Many people consider the Legion the red-headed stepchild of the T3 ships. It's not great at PVE when compared to the Tengu. It lacks the DPS potential of the Proteus and often people will favour Loki support rather than Legion.
But there is one specialization where the Legion really holds the field undisputed: Armor black-ops logistics.
Logistics with black-ops gangs is a difficult thing, and that's why it is rarely used. You could have logistics on the field already before you drop your black-ops gang, but more often than not, that wont be the case. So if you want logi support for your hotdrop, the only possibility you have is to commit a T3 ship with a covert ops subsystem. Outside of the Etana Alliance Tournament price ship, no other alternatives exist.
So when you fly an armor black-ops gang, there are really only two possibilities for logistic T3 ships: The Proteus and the Legion.
To be honest, I only mention the Proteus here because it technically offers the possibility of an armour repair subsystem. In reality, you should never use a Proteus as a remote repair platform. It will be inferiour to the Legion in every way when set up like that. EHP, speed, signature, capacitor ... you name it. The Legion will always beat the Proteus. If you are going to bring Proteus hulls to your black-ops gang, then fit them for DPS and tackle, never for logistics.
The Legion, however, does work perfectly in that role:
[Legion, BLOPS Logi]
Damage Control II
Energized Adaptive Nano Membrane II
Energized Adaptive Nano Membrane II
Energized Thermic Membrane II
1600mm Reinforced Steel Plates II
Cap Recharger II
Cap Recharger II
Medium Capacitor Booster II, Navy Cap Booster 400
ECCM - Radar II
10MN Microwarpdrive II
Medium Remote Armor Repairer II
Medium Remote Armor Repairer II
Medium Remote Armor Repairer II
Medium Remote Armor Repairer II
Medium Remote Armor Repairer II
Covert Ops Cloaking Device II
Medium Trimark Armor Pump I
Medium Trimark Armor Pump I
Medium Remote Repair Augmentor I
Legion Propulsion - Wake Limiter
Legion Offensive - Covert Reconfiguration
Legion Defensive - Adaptive Augmenter
Legion Electronics - Dissolution Sequencer
Legion Engineering - Capacitor Regeneration Matrix
I'll start with the subsystems. The Covert Reconfiguration is the obligatory thing here, otherwise your Legion wont be able to jump through a black-ops bridge. The Adaptive Augmenter is another one you just have to choose because it has the remote repair bonus. Unfortunately, it does not have the range bonus you would usually see on logistics ships, and that brings up the issue of propulsion.
Normally a logistics ship would be fitted with an afterburner to keep it's signature low, but this ship will be forced to close range quickly with targets it needs to repair. To get at least some reduction of the resulting signature bloom during that approach, the Wake Limiter is used.
The Dissolution Sequencer is an obvious choice to increase you sensor strength so you are less vulnerable to jamming. The Tactical Targeting Network can be a good alternative because it increases your scan resolution, resulting in faster locks and defense against Sensor Dampeners. Because both subsystems offer similar stats and the same slot layout, you can switch them in the hangar depending on what you are facing in terms of enemy EWAR.
Finally, the Capacitor Regeneration Matrix is a good choice because of it's namesake capacitor regeneration and the additional low slot.
While we are on the subject of capacitor. Obviously cap is essential for a logistics ship to offer some resistance against neuting and to keep remote repair modules running. A Capacitor Booster is therefore a good choice here. Even without the cap booster, this Legion has the potential to perma-run two reppers as long as the MWD is turned off. For as long as you have charges, you can run four of them and maintain cap stability. The fifth comes in when incoming damage becomes really heavy. Under such pressure, you could load an 800 booster charge for one cycle (you wont be able to fit more) and run all reppers cap stable for the 12 seconds cycle time. If you are not neuted, you can run all reppers long enough to coast through one recharge cycle of the cap booster.
When it comes to the charges, note that the Navy versions have less volume, so you'll be able to fit more into your cargohold, and when it comes to the 400 charges, you can fit three instead of 2 into your cap booster.
When using 400s, you will even be able to run three reppers together with your MWD. That can come in handy if you need to get transversal up (keeping in mind that your signature will increase) or if you need to reposition yourself quickly on the field while still repairing someone. A situation where you need to keep up with a fast ship that is under attack comes to mind.
The ECCM can be run permanently without any problems, together with the Dissolution Sequencer it will provide quite good defense against jamming. If ECM is not an issue, you could fit a target painter for killmail whoring instead.
You could also go for a tankier version with three Trimark Armour Pump rigs. On max skills you gain about 14K EHP, but you would lose the continued use of one remote armor repairer. Basically everything I said above about how many reppers you can have running cap stable will be minus one. It's a question of preference, but if you fight enemies with high-alpha doctrines, the extra buffer can be a life-saver when your ship is primaried.
Some people really like to pimp their T3 ships. I'm not a fan of it if it's not strictly necessary. You shouldn't have any significant problems fitting this ship, but you can knock yourself out with Faction and Deadspace stuff or T2 rigs to give it even more tank than the 104K (118K with three trimarks) EHP it can already have with max skills.
Everything considered, the Legion offers a viable option to have logistics support for armor hotdrops. I myself have flown that configuration to great effect during such operations. Also, it's a damn sexy looking ship.
You can look also look at Complex remote armor reppers. They're a nice upgrade for a price that's not too heavy for a t3 ship.
ReplyDeleteSmall Centii A-types are about 10 million isk, give you about the same repair range (5.8 km) with a 1/3 drop in repair amount for 1/2 cap usage. But the cycle time on small reppers is so much quicker, so it's easier to land your repair (as armor reps hit at the end of the module cycle) or switch targets. The small reppers are great on Augs for the same reasons.
The Medium Corelum C-Types are around 12 million isk, they give you more rep and a longer range than the tech II reppers for the same cap usage. Just something to keep in mind.
Especially the Medium C-Types sound interesting. After all, the range is the main drawback of the Logi-Legion. Thanks for the tip. I have never even considered deadspace RR.
DeleteThis was great to read, thanks
ReplyDelete