I'm
curled up at my chair and a bit dreamy pensive due to the unwanted clutches of
some type of winter virus clawing at my immune system. Eve is a
game that you play safely when you are not feeling well. For all the
touting about its lack of twitch reflex responses it does require a
constant level of awareness that my muddled mind cannot produce in high
enough quantities at the moment.
This leaves me seeking less risky occupations for my time.
Lue was on and active and, to my delight mission grinding, which meant
salvage for me. I hopped into my trusty Thrasher and chased him down
to fill my cargo hold.
3: The Noctis is made of paper. This matters a bit more than it used to because warping the Noctis into a mission to salvage as the rest of the fleet cleans up is no longer as viable as it once was. For me, I've sat in hundreds of level 5 missions scooping loot with the occasional worry about a spawn smacking me around and needing to warp out. Now, with the aggression changes I wait for the mission to finish. With living in low sec my personal agility is very, very important. I had one serious scare in my Noctis and that was enough to make me look for options.
These days I am back to recommending destroyers.
My thrasher can handle most level 5 missions and DED complexes with one,
unexpanded cargo hold for all of the loot. The thrasher is cheap, costing
around a million ISK give or take location and markets. It is also fast
and agile. The Noctis is a fat, bloated cow. Toss in salvage tackle
rigs and its almost miserable to fly. If there is any need for
agility (getting out for a respawn, low sec) it is seriously lacking.

It is a moment of
full circle that amuses me. I started salvaging in a Catalyst and I have
ended salvaging in a Thrasher. My Nocti are both docked and it is doubtful
that I will undock either in the near future. Yet coming full circle back
into a destroyer is not an ending. It is a sign of
advancement and change.
One reason the
Noctis was so important when it came to salvage was the size of the salvage.
With cargohold expanders the Noctis could hold over 4k m3 of salvage and
this was very important when it came to clearing out a mission. Forward
to the launch of Inferno and CCP nerfed meta 0 salvage drops. Meta 0 items
are items players can build and introduce into the games from blue prints.
The mission market competed directly with the player industrial market
when it came to module production and CCP corrected that by removing the
competition. Salvaging also became misery for months after the UI
changes.
Thankfully, the changes have caught up in functionality to return the smoothness of looting cans and wrecks to about where it was before. The changes to the drops did affect income and sadly, decreased salvaging's potential incomes and starter incentives.
Thankfully, the changes have caught up in functionality to return the smoothness of looting cans and wrecks to about where it was before. The changes to the drops did affect income and sadly, decreased salvaging's potential incomes and starter incentives.
The Noctis, which
has bonuses to salvage modules is the king creature of salvaging.
While tremendously ugly, it can lock 10 targets and carry an
arry of tractor beams and salvagers. With the inferno expansion CCP also
added the ability for it to carry salvage drones. It is the god of
salvaging.
"The Noctis can fit up to five Salvage Drones, further enhancing its salvaging capabilities. ORE Industrial Skill Bonus: 5% bonus to Tractor Beam and Salvager cycle time and 60% bonus to Tractor Beam range and velocity per level."
It is just an
amazing salvage boat. It can draw it in from further away, faster, with
faster salvage timers. It's incredible.
It is also not
always the choice.
1: The Noctis is
expensive. It is currently running somewhere over 80mil ISK for one.
When I purchased mine, last year they were 40mil ISK.
I've built them. That's almost all in mineral cost. These
things are a mineral vortex to build.
2: Tractor beams
are not cheap. I have never had one drop as loot as salvagers do.
T1 tractor beams are sitting around 1.7mil in Jita per module. This
is expensive to a new player and adds a significant investment into
any salvaging boat that they get.
3: The Noctis is made of paper. This matters a bit more than it used to because warping the Noctis into a mission to salvage as the rest of the fleet cleans up is no longer as viable as it once was. For me, I've sat in hundreds of level 5 missions scooping loot with the occasional worry about a spawn smacking me around and needing to warp out. Now, with the aggression changes I wait for the mission to finish. With living in low sec my personal agility is very, very important. I had one serious scare in my Noctis and that was enough to make me look for options.

It is a game of
cost vs bonus. I think, for the average new player, the
advantages of the destroyer will pay for itself and several Nocti before the
need for the Noctis presents itself.
I speak of need
which is not as powerful as want. While ISK per hour is a hot button
topic and the Noctis is fast, I'd point to all the other equations being added
into the sum total to decide of the zip of a MWD fit destroyer across the space
between the NPCs is such a great slow down.
It also lowers the
barrier of entrance. It has become such a habit to recommend a
Noctis that the capable, salvage fit destroyer has fallen by the wayside.
And then there is that quest for optimization and min/max that so coats
many people's conversations that create their own barrier of entrance.
Back when I was
trying to make a living in high sec and not sure about what to do, I tried some
public salvaging. I was told by one person that only with a fully fit
Noctis with T2 tractors, T2 salvagers and all skills maxed would they allow me
to follow along. Another group tried to kill me due to the older theft
mechanics which didn't not always see fleet members as having
permission to loot wrecks.
For
those aspiring to salvage, looking for extra income at lower levels,
or wishing to recommend possibilities to new players the salvage
destroyer is cute little tool that can be very interesting. Learning to
scan down wrecks or just running to new areas to make money holds interest.
Not everyone is swept up in the most/more/now style of game play.
Consider that
salvaging is an activity that develops a series of distance and analytical
decision making skills. It's not a passive activity. It also is an
important part of our economic cycle with the salvage dumped into the market
place to create the rigs that we so need. It also makes you fantastic at
looting PvP wrecks later in life.
Also, send an open
minded mission runner and an aspiring salvager to the
channel "Free Wrecks". It's a place where people who don't mind
giving away their salvage can give it away. Their MOTD is full of useful
information for a new player and the most interesting friendships are formed
through social connections such as these. It is an easy way to help a new
player find some personal independence that is not just mission running or
mining.
Salvage has really gone up in price and so have rigs, so noobs really can make a quick buck salavaging after a mission runner.
ReplyDelete