All of the loadouts I've seen without fail use Caldari Navy Antimatter instead of T2 Void charges. Am I missing something? They seem to do considerably more damage and you more or less have to be upclose to use either ammo.
Why are Blasters always fitted with Caldari Navy Antimatter and not Void
eve-online
Related Solutions
T3 Boosting alts are very difficult to scan down. The T3 boats already have a reasonably small signature, but as well as that they often fit ECCM mods which make the scanning signature even harder to scan.
In saying that though, it is possible. In a recent patch (6 months or so ago I think?), they changed these fits to not be unscannable anymore. It still takes a long time to narrow it down though, as you have to usually scan right down to .25AU on the probe radius to get a %100 hit. Where someone is "soloing" and only uncloaking/boosting while they are actually fighting, then you usually only have a limited window, as these fights don't last very long. I guess you're sorta hoping for someone to leave their boosting alt uncloaked, and not watching directional scan. You're also a little bit more likely to be able to scan these down if they are in a bigger fleet fight, which tend to last a lot longer.
Some of these fits are very pimped, and can only be scanned down with :
a perfectly skilled scanning character. Just the skill names start with Astrometric, plus the Covert Ops ship skill.
using scanning implants. There is a set called Low Grade Virtue, which is expensive but helps a lot, these go in slots 1 - 5. There are other implants with "prospector" in the name which help too, which go in slots 6, 7 and 8. On the plus side, even though the implants are expensive, the scanning character will usually be very difficult to kill if he stays in a covert ops boat.
using a covert ops frigate, fitted with two Gravity Capacitor rigs, Sisters Expanded Probe Launcher (or the Tech 2 version), and using the Sisters Combat Probes.
Check out the eve online wiki page http://wiki.eveonline.com/en/wiki/Probing for the full names of skills and implants that will help.
The other thing that having combat scanning probes out will often do is cause the character to cloak the boosting alt back up again, losing them their link bonuses. While it won't net you a ridiculously sweet killmail, just stopping their boost alt from boosting can help a lot in some cases. Sometimes this may be the far easier thing to accomplish. A skilled player with a boosting character will often watch to make sure they only cloak when the scanning probes are closing in. Not everyone who can afford a boosting alt is a skilled player though... :)
Although Task's answer is good, like with most things in EVE online, situation dictates. For the purposes of this discussion we will use Gallente drones (you have a Vexor after all).
Hobgoblin max speed: 2,800
Hammerhead max speed: 1,680
Ogre: 840
Obviously the MWD bonus of the Algos and the Dragoon will impact this, but you get the idea.
Most PVP frigates worth their salt will be going at least 2500, and most beyond even that. In this case the likelihood of any drones hitting is pretty nil. With the re-balances, even most cruisers are going well above Ogre speeds.
However, many combat Vexors fit single and double web, and a scram to shut off micro-warp drives, dragging the targets speed down substantially. If you can manage to catch your enemy and drag them down to < 400 m/s then Hammers or Ogres could still be effective.
For PVE I have found the biggest issue is travel time to raise your isk/hour and to reduce the tedium. In that case I generally pack lights or mediums. My Rattlesnake brings long and close range sentries, and a flight of lights to handle frigates.
I have found in practice that tracking doesn't factor in nearly as much as simply catching up. If the target is slow enough for the drones to out run, they can probably hit. Ogre's are medium sized weapons and has 2x the tracking of Electron blasters on a Vexor 0.36 vs 0.185. So basically tracking is not the issue.
Best Answer
Antimatter is the T1 ammunition that does the highest damage, though with a -50% optimal range penalty. Void is T2 ammunition, so you need to be able to use T2 blasters to use it. It does more damage than CN antimatter under ideal conditions, but it also uses 25% more capacitor, has -25% optimal range and -50% Falloff, and a -25% tracking penalty.
The damage difference is also not that high, it is about 11-12%. While this is certainly significant, it is offset by the tracking penalty in particular which can easily make the applied dps much lower under real conditions.
Here is a damage graph for a Merlin shooting another frigate with Neutron Blasters while they are not moving at all:
Void does more damage up close, put even here you can already see that you pay for that with less flexibility in range. But this example is rather unrealistic, in most cases the frigates would be orbiting each other. And at orbit speeds of around 500 m/s for my example Merlin Void loses the advantage completely. Void also has a much lower distance range where it deals high damage, so you have to be more careful about setting your distance to the target:
But what happens when I shoot at something larger like a Battlecruiser and not another frigate? Here's the graph for that:
Void clearly is better in this case, the large signature radius of a Battlecruiser eliminates the tracking penalty.
In short, while Void is not a bad choice by any means, CN antimatter has fewer drawbacks, does similar damage or even more in many real situations and is generally more flexible. Void is still the best choice if you're shooting at a ship a class larger than your own, or if you know that tracking is likely not going to matter.
Personally I usually take some Void with me in addition to CN antimatter and Null (must have ammunition).