With the changes to Mining Barges and Exhumers introduced in Inferno, Skiff has become a valid PVP platform. Devs have boosted the EHP and fitting capabilities, but seem to have forgot about the exceptional agility and speed (250m/s on a mining barge!), which come from it’s pre-Inferno role of the “ninja” Mercoxit miner. High sensor resolution of 825mm makes it an excellent tackler, in line with most frigates and interceptors.
Drone bay of 50 cubic meters fits 5 medium drones, or 10 small ones. They would not pack a lot of punch, but with the Drone Damage Amplifier II, 5 medium drones can pump up to 216 DPS – I would say quite a lot for a mining ship. Retribution will further improve this, because Drone damage mods will receive a further buff (19% -> 23%).
With 5 med slots, Skiff has enough space to fit a propulsion mod and tackling mods, leaving room for two tank mods. Two low slots give a little choice really: Damage Control II and damage mod, or two damage mods for all-gank setup. High slot is really optional: you can fit a Nos/Neut, or drone range mod, and that’s about it.
How well does it perform?
Not as good as a dedicated combat vessel, but not bad either. The EHP is in the HAC – BS levels, while damage output is closer to Tech I cruisers. Of course drones can be killed, and Skiff can quickly end up with no guns. Using small drones allows to hold two full flights of them, but it reduces the DPS by half, reducing Skiff potential to a frigate killer.