Now that Revelations is deployed, I've been keeping my eye out for new missions. check them out at the very bottom.

When I finally start doing level 3 missions in my Brutix, I'll post my experiences here. Thanks for your interest :)

If you're looking for mission details, they are at the bottom half of this document (NOTE: The mission details are as of 3/1/2006 and may have changed because of the Blood patch). The top half is just my blogs on the Brutix as I worked my skills up. My Preliminary L3 Brutix build can be found just above the mission details.

First Impressions of the Brutix (340K skill points):

I tried what I thought was a lower level 3 mission. Gone Berzerk: I would be facing multiple waves. Well, I did, and my shield and armor were getting eaten up bad. It was a simple matter of leaving a weak enemy alive as I charged back up, but still, I was surprised at how fast my resources were being taken down. I clearly need better regen. But, I don't have enough power grid for a Large Armor Repair, but I do have enough for a Large Shield Booster. Which is a shame, since the Brutix is an armor tanker. Perhaps that is to offset its inability to recharge its shields better. I suppose I shouldn't expect more, though. Level 4 missions are for fleets (wrong, see below). I'll probably need a Dominix to handle most of the level 3 missions. I will say this though - it was fun webbing, painting, and opening up with 6 guns :)

Come to think of it, all the battlecruisers have extra resistances or bonuses that help offset the fact that they don't have the powergrid to handle Large Armor Repairs. So apparently, a Large Shield Booster is required equipment (also wrong, see below).

...

Ok after getting a Large Shield Booster and nervously accepting Retribution, I warped in and saw 4 groups of enemies to take out. One of the groups was composed of 9 enemies! But 6 of them went down fast. It was fun opening up my guns again :) That mission was about a 5/10.

Now I have Sabotage the Supply Line, which was a 5/10 in level 2. It will probably be a 6/10 here. It will involve multiple waves of enemies, but I may be able to leave a weak one alive in preparation for the next.

If it turns out that in a Battlecruiser I am limited to taking non-chain and non-storyline combat missions, I have no problem with that. It will give me something else to work up to, since once I master the level 3 missions, there isn't much else I can do without being in a corp. EDIT: Correction, apparently level 4 missions are doable solo, but you need some hefty skills, according to the forums.

For my next ship, I think I'll go for a Megathron, and bypass the Dominix. It will take 8 days just to train up to pilot it. This does not include the skills needed to operate large guns or any of the upgrades that will make it complete. The downside is that I'll have to raise 130mil for the price of the ship and its insurance, instead of 90mil for the Domi. Even if I went with the Dominix, I would still have to train for 8 days, so regardless, I have that long to raise the money. In the meantime, though, I'm still raising my skills with the Brutix and getting better at the missions. Even adding a Shield Hardener in place of my Painter has helped a lot. Once I get my skills to a respectable level, I'll train up for the Mega. So I even have that much more time to raise the money.

Starting Ship Build

This is how my Brutix looked when I first started level 3 missions (my skills and attributes were the same as posted in the level 2 walkthroughs). It's pretty much a cruiser-style level 2 build, which didn't fare very well:

• 2 250mm railguns, 2 dual 150mm railguns, 2 150mm railguns, 1 Medium Remote Armor Repairer
• 10MN Afterburner, Large Shield Booster, 'Langour' Drive Disruptor (webber), Target Painter I
• Medium Armor Repairer I, 400mm Reinforced Steel Plates I, 2 Overdrive Injectors I, Capacitor Power Relay I

Even with the Capacitor Power Relay penalizing the shield boosting, my Large Shield Booster still heals damage faster than my Medium Armor Repairer can. A few more points in Battlecruiser will help with that, since the Brutix gets a bonus to armor repairing.

I also need to get Hull Upgrades raised so I can replace the 400mm Steel with 400mm Titanium, or maybe even a 800mm variety.

I'm working up Engineering 4 so I can get an overall -25 percent shield hardener in place of my Target Painter.

...

Well, after spending some time with the battlecruiser, I'm concluding that shield and armor hardeners are required equipment for surviving the harder level 3 missions (well, just armor hardeners in a Brut, see below). That means you need Hull Upgrades 4 and Tactical Shield Manipulation 4 to take advantage of the Compensation skills that further increase your resistances while using the hardeners.

I have yet to use the armor hardeners. After I get all my armor and shield hardener skills up (which will take about 7 days for the required and Compensation skills - yeesh), I'll report my findings here.

But I can say for starters, even having the one shield hardener (Invulnerability Field I) and a Large Shield Booster has made shield tanking MUCH more viable, although it sucks my cap up fast. I hear Caldari ships are shield tankers - I wonder what helps them keep their cap so well? (They have to be set up that way)

It's frustrating having to decline so many level 3 missions, and it will be a few days yet before I can really equip my ship in a way that will be helpful. I can dink around with what armor hardeners I can use now and see what they do for me, though. Still, it's a strange sense of progression, having access to so many missions, half of which I must decline. Update: Hmm, I didn't realize I could equip a general 15% bonus armor hardener. I'll try that, and the bonus skills will help a lot, I'm sure. It still won't allow armor regen as well as my shield booster, but the cap will last longer.

I'll have to look into using Damage Controls, too.

I guess what's frustrating me is something at the game design level. I've been grinding level 2 missions with Fed Navy to get some extra level 3 agents to work with, and the missions are horribly easy. There is a huge disparity between level 2 and level 3 missions, even between the easier level 3's and the harder ones. It almost seems like there should be 2 divisions within level 3, but I know that would drastically reduce the mission pool as well. So I have this huge (couple weeks?) period of time where I will be skilling up, waiting to use and equip my Megathron, where I will be continuing to decline half the level 3 missions I get, and likely be forced to visit other agents since I can only decline once every 4 hours without a faction hit. It's a strange way to work through the progression any game has to offer.

...

After getting beat up once again in Seek and Destroy, I went ahead and replaced my 150mm rails with 3 Anode Blaster Cannons. They take small ammo and only hit out to about 5km, but they have excellent tracking, so those pesky little orbitters won't last nearly as long. The Veterans in Spies can armor tank, and my drones aren't enough to take them out while all the other cruisers are nailing me. Having the 3 blasters helps to take them out decently fast.

The downside is that I have this deadzone between 5km and 10km where I can't hit much, but my webber and larger guns can at least pick away. The 10km - 13km orbiters are still a problem.

I'm also now running with a passive explosive membrane and a passive all-membrane. It helps my armor a bit, but now my ship is DOG slow. I may also need to replace the power relay and armor upgrades with a Power Diag Sys and a Small Armor Repair, not sure. I've been researching Brutix builds on the forums. When I finally come up with a good Brutix build for level 3 missions, I'll certainly post it here.

...

The biggest trouble I'm having other than taking too much damage is trying to break the tanks on fast orbiters, particularly the now fixed Veterans of Seek and Destroy and the Vipers of Retribution(Angel). The Veterans orbit at 1.5k, and the Vipers orbit at 9k or so.

To beat these enemies, I loaded up two Anode blasters for the 5k orbiters and two 125mm guns for the 10k orbiters, and kept my 3 250's for long range. However, I realized that the 125's will also hit the 5k orbiters. So I'll need to try a 150, 125, 75 and Anode on the next S&D to see if I can break the Veteran's tank. If I can, I'll just load up 4 125's (or go back to 4 150's if they hit). I'll do less damage to the Veterans, but it will give me more guns to fire at the Vipers, since the Anodes can't reach them.

Looking on the forums, most of the Brutix builds are all blasters. But I can't imagine how I would get close to anything unless I'm using a MWD. Also, it's disappointing to find out that, according to elitist opinion, the Megathron can't handle level 4's as well as a Dominix. Oh well, I'll find out why myself. It just seems a shame that CCP puts a ship in that's 33 million more to buy than a Dominix, but is actually not as good of a ship.

...

Well, I got what I wanted. Seek and Destroy came up, so I loaded up a 200, 150, 125, 75 and Anode and took on some Guardian Veterans. But I got a strange result. Even without the webber, ALL the weapons, even my 250's, were hitting respectfully. With the webber, I'm certain all of them would have done that much better. So I don't know what was going on yesterday when I couldn't break his tank. Maybe I didn't open up with all guns, I don't know. but I will from now on. Update: for some reason all guns were hitting when I tested, but now only the small 150's hit, even when the Guardian is webbed. So that's that.

Also, I'm realizing by the numbers that 4 200's do more damage than 3 250's and a Dual 150, and take the same amount of powergrid. I wil pay for it in range, though. So I have to take a serious look at how much time I spend far away from targets and if I really need the extra range from the 250's. The 200's will even help more against close orbiters because of the better tracking (as long as they aren't too fast - see above). Some Brutix builds call for 7 200's - I don't see how that's possible, but I'll find out.

My current setup (this setup didn't work because I wasn't drawing most upon the Brutix's primary strength, which is armor tanking):

• Hi slots: 3 250mm's, 1 Dual 150mm, 3 150mm
• Medium slots: 10 MN afterburner, Large Shield Booster, Invulnerability Field I, X5 Inhibitor (87.5% webber)
• Low slots: Medium Armor Repair, 800mm armor, Adaptive membrane, Reactive membrane, Cap Power Relay

The invulnerability field really makes my shields last longer, but for the tougher level 3's, I'm sure I'll have to depend on the Brutix's greater strength, which is armor tanking. So the more I gear it for that, the better off I'll be. I'm still training up Hull Upgrades 4, though, so that will have to wait.

...

I finally got Hull Upgrades 4 and started training up the armor compensations. Unfortunately, it only adds 5% of the resist itself, so 15% becomes 15.75%. Oh well, I get them up to 3 anyway. I have a high cap recharge armor tanking setup going, and it's working pretty well. If a fight takes a lot of cap out of me, then while I'm looting and getting my cap back, the shields recharge pretty well on their own.

I really don't want to have to go with putting on active hardeners specific to the missions I'm doing. But I might have to, we'll see. I've been trying a few of the level 3's I've been avoiding, and I've been able to take a few. Before I can really assemble a full set though, I need to get my cap recharging up there. Right now I'm depending on 3 pieces of cap equipment, one in the low slot - I'd like to only depend on 2 so I can put 2 hardeners there. And that will require skilling up and better equipment to compensate.

Also, I now have a Megathron waiting for me in Ours, so I'll be training up for that soon. I'll only be able to start with heavy missiles, but after some training, I'll get torpedoes going.

The one skill I'm training that won't pass on to the Mega is Battlecruiser, which I'm now training up to 3 so the Brutix can armor tank a bit better.

...

It seems I can handle all the L3 missions now except Spy Stash, Black Market Hub and the 2 chains (Portal to War, Missing Reporters). I still have to warp out from Mordus Headhunters, Seven's Prison and possibly Sabotage the Supply Line and Intercept the Pirate Smugglers (Space-Port).

My ship setup, third try, with 780k skill points (this setup does much better. The high cap recharge allows the repairers to function longer and stay ahead of most of the damage being dealt - but the armor resists could be higher):

• Hi slots: 3 250mm's, 1 200mm, 3 150mm's
• Mid slots: 10MN afterburner, Eutectic Cap Recharger I, Large Peroxide Cap Battery I, X5 Webber (87.5%)
• Low slots: Medium Inefficient Armor Repairer I, Small Armor Repairer II, Nano Membrane, Reactive Membrane, Cap Power Relay I

This gives me good cap recharging and decent armor tanking. My shields actually recharge pretty well on their own when I need cap to raise back up. That's a good time to fly around and loot cans, too.

I still have trouble with Guardian Veterans and being webbed with a lot of things firing at me, but I'm learning to deal with that by killing the ships shooting at me when they start to orbit instead of trying so hard to kill the webbers.

At some point I'll probably need to go with active hardeners if I plan to take on the remaining missions. I also want to upgrade to a 90% webber and get a Medium Armor Repairer II.

Obviously, a Large Shield Booster isn't required equipment. It's interesting how my perceptions change as I get better at level 3's. When I get a MicroWarp Drive going, this setup may change to blasters.

...

After a long recess from level 3 missions, I finally, after 7 months of playing, trained up for an Assault Frig and pulled my Ishkur out of the station. I've done a number of L3's with it. These are the ones I've had to bug out of and why:

• Missing Reporters - even with an EM hardener, the EM lasers on the Amarr ships was too much for me. They have better tracking than hybrid guns, so getting in close to orbit them is riskier. Next time, I may try armor tanking with an EM hardener instead.
• Angel Surprise - all the explosive missiles from the frigs were too much for my shields. Next time I might take an explosive hardener along.
• Massive Attack - the missile tower point and asteroid frigates chased me off. Again, perhaps armor tanking with an EM hardener will help.
  
• Spy Stash - Stage 2 was too much without an explosive hardener (Angel variety).
• Mordus Headhunters (not the stupid DS one) - doable with kinetic hardeners, but warp in at a distance so you can take the first wave in sections. The bounty hunters MWD and web, so take them out first. The later waves are easy.

I'm realizing that my armor repairer and shield booster both repair the same amount over time, so perhaps I should armor tank more... especially against EM damage. Still, sometimes it's just too much.

