[Jester's Trek] FOTW: L4 Navy Raven v. Navy Scorpion
FOTW: L4 Navy Raven v. Navy Scorpion
I'm going to wrap up battleship month around here with an amusing duel between L4 mission solo masters, the Raven Navy Issue and the Scorpion Navy Issue.
Let's start with this: if you're wanting to do L4 missions solo, you now can't go wrong with either of these ships. Both of them do great damage, tank like beasts, can tune their damage and their tank to any kind of rats you desire, and can hit both short- and long-range rats with full DPS regardless of the amount of attention you're willing to pay to the mission. The Mittani once only semi-joked that EVE players should judge their income not in ISK/hour but in ISK/effort. On that scale, both of these ships are low-effort, high-ISK winners. They're both expensive, and worth it.
But which one is better?
It turns out you can slip a piece of notebook paper between their differences for this application. Let's start with the current champion, the Navy Raven (both ships are tanked and weaponed to attack Sansha Nation or Blood Raider rats):
[Raven Navy Issue, L4 Solo]
Caldari Navy Ballistic Control System
Caldari Navy Ballistic Control System
Ballistic Control System II
Internal Force Field Array I
Power Diagnostic System II
Caldari Navy X-Large Shield Booster
Adaptive Invulnerability Field II
Adaptive Invulnerability Field II
EM Ward Field II
Phased Weapon Navigation Array Generation Extron
Shield Boost Amplifier II
100MN Afterburner II
Caldari Navy Cruise Missile Launcher, Mjolnir Cruise Missile
Caldari Navy Cruise Missile Launcher, Mjolnir Cruise Missile
Caldari Navy Cruise Missile Launcher, Mjolnir Cruise Missile
Caldari Navy Cruise Missile Launcher, Mjolnir Cruise Missile
Caldari Navy Cruise Missile Launcher, Mjolnir Cruise Missile
Caldari Navy Cruise Missile Launcher, Mjolnir Cruise Missile
Caldari Navy Cruise Missile Launcher, Mjolnir Cruise Missile
Caldari Navy Cruise Missile Launcher, Mjolnir Cruise Missile
Large Warhead Calefaction Catalyst I
Large Semiconductor Memory Cell I
Large Semiconductor Memory Cell I
Hobgoblin II x5
Hammerhead II x5
Light Armor Maintenance Bot I x5
The Navy Raven is the king of low-effort L4 solo'ing since the changes made not too long ago wherein rats attack drones with gleeful abandon. CCP Rise's changes to the ship have only made it better. In particular, the new explosion radius bonus is fantastic for PvE and cuts the explosion radius of cruise missiles to 180m which means full damage to rat battle cruisers and more damage to rat cruisers. It was fairly typical to fit Warhead Rigor rigs to missile ships but the Navy Raven doesn't need them. You also no longer need to compromise in the mids: you can fit a full tank, target painter, and propulsion mod (or Sensor Booster).
CPU remains extremely tight compared to the previous model and you'll have to buy an eighth Cruise Missile Launcher (expensive if you use faction ones like the recommended fit). You'll also probably have to use at least the two shown faction Ballistic Control Systems to make the fit work, plus you'll need to train Weapon Upgrades V. You can add a third faction BCS if you wish, but it only adds about 10 DPS, so it probably isn't worth it.
Before I get into specifics about flying this ship, let's bring up the challenger, a comparable Scorpion Navy Issue fit:
[Scorpion Navy Issue, L4 Solo]
Caldari Navy Ballistic Control System
Caldari Navy Ballistic Control System
Ballistic Control System II
Internal Force Field Array I
Power Diagnostic System II
Caldari Navy X-Large Shield Booster
Adaptive Invulnerability Field II
Adaptive Invulnerability Field II
EM Ward Field II
Thermic Dissipation Field II
Phased Weapon Navigation Array Generation Extron
Shield Boost Amplifier II
100MN Afterburner II
Caldari Navy Cruise Missile Launcher, Mjolnir Cruise Missile
Caldari Navy Cruise Missile Launcher, Mjolnir Cruise Missile
Caldari Navy Cruise Missile Launcher, Mjolnir Cruise Missile
Caldari Navy Cruise Missile Launcher, Mjolnir Cruise Missile
Caldari Navy Cruise Missile Launcher, Mjolnir Cruise Missile
Caldari Navy Cruise Missile Launcher, Mjolnir Cruise Missile
Heavy Diminishing Power System Drain I
Large Warhead Rigor Catalyst I
Large Warhead Rigor Catalyst I
Large Semiconductor Memory Cell I
Hobgoblin II x5
Hammerhead II x5
As you can see, the fit is nearly identical in every respect. The Scorp only needs six CMLs, adds a utility high slot and an additional mid slot, but loses the explosion radius and missile velocity bonuses. As a result, SNIs generally compensate with a Rigor rig or two; two of them make its explosion radius virtually equal to the RNI. The Scorpion also has a slightly smaller drone bay.
The ships have one thing in common: they both tank like beasts. The Scorp's base tank is much better, and its resilience is ridiculous. If you're a nervous sort of solo missioner -- and with the cost of these ships, that's understandable! -- the Scorp is custom-built for you. The Raven's tank, though not quite as good, is less susceptible to cap pressure. The Scorp needs to pick a rat and NOS it to ensure cap to run its Shield Booster. The Raven does not. (Alternately you can fit a Cap Booster with either ship in case of dire emergencies, though you'll probably sacrifice your afterburner to do so.) But overall, the Scorp has the better tank. And if you use faction CMLs, the Scorp will be significantly cheaper.
The Raven's advantages are DPS (it has 840 or so, compared to the Scorpion's 800), an additional flight of light drones (which can be used as armor maintenance bots to keep the ship's other drones repaired), and quickness. The Raven has both a higher base speed (important in acceleration gate missions) and higher agility. The Raven also has a much higher alpha strike with a single volley of missiles, making it more possible to one-volley rat ships off the field. If you're a more aggressive sort of L4 missioner, the Raven is your boat.
Flying the ships themselves is virtually identical in all respects. The Scorp will have to pick a target within 25km to leech capacitor from, but both ships have a target painter, shield booster, and light or medium drones to manage. Short version: turn on hardeners, pick rats, hit F1 until they disappear, pick more rats. Use your afterburner as needed to traverse acceleration gates. Start pulsing your shield booster as needed as your shields drop through 50% or so. In the unlikely event you start running out of cap before everything is dead, warp off and try again. It's pretty low effort.
The major downside to these ships is of course the expense! As of this writing, either hull will cost you about a half billion ISK, the faction CMLs are 60 million each, the faction BCSs are 90 million each, and the faction XLSB (which given the DPS you do is probably optional) is about 180. You can and should go with meta or T2 gear if your wallet won't stand the strain, though your DPS will suffer accordingly if you do. Of course, meta or T2 gear will also make you less of a gank target, so it's a trade-off that each missioner has to decide for him- or herself. One thing is certain, though: the RNI or SNI hull itself are a very large upgrade from the base Raven hull for missioning, so if nothing else you should definitely start there. For many players, it's their first truly expensive purchase.
Happy missioning!
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: FOTW: L4 Navy Raven v. Navy Scorpion