because before their rework a long time ago they used to be very strong. People are often impressed by the Tengu's 1k DPS with scourge rage heavy assault missiles. Their range is comparably short and, if you don't deal kinetic, your DPS goes down to 800. A T1 battleship generally outperforms a Tengu, at the same time being cheaper and easier to skill into. That said there is a niche for them when you are [[Blitzing|blitzing]] in nullsec as they can be fitted cloaky and nulli. | |||
[[Command Ships]] are very skill intense and generally don't provide more DPS than a T1 battleship. | |||
At least some [[Battlecruisers#Combat Battlecruisers|T1 (combat) battlecruisers]] work for level 4s such as the Drake or Myrmidon but their DPS is usually a bit low compared with the alternatives. As they are cheaper than the alternatives, they might be decent options for new players to fleet up together. Similar for some T1 cruisers which are able to survive but just don't perform well due to lacking DPS. | |||
=== Level V === | |||
Level V missions require a fleet of ships and are beyond the scope of this page. See the [[Mission Fleets]] page for more information. | |||
[[Category:Missions]] | [[Category:Missions]] | ||
[[Category:Ships]] | [[Category:Ships]] | ||