Thursday, July 31, 2008
Skills: The Difference Between Want and Need
Without any levelling based on "experience", Eve's skills become the only method for controlling who can do what in the game; what ships, what modules, what charges and how well they work.
Some skills are prerequisites for using items or flying ships, or sometimes they are prerequisites for other skills and have little or no value on their own. Other skills are not required but have enhancement values that improve how well your character can use something.
Technically, no skill is "needed". You character is free to spend years untrained as a one day old newbie. But that is unrealistic. At a minimum you want access to some fancier ships capable of whatever you have your heart set on, and most players want access to many types of ships for different roles.
If you want to fly an interceptor, you need Caldari Frigate V and Interceptors I. If you want to fly an interceptor well, you want a lot more skills.
Unless I want to fly a Marauder Battleship, you don't need to train Advanced Weapon Upgrades to level V and considering its a 27+ day skill, its understandable why a pilot might avoid it. After all, it only reduces weapon turrets and launchers powergrid needs by 2%. so you might want to train it, but its not a need.
However, sometimes want can turn into need.
A lot of ship fittings I'm looking at could really benefit from that skill. When you have 8 Blaster Cannons on your Rokh using 2174 MW each, an additional 2% savings is over 376 MW, enough to power two tech 2 Large Shield Extenders. For cruiser sized ships its not as extreme but it is still considerable. It is often the difference between highest damage weapons and medium damage weapons, or having a decent tank or just an OK one.
Yeah, that want has turned into need. Alas, I've added it to the list of summer training. Sigh.
On the upside, it will allow me to fly a Golem Marauder when complete.
Some skills are prerequisites for using items or flying ships, or sometimes they are prerequisites for other skills and have little or no value on their own. Other skills are not required but have enhancement values that improve how well your character can use something.
Technically, no skill is "needed". You character is free to spend years untrained as a one day old newbie. But that is unrealistic. At a minimum you want access to some fancier ships capable of whatever you have your heart set on, and most players want access to many types of ships for different roles.
If you want to fly an interceptor, you need Caldari Frigate V and Interceptors I. If you want to fly an interceptor well, you want a lot more skills.
Unless I want to fly a Marauder Battleship, you don't need to train Advanced Weapon Upgrades to level V and considering its a 27+ day skill, its understandable why a pilot might avoid it. After all, it only reduces weapon turrets and launchers powergrid needs by 2%. so you might want to train it, but its not a need.
However, sometimes want can turn into need.
A lot of ship fittings I'm looking at could really benefit from that skill. When you have 8 Blaster Cannons on your Rokh using 2174 MW each, an additional 2% savings is over 376 MW, enough to power two tech 2 Large Shield Extenders. For cruiser sized ships its not as extreme but it is still considerable. It is often the difference between highest damage weapons and medium damage weapons, or having a decent tank or just an OK one.
Yeah, that want has turned into need. Alas, I've added it to the list of summer training. Sigh.
On the upside, it will allow me to fly a Golem Marauder when complete.
So Close
Last night I thought I had my chance.
Wife was watching TV with twin B. Twin A was having a nap. I scooted upstairs and booted Eve and logged in as Kirith.
I undocked and opened the scanner; two tries later I had a Cosmic Anomaly all lined up and warped to it. Damn, level II and I don't think my Destroyer can take that kind of heat. But I do have the new PvE Vexor one jump away. I warped to the stargate, jumped into Amarr high sec, got chased by the faction navy all the way to the station.
There I assembled the Vexor, threw the modules on it, loaded it with ammo and drones, and jumped back to the low sec system, and warped to the beacon. As I arrived at the complex I started moving towards the bad guys and began cycling the locking computers on the juicy targets. I was just about to engage weapons when suddenly... "WAAAAAAAA WAAAAAAA WAAAAAAA!!!!!"
Twin A woke up. DAMN! Sadly, I logged out and went to feed the hungry offspring.
Next time foul Amarr NPCs! Next Time!
* * * * * *
In other news, I sold the 6 manticores for over 17 million each for a total of over 103 million ISK, about 31 million of which was profit.
Wife was watching TV with twin B. Twin A was having a nap. I scooted upstairs and booted Eve and logged in as Kirith.
I undocked and opened the scanner; two tries later I had a Cosmic Anomaly all lined up and warped to it. Damn, level II and I don't think my Destroyer can take that kind of heat. But I do have the new PvE Vexor one jump away. I warped to the stargate, jumped into Amarr high sec, got chased by the faction navy all the way to the station.
There I assembled the Vexor, threw the modules on it, loaded it with ammo and drones, and jumped back to the low sec system, and warped to the beacon. As I arrived at the complex I started moving towards the bad guys and began cycling the locking computers on the juicy targets. I was just about to engage weapons when suddenly... "WAAAAAAAA WAAAAAAA WAAAAAAA!!!!!"
Twin A woke up. DAMN! Sadly, I logged out and went to feed the hungry offspring.
Next time foul Amarr NPCs! Next Time!
* * * * * *
In other news, I sold the 6 manticores for over 17 million each for a total of over 103 million ISK, about 31 million of which was profit.
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
Grrrr...
Still no real sit-down-and-play Eve time. Frustrating.
I have been able to get the Manticores built and they will go on the market tonight, and I made a shopping list to build 20 Covert Ops Cloaks as my next project. Oh and the Widows are still over 3 days from completion.
I'm hoping to sneak in an hour tonight, but we'll see.
I have been able to get the Manticores built and they will go on the market tonight, and I made a shopping list to build 20 Covert Ops Cloaks as my next project. Oh and the Widows are still over 3 days from completion.
I'm hoping to sneak in an hour tonight, but we'll see.
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
Eve Personality Test
Gunslinger
Take The EvE Personality Test today!
Created with Rum and Monkey's Personality Test Generator.
Eve is a PvP game. The PvE parts of the game are there to drive the economy in order to produce more PvP. Multiplayer is key, and even though solo-play can be fun, the game should be balanced as a multiplayer game. High-sec is as much of a warzone as low- and nul-sec. It's just a matter of finding ways to get at the people living there. You usually play with other people, because when the going gets tough, the tough get some backup.
Hat tip to Pod Pilot
Hat tip to Pod Pilot
Turns Out, It IS Rocket Science
I went to build the Manticores this morning and to my surprise I was missing a skill. I have enough skills to build a Tech II Battleship but a Tech II Frigate? Nope.
Apparently the cruise missile using stealth bombers require the Rocket Science skill trained up to build them. Sigh.
I'll buy the skillbook tonight for about 9 million and put the jobs in later.
Apparently the cruise missile using stealth bombers require the Rocket Science skill trained up to build them. Sigh.
I'll buy the skillbook tonight for about 9 million and put the jobs in later.
Nano Whining - Tears At the Speed of Light
My god the ocean of tears will drown us all!
The Nanowhores are in full swing on the forums, complaining bitterly that when the new changes become active that:
- Minmatar will be broken
- 2.4 billion isk Snake implants will be worthless
- Ships with 3 x Polycarbon Engine Housing rigs will be worthless
- speed tanking will be impossible
- blaster boats will not be viable
- Eve will die
To the people who think Minmatar will be broken and unplayable, I say give it time to see what the adaptors come up with. At worse they will be disadvantaged and sooner or later they will come on top again in a future change.
To the people complaining about having spent ISK on implants, ships, and rigs that will not be worth as much later I say GET A FUCKING CLUE. The devs clearly telegraphed this nerf for months in posts, blogs, and interviews. Anyone with half a brain knew something would be done about Ludicrous speeds and if you can't hack it, if you can't adapt, then leave.
To the people saying speed tanking will be impossible I say good. Frigates are supposed to be the size of 747 Jumbo jets; seeing cruisers which are the sizes of massive skyscraper buildings moving at incredible speeds (not so bad) and having incredible physics-defying accleration and agility was immersion breaking for me. It screamed artifact of improperly trhought out game design and not artifact of universal background material. Give me slow pondering ships with real tanks where speed is used to get into better range and not hope and skip out of engagements like sparrows.
To the people saying blasterboats will not be viable I say let's wait and see. The speed descreases affect all ships pretty much and the module changes are universal too. While a blaster boat's web may not stop his target, his target's web will not stop the blasterboat. It remains to be seen what the end result is and more testing is required.
To the people who say Eve will die because of this I say bullshit. Nano pilots make up a small percentage of the playerbase. Even if every nanowhore quit the end result would be a mere blip on the screen. On the other side, so many players that cannot afford the implants and polycarbon rigs for speed setups can now sigh in relief that they have the options of using appropriate missiles and drones to combat fast ships that were basically invulnerable to them before. In addition, the fastest ships will still be damn fast and have some protection from weapons due to their speed; its just won't be invulnerability anymore.
I hope this patch comes to Tranquility soon, I can't wait to see how it changes the game.
The Nanowhores are in full swing on the forums, complaining bitterly that when the new changes become active that:
- Minmatar will be broken
- 2.4 billion isk Snake implants will be worthless
- Ships with 3 x Polycarbon Engine Housing rigs will be worthless
- speed tanking will be impossible
- blaster boats will not be viable
- Eve will die
To the people who think Minmatar will be broken and unplayable, I say give it time to see what the adaptors come up with. At worse they will be disadvantaged and sooner or later they will come on top again in a future change.
To the people complaining about having spent ISK on implants, ships, and rigs that will not be worth as much later I say GET A FUCKING CLUE. The devs clearly telegraphed this nerf for months in posts, blogs, and interviews. Anyone with half a brain knew something would be done about Ludicrous speeds and if you can't hack it, if you can't adapt, then leave.
To the people saying speed tanking will be impossible I say good. Frigates are supposed to be the size of 747 Jumbo jets; seeing cruisers which are the sizes of massive skyscraper buildings moving at incredible speeds (not so bad) and having incredible physics-defying accleration and agility was immersion breaking for me. It screamed artifact of improperly trhought out game design and not artifact of universal background material. Give me slow pondering ships with real tanks where speed is used to get into better range and not hope and skip out of engagements like sparrows.
To the people saying blasterboats will not be viable I say let's wait and see. The speed descreases affect all ships pretty much and the module changes are universal too. While a blaster boat's web may not stop his target, his target's web will not stop the blasterboat. It remains to be seen what the end result is and more testing is required.
To the people who say Eve will die because of this I say bullshit. Nano pilots make up a small percentage of the playerbase. Even if every nanowhore quit the end result would be a mere blip on the screen. On the other side, so many players that cannot afford the implants and polycarbon rigs for speed setups can now sigh in relief that they have the options of using appropriate missiles and drones to combat fast ships that were basically invulnerable to them before. In addition, the fastest ships will still be damn fast and have some protection from weapons due to their speed; its just won't be invulnerability anymore.
