Difference between revisions of "Orca Guide"

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A few weeks ago there was some information flying around in the Uni Industry channel about Orcas.  Some of it was accurate, some of it was misinformed.  I’ve been flying one on my alt for a few months now, so I figured I would provide some clarification on what they can do, so that people can decide whether or not they really want to spend the time training for one.  I rolled an alt specifically to become an Orca pilot, and it turned out to be a bit different from what I was expecting it to be. I’m still happy with the ship, but I wish I had this information ahead of time. It’s around a 400,000,000 isk investment for the hull alone, so it helps to be forewarned.
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{{Update|Review for December 2021, Version 19.11 changes.<br>Review for March 2022, Version 20.03 changes}}
  
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=What is the Orca?=
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[[File:Orca.jpg|200px|thumb|The incredible Orca]]
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{{hatnote|This article details the use of the Orca. For ship stats and other mechanical information, see [[Orca]].}}
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The '''Orca''' is a mining support ship, classified as an Industrial Command Ship. The {{Sk|Industrial Command Ships|mult=yes|price=yes}} skill is required to fly it. Note that even though it is listed under "Capital Industrial Ships" in the EVE market, it does ''not'' require the {{Sk|Capital Industrial Ships}} skill.
  
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The Orca is billed as a mining support vessel.  It does a decent job of this, but it also has many other uses.  And depending on how many people the ship is supporting, you might actually be better off with another miner (covered later).
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== Skill requirements ==
  
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The Orca is also an Industrial Command Ship.  It is NOT a Capital Industrial Ship.  I’ve seen some people buy the wrong skillbook and waste over 400,000,000 isk.  Unless you want to fly a Rorqual, save yourself the cash.  I think the confusion stems from the Orca being listed under “Capital Industrial Ships” in the market window.  The proper book costs 45,000,000 isk from NPC school stations.
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* {{Sk|Industrial Command Ships|I}}
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** {{Sk|Spaceship Command|V}}
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** {{Sk|ORE Hauler|III}}
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* {{Sk|Mining Director|I}}
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** {{Sk|Leadership|I}}
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** {{Sk|Mining Foreman|V}}
  
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=What do you get when you buy an Orca?=
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== Traits and utility ==
  
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==Cargo Space==
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=== Cargo space ===
  
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Possibly the biggest selling point of the Orca is the huge amount of cargo space that it supports for a ship that “only” costs around 400 million isk. The ship has 4 different “containers”.  The first is the cargohold.  This starts off holding 30,000 m3, and gets larger with Expanded Cargoholds (low slots), Large Cargohold Optimizations (rig slots), and an additional 5% bonus for each level of the Industrial Command Ship skill.  Maxed out for hauling, you could fit over 90,000 m3 in the cargohold – not that I would recommend it (more on that later).  This is the ONLY cargo hold on the ship that seems to receive bonuses from mods, rigs, and skills.  The other storage areas on the ship stay the same regardless of fittings and skills at the time of this writing.
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Possibly the biggest selling point of the Orca is the huge amount of cargo space that it supports for a ship that “only” costs around 1.8 billion ISK. The ship has 4 different areas for storage:
  
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The second “cargo hold” that the ship contains is a 50,000 m3 hold that can contain only mined materials (I’ve tested it with Ore and Ice.  I assume Gas works also, but I haven’t actually tried it). If you try to drag modules or anything else into the ore hold, you’ll get an error message.   You can’t even place refined ore (i.e. minerals) in the ore hold!
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* '''{{Co|wheat|Cargohold}}''': The Orca's base cargohold is 30,000{{m3}}, which can be expanded through modules and rigs. The cargohold also receives an additional 5% bonus to size for each level of {{Sk|Industrial Command Ships|icon=yes}}. Maxed out for hauling, an Orca can fit over 90,000 m³ in its cargo hold. This is the ''only'' hold on the ship that receives bonuses from modules and rigs.
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* '''{{Co|wheat|Mining Hold}}''': As its name suggests, the mining hold can contain only mined materials (unrefined ore, ice and gas). Attempting to move modules or anything else into the mining hold will result in an error message. The mining hold receives a 5% bonus to size for each level of {{Sk|Industrial Command Ships|icon=yes}}. added to its base 150,000 m³.
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* '''{{Co|wheat|Fleet Hangar}}''': The fleet hangar holds 40,000 m³ and can be made available to other fleet members or members of the pilot's corporation for access in space. This is very useful for supporting mining operations, as mining fleetmates can then use the fleet hangar to store mined ore or ice. The Orca pilot can then move that ore or ice to the mining hold or cargohold, or leave it in the fleet hangar, as space permits.
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* '''{{Co|wheat|Ship Maintenance Bay}}''': This bay holds 400,000 m³, and can only contain assembled ships. Ship in a fleet hangar can only contain ammunition and charges; attempting to load assembled ships with other items in their cargoholds (such as ore or modules) will result in an error message. For an idea of what can or can't fit in this bay, here are the sizes of some common ships when assembled:
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** {{Sh|Rifter}} – 27,289{{m3}}
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** {{Sh|Scythe}} – 89,000{{m3}}
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** {{Sh|Osprey}} – 107,000{{m3}}
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** {{Sh|Procurer}}/[[Skiff]]/[[Mackinaw]]/[[Retriever]]/[[Hulk]]/[[Covetor]] – 150,000{{m3}}
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** {{Sh|Raven}} – 486,000{{m3}}
  
