In general, however, understand that HAMs are a comparatively short range missile. They are the cruiser version of rockets. Heavy missiles are the cruiser version of light missiles, and if range is primarily what you need, those are your best bet.

Noob here (3 months <>4M SP) and have got myself to a decent enough skill level that I'm pretty comfortable with level 3 security missions in my Caracal equipped with light missiles. Whilst I can shield tank ok I'm struggling with DPS to take down some of the extreme NPCs.

Tried Heavy Assault Missiles to gain greater DPS but was surprised at their range. Just 15KM with my skills compared to 44KM on Light Missiles. Unless I'm missing something improving range with Missile Bombardment and Missile Projection isn't going to get me close to 44KM of the Light Missiles.

What do I need to train in to improve the range of Heavy Assault Missiles?

My skills listed here
http://eveboard.com/pilot/Ivaelo_Enaka

Thanks

For lv3's you should get a drake.

I did but fitted HAMs and rather foolishly didn't check range before heading out. I quickly headed back station.

But I can see now I need to look at Heavy Missiles rather than Heavy Assault Missiles.

Cheers

In a caracal, training your cruiser skill will increase your missile range, as well.

Always "show info" on your ships to see what bonuses they offer. On the front page.

For lv3's you should get a drake.

Edit: And heavy assault missiles aren't the medium version of light missiles, they're the medium version of rockets. Heavy missiles are the medium version of light missiles.

I tried a Drake with Heavy Missiles on a lvl 3 mission last night. Can't hit frigates for ****! Battlecruisers not so bad.

It was so bad I was barely getting 13-15 dmg per hit - when it hit which wasn't often, that after 10 minutes of trying to take down the single remaining frig I warped back to station. Jumped in my Caracal with light missiles, warped back and hit the frig for 100-130dmg per hit - which was often, and finished him off in less than 30 seconds.

I'm guessing heavy missiles are less accurate but what stat for the missile dictates that and what can I do to improve my accuracy? Heavy Missile Specialisation and Heavy Missile skills solely seem to improve damage and reload speed. Training further in Battlecruiser again only improves damage.

So what am I not understanding? I can't see a way to improve my heavy missile accuracy which appears to be appalling.

OK... so the missile damage formula is pretty complicated. You can google "EVE Missile formula" and get teh technical details of how the thing works. Here are the very basic concepts to understand:

1) Smaller ships suffer less damage from larger missiles. There is a complicated equation detailing this involivng the explosion radius of a missile compared to the signature radius of a target ship, but it essentially says that large missiles can't apply their full force to ships that are relatively smaller than the explosion the missile creates. That's part one of what you're seeing, as you're shooting medium missiles at a small ship.

2) In a similar vein, faster ships generally take less damage from missiles. Missile explosions expand at a certain rate. If your ship moves fast enough, it can avoid a lot of the damage by outrunning the explosion (think of the Millenum Falcon flying out of the Death Star II in Return of The Jedi). You may also see that in your situation if the frigate is reasonably fast.

The way to address these issues can be done in a number of ways:
Warhead Rigor Catalyst Rigs (reduces the relative size of the explosion)
Warhead Flare Catalyst Rigs (increases the speed of expansion fo the explosion)
Target Painter Modules (increases signature size of whatever you paint)
Stasis Webifier Module (Reduces target's speed)
Guided Missile Precision Skill (reduces the relative size of the explosion)
Target Navigation Prediction Skill (reduces the impact target velocity has in comparing to rate of expansion of explosion)

Best bet is to train the skills and put some Warhead Rigor Catalyst rigs on your drake if you can't kill the frigates with your drones.

Here's a very detailed article from EVE UNI: http://wiki.eveuniversity.org/Missile_Damage

When you're in your Drake, use your missiles to bring down the larger ships first. The Drake has a drone bay; once all the rats are aggro'd on you, unleash your drones to kill the small stuff whilst you kill the big guys with your missiles.

I'm guessing heavy missiles are less accurate but what stat for the missile dictates that and what can I do to improve my accuracy? Heavy Missile Specialisation and Heavy Missile skills solely seem to improve damage and reload speed. Training further in Battlecruiser again only improves damage.

So what am I not understanding? I can't see a way to improve my heavy missile accuracy which appears to be appalling.

bridgette's explanation is enough, the skills and module that he/she suggest are the way to improve your damage toward smaller target (ex : HM want to hit frigs, CM want to hit BC/cruiser/destroyer/frig)

and i suggest you cyclone if you can use it, since drake's bonus is using kinetic and cyclone's can use all type of missile

The main reason for people using the drake is the slot layout, and the bonus to the shield resist. It can fit a BS sized tank and still have semi-decent dps.

While I haven't tried the new Cyclone out yet it doesn't seem like it will be all that good for a newer player running missions.

For lv3's you should get a drake.

Missiles precision is a must, if that isn't enough use a Target painter.

Guided Missile Precision doesn't do anything for HAMs, as they are unguided (or so it says in the description).

I do Lvl 3s in a Hookbill with Light Missiles. A Caracal with heavy Missiles is overkill for lvl 3s. No need for a Drake at all.