I hope this patch comes to Tranquility soon, I can't wait to see how it changes the game.
Monday, July 28, 2008
I'm Back!
Being off to a wake/funeral and then driving to Toronto for a wedding certainly leaves no time for fun stuff, but I do have some quick comments I'll pile into one post.
- The components for the Widows completed while I was away and this morning I got the job in to build the two Widows themselves, completes in about 6 days.
- Following that, the components for the 6 Manticores went into the ovens, be ready tomorrow morning.
- Kirith is almost completed Energy Management V but it would have ended a 2am this morning so I switched to Motion Prediction V for Tech II blasters in the meantime.
- CCP posted a devblog about plans to reign in ships going "ludicrous speeds" which is defined as the point at which appropriate missiles or drones can catch. I am all for these proposed changes.
- The components for the Widows completed while I was away and this morning I got the job in to build the two Widows themselves, completes in about 6 days.
- Following that, the components for the 6 Manticores went into the ovens, be ready tomorrow morning.
- Kirith is almost completed Energy Management V but it would have ended a 2am this morning so I switched to Motion Prediction V for Tech II blasters in the meantime.
- CCP posted a devblog about plans to reign in ships going "ludicrous speeds" which is defined as the point at which appropriate missiles or drones can catch. I am all for these proposed changes.
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
Offline For Rest of Week
My Elderly grandfather passed away last night so I will be away from blogging for the rest of the week. Blogging will resume next week.
Mad Scientist
I got some Prototype Cloaking Device BPCs made up and put them in the invention lab, 2 for Improved Cloaks and 2 for Covert Ops Cloaks. The reason I split them up is that while the profit is higher on the covert ops model, its not shabby on the Improved and they sell faster. I'm all about the immediate gratification.
Well, the two Improved Cloak jobs failed and the two Covert Ops Cloak jobs succeeded meaning that after I make the 6 Manticores (which are in turn waiting for the two Widows) I can build 20 cloaks. Rough estimate of profit is 100-150 million.
Well, the two Improved Cloak jobs failed and the two Covert Ops Cloak jobs succeeded meaning that after I make the 6 Manticores (which are in turn waiting for the two Widows) I can build 20 cloaks. Rough estimate of profit is 100-150 million.
Monday, July 21, 2008
Where to Live?
(Note: Its one of those days at work where I have to wait hours for files to unzip, copy, execute and my other task is reading a dry 73 page technical document. So yeah, blogging day.)
So Kirith approaches the golden land of milk and honey also known as Minmatar Factional Standing 5.0. With that level reached (another 9 complexes to go!) I'll have the ability to get my corp standing up to 5.0 and then anchor a POS in Minmatar high sec systems of security status 5.
Last time I had a high sec POS I purchased the corp (Razor Technologies) from someone who had the standings himself for 150 million. So in one way I'm saving myself a lot of ISK and I'll have the standings in the future to use again (as long as I don't blow it running missions for Caldari or Amarr). I set up the tower in Gulfonodi last time as that was my home system and it seemed like a nice quiet area.
However there were problems. The factories in Gulfonodi and neighbouring high sec systems Teonusude and Gelfiven were in stations in high demand for office space so rents were in the multiple millions of ISK per month. I found a cheaper solution in a system four jumps away called Gerek but it was in Hiematar region instead of Molden Heath which means I could not remotely manage the factories and the labs at the same time. Not deal breaking but annoying enough to make me consider other options.
The system I want to anchor my new POS in has to meet the following requirements:
1) Security Status of 5 in the Minmatar Republic space;
2) Available moons to anchor at;
3) Station with reasonable office rental fee;
4) If station in system does not have factories, then a nearby system (i.e. within 5 jumps) has a station with reasonable rental fees and within the same region;
5) No more than 10 jumps to Rens.
That cuts down the options considerably. However there are some possibilities and I'm going to check them out with Derranna when I get a chance.
So Kirith approaches the golden land of milk and honey also known as Minmatar Factional Standing 5.0. With that level reached (another 9 complexes to go!) I'll have the ability to get my corp standing up to 5.0 and then anchor a POS in Minmatar high sec systems of security status 5.
Last time I had a high sec POS I purchased the corp (Razor Technologies) from someone who had the standings himself for 150 million. So in one way I'm saving myself a lot of ISK and I'll have the standings in the future to use again (as long as I don't blow it running missions for Caldari or Amarr). I set up the tower in Gulfonodi last time as that was my home system and it seemed like a nice quiet area.
However there were problems. The factories in Gulfonodi and neighbouring high sec systems Teonusude and Gelfiven were in stations in high demand for office space so rents were in the multiple millions of ISK per month. I found a cheaper solution in a system four jumps away called Gerek but it was in Hiematar region instead of Molden Heath which means I could not remotely manage the factories and the labs at the same time. Not deal breaking but annoying enough to make me consider other options.
The system I want to anchor my new POS in has to meet the following requirements:
1) Security Status of 5 in the Minmatar Republic space;
2) Available moons to anchor at;
3) Station with reasonable office rental fee;
4) If station in system does not have factories, then a nearby system (i.e. within 5 jumps) has a station with reasonable rental fees and within the same region;
5) No more than 10 jumps to Rens.
That cuts down the options considerably. However there are some possibilities and I'm going to check them out with Derranna when I get a chance.
Opinion: No To Caldari Drone Boat
This thread on the Eve Online forums caught my interest. Basically a pilot was whining that Caldari have no reason to train for Tech II heavy drones because they don't have a ship with a decent drone bay until you get to the Carrier. In fact, he goes on to add, they are the only race with this deficiency.
O rly?
Amarr:
- Armageddon - Drone bay and bandwidth support 5 heavy drones
Minmatar
- Typhoon - 5 heavy drones and room for spares
- Maelstrom - 4 heavy drones
The suggestion then goes on to be that the Scorpion (or perhaps the Ferox) should get a drone bay and bandwidth boost to at least 100 each so that 4 heavy drones is a possibility.
As much as I would love a boost to either of those ships, I feel it is not necessary since Fighters do not require Tech II heavy drones. Both the Ferox and Scorpion have their uses (albeit not super flexible) and making either a drone boat without serious nerfage in other attributes means they have the potential to be overpowered (the Scorpion as a jamming ship with incredible DPS and the Ferox as just an incredible DPS ship with blasters).
Now, if the Ferox got a 50m3 drone bay and bandwidth to match I think that would be fine. As for the Scorpion, if you reduced its ECM bonuses (or removed one) and added a 100-125m3 drone bay, that might be ok. But personally I think its a problem that doesn't need a solution.
UPDATE: Thinking about it some more, I'm having second thoughts about the Scorpion as a drone boat inline with the Armageddon or Typhoon. It might give it a better role in PvP as a jamming and mild DPS ship.
O rly?
Amarr:
- Armageddon - Drone bay and bandwidth support 5 heavy drones
Minmatar
- Typhoon - 5 heavy drones and room for spares
- Maelstrom - 4 heavy drones
The suggestion then goes on to be that the Scorpion (or perhaps the Ferox) should get a drone bay and bandwidth boost to at least 100 each so that 4 heavy drones is a possibility.
As much as I would love a boost to either of those ships, I feel it is not necessary since Fighters do not require Tech II heavy drones. Both the Ferox and Scorpion have their uses (albeit not super flexible) and making either a drone boat without serious nerfage in other attributes means they have the potential to be overpowered (the Scorpion as a jamming ship with incredible DPS and the Ferox as just an incredible DPS ship with blasters).
Now, if the Ferox got a 50m3 drone bay and bandwidth to match I think that would be fine. As for the Scorpion, if you reduced its ECM bonuses (or removed one) and added a 100-125m3 drone bay, that might be ok. But personally I think its a problem that doesn't need a solution.
UPDATE: Thinking about it some more, I'm having second thoughts about the Scorpion as a drone boat inline with the Armageddon or Typhoon. It might give it a better role in PvP as a jamming and mild DPS ship.
Interesting Side Note
Regarding the Carrier:
I can use all the fighters in less than 5 days as they do not depend on racial specialization skills or Heavy Drone skills, only Drone Interfacing V (which I have for the carrier) and Leadership V.
In order to use Tech II Heavy Drones I would need about 27 days.
Surprising.
I can use all the fighters in less than 5 days as they do not depend on racial specialization skills or Heavy Drone skills, only Drone Interfacing V (which I have for the carrier) and Leadership V.
In order to use Tech II Heavy Drones I would need about 27 days.
Surprising.
Vex(or)ed!
I can easily bang off level 1 Factional Warfare complexes using my trusty Destroyer, but Level IIs have proven more problematic.
The Harpy I have setup is able to tank the damage alright but doesn't throw out enough DPS to kill the rats fast enough and as the waves pile up I can't get on top of it. The Vexor also had problems with killing the rats fast enough, but at least I had an excuse with that ship: it was decked out as a nano-pvp fit and not optimized for lots of weaker rats.
I decided to have another go with the Vexor. Why? Well, I really like the concept of a drone ship and if I can get the Vexor to work well for me, there is hope that the larger Myrmidon (which I love the look of) might work out for me as well.
So, back to the drawing board. First off I tossed out the concept of the Tech I nano-Vexor. While decent for inexpensive PvP, I'm working the PvE angle right now and need a ship setup for that type of combat. I followed the initial design of the Cormorant in level 1s which is enough buffer to absorb the incoming damage while my weapons thin the herd. So a 1600mm Rolled Tungsten plate was first in the ship (Tech II give same bonus but with more downsides). After that I put on an EM and Thermal Tech II Hardener as that is the main damage types of Amarr Navy rats and their lasers.
For the mid slots, a 10mn II afterburner to give a speed boost and a Tech II Tracking Computer for the railguns going in the high slots. To be specific, four Dual 150mm Railgun IIs which will give lots of tracking for small ships and a decent DPS addition to help out the drones. In order to fit it all and keep it all running permamently, a Power Diagnostic II in the last low slot and a Cap Recharger II in the last mid slot. That way I can run my weapons, afterburner, tracking computer, and two hardeners without ever running out of capacitor energy.