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The next cargo area on the ship is the corporate hangar, which holds another 40,000 m3.  This can hold a mixture of items like the standard cargohold, but it is divided up into sections that match your corporate role distinctions, like any other corp hangar. The total corp space is 40,000 – you don’t get 40,000 for each tab.  Like any other corp hangar, you need sufficient rights to access the individual tabs.  So potentially, someone can put something in there, and the pilot might not have access to get it out. To fix this, CCP allows the orca pilot to access the corp hangar while the ship is in space, even if the pilot wouldn’t necessarily have the right permissions to do so while docked. Otherwise, someone could jam contraband into the hangar and you’d be stuck with it.
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To allow access to the ship maintenance bay, the Orca pilot must set access for fleet members or corporation members or both. If a fleet member wants to switch ships in space, they can open the ship maintenance bay, right click the ship they want to use, and choose either “Board Ship from Bay” or “Launch Ship from Bay.” The "Board" option is safer – it stores the pilot's current ship in the bay, and puts them into the new one in space. It’s only available if there is enough room in the bay to store the new ship minus the old ship. Otherwise, pilots must choose the Launch option, which leaves their current ship abandoned in space, and puts them into the new one. As with any abandoned ship, this could potentially enable theft.
  
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==Ship Maintenance Bay==
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=== Fitting service ===
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Besides being able to swap ships, the Orca has a fitting service, so pilots can refit their ships while in space. To access this function, right click on the Orca while within 2500m to choose to "Use Fitting Service". Pilots can swap fittings that are in the cargohold of their own ship, or they can pull fittings out of the Orca’s bays. Drones can also be swapped in and out of a ship's drone bay.
  
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The final cargo hold is actually a Ship Maintenance Bay. This one holds 400,000 m3, which sounds like a great deal, but there’s a catch – the only items you can put into the bay are assembled ships. To give you an idea of what would fit in the bay, here are the sizes of some common vessels, when assembled:
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=== Tractor Beam bonuses ===
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The Orca receives two large role bonuses to Tractor Beams: a 250% bonus to range, and a 100% bonus to beam velocity. Both bonuses are helpful, but since most pilots usually only fit one Tractor Beam at most, the range increase is the most noticeable of the two. Orcas equipped with Tractor Beams can serve as storage for a fleet's ore, or the Orca pilot can leave the jetcans in space for other hauler ships to pick up in a central location. Orcas can also combine Tractor Beams with Salvagers to loot and salvage the wrecks of any [[belt rat]]s that may spawn.
  
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Hulk/Covetor – 200,000 m3
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=== Survey Scanner bonus ===
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Survey scanners on an Orca receive a 500% role bonus to range, so Orca pilots are able to see how much ore is in every rock in over a 100km radius. This allows the Orca pilot to easily tag asteroids to mark those that are full or nearly empty, and better coordinate the miners.
  
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Mackinaw/Retriever – 150,000 m3
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=== Command Burst modules ===
  
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Skiff/Procurer (what’s a procurer?) – 100,000 m3
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The Orca is capable of boosting fleets by using [[Command Bursts]] in its high slots. By default, it can equip and use three Command Bursts simultaneously, and this can be expanded to five Command Bursts with the use of two Command Burst Processor Rigs (150 calibration each). For most mining operations, Orca pilots will want to bring all three Mining Foreman Command Burst charges, though some Orca pilots will forgo the Mining Equipment Preservation charge. Shield Command Bursts are not always necessary, particularly if the mining fleet is in higher-security space.
  
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Osprey – 107,000 m3
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You can customize the burst being provided by a command burst module by changing the ammunition (the charge). The charges for the mining foreman command burst modules are:
  
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Scythe – 89,000 m3
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{| class="wikitable"
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|-
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! Name !! Effects !! Base Bonus
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|-
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| Mining Laser Field Enhancement || Increases range of mining lasers, strip miners, ice harvesters, gas harvesters, and survey scanners || +40%
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|-
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| Mining Laser Optimization || Reduces cycle time and capacitor use of mining lasers, strip miners, ice harvesters, and gas harvesters || -15%
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|-
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| Mining Equipment Preservation || Reduces volatility of mining crystals || -15%
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|}
  
