EVE Online

Epic Arc Guide

Smash and Grab: Guristas Pirates Arc

by Omnicide Incarnate

Contents[1.0] Why Bother[1.1] Introduction[1.2] The Ship[1.3] General Tips[1.4] Starting/Repeating the Arc[1.5] Guide[1.6] Credits

[1.0] Why BotherIn my opinion, the pirate epic arcs are missions for people who hate to run missions, which

makes them perfect for me. But as far as rewards go, upon completion of the arc you will receive a Gila BPC (Blue Print Copy) which can produce a single Gila cruiser. This cruiser currently sells in Amarr for around 179 million isk, and the arc can be repeated once every 3 months. While you will certainly make more money just running level 4 missions, level 4 missions are mind numbingly boring where the pirate epic arcs are entertaining.

The Guristas arc does require you to travel quite a distance, and the journey is not without risk, and the rewards are admittedly far less than you would receive from just running regular missions, but if you are like me and are always looking for an entertaining way to make your isk, then the Guristas arc should serve you well.

[1.1] Introduction

Hello fellow EVE players, my in-game name is Omnicide Incarnate. You have probably seen me if you spend time in the Amarr/Minmatar faction warfare area in which I used to constantly solo pvp, but that is not cheap, and I don't solo so much anymore because I have never found an activity in EVE that will both make me money, and entertain me... and solo pvp is expensive.

When I first did all the Epic Arcs I spent a lot of time looking for guides online, but I could never find any for the pirate arcs, and the only Empire arc that really had a solid guide was the Caldari Epic Arc, Penumbra (http://www.guide4eve.com/epic-arc/caldari-penumbra-level-4-epic-arc). So I figured I would put something together that will at least provide basic direction to anyone interested in trying out what I consider to be some of the best content in the game.

Out of game I am a recent college grad in the field of Video Game Design, currently unemployed I enjoy long nights at the bar when I have the money, and long nights on the computer when I don't. Italian food is the best, Mexican is the second best, and Pirogies are tied for both... I have similar taste in women.

[1.2] The Ship

[Crusader]4x Dual Light Pulse Laser II (Scorch S and Imperial Navy Multifrequency S)Catalyzed Cold-Gas I Arcjet Thrusters (Named Micro Warp Drive)Cap Recharger IICentii C-type Small Armor Repairer (10mil isk)Adaptive Nano Plating II2x Heat Sink II

[rigs]2x Small Capacitor Control Circuit I

Yes, it is a strange fit, but at the time of this writing it has already completed the Angel and Guristas arcs once, and it will be going through each a second time. I did lose one my first time through the Guristas arc, because I misunderstood the objective of a mission and stayed too long.

With this fit, the MWD (Micro Warp Drive) and Guns can be active together infinitely. With the MWD turned off, the Armor Repairer can run with the guns for just short of a minute. In the missions you will only ever be doing one of those two things; either you will keep range and use scorch and the MWD to kill your enemies without taking damage, or the MWD will be turned off as you orbit at 500 meters with multi frequency and the armor repairer.

One valid point to touch on is this... it is FAR easier to complete these arcs with an Assault Frig, however, in my opinion the greatest danger is traveling to and from the missions, not the missions themselves. And though it does require a certain degree of player skill and experience with how EVE works, it is relatively easy to avoid any hostile players while in an Interceptor, but quite difficult to avoid them in an Assault Frig.

[1.3] General TipsInsure your ship.Add “Mobile Warp Disruptors” to your overviewUse a clone with cheap implants or without implants if you are not used to avoiding player

camps.CAREFULLY read the objectives of each mission, I'll try to make this guide as accurate and

complete as possible, but I may miss something important that makes you die in a fire. Don't assume travel time is the time to relax, travel time is FAR more dangerous than the

missions themselves. Against lots of missiles, orbit at 500 meters with the MWD off, MWD's inflate your ship's

signature radius which means you take more damage from missiles.Against guns orbit at your scorch optimal range with MWD turned on... in some cases you will

be so fast with the MWD even missiles wont hurt you that much... depends on your skills and the type of missiles the enemy is firing at you.