I'm trying an Enyo now, too. Nasty little bugger.

Preliminary L3 Build

Alright, I can finally take all the L3 missions except for Spy Stash and Portal to War without having to warp. That justifies a final ship build, I think, since it will take mostly tech II equipment to be able to handle the remaining missions in a battlecruiser, especially Portal to War (I have yet to test this theory and am carefully exploring in a battleship with different sets of hardeners).

My current ship build (this setup is optimized for my skills and combat style - I'm happy with how well it performs):

Ship: Brutix

• Hi slots: 3 250mm Compressed Coil Gun I's, 1 200mm Compressed Coil Gun I, 1 150mm Prototype I Gauss Gun, 2 150mm Compressed Coil Gauss Gun I's (in essence, 3 250mm's, 1 200mm, and 3 150mm, but using the upgrades I get 10% extra damage)
• Mid slots: 10MN Afterburner I, Eutectic I Capacitor Charge Array, Large Peroxide I Capacitor Power Cell, Fleeting Propulsion Inhibitor I (90% webber)
• Low slots: Medium Armor Repairer II, Small Armor Repairer II, Energized Adaptive Nano Membrane (-15% all), Armor Kinetic Hardener I (sometimes Thermal), Capacitor Power Relay I
• Drones: 4 Hammerheads I's (I have 5 in my bay)

Ship stats:

• Shield: 2875, recharge time 850.0 seconds
• Armor: 3375
• Capacitor: Total 2708, recharge time 278.8 seconds

Sometimes I'll switch the Kinetic Hardener out for Thermal, but rarely. In rare circumstances, I'll remove the nano membrane and load up two active hardeners (EM/thermal for Massive Attack and Rogue Slave Trader, and possibly explosive/thermal for Spy Stash).

This build gives me decent damage at either long or short range. I use the webber to slow down close orbiters. Lately I have been using exclusively uranium ammo for the guns (starting with the 250's at around 30km and joining in with the 200 at 25km and 150's at 20km), although I'm sure my fights would finish a lot faster if I used antimatter now and then. Recent research has shown that with uranium and an optimal range of 12km and falloff of 6km, the 150mm guns perform well out to 15km. Beyond that, I should definitely use iridium for more damage against the distant orbitters, because uranium misses a lot at those ranges (figure if you're fighting something past optimal plus half falloff, use longer range ammo).

The 90% webber makes even Veterans a near non issue now. My 150's are hitting close orbiters much better. Light drones take Veterans out best, but the limited drone space on the Brutix forces me to only carry Mediums. I manage.

The Tech 2 armor repairers really help, especially with the Brutix's repair bonus. However, the tougher fights (7-8/10's) still threaten to break my tank or cap level, so I still need to work quickly and take down enemies fast so my tanking can catch up, or I can switch off a repairer so my cap can recover. Very nice sense of balance there.

This build will only get better as I raise my skills and am able to use tech II weapons, cap items, and hardeners. But for now, I only have a few more skills I want to raise (Energy Systems Operation 4, Gunnery 4, Surgical Strikes 1 and 2, and a few missile skills), then I'll be training for the Megathron. Perhaps after that, I may revisit this ship and improve on it for a full L3 mission build. If I had to guess which skills were most crucial to make it a better build, it would be Hull Upgrades 5 for tech II hardeners and membranes, and Battlecruiser 4 for more damage and better armor tanking.

My current skill build (940k skill points)

Drones (71,170):

• Combat Drone Operation 3
• Drone Navigation 2
• Drones 4
• Mining Drone Operation 1
• Scout Drone Operation 3

Electronics (21,744):

• Electronics 3
• Long Range Targetting 2
• Propulsion Jamming 1
• Signature Analysis 2
• Target Painting 1
• Targeting 3

Engineering (131,554):

• Energy Grid Upgrades 2
• Energy Management 3
• Energy Systems Operation 3
• Engineering 4
• Shield Compensation 2
• Shield Management 3
• Shield Operation 3
• Tactical Shield Manipulation 1

Gunnery (80,847 - skilled up since, see below):

• Controlled Bursts 2
• Gunnery 3 (now 4)
• Medium Hybrid Turret 3
• Motion Prediction 3
• Rapid Firing 3
• Sharpshooter 2
• Small Hybrid Turret 3
• Weapon Upgrades 2
• (with Gunnery 4, I now have Surgical Strike up to 3)

Industry (46,290):

• Industry 1
• Mining 4
• Refining 2

Learning (78,670):

• Analytical Mind 3
• Empathy 2
• Instant Recall 3
• Iron Will 3
• Learning 3
• Spatial Awareness 4

Mechanic (234,678):

• EM Armor Compensation 2
• Explosive Armor Compensation 3
• Hull Upgrades 4
• Kinetic Armor Compensation 3
• Mechanic 4
• Remote Armor Repair Systems 2
• Repair Systems 4
• Thermic Armor Compensation 3

Missile Launcher Operation (2,671):

• FoF Missiles 1
• Missile Launcher Operation 2
• Standard Missiles 1

Navigation (22,145):

• Acceleration Control 2
• Afterburner 2
• Evasive Maneuvering 2
• Fuel Conservation 2
• Navigation 3
• Warp Drive Operation 2

Science (12,243):

• Cybernetics 2
• Science 3

Social (12,243):

• Connections 2
• Social 3

Spaceship Command (225,513):

• Battlecruisers 3
• Destroyers 1
• Gallente Cruiser 3
• Gallente Frigate 4
• Minmatar Frigate 1
• Spaceship Command 4

My Attributes

• Intelligence 10 (+1 implant)
• Perception 15 (+2 implant)
• Charisma 11 (+1 implant)
• Willpower 10 (+1 implant)
• Memory 13

I also have one implant that gives me a 3% agility bonus, and another that reduces afterburner needs by 3%

Minmatar Cyclone setup

Exploring the Minmatar ships, I used a Cyclone with the following setup:

• Hi slots: 4 650mm artillery, 1 250mm artillery, 3 assault missile launchers
• Mid slots: 1 10MN Afterburner, 1 Large Shield Booster, 1 Invulnerability Field, 2 Large Shield Extenders
• Lo slots: 2 Power Diagnostic Systems, 1 Ballistic Control System, 1 Projectile Tracking Enhancer (not sure about the name)
• Drones: 3 Hammerheads, 2 Hobgoblins

I used good variations or tech II's where I could (6 million skill points now). The innate shield boosting bonus is nice. The ship has been able to handle missions quite well, although I have yet to try Rogue Slave Trader and Spy Stash. I won't be doing Portal to War in a battlecruiser.

I carry all the ammo I need to dish out the damage my enemies are most vulnerable to (Fusion for explosive, Phased Plasma for thermal, Titanium Sabot for kinetic - I don't bother carrying EMP yet). I also carry Piranha, Flameburst and Bloodclaw missiles. I haven't bothered looting so cargo space isn't a problem.

If I knew I was going to take on a very hard mission, I would pull off the Invulnerability Field and 1 Extender and put on two active hardeners to match the damage I would take.

Unfortunately I can't kite in a Cyclone the way I could in a Stabber. It's still a ship of respectable power, though. It's deadly at 25km.

Enemy Ships

This section outlines some of the more challenging enemy ships you may encounter.

• Mercenary Commander - these cruisers move quickly, fire Scourge Heavy Missiles (kinetic), use thermal lasers as they approach, and will continue to use lasers as they orbit at 15km. Taking on 3 will certainly be a test of your tank. The lasers are the bulk of their damage, causing around 50 damage/second unmodified. For some reason, after a short time, you don't see them fire lasers anymore until you do a 'look at'. Missions encountered: Silence the Informant, Black Market Hub, Operation Hamstring
• Guardian Veterans - of all the level 3 enemies, these are the fastest and closest orbiters I've encountered. They can also web and can do a fair amount of damage with their guns. If you have more than 2 swarming around you, expect the damage to add up fast. The greatest danger is allowing other ships to get close enough to train their guns on you, and you'll end up taking extra damage due to moving slowly, so either kill the Veterans quickly, or kill the other ships firing at you. A webber is recommended for taking these down. Missions encountered: Seek and Destroy, Retribution (Serpentis), Serpentis Extravaganza, Smuggler Interception. Causes 15/second with kinetic hardener, 28/second without - is that right?
• Caldari Navy Blackbird - this is a nasty cruiser that orbits at 30km and combines missiles (Widowmaker - heavy thermal) and projectile damage. Missions encountered: Unauthorized Military Presence, Portal to War, Double Agent. Causes 36/second with kinetic hardener, 44/second without. Is it primarily thermal or explosive damage?

Missions

I won't bother with walkthroughs this time (actually I did, scroll farther down), just difficulties as I am experiencing with a Brutix and 340K skill points (Note: I've since acquired 468K skill points and a shield hardener, so some of these may be off) (I now have 780k skill points, am using passive armor hardeners, have most armor compensation skills to 3, hence the updates below):