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Rifter – 27,289 m3
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The Orca receives the following bonuses for each level trained in {{sk|Industrial Command Ships|icon=yes}}:
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:3% bonus to Mining Foreman Burst effect strength and duration
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:1% bonus to Shield Command Burst effect strength and duration
  
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Raven – 486,000 m3
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=== Tank ===
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Given the massive hull tank of the Orca, adding a '''Damage Control II''' (adds uniform 60% resists to structure HP) and a '''Reinforced Bulkhead II''' module (increases structure hit points) will give the Orca a formidable tank. Adding a '''500MN Compact Microwarpdrive''' (for fitting purposes) and shield tank modules will allow an Orca to easily achieve 200k+ EHP, with the additional ability to align in 10 seconds (one cycle of the MWD). With '''Transverse Bulkhead''' rigs (increases structure but lower cargo hold capacity) the tank can be pushed well above 400k ehp. If more tank is unnecessary or unwanted, '''Hyperspatial Velocity''' rigs (higher warp speed but lower CPU capacity) or '''Cargohold Optimization''' rigs (increases cargo hold but reduces armor) can also be useful.
  
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So if you’re using this to support Hulks, you’ll fit at most 2 in the bay.
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== Using an Orca ==
  
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To access the ship maintenance bay, you either have to be in the same corp as the pilot, or the pilot has to right click the ship while in space, choose configure ship maintenance bay, and check off the “Allow fleet members” option for the ship, which allows all fleet members to access the bay.  Note that this setting resets itself every time you zone.  If a fleet member wants to switch ships in space, they can open the ship maintenance bay, right click the ship they want to use, and choose either “Board Ship from Bay” or “Launch ship from bay.”  The Board option is safer – it stores your current ship in the bay, and puts you into the new one in space. It’s only available if there is enough room in the bay to store the new ship minus the old ship.  Otherwise, you have to choose the Launch option, which leaves your current ship abandoned in space, and puts you in the new one.  As with any abandoned ship, this could potentially allow someone to steal your ship, so use the option cautiously.
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=== Mining Ops ===
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{{expansion past| The Orca has some disadvantages in a mining op. First, it's a pilot that could be mining, assuming they have the skills. For example, if the Orca pilot has the skills they would need to fly a Hulk, they would need to be boosting four miners to be worthwhile in terms of yield over mining themselves. This is because an Orca with full bonuses ({{sk|Industrial Command Ships|V|icon=yes}}, {{sk|Mining Director|V|icon=yes}}, Warfare Link Specialist V (Deprecated), Mindlink Implant) would have roughly a 25% bonus to each activated mining link.|width=90%}}
  
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==Fitting service==
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With the November 2016 Ascension update the Orca saw a drastic change in its ability to contribute to a mining op. Off-grid boosts were eliminated in favor of the new Command Burst system, and the Orca was given drastically increased mining and defensive capabilities.
  
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Besides being able to swap ships, the Orca has a fitting service – so you can swap modules while in space.  This only applies to fleet members; the orca pilot can’t use the fitting service to change modules on the orca itself.  Right click on the Orca to choose to Use Fitting Service.  You can swap fittings that are in the cargohold of the ship you’re flying, or you can pull fittings out of the orca’s bays.
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Post-Ascension, the Orca has the following mining bonuses:
  
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==Tractor Beam Bonuses==
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* 10% bonus to drone hitpoints, damage and mining yield per level of {{sk|Industrial Command Ships}}
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* 100% role bonus to drone mining yield
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* 25% reduction in ice harvesting drone cycle time
  
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The Orca gets 2 big bonuses to tractor beams. The first is a 250% range increase, and the second is a 100% beam velocity increase. While the velocity increase is nice to have, since you’ll usually only fit one beam at most, the range increase is really nice – if you’re supporting a mining op with multiple players, the ability to pull all the cans without moving is huge.  Whether you pull them and loot them or pull them just so your industrials can have a single warp-in point, it’s a big timesaver.  It’s also great for pulling in wrecks to a single location to be looted/salvaged.
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According to the dev blog describing the changes<ref>Dev Blog: https://community.eveonline.com/news/dev-blogs/mining-foreman-revolution/#ORCA</ref> to the Orca: "With both skill and role bonuses to mining drone yield, the Orca can pull in similar ore volumes to an [[Exhumer]]."
  
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==Survey Scanner Bonus==
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Post-Ascension, the Orca's ability to store and haul ore has been greatly increased. With {{sk|Industrial Command Ships|V|icon=yes}}, the Orca's mining hold alone can hold 187,500 m3 of ore, which is roughly equivalent to a pre-Ascension Orca's total ore capacity across all holds.
  
