Level 2, Vexor fitting

Today Dax Jr. made the big leap to level 2 missions. The friendly folks of my NPC corp were sharing ship fittings and exchanging advice, consulting the wisdom of players who were rolling their alts. Many were surprised that I was flying in a Thorax doing level 1 missions. Since my standing was abysmal the only choice was to grind small frigates to smithereens. I was shone with a ray of hope in the form of a skill. "Train Connections to three. That should do it." When Connections did reach 3, a level 2 agent with -19 quality became accessible. No thank you.

At this point Dax Jr. was nearing his 1.6mil SP mark, which meant the 100% bonus to training time would soon end. Worried that I might somehow gimp Dax Jr. if I didn't make a prudent decision, I googled 'learning 4/3 or 4/4.' In case you're wondering, that's basic learning skill/advanced learning skill.

To summarize my long search, the majority opinion was 4/4 ASAP within the 1.6mil SP bonus time frame. Those who are blessed with the virtue of patience will only have to wait for nine days to get their learning skills to 4/4. Not I, not the power-leveling gamer who would rather sacrifice sleep than fall behind. Ironicly, I have fallen behind just by training other useful skills ahead of the learning skills to enable my character to do something fun. Better late than never. Better now than later. EVEMon neatly arranaged the order of skills that I planned on training by minimizing the total time needed to learn them. For learning skills order matters.

In the meantime I could repeat level 1 missions to gain standing. To make it a little less boring, I bought a Vexor for the added drone damage bonus. Things went down really fast and so did my interest. I wasn't sure how I would fare level 2 missions but it had to be more challening than this. Federal Intelligence Office, the corp I am currently working for, displayed a quality 6 agent just four jumps away in its agent tab. Without any hesitation, I pack some modules and ammo then set off.

My first level 2 mission was Recon 1/3. The first wave was easily dispatched but the second wave caught me off guard. I was alarmed at the firepower the rats unleashed as they surrounded me. If it wasn't for the Damage Control Unit, I wouldn't have been able to warp out in time. The Vexor wasn't able to withstand the gauntlet and I found myself warping out a once again. The fitting couldn't get any better so I must be doing something wrong. I had grown smug by running level 1 missions in a cruiser, underestimating  PvE difficulty. Those serpentis cruisers had more range, nearly double my turret damage, and some even put dampeners on me. Getting close was not an option. In order to avoid being swarmed or shot, my only strategy was to kite them and let the Hammerheads do the job. Never had I imagined spending hours on a single encounter mission. Maybe Recon is just one of those tough missions, or perhaps I'm not ready for level 2 yet. I do enjoy the new challenge it brings though.

Below are two types of fittings for missions:

1. Mission specific resistance setup

• Lows
• Named Damage Control Unit
• Medium Armor Repairer (auto repeat off)
• N-Type  Hardener
• N-Type  Hardener
• Mids
• 10MN Afterburner
• Named Capacitor Recharger x2
• Highs
• Dual 150mm Railgun x4
• Small Tractor Beam
• Drones
• Hammerhead x5

2. Omni tank steup for missions with all types of damage

• Lows
• Named Damage Control Unit
• Medium Armor Repairer (auto repeat off)
• Energized Adaptive Nano Membrane
• 800mm Reinforced Rolled Tungsten Plates
• Mids
• 10MN Afterburner
• Named Capacitor Recharger x2
• Highs
• Dual 150mm Railgun x4
• Small Tractor Beam
• Drones
• Hammerhead x5

It is beneficial to fit a Damage Control Unit instead of stacking two Energized Adaptive Nano Membranes. Here's why.

1. Stats are penalized when stacking two EANM.
2. Fitting a DCU gives resistance bonuses to shield, armor, and hull.

I'll follow up on the fitting if I can improve on above setups.