Many mission can be completed remotely (simply start a conversation with the agent from wherever you happen to be) again, I will try to mention everywhere this can be done, but it doesn't hurt to try every time you complete a mission and remember to attempt it.

[1.4] Starting/Repeating the ArcStarting the Epic Arc for the first time is simple enough... you simply need to link the name of

the proper agent, and start a conversation with them. When you try to accept the mission offered in that conversation the agent will say you need to speak to the min person, so set the destination to the agents location, and be on your way. Also, there will sometimes be advertisements in the captain's quarters like the first image in this document, clicking the advertisement will open a conversation with one of the epic arc agents. A list of these agents can be found on the EVE Online wiki... (http://wiki.eveonline.com/en/wiki/Epic_mission_arcs#Pirate_Epic_Arcs)

To do the Arc again after you have already completed it (the same arc can only be repeated once every 3 months) do the same thing, start a conversation with the relevant agent, and you will see something similar to the following, though this was taken from the Angels epic arc, Angel Sound.

[1.5] The GuideMission 1 Part 1: Get to the 1st Agent

Now for the mission guide itself, I am an Amarr character who is also a member of the Amarr militia... so I will be using the agent located in the Caldari State: Atma Aulato located in the Obe system. I suppose I should mention here that this is an agent “in space” meaning you don't dock at a station to speak with her, you have to warp to her ship in system and start the conversation there.

With my destination set and my route as outlined above, I head to the agent. Don't worry, the entire guide won't be so tedious...

Ok! 16 jumps later I have arrived, accepted the mission, and now need to travel 15 more jumps to the actual Guristas agent. It is important to draw attention to the the fact that in this conversation the agent specifically states that the Guristas want interceptors, she warns you about bubble camps and such and restates that you should be in an interceptor. Get it yet? Now these 15 jumps are going to be the most dangerous ones, specifically the last 2 or 3 jumps will most likely be camped depending what time of day it is etc. So I will state again, pay attention when you are traveling.

Mission 1 Part 2: Get to the 2nd AgentI will assume you know how to set destinations, and know what a map looks like by now. On

my way I got caught in 4 bubbles and had to run through a camp of vagabonds, a taranis and a firetail. If you get caught in a bubble you have to choose to either approach the gate and turn on your MWD immediately if you think you can make it... or “manually” burn out of the nearest edge of the bubble using your MWD as well. To do this you simply double click in space beyond the nearest edge and turn on your MWD. If you choose to approach the gate, spam the jump button, if you choose to manually burn out then as soon as you are clear of the bubble warp to some other celestial... make sure the bubble you just escaped from is not between you and what you are trying to warp away to.

Mission 1 Part 3: The MissionNow we get the first real mission of

the Guristas Epic Arc. We have to destroy an industrial and return to the station with its crew, sound easy enough. And it was... 2 waves, 3 frigates each 1 in the second wave is an elite frigate, save him for last. When I got the elite into half armor 2 more frigs and a cruiser spawned. When the cruiser hits half armor 2 destroyers, 2 more frigs and the industrial spawned. The industrial, the cruiser and elite frig I had to kill by orbiting at 500 and using multifrequency with the MWD off, everything else died to scorch. Grab the miners and dock up, mission successful.

Mission 2: First ChoiceNow if this is your first Epic Arc, you get to

see one of the things that makes them so cool. This is the first choice of the Guristas arc. You get to decide how you are going to go about your mission. The two options are to either try to sneak in through a minefield, or have the Guristas “disguise” you by changing your ships comm signals so you can try to infiltrate the base. I'm going to go with Sabotage 101, its the minefield option. Upon entry there is a message warning you that it is a minefield. I detonated one when I went within 8.5 km of it, it brought me just below half shields. Just move very slowly and you should be ok. The mines are clustered more closely the closer you get to the acceleration gate, so be prepared to stop and repair if necessary. After activating the gate I simply went to the assembly station and took the plans, I ignored the ships.

Mission 3: Next AgentAnother simple travel mission,

we got 3 jumps to get to the new agent and the next part of the Guristas Epic Arc. Remember, even 3 jumps in this area is dangerous, pay attention when you are traveling, and make sure to bring any items you might have in the station along with you every time you move systems to the next agent.

