Vigil Trader - Post Retribution

Vigils were one of the ships with significant changes made in Retribution.

When I first heard about the changes planned for Vigils I wasn't happy. I'm a trader specializing in small, high value items that can be transported in small fast ships. The Vigil as the fastest, cheap T1 frigate (not counting expensive pirate faction ships) was my ship of choice for transport. I trained all my trader alts into flying Vigils because of it's speed and slot layout.

They were taking away the speed bonus and changing the slot layout. I was pissed! A little later I found out the base speed was being increased too but I wasn't sure if it would still be fast enough and I really didn't like losing a low slot (nano) either.

The cargo space was being increased by 100 m3 (from 150 to 250) but I really didn't care about that. Sure more cargo space would be nice but speed and alignment time were more important to me.

Now that the changes are here, I've changed my mind. The Vigil makes an even better light trade hauler now. While the speed bonus was removed, the increased base velocity makes that pretty much a wash. A little faster with low skills, a little slower with high skills and about the same with mediocre skills. They're still fast enough. I can only fit 2 nanos instead of 3 now but alignment times are still very good so that's ok. In fact, while I'm not certain, I think alignment times might be even better now.

Then there's the extra cargo space. I didn't think another 100 m3 of cargo space was all that great but after flying Retribution Vigils for a few days I've found I like it a lot more than I thought I would.

This is my new standard fit for Vigils

[Vigil - Light Transport]

Local Hull Conversion Nanofiber Structure I
Local Hull Conversion Nanofiber Structure I

Limited 1MN Microwarpdrive I
Eutectic Capacitor Charge Array
Eutectic Capacitor Charge Array
Eutectic Capacitor Charge Array
Eutectic Capacitor Charge Array

Salvager I
Salvager I

Small Hyperspatial Velocity Optimizer I
Small Hyperspatial Velocity Optimizer I
Small Hyperspatial Velocity Optimizer I.

What's in the highs isn't important, leave them empty if you want. This fit isn't intended to fight or do anything besides fly fast and align quickly while moving small, valuable cargo.

With 4 cap rechargers I almost never run out of cap while warping repeatedly on low skills alts. Higher skilled alts could drop the rechargers for something else or leave the slots empty for even cheaper ships.

The 3 Hyperspatial Velocity Optimizers increase warp speed to 10.4 Au (more than 70% faster) and they're cheap.

For extremely low skills alts that might be having trouble making long warps all in one go you can always replace one or more velocity optimizers with Small Warp Core Optimizers (40% less cap needed to warp).

In conclusion, the Vigil is even better for light transport now than before and the new fit is cheaper too. It's win win all around!