Solo C1 anomalies in a Drake

27th May 2010 – 5.22 pm

A quick reconnoitre shows all is quiet. Our neighbouring system is still empty, the industrialist corporation whose tower we shot in the next system along is still inactive, and the C1 and its low-sec exit shows no activity. But with it being so quiet and having a C1 with plenty of anomalies means I could probably be productive by myself. I bookmark a few anomalies and return to the tower to grab my Drake. I remove the warfare link to add a salvager, swap a thermal hardener for a reheat, make sure my directional scanner is working, and go out looking to pick a fight with some Sleepers.

The journey to and from the C1 should be easy enough, with no one around, and the low-sec exit may not give me any troubles. I will need to keep a keen eye on d-scan, as I am quite vulnerable in a solo PvE Drake. A big shield by itself doesn't fight off attackers. Sleepers shouldn't pose much of a problem, though, but when they appear over 90 km away from my ship it isn't terribly convenient. Shooting the Sleepers brings them closer, once I get them in to range of my targeting system, and I can begin to earn some profit. As each Sleeper explodes I move towards it to loot and salvage the wreck. Having no tractor beam will make this slower, but the reheat will mitigate that a little.

Salvaging the first wreck turns out to be a slow process, slow enough that I wonder if it would be more efficient to shoot everything first and return in a dedicated salvaging boat. I decide to do just that and turn off the salvager and, predictably enough, that final cycle salvages the wreck. I change my mind and continue salvaging with the Drake, which goes rather more smoothly after the first wreck. I am able to clear the anomaly easily enough, although it is fairly slow by myself in a standard battlecruiser, and I warp to the next. The second anomaly has sentry guns, which I know hit harder than Sleeper ships. I target them first and try to get some transverse velocity to reduce the incoming damage a little, but a Sleeper frigate is webbing my Drake, slowing me down. I pop the frigate and return my focus to the sentries, but my shield starts complaining. It seems that the frigate's explosion brought the second wave of Sleepers with it. I have to warp out.

My shields don't take long to regenerate and I warp back to the anomaly, destroy a couple more of the sentries but leave the last. The sentry guns don't leave wrecks, so offer no loot or salvage and thus no profit, using a fair bit of ammunition for no reward. I can absord the damage of one of them easily enough and concentrate my fire now on the Sleeper ships, which I can loot and salvage. The Sleepers soon explode under my missile fire, and although I occasionally bring my drones out to help against the smaller ships they are targeted and shot at too quickly to offer any real benefit. I finish looting and salvaging the wrecks, the lone sentry gun still shooting me.

I am both out of time and missiles, not enough left in my hold to reload all my launchers. It has been so long since I flew solo PvE in my Drake that I have forgotten about such basic matters. I get back to the tower safely, all systems remaining quiet, with my cargo full of loot. Almost 25 million ISK profit is quite a good result for my time.

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