Incursion fitting principles
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Fitting principles
Incursion fleets rely on good resists and buffer supported by a logistics. There are simply too many enemies to be able to fit a strong enough local tank, not to mention that by sacrificing a small portion of your fleet to bring in logistics instead of more damage dealers, the rest of the damage dealers can fit more offensive modules and your fleet will perform better.
Once you have a good enough tank, the rest of your spare slots should be used to augment your damage potential. While there's such a thing as under-tanked, being over-tanked is not only wasteful in incursions but even dangerous if done at the cost of offense.
See Preparing for Incursions for more information about what skills are needed.
Omni damage
The Sansha incursion rats deal two types of damages, lasers (EM and thermal) and torpedoes (kinetic and explosive). As such, they hit across all four resist types and all incursion fits must reflect that. In general we use a rather erroneous term "70% resists across the board" when we tell people what their resists should be. It is important to know that there is more to it than that.
First of all, it's more of an average resist per type of damage so you can often compensate one resist for the other. The Basilisk for example can leave a reasonable hole in its EM resist thanks to their high thermal resist and still stand up to the damage inflicted by lasers. It also means that most ships can have a slightly lower kinetic resist as long as their explosive resist is equally higher, averaging a solid 70% resist-profile for the damage inflicted by torpedoes.
Second, smaller ships take less damage from torpedoes than larger ships, especially if they are also faster. As such, logistics and strategic cruisers can often get away with slightly lower resists for kinetic and explosive, whereas battleships (especially those with huge signatures) would be better off pushing their kinetic and explosive resists a little bit higher to compensate for taking more damage from torpedoes.
The reason we still use the erroneous "70% resists across the board" term is that if you have 70% resists in all categories, you're good and there's no risk of anyone getting it wrong thinking you can combine a low EM resist with a high explosive resist.
Vanguard setups
Below is a standard setup for your tank in our fleets. These fits are probably considered overtanked by many public communities and they are in fact overtanked for the most part. There are several reasons for it, mainly it is for safety, to give us a larger buffer and more leeway to save ships if things go wrong. We are not as concerned about pushing for efficiency above safety.
We also recommend fits that are flexible in terms of being able to do vanguards, assaults and even headquarter sites with the same ship. So some seemingly superfluous rigs are there to enable the ships to just swap out a few midslots and go from vanguards to headquarter sites.
Standard setup
The main goal of these fits are to remain as cheap as possible while still being safe enough to run with minimal skills. Staying as cheap as possible is also useful for times of war.
| Slots | Regular ships [1] | Resist-bonused ships [2] | Navy / Fleet Issue [3] |
|---|---|---|---|
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 Adaptive Invulnerability Field II
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Adaptive Invulnerability Field II
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Adaptive Invulnerability Field II
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 Damage Control II
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Freed up low slot
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Damage Control II
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 Core Defense Field Extender I
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Core Defense Field Extender I
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Core Defense Field Extender I
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| Resists |  69,5% 70,0% 72,8% 77,4%
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64,0%71,2%73,9%78,3%
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65,2%70,0%72,8%77,4%
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72,8%74,5%76,9%80,8%
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69,4%75,5%77,8%81,5%
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69,2%74,5%76,9%80,8%
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- ^ This fit is intentionally overtanked. It's supposed to be a fit you can run even before you get all your support skills to V, before you've maxed out skills like Shield Management and gotten a decent buffer on your ship. The amplifier isn't quite as effective as the active hardener, but good enough and serves to give some cap relief.
- ^ Ships with resist bonuses like the Rokh, especially if they also have good base shield hit points, can use a different setup to free up a midslot. The resists given are based on a generic 4% resist bonus per level, assuming a ship level of IV. If your skills are low, just leave the damage control on or simply fit your ship like you would a regular ship.
- ^ Navy and Fleet Issue ships have much higher base stats than regular ships, so they rarely need the extender rigs to boost their shield hp buffer. Some will still have one, for more flexibility when doing assault and headquarter sites. This variant could be adopted to normal ships as well, unless they have very low base hit points.
