Here's what I ended up installing:
Slot 1 - Ocular Filter Basic (+3 Perception)
Slot 4 - Cybernetic Subprocessor Basic (+3 Intelligence)
Slot 6 - SX-1
Slot 7 - AY-1
Slot 8 - ZET300
Slot 9 - KYA1000
Slot 10 - KZA1000
I'll go over what each of them does and explain my selection process a bit...
Slots 1-5 improve your basic skills. I only installed implants into two of those slots - slot 1 and 4 are to increase the two skills that are most important for my current skill training. By installing them (along with a re-map that I did a while ago) it cuts down on my training time significantly. These should probably have been installed weeks ago when I started on the pvp training path for Jack Dancer. Right now I have about 5 weeks of training left until I'm going to wrap up Jack's training (he'll be at least 4 (and in many cases 5) in all the skills listed in Kirith Darkblade's infamous Rifter Plan except for the missile skills that I don't use right now). Once I get these 5 weeks worth of skills completed I'm going to go train one of my other characters to be a better explorer (while Jack Dancer continues his pirating practicum)...
The slot 1 implant, "Ocular Filter - Basic" (+3 to Perception) costs 9.3 million isk in Hek. The +2 implant ("Ocular Filter - Beta") costs 3.4 million and the +4 implant ("Ocular Filter - Improved") costs more than 100 million isk. The cost of the +3 version was acceptable - the +4 was too much. So I picked up the +3. It boosts my Intelligence to 24.
The slot 4 implant, "Cybernetic Subprocessor - Basic" is a similar choice to the slot 1 version with one important difference. With a +3 implant my Intelligence is boosted to 30 which is the max (oops! see comments below from a more knowledgeable source - 32 is actually the max). Buying a +4 (without remapping my character to lower Jack's intelligence) would still put Jack's intelligence at 30 - no improvement. The +3 implant (that I selected) costs 8.4 million isk in Hek. The +2 implant is 2.9 million isk. Again, the price to max out Jack's intelligence was acceptable at 8.4 million, so I chose the +3.
Those were both pretty straight forward. Now the fun stuff...
Slots 6 through 10 are available to improve various skills - navigation, gunnery, trading, exploring/scanning, etc. They are very handy and can be very expensive. Since there's a good chance that Jack is going to do something non-intelligent (regardless of that +3 implant giving him a 30 intelligence...), I don't want to spend too much for these slots. So I might not have selected the ideal implants, but I tried to find things that would be helpful in combat and that wouldn't make me fearful of losing them if (when!) I get podded. Here's what I ended up with:
Slot 6 - "Gunslinger" SX-1. A no-brainer choice (especially with the 30 intelligence!). The SX-1 is "designed to enhance skill with small projectile turrets. Grants a 3% bonus to small projectile turret damage." Nice! There are currently none for sale in Hek, but in the region they can be found for about 500k isk. Well worth the price. The SX-1.5 (+4) and SX-2 (+5) versions aren't available in the Metropolis region, but if they were they would cost multiple tens of millions more. (Other slot 6 implants to consider are ZET100, CY-1, EY-1, MY-1)
Slot 7 - 'Rogue' AY-1. This one seems like a good one too. The AY-1 is "designed to enhance pilot maneuvering skill. Grants a 3% bonus to ship agility." Never can have enough ship agility. Cost of this rascal is 4.2 million in the Metropolis region (non available in Hek except for an absurd 11 million sell offer). The +4 version (AY-1.5) isn't available in the region and the +5 version (AY-2) is on the Hek market for 187 million isk. I'm going to get podded eventually and losing 4 million isk will be much easier to deal with than losing almost 200 million just for this one implant. (Other slot 7 implants to consider are AX-1, ZGC100, KVA1000, AX-1)
Slot 8 - 'Noble' ZET300. Slot 8 isn't a very exciting slot. Nothing jumps out as especially useful. The ZET300 might be the best of the mediocre selection. It "boosts the pilot's skill at maintaining the mechanical components and structural integrity of a spaceship. +3% bonus to hull hp." Hull hitpoints. +3%. Not too glamorous - but for 200k in Hek, the price is right and it might be the difference between barely surviving and losing a ship. The +5% version costs about 200 million isk in Hek. (Another slot 8 implant to consider is the DY-1 that reduces your afterburner capacitor needs by 3%)
Slot 9 - 'Gnome' KYA1000. This implant "boosts the recharge rate of the shields of the pilot's ship." In this case by 3%. It costs 4.2 million isk in Hek. I also considered the CX-1 which increases projectile turret damage, but at 16 million isk it was out of my price range right now. Having shields recharge faster can't hurt. (Other slot 9 implants to consider are CX-1, ZET400, GY-1)
Slot 10 - 'Gnome' KZA1000. Another in the Gnome series, this implant "lowers turret CPU needs". Not surprisingly, by 3% (like all the others I considered - the 3% versions are often acceptably priced). It's available in Hek for 600k isk. The +5 version of this implant (KZA2000) costs 40 million isk in Hek. I'm not sure that I need this one, but I am sure that it makes fitting T2 turrets much easier. So it's probably worth it - especially since the only other one I looked at was the very handy ZET500 implant that boosts armor hitpoints by 3% at a cost of 8 million isk. I went cheap for now, but someday I'll be installing the ZET500.
