>

Πέμπτη 22 Νοεμβρίου 2012

Fit of the Week: Salvage Myrmidon



"That ship can do that?" month continues, this time with a PvE-focused fit.  With Retribution finally, finally releasing the long-awaited salvage drone and the Catalyst about to lose its small drone bay, it's sort of my last chance to trot out a goofy little creature: the salvage Myrmidon.  This one has a story, that starts in the dawn of mission-running.  Keep in mind as you read that all of this is long before the Noctis was ever dreamt of by CCP.

Back in those cold, dark days when tractor beams were fitted to Ravens and before every mission-runner had a salvage alt, someone got the cute idea to fit salvagers and tractor beams to destroyers.  They had eight high slots, after all: perfect for four of each.  Salvage destroyers quickly became a thing and they were so easy to train into.  And over time, that's what encouraged a lot of high-sec players to actually get a second account in the first place.  A cheap alt could follow the mission-runner around in said salvage destroyer and greatly increase the missioner's income, more than doubling ISK/hour.  That more than paid for the cost of the account... and later caused CCP to nerf salvaging because some players were becoming wealthy (for that time) using this tactic.



It was quickly decided which destroyers were particularly bad at this (Coercers) and which were particularly good at it (Catalysts).  The funny thing about the Catalyst, though, is that it had a drone bay.  And in those ancient days, some beneficiary to the missioning community figured out that you could put a drone in it.

Because every person in a mission that shoots a rat gains both bounty and sec status regardless of the amount of damage done, this created an entire generation of alts that had high sec statuses.  These alts also later contributed to the creation of a lot of corporations for players needing high standings with this or that faction.  The Catalyst itself also added a tiny bit of DPS, and encouraged players to further train these alts into other pursuits.

Initially, that meant looking for ways to add even more DPS to missions.  The Catalyst could scarcely tank a level 4 mission, so a lot of players turned to battle cruisers, including the Hurricane (which could fit four salvagers and four tractors beams and added 100 DPS in drone damage) and the Myrmidon:

[Myrmidon, Salvage Myrm]
Damage Control II
Expanded Cargohold II
Nanofiber Internal Structure II
Nanofiber Internal Structure II
Power Diagnostic System II
Power Diagnostic System II

100MN Afterburner II
Adaptive Invulnerability Field II
Adaptive Invulnerability Field II
Large Shield Extender II
Large Shield Extender II

Salvager II
Salvager II
Salvager II
Small Tractor Beam I
Small Tractor Beam I
Small Tractor Beam I

Medium Salvage Tackle I
Medium Salvage Tackle I
Medium Salvage Tackle I

Light Armor Maintenance Bot I x5
Medium Shield Maintenance Bot I x5
Hammerhead II x5
Hobgoblin II x5


Today, this fit seems ridiculously quaint.  Still, at the time, there were a ton of them out there.  The mid-slot tank was sufficient to tank most L4 missions, particularly with the PDS's increase to shield buffer.  Nanofibers both increased the ship's speed and improved the align time made high by that 100MN Afterburner.(1)  The Expanded Cargohold made the ship's cargo capacity equal to the Catalysts it was replacing.  The large Myrmidon drone bay added not only some 225 DPS to a mission, but also the possibility for emergency reps thanks to a flight of shield bots, and the ability to repair damaged drones either on the main missioning ship or the Myrm.

The only downside of this fit, in fact, was that it had only six high slots for salvagers and tractor beams, but good flying could overcome that small weakness and the additional Myrm DPS more than made up for it.

Again, this isn't anything that I'd recommend people fly today (unless you really want to).  This kind of fit is part of EVE's history and just a fun little "that ship can do that?" sort of fit.  Still, a lot of pilots that flew this Myrm and the Hurricane that mirrored them went on to be Dominix and carrier pilots, or full L4 mission BS pilots, or full PvP pilots in their own right.  All it took was the encouragement to go ahead and get a second account... and then to train that salvage pilot to be useful in other areas since you had the account anyway.

All in all, this is just a goofy little bit of EVE history that I thought some of you might enjoy.  And when the various BCs get their upgrades next year, who knows, this kind of fit might even become viable again for a new generation of players.


All Fits of the Week are intended as general guidelines only.  You may not have the skills needed for this exact fit.  If you do not, feel free to adjust the fit to suit to meet your skills, including using meta 3 guns and "best named" defenses and e-war.  Ships can also be adjusted to use faction or dead-space modules depending on the budget of the pilot flying it.  Each FOTW is intended as a general guide to introduce you to concepts that will help you fit and to fly that particular type of ship more aggressively and well.


(1) Matter of fact, this type of salvaging battle cruiser was the first ship type I heard about that used an over-sized AB.

Δεν υπάρχουν σχόλια: