Iggep's Realm

Q:  Can cloaky hauler warp cloaked

A:  Any ship that can fit a Covert Ops Cloaking Device (Cloaking IV) can warp while cloaked.  Which include all of the Covert Ops ships, T3 Cruisers with ** Offensive – Covert Reconfiguration subsystem fitted, and one of each race’s Transports (Prowler, Viator, Crane, Prorator).

[edit] Forgot to add Force Recon ships to the list as I was kindly reminded!  Falcon, Pilgrim, Arazu, and Rapier.

CCP has released a number of tantalizing hints about upcoming functionality and changes incoming with the Odyssey expansion on June 4th.  Perhaps of greatest interest to me at the moment are the POS changes CCP Fozzie posted in a recent Dev Blog.  Changes that are long over due in my opinion!  The Dev Blog only hit the key points, but those key points look pretty good.  Particularly the personal hangars, array access change, and the mention of the setup UI improvment.

The array access change and UI improvement are what I want to talk about today because those are the two key points mentioned that will affect everyone the most.  I would have waited had I been able to, but I had to set up a couple new POSs recently — one of them a Dick Star — where the setup UI improvement would have come in quite handy.  Frankly, POS setup is a pain in the rear and the more structures that have to be anchored the worse it is.  I spent a couple hours placing the structures precisely where I wanted them and then anchoring.  Any UI update that improves that situation would be happily received, yet I can’t help but feel that CCP is lacking imagination on what they’ve described will be the UI improvement.

Our plans here are to port over of the usability features from the probing system over to starbase setup. Plans include setting the little arrows beside the modules to scale with your zoom level the same way as the arrows in the probing interface so that they never get too small to use, and allowing you to manipulate the central cube directly for quick placement.

It does sound like POS setup will be a quicker process, but I’d personally like something more structured myself.  I’d actually like CCP to port the ship fitting tool to the task.  Open the POS fitting tool and place your structures in the locations where you want them — an outer ring representing the areas outside of the POS where you could place defenses, and an inner ring representing the area inside the shield where arrays and other structures could be placed.  Finer placement tuning could either be accommodated by clicking on each “location” which opens up a 3d representation of the area that shows the structures there.  You’d then be able to move them in relation to one another.  Or alternatively, adaptation of the existing movement mechanism could be used for finer placement tuning.

The ring locations could be a single area to drop structures.  Just a general placement mechanism, but it could also be something a lot more specific.  A 4 x 4 x 4 grid system where you’d specifically place structures, alleviating or reducing the need for finer placement tuning after.  As with the fitting tool, corps could save POS “fittings”, making future setups as easy as clicking a button.  Anchor your tower, drop all of the structures inside then click a button and voila.  Wouldn’t that be awesome?

I like my setup UI idea much better than CCP’s, however I’m ecstatic about the incoming array access change.  Right now, if you want to access arrays you have to be within 2500m of it.  If you’ve organized your POS, with separation of arrays and areas for ship movement in between it means you’re used to slow boating between them.  That can be an annoying in a freighter.

I usually have at least two bookmarks for my POS’s.  The tower and a warp in that I usually set to be above the tower.  Before I learned to do that I’d warp in on the tower and ricocheted plenty of times off of it in my Freighter.  Again, very annoying.  And slow.  Now I warp in above the tower and my primary arrays will usually be dead ahead of me.  Secondary arrays will be off to the left or right some distance, and the tower will be directly below some distance.  With Odyssey we’ll no longer have to move from the warp in, as we’ll be able to access and manage all arrays from anywhere inside the shields.  I won’t need to make multiple bookmarks inside my shields any more.  The personal hangers will be nice, but the array access change is by far the best announced change outside of the setup UI improvement as far as I’m concern.

Not mentioned, but perhaps needed even more than either of the improvements I’ve discussed is a complete re-work of the corp roles.  The roles issue is perhaps the single most complained about issue surrounding POS’s and doesn’t appear to be on the list of planned updates for Odyssey.  But it should be.  I’d be perfectly happy not allowing changes that would enable non-corp individuals to use a Corp’s POS, but Corps need an ability to better manage who among their own pilots can access specific POS’s and arrays within them.  Right now, if you give a corp mate roles to access arrays its a blanket role, enabling them to access arrays in every POS the corp owns.  Keeping someone out by setting a different password and disallowing corporation access is just not a very secure method of protecting a POS.

Roles should be much more specific.  Individual pilots should be given roles for “all” or specific POSs, and additional roles for “all” or specific arrays within those POSs they have roles for.  Better yet, roles for specific slots within specific arrays which would enable long sought after game play — research labs.  Want to rent out slots of research?  Set up a corp for that purpose, drop a POS or two, then charge people to join and weekly rent for each slot they need.  I’d want to keep access to Corps, otherwise I think the price of researched BPOs would take too much of a hit.  Opening them up through re-worked roles would hit BPO prices enough already, but at least Corps could make passive income through rent.

I’d love to know the story on this kill.  Truly would.  I’m guessing he just bought it? At least I hope he did, otherwise this makes absolutely no sense at all.  Get bumped out of a POS?  Joy riding?  Anyone?