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Survey scanners on an orca get a 500% range increase.  So you can hit one button and see how much ore is in every rock in over a 100km radius. Now, some people think survey scanners are useless, but personally, I don’t like wasting a strip miner cycle just to find out there was 2 ore left in a rock.  That said, the main purpose of putting the scanner on the orca rather than on the mining ships is so you can mark the juiciest targets – it requires way too much micromanagement to see that mining pilot number 4 is hitting a rock that’s about to pop imho.
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Ascension also added a 400% role bonus to Remote Shield Booster range, as well as the ORE Mining Director Mindlink, which boosts both Mining Foreman Bursts and Shield Command Bursts. These additions allow an Orca to better defend its fleet in the event of either unexpectedly powerful [[belt rat]]s or hostile pilots.
  
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==Gang Links==
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As noted above, the bonus to Tractor Beam range makes the Orca adept at pulling in jetcans or wrecks to a central location, rather than having haulers slowboating around belts to scoop them up themselves. Or even worse, requiring mining ships to haul their own ore back to station. Instead, the Orca can serve as the single warp-in point for the mining fleet's haulers. Another advantage of the huge range on the beam is that the orca can pull in cans when a can flipper is in the system. Don't forget that if the Hulks / miners remain within 2500m of the Orca then miners can drop the ore directly into the fleet hangar completely removing the risk of theft.
  
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You can equip and use 3 gang links on the orca at the same time.  Of course, you would have to skip on using the tractor beam to use all 3 (the ship only has 3 high slots), so it’s up to you to weigh the benefit of 3 links vs. 2 links plus a beam.  This is also going to depend on what you’re using the ship for – a mining support ship is going to have different high slots than an exploration platform (more on that later). Additionally, you get a bonus to mining foreman gang links with each level of industrial command ship skill, on top of the bonuses you would get from the Mining Director skill, Warfare Link Specialist, and the Mining Foreman Mindlink implant.
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When combined with its large drone bay and range bonus to Remote Shield Boosters, the Orca's drone damage bonus allows it to defend a mining fleet from most belt rats almost single-handedly. Further, an Orca can bring a flight of salvage drones and forgo fitting a Salvager module, freeing up a high slot.
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Since the ship only gets bonuses to mining gang links, we’ll focus on those for now. The three mining gang links are:
 
  
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Harvester Capacitor Efficiency: cuts down on cap use for your mining lasers/harvesters
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Additional functions that Orcas can provide:
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Laser Optimization: cuts down on your cycle time for mining lasers/harvesters
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* Repair ships with drones as needed
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Mining Laser Field Enhancement: increases the range of your lasers/harvesters
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* Store a wide variety of spare mining crystals
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* Store combat ships in the hangar, should the op be working in a lower sec area with tougher rats.
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* Use a survey scanner to find and mark the biggest asteroids in the belt, so that people can focus on the most profitable rocks first.
  
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The cap link might be of use if you need to stabilize the tank on an exhumer, but if you’re going to skip one to fit something else in a high slot, it’s probably the one to skip. The cycle time decrease is a great bonus, especially if you’re mining ice, where it’s all about cycle time. And given the slow acceleration and poor agility on most mining vessels, the range increase is nice also, so you don’t have to move quite as often.
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=== Hauling ===
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{{main|Hauling}}
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The Orca is an excellent shipping hauler. With sufficient skills and rigs, the combined capacity of its holds can be increased to the point that an Orca is capable of having one of the largest capacities in the game, exceeded only by freighters. This is especially apparent when transporting ore. Further, the Orca's large number of mid slots allows it to fit one of the most effective tanks among hauling ships.
  
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==Tank==
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=== Wormhole Support ===
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In wormholes, an Orca can provide a group with a mobile platform for refitting, swapping ships, storing loot, and repairing. Many corps set up [[POS]]es or [[Citadels]] to serve these functions, but the Orca does not require the logistics that keeping a POS or Citadel fueled and online would.
  
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The Orca has a really nice tank.  Out of the box, it has 10,750 shields, 6,900 armor, and 46,000 hull.  Add your skills on top of that, like mechanic level 5, and this thing can actually be hull tanked.  In fact, doing nothing but adding a Damage Control II to the ship will give you a huge buffer to ward off attacks. The setup I usually use gives me about 175,000 EHP with my alt’s skills, even with one Expanded Cargohold II and Large Cargo Rigs (shield mods in the mids). If you really want to go crazy, you can get the thing over 270,000 EHP with good skills.  You can cut into your tank significantly by going with 2 cargo expanders in the lows (over 90k m3 in your cargohold with rigs though), so I just stick with the DC.
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When fitting an Orca for wormhole use, fit Remote Shield Boosters or bring maintenance drones, and fit a cloaking device. Stay cloaked and aligned in a safespot until needed. Uncloaking should only be done when there are no ships in the system outside of your fleet.
  
