Posted - 2008.12.12 21:18:00 - [2]

 

Edited by: maralt on 12/12/2008 21:19:23



There is not a great deal to choose between them tbh its all a matter of what frig you have trained for in the first place that decides for you..

Posted - 2008.12.12 22:03:00 - [4]

 

Many CovOps pilots will want to fit a cloak, a probe launcher and a cyno. For this reason, the Helios tends to be rather unpopular.

The recharge bonus on the Anathema is very nice and the new black Magnate model is dead sexy.

Posted - 2008.12.12 22:33:00 - [6]

 

I prefer the cheetah do it it's higher speed.
Allows you to get into position for a warp-in faster and adds a bit more safety when jumping into a bubble.

As for filling 4 mids, I use mwd, scrambler, sensor dampner (locktime), cap battery. Not that many times you will use the scrambler/damp but you will regret not having them when the opportunity arrives.

Posted - 2008.12.13 02:31:00 - [8]

 

Edited by: Lim Lim on 13/12/2008 02:33:49
There is the helios and to be honest then there is everything else

You can argue successfully on fly minnie due to the nice speed you get cloaked. This will allow you to get into position to provide warp ins on hostiles a lot easier - also allows you to evade gate camps easier due to speed.

Caldari suffer from a useless 3rd high slot, a crap capacitor which won't allow long warps - so you can't stay in front of your gang easily, and you can't operate your mids for very long. You also only get 2 lows so you can't fit as many grid or CPU mods as the helios. Those 3 lows and nice selection of mids on the helios also allows you to carry a full exploration fit with cargohold expander X 3 and hacking mods etc in mids.

If you want alround win, just train the helios imo.

This is my fleet and gang scout fit I get 1min 30sec out of point/damp X 2 and I think that's long enough to hold a target before your mates arrive. This is a covert ops 5 fit though.

[Helios, Fleetwork]
Micro Auxiliary Power Core I
Capacitor Power Relay II
Co-Processor II

1MN MicroWarpdrive II
Warp Disruptor II
Micro Capacitor Battery I
Phased Muon Sensor Disruptor I, Scan Resolution Dampening
Phased Muon Sensor Disruptor I, Scan Resolution Dampening

Covert Ops Cloaking Device II
Scan Probe Launcher I, Spook Scanner Probe I

Gravity Capacitor Upgrade I
Gravity Capacitor Upgrade I

Hobgoblin II x1

Posted - 2008.12.13 03:43:00 - [10]

 

Edited by: Hesod Adee on 13/12/2008 03:44:40
I'm currently training all T2 frigates, so my skills will not limit my choice here.

Originally by: Bronson Hughes

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Many CovOps pilots will want to fit a cloak, a probe launcher and a cyno. For this reason, the Helios tends to be rather unpopular.

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Understandable. Though FW doesn't have many cap ships about, so the cyno won't be needed.

I do see lots of Buzzards though.

Posted - 2008.12.13 04:42:00 - [12]

 

Helios has one less high slot than the others.

Posted - 2008.12.13 06:16:00 - [14]

 

depends where you're flying and whether you need a cyno or not
i find myself using remote sensor boosters on my covopos alt on helios and flying mostly in empire i have no need for cyno


as always, it boils down to a question of how and where you want to use them

Posted - 2008.12.13 09:03:00 - [16]

 

amarr = best looking

caldari = most cpu

minmatar = fastest

Posted - 2008.12.13 12:01:00 - [18]

 

Originally by: Siigari Kitawa

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I don't see why you need a Cyno on a very expensive ship. Cynos are relegated to tech 1 frigates. Throwing a Cyno on a Helios (which is unbonused afaik) is a silly idea.

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This is a good point, but don't forget Covert cynos, which I understand are somewhat less suicidal.

Posted - 2008.12.13 12:08:00 - [20]

 

Originally by: Rajere

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There is the cheetah, then there is the rest. tbh there is very little difference between them, the cheetah though is the best.

oh and the helios is crap and anyone who tries to argue that the helios extra grid somehow redeems it is lulz. Any covert ops can tackle something in a pinch and they're all equally as good (bad) at it.

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QFT

The cheetah is the best combat prober due to its very high speed when cloaked, but I think the anathema is the best exploration covops, as it can fit a probe launcher, salvager, codebreaker, analyser, and has the cap to actually run them for a while.

Buzzard has crap cap and grid - fitting an mwd means you have 3 empty mids and 1 empty high, or you lose an instab/OD.

Helios only has 2 highs

Posted - 2008.12.13 13:30:00 - [22]

 

Buzzard has hella good DPS.

Posted - 2008.12.13 16:00:00 - [24]

 

Edited by: Lim Lim on 13/12/2008 16:01:02
standard cynos on a covert are cool and extremely useful when hotdropping offensively and I am sure the 20mill you lose is pretty worth it lol (all t2 frigs are throw-away anyway really).

I don't use mine that way which I why i promoted the helios. if you are needing an offensive cyno ship then yeah def the helios can't fulfill that role so go with a different type.

Posted - 2008.12.13 18:39:00 - [26]

 

for high speed search and gank you need a covops with a cyno

imagine probing out a safespotted titan with your cap fleet 1 jump away @&^$^&%()*

Posted - 2008.12.14 20:38:00 - [28]

 

Originally by: MITSUK0

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Basically a good cov-ops needs:

<snip>
shield booster (for cap control for short warps)

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By cap control, I'm assuming you mean to reduce your remaining cap. But why would you want to do this ?

Posted - 2008.12.14 23:21:00 - [30]

 

Edited by: James Lyrus on 14/12/2008 23:24:55
Basics of a covert ops:
Covert ops cloak, Probe Launcher, Cyno|covert cyno|salvager
MWD, small shield booster, whatever else.
Speed mods
Scan time rigs.

The 'whatever' in the mids, in some cases benefits a lot from being cap extensions, as the buzzard in particular has really bad cap/warp ratio.

So based on that:

Helios is down a highslot.
Buzzard doesn't have the grid for a T2 MWD - fitting a named will work, but you'll be leaving midslots empty. It has a poor cap and a high mass - this means it falls out of warp a lot, which is massively annoying.

Cheetah is short on powergrid for a MWD as well - not quite as badly off as the buzzard. It has one less midslot to leave empty, and one more low for speed mods (or a MAPC if you have something to put in those mids). But it does have the highest real space velocity, which is handy for MWDing and for just cloaked tactical positioning.

Anathema has the same slot layout as the Cheetah, but with more grid and more CPU. It pays for this by being a bit slower. (Which balances out if you fit a MAPC to your Cheetah)

Also: Anathema has the Magnate hull which is a sexy beast.

Train for the Anathema for general purpose scouting.
Train the Cheetah if you expect to be zooming around cloaked a lot looking for warpins.

Otherwise, fly whatever you can, it doesn't actually make that much of a difference.