Advanced setup
There are several ways to improve your fits, especially with some of the more efficient but costly deadspace modules and tech two rigs. Below are just examples of two common ways to upgrade your tank to free up more slots for additional offensive modules to increase your applied damage.
| Slots | Weighted resists [1] | Balanced resists [2] |
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 Pithum C-Type Adaptive Invulnerability Field
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Pithum C-Type Adaptive Invulnerability Field
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Freed up low slot
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Damage Control II
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 Core Defense Field Extender II
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Core Defense Field Extender II
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| Resists | 65,8%64,9%73,7%78,1%
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69,9%71,1%68,8%74,0%
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71,8%71,8%78,9%82,4%
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73,4%75,0%73,1%77,6%
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35,0%20,0%40,0%50,0%
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46,9%48,0%40,0%50,0%
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- ^ This variant is mostly suited for vanguard and assault sites where the threat of neuting is small and the incoming damage is slightly skewed towards more torpedoes, thus kinetic and explosive resists are slightly more important. The anti-EM rig ensures that in the case of being completely neuted out, you still have at least some EM-resists even if both invulnerability fields gets shut down.
- ^ For sites where heavy neuting is common, like in headquarter and mothership sites, a more balanced setup might be favoured. The damage control module also adds some additional buffer to your armour and structure in case the higher alpha punches through your shields before reps land. The combination of the anti-thermal rig and EM amplifier allows for a high, balanced, resist profile even when completely neuted out.
Interchangeable fits
As mentioned above, our fits are mostly interchangeable so that we can shift focus from vanguards to assaults or higher by changing a few modules. So here are the major differences in what you need added to your fits as you move up the site sizes.
| Slots | Assault sites [1] | Headquarter / Mothership sites [2] | |
|---|---|---|---|
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 Large Shield Extender II
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Large Shield Extender II Experimental 100MN Afterburner I
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Large Shield Extender II Prototype 100MN Microwarpdrive I
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Damage Control II
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Damage Control II
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Damage Control II
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- ^ The significantly higher alpha in assault sites warrants adding a shield extender to your ship. Most ships simply swap out one of their webs for the large shield extender.
- ^ For headquarter and mothership sites the need to move is greater, which is why most of these sites requires you to fit a propulsion module as well. While the microwarpdrive is harder to fit and more of a drain on your capacitor, it's almost always preferred over the afterburner due to the repeated need to quickly travel significant distances.
Applied DPS
One of the most important aspects to realize is that whatever dps (damage per second) your favourite third party fitting tool tells you that you have, or whatever the fitting window ingame tells you, is worth nothing if you cannot apply that damage. Hence the term "applied dps" as opposed to "paper dps" which is basically just your potential damage.
Your velocity, your target's velocity, approach vectors, your gun's signature resolution, your target's ship signature, locking speed, locking range, your weapon's optimal and falloff range and tracking all play a vital part in how much of your damage you'll be able to apply on your enemy. See Turret Damage for a more comprehensive introduction to the factors determining how much damage you'll end up doing when you undock and leave your bubble.
Practically this means that utility modules often make or break fleets.
Utility modules
First of all, when the term "utility slots" is used it means the slots you have left over once you've fitted your tank and your weapons. So if your ship has five midslots and four are needed for your tank, then the fifth slot is your one utility midslot. If you ship has eight highslots and seven turrets, you have one utility highslot.
Second, the term "utility modules" refer to modules you fit that doesn't directly give you a higher dps in your favourite third party fitting program or on your fitting screen ingame. Instead they act as force multipliers of sorts making up for weaknesses or capitalize on strengths for increased efficiency. There are also modules that has no impact on your offensive capabilities, but are invaluable when things go wrong.