There you have it (well, actually, there I have it since I mostly wrote this so I can remember what to replace when I get podded in the near future...). Thanks to Wensley's Rifter Guide for an excellent rundown on the various options - it helped me narrow down the plethora of implants.
A couple notes:
- Once you install your implant the only way to remove it is to destroy it. They are like rigs on ships - they don't come out intact. So be sure of what you are doing.
- The prices I quoted above are the Hek "Sellers" prices. You can often get these implants for a considerable discount if you want to put up a buy order and wait for someone to fill it.
Let me know if I missed an excellent implant or if you think there's a better use for a particular slot. I'm no expert at this! And no doubt I'll be podded one of these days and can install a new set...
Postscript: Wow! I just noticed that Starwalker Shikkoken has a new implant entry on his excellent blog too. Great minds think alike! Except when it comes to the selection of the implants - check out Starwalker's choices here.
Postscript: Wow! I just noticed that Starwalker Shikkoken has a new implant entry on his excellent blog too. Great minds think alike! Except when it comes to the selection of the implants - check out Starwalker's choices here.
Good stuff Jack. I've been enjoying reading about your exploits and watching you grow into a knowledgeable PvPer. One of the tools of the trade is definitely Implants, but there are a couple of things I wanted to make sure you knew...
ReplyDeleteThe current maximum for any attribute is 32, which is 27 from a remap and a +5 implant. Speaking of +5 implants, that's what those Improved implants you price checked at over 100m were. The +4s are Standard implants and usually cost somewhere between 15 and 20 million.
One other thing that jumped out at me was when you said "Nothing jumps out as especially useful." for the slot 8 implants. For me, that slot is reserved for Zor's Custom Hyper-Link, which increases AB/MWD speed boost by 5% and comes in handy for any ship with a propulsion module. It's not listed on Wensley's list in the Rifter Guide, or even found on the market for that matter, but you can usually pick one up on contracts for less than 10 million. That may seem a little pricey, but it's invaluable for a frigate pilot, and most of the slot 8 hardwirings concern themselves with Medium turret damage anyway.
Hey, thanks!
ReplyDeleteAnd thanks for the clarification on the 32 attribute. I still would stick with the +3 just because of the price, but might consider more expensive implants for my carebear alts that'll have a better chance of avoiding death by podding.
I think some of the prices I quoted are definitely on the high side - I used Hek sale prices since it's near the Black Rebel strongholds of Auner and Hado. The Hek selection isn't as big as at Jita or Dodixie and the scarcity seems to have caused some (not surprising) crazy pricing. Some of the implants in my head came from buy orders at Jita and Dodixie over the past couple weeks, so they were sometimes much less expensive. Your pricing sounds right.
And I'll definitely check the contracts for Zor's Custom Hyper-Link. That does look handy!
Thanks again!
thanks for the above posting Jack. This was very helpful. Sometimes I tend to forget about this very important component in the game and your piece just reminded me to refocus on this aspect.
ReplyDeleteLater you crazy Rebel!
Not sure if you want to strerch your budget but +4 implants for slots 1-4 are selling for around 18m ISK. Splashed out last night for slots 1 and 4 in Rens. Now need to train Cybernetics IV!
ReplyDelete