I didn't have any bubble camps trying to get me this time, just a malediction and some cruisers and drakes, they may not have been hostile though... they didn't try to lock me. But in 0.0 assume everyone is hostile, especially if you don't belong there and are only there for the Epic Arcs.

Mission 4: HackingThis is a mission you may have heard some

people complaining about... not that the mission is particularly different, but because it requires the Hacking skill. I have Hacking 4 because I had aspirations of solo exploring for money, and later had aspirations of solo invention at a pos for money. But, basically you either need to have Hacking, or a friend who is willing to come out to Guristas space to hack the container for you or you can not progress through the arc.

Now, it is important to remember to fit the Codebreaker module. What I do for my Crusader fit is the following: Offline 1 of my lasers, switch the Cap Recharger II for the Codebreaker, put the Cap Recharger into my cargo hold, and head to the target system, 4 jumps away.

No camps this time, arrive in system, immediately head to the encounter, let's see what we are dealing with. I warped in, immediately killed the 3 frigates that were near me with scorch, then went to hack the container. I received a transmission telling me to retrieve an item from the container and tell the agent my mission is complete.

This mission can be completed remotely, so go someplace reasonably safe, start a conversation with Cilis, complete the mission, and request the next one. Accept it remotely and head 6 jumps away to the target system. You may want to stop at the nearest station to take the Codebreaker off and get you ship back to normal. Again, its 6 jumps through 0.0 space, don't do anything stupid.

No camps for me this time, sometimes you get lucky.

Mission 5: BonfireI didn't have a descriptive, milestone

type title for this mission, so I called it Bonfire. If I remember right, this was the mission I lost my ship on last time I did this Arc. The objective is simple, go in, blow up a fuel depot. I stuck around afterwards trying to see if there was an item I needed to pick up, or if I needed to blow up the rest of the fuel depots and I got shredded by all the ships attacking me at once. So as soon as you kill the fuel depot, be ready to run.

Upon arrival I am greeted with a message from my agent warning me about the stasis web towers, I suggest you take her advice and kill them first. There is a total of 2 stasis web towers, 2 destroyers, and 7 frigates guarding the acceleration gate.

I was able to do this with only 3 guns and the Codebreaker instead of my cap recharger, so as long as you kill the stasis towers fast enough you should be fine. Now, before I go into the next room, because typing it out made me realize I could be smarter... I offlined the Codebreaker and onlined my 4th gun.

The next room was much easier than I remember, simply target and then approach (approach as in orbit it closely with multi frequency) the nearest fuel depot, blow it up, then run off in one direction with your MWD turned on until you feel safe enough to warp away. Alas, this mission CANNOT be completed remotely, so set your destination back to Cilis's station and be careful, 10 jumps is quite a trip. No camps again, must be a good time of day.

Mission 6: KamikazeThis is simultaneously one of my

favorite, and least favorite missions of this arc. It is the riskiest mission, but also the most unique.

The first room is for more back story, just approach the gate and prepare for glory. Activate the gate, go pick up the explosives from the “Damaged Caldari Shuttle” and head to the next gate. Activate that gate as well... see that carrier? Immortality lives there, take it, it's your's! You just need to approach the carrier to make it go pop.

And true to the missions risky nature, I was podded on my way back to station, you guys might want to take the agents advice about putting your clone in her station. She is a smart lady... brb 42 jumps.

Mission 7: Second ChoiceHere you get to choose your own adventure

again! This time you choose which of two agents you want to spy on. Kori is the agent that you were working for at the beginning of the epic arc. Irichi is the guy who first spoke to you during the hacking mission. Last time I went with smoke and mirrors (a very fun and interesting mission) so this time I will go with Threat Assessment, in which I follow Irichi. You get it by now, 7 jumps 0.0 be careful, 8 jumps if you take Smoke and Mirrors.

This is just another travel mission, you are choosing which agent you want to work for for the next couple of missions.

I made the 7 jumps without incident, no camps... seems at this time of day only the stations are being camped, so make an Insta Undock and be careful.