For drones I was originally using a flight that consisted of 2 x Ogres, 2 x Hammerhead IIs, and 1 x Hornet II. But there were two problems. The first is that the best damage type against Amarr is Explosive and that means Minmatar drones and the second was that the Ogres were too slow getting to targets all the time. Plus I can't use Tech II heavy drones yet. So I opted instead for two flights of drones, one consisting of 5 x Valkryies IIs for cruisers and one of 5 x Warrior IIs for frigates. The loss in DPS is made up for by the higher tech drones and the faster speed at getting to targets.
For the last high slot, a tractor beam for checking out wrecks between waves. When I have a chance I'll give it a try and see how it works out.
The Harpy I have setup is able to tank the damage alright but doesn't throw out enough DPS to kill the rats fast enough and as the waves pile up I can't get on top of it. The Vexor also had problems with killing the rats fast enough, but at least I had an excuse with that ship: it was decked out as a nano-pvp fit and not optimized for lots of weaker rats.
I decided to have another go with the Vexor. Why? Well, I really like the concept of a drone ship and if I can get the Vexor to work well for me, there is hope that the larger Myrmidon (which I love the look of) might work out for me as well.
So, back to the drawing board. First off I tossed out the concept of the Tech I nano-Vexor. While decent for inexpensive PvP, I'm working the PvE angle right now and need a ship setup for that type of combat. I followed the initial design of the Cormorant in level 1s which is enough buffer to absorb the incoming damage while my weapons thin the herd. So a 1600mm Rolled Tungsten plate was first in the ship (Tech II give same bonus but with more downsides). After that I put on an EM and Thermal Tech II Hardener as that is the main damage types of Amarr Navy rats and their lasers.
For the mid slots, a 10mn II afterburner to give a speed boost and a Tech II Tracking Computer for the railguns going in the high slots. To be specific, four Dual 150mm Railgun IIs which will give lots of tracking for small ships and a decent DPS addition to help out the drones. In order to fit it all and keep it all running permamently, a Power Diagnostic II in the last low slot and a Cap Recharger II in the last mid slot. That way I can run my weapons, afterburner, tracking computer, and two hardeners without ever running out of capacitor energy.
For drones I was originally using a flight that consisted of 2 x Ogres, 2 x Hammerhead IIs, and 1 x Hornet II. But there were two problems. The first is that the best damage type against Amarr is Explosive and that means Minmatar drones and the second was that the Ogres were too slow getting to targets all the time. Plus I can't use Tech II heavy drones yet. So I opted instead for two flights of drones, one consisting of 5 x Valkryies IIs for cruisers and one of 5 x Warrior IIs for frigates. The loss in DPS is made up for by the higher tech drones and the faster speed at getting to targets.
For the last high slot, a tractor beam for checking out wrecks between waves. When I have a chance I'll give it a try and see how it works out.
Saturday, July 19, 2008
Rare Weekend Post! OMG!
Just a quick post about my efforts in Eve Factional Warfare.
Yesterday I completed a few minor complexes to get to 1.97 standing with Tribal Liberation Force, just 0.03 short of my next promotion. While gaining standing for the first promotion was giving me 3% per complex, this new rank was only giving me 2.09 per complex.
Tonight I got another complex and was promoted to Spear Lieutenant! Image forthcoming. The other side of the coin for the lower rewards from complex capturing was that the Minmatar faction gain for this promotion was higher than last time, over 8%! So instead of two more promotions to reach 5 standing only one more should do it (assuming the pattern continues). Unfortuately, it looks like I'll need about 8-10 more complex captures to do it! Sigh. I guess it all balances in the end.
Tonight I tried to run a level 2 complex by myself but my Tech I nano-pvp Vexor couldn't kill the rats fast enough and the PvE Harpy I had also was too slow killing the rats. Grrr. So I'm going to go back to base this week and reconfigure some ships for better performances like I'm getting from the Cormorant Destroyer in level 1s. Need to keep my options open and running the odd level 2 would help.
Yesterday I completed a few minor complexes to get to 1.97 standing with Tribal Liberation Force, just 0.03 short of my next promotion. While gaining standing for the first promotion was giving me 3% per complex, this new rank was only giving me 2.09 per complex.
Tonight I got another complex and was promoted to Spear Lieutenant! Image forthcoming. The other side of the coin for the lower rewards from complex capturing was that the Minmatar faction gain for this promotion was higher than last time, over 8%! So instead of two more promotions to reach 5 standing only one more should do it (assuming the pattern continues). Unfortuately, it looks like I'll need about 8-10 more complex captures to do it! Sigh. I guess it all balances in the end.
Tonight I tried to run a level 2 complex by myself but my Tech I nano-pvp Vexor couldn't kill the rats fast enough and the PvE Harpy I had also was too slow killing the rats. Grrr. So I'm going to go back to base this week and reconfigure some ships for better performances like I'm getting from the Cormorant Destroyer in level 1s. Need to keep my options open and running the odd level 2 would help.
Friday, July 18, 2008
Brainstorming
Ah, quiet Friday afternoons. Time for some out of the box idea brainstorming (much like this).
Today we are going to consider ships, specifically new ship types I'd like to see. These have no hope of being implemented but it makes me feel better. OK then, off we go.
* * * * *
The first ship class I want to talk about is a tech II version of the Tier II Battlecruisers that were released last year; the Drake, Myrmidon, Hurricane, and Harbinger. What pray tell can we do with these ships that has not been done with the Fleet and Field Command Ships?
Well, when the new ships were released so was the new Exploration content. Seems serendipitous then that Tech II versions somehow make use of that content. One of the problems with Exploration is that you are best suited to using Covert Ops frigates to find the Exploration sites but then have to dock and switch into another ship class to actually make use of the site you find, whether its a miner or combat vessel or whatever. In Empire this is not a huge problem (more of an annoyance) but in low sec and 0.0 it can be extremely frustrating. It would be nice if there was a ship capable of scanning the sites out and allowing some ability to investigate them and clear out any rats.
Enter the Explorator class! I envision ships with 7-8 high slots but only four weapon hardpoints compensated by the role bonus of 100% damage like the Marauders get. This allows for impressive damage but also allowing extra ultity high slots for salvagers and Scan Probe Launchers.
The ship should also get a scan duration reduction bonus like Covert Ops ships do but applying only to Scan Probe Launchers and not Recon Probe Launchers (to discourage it from being used as a PvP combat ship). The mid and low slot layouts can be the same and the ship's tank can be increased slighty with Tech II resistances like HACs and Command Ships.
* * * * *
The next ship class has to be a Tech II version of the Teir III Battleships: the Rokh, Hyperion, Maelstrom, and Abaddon.
One thing that is missing from the game is the idea of a pride-of-the-fleet ship that normal players can aspire to. Marauders are canidates but have that weak sensor strength making them useful more in PvE than fleet battles. Command Ships have many useful properties but are too small compared to the fleets of battleships in hard core 0.0 combat. Dreadnoughts are too limited to specific situations. Motherships and Titans are only for the elite hardcore players who live and breath 0.0 and are the centres of large alliances. Carriers are more support vessels than all out fleet combat/command vessels.
I want something with the attainability of the Marauder class and utility of a battleship and Command ship. I want a Flagship!
But I don't want just a Command ship in a Battleship hull. It has to be unique and special somehow. Its easy to dream up special modules that only the Flagship can use, but that seems like a cop out. Instead I decided to think about mechanics.
One of the cool things about being in a fleet is the fleet-warp ability the Squad/Wing/Fleet commander has. But what it the Flagship can you the ability to warp Wings and Squads not directly under your command to designated objects or bookmarks? (This is instead of having to direct the Wing/Squad leader to initiate warp.) Such an ability could allow a Fleet Commander to direct a battle faster and more efficiently with fewer mistakes.
On top of this unique ability, a pilot in the Flagship should be able to bring up the solar system map and see markers indicating where pilots of the fleet are located to increase his comprehension of his fleet's disposition. It would be ultimately cool if the same map could show beacons for enemy ships that his fleet can currently see (i.e. on the grid with them). I don't know how feasible that is, but that would be very cool and supremely useful for a fleet commander.
The ship itself can have similar DPS and tanking to its Tech I counterparts, perhaps even slightly degraded DPS. The trade off for the warp command and tactical map would be well worth it in my opinion.
* * * * *
Last but not least, I was thinking about carriers (for obvious reasons). Or rather more specifically Fighters.
Fighters are super-heavy drones (more like the size of Assault Ships) that only Carriers and Motherships can use. They do a lot of damage (almost twice a Heavy Tech II drone) and are very tough (5 times or more the defenses) and have special features like following targets through warp and can be assigned to other pilots.
A top skilled carrier can launch 10 fighters, and with additional Drone Control Units it can field up to 15. A mothership can launch 20 or 25 with Drone Control Units. But what about a ship that only launches 5?
We'll call it a Light Carrier. It would be slightly larger than a Battleship but nowhere near as big as a Carrier (i.e. it would be sub-capital sized). It would not have a Ship Maintenance Array or Corporate Hanger as they are more logicistical puposes and the Light Carrier is not a logicistic ship. It would also eschew any jump capability but instead use stargates. As such it could enter high sec.
Offensive capability would be similar to Carriers: no turret or missile hardpoints and fewer slots overall than a carrier. Armour/Shield/Structure would be half of that of the carrier at least. The main purpose of this ship would be to be able to launch and assign up to 5 fighters which provides a DPS around 400-500. I would also allow the ship to install Drone Control Units so it could get up to 7-8 fighters total, but that would need to be looked into.
"Why would we want to have a Light Carrier when a Dominix would seem to suffice?" Well, fighters are the idea: they can be assigned to other pilots, can follow targets in warp, and generally are damn cool and it would be nice to see them more often.
"Would these ships be ultimate mission runners?" Hmmm, yeah, bit of a problem there. Their superior-than-battleship defenses would make them ideal for running missions and the DPS from the fighters would definitely be sufficient to kill the rats. On the other hand, running a mission in a Marauder right now with its potential 800+ DPS and Tech II tanks is not exactly hard either; a slower Light Carrier might not be ideal for mission compared to a Golem or Kronos.
* * * * *
That's all I have for now. Enjoy!
Today we are going to consider ships, specifically new ship types I'd like to see. These have no hope of being implemented but it makes me feel better. OK then, off we go.
* * * * *
The first ship class I want to talk about is a tech II version of the Tier II Battlecruisers that were released last year; the Drake, Myrmidon, Hurricane, and Harbinger. What pray tell can we do with these ships that has not been done with the Fleet and Field Command Ships?