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=Uses for the Orca=
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=== Missioning ===
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Running two accounts in missions, one of which is flying an Orca, can be helpful. In combat missions, you can provide non-mining command burst bonuses to your other character, and tractor the wrecks to a central point while the other character fights. Clear the room, and then head back to the orca to get your salvage ship, or refit your combat ship right in space. Since all the wrecks are already together, you can fit 8 salvagers instead of the usual 4 salvagers + 4 tractor beam configuration, and quickly salvage everything.
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For mining missions, the benefits are obvious. You can semi-afk your way through the mission and never be in danger of your can expiring.
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Occasionally you may get a courier mission that requires a huge amount of storage for hauling, particularly some of the storyline courier missions. Instead of needing a freighter, or making multiple trips, the orca can fit the bill.
  
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==Mining Ops==
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=== Pirating ===
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Suicide gankers, canflippers and ninja-looters can use Orcas as mobile bases. They can hold all the loot that they’ve gotten through suicide ganking or other means, and they can provide a nearby platform for switching and refitting ships when needed - even during combat, and often as a bait-and-switch tactic. Outlaws, meanwhile, can enter highsec in a pod to avoid NPC aggro and pull a ship out of an Orca's bay when needed.
  
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The obvious use for the ship is to support mining ops, but how?
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== Maximum boost skills ==
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* {{sk|Mining Foreman|V|mult=yes}} - Increases duration of Mining Foreman Burst effects by 10% per skill level.
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** {{sk|Mining Director|V|mult=yes}} - Boosts the strength of Mining Foreman Burst effects by 10% per skill level. Required for Mining Foreman Mindlink and ORE Mining Director Mindlink.
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* {{sk|Shield Command|V|mult=yes}} - Increases duration of Shield Command Burst effects by 10% per skill level.
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** {{sk|Shield Command Specialist|V|mult=yes}} - Boosts the strength of Shield Command Burst effects by 10% per skill level. Required for ORE Mining Director Mindlink.
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* {{sk|Industrial Command Ships|V|mult=yes}} - 5% bonus per level to cargohold and ore hold<ref group=Note>July 2024: While the attributes tab of the Orca correctly states mining hold, as per the Version 19.11 name change the description and traits tabs still mention the old name</ref> capacity; 3% bonus per level to strength and duration of Mining Foreman Bursts; 1% bonus per level to strength and duration of Shield Command Bursts
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* {{sk|Cybernetics|V|mult=yes}} for the Mining Foreman and ORE Mining Director Mindlinks - 25% increase to the strength and duration of Mining Foreman Bursts (and Shield Command Bursts with the ORE Mining Director Mindlink).
  
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Some people feel the Orca is a waste of a ship in a mining op. There are two main reasons for this. First, if someone has skills to fly an orca, they have most of the skills they would need to fly a Hulk.  An orca with full bonuses (Industrial Command Ship 5, Mining Director 5, Warfare Link Specialist 5, Mindlink Implant) would have a 25.875% bonus to each activated mining link.  So there has to be at least 5 people in the fleet, including the Orca pilot (running the laser optimization link), to justify having the pilot in the Orca rather than an additional Hulk, according to the theory.
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When looking at time to train vs. benefits received, {{sk|Industrial Command Ships|V}} can be saved for last. Depending on mapping and implants, {{sk|Industrial Command Ships}} requires more than 30 days to train from level IV to level V and provides the smallest bonus to the Orca's capabilities.
  
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The second reason people complain about the Orca supporting a mining op, is that the cargo space isn’t enough to support 4 or more hulks mining a belt.  Even if you fit it for max storage, it holds about 180,000 m3 of ore (remember, the ship bay only holds ships) between the cargohold, orehold, and corp hangar.  That’s about 6 and a half full cans worth of ore.  Not bad, but a large mining op will fill up 6 cans quickly.  And if the Orca has to warp back to a station to keep dumping ore, that negates the link bonuses, as they deactivate in warp.  Not to mention that the inertia and warp speed modifiers, while faster than a freighter, will still make your hulk feel like a frigate in comparison, so constantly moving the ship isn’t a real option.
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Additionally, levels in {{sk|Leadership}}, {{sk|Wing Command}}, and {{sk|Fleet Command}} can be helpful depending on the size of the mining fleet and belts.
  
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Both of these arguments are valid, but there are counterarguments as well.  First off, many fits will have at least a second link.  The range link is invaluable, as it cuts down on how often you have to move your mining ships to new targets, considering the speed of most mining vessels.  Someone out of range is mining 0 ore.
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== See also ==
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* [[Creating an Alt Orca Pilot]]
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* [[Creating an Alt Miner]]
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* [[Mining]]
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* [[Orca]]
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* [[Archive:Averon Mining Campus]]
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* [[Archive:Mining fleets]]
  
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Second, the range of the tractor beam on the Orca makes it great for pulling in cans to a central location, rather than having haulers slowboating around belts to scoop them up with pitiful range tractor beams.  Or even worse, requiring mining ships to haul their own ore back to station.  Also, the orca can tractor the rat wrecks to a central point as well.  Many mining ops have more than one hauler.  If one of them is in an orca, not only do miners get the bonuses, but the haulers can be reduced in number since they have a single warp-in point to keep offloading ore.  One hauler on top of the Orca can keep dumping the ore, and if he equips a salvaging unit, can provide additional income to the op, without having to chase down wrecks.  Another advantage of the huge range on the beam is that the orca can pull in cans when a can flipper is in the system.
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== Notes ==
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<references group=Note />
  
