User:Risako

Summary

Ratting in a large ship can be very profitable as you can kill rats very quickly and move on which means more isk per hour. Being in a large ship can also mean more risk as you are slower to align and cannot outrun smaller ships sent to tackle you. The goal of this guide is to help maximize your isk per hour while still maintaining your safety in order to avoid being tackled.

Choosing a Ship

Ship choice is a critical component to beginning your ratting in 0.0 in a larger ship. Ship choices will vary depending on which race of ship you are capable of flying and which ship you are comfortable flying.

Caldari

Raven

The Raven is arguably the most popular large ratting ship of choice for pod pilots. It's good shield tank when hardened for the correct damage type to the local rats, allow it to tank a high amount of damage. The raven's long range cruise missiles and variable damage type allow the user to choose the best damage type of cruise missile for the rat and kill the rat from a distance. For more information about the Raven and specific setups for ratting see Raven.

Drake

The Drake is also a very popular ratting ship. The ship has an impressive passive shield tank which make it easier for pilots to not have to manage their cap for active shield tanking. This allows the pilot to focus more on their other duties such as watching local or watching scan if others are in the system. Along with the Drake's shield tank, the ship can support up to 7 heavy missile launchers to deal good damage to the rats from a good distance, similar to the Raven. For more information on the Drake, including setups for ratting, see Drake.

Choosing an Area

Since larger ships are slower to align and escape from bubbles, generally these ships stay either in the same system going from belt to belt or travel in a small set of systems that usually are quiet and safe to rat in.

What to Look for

When in-game, take a look at the map browser and look for areas in the region you want to rat in for spots that have little to no people in system. Look for station systems nearby so that you can dock when finished or just log in space when finished. Make sure any aggression timers you have are finished before you do so.

Ratting Tactics

Safespot Near The Sun

As is typical with most larger ships, you are slow to align and not very fast. If you are in a ship that can kill rats at range, make a safespot near the sun by warping to the sun at range and making a bookmark while still in warp near the sun. This bookmark will be what you use whenever someone unfriendly comes into local. When ratting with this tactic, fit a cloak and anytime you are ratting, align for the sun. This allows you to always be aligned for the bookmark you made when someone comes in local and instantly warp when to tell your ship too, so that there is virtually no chance for you to get tackled. The downside of this tactic is that you can't loot or salvage your wrecks because you would break your alignment. Either use an alt to salvage or come back and salvage later if you want.