NSC Mission Running Fits
Who are these fits for?
These fits are targeted at pilots without much experience in creating fits and who are new to the requirements of mission running. These fits will provide a common starting point for pilots and as their personal playstyle and tastes progress, they will be able to make ship selection and fitting choices more fitting to their personal wants and needs. There are a multitude of ships and fits that can be used to successfully run missions; these are just a focused selection. Some selections have been made to work best with character progression and to keep with a common weapon system throughout the flow of moving up to bigger ships. Feel free to move around between different progression paths and ships and weapon systems as your skill training time permits until you find something you like. Also note that these are generalized fits and may or may not be best suited to the "blitzing" (doing minimum required to complete requirements of mission and then turning it and getting the next mission) or "full clear" (killing all hostile ships and looting and salvaging their wrecks) styles of play. Feel free to modify these fits to suit your needs and playstyle preferences.
A Note on the Mission Running End Game in High vs Low/NullSec
This article includes fits for Marauder-class Tech 2 battleships for the sake of completion. For pilots running L4 missions near the NSC, using a marauder is not advised. While you are in bastion mode, you cannot warp off or move at all. In that minute that your bastion module is active and cycling, you can easily be combat-probed down and tackled by other players. More mobile, but still extremely potent, pirate battleships will be your end goal for running L4 missions down near the NSC. The same threat exists for high sec mission runners from war targets. If you are going fly a Marauder, keep in mind the implications of going into bastion mode and the risks you will be taking by doing so.
What makes a good mission fit?
A ship hull like the Vexor that is fit for PvP is not going to perform as well as a Vexor that is specifically fit for the rigors of running missions. While PvP encounters are typically short periods of intense damage and resource expenditure (cap, repairing, ammo clips), PvE encounters found in mission sites are of a different animal entirely. Mission running is an endurance activity and you will want to use a fit that reflects this fundamental difference. While creating a PvE mission fit, there are several key concepts to keep in mind that are important for mission runners.
Damage Selection
While running missions, you will fight a variety of enemies. Different factions' ships will deal different types of damage to your ship and they will be more vulnerable to different types of damage. In terms of offensive modules, this means we want to be able to pick the kind of damage we are sending towards hostile ships. Weapon systems and ship bonuses that provide the most flexibility in this regard will be the most optimal. Ship bonuses or weapon systems that lock you into only being able to deal one or two type of damage will not be able to adapt as well to different opponents and may find some missions more difficult. Most drone and missile boats will excel at being able to select the type of damage to apply, while laser ships will generally have the most difficulty adapting. Vessels using projectile weapons are fairly good at being able to choose the type of damage they want to shoot, but deal somewhat less damage when wanting to focus on applying kinetic damage. For ships with bonuses locking them into a specific damage type or those using lasers or hybrid weapons, drones can be a good stopgap to restore some adaptability.
Projectile:
- Kinetic = Titanium Sabot (high tracking ammo type deals less dps than other damage types; may be better off shooting into secondary resist hole) - Thermal = Phased Plasma - EM = EMP - Explosive = Fusion
Laser:
- All ammo types are locked to majority EM with a smaller proportion of Thermal damage and choices are dependent on desired optimal - Short range, high damage = Multifrequency - Medium range, average damage = Standard - Long range, low damage = Microwave
Hybrid:
- All ammo types are locked to ~60% Kinetic and ~40% Thermal damage and choices are dependent on desired optimal - Short range, high damage = Antimatter - Medium range, average damage = Lead - Long range, low damage = Tungsten
Missile:
- Kinetic = Scourge - Thermal = Inferno - EM = Mjolnir - Explosive = Nova
Drone:
- Kinetic = Caldari - Thermal = Gallente - EM = Amarr - Explosive = Minmatar
Damage Application
Mobility
Survivability
Alphas - Fits for L1 -> L3 Progression
These fits are for alpha clones looking to explore the world of mission running. Due to the limitations on what skills can be trained, some fits will not perform as well as others in this section. Fits can also be used for adjacent levels of missions in some cases (an Algos can probably do most level 2 missions or a Caracal can do some level 3 missions). Those wishing to maximize their LP gains by running level 3 missions quickly can looking into getting a navy fleet issue cruiser and maximize the skills (as much as an alpha clone can) relevant to it. The Gnosis is the only battlecruiser an alpha clone can fly and with pretty much maxed out alpha skills, you can do some level 4 missions, though you may find your LP gains per hour are high by completing many level 3 missions in a navy cruiser in the time it would take you to complete a single level 4 mission in a Gnosis.
