Mission Hurricane

So on July 17th my last remaining account expired. I stopped playing EVE for a couple of weeks. Early August however I logged back in. CCP has a feature that allows you to get 4 hours of free game time on an expired account. Just enough to buy a plex in Jita. Toterra was back in game.

Why am I back?

Not sure... Mostly just missing my EVE fix. I am still infuriated at 'The Door' and reluctant to spend any real money on this game. But I have enough ISK to last a few months just buying plex so why not.

Now I had a big question... what to do. Finding myself in a NPC corp I thought that I might as well do something that I have never done in EVE, something that it seems everyone else has done, do Level 4 missions. I had sufficiently high standing with the Minmattar Republic Security Services corp to do Level 4 missions so I quickly found a couple of neighboring systems with level 4 mission agents and started plugging away.

Of course I am no expert at PVE ship fittings. The most common recomendation that would fit with my skillset was to go with a drake or a Mealstrom. Instead I decided to go against the grain and went with a mission hurricane.

[Hurricane, Tank Like a Drake]
Shield Power Relay II
Shield Power Relay II
Shield Power Relay II
Shield Power Relay II
Shield Power Relay II
Power Diagnostic System II

10MN Afterburner II
Large Shield Extender II
Large Shield Extender II
Invulnerability Field II

425mm AutoCannon II, EMP M
425mm AutoCannon II, EMP M
425mm AutoCannon II, EMP M
425mm AutoCannon II, EMP M
425mm AutoCannon II, EMP M
425mm AutoCannon II, EMP M
Heavy Assault Missile Launcher II, Torrent Assault Missile
Heavy Assault Missile Launcher II, Torrent Assault Missile

Medium Core Defence Field Purger I
Medium Core Defence Field Purger I
Medium Core Defence Field Purger I


Hobgoblin II x5
Hobgoblin II x1


Note: The invulnerability field should be swapped out for a mission specific hardener where applicable. Choose ammo types accordingly as well.

This ship is a pretty potent force. With a peak passive recharge rate of 495 DPS and a total firepower of 475 DPS it can both tank all but the toughest rooms and rip through any BS rat in seconds. Compared to a similar Drake the tank is somewhat weaker, but the damage is higher which makes for chewing through structures and large BS rats quicker. The main difference between this and a Drake is that a Drake will typically engage at long range. While this is purely a close range brawler. Basically approach target after target blasting away while letting the light drones kill pesky frigates, starting with those fitting warp scrambling e-war first.

How does it do for a new character?

One thing I always do when looking at fitting is figure out a low-cost/low-skill version. In my EFT I have a file setup with level 3 skills across the board. The idea is not to show the most a fit can do, rather to get an idea of how this would work on newer character. Here is a fit for a character with level 3 skills:
[Hurricane, low skill passive cane]
Shield Power Relay I
Shield Power Relay I
Shield Power Relay I
Shield Power Relay I
Shield Power Relay I
Power Diagnostic System I

Large Shield Extender I
Large Shield Extender I
10MN Afterburner I
Invulnerability Field I

425mm AutoCannon I, EMP M
425mm AutoCannon I, EMP M
425mm AutoCannon I, EMP M
425mm AutoCannon I, EMP M
425mm AutoCannon I, EMP M
425mm AutoCannon I, EMP M
Heavy Assault Missile Launcher I, Torrent Assault Missile
Heavy Assault Missile Launcher I, Torrent Assault Missile

Medium Core Defence Field Purger I
Medium Core Defence Field Purger I
Medium Core Defence Field Purger I


Hobgoblin I x3
Hobgoblin I x1
Hobgoblin I x1

The DPS and the tank are about half that of the tech II / level 5 skill fit. But it still has a 240 dps tanks and a damage output of 216 DPS. More than enough to handle most level 3 missions.

All in all the mission Hurricane may not be as common as some of the other options... but it does work awfully well. It sure is more fun then lobbing missiles at a distance, waiting for the damage to build up from a Drake.

Ships I fly - The Armour Cane

Although I prefer flying the shield tanked Nano-Cane for solo work and fast moving cruiser gangs, it is not really appropriate for bringing to a gang using armour logistics. You should always try and match your tank to the logistics available if any.

