I hit a very important milestone this weekend (well, important to me) – I finally got my standings high enough to embark on level 3 missions. It took longer than it perhaps ought have, partly because I’ve been working for Amarr Navy and the only level 3 agent (a) in high sec and (b) less than 20 jumps away from my current home was quality 17 and took something of a grind to get to, and partly because I find missioning so bloody dull.
But, I hear you wondering, if I find missioning dull, why am I happy to finally be on level 3’s? Two reasons: firstly, I have an expensive habit of getting my ships blown up when I embark on my more foolhardy endeavours and need a reliable source of ISK; secondly, I want to be able to use jump clones and for that I need to work on my standings.
So, there I was, having freshly handed in the storyline mission that got me to a smidge under 5.0 standings with Amarr Navy, feeling very chuffed with myself and raring to go. I was particularly pleased as I’d even managed to get the quality 19 level 3 agent in my home station talking to me – couldn’t get much better than that, could it?
Maybe it could. Turns out that my new agent is an absolute cock. The first mission he gave me was Angel Extravaganza, which I accepted despite being slightly wary of the high rewards on offer. Higher rewards generally means more difficult missions, right? Well, my Harby and I made it through alright, I took my time and was careful to kill the trigger ships last and came out with a boosted ego and several million ISK in salvage, bounties, and rewards.
What’s so bad about that? Being lulled into a false sense of security is what. The next mission I get is The Blockade, which doesn’t look so bad on the surface and has a similar reward to Angel Extravaganza. I fit the appropriate hardeners and warp off.
My ship slows down and I hit the damage control like I always do, start targetting the nearest ship and…SQUEAL. Shield’s almost gone – WTF?? By the time my drones are out and my lasers are firing, my armour’s taking some serious damage, beyond what my armour repper can handle. I hastily recall my drones, blow up the frig I was blasting and limp off to safety.
Right. Two armour reppers this time, and everything activated before I hit the pocket of hostiles.
Again, I limp back after only taking down a couple of ships. Level 3’s easily soloable in BCs, my arse! Maybe with some more training and better fittings, but unless I’m missing a trick that’s one bloody hard mission for a relatively new pilot like myself.
I’m not usually one to give up easily, but after the third warp-out I was texting my friend and pleading for backup. Unfortunately for me, he was out enjoying a Sunday roast somewhere and therefore couldn’t assist me in my time of need. I nearly told my agent where he could shove his mission, but I needed to patch up my bruised ego and wanted to prove to myself that I could do it.
It took a long time, but once that first wave had been reduced to dust the new ones spawned far away enough to offer me some respite and a chance to keep a slightly safer distance while I threw everything I had at them. Slowly, painfully, I finished the mission. Some missioners class warp-outs as failures, but I only tasted sweet success. I had taken the proverbial bull by the horns and come out on top.
My next mission from Agent Cockface was A Million Little Pieces. Well, those little pieces very nearly came from my Harbinger, which again took one hell of a thrashing. Only after a couple of warp-outs did I by a marvellous stroke of luck discover that I could keep the cruisers out of their optimal range with the help of my afterburner. After that, I made it through with relatively little trouble. Still, it absolutely astounded me that this hellish mission was worth practically the same rewards as Angel Extravaganza, which never got me down to below 50% armour with a single repper. What’s with that?
Anyway, I’d managed it and I was busy stripping the wrecks of dogtags and surviving fittings when I noticed a cheeky little Punisher flying up to me. No, not up to me, up to the nearest wreck. Seconds later, it was flashing red. Now, I’ve heard of ninja looters/salvagers, but this was the first time I’d actually come across one myself. I was at a loss what to do. I didn’t want to give him any pleasure by way of what I’ve seen referred to as “carebear tears,” but I didn’t want to let him just get away with it, either.
After a couple of minutes of me trying to get to my loot first, I decided to target him. As he came within optimal range of my lasers, I opened fire. He warped off just as I got most of his armour down, but my relief was shortlived. There, in the corner of my display, was the dreaded aggression countdown.
Bollocks. He knew where I was, what I was flying, and he could now come and blow me to pieces in a bigger ship without fear of reprisal from CONCORD. Needless to say, I docked up in a jiffy.
When I emerged from hiding 15 minutes later and headed back to the mission site, I fully expected there to be nothing left for me to loot. To my great surprise, most of the remaining wrecks still contained dog tags and miscellaneous goodies for me to cash in on. I guess that guy wasn’t hugely fussed about the loot and was after an easy kill (or just a bit of tomfoolery, you never know), but in any case it spiced up my evening a bit and gave me a little anecdote to write about.
So, all in all it was quite an eventful weekend and a baptism by fire to the world of level 3 missions. It’ll be interesting to see what Agent Cockface throws at me tonight.
Over and out.