Well, when the new ships were released so was the new Exploration content. Seems serendipitous then that Tech II versions somehow make use of that content. One of the problems with Exploration is that you are best suited to using Covert Ops frigates to find the Exploration sites but then have to dock and switch into another ship class to actually make use of the site you find, whether its a miner or combat vessel or whatever. In Empire this is not a huge problem (more of an annoyance) but in low sec and 0.0 it can be extremely frustrating. It would be nice if there was a ship capable of scanning the sites out and allowing some ability to investigate them and clear out any rats.
Enter the Explorator class! I envision ships with 7-8 high slots but only four weapon hardpoints compensated by the role bonus of 100% damage like the Marauders get. This allows for impressive damage but also allowing extra ultity high slots for salvagers and Scan Probe Launchers.
The ship should also get a scan duration reduction bonus like Covert Ops ships do but applying only to Scan Probe Launchers and not Recon Probe Launchers (to discourage it from being used as a PvP combat ship). The mid and low slot layouts can be the same and the ship's tank can be increased slighty with Tech II resistances like HACs and Command Ships.
* * * * *
The next ship class has to be a Tech II version of the Teir III Battleships: the Rokh, Hyperion, Maelstrom, and Abaddon.
One thing that is missing from the game is the idea of a pride-of-the-fleet ship that normal players can aspire to. Marauders are canidates but have that weak sensor strength making them useful more in PvE than fleet battles. Command Ships have many useful properties but are too small compared to the fleets of battleships in hard core 0.0 combat. Dreadnoughts are too limited to specific situations. Motherships and Titans are only for the elite hardcore players who live and breath 0.0 and are the centres of large alliances. Carriers are more support vessels than all out fleet combat/command vessels.
I want something with the attainability of the Marauder class and utility of a battleship and Command ship. I want a Flagship!
But I don't want just a Command ship in a Battleship hull. It has to be unique and special somehow. Its easy to dream up special modules that only the Flagship can use, but that seems like a cop out. Instead I decided to think about mechanics.
One of the cool things about being in a fleet is the fleet-warp ability the Squad/Wing/Fleet commander has. But what it the Flagship can you the ability to warp Wings and Squads not directly under your command to designated objects or bookmarks? (This is instead of having to direct the Wing/Squad leader to initiate warp.) Such an ability could allow a Fleet Commander to direct a battle faster and more efficiently with fewer mistakes.
On top of this unique ability, a pilot in the Flagship should be able to bring up the solar system map and see markers indicating where pilots of the fleet are located to increase his comprehension of his fleet's disposition. It would be ultimately cool if the same map could show beacons for enemy ships that his fleet can currently see (i.e. on the grid with them). I don't know how feasible that is, but that would be very cool and supremely useful for a fleet commander.
The ship itself can have similar DPS and tanking to its Tech I counterparts, perhaps even slightly degraded DPS. The trade off for the warp command and tactical map would be well worth it in my opinion.
* * * * *
Last but not least, I was thinking about carriers (for obvious reasons). Or rather more specifically Fighters.
Fighters are super-heavy drones (more like the size of Assault Ships) that only Carriers and Motherships can use. They do a lot of damage (almost twice a Heavy Tech II drone) and are very tough (5 times or more the defenses) and have special features like following targets through warp and can be assigned to other pilots.
A top skilled carrier can launch 10 fighters, and with additional Drone Control Units it can field up to 15. A mothership can launch 20 or 25 with Drone Control Units. But what about a ship that only launches 5?
We'll call it a Light Carrier. It would be slightly larger than a Battleship but nowhere near as big as a Carrier (i.e. it would be sub-capital sized). It would not have a Ship Maintenance Array or Corporate Hanger as they are more logicistical puposes and the Light Carrier is not a logicistic ship. It would also eschew any jump capability but instead use stargates. As such it could enter high sec.
Offensive capability would be similar to Carriers: no turret or missile hardpoints and fewer slots overall than a carrier. Armour/Shield/Structure would be half of that of the carrier at least. The main purpose of this ship would be to be able to launch and assign up to 5 fighters which provides a DPS around 400-500. I would also allow the ship to install Drone Control Units so it could get up to 7-8 fighters total, but that would need to be looked into.
"Why would we want to have a Light Carrier when a Dominix would seem to suffice?" Well, fighters are the idea: they can be assigned to other pilots, can follow targets in warp, and generally are damn cool and it would be nice to see them more often.
"Would these ships be ultimate mission runners?" Hmmm, yeah, bit of a problem there. Their superior-than-battleship defenses would make them ideal for running missions and the DPS from the fighters would definitely be sufficient to kill the rats. On the other hand, running a mission in a Marauder right now with its potential 800+ DPS and Tech II tanks is not exactly hard either; a slower Light Carrier might not be ideal for mission compared to a Golem or Kronos.
* * * * *
That's all I have for now. Enjoy!
The Long Awaited Carrier
On Wednesday February 7th, 2007 I announced my intention to someday get a carrier. Now, almost a year and a half later, I have accomplished the first part of that goal. Presenting the Ninveah:
Its hard to convey how big it is, but do you see the round pedestal underneath the ship? Battleships are typically a little longer than the diameter of that structure and as you can see the Chimera dwarfs it.
Local was empty this morning before work so I undocked for some pictures in space. I didn't have time to get many good ones, perhaps this weekend I'll be more able to snap some.
* * * * *
For my summer break on skill training, I'm finally decided on some extraneous skills I need to get that will take the rest of the summer. Then in the fall its back to Carrier training with Tech II drones.
The skill lineup is:
- Energy Management V followed by Thermodynaics I - IV for overheating ability;
- Motion Prediction V following by Large Blaster Specialization I - IV for Tech II Large Blasters;
- Energy Systems Operation V for faster capacitor recharge;
- Explosive, Kinetic, EM, and Thermic Shield Compensation IV for better passive resistances;
- Shield Upgrades V for easier fitting of shield modules;
- Shield Management V for more shield points and Tech II Boost Amplifier;
- Shield Compensation IV for less cap for Shield Boosters;
- Acceleration Control IV for more speed from Microwarp Drives.
As you can see, a lot of skills to improve my ship performances across all classes.
* * * * *
Finally, some screenshots I took last weekend.
The Cormorant Destroyer which I always enjoyed the look of:
Here I am taking control of an Amarr complex with the camera set on the capture point and my ship orbiting in the background:
Here I am in a mission to kill an Amarr relay:
And here is the announcement of my promotion just after securing another complex capture point:
Its hard to convey how big it is, but do you see the round pedestal underneath the ship? Battleships are typically a little longer than the diameter of that structure and as you can see the Chimera dwarfs it.
Local was empty this morning before work so I undocked for some pictures in space. I didn't have time to get many good ones, perhaps this weekend I'll be more able to snap some.
* * * * *
For my summer break on skill training, I'm finally decided on some extraneous skills I need to get that will take the rest of the summer. Then in the fall its back to Carrier training with Tech II drones.
The skill lineup is:
- Energy Management V followed by Thermodynaics I - IV for overheating ability;
- Motion Prediction V following by Large Blaster Specialization I - IV for Tech II Large Blasters;
- Energy Systems Operation V for faster capacitor recharge;
- Explosive, Kinetic, EM, and Thermic Shield Compensation IV for better passive resistances;
- Shield Upgrades V for easier fitting of shield modules;
- Shield Management V for more shield points and Tech II Boost Amplifier;
- Shield Compensation IV for less cap for Shield Boosters;
- Acceleration Control IV for more speed from Microwarp Drives.
As you can see, a lot of skills to improve my ship performances across all classes.
* * * * *
Finally, some screenshots I took last weekend.
The Cormorant Destroyer which I always enjoyed the look of:
Here I am taking control of an Amarr complex with the camera set on the capture point and my ship orbiting in the background:
Here I am in a mission to kill an Amarr relay:
And here is the announcement of my promotion just after securing another complex capture point:
Thursday, July 17, 2008
Headliner
I put all of my early efforts in Faction Warfare into this weeks Eve Tribune article: Fight for the Republic (Or Something like that).
Unfortunately it was submitted before this past weekends efforts but my intrepid blog readers will realize that. ;)
Unfortunately it was submitted before this past weekends efforts but my intrepid blog readers will realize that. ;)
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
Carrier Tomorrow!
Finally I will be able to pilot my Chimera Carrier tomorrow. Not that I have anything I need it for right now, and besides it needs a lot more training before its actually useful.
First off I'll need at least four levels in the carrier skill itself since each one not only boosts shield resistances and Captial Energy and Shield Transfer ranges, but each level allows control of one additional drone/fighter. So with Caldari Carrier IV skill I can use up to 9 drones at once (compared to max of 5 for 99% of all other ships).
Then I'll need to train up to Jump Drive Operation V so I can train a few levels of Jump Drive Calibration to increase my jump range. Very useful tactically. To decrease fuel usage I'll need four levels in Jump Fuel Conservation.
Of course in order to make maximum use of the carrier's increased drone capabilities, I'll need Tech II Heavy Drones. As a Caldari pilot whose non-capital ships have pitiful drone bays (the best being the Scorpion and Raven and their Tech II counterparts at 75m3) I never felt overwhelming need for Tech II Ogres or Berserkers or Wasps but its practically mandatory for carriers.
But even more so is the unique drone class called fighters which can only be used on capital ships as they are so big (as big as Assault Frigates I hear) with impressive offensive and defensive capabilities. In order to train that skill I need Leadership V.
There are special capital ship modules called Drone Control Units which allow the ship to field even more drones, one per unit installed. The number of DCUs you can install on the ship is determined by the levels of the skill Advanced Drone Interfacing. With that skill at IV and the carrier skill at IV, that's 4+4+5= 13 drones that in theory can be launched.
Finally, a big ship requires big defenses. There is a Capital Shield Booster module designed for this purpose and it requires the skill Capital Shield Operation which in turn requires Tactical Shield Manipulation V in order to train.
All told that is about 126 days of training. The only good news is that the Tech II Heavy Drone skills are usable in other ships as well as the carrier so I'll probably start there. And I guess since I'm not playing a lot right now I don't have huge need for an effective carrier yet and by the time I'm ready for corporation and alliance life again my carrier will be ready to roll as well.
First off I'll need at least four levels in the carrier skill itself since each one not only boosts shield resistances and Captial Energy and Shield Transfer ranges, but each level allows control of one additional drone/fighter. So with Caldari Carrier IV skill I can use up to 9 drones at once (compared to max of 5 for 99% of all other ships).
Then I'll need to train up to Jump Drive Operation V so I can train a few levels of Jump Drive Calibration to increase my jump range. Very useful tactically. To decrease fuel usage I'll need four levels in Jump Fuel Conservation.
