Level 4 Missions

[WayAbvPar]

So, I finally whored up enough faction to use the worst Republic Security Services Level IV agents. I am kind of terrified- level 3s were easy, but there was one (I can't remember the name) that I had to warp out of when I did it because I aggroed the whole spawn (to save time!). Approximately how many of them are soloable in a non-T2 fitted BS? Anyone care to share some experiences/advice? Anyone wanna come help me?  :-D

[Arrrgh]

http://eveinfo.com/missions/4/

[Reg]

I've had a fair bit of bad luck with level 4s. A lot of them seem to have real problems/bugs when I try to use my drones and since I fly a Dominix drones are my main weapon. I've stopped running them until the missions stabilize and stop getting changed with every hot fix.

[WayAbvPar]

My very first Level IV was a courier mission 

Then I got a Rogue Drones mission. First 2 stages were doable (had to warp out a couple of times to unload all the mins they were dropping, but the final stage was brutal. Got swarmed by warp scramming frigates that my drones couldn't kill fast enough to prevent the BS-sized drones from popping my poor Tempest.

I took the insurance money and bought a new one off the Market, then spent about 70M insuring and fitting it. Went back in with an armor tank/cap recharger/webber setup, which worked much better. Only got 2M for the time bonus and mission payout, but the mins they dropped refined down to 180 megacyte, 142 or so zyd and 42 morphite (even with my shitty refining skills). Overall it was obviously a big loss, but I can see the potential for profit here if I can keep my ship in one piece  :-D

Thanks to Tragny for his loan to help out the Enid's Revenge fitting. I hope I can grind through enough missions to make paying you back double or triple easy to do  :-D

[Polysorbate80]

As I've said before, *always* take a couple of warp stabs into level 4s, especially if you're not familiar with them--and then immediately align before you shoot at anything; some missions you'll wind up aggroing a whole lot more than you might think.  After you kill the scramblers, then you can warp out and fit whatever you want instead.

Some people complain that I'm "doing it wrong" or some such crap, but I've never lost a ship in a level 4 either.

[WayAbvPar]

Yeah, I am going to start carrying a couple of stabs with me so I can swap them if I have an out of system mission. Refitting is a PITA, not to mention spendy. After I spent all that money, I ended up finding my can with a few guns and such left, so now I spares.

[gimpyone]

I can try and double team them with you if you like.

[WayAbvPar]

That is probably not a bad idea, at least until I can figure out the strategies/setups I need for each one. Plus it will be fun!

[Sparky]

Many might be problematic for a non-T2 BS.  Your best bet would be to check that Eve-info link for each mission, take note of any scramblers, the DPS and damagetype then fit accordingly.  Their descriptions aren't always up-to-date though, so check comments in their forum.  Refuse any which give out too much LP (usually between 1000-1800LP if you're running in secure space - it varies by sec status).  I usually take out the scramblers first, then the cruisers and lastly the BS/sentries.

My Raven level 4 setup

High:
6 * 'Arbalest' Cruise missile launcher
1 * Heavy 'Knave' Energy Drain
1 * Small tractor beam
Med:
1 * XLarge Shield Booster II
1 * Heavy Electrochemical Capacitor Booster (with cap booster 800 charges)
4 * Mission specific shield hardener II
Low:
1 * F85 Peripheral Damage System (or better damage control)
4 * Power Diagnostic System II
Drones:
5 * medium drones. I uses Vespas as they're the most common weakness in the space I'm doing missions.
5 * a mix of light drone damage types. Tech II have low requirements and are well worth the extra small expense.
Cargo:
12 * Cap Booster 800 charges
1850 mission specific cruise missiles

Not entirely relevant for your case, guess you could use best named or something instead of T2.  Everyone sees cap boosters as PVP modules but those charges have kept me alive so many times while I plink away warp scramblers and whatnot.  Plus I very rarely have to warp out mid-mission, just keep repping and eat some charges if things get hairy.

[Polysorbate80]

My mission Raven:

6 Arbalest Cruise Launchers I (EM, Thermal and Kinetic in the hold)
1 425 Prototype I Gauss Gun
1 Small Tractor Beam

1 XLarge Shield Booster II
1 Large Shield Extender II
1 Magnetic Scattering Amplifier II
1 Heat Dissipation Amplifier II
1 Invulnerability Field II
1 Sensor Booster II

1 Ballistic Control System II
1 Power Diagnostic System II
1 Internal Force Field Array I
2 'Stoic' Core Equalizer I

5 Hobgoblin I's
5 Hammerhead I's

I ran more or less the same setup in T1 with no troubles.  It's definitely a lazy-man's setup; it's not optimal for anything, but I can do damn near any mission without ever swapping a module.  The only thing I swap is BCSes in place of the Warp Stabs for battleships 1.5 million+, and those aren't found in many missions.

[WayAbvPar]

After some hairy escapes, I managed to slog my way through Unauthorized Military Presence. It would have been a lot easier if I had remembered to NOT use my drones early- I aggroed the entire giant spawn and had to warp in and out about 20 times to finish it.

My setup is something like this-

6x800mm A/Cs (4 named), 2 named Heavy Nos
Named AB, 3x Cap recharger (2 named), named webber
LARII, LAR, 3 active hardeners (swappable for each mission), named RCU


Even with 2 reppers I was running out of armor before I ran out of cap in the mission. I sacrificed probably 25 drones as well, but I got it done, dammit. Loot was useless, but I all told I think the bounties and mission reward/bonus was worth at least 4M, so it wasn't all bad. I miss 0.0 ratting though 

[WayAbvPar]

Angel Extravaganza cured me of my desire to do any more level 4s for a while.

[Reg]

That was the last straw for me too. I didn't die but it was taking so long with all the warping in and out that I just gave up, failed the mission and took the big faction hit.

[Roac]

The highest level 4s are only really doable by multiple BSes or HACs.  If you want to do 4s, skim the boards to see what the toughest 3-5 missions are (Worlds Collide and Extravaganza are definately included) and decline them.  You can also lookup the mission details on eveinfo, to see if it looks too tough to handle.  If it is, you can postpone declining (don't let it expire or you'll take a standing hit) to try and get assistance with taking it down.