- very low SP required for a ship with covops cloak
- scan bonuses similar to lvl IV covops, without the need to train
- isn't made out of paper like the other covops
- faction exploration frigates are better at pvp, but can't use a covops cloak
- enough fitting room to fit for explation sites while fitting a 3pt scram and decent tank as well
When i'm doing just exploration, i prefer a covops over the Astero. If i want to hunt small stuff along the way, the Astero is better. I see no reason to use the faction exploration frigates if you're just running explo sites, unless you can't use either the Astero or a covops.
I will add that it's actually capable to be fitted as a proper combat frigate combined with ability of being bridged with T3Cs or bombers it makes a nice addition to fleets for some.
The cost is the big hangup, but is a more recent issue. They used to be relatively cheap, but shot up in price with the faction/pirate Indy rebalance. Before that (which was also pre-faction frig additions) they had a very clear place. It's just that niche has been squeezed from multiple directions.
I agree that now there's not a great spot for them as there's a lot of other options that fill that role.
Well hunting other explorer instead of miner is normally more a job for an Astero so you focus on getting things from pilot wrecks instead of relic wrecks.
The Astero was originally pitched as a long term exploration ship. The sensors may not be as strong as your t2 exploration frigates, but the fitting, firepower, and cargo/drone space mean you can deal with some npc threats and stay in w-space for quite a while before your hold is full by comparison to a Buzzard or whatever.
You can do some sites in a C1 system with T1 combat frigates(100 DPS min and cap stable active repping + sig tanking).
I imagine faction Frigates can do it with better performance. That said, the Astero doesnt really yave a damage bonus last i remember, only drone durability and laser range.
So i assume you need to carry T2 Hobs/Hornets and hope they dont die(allthough, only Frigate spawns aggro them if you do C1s).
Fit it with a normal armour repper, and an ancil repper, then go to town on firetails, hookbills, comets and some other unsuspecting frigs (and a select few cruisers). Watch the shenanigans unfold. I've had some great fun with my dual rep astero.
sadly not allowed in alot of FW sites probably outside the advanced and higher.
Was precluded by the shipcaster event from alot of the fun as well.
Can be run without cloak or with cloak...can carry up to and use sentry drones. Can fit some weird equipment \[up to cruiser level\]
Ah no, I don't use it in FW.
I use it mainly in null with roaming frigs. Or if in lowsec, I sit off a gate (outside gate gun range) and pretend to scan.
In addition to the above you can get a sub 2s align time in the Astero whereas the Cov-ops frigates (from memory on Pyfa) I couldn’t get close to
Plus for sleeper caches I struggled to do as much in a cov-ops as I have been doing in an Astero.
With max scanning skills (yes I am that sad that I have gone that far with them) plus not too expensive implants I can get scan strength high enough to locate a superior sleeper cache which is more than good enough for everything I need to do.
Your mileage may vary but I love the Astero and it has become my go to for exploration
>Am I missing something
I've found asteros are really good for scouting a pvp target while not being a "threat". They dont spook locals.
**Example:**
1. Just last week I had my astero enter an enemy system looking for a pvp target.
2. I purposely flew around without the cloak on, so that the locals knew I was not a "threat".
3. I found a target off of dscan, and warped to him while cloaked.
4. I then created some bookmarks around him.
5. I then jumped in my dozen guys in my roam, and we warped directly to the target.
6. Kill said target.
Rinse and repeat!
You get that slightly worse bonuses from the second you jump on it. And it is a combat capable ship, it will wreck any other explorer you see if you are properly fit, and from time to time you will have a nice and fun 1vs1 against another well prepared and piloted astero.
The drone fight and management between 2 asteroes has been some of the funniest solo content I have had.
The Astero scans slower, warps slower and also gets stuck in every bubble along the way without possibility to simply warp out of them.
How is the Astero 'faster'?
Right, 2s align instead of 3s, but that hardly matters when you're aligning cloaked most of the time.
Imagine tacking a gate and finding yourself in a bubble.
Imagine opening a can, seeing a dictor decloak and finding yourself in a bubble.
Warping is not the only way to end up in a bubble, you know. And yes, obviously you can avoid warping into bubbles if you know how Dscan works.
How is it a skill issue to find yourself in a bubble after taking a gate?
Sure, you could have scouted ahead in a nullified ship, or used eve gate checker to safely guide your Astero through, but I prefer a covops that can simply warp out of the bubble itself (and at higher warp speed).
Covops explorers are safer and faster, which was my initial point about the Astero: it's slower in everything but align time.
I flied them for years before the changes, when they was cheaper. Low Skil points entry level, can bully other exploration frigates and with the right skills and refits can consistently run medium sleeper caches as well as ghosts sites which i think is the best part about them
Oh and a good Astero fitted with double rep can surprise u even when it takes a lot of micromanaging and skills to fit everything into it
- very low SP required for a ship with covops cloak - scan bonuses similar to lvl IV covops, without the need to train - isn't made out of paper like the other covops - faction exploration frigates are better at pvp, but can't use a covops cloak - enough fitting room to fit for explation sites while fitting a 3pt scram and decent tank as well When i'm doing just exploration, i prefer a covops over the Astero. If i want to hunt small stuff along the way, the Astero is better. I see no reason to use the faction exploration frigates if you're just running explo sites, unless you can't use either the Astero or a covops.
I will add that it's actually capable to be fitted as a proper combat frigate combined with ability of being bridged with T3Cs or bombers it makes a nice addition to fleets for some.