Of course in order to make maximum use of the carrier's increased drone capabilities, I'll need Tech II Heavy Drones. As a Caldari pilot whose non-capital ships have pitiful drone bays (the best being the Scorpion and Raven and their Tech II counterparts at 75m3) I never felt overwhelming need for Tech II Ogres or Berserkers or Wasps but its practically mandatory for carriers.
But even more so is the unique drone class called fighters which can only be used on capital ships as they are so big (as big as Assault Frigates I hear) with impressive offensive and defensive capabilities. In order to train that skill I need Leadership V.
There are special capital ship modules called Drone Control Units which allow the ship to field even more drones, one per unit installed. The number of DCUs you can install on the ship is determined by the levels of the skill Advanced Drone Interfacing. With that skill at IV and the carrier skill at IV, that's 4+4+5= 13 drones that in theory can be launched.
Finally, a big ship requires big defenses. There is a Capital Shield Booster module designed for this purpose and it requires the skill Capital Shield Operation which in turn requires Tactical Shield Manipulation V in order to train.
All told that is about 126 days of training. The only good news is that the Tech II Heavy Drone skills are usable in other ships as well as the carrier so I'll probably start there. And I guess since I'm not playing a lot right now I don't have huge need for an effective carrier yet and by the time I'm ready for corporation and alliance life again my carrier will be ready to roll as well.
Me? Eve Fanboy?
OK, I admit to being somewhat of an Eve Fanboy / whore. It may be my first MMO experience but the game appeals on so many levels:
1) Spaceships. That alone is enough to hold my attention for hours.
2) Mathomancy. Love formulas and spreadsheets.
3) Complexity. The game has levels and levels of depth to explore.
4) Open Sandbox. You are not limited by your choices as to what you can do (barring extreme examples). One day you're the tank, the next the DPS, the next the healer.
5) Social Interaction. All MMOs have this I know.
6) Advancement based on time, not experience grind. A big plus for me.
So as I approach two years in September, my interest has not waned and there are lots of things I still yet want to do. But that is not to say I have not been tempted by other games in the market and I thought I would list a few of the big ones out there and coming up that I think about from time to time.
World of Warcraft - Yes, as an Eve player I must make the ritual sign of disgust at the mention of this game but secretly I sometimes wish a little I had gotten into it instead of Eve. A lot more of my real life friends play the game (including Karthis) and the amount of polish and content appeal to me. But then I read about the end game content being 25 man raids and lasting hours on end with pinpoint precision of spells and attacks and abilities, and how your character is pretty much fixed into one or two roles and it seems less attractive.
Matrix Online - Being a huge fan of the movies and the concept behind the movie. you bet this one attracted my attention. Unfortunately, it seems to be lacking in interesting content and is pretty small on the market share.
Star Wars Galaxies - This one has gotten a lot of bad flack over the years for their infamous New Game Experience release a while back but its gotten over that and seems to not only be surviving but growing and new content is coming all the time. I like the background material and being a Jedi has huge appeal (I loved the Knights of the Old Republic games).
City of Heros / DC Universe Online (no website yet) - Just like the thought of being a Jedi appeals, so does the idea of role playing a superhero. City of Heros is out and has a following, but I'd be more likely to start in a new game like the recently annouced DC Universe Online.
Warhammer 40K Online - Still in development since it was announced just last year, its possible it will never see the light of day. Even worse, they might develop something completely lacklustre and sucky. But I've vowed to give it a try when it comes out if only for a chance to see my Inquisitor Kelarran come to life.
* * * * *
Since I don't have money for another subscription and Eve still has my soul, I'll probably not try anything yet. But the temptation exists.
Any readers want to share their secret MMO temptations?
1) Spaceships. That alone is enough to hold my attention for hours.
2) Mathomancy. Love formulas and spreadsheets.
3) Complexity. The game has levels and levels of depth to explore.
4) Open Sandbox. You are not limited by your choices as to what you can do (barring extreme examples). One day you're the tank, the next the DPS, the next the healer.
5) Social Interaction. All MMOs have this I know.
6) Advancement based on time, not experience grind. A big plus for me.
So as I approach two years in September, my interest has not waned and there are lots of things I still yet want to do. But that is not to say I have not been tempted by other games in the market and I thought I would list a few of the big ones out there and coming up that I think about from time to time.
World of Warcraft - Yes, as an Eve player I must make the ritual sign of disgust at the mention of this game but secretly I sometimes wish a little I had gotten into it instead of Eve. A lot more of my real life friends play the game (including Karthis) and the amount of polish and content appeal to me. But then I read about the end game content being 25 man raids and lasting hours on end with pinpoint precision of spells and attacks and abilities, and how your character is pretty much fixed into one or two roles and it seems less attractive.
Matrix Online - Being a huge fan of the movies and the concept behind the movie. you bet this one attracted my attention. Unfortunately, it seems to be lacking in interesting content and is pretty small on the market share.
Star Wars Galaxies - This one has gotten a lot of bad flack over the years for their infamous New Game Experience release a while back but its gotten over that and seems to not only be surviving but growing and new content is coming all the time. I like the background material and being a Jedi has huge appeal (I loved the Knights of the Old Republic games).
City of Heros / DC Universe Online (no website yet) - Just like the thought of being a Jedi appeals, so does the idea of role playing a superhero. City of Heros is out and has a following, but I'd be more likely to start in a new game like the recently annouced DC Universe Online.
Warhammer 40K Online - Still in development since it was announced just last year, its possible it will never see the light of day. Even worse, they might develop something completely lacklustre and sucky. But I've vowed to give it a try when it comes out if only for a chance to see my Inquisitor Kelarran come to life.
* * * * *
Since I don't have money for another subscription and Eve still has my soul, I'll probably not try anything yet. But the temptation exists.
Any readers want to share their secret MMO temptations?
Recon Again?!
I moved the advanced moon materials and minerals to my factory station yesterday and created the jobs to make the ship components and the two Scorpions that act as the framework for the Widows. The longest job will take 11 days. Yeesh. By the way, I'm so glad I got Advanced Manufacturing as the extra 4 factory slots help a lot at speeding things up.
Since Kim was out running the roads and I didn't know when she would be back, I decided to try a level four mission. Worst case scenario was that I wouldn't finish it. No big deal. I talked to the agent and got Recon 1/3. Recon? AGAIN? This level four agent I use seems to hand out this mission a lot and looking at my notes it was the last set of mission I ran for him back in May!
Well, at least the three missions making up Recon can be run rather quickly. So I hopped in a Crow (with afterburner since missions are in Deadspace) and quickly ran off the first two missions. The third mission with the toxic Radioactive cloud called for the Rokh and I flew it through with no problems. Not much action but some loyalty points and ISK.
Since Kim was out running the roads and I didn't know when she would be back, I decided to try a level four mission. Worst case scenario was that I wouldn't finish it. No big deal. I talked to the agent and got Recon 1/3. Recon? AGAIN? This level four agent I use seems to hand out this mission a lot and looking at my notes it was the last set of mission I ran for him back in May!
Well, at least the three missions making up Recon can be run rather quickly. So I hopped in a Crow (with afterburner since missions are in Deadspace) and quickly ran off the first two missions. The third mission with the toxic Radioactive cloud called for the Rokh and I flew it through with no problems. Not much action but some loyalty points and ISK.
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
Investment
Some friends were intrigued by my success with the Widow production and sale so decided to invest some ISK into another one. I figured since I was building one, might as well build two. Hot damn!
So last night when I got online I calculated out the requirements for 2 widows and proceeded to buy the materials which ended up costing about 932 million ISK. I picked up up but haven't made it back to the factories yet, that is tonight's job.
So last night when I got online I calculated out the requirements for 2 widows and proceeded to buy the materials which ended up costing about 932 million ISK. I picked up up but haven't made it back to the factories yet, that is tonight's job.
Monday, July 14, 2008
Widow Sold!
I successfully sold the Widow battleship for 525 million ISK in Rens today and put the 16 Crow interceptors in the oven. Its great when a plan comes together.
In the Thick of It
Friday night I powered up my new Crow interceptor and prepared to head into the Thick of the fighting to run some missions and captured some complexes. My Crow:
3 x Arbalest Standard Missile Launchers
1mn MWD II
Warp Disruptor II
Cap Recharger II
2 x Overdrive Injector II
Nanofibre Internal Structure II
Can get over 6km/sec and throw missiles over 50 km which is not too shabby (even if the targeting range is less than that).
I warped to the Dal system in low sec and talked to the agent who assigned me a mission in deep Amarr lowsec as expected. As I was leaving Dal I saw a mission beacon in the overview with the same name as my mission, so a quick check confirmed only Frigates and Destroyers. I set course for my secret Amarr base where my Cormorant awaited.
Nearing the system, I saw a friendly militia pilot in local and a level 2 Amarr complex beacon. I decided to check it out and see if I could help. As I arrived I saw nothing but wrecks and his ship looting them. The beacon was untouched. I convo'd him and asked if I could capture the spot and he gave me the all clear. I set the orbit and waited as the 15 minute timer counted down.
He left and more rats spwned shortly thereafter. I engaged with the Crow and while the speed tank was more than enough to avoid most damage, my partly DPS was not killing the cruiser sized rats fast enough. I was two jumps from my base so I flew there and picked up the Vexor, and once back in the complex I had no trouble dealing with the rats and securing the objective. Just as the timer was in the final seconds a neutral Arbitator cruiser arrived but as I moved to engage he departed, apparently deciding it was too late or something.
I went back to my base and jumped into the Cormorant restocking the Pepperette jar in my pod before undocking. As I jumped from system to system in the Amarr low sec area I didn't run into any trouble until the last stargate. There waiting for me was a war target in a Rupture.
In the best situations Destroyers are easily outclassed by Cruisers. And a Rupture is the top tier Minmatar combat ship in a Cruiser sized hull. If he engaged and scrammed me, I was dead. I jumped through the gate and as quickly as possible warped to something to try and make a safe spot to hide in. He followed and tried to lock me but I was off but misclicked when I tried to bookmark random space. As I came out of warp, my scanner showed him following but my safe spot was too close to warp too (WHAT!?) so I picked a planet and warped to it, again just barely escaping the lock by the Rupture. This time I made a better safe spot and soon was safe in deep space.
Since I had a level 1 mission I knew he could not follow into it with a cruiser. I warped to the mission and began killing rats and soon he left, never to return. I completed the mission with ease and snuck back to Dal through the heated front lines with little effort, turned in the mission, and looked at my real rewards in the standings increase. I got 3% bump for capturing a complex, and only 0.8% bump for completing the mission. Seeing the descrepency, I opted to head back to base and just scout out Amarr complexes to capture.
