Part Two of a comparison of popular Faction Cruisers with their Tech II counterparts(as dated July 1st, 2011)
Our second installment today is on a pair of ships that, while not as popular as the Navy Omen or Zealot, certainly are a common sight among both PVE and Pirate players. I’m talking about the Vexor hull class ships: The Faction Vexor Navy Issue and the Tech II Ishtar. Why are these ships so popular among the two most diametrically opposed groups in Eve Online? In a single word: Drones.
To begin with, we’ll start with a rundown of both ships. Unsurprisingly, both carry the same Tech I bonuses from the original base hull. Yet both take a divergent course from there. The Vexor Navy Issue, focuses on improving the weapons and defenses of the ship itself, getting full use of turrets in five high slots, and potentially better armor protection with two additional low slots. The Ishtar was designed favoring more drone utility and capability for those upgrades. The ship lost a turret but gained one additional high slot, two mid slots, and one low slot, improving its overall utility and giving it some unique defensive options. Both of these ships have upgraded Drone bays and bandwidth, as well as improved speed and armor protection capabilities. The Ishtar currently runs between 125 and 135mil isk, which is a tad less than the Zealot or Vagabond. The Vexor Navy Issue costs considerably less at
The Ishtar, a personal Assault Carrier
The Ishtar is somewhat the opposite of the Amarr Zealot, relying almost completely on drones for its damage capabilities. While the place for ships of this nature are not much use in major fleets, they can be rather effective in smaller roaming gangs and are probably the most effective solo PVP ship in the game. Here are the advantages in fielding an Ishtar:
- +5km drone range bonus, per level (an additional +25km range at HAC level V).
- +50m3 drone space bonus, per level (for a total of 375m3 of drone space at HAC level V).
- Additional 22m/s.
- One additional High slot.
- Two additional mid slots.
- One additional low slot.
- 66% increase in bandwidth to 125mb.
- Increased Capacitor recharge.
But some of the increases weren’t very impressive
- Only 15 more CPU.
- Minor Powergrid increase of only 25MW.
- Tiny increase of 233 more shield and 133 more armor.
And then you have its weaknesses:
- Capacitor is 125GJ less than Standard Vexor.
- One less Turret.
To sum this ship up, it is clear that it’s meant to rely primarily on its drones as the main offense, with the high slots being regulated as either a secondary offense or for use in utility functions. The big deal on this ship though is the bandwidth and the drone bay. Even the entry level pilot to the Ishtar will have enough room to field a full flight of Heavy Drones, with two spares. Another bonus, all the damage comes from the racial cruiser side, not the HAC side. This means that you are going to be an effective pilot from the moment you fly it.
The particular slot arrangement also has a benefit. It can tank both shield and armor effectively well.
Skills to train up:
- Heavy Drone Operation – Get this skill to V, ASAP
- Drone Interfacing – Again, get this skilled up to V. 20% damage increase per level on this ship is deadly.
- Gallente Drone Specialization – Get this skill up to at least IV, so that you can operate the very popular Ogre II Heavy Drones.
- Combat Drone Operation – Another skill to get to level V. All these bonuses add up, so you want to take advantage of every one of them.
- Drone Navigation – Get this to at least IV. The reason being is that drones take time to reach your target.. and to get back to you as well.
- Energy Emission Systems – This skill improves the effectiveness of Neutralizers and Nosferatus, which can be nice utilities.
- Remote Armor Repair – Get this to at least level IV as well. Your drones are going to get damaged in combat, so being able to repair them on the fly will certainly improve you overall effectiveness.
More Guns, Less Drones – Vexor Navy Issue
The Vexor Navy Issue was developed with the opposite intent than that of the Ishtar. Maintaining the same bonuses as the original hull, the Vexor Navy Issue gains significantly more armor, turrets, and capacitor. It also was given more drone bay space and bandwidth, increasing its overall combat potential. While still not really a ship of the fleet, the differences between it and the Ishtar does allow it to be effective in small gang roams. Here are the upgrades the Vexor Navy Issue received:
- Two additional Low slots
- 30 more CPU
- Drone bay increased to 100m3
- Drone Bandwidth increased to 100mb
- Capacitor increased by 125GJ
- Turrets increased by one
- Signature reduced by 15.
- Shield nearly doubled to 2285.
- Armor increased to 2461.
As far as downgrades go, there aren’t many:
- Only slightly less agile
- 50 less calibration points for rigs.
While certainly not able to field a full wing of Heavy Drones with spares, like the Ishtar, the Vexor Navy Issue does have some drone options, either four heavy drones, or two wings of medium drones. Add to it a significantly enhanced shields and armor along with five medium turrets and you have a ship able to do some significant damage. The downside however is that it is more skill intensive than the Ishtar.