• 2/10 The Rogue Slaver Trader (136k, 15 minutes)
• 2/10 The Score
• 2/10 Eliminate the Pirate Campers (Serpentis) - just a couple craft to kill, barely worthy of a level 3. I didn't even bother with this one when I saw the target list, honestly.
• 4/10 Retribution (Serpentis version) (650k, 24 minutes) - now a 7/10 that they've fixed the Veterans. They agro from below from quite a distance if you use drones (even if the drones didn't agro them directly).
• 4/10 Seek and Destroy (546k, 12 minutes) - now a 9/10 or so, for me right now. Any time I use my drones, the two Guardian Veterans come in, web me, and my shields go down hard, and I have to warp away. If I can take them out from a distance before they get close, this encounter will be much easier, because I can pretty much ignore the damage from the cruisers when I'm moving. I loaded up a few Anode blasters to take down the Veterans. Getting webbed causes me to take a lot of damage from the other ships.
• 4/10 The Blockade (844k, 16 minutes)
• 4/10 Sabotaged (832k, 28 minutes) - very similar to the level 2 version, just bigger ships. Be careful accepting this mission near low sec zones - you may be sent to a low sec zone after you encounter the fleet. Try the high sec zone encounters first.
• 4/10 Pirate Invasion (865k, 30 minutes) - just warp in at 30km distance to all, it's much easier that way - if I'm not mistaken, I got a Tech 2 implant off from one of these ships
• 4/10 Eliminate the Pirate Campers (Angel) (141k, 9 minutes) (using a shield hardener) - a few missile users (Ambushers), but they shoot Piranhas (explosive), so shield tankable
• 4/10 Intercept the Pirate Smugglers (convoy version) (211k, 12 minutes) - 3-5 Exeqs guarding an Indy ship. The Exeqs all have microwarp drives but that doesn't save them against 7 guns and a webber. It's amazing how fast 5 cruisers can be taken down with 1 battlecruiser. However, had they been Vexors, I certainly would have kept my distance.
• 5/10 Rogue Drone Harassment (643k + alloys, 50 minutes) - not as bad as I thought, one of the higher paying/LP missions, but since the missiles were removed from the drones (for now), this mission is doable.
• 5/10 Smuggler Interception - a Veteran on this one, and the cruiser's projectiles can hurt when you're webbed.
• 5/10 Retribution (Angel version) (917k, 32 minutes)- 9/10 against the Viper's group if you are too slow killing him. Take the cruiser first - it keeps you at 19km distance. Note: I just did this mission again. The group near the outpost had a Defeater, 2 Vipers and a Webifier. If your shields go down, the Piranhas from the Vipers are going to eat you up, so be prepared to warp - they orbit at 9k - 125mm's hit them well when they are webbed (9/10)
• 5/10 Eliminate the Pirate Campers (Thukker?)
• 5/10 Duo of Death (303k, 8 minutes) - only 2 but they work your shields down pretty well
• 5/10 What Comes Around Goes Around (171k, 17 minutes) - 5 missilers, 1 named - another version had 10 lesser missilers and 1 named - it still wasn't bad with a good gun and ammo setup
• 5/10 Stop the Thief (287k, 15 minutes) - 4 missile escorts can be hard on shields
• 5/10 The Missing Convoy - just clear the drones, destroy the EM field, destroy the towers and drone inside, destroy Hive, loot, turnin. Easy.
• 5/10 Angel Extravaganza (2.9mil, 1 hour 34 minutes) - there are a huge number of ships to kill, but the encounters are mostly easy. Watch out for the Thugs in part 5 that can warp scramble, though.
• 6/10 Revenge is Sweet (comes after 9/10 UMP) (372k, 20 minutes) - 2 waves of missilers, tankable
• 7/10 Intercept the Saboteurs (1.377 mil, 39 minutes) - the Blood Engravers are the worst damage dealers, but they go down fast, orbiting at 11km. I found some great loot here, too, including a rare damage control (Internal). On a second trip, I got an Emergency damage control.
• 7/10 Gone Berzerk (468k, 14 minutes) - each wave is high damage, 5/10 if you warp in at 30km and web kite with bug guns. - I can't hit the Serpentis Protectors with my 250's, even when they are webbed.
• 7/10 Serpentis Extravaganza (2.4 mil, 1 hour 16 minutes) - hardest parts were taking down the Veterans (AB kiting works) and the towers in part 2 (they are within range when you warp in so just start taking them down). My Brut does this rather slowly, and I was low on ammo, but it's doable. The towers are much more tankable with a kinetic hardener going.
• 7/10 Angel Surprise (441k, 14 minutes)- the Impalers are the worst damage causers (Piranha missiles - explosive), and they are medium targets.
• 8/10 Silence the Informant (1,616k, 1 hour - including alloy loot) - the second part is the worst - there is a group of 3 Commanders and 2 Fighters that will test your tank. It will be dodgy of you don't have your thermal resistance boosted. Oh and be sure to loot the drones in the first part - I got 400k from the minerals refined.
• 8/10 The Serpentis Spies - there are 2 Vexors in this one! Don't let them get close! 4/10 if you take everything at 30km.
• 8/10 Operation Hamstring (UDI) (604k, 17 minutes) - the 3 Commanders are harder than the Corporal and Lieutenant. Don't take both groups at the same time. The Commanders will be a good test of your tanking ability. Take at least one out quickly, otherwise your tank will break with all 3 firing on you if your skills and equipment aren't high enough (mine aren't yet).
• 8/10 Sabotage the Supply Lines (786k, 23 minutes) - 7 missilers to start with, I had to warp away. The later waves were easier. - Tried this again, taking out the fighters first with uranium, made it a lot easier. Plus I had my Invuln going, which helps. Haven't tried again with armor tanking yet. Update 2: downgraded from 9/10, a thermal hardener isn't required but helps against the missiles and the Commander's lasers, and I'm also using the tech 2 repairers and full armor tanking.
• 8/10 - The Seven's Prison - I had to warp away multiple times from this. The 3 smaller ships weren't so bad, it was Schmidt, his Assassin sidekick and the 3 towers all picking away at me. I'm not sure what I was supposed to take out first, honestly. I'm not so sure the boss pair were supposed to agro me on warp-in. It might something have to do with my drones, I don't know. Even with my membranes on, I can't armor tank them... yet. - I just tried this again and took out Shmidt first when he got close, then warped away. When I came back, I managed to tank the rest. Oh, and Shmidt can't be webbed. Update: down to a 8/10 now, with a kinetic hardener and tech 2 repairers I was able to tank enough to not have to warp away.
• 8/10 - Intercept the Pirate Smugglers (Space-Port version) (1.2 mil, 30 minutes) - I was able to kill the two guard ships, but when the fleet arrived, it was too much - I couldn't kill any of them before I had to warp - the small wingmen were just too fast and the cruiser I was trying destroy too tough - my cap, shields and armor weren't holding out well enough - UPDATE: down to a 9/10 - I managed to take out both guards and a tower before the fleet arrived and just kept moving. I only needed to warp out once. Update 2: On a second trip I had to warp out multiple times - when webbed I think the key is kill anything you can that is damaging you - don't waste time on the fast orbiters if you aren't hitting them - reduce the damage you are taking and hold a better tank later. Update 3: possibly an 8/10 - If I go straight after the space port, kill the guards and one tower, and work the other tower down to near death when the convoy arrives, I stand a chance of beating this without warping - especially if I don't waste any time killing the webbers and instead focus on killing the cruisers and transports when they start firing at me. Moving away from the slower ships helps delay them coming into gun range. However, on this trip the convoy targetted my drones at first, which spared me some damage. And I lost 1 drone. Update 4: Much easier with a kinetic hardener, lost another drone - I'll need to call them back when the convoy arrives.
• 8/10 Unauthorized Military Presence ( 2 warpouts, another for loot, 658k from tags and reward, 53 minutes) - Kinetic hardener recommended - the Blackbird in the first wave is a fully wicked opponent, with heavy projectile damage AND a powerful missile. After the first wave is taken down, many more missilers spawn, along with another Blackbird. Too much for me, I had to abandon this mission. - I downgraded this from a 9.5 to a 9, since I can tank well enough with my passive hardeners and Small and Medium repairers to take out a wave before I need to warp. I'll do better with better hardeners, a tech 2 Medium repairer, Repair Sys 4 and BC 3 (Brutix). Update 2: now an 8/10, very doable with a Nano Membrane, Med and Small Rep 2, and Active Kinetic hardener.
• 8/10 (was 9/10) The Mordus Headhunters ( 1.1 mil, 43 minutes, active kinetic hardener recommended)- I couldn't even kill any of these 11 or so targets before I had to warp away. Every single one of them is a missiler. On top of that, I was being webbed. Thankfully, I wasn't warp scrambled. I would most certainly have lost my ship. All of the missiles are kinetic, light and heavy. Update: I can do this one now, but it requires 5 warpouts. The first wave is the worst, and the Katanas go down fast, thankfully. Update 2: With an active kinetic hardener, I can beat this fight without warping. I didn't even use my drones during the first fight.
• 9/10 Black Market Hub - awesome fights. I just barely can't take this one yet. All Mercenary ships, Commanders and Fighters. Cruise towers that shoot within 40km causing 540 pts every 50 seconds, and two towers in the second part adding to the damage of the ships (that's the part I can't take yet). I look forward to trying this one again with a kinetic hardener.

Missions avoided, for now:

• The Spy Stash
• Portal to War (chain)

May try:

• The Missing Reporters (chain) (663 LP, Q9)

Mission Details

Where possible, I've included orbit distances for enemies, since in level 3's you'll probably need a battlecruiser, and you won't have much opportunity to kite enemies. Knowing the orbit distances will allow you to plan for ranges on your guns, and whether or not a very short range/high damage setup is viable.

Difficulty table (again, does not take into account going into low sec systems):

• 1 - courier mission, no risk
• 2 - minimal risk
• 3-4 - fight well and you won't have to worry much about tanking
• 5-6 - you may want to turn on your tank
• 7-8 - your tank will be tested, destroy enemies fast to reduce the damage so your tank can hold
• 9 - either more damage than the tank can handle, or cap runs out while tanking a long fight - warp out to recover
• 10 - warp scrambler, hard fight - if you can't beat it, you'll lose your ship

These scores are based on my Brutix's ability to handle a level 8 without having to warp out, with the Preliminary L3 build described above. I have yet to see a 10/10 in level 3's (possibly Portal to War 2, if you get scrambled).

Also be aware that if you are just starting the level 3's, have less than 700k skill points, and are piloting anything less advanced than a battlecruiser, then a 5/10 for me might be an 8/10 for you, or worse. So use this guide carefully.

Missions I have details or at least a summary for below:

2/10 Eliminate the Pirate Campers (Serpentis)

3/10 The Score

4/10 The Serpentis Spies

5/10 Duo of Death
5/10 Eliminate the Pirate Campers (Angel)
5/10 A Force to Be Reckoned With (storyline)
5/10 Gone Berzerk
5/10 Missing Convoy
5/10 Rogue Drone Harassment
5/10 Retribution (Angel)
5/10 Retribution (Serpentis)
5/10 Seek and Destroy
5/10 What Comes Around Goes Around

6/10 Angel Surprise
6/10 Mercenary Assassination (Storyline)
6/10 Pirate Invasion
6/10 Revenge is Sweet
6/10 Smuggler Interception

7/10 Angel Extravaganza
7/10 Intercept the Saboteurs
7/10 Massive Attack (Sansha) (new with Bloodlines)
7/10 Serpentis Extravaganza
7/10 Stop the Thief

8/10 The Blockade
8/10 Black Market Hub
8/10 Double Agent (Storyline)
8/10 Intercept the Pirate Smugglers (Space-Port)
8/10 (9/10) The Mordus Headhunters (changed)
8/10 Operation Hamstring
8/10 The Seven's Prison Facility
8/10 Sabotage the Supply Lines
8/10 Silence the Informant
8/10 Unauthorized Military Presence

Chains:

5/10, 8/10 Rogue Slave Trader (1-2) - New with Bloodlines

Check my Mega link for details on these missions:
* Missing Reporters (chain)
* Portal to War (chain)
* Spy Stash

I have done Missing Reporters in my Brutix (all 8/10), but Portal to War and Spy Stash might be a bit for it to handle yet. I'm sure that when I skill up more as I'm doing level 4 missions, I'll be able to come back and do these in a Brutix. But personally, I don't want to spend 6-7 days skilling up a single skill (thinking Battlecruiser 4 here to up my tanking another notch) simply to help myself beat Portal and Stash in a Brut, and I wouldn't expect anyone else to, either. The only skills I spent that much time on are Gallente Frigate 4 and Gallente Cruiser 4, which only helped me get into new ships to do higher level missions. And I'll likely still not spend that much time on skills unless I'm going for new ships (like the tech II's) or needed equipment or weaponry (like large guns or tech II hardeners for the Mega). So, I'm moving on to a battleship and level 4's to give me something more to explore as I skill up.

Yet to detail:

• 6/10 Fight for the Establishment (storyline)
• 6/10 Duel to the Death (storyline)
• 4/10 Sabotaged
• 4/10 Intercept the Pirate Smugglers (convoy)
  

Angel Extravaganza

Reward: 678k, bonus 797k, 1444 LP (Q 9, 0.5 sec)

Difficulty: 7/10 - one fight in particular in part 5 can be rough, but for the most part, all fights are 4/10 or so.

Typical profit and time to complete: 2.9 mil, 1 hour and 30 minutes

Bring lots of ammo with you, this is a long one. There are five parts to this complex, 6 if you go into the bonus area (this walkthrough does not cover that, yet). With 4 medium guns and 3 small, I use about 1800 medium ammo and 1600 small ammo.

Note that most enemies are a random assembly of Angel Cartel ships, so these mission details only represent one visit. For the most part, the ships you encounter will be fairly similar. I'll note special circumstances in each section.

Also note that Angel Cartel ships use only the explosive variety of missiles, but the bulk of their damage is usually projectiles. I use a kinetic hardener myself, and it does fine.

You can expect that you'll need to clear all enemies in one area before you are able to use the acceleration gate to proceed to the next.

Part 1

When you warp in, Group 1 agros:

Group 1

• 3 Gistum Depredators, 37500 bounty, orbit at 4200m
• 2 Gistii Hunters, 8250 bounty, orbit at 1700m

It's possible to get a Gistii Ambusher (bounty 8250, uses Piranha missile (explosive), orbits at 7300) in place of a Hunter.

Group 2 (to the left)

• 1 Gistum Domination Smasher, 54375 bounty, orbits at 4900m
• 1 Angel Webifier, bounty 25000, webs, orbits at 5700m
• 1 Gistum Breaker, bounty 57188, uses Piranha missile (explosive) orbits at 22km

Group 3 (far ahead)

• 3 Gistum Domination Depredators, bounty 40313, orbit at 4200m

For having such long names, these ships go down very fast. I usually pull them just before I take on Group 2, so they are close when I finally destroy them - saves time on looting.

Part 2

Group 1 (right)

• 1 Gistii Dominiation Impaler, bounty 10125, uses Piranha missile (explosive), orbits at 9800m
• 1 Gistum Crusher, bounty 51563, uses Havoc heavy missile (explosive), orbits at 24km
• 1 Gistum Smasher, bounty 45938, orbits at 4300m

Group 2 (ahead right)

• 1 Gistum Depredator, bounty 37500, orbits at 4200m
• 1 Gistum Domination Predator, bounty 48750, orbits at 4200m
• 1 Angel Webifier, bounty 25000, webs, orbits at 5700m
• 1 Angel Viper, bounty 30000, webs, orbits at 8600m

Group 3 (ahead left)

• 2 Gistii Nomads, bounty 6375, uses Prianha missile (explosive), orbit at 7300m
• 2 Gistum Breakers, bounty 57188, use Piranha missiles (explosive), orbit at 22km

Group 4 (behind, optional)

• 3 Angel Light Missile Batteries, 25000 bounty, use Piranha missiles (explosive), 40km range

Usually, you can just ignore these missile towers, as you are out of range of them when you warp in, anyway.

Part 3

Group 1 (ahead)

• 1 Gistum Domination Marauder, bounty 82500, uses Havoc heavy missile, orbits at 3500m
• 1 Gistum Depredator, bounty 37500, orbits at 4200m

The Marauder is a tough target.

Group 2 (above)

• 1 Angel Viper, bounty 30000, webs, uses Piranha missile (explosive), orbits at 8600m
• 1 Angel Webifier, bounty 25000, webs, orbits at 5700m
• 4 Gistum Depredators, bounty 37500, orbit at 4200m

I like to just pull all of these to me near the acceleration gate to reduce loot time.

Part 4

Group 1 (towers, all around)

• 3 Tower Sentry Angel I's, bounty 30000
• 2 Tower Sentry Angel II's, bounty 50000

Just steadily take these out. The II's cause more damage and are harder to take down. They aren't nearly as deadly as the towers in Serpentis Extravaganza.

Group 2 (far ahead)

• 1 Gistum Domination Depredator, bounty 40313, orbits at 4200m

This ship starts about 75km out and agros you as you start to take out the towers. You should be able to have most of the towers down before he gets within 10km.