You should always bring as many of these modules are you can fit, so that you can tailor your ship to the needs of the fleet based on your current fleet composition. For example, if you have two free utility midslots, bring two of each of the below listed utility midslot modules. Do the same for any of the utility highslot modules you can theoretically fit to your ship. Keep the modules in the staging system for quick refits.
The fits presented for Vanguards and Assaults will have a default selection of these modules to ensure we have a good base for most fleets. See Anatomy of Incursions for more information on how you can change these modules around for different tactics based on your fleet composition.
| Slot | Icons | Name | Effect |
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F-90 Positional Sensor Subroutines Sensor Booster II |
Scripted module to increase either your scan resolution or your targeting range, or both to a lesser degree [1]. |
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Federation Navy Stasis Webifier True Sansha Stasis Webifier |
Stasis webifiers slow down the target, dramatically increasing the chance to land good hits and thus increase applied dps [2]. |
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Tracking Computer II Shadow Serpentis Tracking Computer |
Tracking computers can be scripted for additional range or tracking, or both to a lesser degree [3]. |
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Phased Weapon Navigation Array Generation Extron Republic Fleet Target Painter [4] |
Target painters increase the signature of the target, making it easier to lock and shoot [5]. |
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Tracking Link II Shadow Serpentis Tracking Link |
Tracking links are like remote tracking computers, able to project increased range or tracking to a friendly player. |
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F-23 Reciprocal Sensor Cluster Link Remote Sensor Booster II |
Remote sensor boosters projected the same kind of effect as sensor boosters, stronger but can only be used on others. |
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Large S95a Partial Shield Transporter Large Shield Transporter II |
Repairs the friendly target's shields. Having a few extra shield transporters for emergency is invaluable. |
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Large 'Regard' Power Projector Large Energy Transfer Array II |
Consumes cap in order to send it to a friendly target. Giving each other cap like this creates more cap than it consumes. |
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Auto Targeting System I Auto Targeting System II |
Increases the number of targets your ship can potentially lock, still limited by your own skills however. |
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Drone Link Augmentor I Drone Link Augmentor II |
Increases the your drone control range. |
- ^ In Vanguards, a battleship is useless without a sensor booster because it will not be able to lock anything in any kind of timely fashion. As such, a sensor booster is always fitted for vanguards, even at the cost of not having a web. For assaults, it is usually a matter of targeting range. Command ships or strategic cruisers can usually get away without a sensor booster, but even they can make good use of faster locking if they have the slots to spare. Being able to lock fast is also necessary in order to quickly lock up a logistics to apply repair drones in an emergency.
- ^ Webs are always better than tracking computers for shooting smaller targets, assuming the target will come into web range. The Federation Navy Stasis Webifier or True Sansha Stasis Webifier is needed for the extra range as regular webs fall short, literally.
- ^ If you primarily engage targets outside web-range, tracking computers become more important, as they'll be able to improve your range and/or your tracking. For Vanguard you almost always favour webs anyway, even if the fleet has many, because you can spread webs for increased efficiency.
- ^ The Domination Target Painter is strictly better but also costs a lot more. So the Republic version is suggested for unistas, in an effort to not completely overbling ships for the sake of it.
- ^ Target painters would not be your first choice, but assuming the other needs are met, you sometimes reach a point where additional webs won't be needed and then the target painter would actually be of more use than another web.
Recommended implants
There are plenty of implants that are useful for incursion runners, with effects ranging from damage projection (tracking, damage or rate of fire) to fitting/support related effects (increased capacitor, powergrid or CPU).
While one shouldn't run around with a head full of expensive implants during war, there are some rather cheap +3% implants you could use even while at war. A set of 4% implants from the CONCORD Loyalty Point store might also be worth considering, they go for 37,5M ISK and 37,5k CONCORD LP each. When the cost of your clone isn't an issue there are +6% implant variants of these implants that greatly increase your efficiency, but costs 250M ISK and 250k CONCORD LP each and requires Cybernetics V.
