Dominix Fit - The Droneboat

Ahh, trusty space potato

Here is my Dominix level 4 mission running fit. The Domi is a warhorse of EVE, for both PvP and PvE. It has one of the biggest drone holds of any battleship, a very solid armor tanker with seven low slots, and six high slots to pack a punch. For an idea on common fits look no further than Eve Uni. This is what my sniper fit looks like:

And here it is in EFT plain text (I hope this means people can copy and paste it into EFT; if you are too lazy to put all this in manually, Eve mail me: TrickyH Shazli and I'll send you the fit).

[Dominix, Domi latest Serp]
Damage Control II
Armor Kinetic Hardener II
Large Armor Repairer II
Armor Thermic Hardener II
Drone Damage Amplifier II
Drone Damage Amplifier II
Drone Damage Amplifier II
Sensor Booster II, Targeting Range Script
Omnidirectional Tracking Link II
Cap Recharger II
Heavy Electrochemical Capacitor Booster I, Cap Booster 400
Large Micro Jump Drive
Drone Link Augmentor II
Drone Link Augmentor II
Large 'Solace' Remote Armor Repairer
425mm Prototype Gauss Gun, Antimatter Charge L
425mm Prototype Gauss Gun, Antimatter Charge L
425mm Prototype Gauss Gun, Antimatter Charge L
Large Auxiliary Nano Pump I
Large Sentry Damage Augmentor I
Large Capacitor Control Circuit I
Hammerhead II x5
Hobgoblin II x5
Warden II x5
Garde II x5
Salvage Drone I x5

Why a big space potato like the Dominix? Firstly, there's a logical progression in Gallente skill training through smaller ships like the Vexor and Myrmidon. You can use a lot of the same basic modules and skills for your tank, guns, and drones as you work your way up. As missioner ships go, the Dominix is on the cheaper end, and it can be skilled for at tech 1 within 30 days, so even if you progress onto something more blingy, it's a good ship to aim for if you're interested in missioneering.

Most of my DPS with this boat comes from the drones, which is par for the course with the Domi. Longer range sentry drones hit out comfortably to the 102km drone command limit using two Drone Link Augmentors (and 7 mil SP in drones, mind). Sentries are fantastic for DPS, but they can get a bit painful to come back for and pick up, especially in a slowboat like this, so you end up sitting in space while they go to work. When I first started on a battleship I tried flying without using them, with heavy drones instead, and it's WAAAY tougher tactically.

The Droneboat in action

My standard tactic for a l4 mission in this ship is pretty simple: if the 'rats are within 50km of the warp-in point, I microjump out to around 100km range, load up some Iron or Lead charges, drop the Wardens and start picking off the frigates while they are busy moving straight towards me, working my way up in size until everything has gone pop. So long as you carefully manage pocket aggro, most missions can be completed this way without ever needing to warp out.

I fly for Gallente corps at the moment, which means a lot of Serpentis, who basically can't hit you at 100km. Angel Cartel can be a pain - especially the bonus room on Angel Extravaganza, in which I often have to warp out after taking out the turrets, which means a 5 minute slowboat back through all the other rooms. Another note on corporations: unlike the Eve Uni fit with Energized Adaptive Nano Membranes providing across the board resistance increases, I fit two active modules. The two in the example are tailored to Serpentis - Thermic and Kinetic - but I swap them out based on the advice of Eve Survival.

You'll notice I have Salvage Drones in there, but using Cap Booster 400 to keep that tank running means you'll only just have enough room for the MTU, so you definitely need to keep another looting ship handy. I have a Vexor fit with salvagers, and just use the Domi's salvage drones when you have some sort of slowboat distance to travel, or when you're in a fleet and helping to chew through a room before moving onto the next mission.

Flying with a Domi like this in a fleet is very powerful. It's got a solid tank so it's great to take aggro while newbro corp-mates bring in cruisers or destroyers and pick off targets. Multiple Domis can tear through tough missions like AE or the Epic Arcs. I'll be trying the Gallente arc for the first time soon, so look forward to reading about that :)

Mission Running

Since this is my first post in the series about the kinds of activities I do in EVE (what I'll be calling my "confessions"), a note: I'll cover all the basics of how to go about doing it, but not in particularly great depth as there are generally much better how-to guides out there. I'll link any of those I've found useful. Instead I'll spend most of my time talking about the "why" - why it is I do this part of the game, why I take enjoyment out of it, why I'm repping for the people who do these kinds of activities and get tarnished with the label "carebear" for it.

