ISK in the Nether Regions

The move to a HiSec pocket started with a bang, but work commitments from pretty much all of our pilots have really hampered much in the way of PvP content over the last month. As such, with the limited time I've had, I've started poking about in the LowSec regions around us to see what sort of a living can be made running the various 3-6/10 rated DED sites.

First order of business was to fit out a ship capable of doing the job solo. I don't like dual boxing at the best of times and frequently getting called away from my screen means it must be a Covert ship so I can just warp out to a safe spot until time permits me to return. I looked at the various T3 options but in a Covert configuration they have positively anaemic damage output. The Stratios really is the only option.

As I'm going to be using it primarily in Blood Raider sites, a lean toward EM/Therm resistance and damage was necessary. I tinkered with the idea of a shield fit for the pure DPS a pair of Geckos could crank out with three or four drone damage amplifiers on, but it just wasn't tough enough to handle a 6/10 site solo. So, taking advantage of the ship's bonuses, I developed the loadout you see on the right.

Blood Raiders have a tendency to tracking disrupt the shit out of your guns, so I decided to make this an exclusive drone boat. Moreover, their tendency to use energy neutralizers meant there was a few less capacitor hungry modules to feed, freeing up high slots to fill with a Drone Link, Probe Launcher and some Dead Space Nosferatus to help nullify the effects of neuting. The extra range you get from the Dead Space variants is absolutely worth it. They're cheap to buy and with fall off you can gain cap from over 30 km 's away.

My primary drones will be Geckos, Curators and Ogres, so a Drone Navigation Computer and a Tracking Link will do wonders for drone flight time and damage application. An Afterburner to keep some transversal on my targets and some capacitor regeneration modules finish off the mid slots.

The low slots, predictably enough, will be where the tank and DPS upgrades reside. I went with a Dead Space repairer for the capacitor savings and a faction hardener. They're not woefully expensive and you should cover the cost of the fit in pretty short order.

As for the drones, it's always a good idea to carry a couple of large Logi bots around so you can repair on the fly. You won't always have access to station repair facilities and even undocking in LowSec carries its own dangers.

In a pinch you could carry around a depot and some different drones and hardeners should you stumble into the space of a different faction, if that's likely for you, it'd probably be worthwhile changing the rigs slightly.

With the theory crafting done, I got to scanning. Aridia isn't highly populated so the space doesn't get farmed all that much meaning I don't have to travel very far or for very long to find appropriate sites. But it's been profitable. With only a very casual effort and minimal man hours, I've collected about 1.5 Billion in loot so far. So I'm well in front with the ship cost and able to pretty low stress PLEX an account as needed. It's not as lucrative as W-Space, but it is at least different.