Mission 8: For IrichiThe mission is to drop the Dread

Guristas into the warehouse, and then kill the enemy ships that spawn until the Dread Guristas have killed everything inside the warehouse. 1 jump away, jump in, warp to the dead space and activate the acceleration gate.

First room has 2 Missile Batteries to start, kill them and then the Security Bunker to start things off. They are Light Missile Batteries so you want to orbit at 500 with the MWD off.

After you blow up the security bunker head to the Ytiri Storage Warehouse and drop off the Dread Guristas. 2 Frigates spawn to start off your killing spree, followed by 2 more when those are dead. Then 3 more Frigates when those 2 are dead. Before I even finished that last wave the mission got flagged as complete.

Start a conversation with Irichi, and complete the mission remotely. Then request and accept the next mission remotely as well, it takes place in the same system.

Mission 9: FoxfireAfter accepting it remotely, warp to the new

mission. First area is empty, just head to the acceleration gate.

The second room is chock full of around 12 Sentry guns use the MWD to get in range of them, then shut it off, orbit at 500 and use Multi Frequency to kill the Sentry before moving on to the next one. It will take a while, but as long as you keep an eye on your capacitor and armor you should be fine. After they are all dead, approach the now visible acceleration gate and activate it.

The next room is much harder, 1 Stasis Tower, 2 Light Missile Towers, 2 Point Defense Towers and a bunch of Frigates, I had to warp out after killing a few frigates and then warp back in.

As usual, the stasis tower is the highest priority, then light missile towers, but while you are slowed kill whatever comes into range. When I killed the Destroyer, another group of Frigates spawned as well as a Cruiser and a Cruise Missile Launcher. When there are Cruise Missile Launchers around using the MWD becomes far more dangerous. This is the first really challenging mission of the arc in my opinion, be very careful. Don't be afraid to warp out if you have to. After killing the final hostile, the Forcefield disappeared, destroy the Storage Bunker, grab Foxfire and head back to Irichi.

Mission 10: Birthday Candle TrickFor this mission simply fly 1 jump over to Cilis's location, deliver Foxfire, pick up the Holoreel, and bring the Holoreel back to Irichi. ...Don't forget to put Foxfire into your cargohold before you leave.Activate the acceleration gate and fly to “Cilis Leglise's Headquarters” put in Foxfire, enjoy the show, and head to the next acceleration gate before you die in a fire.6 Frigates with a surprising amount of DPS await you within. The Shuriken jams, but it and the Yari are much harder to kill, so take out the others first.Afterwards 3 Frigates 3 Destroyers, and a Cruiser spawn... at this point I had to warp out, repair, then warp back in. After that wave, 2 more Destroyers, a Battlecruiser, and 3 more Frigates spawn. The Tachi's jam,

but all the DPS is coming from the Destroyers, be very careful, its a hard fight. After you finish them all off, head to the Caldari Storage Warehouse, grab the Holoreel and return to Irichi.

Guide ConclusionAnd with that final fight done you have completed the Guristas Epic Arc, congratulations. You now

have the Gila BPC in your hangar, don't forget that when you leave, and be VERY careful when you are bringing that back to your home system.

Rewards: 69,973,704.73 isk rewards from missions and bonuses

Dread Guristas ECM Multispectral Jammer (around 10 million isk)1-run Gila BPC (around 170 million isk)

Total Value: 249,973,704.73 isk

This has been the first guide I have written, I apologize for the atrocious formatting and anything else I have done to offend your sensibilities.

If you have found this guide particularly helpful any in-game donations of isk, ships, mods, exotic dancers etc. are much appreciated, send whatever it is you want to donate to Omnicide Incarnate

Any “real life” donations are even more appreciated, Starbucks and Alcohol are expensive, and I'm jobless. Gift cards, money, exotic dancer etc. send that to my paypal account: r_gioiosa@hotmail.com

[1.6] Credits[Contributors]

Me

[Special Thanks]CCP

[Programs Used]EVE Online

PaintOpenOffice

[Legal Stuff]EVE Online, Guristas, and Characters mentioned here plus all associated stuff etc. is all trademarked

and associated stuff of CCP etc. and it all belongs to them etc.