Ok, there are two options available to low sec haulers, Blockade Runners and Deep Space Transports.
You could also try with Minmatar T1 industrials because they are tougher that other races’ industrial ships, I don’t however recommend it. Toughness of a ship is the LAST line of defense for haulers. If you are at the point when you are worried if your ship is tough enough, then you are already in big trouble.
I believe the roles of the transport ships is reverse of what they ought to be, and I have good reason for that belief.
In Null Sec you have Warp Interdiction Bubbles, these bubbles stop ALL ships from being able to warp while within the bubble. In this case Warp Stabilizers have no benefit. Your only opportunity of escape is to reach the edge of the bubble and warp off. The safest way to make this happen is with a ship that can move at full speed to the edge of the bubble and warp away while cloaked. This is the functional role of the blockade runner. Since Warp Stabalizers do not provide any help at all in this situation, you can fit the ship to carry as much cargo as possible. The ship however will still only carry a small amount compared to other industrial ships. If you successfully reach the edge of the bubble cloaked, you can safely warp off while cloaked.
In Low Sec you do not have Warp Interdiction Bubbles, but you do have pilots which can Disrupt your warp drives. Since you do not have to sneak safely cloaked to the edge of a warp bubble, a Covert Ops Cloak does not perform the same service in Low Sec. When flying haulers in low sec, all that is required is aligning and warping off safely. The covert ops cloak in this case provides no more or less protection in this case than the Improved Cloak. You do however need an additional piece of equipment to get yourself into warp while cloaked. When used in conjunction with you Improved Cloak, the Micro Warp Drive is able to accelerate you to full speed while the cloak is running. When your Micro warp Drive shuts down and you immediately turn off your cloak, you are running at full speed and will go to warp instantly if you performed the sequence of commands properly.
So if I can provide myself with the same level of safety why would I fly a Blockade Runner. The fact is, I wouldn’t. A Blockade Runner in my opinion is in reality more dangerous than the Deep Space Transport when operated in Low Sec. The reason is due to the presence of warp stabilizers on the Deep Space Transport. The Blockade Runner does not have native Warp Stabalizers. If you do get decloaked somehow, and it does happen, you will get targeted. When flying the Blockade Runner you will be pointed and warp scrambled and quickly blown up. When flying a Deep Space Transport your warp stabilizers will keep you from getting pointed and you will safely go to warp while your better shield tank absorbs all damage you receive in those few moments of exposure. The are two and only two circumstance you are vulnerable in a Deep Space Transport. You either are successfully triple pointed, or are pointed by a Heavy Interdictor specially equipped for Low Sec operations. In both cases, your opponent must have excellent reflexes to catch you. And your choice of ship at this point will make zero difference. Both the Blockade Runner and the Deep Space Transport are equally vulnerable when exposed to Heavy Interdictors in Low Sec. Both ships must break cloak for a moment after jumping through gates, and both ships have the same exposure when leaving stations.
When leaving station, if you have something exactly in front of you with pinpoint accuracy, you can undock and go to warp instantly when leaving station. This allows you to even undock a freighter or an Orca safely amid a station camp. You therefore want to spend the time necessary to create accurate undock bookmarks for each station in low sec you plan to visit with your hauler
So, how to fit our ships. I am going to assume the Gallente ships, which are Occator for the Deep Space Transport, and the Viator for the Blockade Runner. All races ships have some deviations from the main fittings, but the main fitting arrangement remains the same. Use your judgement to augment your fittings when extra slots are available to you.
Occator
Improve Cloaking Device II
Micro Warp Drive II or Y8 Overcharged Hydrocarbon I Micro Warp Drive
Large Shield Extender II or Large F-S9 Regolith Shield Induction
All Expanded Cargo Hold II
Medium Cargo Optimization Rigs II
The way to fly the Occator fitted above follows. It takes some practice to get it right, so I recommend you try it in high sec for a while before you test your mettle against gate camps. It goes like this:
Jump
Select your target in the overview so you can use the buttons, it’s faster and more accurate
Align to next gate or station
immediately turn on the MWD
immediately turn on the cloak
imediately turn off the MWD
wait for the cycle to near completion
at approximately 70% completion of MWD cycle shut off the cloak
immediately click Warp to 0 km or dock depending on your target
watch your ship warp before the cloak has finished shutting down.
Adjust the process above for your own tastes and reflexes, but this is the exact process to go to warp while cloaked in a Deep Space Transport.
So you might ask, why WCS on the Viator, which has a CovOps Cloak, but none on the Occator which has the weaker cloak? Well as I said before, the Viator’s strengths shine best in null sec. In null sec, you align, recloak and speedboat to the edge of the bubble, and warp off. In low sec, you aren’t dealing with bubbles, you are dealing with points.