And incidentally, he was wearing +4 implants in slots 1 through 4.  PL Podded him too…

I’ve been doing a lot of research lately on the best implants for Chimera pilots (lots more on that in the future), and unless someone can point out that I’m in error shield capital pilots are at a disadvantage compared to armor capital pilots.  There isn’t a single shield bonusing implant that works with capital shields, which leads me to believe the best mix of implants for a Chimera pilot is probably something like the below:  Attribute boosters in slots 1 through 5 and skill hard wirings in slots 6 through 8.  I saw nothing very useful for slots 9 or 10, although one of the mind links (slot 10) is arguable.

Before I get into the specific implants, I make the assumptions that said Chimera will split time between limited Fleet actions and PVE.  Please *note* I said Fleet actions, and yes I know… don’t PVE in your Carrier but everyone does it anyway.  A well fit PVE BS or T3 Cruiser can easily run between 1.5-1.9 Bil ISK, just slightly less than a normal T2/Faction fit Chimera.  I’d be equally upset about my Carrier, Tengu or my CNR going pop.  Which is to say I don’t personally subscribe to the no PVE mantra.  Carrier pilots attract attention but its not like pimped out ratting BS’s and other ships don’t either.  I know feelings run high on this subject, but my opinion is pretty much that any pilot who exercises due caution will live to see another day regardless of what he flies.

Secondarily, I make the assumption that the Chimera pilot has a crap load of training to finish.  Particularly all of the ’5s’ that aren’t included in the training plan I list below.  I consider a Chimera flyable when a pilot has all of the requisite skills at 4, so the attribute boosting implants will be extremely helpful for finishing the remaining training and continuing on with other ships afterward.

Lastly, I’d be a lot less willing to risk +5 attribute implants in Fleet actions than I would +4s, so nothing I saw below reflects on Jump Cloning.  I’d probably have a JC with +3′s for sustained PVP, relegating any JC with +4′s or +5′s to specific well protected fleet operations and PVE.

And without further adieu, here is what I would consider to be a good mix of implants for a Chimera pilot:

Slot 1
Ocular Filter – Improved (+5 Perception): 114.9 Mil ISK or
Ocular Standard – Improved (+4 Perception): 21 Mil ISK

Slot 2
Memory Augmentation – Improved (+5 Memory): 115 Mil ISK or
Memory Augmentation – Standard (+4 Memory): 26.9 Mil ISK

Slot 3
Neural Boost – Improved (+5 Willpower): 115.4 Mil ISK or
Neural Boost – Improved (+4 Willpower): 25.9 Mil ISK

Slot 4
Cybernetic Subprocessor – Improved (+5 Intelligence): 137.8 Mil ISK or
Cybernetic Subprocessor – Standard (+4 Intelligence): 20.9 Mil ISK

Slot 5
Social Adaptation Chip – Standard (+4 Charisma): 24.9 Mil ISK (for leadership skills)

Slot 6
‘Squire’ Energy Systems Operation EO-605 (5% faster Cap Recharge): 145 Mil ISK

Slot 7
‘Rogue’ Evasive Maneuvering EM-705 (5% ship agility): 145 Mil ISK

Slot 8
‘Squire’ Energy Management EM-805 (5% Capacitor size): 145 Mil ISK

Slot 9
None

Slot 10
None

Sub-Totals:
Slot 1-4 (+5) Slot 5 (+4): 508 Mil ISK
Slot 1-5 (+4): 119.4 Mil ISK
Slot 6-8 435 Mil ISK

Total: 554 – 943 Mil ISK

Lets deal with cost first.  943 Mil ISK worth of implants for a pilot kicking around in a 2 Bil ish Carrier is probably extravagant unless you consider yourself wealthy.  If you’re careful you might never lose those implants, but if you do they represent nearly 50% of the value of the ship itself.  Perhaps 554 Mil ISK is easier to stomach, but I personally wouldn’t base my decision solely on the cost of the implants alone.  I know that ISK could be made back in as little as a 2-3 days, or certainly within a week or so.  Can the cost of the Carrier and Implants be made up within 2 weeks?  Absolutely, but if you simply can’t get past the cost then lets look at the difference in training time between +4 and +5 attribute implants.

+4 Attribute implants will save a budding capital pilot more than 19 days over +3s in a 500+ day capital training plan.  And +5s will save a budding capital pilot more than 36 days over +3s in the same plan.  The difference between +4 and +5 is 17 days, which may or may not be worth the 550-600 Mil ISK cost of +5s for slots 1 through 5.  You can save 114 million by skipping slot 5 (perception), though you might want it when training some leadership skills later on.  Of all of the attribute boosters its the least valuable to a Chimera pilot and so please note I’m recommending the +4 implant, which runs for around 25 mil ISK.

The Squire and Rogue implant choices for slots 6 though 8 are obvious and I won’t spend time going over them.  I can’t say I understand the disparity between Shield tanking options and Armor tanking options, but if you agree like I do that “maximizing” is the best option then this is my best swag at it.  You wouldn’t think so looking at the Implants most Chimera pilots were wearing in recent kills listed at EVE-Kill.

