Marc Callan wrote:Fit the proper hardeners and weapons, and the Mael can run most missions like a champion. Keys:
Use an XL shield booster, but pulse it; don't perma-run it.
T2 medium and light drones for cruisers and frigates, respectively.
Fit hardeners according to the mission. Common fit for Guristas, for example, might be 2 thermal, 2 kinetic, letting you absorb over 1000 DPS in short bursts with your booster running.
Swap out your weapons depending on what you're facing. For close-range hostiles like Angels, 800mm autocannons will tear them apart. For rats that like to hold at range, like Guristas, 1200mm or 1400mm artillery will work wonderfully on their battlecruisers and battleships. 1200's are easier to fit while you're training up, and do roughly similar DPS to the 1400's, but use ammo twice as fast. 800's are easiest to fit, but go through ammo like water.
If you're worried about your tank, fit a Damage Control in one of your lows. You may sacrifice one gyro or tracking enhancer, but if you screw up a mission and your tank does get broken, the DC's hull resistances will mean the difference between bringing a battered flaming ship back to station, and coming home in a pod. Plus, bonuses to armor and shield resistances without stacking penalties.
Special note: in missions where the rats throw ECM at you, the massive alpha damage that you get from 1400's is a lifesaver, and, oddly enough, the long cycle time of the cannons works for you in that case. With autocannons, you lose a lot of DPS for every second you're jammed out; with 1400's, there's a chance the jam cycle will end and allow you to re-lock before your guns have cycled for the next shot, and at worst, you lose maybe five or ten seconds.
Plus, one-hit-kills on battlecruisers, and three-hit kills on battleships. With T1 guns, even. Even if they're stood off at 50km or more. (Yeah, tactical says your optimal's only out to 35km or so with the short-range ammo types, but that massive falloff means that if you can lock it, there's a better-than-even chance you can hit it respectably.)