Bugs: Catalyst hungry for attention?

At first glance it's just a Dominix, or is it?

The Catalyst simply refuses to go away.

The problem seems consistent as it happens from time to time. Apparently this particular ship is bugged. Here's a funny video that shows how this little destroyer behaves in space. Another clip with awesome music. Sometimes it stetches itself out to infinity. This is an interesting ship indeed.

You can find more under the search keyword "eve online catalyst bug" on google.

Salvaging, Catalyst fitting

Time to revisit the Catalyst. Had I known then what I do now the destroyer would have received some love but unless I want to fly an Eris, which is highly unlikely, this particular vessel will only face the aftermath of conflicts. Yet the Catalyst has overcome its status as a giveaway ship because they make one of the best salvagers.

For those just starting out, I would suggest blitzing the lower level missions and ignoring salvaging and even looting. Instead find the niche that leads to a win-win scenario. Often times a mission runner will ask salvage hungry newbies to tag along level 4 missions, or vice versa. The salvager gains a sizable sum of ISK per hour from wrecks, a small portion of bounties, standing with the corp and agent. In return you split the proceeds to a prearranged ratio and everybody goes home happy.

A typical Catalyst fit for salvaging would look like this:

• Lows
• Expanded Cargohold II x3
• Mids
• Cap Recharger II
• 1MN Afterburner I
• Highs
• Small Tractor Beam I x3
• Salvager I x5
• Rigs
• Small Capacitor Control Circuit I x3 (or Small Salvage Tackle I)

Cap recharge intensive fit is for people like me who are lazy, unwilling to stagger modules when capacitor runs low, or those who wish to transform their Catalysts from/to other roles. Small Salvage Tackle I rigs will improve the chance to successfully salvage a wreck by 10% so if you want more tractor beams in the high slots, these rigs will compensate by increasing your chances.

Further reading: EVElopedia has a detailed salvaging guide.

Catalyst mission fitting

The latter part of chapter two was a challenge to both DPS and tanking capabilities, opening my eyes to optimizing ship fitting. The first step I took was to see what others have done in the past. Almost everyone agreed that the high slots should be fully fit with 125mm railguns; however people had their preferences for mids and lows. I did this:

My main concern was capacitor recharge rate. When operating eight 125mm railguns you plainly see them sucking power and it needs to be addressed if armor tanking is considered.

High slots: DPS increased from 43.6 to 66.2 meaning I can now do 34.1% more damage per second than my previous fit.

Medium slots: I faced a dilemma removing an afterburner but decided to anyway. The idea of losing capacitor running time on an AB deemed inefficient. The small shield extender could always be replaced but I would have to train my engineering skill to level 4 in order to meet the power grid requirements. Capacitor regenerator speaks for itself.

Low slots: Small armor repairer II can compensate 80 HP on every tick, and is backed up by a PDS and CPR for extra running time.

This fitting took hours because it was the first time I actually tried optimizing a ship. Dozens of jumps were made for the acquisition of modules since the best prices are usually several jumps away. I am currently on chapter three of the mission arc. So far my shields haven't dropped and armor was intact. Yet to see how long my Catalyst can withstand punishment. Will follow up on my next post.

The original posting date(on my other blog) of above was two weeks ago. Now my catalyst serves as a salvage ship. Through trial and error, I have learned that it is better to passive/speed tank T1 frigates and destroyers. Tech 1 small ships simply do not have the kind of capacitor to keep repair modules running and expect to survive waves of rats. At this point, I'd suggest fitting mission specific armor hardeners or energized plates(membranes), the best damage control unit available, and an overdrive injector. Damage control units are pretty much mandatory.

Destroyers are a dead end.