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Additional functions that you can provide are repairs through drones if needed, a place to store lots of mining crystals, and as a combat ship hangar, should the op be working in a lower sec area with tougher rats.  If you have a survey scanner equipped, you can mark the biggest asteroids in the belt, so that people can focus on the most profitable rocks first.
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== References ==
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<references />
  
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==Wormhole Support==
 
  
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Flying your expensive ship into a wormhole, assuming you’ve got one that can support the mass of the ship, requires serious nerve, but it can provide you with a mobile platform for refitting, swapping ships, storing loot, and repairing.  Many corps set up POSes for this sort of thing, but the orca doesn’t require all the logistics that keeping a POS fueled and online would.  Plus, in the Uni, the chances of you having the proper permissions to set up a POS are slim to none.
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{{Mining Links}}
  
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Fit reppers/repper drones, and a cloak.  Stay cloaked in a safespot until needed.  Uncloaking should only be done when there are no ships in the system outside of your fleet.
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[[Category:Mining]]
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[[Category:Industry]]
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==Missioning==
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[[Category:Ships]]
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[[Category:Guides]]
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Running two accounts in missions, one of which is flying an orca, can be helpful.  In combat missions, you can provide non-mining link bonuses to your other character, and tractor the wrecks to a central point while the other character fights.  Clear the room, and then head back to the orca to get your salvage ship, or refit your combat ship right in space.  Since all the wrecks are already together, you can fit 8 salvagers instead of the usual 4 salvagers + 4 tractor beam configuration, and quickly salvage everything.
 
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For mining missions, the benefits are obvious.  You can semi-afk your way through the mission and never be in danger of your can expiring.
 
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Occasionally you may get a courier mission that requires a huge amount of storage for hauling, particularly some of the storyline courier missions.  Instead of needing a freighter, the orca can fit the bill.
 
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==Less Reputable Uses==
 
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Many pirates use Orcas as mobile bases.  They can hold all the loot that they’ve gotten through suicide ganking or other means, and they can provide a nearby platform for switching and refitting ships when needed.  Not to mention that an outlaw can stay in a pod and just pull a ship out of the bay when needed.  We won’t go into detail on using the Orca to further a career in crime, but if you’re a hauler and you see an orca with a bunch of non-mining ships, be on your toes.
 
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=Conclusion=
 
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I hope this clears up some things regarding Orcas.  They can be a large investment in both time and money, but they can be a very useful addition to your hangar.
 

Latest revision as of 14:28, 24 July 2024

This page should be updated due to game changes.
Reason: Review for December 2021, Version 19.11 changes.
Review for March 2022, Version 20.03 changes
The incredible Orca
This article details the use of the Orca. For ship stats and other mechanical information, see Orca.

The Orca is a mining support ship, classified as an Industrial Command Ship. The Industrial Command Ships (8x, 55M ISK) skill is required to fly it. Note that even though it is listed under "Capital Industrial Ships" in the EVE market, it does not require the Capital Industrial Ships skill.

Skill requirements

Traits and utility

Cargo space

Possibly the biggest selling point of the Orca is the huge amount of cargo space that it supports for a ship that “only” costs around 1.8 billion ISK. The ship has 4 different areas for storage:

  • Cargohold: The Orca's base cargohold is 30,000 m3, which can be expanded through modules and rigs. The cargohold also receives an additional 5% bonus to size for each level of Icon skillbook2.png Industrial Command Ships. Maxed out for hauling, an Orca can fit over 90,000 m³ in its cargo hold. This is the only hold on the ship that receives bonuses from modules and rigs.
  • Mining Hold: As its name suggests, the mining hold can contain only mined materials (unrefined ore, ice and gas). Attempting to move modules or anything else into the mining hold will result in an error message. The mining hold receives a 5% bonus to size for each level of Icon skillbook2.png Industrial Command Ships. added to its base 150,000 m³.
  • Fleet Hangar: The fleet hangar holds 40,000 m³ and can be made available to other fleet members or members of the pilot's corporation for access in space. This is very useful for supporting mining operations, as mining fleetmates can then use the fleet hangar to store mined ore or ice. The Orca pilot can then move that ore or ice to the mining hold or cargohold, or leave it in the fleet hangar, as space permits.
  • Ship Maintenance Bay: This bay holds 400,000 m³, and can only contain assembled ships. Ship in a fleet hangar can only contain ammunition and charges; attempting to load assembled ships with other items in their cargoholds (such as ore or modules) will result in an error message. For an idea of what can or can't fit in this bay, here are the sizes of some common ships when assembled:

To allow access to the ship maintenance bay, the Orca pilot must set access for fleet members or corporation members or both. If a fleet member wants to switch ships in space, they can open the ship maintenance bay, right click the ship they want to use, and choose either “Board Ship from Bay” or “Launch Ship from Bay.” The "Board" option is safer – it stores the pilot's current ship in the bay, and puts them into the new one in space. It’s only available if there is enough room in the bay to store the new ship minus the old ship. Otherwise, pilots must choose the Launch option, which leaves their current ship abandoned in space, and puts them into the new one. As with any abandoned ship, this could potentially enable theft.

