How to do level 4 missions in a raven
(Useful for people flying other ships too)
A guide by: Ohmy Fugod
Editors note: There's a lot of debate about using cruise or torps. Read the forum thread about this.
Some general and important tips/things to have in mind:
- DO NOT USE TORPEDOES. They got a huge explosion radius, and 85% of time you'll be shooting cruisers and bc's while doing lvl 4's. They also got the worst non-capital launcher rate of fire, meaning your missions will go slower than with cruise launchers. Moreover, they have sucky range and are WAY slower than cruise missiles, meaning more success for the rat's defenders (see further below). Oh, and all of this without mentioning they aren't affected by the Guided Missile Precision skill.
- When doing lvl 4's STAY PUT when you come out of warp, wait a bit, and only answer the fire of those attacking you. This will ensure you don't aggro the whole room.
- Exception: The delta support frigates in Enemies Abound 1/5. Just don't shoot them unless you're 50km from the closest rat. Or, fit a smartbomb instead. No prob with the sb.
- Pay attention to the reward your agent offers. If reward + bonus are over 3m, and you never did that mission before, check sites like www.eveinfo.com, or ask in local or corp chat for advice. Don't ever accept a mission without at least some clue about what's in there.
- Regarding Drones: Use Hammerheads/ Hobgoblins, these are the thermal ones. Always. Maybe, maybe sometimes, the kinetic ones. Why? Well if you compare stats, the thermal drones got a 1.6 dmg multiplier. Kinetics got a 1.45 one(iirc). The others even down to 1.3. This means that thermal drones deal a 30% more dmg, thus, most of the time this will offset and even cause more damage than if using the least resisted type.
- Carry seven medium thermals. The difference with lights is way offset by the time it takes to reel either of them back in and re-deploy.
- Loot using an Indy, or an Osprey with cargo expanders. Any case, with of course tractor beams and a sensor booster for faster locking of cans. Don't ever use the Raven for looting, unless you're say, 3 jumps away, in which case replace a NOS for a tractor beam before even departing. (Setup below)
- Don't stress yourself over wasted volleys. That rat alone you're shooting probably finances the whole mission's ammo expenses.
- Get a Gist b-type XL booster as soon as you can, it's worth every single penny. Don't pay more than 430m for it though. I payed 400m for mine. Even more, I made my whole Raven investment back in 20-25 days of playing an average of 3hrs/day. So don't be afraid at all of making such a purchase.
- Train Missile Projection, to lvl 3 or 4. This skill, in addition to your Caldari Battleship one will make your missiles fly faster. No, it's not about the range, it's about the missile landing before the rat's defender does.
- It's another way of enhancing your dps.
- The clearest example is vs. any Machariel-Class bs rat. They orbit really close, and it's funny to see their defenders (many times up to 3!) banish in space fruitlessly.
- Always NOS something. If it's a battleship, great. Then work your way down from there. Sometimes it's even advisable to leave some rat alive, just to have it as your NOS *. However, kill it as soon as it stops yielding cap. In long battles, remember to switch your NOS target every now and then, too.
- Don't forget you can 1 volley MWD'ing frigs. Takes a bit of practice, but worth it for those cases where deploying drones is not an option.
- Only deploy your drones when everything else has already targeted you (flashing red cross). In this way they'll never get shot at.
- Even then, drones might cause aggro from rat groups that are at 40-45km or closer. Keep your "Drones in space" window expanded at all times. Reel them in in case of attack for a full shield recharge. Don't deploy if unsure of the outcome.
- If a rat blob (massive amount of ships) aggroes you, stay calm and check how many cruisers and battleships are there. Many times they're mostly destroyers and frigates. So don't panic, and focus on the heavy dmg dealers first. Send your drones after the cruisers, most of the time they'll have dispatched a cruiser in the time it took you to shoot down a bs.
- If you're prone to panic when confronted by a blob, turn the volume down. Massive yet harmless rocket explosions can get annoying.
- When warping in in the middle of a rat group (15km or less), shoot the battleships first. Will minimize/nullify their defenders.
- When fighting from farther away, shoot the cruisers first instead. Also wait a bit (like stated above) and drone the frigs and dessies. Then start shooting the bs'.
- Assess the situation carefully, many times it's a turret/sentry the "rat" you have to let live for a while for NOS'ing.
- When doing a mission for the first time, it doesn't hurt to pre-align before shooting anything. Set your speed at say, 5m/s (click on the speed dial), and keep the course. Will keep the ship from leveling to the horizon while not making you aggro other, close-by rat groups.
- If you're totally clueless about what hardeners to fit, equip an EM, a Thermal and 2 Invuls (all T2). It'll give you over 70% to every resist, with Kinetic quite close to it. This setup works great vs. multiple dmg type dealers, like those found in "Silence the Informant".
My setup:
- 6 x Arbalest cruise
- 1 x True Sansha Heavy Nos (30km)
- 1 x Heavy Diminishing Nos (24km)
- 1 x Gist b-type XL SB
- 1 x DG boost amp
- 4 x T2 hardeners
- 2 x BCS II
- 3 x PDS II
Note: I only got 5.5m sp's or so, 2.1 of them in learning. I haven't had any problems yet.
So far I've done Guristas Extravaganza, Right Hand of Zazzmatazz, Enemies Abound (not the 5/5 though, not sure it can be done without a CNR), Silence the Informant, etc, quite a couple times each.
