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Tuesday, March 9, 2010

Loki vs L4

Well, I remember trying level 4's when I had just gotten into my battleship. Not particularly successful at it I may add. So I stuck to level 3's for the longest of times.

Skill training time marches on. Got my subsystem skills to 5, prety good cruiser sized gunnery skills. About the only real lack atm is a T2 shield boost amplifier on my PvE Loki fit. It's a fairly standard T2 module (no faction or officer) fit T3 Loki. 6 turrets, AB on the AB subsystem, medium sheild booster and setup to perma run EVERYTHING. (basically - undock - turn on all defenses - warp to site turn on AB and concentrate on piloting.

Having lost two Lokies to sleepers I was a little gun-shy on using it in level 4's. But I figure it's got to be better than the overkill that are level 3's. So I get Serpentis Extravaganza... Holy mother of hot knife through butter...

The entire time my shields never went below 95%... and that only when I was webbed... Down to 20m/s from the usual 6-700 (lots o maneuvering so I'm rarely at max)... I had seriously not realized that L4's were soooo.... disappointingly easy once you get in the right ship. Incidentally that Nuclear/Depleted Uranium is a god send when up against frigates who've managed to get close. And the only thing I'm mildly concerned about is webers...

In the end I'll probably run them more efficiently (and consume considerably less ammo) once I get my BS weapon skills up to T2 level... but until then this should allow me to get to "no tax refines" with the current NPC corp quickly.

I'm liking this WAY better than a Hurricane (never really could get a PVE fit I liked with the Hurricane) Which a lot of people try to imply the Loki is equivalent to. The only think I can figure out is that these people are simply not fitting the Loki right for what they are trying to do. Either that or they are jealous.

P.S. I know there are ways of fitting a much better tank on a Loki than I have. Every single one of them sacrifices maneuverability or firepower or both (or makes the loki cost as much as a dread). I'll stick with this fit for PvE thanks. When I get around to having more Lokis and get one fitted for PvP and/or squadron PvE work it'll get a VERY different fit.

8 comments:

Unknown said...

Letrange, my man, your insights are always appreciated, having finished T2 large projectiles towards the start of January and Minnie BS V a few weeks ago, the AC Maelstrom is a godsend, and a Vargur would be Heaven.

However (and with Minmatar there's always at least one) 800mm AC II's, to use your anology burn through rounds like butter.

But knowing you, you've got optimal ME ammo bpo's ready to go!

I'm not one to faction fit my mission ships just yet but here's the fit that's been working for me, you can swap out one of the cap rigs for an extra ambit, I very rarely need to perma-boost unless it's a mission against your lower base resists...

[Maelstrom, AC BABY VARGUR]
Gyrostabilizer II
Gyrostabilizer II
Gyrostabilizer II
Tracking Enhancer II
Tracking Enhancer II

Tracking Computer II, Optimal Range
Tracking Computer II, Optimal Range
Ballistic Deflection Field II
Heat Dissipation Field II
Heat Dissipation Field II
X-Large Shield Booster II

800mm Repeating Artillery II, Phased Plasma L
800mm Repeating Artillery II, Phased Plasma L
800mm Repeating Artillery II, Phased Plasma L
800mm Repeating Artillery II, Phased Plasma L
800mm Repeating Artillery II, Phased Plasma L
800mm Repeating Artillery II, Phased Plasma L
800mm Repeating Artillery II, Phased Plasma L
800mm Repeating Artillery II, Phased Plasma L

Large Core Defence Capacitor Safeguard I
Large Capacitor Control Circuit I
Large Capacitor Control Circuit I

I've used 1200mm II's for certain missions, and on occassion the 1400 mm II fit as alpha support but for me personally the AC fit is king, very much like comparing a 720mm and 425mm cane fitting.

Regards, InterDict

Letrange said...

/me records for later this summer (got a LONG bs weapon plan that kicks in in about a month or so)

Letrange said...

oh and have you seen the subsystem with the ROF bonus? I do Barrage M invention and manufacture for personal use. Talk about a bullet hose... (Remember I have minmatar offensive subsystem V...)

Unknown said...

yes, lvl 4's are disguntingly easy.
I wish they were more challenging. I don't have any clue how it can be done though, without becoming easy once the missions/NPC's are known.


@Marschant: "..., you can swap out one of the cap rigs for an extra ambit, ..." You're already using 4 modules that modify tracking, an ambit rig would only add about 1.5% more falloff due to stacking.
1400's are nice for being cost-effective with faction ammo, the long wait between shots makes that possible, I've used it with a tempest, 10k volley.

Unknown said...

@Letrange: Gotta love the build time on damn T2 Ammo! Got a few batches of Barrage L on the assembly array now, with some small and medium waiting to go.

@ReatuKrentor: 1400mm's are fantastic for low ammo consumption but the loss of tracking annoys me, I hate managing drones for smaller ships. True about the Ambit rig it does help though in the instances where you need to run 4 hardners.

Guess it's all down to personal playstyle.

Unknown said...

Ok, seems to me the goal for building a mission runner ship is having enough tank without having too much extra. Then cramming in as much Gank as you can.

It has to fit within your skills. And your wallet. And you have to be able to risk it.

If we agree to all these criteria, then the Maelstrom Marschant posted seems like a far superior choice, since it's only going to run you 200 mil or so, versus whatever T3 cruisers, fitted and rigged, are going for now.

Unknown said...

btw, Letrange, when and why do you leave w-space, why are you sitting in Empire or wherever you are and running missions?

Unknown said...

@Letrange: Have you tried the turret concurrence registry on the Loki? With autocannons it would use less ammo and has a tracking boost, with an afterburner the falloff lost isn't too hurtfull.
@Xalorous: If your only goal for mission running is getting money, yeah pretty much. I've used several ships in LVL4's that wouldn't be considered optimal by your criteria, like a Cerberus. It worked very well and gave me an idea of the capabilities of the ship. Besides sometimes it's fun to go off the beaten path and not fit a cookiecutter.