Back to eve, again...

[Polysorbate80]

So far I've been using:

5 Heavies (Mix of EM/Kin/Kin/Thermal/Exp)
2 150 autocannons for the little guys(forget the exact type, but good ones)

1 AB
1 Med Shield Booster--I should probably try to fit a large; I've usually got cap to burn even with perma-AB going.
2 Large Extenders
1 Passive EM hardener

1 PDU
2 BCS
1 Warp Stabilizer

This is obviously not the most efficient NPC setup, but it's worked well for me so far (well, except for that Level III Black Market mission where you warp in onto a pair of sentry guns in the second half of the mission--those little fuckers hurt).  My problem is I'm trying to find a workable middle-ground between being totally gimped vs either PCs or NPCs.  It may not exist :P

[Hoax]

I use hardeners on my Proph's armor tank, there is something satisfying about taking 20-30 damage from other BC's...  Now I just need to get my hands on a techII medium armor repairer *evil grin*

[Silus Fromme]

Well...maybe it was something to do with me refusing to look up rat damage types....

I've tried using hardeners before and hated them....they leeched the hell out of my cap.

Though I can see their viability with the addition of the 2 large NOSs.

They do leech cap, true.  Anything smaller than a BC and you'll want cap batteries or rechargers which makes for a much tighter fit.  On a BC fitted with PDSs though, you can run those hardeners a loooong time even without the Nos.

Easiest way to check rat damage is http://eve.grismar.net/rats/index.php  All you really need to do is open up your in-game notepad and make a list like:

Guristas - kin/therm

Then just update it as you get missions for various NPC types; no reason to do them all at once.  It's also worth noting that NPCs tend to be weak against the type of damage they do.  So if you are fighting Guristas kit ballistic hardeners and pack scourge heavies, for example.  Since the Ferox specifically gets boosts to shield resistances per level of BC skill, a mix of hardeners flown by a pilot with BC 3 or BC 4 can hit 85% resistance for a specific damage type even with the stacking penalty.  That combined with the fact that using the right damage type heavy can mean the difference between hitting for 200 per vs. 175 per makes it really worth doing the little bit of research.

Hardeners do take you further into micro-management territory, so I can understand the reluctance.  You'll wind up stocking 2-3 of each damage type in the hangar you're basing missions out of.  But the benefit is pretty substantial.

I should be ingame in about another 2-3 hours, I'm happy to join the F13 channel and c/p the list I already have for the benefit of whoever might want it.