Posted - 2010.10.21 16:39:00 - [2]

 

Definitely heavy missiles. For PvP use CN heavies (precisions are worthless) on small/medium ships, and keep a few hundred Scourge Fury in your hold for battleships.

Posted - 2010.10.21 17:03:00 - [4]

 

Edited by: Lu Hsun on 21/10/2010 17:05:57

Originally by: Sophal

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I do notice that the only real difference is that the explosion velocity on Ham's is faster than heavy's, but the explosion radius is the same.

I can volley harder with heavy's but I can put out more DPS with HAM's. Perhaps I can mix it up a bit.

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You are not taking into account the fact that HAMs are not effected by some of the skills Heavys are.

The Signature radius reducing skill (Guided Missile Precision) is one of them.

Posted - 2010.10.21 17:06:00 - [6]

 

Edited by: Lu Hsun on 21/10/2010 17:08:58
Edited by: Lu Hsun on 21/10/2010 17:08:05

Originally by: Sophal

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Eh? I'm not familier with sig reducing skills. I though it was across all missiles.

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Guided Missile Precision

Quote:

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5% decreased factor of signature radius for light, heavy and cruise missile explosions per level of skill.

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note that HAMS, Torps and rockets are not stated.

The ones that effect all missiles say "All Missiles"

You'll also note that the close range missile fluff text all say they are unguided.

Posted - 2010.10.21 17:26:00 - [8]

 

Originally by: Sophal

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I do notice that the only real difference is that the explosion velocity on Ham's is faster than heavy's, but the explosion radius is the same.

I can volley harder with heavy's but I can put out more DPS with HAM's. Perhaps I can mix it up a bit.

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Don't mix up weapons unless it's a specialized mixed weapon ship (like Typhoon for example).

If you look my char name up on some killboard, you'll see that I like flying Drakes and live in 0.0, so I might be of some use to you.

Long time ago, while still in lowsec, I used HAM Drakes all the time. It wasn't really important what weapons to use because I was mostly acting as a bait (first on the scene, always on killmails and mostly the highest damage since I used to "soften" targets up before my gang arrived ). Lowsec back then was full of some wierd stuff (don't know, maybe it's the same now). Like, for example, ships that don't have MWDs (either AB fitted or nothing at all), so HAMs were perfect for the job because of the hight DPS.

0.0 is different. MWDs are everywhere because of the bubbles. It's well known that Drake is not famous for it's agility or speed. There's only one possible half-"nano" fit that's even remotely interesting, but my personal opinion is that nano Drake fails on many levels (train for a Hurricane if you want nano BC). That being said, with everything moving around your brick of a ship, you can't really hit anything with a 16km ranged HAM Drake. Theoretically, it has higher DPS, but only if you get really close. If you are encountering small ships, they can simply hold you pointed from 24km and wait for a couple of friends to finish you, so HAMs are out of the picture.

My vote would go to Heavy Missile Drake for general 0.0 use. Heavy missiles hit small ships too, but they have 70+ km range and can be used in a variety of situations. Considering ammo type, I'd say don't rule out precision missiles just because they look bad on paper. Opposite from the popular belief, precisions can and will hurt small ships very badly. They do have smaller range, but it's well out of your own Disruptor range. If a small ship gets away from you that far, it will warp away if in danger anyway.

TL;DR
NEVER mix weapons on a Drake. Use heavy missiles in 0.0 fury/precision combination is the best by my opinion. And don't forget to carry other ammo types - only Scourge will not do the job.