Part 5

Group 1 (ahead, agros on warp-in)

• 2 Gistum Domination Predators, bounty 40313, orbit at 4200m
• 1 Gistii Nomad, bounty 6375, orbits at 7300m
• 1 Gistii Ambusher, bounty 7500, uses Piranha missile (explosive), orbits at 7300m
• 1 Gistum Crusher, bounty 51563, uses Havoc heavy missile (explosive), orbits at 24km

Group 2 (bottom)

• 2 Gistum Liquidators, bounty 74063, use Havoc heavy missiles (explosive), orbit at 17km
• 1 Gistum Domination Breaker, bounty 65625, uses Piranha missile(explosive), orbits at 22km

This is a hard fight, a 7/10 when I did it.

Group 3 (top)

• 1 Gistum Breaker, bounty 57188, orbits at 22km
• 1 Angel Viper, bounty 30000, webs, uses Piranha missile (explosive) orbits at 8600m
• 1 Angel Webifier, bounty 25000, webs, orbits at 5700m

Group 4 (right and right bottom, two groups)

When you agro one of these, all will agro. Be careful, one of them may be a warp scrambler (usually a Thug variety). Fortunately, the faster targets arrive first and are easy to take out, allowing you to work down the targets as they move in.

• 1 Gistii Impaler, bounty 9000, uses Piranha missile (explosive), orbits at ??
• 1 Gistii Domination Ambusher , bounty 8625, uses Piranha missile(explosive), orbits at ??
• 2 Gistum Defeaters, bounty 62813, orbits at ??

• 2 Gistum Domination Depredators, bounty 48750, orbits at 4200m
• 1 Arch Gistii Rogue (this spawn is usually the scrambler), bounty 19125, orbits at ??

Group 5

• 1 Terzam Tazzon, bounty 82500, uses Havoc heavy missile (explosive), orbits at 3500m - only when in a Marauder. He could also pilot a Liquidator and orbit at 17km
• 2 Spider Drone I's - these move VERY fast, web, and orbit at 7600m

Be careful when you pull Terzam, he could get stuck on the structure he is orbiting. In one session, his ship was actually orbitting me, but I was missing. When I moved close to the structure, I was able to hit him. Apparently, one the server, he was still stuck in the structure. Be warned about this bug.

Also in this part, at the top, is an Angel Storage Silo which will drop a can containing a few pieces of equipment, including an implant of some sort, typically worth around 2-3 mil.

...

Again, remember that the ships I encountered here are only one possible combination. Other ships I encountered on a second pass of Angel Extravaganza include the following:

• Gistum Domination Raider, bounty 9375, orbits at ??
• Gistum Marauder, bounty 68438, uses Havoc heavy missile (explosive), orbits at 3700m
• Gistum Domination Crusher, bounty 60000, uses Havoc heavy missile (explosive), orbits at 24km
• Arch Gistii Thug, bounty 21375, could warp scramble, uses Piranha missile (explosive), orbits at 2100m

Angel Surprise

Reward: 47k, bonus 44k, 70 LP (Q -7, 0.8 sec)

Difficulty: 6/10 - a few missilers and other frigs, but not too hard to handle

Typical profit and time to complete: 430k, 15 minutes

As if the mission title doesn't give it away... your task is to destroy a single ship and return to your agent. When you warp to the location, the following ship is there:

• Angel Cartel Support Ship, bounty 25000

It's an easy fight, but the moment it explodes, you get a popup message about being followed for some time, and the following wave spawns:

• 5 Angel Impalers, bounty 13000, use Piranha missiles (explosive), orbit at 9800m
• 3 Angel Predators, bounty 57500, orbit at 4200m
• 1 Angel Breaker, bounty 80000, uses Piranha missiles (explosive), orbits at 22km

After this wave is destroyed, return to your agent and turn it in.

Black Market Hub

Reward: 571k, bonus 422k, 1148 LP (Q 16, 0.8 sec)

Difficulty: 8/10 - A lot of damage to take in part 2, but much easier to handle with a thermal hardener (highly recommended).

Typical profit and time to complete: 1.8 mil, 50 minutes

This mission mostly features the mighty UDI.

Part 1

When you warp in to the first area, you will face three groups of UDI, one of which agros immediately:

Group 1

• 2 Mercenary Elite Fighters, bounty 10000, use Flameburst missiles (thermal), orbit at 8100m
• 2 Mercenary Commanders, bounty 85000, use Scourge heavy missile (kinetic), orbit at 15km

Group 2 (upper left)

• 4 Mercenary Elite Fighters, bounty 10000, use Flameburst missile(thermal), orbit at 8100m
• 1 Mercenary Commander, bounty 85000, uses Scourge heavy missile (kinetic), orbit at 15km
• 2 Cruise Missile Batteries, 55000 bounty, range 40km, uses Wrath Cruise Missile (900 kinetic unmodified, every 48 seconds)

Group 3 (upper right)

• 3 Mercenary Commanders, bounty 85000, use Scourge heavy missile (kinetic), orbits at 15km
• 2 Cruise Missile Batteries, 55000 bounty, range 40km, uses Wrath Cruise Missile (900 kinetic unmodified, every 48 seconds)

If you want to avoid getting hit by the cruise missiles (the damage is only around 10/sec per missile, so they are very tankable alone), I recommend stopping about 57km from the closest tower and then firing at one of the targets. They will all move within 15km of you (guaranteeing that the cans they drop will be at least 42km from the batteries), but you'll have to take a few missile hits while they approach. The Commanders are faster than the Fighters, so they will arrive first. Also, be careful about destroying any too soon (the cans will be too close to the batteries), or sending your drones against a target that is far away (the batteries will fire on them).

You'll probably need to warp out with a full load of loot from Part 1 in order to have enough room for the loot and objective item from Part 2.

Part 2

Warning: this part has a LOT of damage being dealt, so have your tanking ready, or line yourself up with a warp point when you arrive.

In the second area, you'll see a base guarded by a couple of towers, some Fighters, and a couple Commanders. Don't be fooled - this fight will be harder than any in the first area. The towers cause HEAVY damage, and the Commanders are their usual deadly selves. The Fighter damage is secondary. All of them agro on you when you arrive:

• 2 Mercenary Elite Fighters, bounty 10000, use Flameburst missiles (thermal), orbit at 8100m
• 2 Mercenary Commanders, bounty 85000, use Scourge heavy missiles (kinetic), orbit at 15km, causes about 15/sec with thermal hardener
• 1 Tower Sentry Caldari I, bounty 30000, medium damage every second, causes about 22/second with thermal hardener
• 1 Tower Sentry Caldari II, bounty 50000, heavy damage every 4 seconds, causes about 18/second with thermal hardener

I recommend taking out the towers first, since the Commanders cause less damage. I was surprised to find out that the Tower I was actually causing me more damage. Next time, I'll be sure to take that one out first.

Please remember these results are with a thermal hardener. It is my belief that the tower damage is partially thermal, based on how its damage changed when it got past my shields and hit my thermal resistance on my armor. As I research more, I'll report my findings here.

Don't forget to destroy the Docked Bestower and retrieve its contents before you leave.

The Blockade

(This mission takes a new and more enjoyable form with the Revelations release)

Reward: ??, bonus ??, ?? LP (Q 9, 0.5 sec)

Difficulty: 8/10 - multiple waves with BC's and HACs, quite nasty.

Typical profit and time to complete: 6 mil, 1 hour

This mission sends you to an encounter space guarded by multiple waves of ships. Expect to spend a long time here, and tank against the specific faction type. Several waves will include battlecruisers and HACs with high resists.

Each wave has a trigger ship (usually the highest bounty) which, when destroyed, will trigger the next wave. The final wave has a boss that completes the mission when killed.

Note that you can select structures in the encounter space and warp to them if you need to get around faster (don't forget to scoop your drones)

Double Agent (Storyline)

Reward: 255k, bonus 250k, plus 720k or so in Caldari tags

Difficulty: 8/10 - one wave in particular is nasty. A kinetic hardener helps.

Typical profit and time to complete: 1.2 mil, 45 minutes

This mission sends you out to a location to fight a few waves of Caldari ships, and then lets you decide what to do with the final boss.

Wave 1 (6/10)

• 6 Caldari Navy Soldiers, use Bloodclaw missiles (kinetic), orbit at 7600m
• 2 Caldari Navy Detectives, use Thunderbolt heavy missile (em), orbit at 15km

Leave a Soldier alive while you recover, if needed.

Wave 2 (8/10) - the roughest fight in this mission

• 2 Caldari Navy Blackbirds, use Widowmaker heavy missiles (thermal), orbit at 30km
• 2 Caldari Navy Delta I Support Frigates, use Thorn rockets (kinetic), web, orbit at 4300m
• 1 Caldari Navy Officer, uses thunderbolt heavy missile (em), orbits at 15km

The Officer is the weakest target in this wave.

Wave 3 (6/10)

• 1 Caldari Navy Blackbird, uses Widowmaker heavy missile (thermal), orbits at 30km
• 10 Caldari Navy Griffins, orbit at 1200m

The Griffins are very weak, but their damage can add up if they get close.

Wave 4 (5/10)

• 1 Caldari Navy Moa, uses Scourge heavy missile (kinetic), orbits at 17km
• 3 Caldari Navy Soldiers, use Bloodclaw missiles (kinetic), orbit at 7600m

Wave 5 (random)

Optional Kill:

• 1 Ivan Minelli

If Ivan appears, he claims to be innocent and uploads data to your Neocom. At this point, you can kill him (I didn't) or do the mission turnin (it turns out the data he uploaded proves his innocence).

or kill objective (6/10):

• Torstan Kreoman, bounty 30000, uses Bloodclaw missile (kinetic), orbits at 7600m
• 2 Caldari Navy Gamma I Support Frigates, uses Bloodclaw missiles (kinetic), orbit at 7600m
• 2 Caldari Navy Officers, use Thunderbolt heavy missile (EM), orbit at 15km

For this one, you'll have to fight, no choice.

Duo of Death

Reward: 80k, bonus 75k, 187 LP (Q 16, 0.8 sec)

Difficulty: 5/10 - two cruisers, their damage increases as they get closer

Typical profit and time to complete: 337k, 10 minutes

A simple kill mission. Your targets:

• 2 Shadow Corelum Chief Sentinels (thorax), bounty 90938, orbit at 6100m

These are tough targets. Once they get within 10km, their damage increases dramatically.

Eliminate the Pirate Campers (Angel)

Reward: 48k, bonus 2 navitas, 127 LP (Q 16, 0.8 sec)

Difficulty: 5/10 - a mild sized group of targets, some missilers

Typical profit and time to complete: 219k, 8 minutes

In this mission, you are sent to an old stargate to take out some pirates. A popup message greets you the moment you go into warp - it probably should appear AFTER you arrive, but oh well.

The targets:

• 1 Gistii Hunter, bounty 8250, orbits at 1700m
• 2 Gistii Domination Nomads, bounty 7125, orbit at 7300m
• 2 Gistii Ambushers, bounty 7500, use Piranha missiles (explosive), orbit at 7300m
• 2 Gistum Depredator, bounty 37500, orbit at 4200m
• 1 Gistum Smasher, bounty 45938, orbits at 4900m

If you're missile conscious, take out the Ambushers first. The Smasher and Depredators deal most of the damage.

Eliminate the Pirate Campers (Serpentis)

Reward: 88k, bonus 120k, 207 LP (Q 9, 0.5 sec)

Difficulty: 2/10 - don't polish your shields just yet, the outer layers will get scraped on this one

Typical profit and time to complete: 290k, 15 minutes (took me 3 jumps)

This is a good starter for those new to level 3 missions. Unfortunately, the mission generator is rarely so kind.

When you warp to the location, 3 ships agro you:

• 2 Serpentis Guards (maulus), bounty 10000, orbit at 11km
• 1 Serpentis Chief Spy (celestis), bounty 57500, orbits at 3100m

Getting there will probably take longer than killing these targets.

A Force to Be Reckoned With (storyline)

Reward: 112k, bonus 154k

Difficulty: 5/10 - damage comes hard but nothing a decent tank can't handle

Typical profit and time to complete 900k, 25 minutes (3 jumps)

This is a simple kill mission. When you warp to the location, the following ships agro:

• 1 Serpentis Defender (tristan), bounty 12000, orbits at 11km
• 1 Serpentis Chief Defender (thorax), bounty 95000, orbits at 23km
• 1 Serpentis Chief Patroller (thorax), bounty 72500, sensor dampening, orbits at 17km
• 1 Jarkon Puman, bounty 450000 (!!), MWD, orbits at 5500m

Gone Berzerk

Reward: 104k, bonus 11 Light Ion Blaster I, 235 LP (Q16, 0.8 sec)

Difficulty: 5/10 - a fair amount of damage, but not too much to handle

A simple kill mission - three waves of enemies.

