Names have power over those who let them.
I paced impatiently as the contracted hauler unloaded the last of the of the huge crates onto the hangar’s floor and moved her ship out. My compad beeped letting me know that payment had been received and a full manifest followed afterward. I glanced down the page. Everything seemed in order. The hangar crew started to open the crates and store the various modules, equipment, and ships that just arrived. I waited impatiently as the crew used the hangar’s cranes to remove some modular ship components from various crates and start putting them together along a hull. The components seemed to attach themselves once they were seated on the correct areas of the hull. The whole process took less than an hour including checking the fittings and seals. I gazed at the ship now come to life before me. It was the pinnacle of modern warship design based on the new technology coming out of the wormholes. A Loki strategic cruiser.
The hangar crew spent the next couple hours fitting the modules and weapons to the Loki. I had two specific purposes for the ship. It was to be both an exploration vessel and a warship taking unwary prey indiscriminately. I only needed to change out one of the modular systems to change between the two. The emergent locus analyzer would be switched with the tactical targeting network for a quicker lock time after decloaking. It wouldn’t affect the sensor recalibration time, but it did shave off a second after the sensors came back online. This is a ship that can stand equal or more punishment than a battlecruiser, deals slightly less damage, and is more maneuverable. I loved it without even having flown it yet.
Of course, many pilots argue that for the price of a Loki and fittings, I could have gotten twelve fully fitted battlecruisers and a couple recon ships as well. Having flown both ships already, I was unsatisfied with the BCs due to thier lack of speed and the fact they turned like a brick. And recons, while nice, just lack the firepower one needs when operating solo. Recons also do not have much defense once an opponent gets close. They operate much better in a fleet or gang where they are a force multiplier.
The excitement over the past week started to catch up to me soon after the Loki was put together. I headed to my office and collapsed on the cot behind the desk. Taking off my boots, I figured i had better get some sleep before putting the Loki through the crucible. As I drifted off, I wondered what I should name her.
***Readers I would like suggestions as to what name my new Loki should have. Reasons why you chose the name would be appreciated. I can’t wait to see what yall come up with. There will be an ISK prize for the name chosen so please be sure to leave the name of the character you would like the prize to go to.***
New theme in the works
Going through a bit of a theme change over the next week so please excuse the mess.
A pirate’s life for.. eh wait, huh? Where did you come from?
“…and captained by a man so evil, that hell itself spat him back out?” PotC
After being gone for such a long time, I imagine all of my readership has disappeared. I needed to take a break from Eve as some RL things needed my full attention. I was also starting to feel the beginnings of burnout for one reason or another. Sorry for not informing folks here.
I have been back for about 2-3 weeks now, just in time for Tyrannis and all that entails. The expansion did not affect me one way or another really. I dabbled a bit in PI and found it boring. Nevertheless, I have a couple things on the back burner cranking away that will hopefully pay for the investment in a couple months.
After being gone so long, it took a couple days to get back in the pilot’s seat as it were. I now feel the relaxed awareness I remember when moving through lowsec camps or running some lvl4 missions absentmindedly. I’m sure the shakes will return the first couple of pvp fights I have and then they too will disappear.
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Couple of interesting notes though on happenings since I returned:
Isk through missions seems easier to get than before even with the “mission nerf”. I say this because since I have returned, I made enough isk to buy two Gilas, a Rattlesnake, a few Ishkurs, and another Domi. I fitted them as appropriate with some faction gear but they are mostly T2. I’m not sure if the amount of isk I made was a result of my experience or just finding good deals when getting rid of lp. From reading various forums and blogs, my experience seems to be peculiar so take it as you will. By the way, I am in love with the rattler! I want it to be the mother of my future children.
I am still a member of TRAMPS alliance through GT’s corp, Tigris Cleptum Gaza. I was glad to see this once I brought GT back online last week. I have been catching up on alliance goings on with Escoce and generally trying to figure out what I wanted GT and the corp to be doing. PVP is still a mainstay, but I’m thinking about moving into lowsec exploration as a second focus for the corp. While those thoughts meandered through my mind, TRAMPS received two wardecs a few days apart from each other. Neither affects those of us in lowsec really, but other members of the alliance are highsec indy/mission types and a couple of them got popped. Nothing major though and not nearly worth the cost of deccing an alliance. One of the wardecs was dropped yesterday and I anticipate the other will run out after a week as well.
Looking forward to catching up with those of you I haven’t talked to yet. Fly casual!
0geauxtiger0
Exploration Loki
Having had a couple days to play around with the Loki, I decided it was worth the isk. As a exploration vessel, the Loki performed admirably with any task I gave it from dodging lowsec gate camps to handling a 6/10 plex with only a couple warp outs. Those warp outs were due mainly to my nervousness about getting a brand new expensive ship blown away by rats more than anything. Here is the fit I decided to go with while exploring in Bloodraider areas:
[Loki, explo eft]
Republic Fleet Gyrostabilizer
Republic Fleet Gyrostabilizer
Republic Fleet Gyrostabilizer
Damage Control II
Codebreaker I
Corelum C-Type 10MN Afterburner
Pithi B-Type Small Shield Booster
Large Shield Extender II
Invulnerability Field II
Sisters Expanded Probe Launcher, Sisters Core Scanner Probe I
Covert Ops Cloaking Device II
220mm Vulcan AutoCannon II, Republic Fleet Fusion M
220mm Vulcan AutoCannon II, Republic Fleet Fusion M
220mm Vulcan AutoCannon II, Republic Fleet Fusion M
220mm Vulcan AutoCannon II, Republic Fleet Fusion M
220mm Vulcan AutoCannon II, Republic Fleet Fusion M
Medium Gravity Capacitor Upgrade I
Medium Anti-EM Screen Reinforcer I
Medium Anti-Thermal Screen Reinforcer I
Loki Defensive – Adaptive Shielding
Loki Electronics – Emergent Locus Analyzer
Loki Offensive – Covert Reconfiguration
Loki Engineering – Augmented Capacitor Reservoir
Loki Propulsion – Fuel Catalyst
With my skills and implants: DPS: 403 close / 321 Barrage Tank: 242 omni / 337 bloodraiders Capstable@ 37% w/o the codebreaker Probe scan strength: 95 Speed: 750 m/s EHP: 47232
I juggled between an active and passive shield fit for a few days before putting this together. I could find no way to make a passive tank work while still dealing adequate DPS. The low slots had to be moved from gyros to SPRs. That coupled with the blooming signature meant the trade offs were to great for me. I opted for a large extender over a boost amplifier for the increased shield hitpoints as I felt 3000 some odd just wasn’t enough. The 220mm ACs help deal with tracking problems of frigates versus medium turrets without the need for a web or TE.
If anyone has ideas about how to improve the overall performance of this loadout please let me know. ( Aside from upgrading some of the modules to faction or better deadspace as appropriate. )
July 15, 2010 | Categories: Commentary | Tags: Exploration, Loki | 1 Comment »