Notes from Amarr Space

I have notes for what should probably be half a dozen posts on EVE Online at the moment, but I have been busy at work and in Sinnoh of late, so I am going to summarize a bit.

Mining My Own Business

Kernite, kernite everywhere! And, as long as I get up early enough and mine some before some Dutch corp rolls in and clear cuts the system, I am rolling in isogen. That is good, since I was always short on isogen back in Caldari space.

However, this came at a cost. Plagioclase, so very common in Caldari space, is not available in Amarr space, so now I am chronically short of pyrite, and when you are making something like, say, a battleship, you need a lot more pyrite than isogen.

Amarr Navy Faction

My standing with the Amarr Navy is now over 8, so I can make jump clones at their stations as well as Caldari Navy stations. I already have all the jump clones I need, but it is nice to have the option. It is nice that the Amarr and the Caldari appear to be allied, so that my running missions in Amarr space did not hurt my Caldari Navy faction at all. I wonder if that carries over to factional warfare?

The downside is, now that I have a bunch of loyalty points stored up with the Amarr Navy, I have figured out that they do not have much for me to buy. I have all the implants I need at the moment and the weapons, ammunition, and skill book options are all focused on laser turrets, which does not do me much good. I’m saving up my laser crystal drops from missions to trade them in for Amarr Navy versions. Perhaps I can make some ISK reselling those. What is everybody’s favorite laser crystal?

And what is the deal with the Amarr Navy Slicer blueprint I can get with my loyalty points? I do not see any for sale and the ship itself does not show up in the EVE Online Item Database. Is it hot stuff or the suck?

Raven About Missions

After a rough start, which is how it always goes, I think I am finally getting a handle on level 4 missions with the Raven.

Actually, it did not start off rough, as a friend and I ran a couple of level 4 missions that I could have done solo in my Drake. Then I picked up one called Vengence that I ran by myself. That got me used to paying attention to the active shield tank that the Raven requires.

It also got me to pay attention to the ammunition I use. The named battleship at the end of the mission, the guy you need to take out to finish, had a really strong armor tank, one that I could not break through on my first attempt. I had to call it a night and come back the next day, fight my way through the whole thing again, then finally go after him with the right missiles and drones, and I still emptied my launchers five times before I got any hull damage on him. That was something of a change from level 3 missions where a load of Widowmaker missiles pretty much solved all problems.

Since I seem to be getting the hang of the Raven, I will probably sell the Rokh. That will boost me past half a billion ISK in the bank, once I find a buyer.

I will also have to bring my Drake out to where I am currently running level 4 missions. There have been a few where frigates and cruisers have made up the majority of the targets. It is a shame to waste cruise missiles on them.

So far level 4 missions have been lucrative. The bounty total when fighting pirates is usually huge, two to eight times the actual mission reward. Drone missions generally drop some of that sweet, sweet plush compound that, when refined, yields up a chunk of zydrine. Salvage has been okay. It is not raining alloyed tritanium bars. I still have not collected the 100 I need to make the first cargo rig for my hauler. On the other hand, armor plates seem to drop often, and those I do not need, but other people seem to, so they make me a bit of ISK.

Empyrean Age

Once the Empyrean Age expansion goes live, with my standings, I can join either the Amarr or Caldari militia. However, if rewards are going to be similar to what happens with loyalty points, I may have to head back to Caldari space.

And then there is the question of what to fly. Since PvP is going mean dying a lot, frigates will have to do when it comes to my budget. And since I am strongest in missile skills, that means a Kestrel. Or many Kestrels. I should probably just buy a blueprint original and make some to keep on hand. I already have the blueprints for the missiles. I will have to work out a standard PvP fitting for it and keep supplies on hand. Worse that losing your ship, for me at least, is then trying to re-equip the new one.

Of course, this assumes that a frigate will be useful in factional warfare. It might end up just getting owned by people who can afford to risk Muninns and Cerberuses. That is the flip side of the whole “don’t fly what you cannot afford to lose” rule.

Waiting for the Patch

But now that Tranquility, the EVE Online server is down for the Empyrean age update, all we can do is speculate about what will be, play with EVE Mon and the EVE Fitting Tool, look at screen shots, chat a bit, and hope everything comes up as planned.