Group 1:

• 5 Serpentis Protectors (tristan), bounty 13000, orbit at 2300m/212 m/s

Group 2:

• 3 Serpentis Protectors (tristan), bounty 13000, orbit at 2300m
• 2 Serpentis Chief Scouts (exeq), bounty 50000, orbit at 3100m

Group 3:

• 1 Serpentis Chief Scout (exeq), bounty 50000, orbits at 2300m
• 1 Serpentis Chief Guard, bounty 80000, orbits at 6100m

I usually keep the last ship in each wave alive to recover some tank and cap if needed, then let my drones destroy it and prepare for the next wave.

Intercept the Pirate Smugglers (Space-Port)

Reward: 260k, bonus 333k, 512 LP? (Q 16, 0.8 sec)

Difficulty: 8/10 - the first guards aren't so bad, but the convoy that spawns is a hard fight. Timing and position is important.

Typical profit and time to complete: 1.11 mil, 30 minutes without warpouts

I recommend a kinetic hardener to make this mission easier.

At warp-in, you'll see a starbase flanked by a couple of towers and craft.

Base Guards:

• 2 Space-port Guardians (Mercenary Elite Fighters), bounty 10000, use Flameburst missiles (thermal), orbit at 8100m
• 2 Sentry Guns (Tower Sentry Serpentis III), bounty 70000, cause 15 damage / second?

When you first arrive at the destination, immediately head towards and over the starbase. Using an afterburner may put you in a better position, but don't use it for too long - you're going to need the cap, so turn it off once all your guns are in range of the targets. You only have a short while (about 3 and a half minutes) before the convoy arrives, so take out the two fighters and start working on the towers. By the time the convoy arrives, you should be over the base and proceeding past it. It's important to NOT be waiting in front of the starbase, otherwise the convoy may appear around you, and all their guns will be hitting you at that point.

The Convoy:

• 3 or 4 Convoy Guard Wingmen (Guardian Veterans), bounty 30000, web, orbit at 1200m, cause 15 damage/second
• 4 Serpentis Transport Ship, bounty 25000, orbit at about 5000m (very slow turners), cause 8 damage/second
• 3 Convoy Guards (various Serpentis thoraxes), bounty 57000-62000, orbit at 6100m-17km, cause 10-17 damage/second

When the convoy arrives, hopefully you only have only one tower left to kill. If you have them both downed, even better. I recommend calling your drones back to your bay temporarily, as some of the convoy may agro them instead. Keep moving beyond the base to force the convoy to catch up to you. The wingmen will fly fast towards you and web you, allowing the rest of the convoy to catch up.

At this point, you have an important decision to make: to either kill the webbers, or kill the ships now approaching gun range to you. Frankly, I recommend the latter, because spending your time trying to kill the webbers just gives more of the other ships time to close and hit you with their guns, and that damage starts to add up fast. Go ahead and work on the webbers while the other ships are approaching (taking two down will reduce the damage to a managable level - try to afterburner kite them and web them to help your guns to hit, or turn off your webber to cause them to fly out farther and web them again), but the moment any of the other ships get in range and fire at you, start firing at them instead. The more ships you can take down fast, the better. Even the cargo ship damage adds up dangerously.

I just tried this mission with a kinetic hardener and still had to warp away a few times (mostly because 3-4 Wingmen were working my armor hard and my guns weren't hitting them), so results may vary. After a second try, my best success came from afterburning to the starbase to get my guns in range of the towers faster, and dropping the Wingman quantity to 2 before I fired at the other approaching ships.

Update: After having spent some time with my Megathron and raising my Drone skill to 5 and Drone Interfacing to 3, I got this mission again and decided to try it with my Brutix. I didn't even have to tank full, or even half for that matter, things were dying so quickly (I ran my Small II the whole time and didn't touch my Medium II). I couldn't kill the second tower before the convoy arrived, but afterwards the Wingmen went down incredibly fast, and the drones made quick work of the rest of the convoy, too. It just goes to show how spending a little more time on some skills can take an 8/10 mission and turn it into a 5/10.

Intercept the Saboteurs

Reward: 263k, bonus 196k, 564 LP (Q 16, 0.8 sec)

Difficulty: 7/10 - the Engravers in the first wave are the worst

Typical profit and time to complete: 1.4 mil, 40 minutes?

This mission is similar to the level 2 version in that you will warp to four different locations and take on a wave of guards and transport ships.

Encounter 1:

• 1 Blood Raider Transport Ship, bounty 25000, orbits at 1000m
• 5 Blood Engravers, bounty 13000, orbit at 11km
• 2 Blood Priests, bounty 87500, orbit at 19km

The Blood Engravers in the first encounter are the worst of them all. Take those targets out first to reduce the damage you take. The other encounters are easier.

Encounter 2:

• 2 Blood Raider Transport Ships, bounty 25000, orbit at 1000m
• 2 Blood Arch Reavers, bounty 50000, orbit at 6200m
• 1 Blood Arch Priest, bounty 102500, orbits at 22km

Encounter 3:

• 1 Blood Raider Transport Ship, bounty 25000, orbits at 1000m
• 1 Blood Arch Sage, bounty 95000, orbits at 9800m
• 2 Blood Arch Engravers, bounty 57500, orbit at 6000m

Encounter 4:

• 1 Blood Raider Transport Ship, bounty 25000, orbits at 1000m
• 2 Blood Arch Reavers, bounty 50000, orbit at 6200m
• 2 Blood Engravers, bounty 13000, orbit at 11km
• 2 Blood Wraiths, bounty 30000, web, orbit at 6200m

Kill the Engravers first. The Wraiths are tankers, so they may take a small while to destroy.

Be sure not to loot any of the contraband items, unless you want to be fined - or worse, shot - when you return.

You're very likely to get a few varieties of Damage Control and Power Diagnostic mods off these enemies.

Massive Attack (Sansha)

Reward: 504k, bonus 588k, 1000 LP ? (Q 16, 0.8 sec)

Difficulty: 7/10 - most of it is a 6/10, but a couple fights in particular may force you to tank full for a little while. EM/thermal damage mostly here, with heavy EM damage in some parts

Typical profit and time to complete: 2.5 mil, 45 minutes (good money here)

In this mission, you will travel through four areas, seeking out a Sansha Overseer to destroy. As far as I know, that is the only goal for the mission. It isn't deadspace, so you may be able to set bookmarks anywhere you like. I have not yet confirmed that you need to destroy all the enemies in an area before you use the gateways to the next area. But it would be a shame to miss out on all the bounties.

Also note that ships will very slowly respawn in each area, except the final area, where they respawn quickly.

Part 1 (The Front Lines) 6/10

You'll arrive at a small Sansha base guarded by a wave of ships.

• 5 True Centum Ravishers, bounty 40313, orbit at 6000m
• 2 Centii Savages, bounty 6000, orbit at 9600m

You can use the Gateway beacon to warp to the next area. Your warp path will be along the horizontal, so position yourself beside the beacon before you use it to avoid bumping into the nearby structures.

Part 2 (7/10)

This section has another small base with many sentry towers and three frigates. Watch out for the missile towers, they all launch EM missiles and will eat your shields FAST.

• 2 Sansha Heavy Missile Batteries, bounty 40000, use Thunderbolt heavy missiles (EM)
• 2 Sansha Light Missile Batteries, bounty 25000, use Sabretooth missiles (EM)
• 2 Sansha Sentry Guns, bounty 20000
• 2 Sansha Stasis Towers, bounty 35000, web
• 2 Centii Loyal Manslayers, bounty 28125, use Sabretooth missiles (EM), orbit at 8200m
• 1 Centii Loyal Butcher, bounty 28125, orbits at 16km (450 m/s, hard to hit with medium guns)

The towers go down fairly quickly. Start with the heavies. The Stasis towers will be you, but they don't cause any damage, so you could save those for last if you're a stationary tanker.

Note that the Loyal Butcher is one of the fastest distant orbiters I've encountered - I couldn't hit it much with my medium guns.

Again, there is another Gateway beacon here. It will send you over the base to your next waypoint.

Part 3 (7/10 - most fights are 6/10)

When you warp in, Group 1 agroes immediately.

Group 1 (agroes on warpin)

• 3 Centii Loyal Manslayers, bounty 27000, use Sabretooth missiles (EM), orbit at 8200m
• 2 True Centii Plague, bounty 9375, orbit at 11km
• 1 True Centii Enslaver, bounty 8625, uses Sabretooth missiles (EM), orbits at 5600m
• 1 Centii Manslayer, bounty 8250, uses Sabretooth missiles (EM), orbits at 5600m
• 1 Centii Butcher, bounty 9000, orbits at 11km (200 m/s)
• 1 Centii Loyal Butcher, bounty 28125, orbits at 16km (450 m/s, hard to hit with medium guns)

Group 2 (left) 7/10

• 3 Centum Torturers, bounty 74063, orbit at 22km
• 2 Sansha's Berzerkers, bounty 25000, web, orbit at 6100m
• 1 Sansha's Demon, bounty 30000, webs, orbits at 6200m

Group 3 (ahead) 6/10

• 2 Centum Ravishers, bounty 37500, orbit at 6100m
• 1 True Centum Juggernaut, bounty 60000, orbits at 19km
• 1 True Centum Slaughterer, bounty 65625, uses Sabretooth missile (EM), orbits at 7500m

Group 4 (ahead left) 6/10

• 1 True Centum Fiend, bounty 88125, uses Thunderbolt heavy missile (EM), orbits at 9600m
• 1 True Centum Torturer, bounty 85313, orbits at 22km

Another Gateway leads you to the final area.

Part 4 (6/10)

You will land in front of a huge Battle Tower surrounded by 4 sentries and a large number of small ships that will all agro you. Fortunately, you should be able to light tank all the damage they deal, despite their large numbers. Also, a lone Overseer wanders about this area - the target you were sent to destroy.

• 1 Sansha's Overseer (True Centum Hellhound), bounty 90938, orbits at 22km
• 4 Sansha Sentries, bounty 5000
• 10 Sansha Swarmers, bounty 4125, orbit at 3700m

You will not be able to clear all of the Senties and Swarmers - they respawn very quickly. You could, I suppose, hang around and farm them for bounties. As long as you can destroy 300 or more of them in an hour, you would make as much ISK per hour as a typical level 3 mission provides.

Two Gateways are also here. The first, the gateway to the Front Lines, returns you to Part 1. A second gate leads to the Overseer's Stash and requires a Sansha Silver Tag. I have yet to acquire one of these items and make use of it on the gateway. According to the message when you lack one, the tag will not be consumed by activating the beacon, so you can bring it along every time you do this mission.

Mercenary Assassination (Storyline)

Reward: 93k, bonus 89k

Difficulty: 6/10 - fairly easy kill mission, just a few UDI, one Commander. Thermal hardener helps most against the Commander.

Typical profit and time to complete: 290k, 15 minutes

This is a simple kill mission. When you warp to the location, you'll fight a few UDI ships:

• 1 Mercenary Commander, bounty 85000, uses Scourge heavy missile (kinetic), orbits at 15km
• 3 Mercenary Elite Fighters, bounty 10000, use Flameburst missiles (thermal), orbit at 8100m
• 1 Mercenary Wingman, bounty 30000, uses Piranha missile (explosive), webs and can warp scramble, orbits at 8600m

And that's it. No more waves. Aw.

The Missing Convoy

Reward: 278k, bonus 232k, 559 LP (Q 16, 0.8 sec)

Difficulty: 5/10 - the towers are the worst part, everything else is easy

Typical profit and time to complete: 500k + 920k in minerals, about 40 minutes with looting

When you arrive, you'll see a bunch of drones orbitting around various structures, and a huge EM field in the distance. The Lesser Drone Hive you need to destroy is inside that field.

I like to pull the drones to me to save on looting time. The minerals are worth it.

Group 1 (left)

• 1 Defeater Drone, orbits at 5100m, medium

Sometimes instead you'll get a really dumb Bomber drone that orbits at 35km and shoots missiles, 1 per second, that reach about 20km. Yes, that's right, he can't hurt you. Until CCP fixes him, that is.

Group 2 (below)

• 4 Render Drones, orbit at 8800m, light
• 1 Violator Drone, orbits at 3500m, medium
• 1 Decimator Drone, orbits at 9500m, medium

Group 3 (above)

• 3 Balphegor Drones, very light
• 2 Mammon Drones, very light
• 2 Devastator Drones, orbit at 19km, medium

Group 4 (left ahead)

• 2 Render Drones, orbit at 8800m, very light
• 2 Splinter Drones, orbit at 1900m, very light
• 2 Wrecker Drones, orbit at 5800m, medium

Group 5 (far ahead)

• 1 Powerful EM Forcefield
• 3 Tower Sentry Drone II's, bounty 50000
• 1 Annihilator Drone, orbits at 17km, medium

To get to the Lesser Drone Hive, you'll need to destroy the EM field. It only has shield points, so once the shield portion is down, it explodes. Take out the towers one by one, then the drone. Not too difficult.

The Lesser Drone Hive goes down pretty quickly.