The Armour cane gives up a lot of maneuverability and some DPS potential to the Nano-cane. However it has several significant advantages. The overall EHP (buffer tank) on the Armour cane is about 40% greater than the buffer on the Nano-Cane. This means that in battles you can last a lot longer without logistics support. The other huge advantage of the Armour Cane is that it has three mid-slots available for a variety of e-war. The value of this should not be underestimated when taking on a larger gang.

These two advantages also make this ship better for bringing to gangs running no logistics and/or is light on dedicated ewar ships. A half-dozen armour tanked battlecruisers with lots of e-war in the mids can often take on a much larger shield tanked gang with less ewar and come away clean.

The below example is setup for when I am running as FC. When I run as FC I like to keep the e-war simple by using a target painter. It just gets placed on the primary target and helps myself and the rest of the gang track and do damage. Additionally I fit an ECCM module because it makes target calling difficult if I can't target anything. If not running as FC it makes sense to co-ordinate with the other gang members for a balance of Sensor Dampers and Tracking Disruptors.

Also note the use of double tracking enhancers. These two modules greatly increase the range of the guns meaning that this slow ship does not have to power around between targets. If you are able to engage at close range however, it makes sense to switch to Republic Fleet short range ammo for additional damage.

[Hurricane, Armour Cane]
Damage Control II
Tracking Enhancer II
Tracking Enhancer II
Energized Adaptive Nano Membrane II
Energized Adaptive Nano Membrane II
1600mm Reinforced Rolled Tungsten Plates I

10MN MicroWarpdrive I
Warp Disruptor II
Conjunctive Ladar ECCM Scanning Array I
Partial Weapon Navigation

425mm AutoCannon II, Barrage M
425mm AutoCannon II, Barrage M
425mm AutoCannon II, Barrage M
425mm AutoCannon II, Barrage M
425mm AutoCannon II, Barrage M
425mm AutoCannon II, Barrage M
SV-2000 Assault Missile Bay, Caldari Navy Bloodclaw Light Missile
SV-2000 Assault Missile Bay, Caldari Navy Bloodclaw Light Missile

Medium Projectile Collision Accelerator I
Medium Trimark Armor Pump I
Medium Trimark Armor Pump I


Warrior II x5

Ships I fly - The Nano-Cane

For those that think versatility is a four-letter-word in eve I give you the Nano-Cane. The general rule in Eve is that ships with lots of low slots are best Armour tanked, and ships with lots of medium slots are best shield tanked. According to that logic the Hurricane, with 6 lows and 4 mids is best armour tanked. The nano-cane turns that entire concept on it's head and places a shield tank on the Hurricane.

The reasons for this are three-fold:

1. The Nano-Cane without armour plates and a nanofibre II is faster and more maneuverable then most cruisers.
2. With all those extra low-slots not needed for tanking, a lot of weapon modifications can be installed. This, combined with the double damage bonus, results in really nice DPS with good range.
3. Even fully fit out with 6 425mm Autocannons, there is still room for two medium energy neutralizers and a full flight of light drones adding even more versatility against smaller ships.

In fleet this ship really shines. With a max speed of 1386m/s (1966m/s overheated) this ship can quickly move from target to target. The 6 autocannons belt out 617 dps with selectable damage types. Switching to Barrage lowers dps slightly but range is extended to over 25km into falloff. The main weakness of the nano-cane is the mediocre tank (45k ehp). Compared to the other race's battle-cruisers it comes off a bit lacking. However fit as below it has good resists and can prove tough as nails with scimatar / basilisk support. Without logistics support going with extender rigs is preferred.

In solo work this ship can also perform admirably. With it's speed, neuts, drones and damage it can take on multiple cruisers and/or frigates and emerge victorious.

[Hurricane, Shield Cane]
Damage Control II
Nanofiber Internal Structure II
Gyrostabilizer II
Gyrostabilizer II
Gyrostabilizer II
Tracking Enhancer II

Large Shield Extender II
Invulnerability Field II
Y-T8 Overcharged Hydrocarbon I Microwarpdrive
Warp Disruptor II

50W Infectious Power System Malfunction
50W Infectious Power System Malfunction
425mm AutoCannon II, Barrage M
425mm AutoCannon II, Barrage M
425mm AutoCannon II, Barrage M
425mm AutoCannon II, Barrage M
425mm AutoCannon II, Barrage M
425mm AutoCannon II, Barrage M

Medium Anti-EM Screen Reinforcer I
Medium Anti-EM Screen Reinforcer I
Medium Anti-Thermal Screen Reinforcer I


Warrior II x5