The What 

Mission running is one of the most basic Player Vs Environment (PVE) activities in EVE, starting with the tutorial missions that introduce the player to the game mechanics and give you your first ships. You dock your ship in a station owned by an NPC corporation. Agents of that corporation offer you a mission, generally involving flying somewhere, doing something (blowing up pirates (rats), mining ice or asteroids (roids), couriering an item), and coming back when you've completed the objectives for your reward. The more missions you do with a particular corp the higher your standing with them gets - and as your standing grows, more agents and better missions become available to you.
 

The Where

Anywhere there's an NPC station there's generally some sort of agents available. Players tend to concentrate their efforts in "mission hubs", though, where several high-level agents of the same type are available in close proximity, so if one gives you a bad mission you can move onto another.

The How

As always, the best place to study the mechanics is Eve Uni Wiki's page on the topic. The majority of mission running, particularly at the high end, is done for Security agents, and involved blowing up a deadspace pocket(s) full of rats for the bounty on their heads, the salvage you can take from their wrecks, and the ISK and corporation Loyalty Points (LP) you get given for completing the mission.

A few notes:

• always check the mission out on Eve Survival. Their search function can be screwy so I usually end up googling the mission name, faction and level to get the details. They catalogue exactly what kind of damage will be done by who as well as giving handy tips on managing aggression and how to blitz the mission if that's your goal.
• I've only recently started using a Mobile Tractor Unit. This is a noobish thing to admit, but whatever. As soon as you can afford to buy one, do it; definitely by the time you are running level 3 missions. Pop it down as soon as you enter the pocket and as you're blowing stuff up it's hauling it in and stripping it of modules, allowing you to get right to the business of salvaging the wrecks once you're done blowing everything up. SUCH a timesaver.
• Flying in a fleet is great when you are starting level 4s, especially if you're only skilled to BattleCruiser level or only just got into a Battleship. I lost my first Dominix to lowly NPC rats flying solo; having a more experienced player along for the ride meant I wasn't riding on the edge of my tank. 
• That being said, once you've trained the skills and got the procedures down to comfortably solo a L4 mission, you probably lose ISK flying in a fleet compared to what you could be making doing it yourself - unless the fleet is well organised with a dedicated salvager and logi. 

The Why

Mission running is a pretty basic form of PVE activity in EVE, but after two years of running level 4s it's still fun to crack your knuckles, warp in on the bonus room of Angel Extravaganza, and let rip on a whole fleet of rats. Plus there's something fun about tinkering with a fit, or coming up with a new one, and trying things a little differently. If you're after something a little more challenging, there's the Epic Arc missions - once you get standing to 5 with a faction you get access to this narrative-driven series of missions, generally tougher than their equivalent level. Another option for a challenge is the recently introduced burner missions - a special type where you can only fly frigates, and will face a single enemy with the equivalent fit and skills of another player. I'm yet to do one!

Why spend time mission running: it's pretty safe ISK, good reliable isk per hour, and more fun than putting lasers on rocks. Plus it's pretty much the only way to increase your faction standings, which come in handy for things like refining and sales.

Why not: once you've run the same mission a few times over they can get pretty tedious, and it's also not the most lucrative PVE activity by far. For me it's a staple; when our corp isn't at war I like to put in a good couple of hours of solo missioning, plus our corp's once weekly mission fleet, as a minimum. But once I've done that I'm usually looking for another way to make the ISK.

Mission "griefing" - hostile players warping in on your deadspace and taking your kills/attacking you - isn't that common in high sec space. Although it does happen, it's only occured to me once in several years - so much less so than miner ganking,. However a good l4 mission fit is a more expensive boat to risk than a miner and requires more skill points to fly well (in a coming post I'll link my normal Dominix fit and discuss some tactics). There's no such thing as risk-free ISK in EVE, but the risk for missioning is minimal.

Despite the above considerations, I think missions are a great fleet activity. They are a good way for newbies to cut their teeth on the procedures of flying in a fleet, as well as for the vets to help newbies turn in for higher level rewards quicker than they'd make on their own, and a way to make some ISK while having a laugh - I'll never forget two corpies starting a duel over the 10m3 of Quafe needed to complete a mission! For us, a corp of mostly high sec care bears who dip our toes into other areas, Mission Mondays is a common denominator.