Stop the Thief!

9:47am 2008 Friday 7th March 2008 My problem with this mission was not the difficulty level but the fact that it was bugged twice in succession. First time I got stuck in warp, unable to stop or move while my tank was chipped away - lost the ship. Second time, having re-equipped, the connection dropped when I tried to warp. I had been playing all afternoon without a single connection problem so I find it suspicious that it dropped at exactly the same point as the first bug hit me.

9:31am 2007 Sunday 23rd December 2007 I just did this in my cerb. Do like it says: warp in, make a bookmark, warp at 100. Kill the little stuff, then cruisers, then the big guy. By that time, you've kited them out such that you can take everything in the second spawn out before they really have a chance to hit you. I think my shields got down to like 98% at the lowest. This is an incredibly easy mission.

Oh, and here's a tip, in case someone wasn't aware of it: NPCs will never pod you. A really easy way to make a bookmark is to fly to the mission in your pod. You have all the time in the world to size the situation up and make your bookmark.

8:58am 2007 Thursday 27th September 2007 Just did the mission tonight. I didn't have to warp out. I run a sustainable tank on a Raven Navy Issue. I was tanked with 2 Thermal, 1 Kinetic, 1 EM hardener, and shooting 7 Siege Missile Launcher II's with Inferno Torpedos. The reinforcements are very scary until you realize that the battleships are made of paper. You can dramatically reduce the amount of damage you take VERY quickly.

I popped the 3 battleships while having my drones start to work on the scramming frigates. Then I started in on the cruisers. My shields were at 61% by the time I reached equilibrium. To reach equilibrium, I had to kill all the battleships and 2 or 3 cruisers. It was a bit unnerving, but I stuck to the plan and just started taking them down. I had started with a full load of torps when I killed the spawn trigger. I reached equilibrium by the time I had to reload.

Disclaimer: Kids, don't try this at home. I have insane skillpoints in missiles. I have Rapid Launch V, Target Navigation Prediction V, Torpedos V, and Torpedo Specialization IV, along with pretty much every other missile skill at IV or V. I have all applicable engineering skills to IV or V. Everything on that ship is Tech 2. When I hit them, I am doing very nearly the absolute max damage possible. Unless you're VERY confident in your skills, and have a good ship to back it up, don't do what I did. Warp out, and warp back at 100 km, or you WILL lose your ship.

9:39pm 2007 Saturday 7th July 2007 Does anyone know what damage type the Shadow / Shadow's Goons do? I was using 2xkinetic II hardeners and 2xThermal, and they blew through my armor extremely quickly, even with 2 large repper II's going! I warped out in time fortunately - thanking my damage control unit once again! (40% structure gone)
Usually I can tank an awful amount of damage in this setup. I can only presume they're doing a different type of damage.

10:32pm 2007 Thursday 5th July 2007 Well I've just done this mission and after learning the hard way by losing my Drake with almost 19,000 shield hit points. I've never had a problem before but this one made me warp out. Unfortunately, once back in again and taking a fair amount of shield damage and preparing to warp out again I realised that I was WARP SCRAMBLED! : It would appear that Shadow Mercenaries can scramble and most other frigs will webbify you. With all the damage info appearing at a very high rate the notifying message that I was scrambled went unnoticed. Be aware of this please.

7:11am 2007 Wednesday 6th June 2007 I found this mission to be one of the easiest and quickest lvl 4 missions ive ever done. The mission took 20 minutes including the looting and flying there and fro.

My setup is the usual. Fly in with the Nightmare -> agro everything you can -> my alt flies in with the Raven -> launch all the drones and let the drones take out the small ships while you concentrate on the big ones.

Ok i'm sure not everyone is capable of using an Omni tank with a resist of 87%-90%, nor does everyone have the possibility of flying missions with an alt.

Bottomline: If you can get an Omni tank of >85% then its a piece of cake. Missions like these are best done with a HAC or an Omni Tank BS (Abaddon or Domi)

4:52pm 2007 Thursday 17th May 2007 This is 1 off the easiest mission there is. In first post you already give the solution. Warp in at 100 and everything is dead b4 it gets even within 50k. I had to use my shieldbooster twice and that was just to recup from the hits from the frigs and a few heavy missile hit. The second wave spawns where the bs died so at 50k away. if you start heading in the other direction at that time nothing gets closer.

