Adding rigs to the Drake
19th August 2009 – 5.19 pmI finally get my first rigs fitted to a ship. I have been aware of their benefits for quite a while, just as I have been aware of their multi-million ISK costs. As much as I would like a significant boost to my shield recharge time on my passively-tanked Drake battlecruiser, Non-sentient Ship, the twenty million ISK cost per rig is a little excessive, particularly as the ship itself only cost around thirty million.
I understand that rigs for smaller ships are being introduced. They will be smaller in size and calibration requirements, needing far fewer components to manufacture, whilst offering the same benefits, so it is perhaps a little foolish to rig my Drake at the moment. However, my motivation to fit rigs is my dedication to self-sufficiency. I certainly don't throw ISK at the market for such a luxury as a core defence field purger, instead I buy the BPO, research it for a couple of weeks in the corporation's facilities, then make use of the piles of salvaged components I have lurking in various station hangars.
It was after I found a working salvaging module in the hold of a wreck that prompted me to learn to salvage the wrecks themselves. This was quite early on in my career with the Caldari Navy, causing me to focus my training on being able to fit the recovered salvaging module. I had no idea at the time what the salvage was used for, I just knew it had value. I have gone through periods where I would sell my stockpiled salvage and reap millions in quick profit, but once I gained a decent cushion of ISK for my shapely behind I became happy to keep hold of the salvage, just in case I ever got a need for it.
Picking up the core defence field purger rig BPO gives me the need for some of the salvage. I also buy a cargo hold optimization rig BPO, either to generate more profit or to increase my hauling capabilities at some point. I am able to make one core defence field purger with the salvage I have to hand, and I only need to pick up a few extra pieces of junk from the market in order to make a second. A third rig, the limit that can be fitted to a Drake, will have to wait. The difference to the recharge rate of the Drake's shields is quite dramatic, boosting the rate by over 50%, which helps with tanking through a lot more damage, as evidenced when running a few level three encounter missions.
I know that I can sell the salvage to realise its worth in ISK, so I am not really getting rigs for free. However, I also know from my own experience that industrialists will cream as much profit from modules as possible, so making my own rigs is bound to be cheaper than buying them from the market. Although I have effectively just doubled the value of my Drake there is little cost to myself, save for the loss of potential from using some of my horded salvage. The only real concern is if Non-sentient Ship is destroyed, as then I will either have to get new rigs, which will be costly one way or another, or tolerate a lesser-fitted replacement. But, for now, I am happy to have even stronger shields for rats and Sleepers to penetrate.
One Response to “Adding rigs to the Drake”
The first set of shield rigs was the hardest to lose. After that, it just seemed like a part of the ship and I looked at it like buying a battleship hull [albeit one without rig slots though] and threw more ore in the hopper when I made the next iteration of my Drake. The same thing happened when I really wanted another ship for missioning with some friends in a rather remote corner of Lonetrek. Rigs were de rigor for fitting it, even if they are an expensive item on the market
As it is, I've made many of the CDFP's and sold all that I didn't fit at a tidy profit. If I were a smart industrialist, I would have bought more salvage and kept going, but alas/alack I spent it on other things that I cannot even begin to remember.