The Mordus Headhunters

(The 6/20 patch has changed this mission into a 2-part deadspace. The first part isn't too bad, just make sure to engage from a distance and have a kinetic tank going. However, in my experience, all of stage 2 agroes when you fire at even just one ship. So get yourself lined up with a warp point and engage as far away as you can, heading away from all the ships. I know CCP is just preparing for the tier 2 BC that will arrive with the Kali content patch, but this mission is just ridiculously stupid hard now. You may get away with only agroing one group if you fire from around 45km away.)

Reward: 157k, bonus 199k, 445 LP (Q 16, 0.8 sec)

Difficulty: 8/10 - MANY missilers in the first wave, the rest are easier, kinetic hardener VERY recommended.

Typical profit and time to complete: 1-1.5 mil, 35 minutes

This mission involves fighting some waves of Mordus ships. All of their missiles are kinetic, so definitely bring a kinetic hardener with you.

Wave 1:

• 5 Mordus Katanas (merlin), bounty 17500, use Bloodclaw missiles (kinetic), orbit at 7600m
• 3 Mordus Bobcats (osprey), bounty 45000, use Scourge heavy missiles (kinetic), orbit at 15km
• 1 Mordus Cheetah (osprey), bounty 50000, uses Bloodclaw missile (kinetic), MWD's, orbits at 8700m
• 2 Mordus Bounty Hunters (merlin), bounty 30000, use Bloodclaw missiles (kinetic), web, orbit at 7600m

While fighting the first wave, take out the five Katanas first, since they go down fastest. That should reduce the damage taken and make it more tolerable. The Bobcats should be next, since they go down fairly easy and are using Scourge heavies. Save a Bounty Hunter for last if you need to recharge.

After the first and hardest wave is down, the rest should be easier.

Wave 2:

• 2 Mordus Cheetahs (osprey), bounty 50000, use Bloodclaw missiles (kinetic), MWD's, orbit at 8700m
• 2 Mordus Pumas (caracal), bounty 75000, use Scourge heavy missiles (kinetic), orbit at 18km

Wave 3:

• Mordus Leopard (blackbird), bounty 100000, uses Scourge heavy missile (kinetic), orbits at 15km
• Mordus Raid Leader (moa), bounty 650000 (!!), uses Scourge heavy missile (kinetic), orbits at 17km

Sometimes in the final wave, you'll get a Mordus Lion (bounty 110k, Scoureg missile, orbits at 17km) instead of a Raid Leader. The Raid Leader may drop a Hardwiring implant.

Once all the waves are destroyed, then you have a mess of cans to loot, unless you were confident and focussed enough to loot cans while you were fighting!

Operation Hamstring

Reward: 201k, bonus 1 Heavy Ion Blaster I, 412 LP (Q16, 0.8 sec)

Difficulty: 8/10 - this mission can be a real test of your tank. A Thermal hardener makes the Commanders easier to face.

Typical profit and time to complete: 640k, 17 minutes

In this mission you get to face the mighty UDI again. Your task is to kill all hostiles and destroy the Armory.

When you warp in, you'll see these targets, all cruisers:

Group 1:

• 3 Mercenary Commanders, 85000 bounty, use Scourge heavy missile (kinetic), bulk of damage is Thermal lasers, orbit at 15km

Group 2:

• Mercenary Lieutenant, 90000 bounty, uses Bloodclaw missile (kinetic), orbits at 5000m
• Mercenary Corporal, 100000 bounty, uses Scourge heavy missile (kinetic), orbits at 17km

If you can manage to pull the 3 Commanders without agroing Group 2, then this fight will be a lot easier. Even if you pull them all, it's still doable, especially if you're using a Thermal hardener to offset the damage of the Commanders. Kill the Commanders first, since they do more damage overall, it seems.

Another item of note: You can fly within 10km of these targets, even having them targetted, without agroing them at all. The moment you fire or send your drones in, they will agro, naturally.

And don't forget to destroy the Armory!

Pirate Invasion

Reward: 157k, bonus 168k, 369 LP (Q 16, 0.8 sec)

Difficulty: 6/10 - some waves may force you to turn on your tanking

Typical profit and time to complete: 1.1 mil, 35 minutes

This mission involves warping around to various locations and taking on waves of Serpentis ships. You have the option of where to warp into. If you warp in at 30km to each encounter, you can take out some enemies before they get too close, making this mission even easier.

Group 1 (4/10):

• 1 Serpentis Chief Protector (thorax), bounty 102500, orbits at 6300m
• 2 Serpentis Defenders (tristan), bounty 12000, orbit at 11km

Group 2 (5/10):

• 2 Serpentis Chief Scouts (exeq), bounty 50000, orbit at 3300m
• 3 Serpentis Safeguards, bounty 11000, orbit at 2300m
• 1 Serpentis Shief Spy (celestis), bounty 57500, orbits at 3300m

Group 3 (6/10):

• 2 Serpentis Chief Spies (celestis), bounty 57500, orbit at 3300m
• 4 Serpentis Safeguards, bounty 11000, orbit at 2300m
• 1 Guardian Veteran (tristan), bounty 30000, armor tanks, webs, orbits at 1200m (120 m/s)

The Veteran is one of the most difficult level 3 mobs to take down if it gets in orbit range, and does decent damage. This mob alone is the primary reason I have a 90% webber.

Group 4 (4/10):

• 1 Serpentis Chief Protector (thorax), bounty 102500, orbits at 6300m
• 1 Serpentis Chief Spy (celestis), bounty 57500, orbits at 3300m

Group 5 (6/10):

• 1 Serpentis Chief Scout (exeq), bounty 50000, orbits at 3300m
• 1 Serpentis Chief Watchman (vexor), bounty 65000, orbits at 17km
• 4 Serpentis Safeguards, bounty 11000, orbit at 2300m

Keep an eye on the loot you get from these ships, too. If I remember correctly, I got a Tech II Snake implant worth 40 mil off one of them.

Retribution (Angel)

Reward: 200k, bonus 8100 Large arms?, 553 LP (Q 16, 0.8 sec)

Difficulty: 5/10 - the Viper group will be much worse if you aren't prepared to deal with orbiters

Typical profit and time to complete: 850k, 40 minutes?

In this mission, your goal is to destroy the Angel Outpost. Of course, you may want to kill the four groups of ships first.

You may not get this exact arrangement of ships, but the waves are usually very similar.

Group 1 (ahead)

• 2 Gistum Predators, bounty 43125, orbit at 4200m
• 1 Gistii Domination Rogue, bounty 4125, orbits at 2000m
• 1 Gistii Outlaw, bounty 4500, orbits at 2000m

Group 2 (below)

• 3 Gistum Breakers, bounty 57188, use Piranha missiles (explosive), orbit at 22km

Group 3 (above)

• 6 Gistii Rogues, bounty 3750, orbit at 2000m
• 3 Gistum Depredators, bounty 37500, orbit at 4200m

Don't let the numbers scare you - the Gistii Rogue is probably the easiest target of all the level 3 missions - they pretty much pop the moment you fire.

Group 4 (far ahead)

• 1 Angel Viper, bounty 30000, webs, MWD, uses Piranha missile (explosive), orbits at 8600m
• 2 Angel Webifiers, bounty 25000, webs, MWD, orbits at 5700m
• 1 Gistum Domination Crusher, bounty 60000, uses Havoc heavy missile (explosive), orbits at 24km

I find it most convenient to pull these from as far away as I can. That way, the Vipers and Webifiers arrive first and can hopefully be taken out before the cruiser adds its damage to the fight. If you can't destroy the Vipers and Webifiers quickly and don't have a decent tank set up, you may need to flee this encounter.

Don't forget to destroy the Angel Outpost.

Retribution (Serpentis)

Reward: 226k, bonus 400 small arms, 505 LP (Q 9, 0.5 sec)

Difficulty: 5/10 - the farthest group is the toughest fight.

Typical profit and time to complete: 618k, 35 minutes

Similar to the Angel version, you'll be fighting four groups of ships and will need to destroy an Outpost.

Group 1 (ahead)

• 1 Corelum Chief Watchman (vexor), bounty 45938, orbits at 17km
• 1 Coreli Patroller (incursus), bounty 6375, orbits at 1900m
• 1 Shadow Corelum Chief Spy (celestis), bounty 48750, orbits at 3100m
• 1 Shadow Coreli Agent (atron), bounty 5625, orbits at 8900m

Watch out for the vexor, it has high damage output.

Group 2 (below)

• 2 Guardian Veterans (tristan), bounty 30000, web, MWD, orbit at 1200m
• 2 Corelum Chief Scout (exequror), bounty 37500, MWD, orbit at 3100m

The Veterans are the most annoying level 3 enemy. They armor tank and orbit close and fast. Small drones, webber, and fast tracking guns recommended. Also, one of these days I'll have to fire a torpedo at one of those Scouts while they are MWDing and see what kind of damage it does :)

Group 3 (above)

• 1 Coreli Spy (navitas), bounty 4500, orbits at 8500m
• 5 Shadow Coreli Scouts (atron), bounty 4125, orbit at 1600m
• 2 Coreli Agents (atron), bounty 4875, orbit at 8900m

Just a lot of easy frigates. Don't kill them too far away, remember you have to spend time looting cans, too.

Group 4 (far ahead)

• 1 Shadow Coreli Patroller (incursus), bounty 7125, orbits at 1900m
• 2 Shadow Coreli Watchmen (incursus), bounty 6750, orbit at 1900m
• 1 Shadow Coreli Chief Guard (thorax), bounty 65625, target dampens, orbits at 5500m
• 1 Guardian Veteran (tristan), bounty 30000, webs, MWD, orbits at 1200m

You have another Veteran to deal with here. Also, the thorax will dampen your targetting range, approximately halving it. So, it's likely that the Veteran will make it to orbitting range. The thorax is the most hardened target in this mission.

And, of course, don't forget to destroy the Serpentis Outpost.

Revenge is Sweet

Reward: 102k, bonus 200 small arms, 241 LP (Q 9, 0.5 sec)

Difficulty: 6/10 - two waves of missilers, tankable

Typical profit and time to complete: 530k, 20 minutes

Youw ill always get this mission after you complete Unauthorized Military Presence. UMP is much harder compared to this one.

You will fight two waves of ships:

Wave 1

• 6 Mercenary Fighters, bounty 5000, use Flameburst missiles (thermal), orbit at 7600m
• 1 Mercenary Commander, bounty 85000, uses Scourge heavy missile (kinetic), orbits at 15km

After this wave is destroyed, you'll get a message popup, andthe named boss appears.

Wave 2

• 4 Mercenary Elite Fighters, bounty 10000, use Flameburst missiles (thermal), orbit at 8100m
• Kaltoh Kurzon, bounty 180000 (!!), uses Scourge heavy missile (kinetic), orbits at 12km

Rogue Drone Harassment

Reward: 359k, bonus 284k, 718 LP (Q 16, Sec 0.8)

Difficulty: 5/10 - one group in Part 1 and the boss in Part 2 can work your shields down, but for the most part, the greatest difficulty in this mission is all the time spent looting cans

Typical profit and time to complete: 643k plus alloys, 50 minutes

All you need to do in this mission is clear out all the rogue drones.

Part 1

In the first warp-in, you'll see a multitude of drone groups, each of which can be pulled to you for faster looting. None agro when you arrive.

Group 1 (upper left):

• 6 Sunder Drones, orbit at 1800m, light
• 2 Decimator Drones, orbit at 9500m, light

Group 2 (lower left):

• 4 Wrecker Drones, orbit at 5800m, medium

Group 3 (medium left):

• 1 Strain Infester Drone, orbits at 3700m, medium
• 1 Violator Drone, orbits at 3500m, medium
• 2 Sunder Drones, orbit at 1800m, light

Group 4 (medium right):

• 3 Annihilator Drones, orbit at 17km, medium

Group 5 (distant left):

• 2 Viral Infector Drones, orbit at 5200m, medium
• 3 Render Drones, orbit at 8800m, light
• 1 Decimator Drone, orbits at 9500m, light

This is the worst group of the bunch. The Virals can hit hard and drain your shields.

I usually try to pull them all to me around the gate to the next part, to speed up looting. I always have to warp out once with a full load and come back.

Part 2

Only one drone is here, the boss:

• Crippler Drone, orbits at 9500m, heavy

Unlike most of the other drones, this one has fairly good armor. He hits hard and can take down your shields, but shouldn't be too much of a threat.

Sabotage the Supply Lines

Difficulty: 8/10 - the first wave may test your tank, the rest are much easier, save for one possible random wave which is the hardest of them all. A thermal hardener will help you withstand the first wave, and should help against the rest.

When you warp in, you'll find some UDI guarding a cargo ship: a Commander along with some missile frigates.

• 1 Mercenary Commander, bounty 85000, uses Scourge heavy missile (kinetic), orbits at 15km
• 2 Mercenary Elite Fighters, bounty 10000, use Flameburst missiles (thermal), orbit at 8100m
• 5 Mercenary Fighters, bounty 5000, use Flameburst missiles (thermal), orbit at 7600m
• 1 Ore Supply Freight, orbits at 1100m

They don't agro when you first arrive. You'll be taking mostly thermal damage in this encounter. That is, if they even agro you. That last few times I've done this mission, the UDI just sat there while I blew away the missile frigates. Finally, when 1 elite fighter and the commander remained, they agroed. the ore freighter usually drops an amount of random ore, which you'll rarely have room for after looting everything else.

