February 1, 2014

Which CovOps is the best scanboat?

I'm wrapping up all of the faction frigate 5 skills, which meant that when I thought to myself "I should bring a scanning boat into the home system" then it meant I had options for the first time.  I have two Helios since I originally trained Gallente, and one Buzzard I won in a contest, but what would be the best covops for this job?

The Limitations: I do not have perfect skills in this area, so I'm looking for what ships are best for me.  However, I think these results will be equally good for over pilots too since nothing here hinges on the fact that all my Astro* skills are not at 5.

The Goal: I'm looking for the best ship to scan down sites, WHs, and ships in a lowsec system.  I want to do this while cloaked, not surprisingly.  I don't have cyno skills, so we're not looking at trying to mount that - but I'll get back to that.  Other than scanning bonuses, align time has a mild benefit.

Cheetah

The Cheetah is the worst of the CovOps ships for this purpose.  The Cheetah has the same slot layout as the Anathema, but the lower CPU capability means I need to put in a Co-Processor in to fit that extra Scan Pinpointing Array.  Without the third Nano, it is actually slower to align than the Anathema at 3.7s.

[Cheetah, Scanner]
Co-Processor II
Nanofiber Internal Structure II
Nanofiber Internal Structure II

Scan Acquisition Array II
Scan Pinpointing Array I
Scan Rangefinding Array I
Scan Pinpointing Array I

Sisters Expanded Probe Launcher, Core Scanner Probe I
Covert Ops Cloaking Device II
[empty high slot]

Small Gravity Capacitor Upgrade I
Small Gravity Capacitor Upgrade I

Anathema

I feel the Anathema would be the second worst for this mission.  With four mid slots I can get one of each of the scan upgrades, plus an additional Scan Pinpointing Array.  The nano-filled lowslots means that the align time has dropped to a snappy 3.5s.

[Anathema, Scanner]
Nanofiber Internal Structure II
Nanofiber Internal Structure II
Nanofiber Internal Structure II

Scan Acquisition Array II
Scan Pinpointing Array I
Scan Rangefinding Array I
Scan Pinpointing Array I

Covert Ops Cloaking Device II
Sisters Expanded Probe Launcher, Core Scanner Probe I
[empty high slot]

Small Gravity Capacitor Upgrade I
Small Gravity Capacitor Upgrade I

Buzzard

The Buzzard is a strong runner, but not the best.  Thanks to the Buzzard's a 3/5/2 slot layout, I can put an extra Scan Pinpointing and Scan Rangefinding Array.  That does mean I need a Co-Processor though, so only one Nano - and thus an align of 4.3s.

[Buzzard, Scanner]
Co-Processor II
Nanofiber Internal Structure II

Scan Rangefinding Array I
Scan Pinpointing Array I
Scan Acquisition Array I
Scan Pinpointing Array I
Scan Rangefinding Array I

Sisters Expanded Probe Launcher, Core Scanner Probe I
Covert Ops Cloaking Device II
[empty high slot]

Small Gravity Capacitor Upgrade I
Small Gravity Capacitor Upgrade I

Helios

Barely edging out the Buzzard is the Helios.  The Helios as a 2/5/3 + drone layout.  This means I can get the extra Pinpointing and Rangefinding arrays, plus two Nanos after the Co-Processor.  Plus I have a last-ditch OMGWTF Hornet ECM drone - though I doubt I can get it on someone who has pointed me faster than they can pop me.  And the align time is down to 3.6 seconds.  Alternatively I could swap the Nanos for Warp Stabs and require someone to bring 3 points to stop me before I can align in 4.9 seconds.

As a sidenote: I'm rather happy to say that I couldn't figure out where the warp core stabs were in the EFT interface and had to search for them.  There's really no point to the T2 Warp Stab, is there?

[Helios, scanner]
Nanofiber Internal Structure II
Nanofiber Internal Structure II
Co-Processor II

Scan Acquisition Array II
Scan Pinpointing Array I
Scan Rangefinding Array I
Scan Pinpointing Array I
Scan Rangefinding Array I

Covert Ops Cloaking Device II
Sisters Expanded Probe Launcher I, Core Scanner Probe I

Small Gravity Capacitor Upgrade I
Small Gravity Capacitor Upgrade I

Hornet EC-300 x1

Bottom Line

So I guess I was lucky as a Gallente pilot - the Helios is the best CovOps for system scanning.  For other purposes - the Buzzard and Helios could forgo the extra scan arrays and put in a Data and Relic Analyzer if you're interested in such things.  If you are thinking of things Cyno, then the Anathema and Cheetah do have the advantage of having the third high slot to put a Covert Cynosural Field Generator in.

Oh and I just realized all this fittings list a Core Scanner Probe.  For this job of course I'd be using Sister's probes.

6 comments:

  1. Replies
    1. While that wasn't one of my criteria,I agree with you entirely.

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    2. Next you will say something silly like, "The yellowness of the Venture does not enhance its abilities."

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    3. That sounds like something for your next Origin of a Spaceship article. Perhaps the yellow-and-black coloration of the Venture originally evolved as a purpose similar to the bright colors of stinging and poisonous insects. It screams "you can't eat me" to the other spaceships, evolved in line with their inherent warp stability.

      Delete
    4. Clever. I'll give you a citation :)

      Delete
  2. Impact on targeting speed and range is ever so slightly less with t2 stabs. Not really worth it, might be if you tried to do a Ghost site while stabbed where every second counts.

    ReplyDelete