Low Sec Hauling
Ok, there are two options available to low sec haulers, Blockade Runners and Deep Space Transports.
You could also try with Minmatar T1 industrials because they are tougher that other races’ industrial ships, I don’t however recommend it. Toughness of a ship is the LAST line of defense for haulers. If you are at the point when you are worried if your ship is tough enough, then you are already in big trouble.
I believe the roles of the transport ships is reverse of what they ought to be, and I have good reason for that belief.
In Null Sec you have Warp Interdiction Bubbles, these bubbles stop ALL ships from being able to warp while within the bubble. In this case Warp Stabilizers have no benefit. Your only opportunity of escape is to reach the edge of the bubble and warp off. The safest way to make this happen is with a ship that can move at full speed to the edge of the bubble and warp away while cloaked. This is the functional role of the blockade runner. Since Warp Stabalizers do not provide any help at all in this situation, you can fit the ship to carry as much cargo as possible. The ship however will still only carry a small amount compared to other industrial ships. If you successfully reach the edge of the bubble cloaked, you can safely warp off while cloaked.
In Low Sec you do not have Warp Interdiction Bubbles, but you do have pilots which can Disrupt your warp drives. Since you do not have to sneak safely cloaked to the edge of a warp bubble, a Covert Ops Cloak does not perform the same service in Low Sec. When flying haulers in low sec, all that is required is aligning and warping off safely. The covert ops cloak in this case provides no more or less protection in this case than the Improved Cloak. You do however need an additional piece of equipment to get yourself into warp while cloaked. When used in conjunction with you Improved Cloak, the Micro Warp Drive is able to accelerate you to full speed while the cloak is running. When your Micro warp Drive shuts down and you immediately turn off your cloak, you are running at full speed and will go to warp instantly if you performed the sequence of commands properly.
So if I can provide myself with the same level of safety why would I fly a Blockade Runner. The fact is, I wouldn’t. A Blockade Runner in my opinion is in reality more dangerous than the Deep Space Transport when operated in Low Sec. The reason is due to the presence of warp stabilizers on the Deep Space Transport. The Blockade Runner does not have native Warp Stabalizers. If you do get decloaked somehow, and it does happen, you will get targeted. When flying the Blockade Runner you will be pointed and warp scrambled and quickly blown up. When flying a Deep Space Transport your warp stabilizers will keep you from getting pointed and you will safely go to warp while your better shield tank absorbs all damage you receive in those few moments of exposure. The are two and only two circumstance you are vulnerable in a Deep Space Transport. You either are successfully triple pointed, or are pointed by a Heavy Interdictor specially equipped for Low Sec operations. In both cases, your opponent must have excellent reflexes to catch you. And your choice of ship at this point will make zero difference. Both the Blockade Runner and the Deep Space Transport are equally vulnerable when exposed to Heavy Interdictors in Low Sec. Both ships must break cloak for a moment after jumping through gates, and both ships have the same exposure when leaving stations.
When leaving station, if you have something exactly in front of you with pinpoint accuracy, you can undock and go to warp instantly when leaving station. This allows you to even undock a freighter or an Orca safely amid a station camp. You therefore want to spend the time necessary to create accurate undock bookmarks for each station in low sec you plan to visit with your hauler
So, how to fit our ships. I am going to assume the Gallente ships, which are Occator for the Deep Space Transport, and the Viator for the Blockade Runner. All races ships have some deviations from the main fittings, but the main fitting arrangement remains the same. Use your judgement to augment your fittings when extra slots are available to you.
Occator
Improve Cloaking Device II
Micro Warp Drive II or Y8 Overcharged Hydrocarbon I Micro Warp Drive
Large Shield Extender II or Large F-S9 Regolith Shield Induction
All Expanded Cargo Hold II
Medium Cargo Optimization Rigs II
The way to fly the Occator fitted above follows. It takes some practice to get it right, so I recommend you try it in high sec for a while before you test your mettle against gate camps. It goes like this:
Adjust the process above for your own tastes and reflexes, but this is the exact process to go to warp while cloaked in a Deep Space Transport.
Viator
Covert Ops Cloak
2x Warp Core Stabalizer
Cargo Optimization Rigs II
So you might ask, why WCS on the Viator, which has a CovOps Cloak, but none on the Occator which has the weaker cloak? Well as I said before, the Viator’s strengths shine best in null sec. In null sec, you align, recloak and speedboat to the edge of the bubble, and warp off. In low sec, you aren’t dealing with bubbles, you are dealing with points.
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