The next three waves are random and most are much easier - I believe a kinetic hardener will help there, but a thermal should as well, assuming their hybrid damage is a combination of kinetic and thermal.

Wave 2 (random)

• 1 Serpentis Chief Defender (thorax), bounty 95000, orbits at 23km

Wave 3 (random)

• 5 Serpentis Defenders (tristan), bounty 12000, orbit at 11km
• 1 Serpentis Chief Watchman (vexor), bounty 65000, orbits at 17km

Wave 4 (random)

• 2 Guardian Veterans (tristan), bounty 30000, web and MWD, orbits at 1200m
• 4 Serpentis Safeguards (maulus), bounty 11000, orbit at 2300m
• 1 Serpentis Chief Safeguard (thorax), bounty 87500, orbit at 5500m

The 2 Veterans and Safeguard can challenge your tank, but it's not too bad for a decent tanker.

As I said, most of these later waves are easier than the first. However, watch out for the wave consisting of a Serpentis Chief Spy and 8 Serpentis Sentinels (catalysts) - this wave causes HEAVY damage, and warrants a possible 8/10 for this mission.

The Score

Reward: 96k, bonus 90k, 190 LP (Q 9, 0.5 sec)

Difficulty: 3/10 - a few frigates and one cruiser, the cruiser causes mild damage

Typical profit and time to complete: 306k, 10 minutes

A quick kill mission. Just warp to the location and destroy the following targets:

• 3 Serpentis Safeguards (mallus), bounty 11000, orbit at 2300m
• 1 Serpentis Chief Safeguard (thorax), bounty 87500, orbits at 5500m, causes 17 pts/sec (with active kinetic hardener running)

Seek and Destroy

Reward: 133k, bonus 117k, 168 LP (Q -3, 0.8 sec)

Difficulty: 5/10 - could be a 7/10 if you pull the Veterans early

Avoid using drones in the first encounter, otherwise the Veterans from below will agro on them.

Typical profit and time to complete: 540k, 12 minutes

Group 1 (agros when arrive)

• 4 Corelum Chief Spies (celestis), bounty 43125, orbit at 3100

Four of these beating on you will wear down your shields.

Group 2 (below)

• 2 Guardian Veterans, bounty 30000, webs, armor tanks, orbits at 1200m
• 1 Shadow Corelum Chief Safeguard (thorax), bounty 71230, orbits at 5200m

The Veterans are the fastest and closest orbiters of the level 3 missions. Webbers and small guns or blasters help immensely, as do light drones.

Serpentis Extravaganza

Reward: 688k, bonus 664k, 1249 LP (Q 9, 0.5 sec)

Difficulty: 7/10 - the towers in the second part are the deadliest encounter, kinetic hardener recommended

Typical profit and time to complete: 3.1 mil, 1 hour and 30 minutes

There are 3 parts to this mission, making it smaller than the Angel version. The encounters are generally more difficult, however. It's still a sizable mission with a lot of encounters though, so bring more ammo than usual.

Part 1

Lots of encounters here. I usually start at the far right side and work my way over. It seems to speed up on looting and establish more of a pattern.

Group 1 (right above)

• 3 Shadow Coreli Spies (navitas), bounty 5250, orbit at 8900m
• 1 Shadow Coreli Protector (tristan), bounty 10125, orbits at 2300m
• 1 Coreli Defender (tristan), bounty 8250, orbits at 11km

Group 2 (far right)

• 1 Shadow Corelum Chief Scout (exequror), bounty 40313, orbits at 3100m
• 2 Guardian Veterans, bounty 30000, web, MWD, orbit at 1200m

I hate the Veterans. Light drones, webber, and small guns recommended. Worst orbitters of the level 3 lot.

Group 3 (above)

• 2 Corelum Chief Patrollers (thorax), bounty 45938, orbit at 17km
• 1 Corelum Chief Watchman (vexor), bounty 45938, orbit at 17km

Group 4 (ahead)

• 2 Corelum Chief Scout (exequror), bounty 37500, orbit at 3100m
• 1 Corelum Chief Protector (thorax), bounty 74063, orbits at 6100m
• 1 Guardian Veteran (tristan), bounty 30000, webs, MWD, orbits at 1200m

Did I say I hate Veterans?

Group 5 (far ahead left)

• 1 Corelum Chief Watchman (vexor), bounty 45938, orbits at 17km
• 1 Corelum Chief Scout (exequror), bounty 37500, orbits at 3100m
• 1 Corelum Chief Patroller (thorax), bounty 74063, sensor dampening, orbits at 6100m
• 3 Serpentis Light Missile Batteries, bounty 25000, use Flameburst missiles (thermal, triple damage), range 40km

The Patroller can reduce your targetting range, so you may lose lock as they approach. You can ignore the towers if you wish - they aren't necessary to destroy unless you want the bounties.

Group 6 (left)

• 2 Shadow Coreli Spies (navitas), bounty 5250, orbit at 8900m
• 2 Coreli Patrollers (incursus), bounty 6375, orbit at 1900m
• 1 Corelum Chief Safeguard (thorax), bounty 62813, sensor dampening, orbits at 5500m
• 1 Corelum Chief Guard (thorax), bounty 57188, sensor dampening, orbits at 5500m

Again, you may lose lock as these targets approach due to sensor dampening.

Group 7 (far left)

• 1 Shadow Corelum Chief Watchman (vexor), bounty 54375, sensor dampening, orbits at 17km
• 1 Corelum Chief Defender (thorax), bounty 68438, orbits at 23km

Another possible lock loss here from the vexor.

As the final targets approach, I move towards the acceleration gate to my looting doesn't take me too far away from it.

Recharge your shields a bit and get most of your cap back before proceeding to Part 2. It's a high damage, fast encounter.

Part 2

I love the music for this one. The only other place I've heard this music is the level 1 Seek and Destroy with Serpentis targets. Too bad the music ends by the time I destroy everything.

In this part, you'll be facing the toughest single encounter of this mission.

• 5 Tower Sentry Serpentis II's, bounty 50000, cause about 11 damage/second each
• 1 Corelum Chief Spy (celestis), bounty 43125, orbits at 3300m

The towers do a lot of damage, so work them down as fast as you can, one at a time. Move within range of a tower, turn all your guns and drones on it, then start heading towards the next closest tower. Repeat. Taking down one tower fast is better than taking down a few at a time with your damage spread between them.

You can ignore the Chief Spy until the towers are down - they are by far the most critical targets here.

Part 3

Group 1 (agros on warpin)

• 1 Guardian Veteran, bounty 30000, webs, MWD, orbits at 1200m
• 1 Coreli Patroller (incursus), bounty 6375, orbits at 1900mm
• 1 Shadow Coreli Agent (atron), bounty 5625, orbits at 9100m

Hate Veterans.

Group 2 (left)

• 3 Shadow Corelum Chief Watchmen (vexor), bounty 54375, sensor dampening, orbit at 17km

You may lose lock as these approach. Annoying, I know.

Group 3 (ahead)

• 2 Coreli Defenders (tristan), bounty 8250, orbit at 11km
• 3 Shadow Corelum Chief Scouts (exequror), bounty 40313, orbit at 3100m

Group 4 (right)

• 2 Shadow Corelum Chief Watchmen (vexor), bounty 54375, sensor dampening, orbit at 17km
• 1 Coreli Defender (tristan), bounty 8250, orbits at 11km
• 1 Coreli Guard (maulus), bounty 7500, orbits at 11km

Another couple of sensor dampeners here.

Group 5 (far ahead)

• 2 Guardian Veterans, bounty 30000, web, MWD, orbit at 1200m
• 1 Corelum Chief Watchman (vexor), bounty 45938, orbits at 17km

Still hate Veterans.

Group 6 (random location)

• Franz Krealo (thorax), bounty 90938, orbits at 6300m

You know, just once it would have been nice in the level 3's to take on a battlecruiser boss instead of just cruisers. Oh well. this fellow could be anywhere but is usually far away and slowly wanders about.

Also in this part are a number of Serpentis buildings, some encased inside an EM field that you can destroy. I haven't bothered trying to destroy and loot any of these structures.

Reward: 108k, bonus 115k, 264 LP (Q 16, 0.8 sec)

Difficulity: 4/10 - the cruisers in the second group can work down your shields

Typical profit and time to complete: 531k, 15 minutes

Those crazy Spies are back again.

Group 1 (agros on warpin)

• 1 Shadow Coreli Safeguard (mallus), 9375 bounty, orbits at 2300m
• 1 Coreli Defender (tristan), 8250 bounty, orbits at 11km
• 1 Shadow Coreli Spy (navitas), county 5250, orbits at 8900m
• 1 Corelum Chief Guard (thorax), bounty 57188, orbits at 5400m

Group 2 (varies)

• 2 Shadow Coreli Scouts (atron), bounty 4125, orbit at 1600m
• 2 Coreli Scouts (atron), bounty 3750, orbit at 1600m
• 2 Serpentis Spies (thorax), bounty 57188, orbit at 5400m
• 1 Serpentis Spy (vexor), bounty 54375, orbits at 17km

Watch out for the cruisers, their weapons can hurt when they get in range. If you are having trouble taking out the orbitters before the cruisers get in range, you may want to invest in a webber or higher tracking guns. Many encounters can be dangerous if you're busy with orbitters while cruisers approach.

Group 3 (optional)

• 2 Tower Sentry Serpentis I's, bounty 30000, range 30km

You don't need to destroy the towers to complete the mission. They go down fairly quickly though, so they can be some extra ISK if you are big on collecting bounties.

The Seven's Prison Facility

Reward: 151k, bonus 56 Rocket Launcher I's, 384 LP (Q 16, 0.8 sec)

Difficulty: 7/10 - another tank tester. The named boss is the worst damage dealer. The whole area agros when you arrive. If the main boss uses thermal lasers, a thermal hardener will help.

Typical profit and time to complete: 429k, 15 minutes

When you arrive, the entire area agros on you. Three primary groups of enemies are here:

Group 1 (variable)

• 1 Seven Deathguard, bounty 14500
• 2 Seven Death Dealers, bounty 10000, use Flameburst light missiles (thermal)

Group 2 (one each of boss and sidekick, random)

Sidekicks:

• Seven Assassin, bounty 100000, uses Havoc heavy missile (explosive), orbits at about 17km?, causes about 22 damage / second
• Seven Thug, bounty 50000, orbits at 2400m, causes 9/second, minor target

Bosses:

• Schmidt, bounty 75000, uses Thunderbolt heavy missile (em)
• Olufami, bounty 85000, uses Scourge heavy missiles (kinetic), orbits at 15km, causes about 20 damage / second (explosive?)
• Elena Gazky, bounty 85000, uses Scourge heavy missile (kinetic), causes 30/sec with thermal lasers, drops DNA

The Olufami/Assassin combination is rather deadly. I was fortunate enough to have only two towers firing at me while I was fighting these two.

Group 3

• 1 or 2 Sentry Guns, bounty 30000, can hit beyond 60km
• 1 Sentry Gun, bounty 50000, can hit beyond 60km, hits for more damage

You'll be taking a lot of damage constantly in this mission, so bring a hardener along. A kinetic one works fine for me, although a thermal one helps more against laser-using bosses.

If you're lucky enough to land in range of any of the Sentry Guns, try to take some out before Group 1 or 2 gets close to you. Usually the warp-in lands you at the side opposite the guns, closer to Group 1.

When I arrive, I prefer to head away from the boss and guns, possibly with afterburner on, and more towards Group 1, to give me more time to take out Group 1 before the boss gets in range.

Group 1 typically comes in range first, so take those ships out first. Next will be the boss and his sidekick. Once the boss starts firing at close range, you're going to take a lot of damage, so turn your weapons on him/her hard.

Once the boss is down, you should be able to tank the rest of the damage, but the Assassin is a high damage opponent as well.

As of the Bloodlines patch, you no longer need to destroy the Prison to complete this mission.

Silence the Informant

Reward: 377k, bonus 388k, 944 LP (Q 9, 0.5 sec)

Difficulty: 8/10 - the UDI in the second area will test your tank. You may want a thermal hardener.

Typical profit and time to complete: 1.4 mil plus 500k in minerals from drone alloys, 50 minutes

This version is similar to the level 2 mission of the same name: drones in the first area, UDI in the second, and the informant in the third.

Part 1 (20 minutes with looting and warpout)

Group 1 (agros on warp-in)

• 2 Violator Drones, orbit at 3500m

Group 2 (60km away)

• 4 Decimator Drones
• 1 Disintegrator Drone
• 1 Hunter Drone
• 1 Render Drone
• 1 Viral Infector Drone

I prefer to pull these at a distance to save travel and loot time.

If you want some extra cash or minerals, make sure you loot all the alloys from the drones. You'll probably be able to refine about 500k worth of minerals from them.