Fitting service

Besides being able to swap ships, the Orca has a fitting service, so pilots can refit their ships while in space. To access this function, right click on the Orca while within 2500m to choose to "Use Fitting Service". Pilots can swap fittings that are in the cargohold of their own ship, or they can pull fittings out of the Orca’s bays. Drones can also be swapped in and out of a ship's drone bay.

Tractor Beam bonuses

The Orca receives two large role bonuses to Tractor Beams: a 250% bonus to range, and a 100% bonus to beam velocity. Both bonuses are helpful, but since most pilots usually only fit one Tractor Beam at most, the range increase is the most noticeable of the two. Orcas equipped with Tractor Beams can serve as storage for a fleet's ore, or the Orca pilot can leave the jetcans in space for other hauler ships to pick up in a central location. Orcas can also combine Tractor Beams with Salvagers to loot and salvage the wrecks of any belt rats that may spawn.

Survey Scanner bonus

Survey scanners on an Orca receive a 500% role bonus to range, so Orca pilots are able to see how much ore is in every rock in over a 100km radius. This allows the Orca pilot to easily tag asteroids to mark those that are full or nearly empty, and better coordinate the miners.

Command Burst modules

The Orca is capable of boosting fleets by using Command Bursts in its high slots. By default, it can equip and use three Command Bursts simultaneously, and this can be expanded to five Command Bursts with the use of two Command Burst Processor Rigs (150 calibration each). For most mining operations, Orca pilots will want to bring all three Mining Foreman Command Burst charges, though some Orca pilots will forgo the Mining Equipment Preservation charge. Shield Command Bursts are not always necessary, particularly if the mining fleet is in higher-security space.

You can customize the burst being provided by a command burst module by changing the ammunition (the charge). The charges for the mining foreman command burst modules are:

Name Effects Base Bonus
Mining Laser Field Enhancement Increases range of mining lasers, strip miners, ice harvesters, gas harvesters, and survey scanners +40%
Mining Laser Optimization Reduces cycle time and capacitor use of mining lasers, strip miners, ice harvesters, and gas harvesters -15%
Mining Equipment Preservation Reduces volatility of mining crystals -15%

The Orca receives the following bonuses for each level trained in Icon skillbook2.png Industrial Command Ships:

3% bonus to Mining Foreman Burst effect strength and duration
1% bonus to Shield Command Burst effect strength and duration

Tank

Given the massive hull tank of the Orca, adding a Damage Control II (adds uniform 60% resists to structure HP) and a Reinforced Bulkhead II module (increases structure hit points) will give the Orca a formidable tank. Adding a 500MN Compact Microwarpdrive (for fitting purposes) and shield tank modules will allow an Orca to easily achieve 200k+ EHP, with the additional ability to align in 10 seconds (one cycle of the MWD). With Transverse Bulkhead rigs (increases structure but lower cargo hold capacity) the tank can be pushed well above 400k ehp. If more tank is unnecessary or unwanted, Hyperspatial Velocity rigs (higher warp speed but lower CPU capacity) or Cargohold Optimization rigs (increases cargo hold but reduces armor) can also be useful.

Using an Orca

Mining Ops

With the November 2016 Ascension update the Orca saw a drastic change in its ability to contribute to a mining op. Off-grid boosts were eliminated in favor of the new Command Burst system, and the Orca was given drastically increased mining and defensive capabilities.

Post-Ascension, the Orca has the following mining bonuses:

  • 10% bonus to drone hitpoints, damage and mining yield per level of Industrial Command Ships
  • 100% role bonus to drone mining yield
  • 25% reduction in ice harvesting drone cycle time

According to the dev blog describing the changes[1] to the Orca: "With both skill and role bonuses to mining drone yield, the Orca can pull in similar ore volumes to an Exhumer."

Post-Ascension, the Orca's ability to store and haul ore has been greatly increased. With Icon skillbook2.png Industrial Command Ships V, the Orca's mining hold alone can hold 187,500 m3 of ore, which is roughly equivalent to a pre-Ascension Orca's total ore capacity across all holds.

Ascension also added a 400% role bonus to Remote Shield Booster range, as well as the ORE Mining Director Mindlink, which boosts both Mining Foreman Bursts and Shield Command Bursts. These additions allow an Orca to better defend its fleet in the event of either unexpectedly powerful belt rats or hostile pilots.

