I'm looking at picking up a Dominix to start running level 4 missions. Currently in my Brutix I rake in about 3-6 million per mission with salvage. Looking at the base price for these Battleships it seems that a fit would cost me around 100mil or higher. Will level 4 missions net me much more than level 3's? How long would it take me to earn back my investment?
Just fyi, I have quite a nest egg so please no "only buy ships you can afford to lose!" comments.
Romain
[ Editor ]
As a new player, the golden rule : "don't fly it if you cannot lose it" is hard to follow. Since your first battleship will most likely dry out your wallet, you will have to take the chance...
Given that L4 will yield more money, it's a safe investment to go with your battleship before being able to buy a second one.
Still, make sure your minize risks :
You cannot fail that way. Sure it's slower, but at least you don't lose the ship !
Isk will come in at steady pace.
Better safe than dead :)
I disagree with this. It’s not hard to follow the “golden rule” as a new player, at all, and it can even add to your enjoyment of individual ships and the process of truly getting to know them. Sure, not everyone does everything the same way; for example, my close in-game buddy and ratting partner did the faster, riskier method you describe here, but both are equally valid. Then again, with the billions in my wallet and even with my scores of ships and fits ranging from T1 frig through BS and T2 Transports, I am never in need. Meanwhile, my friend often has to take a loan from me.
Further, using the above techniques, you actually can still fail that way. Not that you couldn’t just spend some real life cash on a PLEX and easily get back on your feet for relatively cheap, but let’s call a spade a spade.
Well in that case your friend failed at some point… I can see a noob losing one BS while running L4s, but several…
I insist : for your first battleship it’s ok to take the risk, because the income is much bigger than keeping up with L3’s in your old Battlecruiser… Saving for 2 rigged and fitted BS in a BC running level 3 is… painfull :D You MIGHT want to try the riskier way, because staying true to the old saying is not always the best. Still by doing so you know what may happen… it’s eve after all ;)
Sure, I agree, just saying if you fail even once under conditions where you blew your whole wallet on one battleship doesn’t really afford you the second chance to get it right. You would have just blown your wad. If that’s not a big concern, then why not. Like I said, you can always PLEX your way back into a ship, regardless.
And, as a sidenote, my friend didn’t fail, he just likes to live on the edge of his wallet. He’s actually been quite successful with the risky route.
giselay
Most players makes the misstake to fly BS to soon. Of course they can fly the ship, but do they have the skills for the fitting? Thats where most players fail and they wonder why their BS cant tank or gank level 4's.
That’s correct, but hell eve is a slow starting game, so don’t suck the fun out of it :D Flying a battleship for the first time is a true achievement in ones capsuleer (numerous) life(s) :) Hence my advice to go “overtank” as a priority. Given he will fly a gallente BS, tech 2 hardeners are a must ^^
I’m well suited to fit a BS though> I make sure to get the appropriate recommended skills before flying a ship. I’m at 18mil sp and just bought my first BS (after training to recons and cov-ops).
dragonrider000
[ Editor ]
If i tried to tell you not to get in a battleship as fast as you can and don't fly it before you can fit it right i would be a hypocrite.
My first battleship was an abaddon and i had 7 plates, 4 shield extenders and 8 med pulse lasers. it was for pvp not pve needless to say and what was one of the first thing i did when i got it? went to null sec of course got my first bs kill a ratting maelstrom but died a few min later due to a fleet but the point is that its not always a really bad thing to fly a bs as soon as you can but i would wait for large weapons.
But to answer your question, if you are gallente, a mymridon will be a lot cheaper and almost as effective as a domi only thing is less dps. It can tank just as well if not better than a drake in some cases its a good substitute for a bs to run lvl 4s in until you get enough isk for a domi.
It also depends on what mission you run, for example regular pirate battleships will most of the time be a lot easier than drone battleships. Its wise to use a mission survival guide look at what spawns and judge for your self if you think you can tank it or not.
doctor neon
You don't need a battleship for L4s. With the right skills and fitting Drake will do fine. The only disadvantage is that it's slower.
I can attest that a passive shield Hurricane can also do most L4s (although it will take a long time to break the tank of some BS rats). I would guess that a Myrmidon with a T2 passive shield tank might also work as a slow, safe L4 runner.
nathan cox
[ Editor ]
There are lots of ways to make money. If you have standing for research agents now would be the time to invest in them. If you really want the BS just mission for awhile. Fours do provide more money/loot/salvage/LP and they are worthwhile. IF you do it right you could earn your money back in a day or two.
As for "Don't fly it if you can't afford to lose it" I take that to mean, never fly your very last ship. That way you always have one left over to do missions in, just in case.
Unfortunately I’m going to be running missions for the Gallente Federal Administration and they don’t have an R&D division (to my knowledge).
D. Sneckner, J.D.
[ Editor ]
Your question actually asks the following two questions, which no one else seems to have answered directly, and I will try to do so:
"Will level 4 missions net me much more than level 3's?"
Yes. Absolutely.
"How long would it take me to earn back my investment?"
Well, facts in your question indicate an estimated total BS cost of around 145-150 million isk. How long it will take you to earn that back is completely dependent on you, specifically in how skillful you (the player) are, which is totally subjective, but also in how ready you are to fly BSs.
As you can see from the following thread (http://www.eveonline.com/ingameboard.asp?a=topic&threadID=1333415), people talk about anything from around 10-100 million/hour. The better your skills, the faster it will go. If your support skills from flying a battleship are weak, I would recommend flying L4s with a friend or friends while you skill up, and blitzing them without worrying about salvage, because doing so will not be value-effective to your bottom line. Consider allowing a trusted friend to salvage your missions behind you for some kind of arrangement. In my opinion, the best mission running is with a friend.
As you support skills catch up to you, you can start to solo (if you wish, or you can still do it with friends) more safely and, thus, much more quickly, too. The faster your missions go, the more worthwhile salvaging them becomes. Salvaging can easily double your profit.
Castaspella
Put up a lowball buy order in a backwater region for your Domi, should be able to get one eventually, and spend far less than 100M if you can wait. Also, if you have decent drone skills (assuned since you are thinking Domi), try a Myrmadon for missioning while you wait for the cheap Domi.
I’ve made several billion through trade and in my experience, this method doesn’t work well, particularly for ships. In fact, there seems to be a directly inverse relationship with the success of this gameplan and the cost of the item. Manufacturers in backwater markets, if you can find one, don’t waste their minerals getting less than top dollar, just like anyone else, and will either wait you out or transport an already produced ship to a better market, rather than sell cheap. You’re better off and more likely to succeed buying from the lowest priced major market.
Everyone did a fantastic job providing responses. If I could “check” all of them I would. Thanks for the info guys – you make this site awesome.