I got in my Rifter (fast for scouting yet not expensive should I get in trouble) and jumped into the first warzone system and went to the first planet. On board scanner activated and 30 seconds later I had four(!) hits. Three were level 1 complexes and I went to get the Cormorant to shut them down. It took about 25 minutes but the Destoryer had no problems with the frigate sized rats spawns and soon two complexes were captured.
The standings increase from the complex captures boosted my standing with the militia above 1.0 and I received a field promotion to Spike Lieutenant! With the promotion came a 4.4% increase to my Minmatar faction standing putting it at 4.25 from 3.99. Three or four more promotions and I'll finally have that desirable 5.0 standing so I can think about anchoring a new high sec POS.
In other news, Advanced Space Ship Command V finished on the weekend but since I was not near my headquarters I could not start on Captial Ships skill. Instead I started training Energy Management V (~12 days) so I can eventually get Thermodynaics trained to allow me to overheat modules. Overheating is a valuable PvP tool and one I need to add to my asrenal so I might as well do it now.
In other skill news, Derranna completed Cloaking IV so she can use the Covert Ops Cloaking Device on her Cheetah Covert Ops Frig. Now just another 19 days for Covert Cyno Generators. Sigh.
3 x Arbalest Standard Missile Launchers
1mn MWD II
Warp Disruptor II
Cap Recharger II
2 x Overdrive Injector II
Nanofibre Internal Structure II
Can get over 6km/sec and throw missiles over 50 km which is not too shabby (even if the targeting range is less than that).
I warped to the Dal system in low sec and talked to the agent who assigned me a mission in deep Amarr lowsec as expected. As I was leaving Dal I saw a mission beacon in the overview with the same name as my mission, so a quick check confirmed only Frigates and Destroyers. I set course for my secret Amarr base where my Cormorant awaited.
Nearing the system, I saw a friendly militia pilot in local and a level 2 Amarr complex beacon. I decided to check it out and see if I could help. As I arrived I saw nothing but wrecks and his ship looting them. The beacon was untouched. I convo'd him and asked if I could capture the spot and he gave me the all clear. I set the orbit and waited as the 15 minute timer counted down.
He left and more rats spwned shortly thereafter. I engaged with the Crow and while the speed tank was more than enough to avoid most damage, my partly DPS was not killing the cruiser sized rats fast enough. I was two jumps from my base so I flew there and picked up the Vexor, and once back in the complex I had no trouble dealing with the rats and securing the objective. Just as the timer was in the final seconds a neutral Arbitator cruiser arrived but as I moved to engage he departed, apparently deciding it was too late or something.
I went back to my base and jumped into the Cormorant restocking the Pepperette jar in my pod before undocking. As I jumped from system to system in the Amarr low sec area I didn't run into any trouble until the last stargate. There waiting for me was a war target in a Rupture.
In the best situations Destroyers are easily outclassed by Cruisers. And a Rupture is the top tier Minmatar combat ship in a Cruiser sized hull. If he engaged and scrammed me, I was dead. I jumped through the gate and as quickly as possible warped to something to try and make a safe spot to hide in. He followed and tried to lock me but I was off but misclicked when I tried to bookmark random space. As I came out of warp, my scanner showed him following but my safe spot was too close to warp too (WHAT!?) so I picked a planet and warped to it, again just barely escaping the lock by the Rupture. This time I made a better safe spot and soon was safe in deep space.
Since I had a level 1 mission I knew he could not follow into it with a cruiser. I warped to the mission and began killing rats and soon he left, never to return. I completed the mission with ease and snuck back to Dal through the heated front lines with little effort, turned in the mission, and looked at my real rewards in the standings increase. I got 3% bump for capturing a complex, and only 0.8% bump for completing the mission. Seeing the descrepency, I opted to head back to base and just scout out Amarr complexes to capture.
I got in my Rifter (fast for scouting yet not expensive should I get in trouble) and jumped into the first warzone system and went to the first planet. On board scanner activated and 30 seconds later I had four(!) hits. Three were level 1 complexes and I went to get the Cormorant to shut them down. It took about 25 minutes but the Destoryer had no problems with the frigate sized rats spawns and soon two complexes were captured.
The standings increase from the complex captures boosted my standing with the militia above 1.0 and I received a field promotion to Spike Lieutenant! With the promotion came a 4.4% increase to my Minmatar faction standing putting it at 4.25 from 3.99. Three or four more promotions and I'll finally have that desirable 5.0 standing so I can think about anchoring a new high sec POS.In other news, Advanced Space Ship Command V finished on the weekend but since I was not near my headquarters I could not start on Captial Ships skill. Instead I started training Energy Management V (~12 days) so I can eventually get Thermodynaics trained to allow me to overheat modules. Overheating is a valuable PvP tool and one I need to add to my asrenal so I might as well do it now.
In other skill news, Derranna completed Cloaking IV so she can use the Covert Ops Cloaking Device on her Cheetah Covert Ops Frig. Now just another 19 days for Covert Cyno Generators. Sigh.
Friday, July 11, 2008
Industry
I managed some time to move the newly constructed Widow Black Ops Battleship from my factory station to Rens and put it up on the market there. The demand for Widows in Rens is not as high as say Jita area in the Forge region, but I really think regional markets are the way of the future and with some patience I should be able to sell my ship here.
While in Rens, I had Korannon lay out the approximately 175 million ISK for the materials to build 16 crows from various BPCs I had in my hanger as part of Operation Spring Cleaning. I figure the build cost is about 10-11 million per ship and retail price is about 15-17 million, so there is a nice profit to be made there if I could find the time to move the materials to my factory. Sigh.
In other news, I've decided to get a Crow for Kirith's low sec running from agent to mission and back instead of the Raptor. While the Raptor is better at tackling and has a faster warp speed, the Crow is fast and has a larger engagement range allowing it to be more of a combat ship should I run into any stray war targets to engage in the process.
While in Rens, I had Korannon lay out the approximately 175 million ISK for the materials to build 16 crows from various BPCs I had in my hanger as part of Operation Spring Cleaning. I figure the build cost is about 10-11 million per ship and retail price is about 15-17 million, so there is a nice profit to be made there if I could find the time to move the materials to my factory. Sigh.
In other news, I've decided to get a Crow for Kirith's low sec running from agent to mission and back instead of the Raptor. While the Raptor is better at tackling and has a faster warp speed, the Crow is fast and has a larger engagement range allowing it to be more of a combat ship should I run into any stray war targets to engage in the process.
Thursday, July 10, 2008
Dear Age Of Conan Developers...
... its not really a "death penalty" if you can quickly get over it or wait 30 minutes for it to go away. Its more of a "death inconvenience" in that case.
I bring this up because of rumours that Age of Conan is not living up to the hype. I guess I'm spoiled by Eve where killing someone typically causes them real loss: loss of the ship, modules, and whatever they were carrying. In some cases, the loss can amount to hours, days, even weeks of effort to replace. That's a death penalty and as a result it makes PvP that much more visceral.
An upshot of that harsh death penalty is that manufacturers have a real market for their goods as items get destroyed or lost to the enemy. In a game where you never lose any gear, does the "crafting" (ugh) system have much meaning besides being a hobby for your character?
I bring this up because of rumours that Age of Conan is not living up to the hype. I guess I'm spoiled by Eve where killing someone typically causes them real loss: loss of the ship, modules, and whatever they were carrying. In some cases, the loss can amount to hours, days, even weeks of effort to replace. That's a death penalty and as a result it makes PvP that much more visceral.
An upshot of that harsh death penalty is that manufacturers have a real market for their goods as items get destroyed or lost to the enemy. In a game where you never lose any gear, does the "crafting" (ugh) system have much meaning besides being a hobby for your character?
Slow Week
Its been a slow week for game time as home life has been especially busy. The good news is that tomorrow night Kim and the boys are gone for the evening so I should have a few hours of solid time in New Eden. Expect harrowing tales of Factional Warfare and maybe even some PvP on Monday.
Wednesday, July 09, 2008
New Ship For Derranna
My loyal industrial alt finished training of Minmatar Frigate V this morning and can now fly a Cheetah Covert Ops frigate. She can't put a Covert Ops Cloaking device on it yet, that has to wait until another 4 days. Then 19 days for the Covert Cyno Field Generator that I want for Black Ops battleship operations.
Kirith is also just under four days from the finish of Advanced Spaceship Command V which I had paused while I brushed up on the scanning skills. Current estimate has him able to sit in his Chimera Carrier on July 16th.
Kirith is also just under four days from the finish of Advanced Spaceship Command V which I had paused while I brushed up on the scanning skills. Current estimate has him able to sit in his Chimera Carrier on July 16th.
Interview with EFT Creator
The Eve Fitting Tool, a must-have for budding Eve pilots, is created by a pilot named Gripen and this week's Eve Tribune article by me is an interview with him.
Enjoy.
Enjoy.
Tuesday, July 08, 2008
Packing
So I looked in my hanger and tried to decide what to bring to Amarr space for my new phase of solo Factional Warfare.
Here;s the complex / mission limitations I would be facing:
I already have a Destroyer for level 1 in the area that I built on the weekend, but I needed something for level 2s besides the Vexor which is more designed for PvP than PvE. I saw a nice Harpy build on the forums that the pilot swore by so I made up a PvE Harpy to run any level 2s I ran into.
[Harpy, From Forums]
Micro Auxiliary Power Core I
Magnetic Field Stabilizer II
1MN Afterburner II
X5 Prototype I Engine Enervator
Invulnerability Field II
Medium F-S9 Regolith Shield Induction
125mm Railgun II, Antimatter Charge S
125mm Railgun II, Antimatter Charge S
125mm Railgun II, Antimatter Charge S
125mm Railgun II, Antimatter Charge S
'Malkuth' Standard Missile Launcher I, Sabretooth Light Missile
Anti-EM Screen Reinforcer I
Core Defence Field Extender I
Lots of shields, decent resists (although I might trade the invul for an EM Hardener since I'll be facing a lot of Amarr ships).
For Level 3 missions/complexes, I wrapped up a Cerberus with Heavy Missiles that has a great tank and decent DPS. I don't have the exact build with me but its a build I worked on with another Caldari pilot over the course of a session a few weeks back.
Finally, I packed up the Onyx Heavy Interdictor in case I get the urge for some gang PvP and want to risk one of my most expensive ships to do so. I love that ship, its the one I used to help take down that ratting Raven way back when Strife was living in Nonni and hunting in Pure Blind.