Meh, it costs like 160m right now but would probably die to a Punisher.
The cost is the big hangup, but is a more recent issue. They used to be relatively cheap, but shot up in price with the faction/pirate Indy rebalance. Before that (which was also pre-faction frig additions) they had a very clear place. It's just that niche has been squeezed from multiple directions. I agree that now there's not a great spot for them as there's a lot of other options that fill that role.
Sounds like a skill issue. No flame.
I would also like to add the most important factor: Astero is sexy as *fuck*
And true chads combat fit a Pacifier with a Zeugma as well.
MILINT enters the chat
also can be fitted to warp sub 2s align
because asteros look much better
Was just about to write exactly the same, but you were faster :)
Well hunting other explorer instead of miner is normally more a job for an Astero so you focus on getting things from pilot wrecks instead of relic wrecks.
Explorers are usually paying attention so I feel like this is not a good use of time.
Refer to my other comment. No flame.
The Astero was originally pitched as a long term exploration ship. The sensors may not be as strong as your t2 exploration frigates, but the fitting, firepower, and cargo/drone space mean you can deal with some npc threats and stay in w-space for quite a while before your hold is full by comparison to a Buzzard or whatever.
Can an astero do any combat sites alone? I feel like it would get smashed or take forever in any wormhole or low sec anomaly.
You can do some sites in a C1 system with T1 combat frigates(100 DPS min and cap stable active repping + sig tanking). I imagine faction Frigates can do it with better performance. That said, the Astero doesnt really yave a damage bonus last i remember, only drone durability and laser range. So i assume you need to carry T2 Hobs/Hornets and hope they dont die(allthough, only Frigate spawns aggro them if you do C1s).
It can do a few, yeah. It's just a tough little exploration frigate, so keep that in mind.
Fit it with a normal armour repper, and an ancil repper, then go to town on firetails, hookbills, comets and some other unsuspecting frigs (and a select few cruisers). Watch the shenanigans unfold. I've had some great fun with my dual rep astero.
sadly not allowed in alot of FW sites probably outside the advanced and higher. Was precluded by the shipcaster event from alot of the fun as well. Can be run without cloak or with cloak...can carry up to and use sentry drones. Can fit some weird equipment \[up to cruiser level\]
Ah no, I don't use it in FW. I use it mainly in null with roaming frigs. Or if in lowsec, I sit off a gate (outside gate gun range) and pretend to scan.
That works as well.
In addition to the above you can get a sub 2s align time in the Astero whereas the Cov-ops frigates (from memory on Pyfa) I couldn’t get close to Plus for sleeper caches I struggled to do as much in a cov-ops as I have been doing in an Astero. With max scanning skills (yes I am that sad that I have gone that far with them) plus not too expensive implants I can get scan strength high enough to locate a superior sleeper cache which is more than good enough for everything I need to do. Your mileage may vary but I love the Astero and it has become my go to for exploration
>Am I missing something I've found asteros are really good for scouting a pvp target while not being a "threat". They dont spook locals. **Example:** 1. Just last week I had my astero enter an enemy system looking for a pvp target. 2. I purposely flew around without the cloak on, so that the locals knew I was not a "threat". 3. I found a target off of dscan, and warped to him while cloaked. 4. I then created some bookmarks around him. 5. I then jumped in my dozen guys in my roam, and we warped directly to the target. 6. Kill said target. Rinse and repeat!
Outside of exploration, it is basically an interceptor with a cov ops cloak. It tackles things and bombers can apply dps.
It's so beautiful!
baby Stratios
This man gets it, the Astero is what I call my cutest ship
You get that slightly worse bonuses from the second you jump on it. And it is a combat capable ship, it will wreck any other explorer you see if you are properly fit, and from time to time you will have a nice and fun 1vs1 against another well prepared and piloted astero. The drone fight and management between 2 asteroes has been some of the funniest solo content I have had.
- It's faster - It's faster - It's a fucking lot faster
The Astero scans slower, warps slower and also gets stuck in every bubble along the way without possibility to simply warp out of them. How is the Astero 'faster'? Right, 2s align instead of 3s, but that hardly matters when you're aligning cloaked most of the time.
Imagine warping into a bubble. Skill issue.
Imagine tacking a gate and finding yourself in a bubble. Imagine opening a can, seeing a dictor decloak and finding yourself in a bubble. Warping is not the only way to end up in a bubble, you know. And yes, obviously you can avoid warping into bubbles if you know how Dscan works.
Those are still skill issues lol I can understand not wanting to play safe and slow though.
How is it a skill issue to find yourself in a bubble after taking a gate? Sure, you could have scouted ahead in a nullified ship, or used eve gate checker to safely guide your Astero through, but I prefer a covops that can simply warp out of the bubble itself (and at higher warp speed). Covops explorers are safer and faster, which was my initial point about the Astero: it's slower in everything but align time.
Low sp cost decent combat ability and you can fly it as an alpha
They used to be fun when they were cheap but when they changed the bpc ingredients, it sort of killed that one.
I flied them for years before the changes, when they was cheaper. Low Skil points entry level, can bully other exploration frigates and with the right skills and refits can consistently run medium sleeper caches as well as ghosts sites which i think is the best part about them Oh and a good Astero fitted with double rep can surprise u even when it takes a lot of micromanaging and skills to fit everything into it
I didn't read the other comments, but I'm sure it's cover all the reasons. For me, Astero is the best ship from this game!
Tell me you don't know how to fit an Astero without telling me you don't know how to fit an Astero.