As noted above, the bonus to Tractor Beam range makes the Orca adept at pulling in jetcans or wrecks to a central location, rather than having haulers slowboating around belts to scoop them up themselves. Or even worse, requiring mining ships to haul their own ore back to station. Instead, the Orca can serve as the single warp-in point for the mining fleet's haulers. Another advantage of the huge range on the beam is that the orca can pull in cans when a can flipper is in the system. Don't forget that if the Hulks / miners remain within 2500m of the Orca then miners can drop the ore directly into the fleet hangar completely removing the risk of theft.

When combined with its large drone bay and range bonus to Remote Shield Boosters, the Orca's drone damage bonus allows it to defend a mining fleet from most belt rats almost single-handedly. Further, an Orca can bring a flight of salvage drones and forgo fitting a Salvager module, freeing up a high slot.

Additional functions that Orcas can provide:

  • Repair ships with drones as needed
  • Store a wide variety of spare mining crystals
  • Store combat ships in the hangar, should the op be working in a lower sec area with tougher rats.
  • Use a survey scanner to find and mark the biggest asteroids in the belt, so that people can focus on the most profitable rocks first.

Hauling

Main article: Hauling

The Orca is an excellent shipping hauler. With sufficient skills and rigs, the combined capacity of its holds can be increased to the point that an Orca is capable of having one of the largest capacities in the game, exceeded only by freighters. This is especially apparent when transporting ore. Further, the Orca's large number of mid slots allows it to fit one of the most effective tanks among hauling ships.

Wormhole Support

In wormholes, an Orca can provide a group with a mobile platform for refitting, swapping ships, storing loot, and repairing. Many corps set up POSes or Citadels to serve these functions, but the Orca does not require the logistics that keeping a POS or Citadel fueled and online would.

When fitting an Orca for wormhole use, fit Remote Shield Boosters or bring maintenance drones, and fit a cloaking device. Stay cloaked and aligned in a safespot until needed. Uncloaking should only be done when there are no ships in the system outside of your fleet.

Missioning

Running two accounts in missions, one of which is flying an Orca, can be helpful. In combat missions, you can provide non-mining command burst bonuses to your other character, and tractor the wrecks to a central point while the other character fights. Clear the room, and then head back to the orca to get your salvage ship, or refit your combat ship right in space. Since all the wrecks are already together, you can fit 8 salvagers instead of the usual 4 salvagers + 4 tractor beam configuration, and quickly salvage everything. For mining missions, the benefits are obvious. You can semi-afk your way through the mission and never be in danger of your can expiring. Occasionally you may get a courier mission that requires a huge amount of storage for hauling, particularly some of the storyline courier missions. Instead of needing a freighter, or making multiple trips, the orca can fit the bill.

Pirating

Suicide gankers, canflippers and ninja-looters can use Orcas as mobile bases. They can hold all the loot that they’ve gotten through suicide ganking or other means, and they can provide a nearby platform for switching and refitting ships when needed - even during combat, and often as a bait-and-switch tactic. Outlaws, meanwhile, can enter highsec in a pod to avoid NPC aggro and pull a ship out of an Orca's bay when needed.

Maximum boost skills

  • Mining Foreman V (2x) - Increases duration of Mining Foreman Burst effects by 10% per skill level.
    • Mining Director V (5x) - Boosts the strength of Mining Foreman Burst effects by 10% per skill level. Required for Mining Foreman Mindlink and ORE Mining Director Mindlink.
  • Shield Command V (2x) - Increases duration of Shield Command Burst effects by 10% per skill level.
    • Shield Command Specialist V (5x) - Boosts the strength of Shield Command Burst effects by 10% per skill level. Required for ORE Mining Director Mindlink.
  • Industrial Command Ships V (8x) - 5% bonus per level to cargohold and ore hold[Note 1] capacity; 3% bonus per level to strength and duration of Mining Foreman Bursts; 1% bonus per level to strength and duration of Shield Command Bursts
  • Cybernetics V (3x) for the Mining Foreman and ORE Mining Director Mindlinks - 25% increase to the strength and duration of Mining Foreman Bursts (and Shield Command Bursts with the ORE Mining Director Mindlink).

When looking at time to train vs. benefits received, Industrial Command Ships V can be saved for last. Depending on mapping and implants, Industrial Command Ships requires more than 30 days to train from level IV to level V and provides the smallest bonus to the Orca's capabilities.

Additionally, levels in Leadership, Wing Command, and Fleet Command can be helpful depending on the size of the mining fleet and belts.

See also

Notes

  1. ^ July 2024: While the attributes tab of the Orca correctly states mining hold, as per the Version 19.11 name change the description and traits tabs still mention the old name

References

  1. ^ Dev Blog: https://community.eveonline.com/news/dev-blogs/mining-foreman-revolution/#ORCA


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