Explorer Fitting

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Ka Hasan
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Explorer Fitting

Post by Ka Hasan »

Hey all! Couple questions from a complete beginner.

Looking at fitting an Explorer. How exactly do ship mass and inertia modifier work. Does Mass * Inertia modifier give you a ship agility rating? If so, then the lower that number is, the more agile or quickly a ship can align correct? Or am I way off base?

I've had a lot of luck starting out exploring WH space with my Bebop (magnate).

Alignment speed would be my most important attribute over something like velocity, correct? I took out a Nano Fiber Structure from a low slot to add another inertial stabilizer. The ship now has an align time of 2.90.

[Magnate, Bebop]
'Stoic' Core Equalizer I
Inertial Stabilizers II
Inertial Stabilizers II
Type-D Restrained Nanofiber Structure

5MN Microwarpdrive I
Relic Analyzer I
Data Analyzer I

Prototype Cloaking Device I
Core Probe Launcher I
280mm Gallium Cannon

Small Emission Scope Sharpener I
Small Memetic Algorithm Bank I



Acolyte I x3
Hobgoblin I x5

Republic Fleet Carbonized Lead S x464
Core Scanner Probe I x16

Getting rid of the cannon, thought I'd need it for blowing up the current even pods. How does this look so far?

Currently on a long cue time for skills. Working on the short plans, lv1 and 2 stuff on the pyramid to be more useful and then scanning skills to level 4.

Also, T2 covert ops ships look heavier with bigger inertia modifiers, do their added scanning bonus/other perks make up for the slower aligning time and higher cost?
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Sanctia Vitae
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Re: Explorer Fitting

Post by Sanctia Vitae »

You're about what you can do to help your inertia modifier without getting too heavily penalized. Honestly, it looks like the standard exploration fit. The next step would be training the skills to improve ship mobility (which you already mentioned). For instance, my align time with this fit is 2.33.

Yeah, the gun isn't going to help you much, but one thing to keep in mind is that the Core equalizer messes with your targeting range and scan resolution, so even trying to use drones will be difficult. I personally don't worry about offense when exploring; if something wants me dead, I'm already dead.

As far as Covert OPs go, they work fine as exploration vessels, but aren't really meant to. They really are designed for covert operations: scouting behind enemy lines, gathering intel, etc. The CovOPs cloak allows for that, hence the ship's bonus for it. You can absolutely explore in one if you'd like, but if you're going into areas where you could lose your ship, I'd keep it cheap until your wallet can tank it :wink:
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bazingamogus
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Re: Explorer Fitting

Post by bazingamogus »

This fit looks great, although with low scanning skills I personally would prefer Gravity rigs over hacking ones, given that you will spend most of your time scanning.

Main thing about covert ops is the cloak and nullifier which make you virtually impossible to catch (if you're paying attention). This lets you freely use the expensive scanning implants to push probe strength even further.
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Koris the Second
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Re: Explorer Fitting

Post by Koris the Second »

Hey there!

Some things have been said already, on which I'd like to elaborate. My suggested fit:
[Magnate, Bebop]

Inertial Stabilizers I
Inertial Stabilizers I
Inertial Stabilizers I
Inertial Stabilizers I

5MN Cold-Gas Enduring Microwarpdrive
Relic Analyzer I
Data Analyzer I

Prototype Cloaking Device I
Core Probe Launcher I, Core Scanner Probe I
[Empty High slot]

Small Gravity Capacitor Upgrade I
Small Gravity Capacitor Upgrade I
[Empty Rig slot]


Hornet EC-300 x3
Hornet EC-300 x3


Core Scanner Probe I x24
Why the changes?
  • Warp Core Stabilizer reduces not only your targeting range, but also your drone bandwidth. Besides, most hunters have three points of scram strength to account for a WCS. Throw it out.
  • Forget about the gun. It's just more lost ISK and you will never be able to defend yourself seriously in an Explo ship. Same applies to combat drones. Grab a flight or two of EC-300s instead, they will at least give you a small chance of escape compared to no chance.
  • Get yourself a meta MWD. I went for the Enduring as it's cheapest, you could also go for a Restrained to reduce penalties.
  • Low slots...yeah, as was said already it doesn't really matter much unless you can hit a whole second threshold. Therefore, I'd go for Tech 1 Inertial Stabilizers, four of them. Should still keep you in the 2.X second align time and reduce the fitting cost once more.
  • Rigs - been mentioned already, might want to fit two Gravity Capacitors. Helped me a lot when starting out, especially if you want to get the strength neccessary for the Level III or IV sites in null/WH space.
There you go. Below 4M ISK, ready for being thrown into a wormhole. :D
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Louis Ricard
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Re: Explorer Fitting

Post by Louis Ricard »

I really like Amarr ships, but for exploration I tend to use Heron/Buzzard over Magnate/Anathema, because they have more medium slots for utility (MWD + 2x Scanning Equipment + 2x Analyzers ... sometimes I replace one with a Cargo Scanner... and yes, I use a station or mobile depot to refit on the fly).

With either ships - like Koris - I do not care about offense much, it is more about being as sneaky as possible. Thats also the reason why I like my Buzzard: because of the CovOps Cloak, in and out hopefully unseen. My scanning Skills are "only" at 4, so scanning the higher sites is quite challenging... and I take every advantage I get and use the Sister Core Scanner (or Expanded for the occasional hunting/forgotten depot but with complete refit because of increased requirements). But that makes it a lot more expensive.
This HighSlot is interdiction nullifier or Salvager... depending on where I am, and if i stumble upon rats.
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Tremitry Darkstar
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Re: Explorer Fitting

Post by Tremitry Darkstar »

Sanctia Vitae wrote: 2022.04.17 18:06As far as Covert OPs go, they work fine as exploration vessels, but aren't really meant to. They really are designed for covert operations: scouting behind enemy lines, gathering intel, etc. The CovOPs cloak allows for that, hence the ship's bonus for it. You can absolutely explore in one if you'd like, but if you're going into areas where you could lose your ship, I'd keep it cheap until your wallet can tank it :wink:
I'm going to push back on some of this. I agree it's worth keeping things cheap when learning the ropes. However, covert-ops ships are the ideal exploration ships because they are one of the best ships in the game for avoiding combat. They have a hacking and scanning bonuses after all. But the Covert-Ops cloak and Interdiction Nullifier are extremely strong survival tools, in addition to their typical frigate-like align time. They are a very worthy goal to work towards for a player that is trying to improve their skills both as their character and as a player.

Ships that equip a Covert-Ops Cloaking device can move at 100% of their velocity and can warp cloaked. This is extremely strong for an explorer, particularly in more dangerous space like Wormholes. Interdiction Nullifiers allow Covert-Ops ships to ignore warp disruption bubbles while the module is online and active (do note that they have a somewhat long cooldown), which is particularly handy when accidentally jumping into a camped wormhole or stargate, or trying to fly through one to get home. And depending on your fit, a covert-ops cloak might even be enough for a good pilot to escape a bubble camp. The amount of safety a skilled explorer can gain in a Covert-Ops ship is easily worth the cost.

But "worth the cost" entirely depends on what you can afford, of course. If someone is just starting out with exploration, then it's definitely better to start in Magnates and Herons before upgrading to Anathemas and Buzzards, or an Astero (also note an Astero can fit a Covert-Ops cloak, but cannot fit an Interdiction Nullifier). Making mistakes and learning from them is definitely better when those mistakes are pretty cheap to replace. So, definitely start cheap, but if exploration is something that you enjoy, upgrading to a T2 Covert-Ops hull with the player skills to match will be rewarding.
-Tremitry Darkstar
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