Here;s the complex / mission limitations I would be facing:
- Level 1 – Tech I frigates and destroyers
- Level 2 – Tech I frigates, destroyers and cruisers, Tech II frigates
- Level 3 – Tech I frigates, destroyers, cruisers and battlecruisers, Tech II frigates, destroyers and cruisers
- Level 4 – All ships not requiring "Capital Ships" skill
I already have a Destroyer for level 1 in the area that I built on the weekend, but I needed something for level 2s besides the Vexor which is more designed for PvP than PvE. I saw a nice Harpy build on the forums that the pilot swore by so I made up a PvE Harpy to run any level 2s I ran into.
[Harpy, From Forums]
Micro Auxiliary Power Core I
Magnetic Field Stabilizer II
1MN Afterburner II
X5 Prototype I Engine Enervator
Invulnerability Field II
Medium F-S9 Regolith Shield Induction
125mm Railgun II, Antimatter Charge S
125mm Railgun II, Antimatter Charge S
125mm Railgun II, Antimatter Charge S
125mm Railgun II, Antimatter Charge S
'Malkuth' Standard Missile Launcher I, Sabretooth Light Missile
Anti-EM Screen Reinforcer I
Core Defence Field Extender I
Lots of shields, decent resists (although I might trade the invul for an EM Hardener since I'll be facing a lot of Amarr ships).
For Level 3 missions/complexes, I wrapped up a Cerberus with Heavy Missiles that has a great tank and decent DPS. I don't have the exact build with me but its a build I worked on with another Caldari pilot over the course of a session a few weeks back.
Finally, I packed up the Onyx Heavy Interdictor in case I get the urge for some gang PvP and want to risk one of my most expensive ships to do so. I love that ship, its the one I used to help take down that ratting Raven way back when Strife was living in Nonni and hunting in Pure Blind.
Monday, July 07, 2008
I Give Up
Since the Twilight Imperium party was on Saturday at my place, my wife took the boys off to the Inlaws for the weekend and didn't get back until Sunday evening. That gave me plenty of time to play Eve after cleanup and I did not waste any of it.
I originally decided to play defense for the Minmatar militia as I felt it would allow me to participate without being in the nasty part of the warzone. I wanted some action, but not excessive amounts as my play time is limited right now.
Well I spent and hour and a half trying to find an Amarr complex to recatprure in three different systems and ended up with nothing for my efforts. I used my fast scanning Covert Ops Buzzard with faction scan probe launcher and fancy expensive implant, and while I found stuff it was never the complex I was looking for. I really expected it to be easier to be quite honest and I'm disappointed I wasted so much time on it. To be fair, part of the problem is the fact that the Amarr militia is outnumbered and outgunned so lacks any ability to put a lot of systems into the 'contested' state that remain that way for long as the hordes of Minmatar Militia pilots scour systems looking for action.
Frustrated, I decided to try a new tact. I went to a nearby Tribal Liberation Force station (i.e. militia station) and asked for a mission. Factional Warfare missions are very different than regular missions in that they send you deep into enemy territory to accomplish. Sure enough, my destination was 16 jumps away through the front lines on a Sunday afternoon. I buckled up in my trusty cheap Vexor and hit the road.
I didn't run into any problems along the way. One wartarget and I exchanged dirty looks but neither of us had a chance to engage. A few systems had lots of reds in them but none camping the gates as there was a lot of Minmatar fleets scooting around. Finally I arrived in the destination system and warped to the mission. Doh! The acceleration gate only accepts Tech I frigates and destroyers and I'm flying a cruiser.
The market in the Bleak Lands is not great so I decide to have Derranna run a rifter I have in Gulfonodi down to me. Its equipped for speed and PvP but I figure it might work in the mission. I have to go into Amarr high sec to get it and the NPC navy shoots at me but no serious damage is received. I warped back into low sec in the Rifter frigate and tried the mission again.
]No go. While moving fast with the Microwarp drive I can avoid damage but can't deal it in return, and as soon as I slow down I'm monkey meat. Lots of NPC frigates all firing at me make it difficult to avoid the incoming damage. I need something with range and good frigate destroying firepower, and a decent tank would help too.
I scoured the market and picked up a Cormorant Destroyer, a ship I have not flown since December 2006. Wow. I equipped it with 4 x 125mm II railguns and 3 x 75mm Gatling II railguns, stocked with Tech II Spike Ammo. With my skills that gave optimals of 42km and 37km respectively, very nice. With an afterburner and 3 small shield extenders in the mid slots and a Magnetic Field Stabilizer in the low slot, I felt ready for frigate combat.
I warped into the mission and popped the NPC frigs in short order, the Destroyer class living up to its name nicely. With the mission finished, I got brave and decided to capture an Amarr minor complex (also only allowing Tech I frigates and destroyers inside) in the same system and proceeded to do so with much difficulty. The whole time not another soul came into the dead-end system I was in.
I parked the Cormorant in station and hopped in the faster Rifter for the journey back to the mission agent. A while later I had turned in the mission and decided that was the way to go as I had more success and action in that afternoon in the Bleak Lands region than in hours of trying to fight defensively back in Metropolis region.
So the new plan is to make a base in the Bleak Lands with a selection of ships for various tasks and get missions assigned to me from an agent as close to the border as possible. I can use a fast Raptor Interceptor to fly from the agent to my ships for the mission and back, and while in the area I can scout for complexes to try and capture as well. It will be more dangerous as war targets will infest the areas, but it will be easier than banging my head against the wall trying to find any action at all.
I originally decided to play defense for the Minmatar militia as I felt it would allow me to participate without being in the nasty part of the warzone. I wanted some action, but not excessive amounts as my play time is limited right now.
Well I spent and hour and a half trying to find an Amarr complex to recatprure in three different systems and ended up with nothing for my efforts. I used my fast scanning Covert Ops Buzzard with faction scan probe launcher and fancy expensive implant, and while I found stuff it was never the complex I was looking for. I really expected it to be easier to be quite honest and I'm disappointed I wasted so much time on it. To be fair, part of the problem is the fact that the Amarr militia is outnumbered and outgunned so lacks any ability to put a lot of systems into the 'contested' state that remain that way for long as the hordes of Minmatar Militia pilots scour systems looking for action.
Frustrated, I decided to try a new tact. I went to a nearby Tribal Liberation Force station (i.e. militia station) and asked for a mission. Factional Warfare missions are very different than regular missions in that they send you deep into enemy territory to accomplish. Sure enough, my destination was 16 jumps away through the front lines on a Sunday afternoon. I buckled up in my trusty cheap Vexor and hit the road.
I didn't run into any problems along the way. One wartarget and I exchanged dirty looks but neither of us had a chance to engage. A few systems had lots of reds in them but none camping the gates as there was a lot of Minmatar fleets scooting around. Finally I arrived in the destination system and warped to the mission. Doh! The acceleration gate only accepts Tech I frigates and destroyers and I'm flying a cruiser.
The market in the Bleak Lands is not great so I decide to have Derranna run a rifter I have in Gulfonodi down to me. Its equipped for speed and PvP but I figure it might work in the mission. I have to go into Amarr high sec to get it and the NPC navy shoots at me but no serious damage is received. I warped back into low sec in the Rifter frigate and tried the mission again.
]No go. While moving fast with the Microwarp drive I can avoid damage but can't deal it in return, and as soon as I slow down I'm monkey meat. Lots of NPC frigates all firing at me make it difficult to avoid the incoming damage. I need something with range and good frigate destroying firepower, and a decent tank would help too.
I scoured the market and picked up a Cormorant Destroyer, a ship I have not flown since December 2006. Wow. I equipped it with 4 x 125mm II railguns and 3 x 75mm Gatling II railguns, stocked with Tech II Spike Ammo. With my skills that gave optimals of 42km and 37km respectively, very nice. With an afterburner and 3 small shield extenders in the mid slots and a Magnetic Field Stabilizer in the low slot, I felt ready for frigate combat.
I warped into the mission and popped the NPC frigs in short order, the Destroyer class living up to its name nicely. With the mission finished, I got brave and decided to capture an Amarr minor complex (also only allowing Tech I frigates and destroyers inside) in the same system and proceeded to do so with much difficulty. The whole time not another soul came into the dead-end system I was in.
I parked the Cormorant in station and hopped in the faster Rifter for the journey back to the mission agent. A while later I had turned in the mission and decided that was the way to go as I had more success and action in that afternoon in the Bleak Lands region than in hours of trying to fight defensively back in Metropolis region.So the new plan is to make a base in the Bleak Lands with a selection of ships for various tasks and get missions assigned to me from an agent as close to the border as possible. I can use a fast Raptor Interceptor to fly from the agent to my ships for the mission and back, and while in the area I can scout for complexes to try and capture as well. It will be more dangerous as war targets will infest the areas, but it will be easier than banging my head against the wall trying to find any action at all.
Twilight Imperium Battle Report
On Saturday I got together with some other board game enthusiasts and we wheeled out Twilight Imperium once again.
The map as accurately as I can remember:
With the Shattered Empires expansion, we had enough tiles for a fourth ring so that is why the map is so big compared to normal. In a five player game, two players have to have their homeworlds slightly closer to each other than everyone else (3 intervening systems instead of 4) and by pure coincidence my old Nemesis Andrew and I ended up in those positions.
As the empires grew and the game developed several events occurred that shaped the end game. Pete ran his fleet into a rebel encampment in turn one crippling his early growth. Brian sought to exploit this weakness by launching an invasion of his territory later on. Just after Brian did that Dave launched a surprise attack through wormhole 'a' which saw the destruction of Brian's starting Warsun (most powerful ship in the game that his race gets to start with). We later determined that Dave had the secret objective of controlling all wormhole exits which he was damn close to accomplishing at this early point but the last one was just out of grasp.
With Brian in a two front war and his fleets reeling, he spent the rest of the game rebuilding and by the end he had two more warsuns up and going but it was too little too late. Pete made a push to drive Brian back to his homeworld and mostly left Andrew alone. Dave was tied up with Brian and made very little attempts to attack me. Which all means that Andrew and I faced each other unmolested.
Being experienced TI players, we both knew that early fighting would not accomplish much so we bided our time and built up our fleets and technologies, getting numerous carriers, dreads, and support. Then around turn 5 Andrew made the move to take Mecatol Rex, the ancient centre capital system. I was going to attack his fleet in retaliation for the bold move but was stopped when I realized his racial tech would cause damage throughout my empire. I needed to plan ahead.
