Clearing anomalies pays for fuel

Scanning at home finds two new anomalies have spawned. The sheer number of signatures accumulating locally is almost as if we're not house-proud. And, just to prove it, I resolve the nicely conspicuous static wormhole and ignore everything here to explore our neighbouring class 3 w-space system. Our system may have Sleepers breeding like royalty, but at least we don't have an off-line tower cluttering up the place, like this C3¹. The system is otherwise empty, letting me scan casually, finding only one gravimetric site, two ladar sites, and four anomalies. Okay, this system is much tidier than our own, but that's because raiders like me keep coming in and pillaging the profit. In fact, after resolving the static wormhole, and determining the exit to low-sec being only one hop from high-sec but too far from any civilised system, and realising that this C3 holds a damage-boosting magnetar phenomenon, I think raiding the system of its four anomalies is actually a good idea.

I swap the scanning boat for my Tengu strategic cruiser, refitted with heavy missiles for solo combat, expecting to blast through the anomalies in the C3 much more quickly than usual. And combat is pretty smooth, particularly after I decide to adapt to the much-increased range of the heavy missiles, compared to my normal use of heavy assault missiles. Rather than moving to the Sleepers and trying to keep up a high transversal velocity to mitigate damage, I orbit the cosmic signature of the anomaly. I am able to keep a suitable transversal velocity against the Argos guns, and shoot the Sleepers whilst they close the range with my Tengu. It works out quite well. It even ensures that salvaging in my Noctis will be easy, as I can use the same reference point to warp in to that I am using to orbit, keeping all the wrecks in mutual range of the reference.

All four anomalies are cleared, and I swap to the Noctis and sweep up the wrecks in almost no time, thanks to the salvager's excellent bonuses to tractor beam range and speed. I bring home a pretty good haul of loot, totting it up to be worth a little under two hundred million iskies. Feeling flush, I think about taking a trip out to empire space to pick up a few skill books, although I don't feel like taking a long trip to market to sell the small amount of loot I accumulate today. I still take the Crane out, though, the transport ship letting me bring some fuel in for the tower, should it prove convenient. I check the status of the tower and which fuels will deplete in the shortest time, which is still over a couple of weeks away. If I can bring some more in now it will prevent another mild panic in trying to find a decent exit closer to the time of depletion.

I fit the Crane with expanded cargoholds, stuff in two giant secure containers, and head out. I am close enough to an academy system to buy the books that will let me train for potentially a second strategic cruiser, and the prices for fuel seem low enough to consider buying. The two I'm planning to get are available within only a handful of jumps too, which is the main concern. A bit of maths lets me buy amounts of each fuel that will last for similar times, whilst filling up my hold, as each fuel is used at a different rate and can have different volumes per unit. I collect the fuel, return home safely, and resupply the tower. My maths is good, as both restocked fuels increase on-line times to remain equally available. That wasn't so hard, particularly when not under pressure to keep the force field active. In fact, it was so easy I think I'll head out again, and resupply the next lowest fuel supplies. More maths lets me haul equal cycles' worth of two more fuels home again, and now we have a good forty days before having to worry about the tower going off-line, which lets me rest easily.

1. Yes we do.
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Posted in Gaming |
Tags: crane, eve online, mmorpg, noctis, penny ibramovic, scanning, sleepers, tengu, w-space