Shoogie
Serious Pixels
28
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Posted - 2012.04.18 22:56:00 -
[1] - Quote
Don't train Tactical Shield Manipulation to 5. It it needed at 4 for T2 shield hardeners, which you already have. Training it to level 5 actually slightly weakens your tank when your shields are between 0 and 5%, and has no affect on your tank at any other time. You should never spend much time between 0 and 5% shields. (Armor tanked ships will be at 0 shields fast. Shield tanked ships should try to stay above 5% or be trying to warp away.) So it is basically a long train skill which does nothing. But that is another thread.
Just about everyone will cross train at some point. There are a few who want to stick with a single race, usually on an alt, for RP reasons. Those people are crazy.
You want to cross train. The question is when?
When I had about 20 Million skillpoints, I could fly Caldari battleships and T2 cruisers decently. (Yes, including railguns and gunnery support skills.) Then I got the idea that I wanted to fly T1 ships of all four races. So I spent a couple weeks training armor tanking. Then I spent a couple more weeks training Amarr, Gallente, and Minmatar ships up to battleship 4. Then I spent a couple more weeks training energy and projectile turrets to 4. Then I stopped, resumed training support skills, and continued to fly my Caldari ships because they worked best.
When I had about 60 M skillpoints, I decided to finish the job. Starting with Amarr, I trained small pulse and beam specializations and Amarr frigates 5. Medium pulse and beam specializations and Amarr cruiser 5. Large pulse and beam specializations and Amarr battleship 5. It took about 4 months to train all those skills from 4 to 5, but it made a huge difference in the performance of my Amarr ships. Then I did the same for Minmatar and Gallente.
Now I can fly all subcapital ships (except black ops) for all four races, very well. This makes me happy. Once I get a few navigation skills I will add black ops to my list. This will make me happy as well.
But I would have done a few things differently. "I want to fly ALL the ships!" is too big of a bite all at once. Also, ship skill 4, weapon skill 4 is mediocre, and being mediocre sucks. That first month+ I did to train all four races to 4 was wasted training for a couple years until I got the T2 weapons to make those ships useful. Here is my advice:
1. Be sure you are GOOD at your first race before cross training. Get your large artillery and autocannon specialization skills to at least 4.
2. Have decent skill levels in the skills which benefit all ships: drones, navigation, capacitor, electronics, etc. You are pretty good there, but when you do feel the need to cross train:
3. Pick a SHIP you want to fly from a different race. Train until you are good at it. This includes T2 weapons to 4 and support skills at level 5.
4. Pick another SHIP you want to fly. Train until you are good at it.
5. Repeat.
6. With each additional ship you become proficient at, you will find fewer support skills needed to become proficient at your next ship.
7. One day you will look at your skillsheet and see you have all the T2 weapons at 4, level 5s in all the races' ship skills, as well as good support skills. You will have completed cross training.
Remember to have fun! |