Gunnery implants
There are several implants improving damage, rate of fire, tracking. Below are implants that help you regardless which ship you fly as they benefit all turret ships.
 Eifyr and Co. 'Gunslinger' Motion Prediction MR-703 (slot 7, +3% turret tracking speed) [1]
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| Inherent Implants 'Lancer' Gunnery RF-903 (slot 9, +3% rate of fire) [2]
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| Inherent Implants 'Gunslinger' Surgical Strike SS-903 (slot 9, +3% turret damage)
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For Battleships and large guns, the next implant is split across each racial weapon system.
| Eifyr and Co. 'Gunslinger' Large Projectile Turret LP-1003 (slot 10, +3% to large projectile weapons)
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| Inherent Implants 'Lancer' Large Energy Turret LE-1003 (slot 10, +3% to large energy weapons) [3]
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| Zainou 'Deadeye' Large Hybrid Turret LH-1003 (slot 10, +3% to large hybrid weapons)
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For those flying strategic cruisers as their preferred ships, there's an implant for slot 8. [4]
| Eifyr and Co. 'Gunslinger' Medium Projectile Turret MP-803 (slot 8, +3% to medium projectiles)
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| Inherent Implants 'Lancer' Medium Energy Turret ME-803 (slot 8, +3% to medium energy weapons)
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- ^ For the high-end tracking speed implants, the Ogdin's Eye Coordination Enhancer implant is often much cheaper than the 6% implant from CONCORD. It only requires Cybernetics III.
- ^ For the high-end rate of fire implants there's the Pashan's Turret Customization Mindlink implant that gives +7% rate of fire for all turrets, but it is a very expensive implant. It only requires Cybernetics IV.
- ^ For the high-end laser implants there's the Pashan's Turret Handling Mindlink which gives +7% damage to large energy weapons, but it's also a very expensive implant. It only requires Cybernetics IV.
- ^ Note that the 5% versions of these three implants are disproportionately cheap, often running somewhat below the price for the 3% versions.
Genolution implants
For people without +4 or +5 attribute implants, the Genolution implants can be quite useful.
 Genolution Core Augmentation CA-1 (slot 1, increases powergrid and capacitor)
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 Genolution Core Augmentation CA-2 (slot 4, increases CPU and capacitor)
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 Genolution Core Augmentation CA-3 (slot 3, increases velocity and shield capacity)
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 Genolution Core Augmentation CA-4 (slot 2, increases agility and armour hit points)
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Capacitor implants
For the less used slots 6 and 8 you haven't got much worthwhile to use in terms of increasing your damage. For those slots you could increase your capacitor if you're flying logistics or a ship with cap-hungry turrets.
| Inherent Implants 'Squire' Energy Systems Operation EO-603 (slot 6, decreases capacitor recharge)
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| Inherent Implants 'Squire' Energy Management EM-803 (slot 8, increases capacitor capacity)
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Projectile based ships
These ships have no need for capacitor implants in slot 6 and 8, so you could look for other options. Perhaps the most common ones would be the engineering implant to free up more powergrid for artillery or microwarpdrives for the larger sites and locking range.
For slot 6 you got quite a few options of implants:
| Inherent Implants 'Squire' Engineering EG-603 (slot 6, increases your powergrid)
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| Zainou 'Gypsy' Electronics EE-603 (slot 6, increases your CPU)
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| Eifyr and Co. 'Rogue' Acceleration Control AC-603 (slot 6, increases your AB/MWD speed increase)
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For slot 8 there's very few implants that help with incursions:
| Zainou 'Gypsy' Long Range Targeting LT-803 (slot 8, increases locking range)
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Mindlink implants
For the boosters, slot 10 is taken up by the mindlink implants.
 Republic Fleet Warfare Mindlink (slot 10, +15% shield hp, +15% agility and +25% bonus to siege/skirmish command bonus)
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| Imperial Navy Warfare Mindlink (slot 10, +15% armour hp, +15% targeting range and +25% bonus to armour/information command bonus)
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