Short version: I've run both of the new missions using the previous fits and think I'm about as ready as I can get for these to hit the live server.
I could milk this and make it into two separate posts, but meh -- I'll just make you click through to get the rest.
FIRST up, I pulled the BLOOD RAIDER Burner. It's now an Ashimmu instead of a Prophecy. I thought I was going crazy, so I confirmed via screenshots that the encounter used to be a Prophecy.
Other than the main baddie being swapped, the main change appears to be that the Frigates now also web and not just apply tracking disruptors (resulting in triple web if you let the frigs survive), but I'd need to confirm.
The final mission description is now up, and here it is for your reading enjoyment:
Anomic Base
I have a special optional and extremely difficult mission for you, we won’t penalize you if you decline it.
It appears that some local Blood Raider conflicts over Sani Sabik religions doctrine have boiled over and caused a prominent pirate captain to declare herself independent from the rest of the Covenant. This particular pirate seems obsessed with the Drifters and is collecting capsuleer bodies to use as some sort of “bait” for attracting them. She has started to collect her own fanatical followers and this could get out of hand quickly if not dealt with soon.
They have all scans open, so we can't go there in force. If you accept this mission, it's you against them.
Only medium sized ships can gain entry to the hideout, so don’t try to bring anything bigger.
This rogue pirate is flying an extremely well fitted Ashimmu cruiser sporting powerful Nosferatu modules and long-range Stasis Webifiers. Our intelligence reports indicate that she is armed with beam lasers that deal EM and Thermal damage.
She also has two wingmen flying Sentinel class Electronic Attack Frigates. The Sentinel wingmen are equipped with autocannons loaded with Barrage ammo. They also sport extremely effective tracking disruptors and have been seen supporting their leader by destroying any hostile drones they see. These pirates always fly with a Warp Scrambler and long-range Stasis Webifiers fit.
A word of warning: these rogue pirates are extremely dangerous and have proven very capable of destroying capsuleer ships. If you choose to decline this mission or if you fail to complete it, you will not lose any standings.
Declining a mission from a particular agent more than once every 4 hours will result in a loss of standing with that agent.
I ran in with the previous Prophecy Killer Gila fit (passive shield tank), no links, no boosts, and didn't change ammo (stayed with Scourge) just to see how things would go. I misclicked and ended up setting my 'keep at range' at 1km instead of the 50km I wanted. Didn't matter - he died like a fool.
Strategy is the same: drop the Sentinels first, then go for the Ashi. He seems to want to kill your drones very very much, which means less damage to tank as long as you can keep feeding him drones. For this run, he was easier/faster to kill than the previous Proph and I finished with 6 of 10 drones alive (during the 2nd run I finished with 7/10 alive).
I run this setup twice tonight, and note that your passive tank WILL NOT solo tank the Ashi. You are betting your hull on whether the AI will go for your drones or not. It's a little bit of a risk, I guess, but one I'll personally accept and play with for awhile. That being said, once live, I'll be running this setup with links for some passive assist.
I got an Antikythera Element to drop both attempts, by the way, and the pocket I was in was without decoration (unlike the fancy screenshot shown on the updates page).
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NEXT it's time for the SERPENTIS flavor:
Anomic Base
I have a special optional and extremely difficult mission for you, we won’t penalize you if you decline it.
It appears that a small group of Serpentis corporation test pilots have absconded with some prototype battlecruisers being developed for smuggling operations. We’ve located three of these pilots in a base they’ve established not far from here.
They have all scans open, so we can't go there in force. If you accept this mission, it's you against them.
Only medium sized ships can gain entry to the hideout, so don’t try to bring anything bigger.
These rogue pirates are flying advanced prototype battlecruisers capable of dealing damage at long range. Our intelligence reports indicate that they are armed with railguns loaded with Spike ammunition. Survivors of our last failed attack against their compound indicate that they use long ranges combined with powerful sensor dampeners to avoid danger. Their base is also equipped with a huge minefield of proximity-activated autoturrets. These turrets deal EM damage and will cause you problems if they activate, but they remain dormant unless a ship enters within 10km of them. Fly carefully to avoid the turrets. These pirates always fly with a Warp Disruptors fit.
A word of warning: these rogue pirates are extremely dangerous and have proven very capable of destroying capsuleer ships. If you choose to decline this mission or if you fail to complete it, you will not lose any standings.
Declining a mission from a particular agent more than once every 4 hours will result in a loss of standing with that agent.For this run, I went back to the Deimos and swapped the AB in favor of a MWD. Cap is consumed in 45 seconds, but hopefully the extra 1000m/s (top speed of about 1800m/s) will speed up the fight quite a bit.
Strategy was very similar to my previous kill report - put the Armor Reppers out of phase, enter pocket. Fly straight up, cycle the MWD and gain some speed. Spiral into the target (with the greater speed I could be more aggressive here) finally hitting 'approach' about 50km from target. Kick out the drones and turn on guns around 15km. Turn off MWD a little early or you will bounce off of him.
Once he is dead, collect drones, pick a new target and repeat. I finished with 4 hobgoblins alive (one died for the cause) - the Talos were sniping at the drones whenever they were out but only connected once or twice.
I liked the MWD better. With a cargo hold full of Navy Booster 400's, I came home with 12 charges and 3 loaded, and I was less than conservative with letting them cycle. I got a Cormorant Guristas Skin from the last Talos.
I killed each Talos with 20-21 cycles of the guns while shooting Navy Antimatter. Each holds 120 cycles worth of ammo, so you could almost run the mission twice without reloading them.
Re-ran a 2nd time, same result. Ready for patch day!
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