To Link or not to Link

Poor, defenceless little Svippy died to a merciless gate camp:

Svipul: http://eve.battleclinic.com/killboard/killmail.php?eid=47498665

They clearly knew about the Thera entry and were ready for visitors so full marks for that. Lots of nullsec groups seem to forget that wormholes exist. I decided that something really ought to be done about these gatecamps. I further decided that I would need a battleship for such occasions (what could possibly go wrong?) and so started taking a closer look at the Dominix.

I came up with a horrendously expensive fit which repped about 2,100 EHP/second. (More on that when I inevitably lose it in a hugely embarrassing manner.) Out of curiosity, I decided to see what difference links would make to such a beast. What follows is no doubt old news to most of you (especially anyone familiar with the whole "Slippery Pete" caper) but was a journey of discovery for me.

I fitted a Legion up with one of each armour link and saw that the Dominix’s repair amount increased to almost 3,000 EHP/second: +41% repping power. In what I assume is a common thought progression, I then decided that such a link ship would have to be a) Nullified, b) Covert, and c) difficult to scan down:

[Legion, Links]

Nanofiber Internal Structure II
Nanofiber Internal Structure II
'Halcyon' Core Equalizer I
'Halcyon' Core Equalizer I

Command Processor I
Command Processor I
Conjunctive Radar ECCM Scanning Array I
Conjunctive Radar ECCM Scanning Array I
Conjunctive Radar ECCM Scanning Array I

Armored Warfare Link - Damage Control II
Armored Warfare Link - Passive Defense II
Armored Warfare Link - Rapid Repair II
Covert Ops Cloaking Device II
[Empty High slot]
[Empty High slot]

Medium Processor Overclocking Unit I
Medium Processor Overclocking Unit I
Medium Low Friction Nozzle Joints I

Legion Defensive - Warfare Processor
Legion Electronics - Dissolution Sequencer
Legion Engineering - Capacitor Regeneration Matrix
Legion Offensive - Covert Reconfiguration
Legion Propulsion - Interdiction Nullifier

In order to determine how difficult this would actually be to probe down I sent Innocent Scout to SiSi with her Cheetah. Innocent Scout's relevant scanning skills are perfect so I merely had to play around with the fit and implants. This was my starting point, Innocent's regular T2 scanning fit:

[Cheetah, T2 fit]

Covert Ops Cloaking Device II
[Empty High slot]
Expanded Probe Launcher II, Sisters Combat Scanner Probe

5MN Y-T8 Compact Microwarpdrive
Scan Rangefinding Array II
Scan Rangefinding Array II
Scan Pinpointing Array II

Co-Processor I
Micro Auxiliary Power Core I
Inertial Stabilizers II

Small Gravity Capacitor Upgrade II
Small Warp Core Optimizer II

(The Warp Core Optimizer is for Thera and is T2 because I can.)

The Legion hit was only 72%. Adding a third Rangefinding array only increased this to 73% due to stacking penalties. Swapping the T2 probe launcher for the Sisters variant increased it to 74%.

What about implants? Adding the Prospector AR-810 achieved 81% and this was increased to 88% with low-grade Virtues.

The result was 98.3% with mid-grade Virtues. I finally got a warpable hit by adding a Prospector AR-802 although better probe arrangement would probably have given the same result.

Ridiculous. ECCM should obviously be nerfed somehow. And links should obviously be nerfed too. An extra 40% repping power! Such ludicrously high bonuses makes this practically compulsory for a solo pilot in a big ship. That is not a ‘good’ decision from a gameplay perspective. Having said that, I can sympathise with the view that links do allow small gang and solo feats that would otherwise be impossible (like a 3000 EHP repping Dominix).

So conflicted. Sigh.

I promise I’ll put my soapbox away and post an actual fight next time.