C5 WH - Ishtar, VNI, Domi, or Tengu?

[Alzuule]

im running 5 VNIs 1 ishtar and 2 basilisks, VNIs do about 580 dps each with curators and ishtar does 630 dps, got tengu links running at a safe. its the cheapest and least skill intensive setup i could figure out. So far ive almost lost a VNI twice due to not paying attention cause of salvaging but its a risk i feel is worth taking seeing as a VNI is super cheap and i usually only run the core garrisons which are easy and pay the most ( blue loot wise ). I thought you included salvage which is why i was suprised, makes better sense now

plan is to get the links on grid in an eos at some point too, this both adds to the dps and means you dont have to watch out that your links doesnt get ganked by something during site running. 1.2-1.7b is pretty amazing for blue loot only, with the proteus tank i'd feel alot better with salvaging. Im probably going to train up for drone proteus as well once im done training up my highsec alts, while the VNIs do fine it does get stressful when you have to be on the ball all the time to avoid going dangerously low.

[K'man]

im running 5 VNIs 1 ishtar and 2 basilisks, VNIs do about 580 dps each with curators and ishtar does 630 dps, got tengu links running at a safe. its the cheapest and least skill intensive setup i could figure out. So far ive almost lost a VNI twice due to not paying attention cause of salvaging but its a risk i feel is worth taking seeing as a VNI is super cheap and i usually only run the core garrisons which are easy and pay the most ( blue loot wise ). I thought you included salvage which is why i was suprised, makes better sense now

plan is to get the links on grid in an eos at some point too, this both adds to the dps and means you dont have to watch out that your links doesnt get ganked by something during site running. 1.2-1.7b is pretty amazing for blue loot only, with the proteus tank i'd feel alot better with salvaging. Im probably going to train up for drone proteus as well once im done training up my highsec alts, while the VNIs do fine it does get stressful when you have to be on the ball all the time to avoid going dangerously low.

Are you running shield fleets for this setup?

I am looking at possibly running all eos with guardians but not sure.

[gomeler]

Are you running shield fleets for this setup?

I am looking at possibly running all eos with guardians but not sure.

basi implies shield. I run shield VNIs also but I'm ~2 weeks out of C5 sites. Instant reps can be very forgiving, especially when I forget to setup the cap chain between my logi. Kind of tempted by armor with the cap passive tanking modules, as sometimes my DPS ships get neuted out, but I've got overkill on reps to combat that for the time being.

[Alzuule]

Biggest problem with running shield is the darn active hardeners shutting off all the time on the VNIs when they are neuted for more then half a minute, although with the tengu links they still tank the highest dps wave in core garrisons even when the adaptive invuln is offline.

[gomeler]

Biggest problem with running shield is the darn active hardeners shutting off all the time on the VNIs when they are neuted for more then half a minute, although with the tengu links they still tank the highest dps wave in core garrisons even when the adaptive invuln is offline.

Yup, can be a gigantic pain in the ass. I EFT'd a fit with passive resist modules but it was too big of a hit to shield EHP for me to consider for the slight inconvenience.

[Alzuule]

K'man, using Eos is a good idea since they are very strong dps wise and got good tank, however they take a really long time to train into so i would probably try out drone proteus or ishtars/VNIs first then skill into eos if you find that either of those dont work out for you.

[K'man]

Reading a lot of the replies and what I have gathered there are some recurring issues with opinions on almost all setups.

1. Nuets are the devil to any ship
2. Range of your weapons not hitting your target
3. Not enough EHP to feel comfortable
4. To much micromanaging

These are the top 4 concerns I have seen repeatedly in this thread.

I may have a solution to these concerns. Besides the Droneus I have an opposite approach to this.

OneModWonder

Tengu - C5 WH Test.jpg

Its counterpart!

Basilisk - C5 WH Test.jpg

The Tengu has 676 DPS, 106,000 EHP, decent resists and you only have to activate one module. It's counterpart has its pair to run way more than enough cap to each other without worrying of being nueted out. One thing I forgot to mention about the Tengu is that if you get nueted completely and your sitting there with no cap at all. It doesn't matter as your tank and dps still is the same.

IN a multiboxing perspective especially for C5 wh activities 9 Tengu and 2 Basi. No links and with a booster in the fleet it does raise the EHP significantly even without links. Compared to the Droneus it is comparable in many areas.

Would this work? What do you all think?

[Alzuule]

very good tengu fit, some of the BS spawns hover at about 70-80km though so you would have to move closer to hit but i guess thats not a problem when you dont use sentries. only downside i can think off is the that you arent using drones ( need ammo and reloads ) and that you probably wouldnt have more then 65km range realistically unless you train all 5 missile skills right away so you would have to move 10km every now and then to get in range which would suck without a prop mod.

one way to get past the range issue would be to do 100km warp in -> warp to structure or just be moving towards future spawns from the start.

[K'man]

One major thing I forgot to mention was that I can change ammo to caldari navy scourge and it'll put me at a range of 94km but reduces my dps to 576 per tengu. Training for this exact fitting only takes 4-6 months. I'd just wait till they get within 70km and change ammo.

Most drone boats I've seen except for the Ishtar has a range of 50-60km with curators. Ishtars reach 70km with curators. Wouldn't you still need to move closer to the spawn points or wait 45 seconds for heavy drones to get there and have the chances of them getting popped and have to be replaced? I have not done any of these so I am just speculating.

[Alzuule]

i can start killing things at 80km with my VNI/ishtar setup, at 70km it does almot full dps.

gotta remember that optimal+falloff means 50% dps, so you will still hit some at 80km with unbonused sentries it just wont be that much. However the battleships that keep at those ranges have the weakest tank so its fine really.

my conclusion is that your tengu fit is awesome apart from the ammo dependency since it basicly does VNI dps out to past VNI range and max skill ishtar dps within 70km. Of course theres the delay before volley hits but oh well lose some win some.