12:03pm 2007 Saturday 12th May 2007 I just finished this mission- and i found it difficult. I was using a nighthawk and normally i dont see shields any lower then 98%, now they got me down to 50%- so the damage is pretty high. Pls note that i was lazy to check eve info so i had only a general all around res on shields. Right after warping in I killed the first machariel on top of me, well that invited his friends. I never moved never warped out, but my tank was stressed unlike in any other missions- so beware raven users.
I had resistance of: EM76, EX89, KIN89, HEAT80

next time i will put on a heat hardener :-))

cheers.

ps: otherwise the mission is fun- the rats come close so looting can be done wo moving to any cans- salvage sucks though- only a few parts

11:30pm 2007 Sunday 8th April 2007 As mentionned previously in the thread, the cruisers in reinforcements are Mercenary Commanders (85k, caracal type skin), not Mercenary Lieutenants. And indeed taking some range and it's all easy (although I do think I could have tanked them long enough in my Maelstrom to kill enough to be able to permatank the rest (cruisers would go done quite fast, and I can tank 3 Mercenary Overlords and 4 wingmen no problem for a long time (which I know after doing A Case of Kidnapping storyline with ease). As they orbit within web range, and you can use drones, it should really not be an issue (I'm using a mix of 1400s and 1200s).

Though it seems they changed it partially recently: I did it with my brother like a month ago, and reinforcements spawned on top of us, while definitely it seems it's no longer the case (I had almost lost my hurricane because got aggroed by the reinforcement, while I started to warp out as soon as I saw I had aggro...). But above all, they seem to have removed those 200+ environment items that used to make you lag for 1mn+ when the reinforcements appear or when you warp back. Now there's less than 10 of those environment items, and warp in + reinforcement spawn is perfectly smooth :)

When I'll have done a bit more level 4s and will be a bit more used to my mael (first time in a BS, not used to those sluggish ships ) I'll see if my assumptions (being able to tank the reinforcements without warping out / back at range). The key here though is Thermal and some Kinetic tank (I used 2x invul II, 1x Thermal II, 1x DCII), for those Overlords deal a crapload of Thermal damage when they come up close ;)

5:53pm 2007 Friday 6th April 2007 All the battleships are equipped with short-range weapons, so get some range and you're fine.

11:22pm 2007 Friday 23rd February 2007 Guys, it's extremely easy if done correctly. The second group spawn right on top of the warp in beacon, so if you just sat there popping stuff, they spawn right on you. Simple move away from the beacon from the start. By the time you kill the first BS (kill this one last in the first wave) you'll have plenty distance from the 2nd spawn.

Cheers

Rev

9:34pm 2007 Thursday 22nd February 2007 They must have dumbed this down pretty bad because this was a very easy mission for me in an apoc with 5 big pulse, 3 med pulse, 2 eanm, 1 kin, 1 therm hardener.

They did warp in at around 40 and did so when i popped the first bs, i still had some cruisers left when the bs popped.

When i first warped in i did align with gate and started moving towards it. the first bs popped before my shields were gone. no frigs ever got close enough to scramble, web or anything.

I usually sit still but started moving based on the posts in this thread. It might go different if i did.

10:37am 2007 Sunday 18th February 2007 Spawns are pretty much as listed in the mission guide. I salvaged a fair amount of burned ckts and the like. Everything dropped loot though, pretty good haul.

Did the mission in a Scorpion, followed the suggestions about leaving the 1st spawn BS till last, BM'ing then warping back when reinforcments came.

Reinforcements were at 47km, but I warped and came in 100km away. Didn't have to warp out, but travelled away from the spawn the entire time.

Since I was fit with 4 Torp launchers, I went for the ships which got closest first (BS's if possible). I sent 5 T2 Hammerheads against the frigs and cruisers.

Mids were 2 Heat Res, 2 Kin Res, 1 Invuln (all T2); Xlarge S booster, Booster amp, and Large Cap booster (didn't have to use any cap charges)
Lows: 3 PDS T2, 1 BCS T2

(warped back with an AB, 2 Salvagers, and a tractor beam for the loot) pretty much an hour total for fighting and looting.

11:45am 2007 Friday 9th February 2007 ty :)

8:45pm 2007 Thursday 8th February 2007 Those Shadows are mercenaries.
Mercenary wingman, mercenary commander and mercenary overlord.

