Implants +3 and +3%

Starwalker had initially started with a simple set of implants with a low budget. There were really two goals: speed up training time and add little skill enhancements that might make the difference between victory and defeat in a close fight.

Over time he had gravitated towards +3 learning implants and +3% skill enhancements. Similarly, recently he had started to use the Genolution Core Augmentation CA-1 and CA-2 implants as they gave a useful increase to power grid and CPU for ship fits just over the normal limit.

Jester had written a comprehensive implant guide and that had prompted Starwalker to have a slight specialisation with a learning + rocket set and a blaster set. The price for his implants had also crept up over time and he now had 150m to 160m ISK plugged in.

Whilst he had wanted the improved learning speed originally he had experimented a little over time and his general thoughts now were:

• The effect of speed enhancement implants (Zors...) were simply too small to make any appreciable difference. He had flown with them for some time in primarily afterburner brawling frigates and they would not make a slow frigate fast. They might be more useful if he were using attack frigates or interceptors but he did not fly them that often
• Learning implants were useful initially or until the core training was done because there were so many useful skills and speeding up the process was beneficial. However, once that training had been done and it was now filling out specialist skills or training to level V then the bang for buck was reduced
• Genolution fitting implants were useful on occasion but it really depended on whether the extra fitting room made a difference. On many frigate fits using level V fitting skills were sufficient and adding in the little extra CPU and power grid did not matter
• Whilst using implants to enhance damage (or tank) seemed like a good idea most fights rarely went down to the last sliver of structure in a closely fought contest. It was usually much more clear cut as to who would win and who would lose. However, specialising a set of implants seemed to be the most useful concept such as to enhance gunnery or missile skills

The counter-point and something that Starwalker was seriously considering was that he should simply have a clean clone:

• Getting podded would not involve a serious loss of ISK (and he had been podded all too frequently recently for a variety of reasons)
• Core training for flying frigates was finished and the ~10% learning speed increase was not really material to what frigate he was flying and its level of combat effectiveness
• Small improvements like +3% implants, especially when a few of them were focused together probably made more sense. However, the close fights where those little extra differences mattered were so few and far between that it did not really justify the cost
• Significant improvements such as snake implants, +5% implants or similar were simply far too expensive to use and also he was quite happy to fight without those type of advantages

No doubt from a min-max perspective the case could easily be made for any small (1%-3%) advantages, especially when aggregating them but Starwalker was not a min-maxer. His experience was that most solo fights were usually decided by other factors such as ship fit and pilot error.

Evolving Use of Implants

Starwalker had recently lost his pod again and it was another 110m ISK destroyed. Those implants had been replaced, as the use of implants was great for increased training speed and min-maxing ship capabilities but also represented significant ISK loss when podded.

However, now that Starwalker was down to his last set of +4 implants it was worth reconsidering what to do next. Was it worth buying more +4 learning skill implants and the others? The original ideas around implants were based around +1 skill implants and turrets but Starwalker’s views were evolving. Previously, the key factors:

1. Use learning skill implants to reduce training time
2. Use implants to enhance ship and fit
3. Balance cost with risk of loss

Recently, Starwalker had been using +4 learning skill plants at around 18m ISK each. This contributed to the heavy loss of ISK and Starwalker was now thinking how 110m ISK could be spent differently such as:

• Four fully fitted Assault Frigates
• Nineteen fully fitted T1 frigates

So another factor to consider now was the opportunity cost, in short buy implants or buy fitted ships. However, whatever combination or cost of implants were chosen there was one final factor that needed to be considered, as Starwalker had recently flown Rifters, Hookbills and Hawks. That factor was the effective application of implants to the current ship and fit. In particular, turret implants had no effect with missile launchers and rockets.

Given that either a Rifter or Hawk would be the current T1 or T2 frigate of choice, then in essence all turret based implants would be useless in a Hawk and, vice versa, all missile based implants would be useless in a Rifter. The same principle would apply to other areas such as armour tanking versus shield tanking. So the final factor was the effective use of implants with different types of ships flown.

Using jump clones to specialize in certain ship and fit types would be one way to address the effectiveness of implants but there were other ways such as selecting implants that would apply to any ship such as navigation implants or even not using ship enhancing implants at all. After all, experience had shown that pilot error was the biggest single reason for Starwalker’s losses and not ship fitting or skill.

Starwalker would now consider his next set of implants using:

1. Opportunity cost – should the ISK be spent on ships instead?
2. Sense of loss – is the ISK lost when podded acceptable?
3. Effectiveness – will the implant be effective all or most of the time?
4. Min-maxing capabilities – would the benefit outweigh the cost?

His current inclination was to use +3 learning skill implants only. If in future it appeared that more fights were down to the wire and min-maxing capabilities would be a decisive advantage then use that type of implant.

Jack Dancer Chimes In On Implants

Jack Dancer looked through the list of implants and had some things to say. It was a coincidence but fortuitous timing as Starwalker considered Jack’s list. Whilst the budget constraints were different the objectives were very similar and consequently Starwalker decided to make some minor additions (in red):

Slot	Implant	Benefit
1	Limited Ocular Filter	+1 perception
2	Limited Memory Augmentation	+1 memory
3	Limited Neural Boost	+1 willpower
4	Limited Cybernetic Subprocessor	+1 intelligence
6	Hardwiring Eifyr and Co. ‘Gunslinger’ SX-1	+3% damage of small projectile turrets
7	Zor’s Custom Navigation Link	+10% afterburner duration bonus
8	Hardwiring – Inherent Implants ‘Noble’ ZET300	+3% hull hit points
9	Hardwiring – Eifyr and Co. ‘Gunslinger’ CX-0	+1% bonus to all turret damage
9	Hardwiring – Zainou ‘Deadeye’ ZGA100	+3% to optimal range
10	Hardwiring – Inherent Implants ‘Noble’ ZET50	+1% armour hit points

This revised list was still within the budget constraints but Starwalker was not sure whether to change slot 9 or not, to go for the improved optimal range or straight damage. Starwalker closed the Neocom, this decision was something to sleep on and it could wait until morning.

Simple set of Implants

Starwalker reviewed his investment choices and decided that a simple set implants would be good. The purpose would be to improve training time and perhaps add a little spice to combat. The key would be price as being podded with expensive implants would be extremely wasteful. This was especially relevant as Starwalker had no jump clones and had been podded twice already this month.

The price constraint was less than 1m ISK each and the final options became:

Slot	Implant	Benefit
1	Limited Ocular Filter	+1 perception
2	Limited Memory Augmentation	+1 memory
3	Limited Neural Boost	+1 willpower
4	Limited Cybernetic Subprocessor	+1 intelligence
6	Hardwiring - Eifyr and Co. 'Gunslinger' SX-1	+3% damage of small projectile turrets
7	Zor’s Custom Navigation Link	+10% afterburner duration bonus
9	Hardwiring – Eifyr and Co. 'Gunslinger' CX-0	+1% bonus to all turret damage

Starwalker noted that the Zor implant would require Cybernetics IV and all of the others could be fitted with Cybernetics I. Whilst there were implants with much better boosts the costs were correspondingly much higher. Similarly, there were other types of combat boosts from optimal range to faster repair cycles but Starwalker was satisfied with this selection of implants.

This combined with the neural remap would all help the training to go a little faster:

·       Intelligence – 21

·       Perception – 22

·       Charisma – 17

·       Willpower – 22

·       Memory – 20

Starwalker closed the Neocom console, finished his quafe and grabbed his jacket. Time to hit space.