Part 2 (20 minutes)

True to form, the second area with the UDI is most difficult. A thermal hardener will help most against the Commanders here.

Watch out for the Wingman in Group 1, he may warp scramble you.

Group 1 (agros on warpin)

• 2 Mercenary Commanders, bounty 85000, use Scourge heavy missiles (kinetic), orbit at 15km
• 1 Mercenary Elite Fighter, bounty 10000, uses Flameburst missile (thermal), orbits at 8100m
• 1 Mercenary Wingman, bounty 30000, uses Piranha missile (explosive), webs and warp scrambles, orbits at 8600m

Group 2 (above)

• 3 Mercenary Commanders, bounty 85000, use Scourge heavy missiles (kinetic), orbit at 15km
• 2 Mercenary Fighters, bounty 5000, use Flameburst missile (thermal), orbit at 7600m

I usually pull them down to me to save on travel and loot time. The Commanders arrive first. The missiles they fire on their way towards me doesn't amount to nearly as much damage as their thermal lasers.

Part 3 (10 minutes)

Only one group of enemies is here, and they all agro when you arrive:

• 2 Tower Sentry Drone I's, bounty 30000
• 2 Tower Sentry Drone II's, bounty 50000
• 1 Terak Nomuri, bounty 5000, orbits at 1000m

Terak's ship is a very small threat. Just proceed toward each tower one at a time, destroy them, and then destroy Terak.

Also, in Part 3, be sure to destroy the Pleasure Hub to loot an advanced skill book and a few R.A.M. items.

Smuggler Interception

Reward: 84k, bonus 110k, 207 LP (Q 9, 0.5 sec)

Difficulty: 6/10 - not hard at all if you are prepared to deal with the Veterans, otherwise they will relentlessly force you to tank

Typical profit and time to complete: 400k, 20 minutes

This is a simple kill mission. You'll have to retrieve some containers from the cargo ships, too. When you warp to the location, the following ships will attack:

• 1 Serpentis Chief Defender (thorax), bounty 95000, orbits at 23km
• 2 Serpentis Protectors (tristan), bounty 13000, orbit at 2300m
• 2 Guardian Veterans (tristan), bounty 30000, web, armor tank, orbit at 1200m (120 m/s)
• 4 Smuggler Freights, bounty 25000, orbit at 1000m

The Veterans are the most annoying targets here. I use a webber, light drones if available, and small guns to work them down.

The containers you need to loot will drop off one of the Freights.

Stop the Thief!

(This mission got a revamp for the Revelations release)

Reward: ??, bonus ??, ?? LP (??)

Difficulty: 7/10 - The Commanders here are nasty - keep them at range. Tank EM/thermal.

Typical profit and time to complete: ??, ??

A simple but nasty kill mission. Destroy the following wave:

• 1 The Thief, bounty 6000, orbits at 5100m, cannot be webbed
• 5 Mercenary Commanders, use Scourge heavy missile (kinetic), orbit at 15km

The Thief drops what you need to complete the mission. Be sure to loot the Commander wrecks, you might get an Arbalest heavy launcher out of it which sells for several million ISK.

Unauthorized Military Presence

Reward: 182k, bonus 174k, 405 LP (Q 9, 0.5 sec)

Difficulty: 8/10 - three nasty waves of missile ships, each with a Blackbird. Kinetic hardener recommended.

Typical profit and time to complete: 350k + 360k tags, 40 minutes

You will be fighting three waves of Caldari ships, each with a wicked Blackbird.

The first wave guarding the transport consists of a Blackbird and support frigate. The Blackbrid orbits at 30km, so it is a challenge to take down, being out of range of smaller guns. Fortunately, it has no shield tanking, and armor tanks slowly.

• 1 Caldari Navy Blackbird, uses Widowmaker heavy missile (thermal), orbits at 30km
• 1 Caldari Navy Gamma I Support Frigate, uses Bloodclaw missile (kinetic), orbits at 7700m
• 3 Caldari Personnel Transports, orbit at 2500m

The second wave will be another Blackbird along with potentially 10 or so missile frigates - all the frigates' missile damage is kinetic.

• 1 Caldari Navy Blackbird, uses Widowmaker heavy missile (thermal), orbits at 30km
• 4 Caldari Navy Soldiers, use Bloodclaw missiles (kinetic), orbit at 7600m
• 6 Caldari Navy Scouts, use Bloodclaw missiles (kinetic), orbit at 7600m

The third wave has yet another Blackbird, along with a Moa and a few more missile frigates. The Moa is about as dangerous as the Blackbird, but it orbits at 17km, easier to shoot at but with more armor, and it shield tanks.

• 1 Caldari Navy Blackbird, uses Widowmaker heavy missile (thermal), orbits at 30km
• 1 Caldari Navy Moa, uses Scourge heavy missile (kinetic), orbits at 17km
• 5 Caldari Navy Scouts, use Bloodclaw missiles (kinetic), orbit at 7600m

What Comes Around Goes Around

Reward: 114k, bonus 137k, 250 LP (Q 9, 0.5 sec)

Difficulty: 5/10 - a lot of missilers, but they go down fast. The named craft could warp scramble.

Typical profit and time to complete: 351k, 15 minutes

This is a relatively simple kill mission. You just have to kill a bounty hunter and his guards. There are a few varieties of targets for this mission:

The bounty hunter will be one of these:

• 1 Bounty hunter Jason, bounty 50000, uses Sabretooth missile? (em), orbits at 15km
• 1 Bounty hunter Okochyn, bounty 50000, uses Thunderbolt heavy missile (em), orbits at 15km
• 1 Bounty hunter Obunga, bounty 50000, uses Thunderbolt heavy missile (em), orbits at 15km
• 1 Bounty hunter Ikaruz, bounty 50000, uses Thunderbolt heavy missile (em), orbits at 15km

Some may also warp scramble, so be careful. Ikaruz scrambled me from 15km.

And the guards will be one of the two following groups:

• 10 Mercenary Fighters, bounty 5000, use Flameburst missiles (thermal), orbit at 7600m
• 5 Mercenary Elite Fighters, bounty 10000, use Flameburst missiles (thermal), orbit at 8100m

In one visit, I managed to take down all 10 Mercenary Fighters without agroing them. It was when I released my drones and sent them against the boss that he finally agroed. So, you may not necessarily have to deal with all of them firing at you when you first arrive.

Rogue Slave Trader (1-2)

This is a fairly fast chain, new with the Bloodlines patch. It features the Blood Raiders as the primary enemy.

Rogue Slave Trader (1 of 2)

Reward: 58k, bonus 43k, 124 LP (Q 16, 0.8 sec)

Difficulty: 5/10 - not bad at all. I believe a bonus battlecruiser spawns when you destroy the Slave Pen. EM or thermal hardener, I'm guessing.

Typical profit and time to complete: 395k, 15 minutes

You'll need to destroy a few guards, then destroy a Slave Pen and loot some prisoners.

• 2 Corpum Sages, bounty 57188, nos, orbit at 7500m
• 1 Elder Corpii Follower, bounty 18000, orbits at 3800m
• 1 Elder Corpii Worshipper, bounty 19125, orbits at 3800m

The Sages have nossers on them, but the effect isn't very high. the Follower tanks much more than the Worshipper, so if you're efficiency conscious, kill the Worshipper first.

Now you can destroy the Slave Pen and loot the prisoners. When you destroy the Slave Pen, the following ship spawns:

(Optional)

• 1 Blood Raider Slaver (prophecy, battlecruiser), bounty 142500, orbits at 22km

It's a pleasure fighting a battlecruiser in a level 3 for a change. You can just warp away with the prisoners instead of fighting this target, if you like.

Rogue Slave Trader (2 of 2) "Downing the Slavers"

Reward: 54k, bonus 72k, 142 LP (Q 16, 0.8 sec)

Difficulty: 8/10 - stage 1 is easy, stage 2 is now the HARDEST burst of damage I've ever experienced from a level 3 encounter (as of 3/2/2006). Resist against EM/thermal for both shielders and armor tankers.

Typical profit and time to complete: 766k, 40 minutes

In this mission, you are tasked with finding the Slaver Traders and eliminating them.

Part 1 (5/10)

You'll warp into an asteroid field with a few Blood Raiders to kill:

• 2 Corpum Revenant, bounty 51563
• 1 Corpum Arch Templar, bounty 45938
• 2 Dark Corpii Upholder, bounty 5625
• 1 Corpii Collector, bounty 6375
• 1 Corpior Cleric, bounty 15750

After that wave is down, you'll see a solitary Gateway beacon that you can use to warp to part 2. Before you do so, however, have your shields as high as you can, and I recommend an EM/thermal tanking combo. Also, try to have Collidable Structures and Asteroids removed from your overview, but have stargates and stations visible. That way, you'll be able to quickly target the offenders and refer to a warp point, because you will very likely need to warp.

Part 2 (8/10)

When you warp in, align yourself with a warp point, then target the Sentry Guns, immediately. You'll arrive inside an arena or pen-like structure surrounded by enemies. The following group of targets is here:

• 4 Tower Sentry Bloodraider I, bounty 50000
• 2 Corpior Visionaries, bounty 11250
• 2 Corpior Devoters, bounty 13500
• 1 Corpior Friar, bounty 14625
• 1 Corpior Seer (prophecy), bounty 135000 (Trader)
• 1 Corpior Bishop (prophecy), bounty 131250 (Trader)

The Sentries go down fairly fast, but the damage they cause is IMMENSE. An EM and thermal hardener will help you withstand the damage. Armor tankers will lose their shields in a matter of seconds. With the two hardeners, I was able to stay in the fight long enough to kill all the towers, then my tank caught up as I fought the remaining ships.

After the Sentries are down, it becomes a 6/10 encounter or so.

Given the danger of this mission, I'm surprised how low the LP reward is. Then again, being a new mission, it may still need to evaluate the time in which I complete it to decide upon a proper reward.

New Revelations missions

Actually, the new missions I've seen in Revelations are replacements for some missions removed by the Dragon release.

So far, the missions I've seen are:

• The Blockade - detailed below, quite a long one
• The Score - same old thief, but this time he has 8 Mercenary Commanders guarding him. Fly away and keep them at least 25km away to reduce their damage! And harden EM/thermal!
• Mordus Headhunters - looks like the wave-spawn variety is back, but I have yet to see it

The Blockade (Guristas)

I actually did this mission in Caldari space (against Guristas). I assume the Gallente space mission is against Serpentis, but unfortunately, I don't have its details.

Harden kinetic/thermal for this one

Difficulty: 8/10 - keep your distance, and warp out to recover if need be. You can actually use the structures to warp around inside the mission.

6 million in bounties, an hour or more to complete

This mission is somehwat unique in that future waves don't spawn until you kill a specific ship in the current wave. Because of this, it's actually possible to fight multiple waves simultaneously by killing the right (or wrong) ship in each new spawn. You could be up against over 50 ships if you do so. All ships that appear immediately agro, including the wave that is already there when you arrive.

Be aware that I've only done this mission once while taking notes and haven't had time to double check it on another run, so this information may not quite be right.

When you first arrive, you'll see the following variety of ships:

• 4 Enforcers (ferox)
• 4 Dire Pith Infernos (moa)
• 1 Pith Renegade (frigate) - trigger
• 1 Stasis Tower (not sure about range, stay at least 20km away)

The Renegade ship is the trigger for the next wave to spawn:

• 3 Enforcers (ferox)
• 3 Anarchists (merlin)
• 5 Executors (ferox)
• 1 Assaulter (ferox) - trigger
• 2 Nihilist (heron)
• 1 Wrecker (merlin)

I thought for sure the Wrecker would be the trigger, but it was in fact the Assaulter. Next wave:

• 4 Executor (ferox)
• 4 Nihilist (heron)
• 1 Death Dealer (ferox) - trigger
• 2 Dire Pith Erasers (moa)
• 3 Enforcers (ferox)

When you kill the Death Dealer, yet another wave spawns:

• 5 Enforcers (ferox) - trigger
• 2 Executors (ferox)
• 3 Erasers (caracal)
• 3 Dire Pith Wreckers (merlin)

When you kill all of the Enforcers, the final wave spawns:

• 4 Dire Pith Despoiler (griffin), jammers (long distance)
• 5 Death Dealers (ferox)

One of the Death Dealers is the "leader" you were sent to destroy. Once it is down, you can leave, but there are 6 mil in bounties here to collect, and you can complete the mission in about an hour with a decent Drake setup.

In any waves with ferox ships, kill those first if you can to avoid all the extra damage (but watch out for killing trigger ships). The Dire Pith ships have high resists and are lower priority damagewise.

One of the difficulties I had in this mission was being too far away when the next waves spawned, since I was constantly moving away to keep my distance. Sometimes I was over 120km away when a new spawn appeared and had to return to agro them because they would fly back to their starting points. I found, however, that you can select a structure in the mission area and warp to it from more than 150km away, allowing you to quickly return to the arena. In addition, there are other structures that are more than 150km from each other, allowing you to hop back and forth as you like, forcing the pirates to chase you around (don't forget to scoop your drones). A nice change from the typical mission setting.