9:16am 2007 Wednesday 7th February 2007 BarmaLINI : edited : revelation patch : new
added info

real name of NPC ships:
Shadow's Grunt (x6) bounty 85k
Shadow (x1) bounty 250k
Shadow's Goon (x2) bounty 250k
Shadow's Wingman (x2+) bounty 30kzatarra

then i need type of this NPC's
example :
name = Guristas Spy
type = Pithatis Revolter

you can't find in NPC DB Guristas Spy, in NPC DB only types, not names

if you need see types then go to Wallet (bounty), or in Scanner, or in Combat log - in theres 3 plases you can see types, not names

8:44am 2007 Wednesday 7th February 2007 Ok, so I just got this mission back to back. The first time it was the *revised* edition, backup came in at 40k off. I did it in a drake no problem, no warp off or anything. The second time the backup dropped right on top of me and ate through my shields. I had to warp out 3 times. It appears that both versions are still floating around, much the same way I have heard with other missions that have had adjustments made to them.

Regardless, the rats were identical both times.

8:33pm 2007 Saturday 20th January 2007 @Xlunax

Yep - I have done this mission recently twice now and the second group appears at 40km - I am guessing that was to adjust the difficulty down from its original incarnation.

For me the biggest annoyance is the loading time (ok I am on dial up, but NO other mission I have done takes this long). Basically I run a sustainable raven tank and make damn sure its all running before i warp to the mission. Its not like you can interact with any of the graphics fluff in the mission (broken crystal roids + barrens) so why on earth is it there ? Perhaps CCP have stakes in Broadband providers ... : which incidentally I cannot get where I live :

Loot so far usually has named warp core stabs for those that use them - not a fan myself.soloist

Thanks for the confirmation. CCP must have gotten tired of returning everyone's destroyed ship. IMHO, it was a guaranteed loss if you weren't aligned with your finger hovering over the warp button. Thank G-D for the guys on this forum or I'd have been begging CCP for a new ship as well.

Are you sure you can't get any form of broadband? Before we got cable here in Hawaii, there was satellite, ADSL and wireless. The wireless was my only viable option as I am more than 18k feet from the phone switching station. You gotta be able to get satellite.....upload is slow but at least on the download you can cruise. Some people have problems with neighbors complaining about antennas, but at least in the U.S., the FCC and Supreme court have affirmed the right for anyone/anywere to put up an antenna.

As far as all the extra fluff in the mission that you have to download....don't even get me started! Shouldn't that "fluff" get in the way? Shouldn't we be playing "cat and mouse" with enemies around debris? Shouldn't we be able to hide behind asteroids? One of my biggest complaints about this game is exactly this: as I usually just warp into a mission, set speed to zero (easier loot collecting later), target pirates and unload missiles....I find it very boring actually. In other MMO's you get to hide. This is supposed to be a sophisticated game. There should be much more to a fight than "park here, target pirate, spam missiles". Wouldn't you love to outfly someone through an asteroid field (a la Bobbafet/Obi-Wan in Star Wars) and possibly die trying? Yeah, I know its resource intensive, but I'd gladly pay. I know others would too....heck, almost everyone I know has TWO EVE accounts, so money doesn't seem like much of a barrier.

1:55pm 2007 Saturday 20th January 2007 @Xlunax

Yep - I have done this mission recently twice now and the second group appears at 40km - I am guessing that was to adjust the difficulty down from its original incarnation.

For me the biggest annoyance is the loading time (ok I am on dial up, but NO other mission I have done takes this long). Basically I run a sustainable raven tank and make damn sure its all running before i warp to the mission. Its not like you can interact with any of the graphics fluff in the mission (broken crystal roids + barrens) so why on earth is it there ? Perhaps CCP have stakes in Broadband providers ... : which incidentally I cannot get where I live :

Loot so far usually has named warp core stabs for those that use them - not a fan myself.

4:15am 2007 Saturday 20th January 2007 First time I did this mission a few weeks ago I barely had time to warp out when the reinforcements warped in right on top of me.

Today, the reinforcements warped in, but they were 40km away. Next time, I'll still align for warp until there's more confirmation that CCP changed the mission.

Anyone else?