The skillset to train up:
- Hybrid Medium Weapons – Get this skill up to V and get the supporting skills up so that you can field Tech II weaponry
- Controlled Burst – Since you are relying more on capacitor dependent weapons, improving your Controlled Burst skill allows you to minimize the amount of drain your Hybrids will cause.
- Medium Blaster / Beam Specification – Helps improve damage from your Tech II Hybrid weapons. Also are prerequisites for Large Tech II Hybrid weapons.
- Rapid Firing – Improves your rate of fire, which improves your overall DPS. The higher the better.
- Motion Prediction – Improves the tracking speed of your turrets, important if you want to hit fast moving targets.
- Sharpshooting – Increases Optimal range of Turrets.
- Surgical Strike – Improved Damage to all Turrets.
- Trajectory Analysis – While not quite as important as Sharpshooting for Hybrid weapons, its good to skill up to improve your weapons overall reach.
- Weapon Upgrades – Reduces the CPU of your turrets (better for fitting).
- Advanced Weapon Upgrades – Reduces powergrid usage of turrets (also better for fitting).
Suggested Ship Fittings – Ishtar
As mentioned before, the Ishtar is pretty versatile in how it can be tanked. And since its primary damage is from drones, that can free up considerable CPU and Powergrid and this allows for a very wide variety of ship configurations. Here are some fittings you could research:
[Ishtar, Shield Focused Tank]
Shield Power Relay II
Shield Power Relay II
Shield Power Relay II
Shield Power Relay II
Shield Power Relay II
Large Shield Extender II
Large Shield Extender II
Large Shield Extender II
Large Shield Extender II
Invulnerability Field II
[empty high slot]
[empty high slot]
[empty high slot]
[empty high slot]
[empty high slot]
Medium Core Defence Field Purger II
Medium Core Defence Field Purger II
Hammerhead II x7
Ogre II x5
Warrior II x5
Curator II x5
Hobgoblin II x6
[Ishtar, Speed Version]
Damage Control II
Inertia Stabilizers II
Overdrive Injector System II
Overdrive Injector System II
Nanofiber Internal Structure II
Large Shield Extender II
Large Shield Extender II
10MN MicroWarpdrive II
Warp Disruptor II
Medium Capacitor Booster II, Cap Booster 800
Dual 150mm Railgun II, Caldari Navy Iron Charge M
Dual 150mm Railgun II, Caldari Navy Iron Charge M
Dual 150mm Railgun II, Caldari Navy Iron Charge M
Small ‘Solace’ I Remote Bulwark Reconstruction
Small ‘Solace’ I Remote Bulwark Reconstruction
Medium Capacitor Control Circuit I
Medium Auxiliary Thrusters I
Hammerhead II x7
Ogre II x5
Warrior II x5
Curator II x5
Hobgoblin II x6
[Ishtar, Armored Version with Faction Modules]
True Sansha Armor Kinetic Hardener
True Sansha Armor Kinetic Hardener
True Sansha Armor Thermic Hardener
True Sansha Armor Thermic Hardener
Medium Armor Repairer II
10MN Afterburner II
Large Capacitor Battery II
Cap Recharger II
Omnidirectional Tracking Link I
‘Langour’ Drive Disruptor I
280mm Howitzer Artillery II, Tremor S
Small ‘Solace’ I Remote Bulwark Reconstruction
280mm Howitzer Artillery II, Tremor S
Salvager I
280mm Howitzer Artillery II, Tremor S
Medium Auxiliary Nano Pump I
Medium Auxiliary Nano Pump I
Warrior II x5
Warden II x5
Valkyrie II x5
Vespa EC-600 x5
Berserker II x5
Suggested Ship Fittings – Vexor Navy Issue
Unlike the Ishtar, the Vexor Navy Issue requires a bit more finesse when putting one together. Strong fitting skills as well as good Hybrid and Drone skills are the order of the day before flying one of these 100mil+ isk ships out of the dock. Here is a fittings that might prove useful:
[Vexor Navy Issue, PvP Version]
Magnetic Field Stabilizer II
800mm Reinforced Rolled Tungsten Plates I
Adaptive Nano Plating II
Energized Adaptive Nano Membrane II
Magnetic Field Stabilizer II
Damage Control II
10MN MicroWarpdrive II
Warp Scrambler II
‘Langour’ Drive Disruptor I
Heavy Electron Blaster II, Caldari Navy Antimatter Charge M
Heavy Electron Blaster II, Caldari Navy Antimatter Charge M
Heavy Electron Blaster II, Caldari Navy Antimatter Charge M
Heavy Electron Blaster II, Caldari Navy Antimatter Charge M
Heavy Electron Blaster II, Caldari Navy Antimatter Charge M
Medium Trimark Armor Pump I
Medium Trimark Armor Pump I
Medium Trimark Armor Pump I
Ogre II x3
Hammerhead II x2
Light Armor Maintenance Bot I x1
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