Thanks again to both of you for the advice.
Alleycat Meza wrote:I am going to end up reinforcing what Anidien has already said. I fly Astero and Prowler through null sec for exploration and transport. I carry absolutely zero offensive capability. My approach is to not get caught and if caught be able to get away: fast align times, EMC drones, bookmarks.
The first thing I do on entering a null sec or WH system is make an aligned bookmark(BM). Then make the unaligned BM. Then from the unaligned BM warp at distance to the next gate, dropping a BM at 1000 to 3000 (on grid) from the gate. Back to the unaligned BM and warp at distance to the entrance gate, drop another BM on grid.
Fly into a null sec system with no one else there, fly straight up or down and make a BM at warpable distance from the gate. I have a number of systems I fly through on a regular basis with on average 10 BM's.
For a Prowler then, is it useful to have any kind of probe launcher at all - what else would the second high slot be used for?
The main sacrifice (for me) fitting combat probes on a Prowler would be ~1.6k less tank (in slightly lowered shield resistances), less cap for MWD (3mins vs 6mins) - well, that and the combat probe fit being $40m more expensive. Important to note, however, the combat probe fit does not sacrifice any agility compared to the core probe fit.
Here are the fits of which I speak:
[Prowler, Cloak/SExpProbe/WStab/CPU]
'Halcyon' Core Equalizer I
Nanofiber Internal Structure II
IFFA Compact Damage Control
Supplemental Kinetic Deflection Amplifier
Supplemental Explosive Deflection Amplifier
50MN Y-T8 Compact Microwarpdrive *active for stats
Covert Ops Cloaking Device II
Sisters Expanded Probe Launcher
Medium Processor Overclocking Unit II
Medium Polycarbon Engine Housing I
EHP: 13.7k (Em: 32.4k, Th: 15.3k, Kin: 11.5k, Exp: 12.1k)
Shield: 5.87k (Em: 78%, Th: 64%, Kin: 62%, Exp: 68%)
Armor: 3.88k (Em: 91%, Th: 72%, Kin: 34%, Exp: 21%)
Hull: 3.9k (Em: 56%, Th: 56%, Kin: 56%, Exp: 56%)
Speed: 2700 m/s
Signature: 630 m
Capacitor: 1.12k GJ (Lasts 3m50s)
Targeting range: 21.8 km
Scan resolution: 178 mm
Sensor strength: 14.4
Scan resolution: 178 mm
Sensor strength: 14.4
vs...
[Prowler, Cloak/CoreProbe2/WStab/Cargo]
'Halcyon' Core Equalizer I
Type-D Restrained Nanofiber Structure
Damage Control II
Kinetic Deflection Amplifier II
Explosive Deflection Amplifier II
50MN Cold-Gas Enduring Microwarpdrive *active for stats
Covert Ops Cloaking Device II
Core Probe Launcher II
Medium Cargohold Optimization II
Medium Polycarbon Engine Housing II
EHP: 15.3k (Em: 32.8k, Th: 16.1k, Kin: 13.8k, Exp: 14.7k)
Shield: 6.83k (Em: 78%, Th: 65%, Kin: 71%, Exp: 76%)
Armor: 3.76k (Em: 92%, Th: 72%, Kin: 36%, Exp: 24%)
Hull: 4.76k (Em: 60%, Th: 60%, Kin: 60%, Exp: 60%)
Speed: 2699 m/s
Signature: 630 m
Capacitor: 1.12k GJ (Lasts 6m40s)
Targeting range: 21.8 km
Scan resolution: 178 mm
Sensor strength: 14.4
I'm actually currently running this latter fit for my lowsec Prowler runs. Worth noting that the former combat probe fit (for me) has the exact same align time (due to the rounding up boundaries for align secs) and almost the same max velocity as the former core probe fit. The major difference in my mind is really the added cost.
Would combat probes be useful defensively at all (beyond what you can get with just Dscan)?
Alleycat Meza wrote:Bookmarking is time consuming, a pain in the butt and zero fun but at least you will not hate yourself in the morning. Covert ops cloak and BM's have served me well.
Can combat probes be used to speed up the bookmarking process - i.e. by just grabbing approximate locations of ships/wrecks as your getaway BMs?