Hey, Amarr pilots: Don't be like me!

Okay, I had one of those super noob moments tonight. (As an aside, super noob moments seem to happen pretty frequently in this game!) I was in a gang getting ready to run a site in our wormhole (did I mention I love our wormhole?), and I asked some of the experienced players what type of laser crystals I should be using. They said "It depends on the range", to which I replied "Oh, really?" They explained how each crystal trades off damage for range and vice versa. This is actually all stuff that I knew. What I didn't know is that the preferred approach for laser packin- capsuleers is to actively manage the crystals rather than just load them up and leav them.

Based on this info, I stopped by the corp hangar and grabbed some Microwave L and dropped them on my guns. Holy crap! I went from 45km optimal to roughly 70km optimal! Yes, my damage went down, but basically, I might as well not even shoot at 70km with the multifrequency crystals loaded due to the difficulty in hitting.

Anyway, you new(ish) Amarr pilots, here's what we're supposed to be doing: we should carry a bunch of different laser crystal types for our guns, and swap them out as needed depending on the range of our targets. I know 99% of you already knew that, but if I can help just one other noob such as me, it will all be worth it!

Ratting is fun (so far...)

As I mentioned, our corp has moved into a wormhole recently. We have run some sleeper sites and have done some mining, but there are times when things are quiet in the WH, which leaves me looking for something to do. A corpmate suggested ratting in the belts outside the WH, which I tried out last night. So far, it's actually pretty fun.

The WH is in low sec space, so I've been going out in a battleship fitted with 3 big guns (for long range targets), 3 medium guns (for medium and short range targets), drones (for medium and short range targets), a tractor beam and a salvager (for salvage, of course). This set up seems to be working out for me in killing and cleaning up. I also keep an eye on local to determine if I need to warp out to safety.

I seem to be able to keep myself pretty busy in this way, while making a bit of ISK, accumulating salvage for our T2 builds, and building sec status. All in all, a pretty good thing.

Wormholes are cool

Over the past weekend, we set up operations in a wormhole and are having fun getting used to living and working in a wormhole. From a miners perspective, the WH has been amazing with some incredible asteroids to mine. On the downside, it is pretty easy for someone to sneak up on you, since you can't see them in local.

I leave it up to my corpmates to find baddies in the system, while I focus on mining. This is mostly because I really don't know how to find them other than running the scanner every so often.

Anyway, we're pretty well set up now, and I have even moved a battleship into the WH so I can even help out with some sleepers if needed.

Long story short, I think we're going to like it here!