[Jester's Trek] Fit of the Week: Scythes
Fit of the Week: Scythes
I thought about doing another PvE fit this week, but instead I'm going to do a more general fit: an shield rep Scythe.
[Scythe, General]
Damage Control II
Beta Reactor Control: Capacitor Power Relay I
Beta Reactor Control: Capacitor Power Relay I
Beta Reactor Control: Capacitor Power Relay I
Nanofiber Internal Structure II
Experimental 10MN Microwarpdrive I
EM Ward Amplifier II
Adaptive Invulnerability Field II
Large F-S9 Regolith Shield Induction
Conjunctive Ladar ECCM Scanning Array I
Medium S95a Partial Shield Transporter
Medium S95a Partial Shield Transporter
Medium S95a Partial Shield Transporter
Medium Capacitor Control Circuit I
Medium Capacitor Control Circuit I
Medium Capacitor Control Circuit I
Medium Shield Maintenance Bot II x4
Warrior II x1
A few months ago with the help of my alliance-mate Namamai for the fitting, I sounded the alarm about this ship being potentially over-powered. Our calls for a nerf joined other calls on the forums and the ship's somewhat ridiculous stats were adjusted downward. It now requires much more unnatural action to wedge more than one large repper with a MWD on this T1 hull, for which I'm thankful.
As a result, what's above is probably pretty close to an optimal roaming Scythe. This is a fit that can be used both in PvP, and with just a couple of adjustments in PvE as well. Fair warning, though: the fit is super-tight and will require excellent fitting skills to make work, including Shield Upgrades V. The benefit of these high fitting skills is that you'll be left with a ship that is cap-stable while running its MWD and its three reppers. If you don't have the fitting skills to make this fit work, your next move is to remove one of the meta Cap Power Relays and replace it with a Power Diagnostic System II. This will solve the grid problem that you're likely having and will even buff your tank a bit but you will no longer be cap-stable and will have to closely manage your capacitor in longer battles.
The highest meta Cap Power Relays have the advantage of using less CPU than T2 and are as of this writing cheaper than T2 as well. Tank is provided by a DC2, Invul, meta LSE, and a passive EM hardener to deflect laser damage. An ECCM is also provided to protect against jamming. If you don't expect to face a lot of jamming, fit a Cap Recharger there instead. That will further bolster your cap issues, particularly if you had to make the modification in the previous paragraph. Trading the ECCM for a Cap Recharger not only makes you cap stable but that and the PDS are the only adjustments you need to make to make this a fine PvE Scythe. Such a ship is handy for bolstering shield tank for new L4 missioners. On MWD, the Scythe itself is quick enough to mitigate rat damage or avoid it entirely.
On a Scythe, three medium reppers of this type regenerate 187 raw shield HP per second which is then adjusted for the resists of the target ship. Unlike the Scimitar which does not receive a rep boost amount bonus, the Scythe does. As a result, three Scythes is the equivalent of two Scimitars, and this is the calculation you should use when facing enemy Scythes. Repair range is somewhat reduced: rather than the 71km of a Scimitar, Scythes have an effective range of 66km. Scythes are also 15% quicker than Scimis and are much more agile. Their tank, however, is about half that of a properly fit Scimitar.
Overall, even with the grid nerf you're left with a quite effective rep cruiser. Their quickness and agility have also seen them frequently used on frigate roams though they will be a second or two slower than the frigs when aligning and do not get the Scimi's warp bonus.
Still, there's one more option that I would be remiss not to mention: start with the basic fit. Remove Nano, replace with Co-Proc. Change out the mids for an AB, two Invuls, Cap Recharger, and Sebo. Then remove the medium reppers and replace with two larges instead. You're left with this:
[Scythe, Go big]
Damage Control II
Beta Reactor Control: Capacitor Power Relay I
Beta Reactor Control: Capacitor Power Relay I
Beta Reactor Control: Capacitor Power Relay I
Co-Processor II
10MN Afterburner II
Sensor Booster II, Targeting Range Script
Adaptive Invulnerability Field II
Adaptive Invulnerability Field II
Conjunctive Ladar ECCM Scanning Array I
Large S95a Partial Shield Transporter
Large S95a Partial Shield Transporter
[empty high slot]
Medium Capacitor Control Circuit I
Medium Capacitor Control Circuit I
Medium Capacitor Control Circuit I
It's scary thin: only 12k EHP or so. And it's not particularly quick: 800m/s. But it repairs 250 raw shield HP per second and it does it at 92km range... which is better than the typical Scimi's 230 at 71. And it's cap-stable. If you can ensure control of your engagement range, this is a perfectly viable option. And there's just enough grid and CPU left to fit a small gun and enough drone bay space for whatever self-defense drones you like. And no unnatural actions are needed: you can use the standard medium repper fit under normal circumstances and refit to this one as needed. Just thought I'd mention it. ;-)
Next week, I think I'll post the Exequror fit that prompted me to build some Medium Remote Armor Repper IIs. Happy repping!
All Fits of the Week are intended as general guidelines only. You may not have the skills needed for this exact fit. If you do not, feel free to adjust the fit to suit to meet your skills, including using meta 3 guns and "best named" defenses and e-war. Ships can also be adjusted to use faction or dead-space modules depending on the budget of the pilot flying it. Each FOTW is intended as a general guide to introduce you to concepts that will help you fit and to fly that particular type of ship more aggressively and well.
Source: Fit of the Week: Scythes