So, today has been my first day playing EVE in about a month and a half. I'm rusty but I'm having a lot of fun getting back into the game.
First things first. The amazing friend spoken of in my post earlier today got all my Core skills up to Standard (look at the certificates if you don't know what that means) and trained up the prerequisites for both T2 Warrior drones and a Covetor, among other things. Anyways, I had a lot of shiny new stuff I could use, which unfortunately meant I had to spend my shiny ISK. I guess to get something shiny you have to give up something shiny?
All in all, I shelled out about fifty million ISK today. For some of you, that might not sound like much, but for me, it's almost exactly half my savings. With it, I bought a Covetor, five T2 Warriors for it, and a poor man's fit. It's not exactly the most intelligent thing I could have done with my money, as I'll be able to replace almost all of the T1 modules on that barge in just a few days with T2, but I think I've already made up a lot of the price.
Covetors
Anyways, time for the ever-present fitting rundown. I don't have a snazzy graphic for this one because I'm on an iPad and you can't really do that sort of thing very easily.
Do Not Pass Go (Covetor, Asteroid Mining)
High Slots
Strip Miner I
Strip Miner I
Strip Miner I
Mid Slots
Survey Scanner I
Low Slots
Expanded Cargohold II
Mining Laser Upgrade I
As you can see, this is hardly an inspired fit. After the new changes to mining barges, which I really didn't know anything about at the time I made this fit, I think the Expanded Cargohold II is kind of useless. I'll probably be replacing it with another MLU as soon as I can. If there is a use for it, can someone tell me?
This Covetor hauls in so much more than my old Scythe that the two don't really compare. I can fill a jetcan in about 30 minutes with this thing without even trying, while it took about 45 with my Scythe if I was really paying attention. That's the other nice thing about the Covetor - the cycle is a lot longer on the Strip Miners, meaning I've got more time to check D-Scan and local chat, talk to corpmates, and do whatever else I want to before I have to pull ore from my hold into the jetcan. The ore hold can also hold two Strip Miner cycles, compared to my Scythe, which could only hold one cycle of Miner II's. Basically, it leaves a lot more room for me to mess up. And that's good, because I mess up a lot.
I managed to mine two jetcans in about an hour and a half this morning, counting the time I used to piddle around with skillbooks and find my Mammoth, which I had left lying around in a forgotten station a few jumps away. Overall, mining with the Covetor is a lot more profitable and a lot more relaxed than mining with the Scythe, and I like it much more. I suppose I'm a bigger target for gankers, but I mine in a very quiet system where it's usually just me and the alliance members plus about three random people. I'm also sometimes in a group with more experienced players who have a better idea of when to run than I do.
I managed to mine two jetcans in about an hour and a half this morning, counting the time I used to piddle around with skillbooks and find my Mammoth, which I had left lying around in a forgotten station a few jumps away. Overall, mining with the Covetor is a lot more profitable and a lot more relaxed than mining with the Scythe, and I like it much more. I suppose I'm a bigger target for gankers, but I mine in a very quiet system where it's usually just me and the alliance members plus about three random people. I'm also sometimes in a group with more experienced players who have a better idea of when to run than I do.
Warriors
On to my new T2 drones. Honestly, I've forgotten how my old T1 ones performed because it's been so long, but the T2's are supposed to be a big step up. Either way, they've served me pretty well.
I was surprised to learn that the Covetor had 50 meters cubed of drone space, and I quickly filled half of it up with five Warrior II's. The other half I planned to fill with mining drones, but was surprised again when I discovered you needed a separate skill to fly mining drones. So those will have to wait until I get around to training it.
Right after buying my drones, I warped into a belt and ran into five Angel Cartel rats. Three were the normal combat frigates, but the other two were a miner and an industrial. Unfortunately, I've forgotten their names, but I'd never seen either of those ship types before and I wasn't sure what they were. Since those two weren't targeting me, I was afraid to release my drones lest they got a bit banged up.
Finally, I chose to just let the drones out and hope for the best. As expected, the three combat ships were easy work and I moved on to the miner and the industrial. I finally realized what they might be when my drones destroyed the miner without it firing a shot, and my suspicions were confirmed when I asked about it in Alliance chat. Unfortunately, the industrial warped out before I could kill him, but the miner had nice loot for a frigate.
