Warzone Extractions: Revamping the Arbitrator Fit

I guess I should give an update on my experience running the Warzone Extraction sites in EVE Online given how popular my T1 cruiser fittings post for the event turned out. For those wondering, I am flying an Arbitrator through the sites and with my skills, the only problems I encounter are with the battleships, as they kite at the edge of falloff range of my autocannons using Depleted Uranium M.

The Arbitrator fit using Depleted Uranium M

The reason for using autocannon is to kill off the frigates quickly. Once the frigates are off the field, the drones (and thus the ship's DPS) are safe. Experience both on Tranquility and Singularity show that the frigates will try to pull range to around 5km-6km, which means artillery should track well enough to contribute to the damage. Here is what I intend to fly over the weekend.

An Artillery Arbitrator fit using Phased Plasma

On paper, the tech 2 autocannon fit using Depleted Uranium M still has a 1 damage per second advantage over an Arbitrator using tech 1 artillery. Don't let pyfa fool you. The damage totals displayed don't reflect reality in space. Taking into account falloff, the artillery fit should actually outperform the autocannon fit. The Sleeper battleships have the ability to kite a player at 14km-16km. What is extreme falloff range for an autocannon is only 3km-5km into the artillery's 22km falloff range.

But what about killing the frigates at the beginning of a fight? While I haven't tested the new Arbitrator fit, I did test a Vexor fit with tech 1 artillery on the Singularity test server and I found the Gallente cruiser performed well.

A Vexor Artillery Fit

One good thing about using 650mm Medium Gallium Cannon is that they are cheap, running only a few tens of thousands of ISK each. I may even still have a few in one of my hangars. Also, artillery goes through a lot less ammunition, which means I can roam longer without stopping to pick up more ammunition. I perhaps should have included artillery options in my original post, but I ran out of time.

While the Vexor is better on paper, the Arbitrator still has the intangibles going for it. I get a kick out of these people flying around in Dominix and Tengus landing on grid watching an electronics warfare cruiser running the site. And as long as I can pay off the purchase price of the Arbitrator (which if it already hasn't happened, will happen tonight), I'm happy.