7:03pm 2007 Wednesday 17th January 2007 I just drew this mission so here is the missing briefing:

Stop The Thief

Mission briefing
OK, now I'm really angry about security here. Since obviously the crazy scientist had a clone last time he was obliterated … along with my lunch, he got Zraenn Papacent to steal our most recent documents of critical importance to our research. Zraenn is a very well known figure in industrial espionage and regularly tries to steal from us. Come to think of it, him being so known might be the reason he's having a hard time working in espionage … that explains why that crazy scientist is always able to hire him. Well, you are obviously the person for the job since I'm discussing this with you. Zraenn took the documents to his hideout where he's meeting the scientist. Just in case you didn't realize the importance of this, I need you to get me those documents back and teach Zraenn and his henchmen some lessons in zero-gravity ballet dancing. If you can do this within the hour I'll buy you lunch - and we all know how important lunch is - a handsome cash bonus, if I say so myself, and 10 splendid piggy banks.

I almost lost aship to this after it came out - then i thought i saw a patch where the difficulty had been "adjusted". I guess I am about to find out if it was adjusted up or down :

3:05am 2007 Tuesday 9th January 2007 Just ran the mission and got 6 Mercenary Wingmen, 4 Mercenary Lieutenants, and 1 Mercenary Overlord in first spawn, and 4 Mercenary Wingmen, 6 Mercenary Commanders, and 3 Mercenary Overlords in second spawn.

12:21pm 2007 Thursday 4th January 2007 Generally, Mercs and Drones have no salvage. So don't waste your time...

10:12pm 2007 Wednesday 3rd January 2007 Another Note.. i've done this mission twice and there is no Salvaging stuff on it :-(

1:30pm 2006 Saturday 23rd December 2006 I was one of the unlucky individuals to first encounter this mission after Revelations was released. I'm still waiting on that reimbursement petition. At least I managed to gang warp my corpmate out. The reinforcements burned through my tech2 tanked Raven's shields in 20 seconds with the booster running. I didn't have time to warp out. The dangerous thing to the uninitiated is that the start of this mission looks like just a minor variant of the old one. A few of the new Revelations missions are like this, with full pocket aggros and the like. If something seems different, be careful and get some distance before you engage.

Now, I'm going to tell you right off: kill everything else first, and make sure you align with your destination before you kill the first battleship. If you aren't prealigned, there is a good chance you won't get out in time. Set a bookmark before you engage the battleship, and align for your destination. Before the battleship dies, right click your destination and get ready to warp. The moment it pops, hit the button and get the heck out of there. Spend a moment recharging if you need to (or just dock and exit).

Once you're ready, warp back at 100 km from your bookmark. Once you get to engagement range, start flying away from them. This cuts their rate of closure to allow you to easily pick them off. Kill the frigates first; they have stasis webifiers that can slow you down. If you have good missile skills, the frigates will die before they even get close. Microwarpdrive and afterburner actually increases missile damage when you hit them head on. You may be able to one-shot them if you catch them on the approach. After you eviscerate the poor frigates, start with whoever's closer and just work down the line. Keep the battleships outside 60 km and you won't even need to shield boost.

5:35am 2006 Saturday 23rd December 2006 real name of NPC ships:

Shadow's Grunt (x6) bounty 85k
Shadow (x1) bounty 250k
Shadow's Goon (x2) bounty 250k
Shadow's Wingman (x2+) bounty 30k

12:42pm 2006 Friday 15th December 2006 ty

i need real name of NPC Ships (Shadow's)

in eve-online present 2 parametrs of NPC ships:
- name
- type

in NPC DB we have only types of ships

example
- name : Guristas Spy
- type : Pithatis Revolter

you cant find in NPC DB Gurystas Spy

question: how i can see real type names
answer: 2 type : scaner, wault (you see bounty after killing NPC and real type, not a name)

12:32am 2006 Friday 15th December 2006 OK, now I'm really angry about security here. Since obviously the crazy scientist had a clone last time he was obliterated … along with my lunch, he got Zraenn Papacent to steal our most recent documents of critical importance to our research. Zraenn is a very well known figure in industrial espionage and regularly tries to steal from us. Come to think of it, him being so known might be the reason he's having a hard time working in espionage … that explains why that crazy scientist is always able to hire him. Well, you are obviously the person for the job since I'm discussing this with you. Zraenn took the documents to his hideout where he's meeting the scientist. Just in case you didn't realize the importance of this, I need you to get me those documents back and teach Zraenn and his henchmen some lessons in zero-gravity ballet dancing. If you can do this within the hour I'll buy you lunch - and we all know how important lunch is - a handsome cash bonus, if I say so myself, and 10 splendid piggy banks.