Tuesday 28 May 2013

Guardian Incursion Guide - Fitting and Flying (Part 2)

Part one is here

So here's part two of my Logisitics Incursion guide for Guardian pilots. This part will mainly focus on the ship itself, i.e fitting it and some implants you might want to ease fitting. So let's get started!

The Guardian - Overview
The Guardian is a versatile logistics ship, and my personal favourite. It can run 4/2 or 5/1 equally effectively, has a utility mid for sensor links/tracking links and boasts extremely high resists (racial resists to exp/kin makes for a tough armour tank).  However 5/1 setups are usually for blitz fleets with two Logistics V Guardian pilots and nine DPS boats, the standard 4/2 fit with three Logistics ships is much more common. The 4/2 fit also allows the Guardian to supply other fleet members with cap if their partner is Logistics V, as they only need one transfer to keep everything running, which is great for those cap hungry Amarr battleships or MWD fleets.

There are some downsides to the Guardian also. They are heavily reliant on a cap chain, a Guardian without a cap chain is effectively useless. Also, fitting a Guardian with T2 reps along with a good tank is next to impossible without Genolutions, T2 fitting rigs and 5% fitting implants, which is verging on insane levels of investment for a comparatively small return. Therefore Guardians are almost always fit with Meta 4 reps, which means that Oneiroses (commonly fit with T2 reps) will frequently outrep Guardians. Make no mistake though; the Guardian is just as effective an Incursion Logi as an Oneiros.

Guardian fits
This first fit is aimed at the new Guardian pilot, aiming to maximise cost effectiveness without sacrificing tank or repping ability. Basically, it’s cheap, but it still works well.

Guardian - Basic New Bro Fit
Highs
4 x Large ‘Solace’ Remote Bulwark Reconstruction
2 x Large ‘Regard Power Projector

Mids
1 x 10mn Afterburner II
1 x Remote Sensor Booster II/Tracking Link II/Sensor Booster II

Lows
1 x Damage Control II
1 x Energized Adaptive Nano Membrane II
1 x 1600mm Reinforced Rolled Tungsten Plate I
1 x Imperial Navy Armour EM Hardener
1 x Imperial Navy Armour Thermic Hardener

Rigs
2 x Medium Ancillary Current Router II                      

Drones
Either 5 x Light Armour Maintenance Bot Is or 5 x Light drones of your choice

All of this fits with no implants.

Now this looks rather pricey at first glance when you look at the lows/rigs, but everything there is for a reason. The faction armour hardeners are for CPU issues, they don’t actually provide anything better than the bog-standard T2 versions other than that. Plus, they only cost between 10 - 20mil each, so they’re hardly going to bankrupt you. The rigs are another matter. If I remember correctly, T2 Ancillaries are going to set you back around 80mil each, and that’s obviously going to sting if you need to replace it.

If you’re not of a fan of dual T2 rigs, the first option you have is to replace on with a T1 rig and buy yourself an “Inherent Implants ‘Squire’ Engineering EG-603” Implant (3%) to fix your powergrid if you've got the slot spare. This implant only costs about 20mil, so it’s a good alternative if you've got room in your head. It’s also possible to cut down to two T1 rigs, but you’ll need both Genolution Implants (the CA-1 and the CA-2) and the 3% Engineering Implant to make it fit. However, the overall cost is usually lower than two T2 rigs. Once again, if you've got the headspace, I’d recommend this option. Losing your pod is much less likely than losing your ship.

Here's a little sum up for those who like things simplified. Remember these options assume perfect fitting skills!

Option 1: Two T2 Ancillary Current Routers
Option 2: One T1 and a T2 Ancillary Current Router plus a 3% Engineering Implant
Option 3: Two T1 Ancillary Current Routers plus both Genolution Implants plus a 3% Engineering Implant.

Personally I use Option 3, though all of them are viable. Choose whatever's best for you. Option 3 was the cheapest when I fit my Guardian, but prices can move around, so make sure to check before buying! 

