Fixing C4's

There comes a time every month or two when C4 wormholes are brought up on EVE-O.

There's two flavours to these threads - one is "how do I make money?" and the other one is "why do they suck?" or a variety thereof.

Like anything in EVE, the "C4's Suck" gestalt is founded upon kernels of truth mixed in with sticky dough of bullshit. The kernels of truth are as follows;

The ISK is worse than C5's. But this is true of anything except C5's and maybe Incursions. You cannot escalate in C1 through C4 space, but that doesn't mean C4's are worthless if you do them right. They are not a fountain of blue poo, nor are they a fountain of nanoribbons like C1 sites can be. They are OK.

C4 anomalies are harder than C3's. This is true. The Sleepers are tougher, more numerous and RR themselves more effectively and more often than in C3's. They also scram in one of the sites, so it isn't all gravy. However, properly fit RR Tengus can turn C4 sites over very fast (3 minutes for 5 guys).BUGRY lived in a C4 Black Hole with N766 and we rolled Armour BS fleets with a Thanny or 2 Guards and the worst part were the turrets because of the gay tracking, but if you can tank them fine you smash the Sleepers and GTFO.

The logistics suck because they never get K-space connections. This is in fact the biggest drawback, especially for C4-C4's. Without a k-space connection you rely on the k-space connection of your static. If you have, eg, a N766 to C2 space you will get K-space all the time. You will get highsec on average every third day. it is no worse than living in a C2 with A239/D382 statics.

The worse holes for this are the C4's with X877 to C4 statics, because you risk falling into the linear C5 chain problem of C4 to C4 to C4 and its C4's all the way down. Or, best case, C4 to C3 to hisec.

However, the logistics aren't as bad as, for example, the C2's with E545 to null and N060 to C5; here you rely entirely on inbound K162's from Hisec. Or a C3 with K346, same deal but there's less K162's inbound.

There's no pew pew. This is partly true. Again, it depends on your static. We chose the N766 because of the static going to C2 space with it's branching chains which can literally go on forever. With an X877 you may not get much further than a C5 chain. This restricts the number of systems you can access for pew pew.

There's better choices. This may be true. If you want to run C3 sites, you go to a C5 with C3 static (if you can handle it), or a C2 with B274/0477 pair. If you want to run C4's, same choices or C5 or C2s. But, there are worse choices such as C1's with Z060 to nullsec, C1's with C6 statics, etcetera.

So, not the best or the easiest choice. But that doesn't mean they are worthless. They are quiet; if you organise yourselves and crack how to do them efficiently the X877 can deliver buttloads of C4 ISK in your static without dozens of visitors trolling in from hisec or lowsec.

Ultimately, though, they are the ghetto of w-space. They need a little something-something, and I've always said they need to be the C2's of the middle-ground; reconfigure them to connect one up and one down. eg; pair an X877 with an N766, or a C5/C1, or C6/C2 statics. Turn C4's into the conduit system of w-space, linking people of high and low classes together and turning them into a VERY well travelled, dangerous location.

Then the PVP will roll in, because you can harass the elite and murder the nubs and have double the chance of a decent logistical chain.