Amarr
Day 1 - Tormentor
L1 - Dragoon (Update after October Patch)
L2 - Arbitrator (Update after October Patch)
L3 - Gnosis (Lasers)
Caldari
Day 1 - Kestrel
L1 - Corax
L2 - Caracal
L3 - Gnosis (Missiles)
Gallente
Day 1 - Incursus
L1 - Algos
L2 - Vexor (Update after October Patch)
L3 - Gnosis (Hybrids)
Minmatar
Day 1 - Rifter (Update after October Patch)
L1 - Thrasher
L2 - Rupture
L3 - Gnosis (Projectile)
Omegas - Fits for L1 -> L4 Progression
Projectile Path
L1 & L2 - Thrasher
200mm Light 'Scout' Autocannon I
200mm Light 'Scout' Autocannon I
200mm Light 'Scout' Autocannon I
200mm Light 'Scout' Autocannon I
200mm Light 'Scout' Autocannon I
200mm Light 'Scout' Autocannon I
200mm Light 'Scout' Autocannon I
'Arbalest' Rocket Launcher I
5MN Y-T8 Compact Microwarpdrive
Medium F-S9 Regolith Compact Shield Extender
Medium F-S9 Regolith Compact Shield Extender
Tracking Enhancer II
Tracking Enhancer II
Small Core Defense Field Purger I
Small Core Defense Field Purger I
Small Core Defense Field Purger I
Titanium Sabot S x10000
Fusion S x10000
Phased Plasma S x10000
EMP S x10000
Scourge Rocket x500
Mjolnir Rocket x500
Inferno Rocket x500
Nova Rocket x500
L3 - Hurricane
Prototype 'Arbalest' Rapid Light Missile Launcher
425mm Medium 'Scout' Autocannon I
425mm Medium 'Scout' Autocannon I
425mm Medium 'Scout' Autocannon I
425mm Medium 'Scout' Autocannon I
425mm Medium 'Scout' Autocannon I
425mm Medium 'Scout' Autocannon I
Large Shield Extender II
Kinetic Deflection Field II
Thermal Dissipation Field II
50MN Cold-Gas Enduring Microwarpdrive
Shield Power Relay II
Shield Power Relay II
Shield Power Relay II
Gyrostabilizer II
Gyrostabilizer II
Gyrostabilizer II
Medium Core Defense Field Purger I
Medium Core Defense Field Purger I
Medium Core Defense Field Purger I
Hammerhead II x3
Warrior II x2
Titanium Sabot M x5000
Fusion M x5000
Phased Plasma M x5000
EMP M x5000
Scourge Light Missile x500
Inferno Light Missile x500
Mjolnir Light Missile x500
Nova Light Missile x500
L4 (T1) - Maelstrom
800mm Heavy 'Scout' Repeating Cannon I
800mm Heavy 'Scout' Repeating Cannon I
800mm Heavy 'Scout' Repeating Cannon I
800mm Heavy 'Scout' Repeating Cannon I
800mm Heavy 'Scout' Repeating Cannon I
800mm Heavy 'Scout' Repeating Cannon I
800mm Heavy 'Scout' Repeating Cannon I
800mm Heavy 'Scout' Repeating Cannon I
X-Large C5-L Emergency Shield Overload I
'Copasetic' Particle Field Acceleration
100MN Afterburner II
Tracking Computer II
Pith C-Type Thermal Dissipation Field
Pith C-Type Kinetic Deflection Field
Gyrostabilizer II
Gyrostabilizer II
Gyrostabilizer II
Tracking Enhancer II
Tracking Enhancer II
Large Capacitor Control Circuit I
Large Capacitor Control Circuit I
Large Capacitor Control Circuit I
Acolyte II x5
Warrior II x5
Vespa II x5
Titanium Sabot L x3000
Fusion L x3000
Phased Plasma L x3000
EMP L x3000
Optimal Range Script x1
Tracking Speed Script x1
800mm Repeating Cannon II
800mm Repeating Cannon II
800mm Repeating Cannon II
800mm Repeating Cannon II
800mm Repeating Cannon II
800mm Repeating Cannon II
800mm Repeating Cannon II
800mm Repeating Cannon II
X-Large Shield Booster II
Shield Boost Amplifier II
100MN Afterburner II
Tracking Computer II
Gist C-Type Thermal Dissipation Field
Gist C-Type Kinetic Deflection Field
Gyrostabilizer II
Gyrostabilizer II
Gyrostabilizer II
Tracking Enhancer II
Tracking Enhancer II
Large Capacitor Control Circuit I
Large Capacitor Control Circuit I
Large Capacitor Control Circuit I
Acolyte II x5
Warrior II x5
Vespa II x5
Titanium Sabot L x3000
Fusion L x3000
Phased Plasma L x3000
EMP L x3000
Optimal Range Script x1
Tracking Speed Script x1
L4 (T2) - Machariel
L4 (HighSec) - Vargur
Missile Path
L1 & L2 - Corax
L3 - Drake
L4 (T1) - Raven
L4 (T2) - Barghest or Rattlesnake
L4 (HighSec) - Golem
Drone Path
L1 & L2 - Algos
L3 - Myrmidon
L4 (T1) - Dominix
L4 (T2) - Rattlesnake or Machariel
L4 (HighSec) - Vargur or Golem
Wherefore art thou lasers?
L1 - Dragoon (Update after October Patch)
L2 - Arbitrator (Update after October Patch)
L3 - Prophecy
L4 - Paladin
Fits made with the template and EFT parser located here: https://wiki.eveuniversity.org/Template:ShipFitting