Now to explain the fit a little. Highs are the common 4/2 variety, meaning four reps and two cap transfers. Mids are also fairly obvious, AB to help speed tank, and free mid is for whatever you most need. ReSebos are great for BS heavy fleets, while tracking links are helpful for both cruiser and BS hulls. You can also fit a personal sensor booster for HQ sites in order to lock and apply reps faster and keep people alive. The lowslots are purely dedicated to tank, the DCU and resist mods bringing you to 70% + on all resists, which is the baseline for an incursion ship. However, your lowest resist is 75%, which is hardly “low”, so you’ve got a strong tank. This is backed up nicely by the 1600mm plate, which provides your buffer for other logis to catch you before you explode. Also, the 1600mm plate is a requirement not an option. An 800mm simply does not provide enough armour HP despite the fact it makes fitting T2 reps easier.  As one of my FCs so artfully put it; “Get a 1600mm plate or GTFO of my fleet”.

So that’s the basic fit. What if you’ve got loads of liquid ISK sitting around and want to invest in survivability?

Guardian - Pimp Logi Fit
Highs
4 x Large ‘Solace’ Remote Bulwark Reconstruction
2 x Large ‘Regard Power Projector

Mids
1 x Republic Fleet 10mn Afterburner
1 x Remote Sensor Booster II/Tracking Link II/Sensor Booster II

Lows
2 x Centii A-Type Adaptive Nano Plating
1 x Centus C-Type Armour EM Hardener
1 x Centus C-Type Armour Thermic Hardener
1 x 1600mm Reinforced Rolled Tungsten Plate I

Rigs
Same as before

Drones
Same as before

Once again you’ve got the T2 rigs vs Implants + T1 rigs option here.

Anyway, this pimpage is designed to increase your tank substantially, allowing you to survive both Vanguard and Assault sites with ease. This fit is capable of running mothership sites and surviving, while I would not recommend using the cheaper fit in a mothership site unless you're with experienced logis and you've got some experience yourself. You may also have to overheat your hardeners to pull through. Seriously, mothership sites are tough.


The loss of the DCU looks bad, but this fit emphasises resists on the armour, since you should never enter hull in an incursion site anyway. This change adds about 4k EHP and between 2 - 4% higher resists to each damage type. This doesn't sound like a big increase, but trust me it is, the way resistances work means that a small increase leads to a massive decrease in damage taken. Furthermore, the Republic Fleet AB adds about 30m/s to your speed compared to the T2, which helps your tank further by making you harder to hit. Of course, make no mistake these upgrades are costly, and the basic fit works perfectly well in both Vanguards and Assaults. It’s just an option to make your boat more survivable if everything goes to hell/you start running mothership sites frequently. Also note that pimping your logi boat beyond this is just a pointless waste of ISK. It’s possible to argue that even this fit is verging on the “not worth the investment” side, but anything above this is seriously a waste. Instead, invest it into a shiny T3 to run Incursions with when your fleet has lots of spare logi but is desperate for DPS boats. 

If you've got a DPS Legion on hand aswell as a nicely fit Guardian (and maybe an Oneiros as well if you can face Gallente Cruiser V so shortly after Amarr Cruiser V and Logistics V), you'll be able to fill pretty much any open slot a fleet has available. Plus if you're running sites and a Logi/DPS has to drop and you've got no replacements for the person leaving, you can offer to switch roles. FCs will love you if you can do this, since it keeps the fleet running and the ISK flowing. You can move both of your ships around in an Orca if you decide to run with two incursion boats, it doesn't take long to train for, plus it can store loads of ammo, spare fittings, plus things like Lyavite (which you need for some incursion sites) and nanite paste.


So that's my opinions on how you should fit your Guardian, and some options for upgrading. Next we'll look at implants you can utilise to help your ship be more effective, tougher and better overall in Part 3 - Filling your head with crazy things.

Good luck out there guys :)

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