Missioning lalala @Morganti

[Crayonbox]

I could have done this via pm, but figured it might be worthwhile to have it available for info on the board so making a new thread.

Directing the question at morganti because you seem to be the most active here on this board, so my question is this,

You say you run L4 missions for quite a bit of isk, but how is the question here. Do you just accept 4 - 5 missions at the same time and run them all and come back to hand them all in, or do 1 missions at a time? Are there specific missions that are skipped?

I read some posts about running stealth bombers and battleships and a mixed bunch of hull combos, but what in your exp is your fav combo?

I am personally leaning towards 2 abaddon 2 guardian 1 noctis set up or 1 abaddon 2 tengu 1 logi 1 noctis set up.

I know the tengu seems weird, but since abaddon guns have a hard time tracking frigates, figured the missiles from tengus would fair better against frigates and help supplement long range of abaddon tachs. the weird part would be that tengus are shield tanked so they would need to be passive buffer tanked. and if they lost their shields, i might have a problem... but this is all in my head and havent actually tried applying any of it.

thoughts?

[Morganti]

Ok, First: mission hubs!!! Find a place where your chosen NPC corporation has multiple agents in a station, in a system, or within a few jumps of each other. I prefer not to give my mission hub away on here (in case I go back later why give intel in public), but a little research will reward you in spades. That said, I had 2 level 4 agents in a station, another 1 jump from those, another 1 jump from those in a different direction, and 1 more 2 jumps from that central 2 agent station (this one I only used sparingly when the others didn't give me what I wanted).

Second: get multiple characters who can all do level 4 missions. I had 3 (out of 5 toons) who could all do level 4's (5's actually). When you log on send all of these toons out in shuttles to hit every agent. Decline missions that suck and try a second time. If you get another crappy offer then just sit on the offer and wait at least 4 hours and go decline it and ask for another.

Third: do some research on exactly what missions you're looking to hammer out. If you have a noctis toon but do a lot of missions with crappy loot/no loot/crappy salvage then you're wasting that toon and/or your time. I refer once again to this guide http://jestertrek.blogspot.com/2012/02/solo-l4-missioning-part-3.html with the caveat that it's written for a soloer and you're no soloer. Use the guide to decide what missions have good salvage/loot. The 3 missions I would normally touch were Gone Berserk (good loot/salvage/bounties, 1 pocket, no gate), the Enemies Abound chain (for tags that sell awesome and you can use the tags for LP items with that LP you're building up), and third when neither of those were popping much Damsel in Distress (good loot/salvage/bounties, 1 pocket, no gate). Enemies Abound was especially good because it was a 5 parter (I was doing like 8 of this mission at once sometimes) but be aware it screws up your faction with (in my case gallente and minmatar) the opposite factions and you cant fly in their space. Won't affect your logi pilots though.

Fourth: Yes, I would go out and hammer every mission I could without returning to station until I was done. The noctis would often have to stop after 3-4 missions and drop loot, but the rest can stay out and kill. I would then either turn them in on the way back to my home station (if agents were on the way) or return to home and run around in shuttles turning everything in (make sure to get required items like the damsel and stick it in your cargo). Another good side effect of sticking with certain missions is you get more efficient with them over time, so faster = more isk. You'll learn to adjust fits (AB vs MWD on ships, less tank more gank, etc) to help with this too.

Fifth: my favorite ship combo is buffer fitted tachyon Nightmares (2) and Basilisks (2) and Noctis. You don't NEED the logi's if you're willing to drop a billion per Nightmare on fittings, but I would sometimes have to emergency AFK and the basi's would keep the nightmares up without fear (and faction fitted Nightmares are juicy targets for gankers). Abaddons work (beams, tachs are hard to fit and pulses have sucky range for missions), Ravens work (cruise, torp is too short range imo), Probably Minmatar BS's (I don't fly them) etc. The only thing I'll point out is killing the frigs is a pain. If you're willing to run a 6th or leave the noctis at home a ship that can kill frigs will make those clears go faster (drones work, just slowly). When you run 2 logi's pretty much any dps will work, you just need something you can fly well and fit well. Remember efficiency is the key. Having 20 battleships would let you melt all the cruisers and battleships in a mission super fast, but then you're left with frigs to clear....

Sixth: NEVER EVER EVER mix a shield and armor fleet. It's just bad juju all around. Remember that AI has changed and rats WILL switch targets, so be prepared to rep any ship you bring which means it needs a correct buffer fit to live while you are flipping reps. If you have your heart set on Tengu(s) then make it a shield fleet and use Minmatar or Caldari or Pirate Battleships to match (also shield logi helps you bring in noctis earlier as it's shield tanked). If you have your heart set on Abaddons then go for Legion or Loki for frig killing instead of Tengu. Either way use buffer/resist fits (I'd get 70%+ resistances for every damage type and multiple plates/extenders) to start, then start toning down the tank as you're comfort level with repping rises. Always omni-tank the resistances though as you dont want to have to hit a station to change resistances on the fly when you're hammering missions out.

[Crayonbox]

with giving it away, i think ive actually used the same hub for missions, but solo. my oldest char flies an abaddon, hence why i was already set on flying abaddons and armor tanking. well all that information was very helpful. i thank you very much

[Kalbo]

L4 are easy... used to do them with 4 drakes, was slow but the tank was enough as long as i killed triggers last and frigs first. I would suggest making things easier on yourself and drop the logi since theyr overkill for L4, if you cant afford NMs just do Navy geddons with RR and self reps even regular geddons was enough to do 8/10 maybe 9/10 for sansha (was easier then because they didnt switch). Having your characters all the same is so much easier especially since your using isboxer anyways, just have the overview all the same.

I dont salvage my anomalies in null, since the time it takes for me to salvage and run a site is the about same but only make half as much with salvaging. Then you have to worry about moving out of null, putting things up on the market, was more profitable to just run more anoms. Do some tests maybe you dont even need a dedicated salvager and either making him an extra dps would be better or even just dropping it all together. Just find what is most efficient.

[Brax]

Kalbo's experience is pretty much my experience in terms of how "salvage" is considered in Null or any other mission above 3's. If salvage turns out to be less profitable than just spam-killing missions for bounties/LP I'll just spam missions. Plus salvaging is tedious and boring. Less efficient -> gtfo :D!