Now, lets look at the skills I mentioned earlier.  Forgive anything obvious not listed, I think I captured everything from my old cap pilot skill plan, but these are the skills I consider to be the basics before you can fly a Chimera.  With proper attribute mapping it should take you somewhere in the neighborhood of 500ish days depending on when you start your Cap training plan without implants.  430ish days with +3 implants, 420 days with +4 implants, and 400 days with +5 implants.  You can see why I said earlier that I wouldn’t let the cost of the implants be the sole determinate in my choice.  You can trim 100+ days off a Carrier Cap training plan with +5s, or nearly 3 months off with +4s.

Acceleration Control IV
Advanced Drone Interfacing IV
Advanced Spaceship Command V
Amarr Drone Specialization IV
Armored Warfare IV
Biology V
Caldari Battleship V
Caldari Carrier IV
Caldari Cruiser IV
Caldari Drone Specialization IV
Capital Energy Emission Systems IV
Capital Repair Systems IV
Capital Shield Emission Systems IV
Capital Shield Operation IV
Capital Ships III
Combat Drone Operation V
Cybernetics V
Cynosural Field Theory IV
Drone Durability IV
Drone Interfacing V
Drone Sharpshooting IV
Drones V
Electronic Warfare Drone Interfacing IV
Electronic Warfare IV
EM Shield Compensation V
Energy Emission Systems V
Energy Grid Upgrades V
Energy Management V
Energy Pulse Weapons IV
Evasive Maneuvering V
Explosive Shield Compensation V
Fighters IV
Gallente Drone Specialization IV
Heavy Drone Operation IV
High Speed Maneuvering IV
Hull Upgrades V
Information Warfare IV
Jump Drive Calibration IV
Jump Drive Operation V
Jump Fuel Conservation IV
Jury Rigging IV
Kinetic Shield Compensation V
Leadership V
Mechanics V
Minmatar Drone Specialization IV
Multitasking III
Nanite Interfacing IV
Nanite Operation V
Navigation V
Repair Drone Operation IV
Repair Systems V
Science V
Sentry Drone Interfacing V
Shield Management V
Shield Emission Systems V
Siege Warfare IV
Skirmish Warfare IV
Targeting V
Thermic Shield Compensation V
Thermodynamics IV
Warp Drive Operation V

You might see a few skills among that raise an eyebrow like, Capital Repair Systems.  Yet you will want at least have some ability to rep your ship in the event you dip into Armor for whatever reason.  Perhaps someone else can rep, but why rely on others alone?

So there you have it.  Happy to hear any input from more seasoned pilots.

I finally re-joined up with my old Null Corp last night, which is now involved in Caldari FW and out of the SOV business for now.  Its a double win for me as far as I’m concerned because they were a great corp to be involved with when I was with them in Null back in 2010, but I’ve been trying to get involved with FW recently too.  Although it doesn’t appear Caldari FW is going very well at the moment.  Maybe it’ll pick up!

In any event I’ve mentioned on Twitter over the last couple weeks my impending  Corp move and the travails I went through this past week to stage my ships and stuff.  I spent most of last weekend centralizing everything that was spread out all over The Forge, then staging it all some 30 jumps from my home.  But I found out Friday I’d been given the wrong system to stage to and had to move everything 27 more jumps!  Last weekend I moved everything solo, moving ships one at a time and cramming their holds as full of stuff as possible.  But I wasn’t looking to do that again this weekend and enlisted some hauler support this go round.  Started moving everything again Friday night and finished up Saturday afternoon and I thought that would be the end of it, but of course it wasn’t

The Corp is based out of a Low Sec system, but our FW base of ops is 18 jumps away.  Not wanting to have to re-ship over that distance if…. err, when I lose some… I wisely decided I needed to stage some ships to that system last night as well, finishing that up last night.  But the corp rents some Null space as well and I’ll be splitting time there making some ISK so I’ve spent the entire day staging a few ships and supplies 43 jumps to the hisec exit system.  I’ll get the ships jumped out sometime this week.

I remember my wife and I having the “talk” five years ago when we purchased our current house that we never wanted to move again.  I feel exactly the same way in EVE right now!  I could have saved myself some of the trouble by using couriers for some of my stuff I’ve moved around this past week, but I’m a cheap bastard and didn’t really want to pay for what I could move myself.  And besides, fitted ships might have been more of an issue.  What’s done is done, but someone’s going to have to drag me kicking and screaming to move any more now that I’m finally done.

In others news:  with two of my characters in the PVP corp that leaves two of my other active characters in my HiSec Manufacturing corp where I’ve recently begun manufacturing again.  I had been doing station trading for the past few weeks but god I just can’t stand it for very long.  I’ve cut back my manufacturing considerably from last year when I played last, but it appears I’ll be able to clear about 500-700 Mil ISK a week with minimal effort and that’s good enough for now.  I’m also trying something I’ve never done before.  I’m training up characters to sell on the character bazaar.  I’ll let you know how that goes when I make my first sale!