Next turn Andrew knew I wanted to attack since I revealed my desire to do so last turn, so he struck first destroying a fleet adjacent to Mecatol Rex but taking severe damage in return. My fleet at an advanced space dock countered and wiped out the invaders. The war was on.
Next turn I had a new Warsun and used it to lead a fleet to take two of Andrew's planets closest to my homeworld, and he countered with enough firepower to destroy it. With our fleets damaged, we both rushed to rebuild but Andrew's larger economy was starting to tell. Fortunately, I had the advantage in Victory Points. Seeking to tip the balance, Andrew launched an invasion through the wormhole to take a planet with an artifact for one point, and taking a special crown I recieved through a law for another point. Realizing that was game winning, I gathered up my forces and launched a successful counterinvasion to retake the planet, artifact, and throne. Next turn the game ended with me in the lead of victory points.
Note 1 : A couple turns earlier Dave was in the lead and could have ended the game there with the Imperium Rex objective card, but he felt it was too early (Andrew and I hadn't started our war) and delayed it by not playing the card. I appreciate his restraint as it was very satisfying to blow up a few ships with the Purple Menace.
Note 2 : Early on a Law was enacted that swapped the resource and influence values of all planet cards. That really helped me early on as my starting area was a little resource poor. Later on it mattered less for me, but it really hurt some of the other guys who found their starting economies turned upside down.
The map as accurately as I can remember:
With the Shattered Empires expansion, we had enough tiles for a fourth ring so that is why the map is so big compared to normal. In a five player game, two players have to have their homeworlds slightly closer to each other than everyone else (3 intervening systems instead of 4) and by pure coincidence my old Nemesis Andrew and I ended up in those positions.
As the empires grew and the game developed several events occurred that shaped the end game. Pete ran his fleet into a rebel encampment in turn one crippling his early growth. Brian sought to exploit this weakness by launching an invasion of his territory later on. Just after Brian did that Dave launched a surprise attack through wormhole 'a' which saw the destruction of Brian's starting Warsun (most powerful ship in the game that his race gets to start with). We later determined that Dave had the secret objective of controlling all wormhole exits which he was damn close to accomplishing at this early point but the last one was just out of grasp.
With Brian in a two front war and his fleets reeling, he spent the rest of the game rebuilding and by the end he had two more warsuns up and going but it was too little too late. Pete made a push to drive Brian back to his homeworld and mostly left Andrew alone. Dave was tied up with Brian and made very little attempts to attack me. Which all means that Andrew and I faced each other unmolested.
Being experienced TI players, we both knew that early fighting would not accomplish much so we bided our time and built up our fleets and technologies, getting numerous carriers, dreads, and support. Then around turn 5 Andrew made the move to take Mecatol Rex, the ancient centre capital system. I was going to attack his fleet in retaliation for the bold move but was stopped when I realized his racial tech would cause damage throughout my empire. I needed to plan ahead.
Next turn Andrew knew I wanted to attack since I revealed my desire to do so last turn, so he struck first destroying a fleet adjacent to Mecatol Rex but taking severe damage in return. My fleet at an advanced space dock countered and wiped out the invaders. The war was on.
Next turn I had a new Warsun and used it to lead a fleet to take two of Andrew's planets closest to my homeworld, and he countered with enough firepower to destroy it. With our fleets damaged, we both rushed to rebuild but Andrew's larger economy was starting to tell. Fortunately, I had the advantage in Victory Points. Seeking to tip the balance, Andrew launched an invasion through the wormhole to take a planet with an artifact for one point, and taking a special crown I recieved through a law for another point. Realizing that was game winning, I gathered up my forces and launched a successful counterinvasion to retake the planet, artifact, and throne. Next turn the game ended with me in the lead of victory points.
Note 1 : A couple turns earlier Dave was in the lead and could have ended the game there with the Imperium Rex objective card, but he felt it was too early (Andrew and I hadn't started our war) and delayed it by not playing the card. I appreciate his restraint as it was very satisfying to blow up a few ships with the Purple Menace.
Note 2 : Early on a Law was enacted that swapped the resource and influence values of all planet cards. That really helped me early on as my starting area was a little resource poor. Later on it mattered less for me, but it really hurt some of the other guys who found their starting economies turned upside down.
Friday, July 04, 2008
Running the Roads
Well, running the space lanes at least.
Last night I had Derranna picking stuff up for me and getting ready to deliver it to Gulfonodi and Hek since she is not in the militia like Kirith is.
With my recent posts about scanning times and getting it under two minutes, I started to think about Exploration again. I tried exploration way back in 2007 but the extremely long scan times (4-5 minutes) frustrated me and made it not worth it. But now that the times will be half as much, I wonder about trying it again.
At the same time, ninja ratting in 0.0 is another possibility if my faction warfare efforts don't start paying off soon with some action. Or maybe time to see if m3 will take me back with my limited play schedule?
No rush to decide anything, just wondering out loud.
Last night I had Derranna picking stuff up for me and getting ready to deliver it to Gulfonodi and Hek since she is not in the militia like Kirith is.
With my recent posts about scanning times and getting it under two minutes, I started to think about Exploration again. I tried exploration way back in 2007 but the extremely long scan times (4-5 minutes) frustrated me and made it not worth it. But now that the times will be half as much, I wonder about trying it again.
At the same time, ninja ratting in 0.0 is another possibility if my faction warfare efforts don't start paying off soon with some action. Or maybe time to see if m3 will take me back with my limited play schedule?
No rush to decide anything, just wondering out loud.
Thursday, July 03, 2008
How To Write An Eve Blog
As if I'm some kind of expert! LOL
Here's my latest Eve Tribune article, a fluff piece this week. Enjoy!
Here's my latest Eve Tribune article, a fluff piece this week. Enjoy!
Wednesday, July 02, 2008
Scanning Skills and Implants
I talked about on Monday how I tried to use Exploration probes to find complexes to retake from Amarr militia in the Minmatar rear area. Well, I did some digging and here is what I found.
A basic Scan Probe Launcher I module has a duration of 600 seconds.
The skill Signal Acquisition shortens that duration by 10% per level so that at level III its down to 420 seconds.
The covert ops frigate has a bonus of 10% shorter duration per level of Covert Ops but its off the modified duration of the launcher from Signal Acquisition. With a Covert Ops level of IV and Signal Acquistion of III I get (600 seconds - 30% off) - 40% off which comes to 252 seconds.
Then there is a set of implants which take a further chunk off, the "Hardwiring - Poteque Pharmaceuticals 'Prospector' PPH-X series with the PPH-2 taking off another 10%. This means that 252 seconds becomes 227 seconds (actually 226.8).
Now on that ship you can add rigs to help with the total, Gravity Capacitor Upgrades which take a further 10% off the total. You're now down to 184 seconds.
BUT WAIT!
There is a faction module called the Sisters Scan Probe Launcher which has a base duration of 450 instead of 600. So the formula is:
(((450 seconds - 30% for Sig Acq Skill) - 40% for Covert Ops Skill) - 10% for implant) - 20% for Rigs = 138 seconds
Get Signal Acquisition IV and that get down to 118 seconds, right on the 2 minutes I was hoping for in the first place.
UPDATE: The point of this post, the point I forgot about in the writing, is that I spent some ISK for a Sisters Scan Probe Launcher (38 million) and the 10% scan time reduction implant (160 million) as a gift to myself. Expensive, but so worth it to get scan times down to the two minute range. Carry on.
A basic Scan Probe Launcher I module has a duration of 600 seconds.
The skill Signal Acquisition shortens that duration by 10% per level so that at level III its down to 420 seconds.
The covert ops frigate has a bonus of 10% shorter duration per level of Covert Ops but its off the modified duration of the launcher from Signal Acquisition. With a Covert Ops level of IV and Signal Acquistion of III I get (600 seconds - 30% off) - 40% off which comes to 252 seconds.
Then there is a set of implants which take a further chunk off, the "Hardwiring - Poteque Pharmaceuticals 'Prospector' PPH-X series with the PPH-2 taking off another 10%. This means that 252 seconds becomes 227 seconds (actually 226.8).
Now on that ship you can add rigs to help with the total, Gravity Capacitor Upgrades which take a further 10% off the total. You're now down to 184 seconds.
BUT WAIT!
There is a faction module called the Sisters Scan Probe Launcher which has a base duration of 450 instead of 600. So the formula is:
(((450 seconds - 30% for Sig Acq Skill) - 40% for Covert Ops Skill) - 10% for implant) - 20% for Rigs = 138 seconds
Get Signal Acquisition IV and that get down to 118 seconds, right on the 2 minutes I was hoping for in the first place.
UPDATE: The point of this post, the point I forgot about in the writing, is that I spent some ISK for a Sisters Scan Probe Launcher (38 million) and the 10% scan time reduction implant (160 million) as a gift to myself. Expensive, but so worth it to get scan times down to the two minute range. Carry on.
Hot Markets
The cloaking devices sold quickly for decent ISK, and there was lots of sell orders for the Invulnerability Fields over 2 million so I sold them as quickly as possible. That is about 190 million ISK profit. Not bad, eh? The production of the Widow is going well with the parts all due out of the factories in a few days. Next I might build some interceptors and assault ships.
With some ISK in my pocket to burn, I decided to buy some cheap faction modules.
Domination 100MN Microwarpdrive - For a blaster Rokh I'm planning for small gang warfare
Domination Invulnerability Field - Not as good as Tech II, but half as much cap per second and easier to fit, good for Assault Ships
Domination Warp Scrambler - easier to fit AND 11.25 km range compared to 9km for Tech II
I also broke down and started training a level in Signal Acquisition to improve scan times. It was only a 23 hour skill level and will help a lot. Might even do the fourth level of that skill so I can track down those damn Amarr captured complexes faster.
With some ISK in my pocket to burn, I decided to buy some cheap faction modules.
Domination 100MN Microwarpdrive - For a blaster Rokh I'm planning for small gang warfare
Domination Invulnerability Field - Not as good as Tech II, but half as much cap per second and easier to fit, good for Assault Ships
Domination Warp Scrambler - easier to fit AND 11.25 km range compared to 9km for Tech II
I also broke down and started training a level in Signal Acquisition to improve scan times. It was only a 23 hour skill level and will help a lot. Might even do the fourth level of that skill so I can track down those damn Amarr captured complexes faster.
Tuesday, July 01, 2008
Happy Canada Day!
To all Canadian readers like myself, have a good day off and hope you get some game time in.
Cheers!
Cheers!
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