Nothing too important, but I thought it was interesting.
Finally, I chose to just let the drones out and hope for the best. As expected, the three combat ships were easy work and I moved on to the miner and the industrial. I finally realized what they might be when my drones destroyed the miner without it firing a shot, and my suspicions were confirmed when I asked about it in Alliance chat. Unfortunately, the industrial warped out before I could kill him, but the miner had nice loot for a frigate.
Nothing too important, but I thought it was interesting.
Crunchies
All right, you might be thinking. I get why you said "Covetors" - that's a mining barge. And "Warriors," because those are drones. But "Crunchies"? What in the world is a Crunchy?
Good question. My corp's name is Crunchy Crunchy, and I was trying to think up some nice-sounding name for this blog post. I knew I wanted to talk about my Covetor, my drones, and my corp. But "Covetor, Warriors, and Crunchy Crunchy" or "Covetor, Warriors, and Corp Stuff" didn't really have a flair to it. So I will hereby call my corpmates Crunchies, because it sounded cooler in a blog post title. I've got great priorities, no?
You also might be wondering why my corp's name is Crunchy Crunchy. Another good question. And the answer is that I have absolutely no idea. I'll have to ask my CEO.
Anyways, time for me to get to the point.
My CEO and some members of the corp and alliance have decided to move into lowsec space. Quitea few of them are veteran PvPer's - one has owned a Rorqual and some other capitals before, and participated in battles with scores of supercarriers involved. So to them, lowsec probably isn't much. Some of them went in, checked out the system we were thinking about, and all seems well, so some of us are going to be living over there now.
I have to say that I really like the idea of living in lowsec. It's got more danger, but I'm surrounded by nice people who know a lot about this sort of stuff and are more than willing to teach me the ropes. And I know I can make more cash in lowsec if we manage to get a mining op set up there. I've wanted to PvP in EVE for a while, and now it seems like I may have my chance.
However, I have a few problems. For one thing, I have no working microphone. I bought a new one a few weeks ago while I was travelling (nice microphone for a price I'd never get back home), but then the airlines destroyed it by rough baggage handling on the flight back. I've got nothing else that works, so that means I'm more or less unable to communicate quickly and effectively when I really need to. I'm pretty sure I'll be able to pick up a cheap mic in the next two or three weeks, and considering I'm low on ISK right now, I might want to make a few hundred million to spend on new frigates and cruisers to PvP in.
The other thing I'm not entirely sure of is the distribution of corp members across our old base in highsec and our new one in lowsec. I know some people have elected to stay behind, but I'm not sure how many. I don't think I want to be out there without a few guys around to back me up, but my lowsec moneymaking potential will be seriously gimped if one member's decided to move into lowsec. Currently, he refines and hauls my ore for me (same guy who was nice enough to train my skills while I was gone), and while I can do a reasonably okay job hauling to the nearest trade hub with a Mammoth, my refining and trade skills are terrible.
I'm not entirely sure what to do right now. I think I'll clear up on the uncertainties I have on where everyone is going before I make a decision. Right now I'm leaning towards staying in highsec until I can get another headset, though.
However, I have a few problems. For one thing, I have no working microphone. I bought a new one a few weeks ago while I was travelling (nice microphone for a price I'd never get back home), but then the airlines destroyed it by rough baggage handling on the flight back. I've got nothing else that works, so that means I'm more or less unable to communicate quickly and effectively when I really need to. I'm pretty sure I'll be able to pick up a cheap mic in the next two or three weeks, and considering I'm low on ISK right now, I might want to make a few hundred million to spend on new frigates and cruisers to PvP in.
The other thing I'm not entirely sure of is the distribution of corp members across our old base in highsec and our new one in lowsec. I know some people have elected to stay behind, but I'm not sure how many. I don't think I want to be out there without a few guys around to back me up, but my lowsec moneymaking potential will be seriously gimped if one member's decided to move into lowsec. Currently, he refines and hauls my ore for me (same guy who was nice enough to train my skills while I was gone), and while I can do a reasonably okay job hauling to the nearest trade hub with a Mammoth, my refining and trade skills are terrible.
I'm not entirely sure what to do right now. I think I'll clear up on the uncertainties I have on where everyone is going before I make a decision. Right now I'm leaning towards staying in highsec until I can get another headset, though.
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