TRS - Fitting Discussion: Scram-Kite Kestrel

I had something bigger in development, but it's been a busy week of frigate combat and I have flown something I never sat in before: A Kestrel. Now, I have been active in EVE for more than five years, but I was never really a Caldari sort of guy. I guess everyone who starts as Caldari will get a Kestrel during the tutorials, but I never did. I did promise last time that I'd do something newbie friendly, and this was a new ship for me too, so here we are.

For my first Kestrel experience I got into a small gang of three with my alliance mates Zerkova Bluecrown and Julianus Soter. Credit for the fit goes to Zerkova Bluecrown.

[Kestrel, Small Gang Kestrel]
Damage Control II
Ballistic Control System II

Medium Subordinate Screen Stabilizer I
Experimental 1MN Afterburner I
J5b Phased Prototype Warp Scrambler I
X5 Prototype Engine Enervator

Rocket Launcher II,Mjolnir Rage Rocket
Rocket Launcher II,Mjolnir Rage Rocket
Rocket Launcher II,Mjolnir Rage Rocket
Rocket Launcher II,Mjolnir Rage Rocket

Small Anti-EM Screen Reinforcer I
Small Core Defense Field Extender I
Small Core Defense Field Extender I

The whole package is pretty easy to train for and to fit. On my 25mill skillpoint character I still have some CPU and powergrid left over. If you have better skills you can opt for more T2 modules.

The first one to upgrade would be the warp scrambler. The more range you get there, the better. The reason for that lies with the tactic for flying this ship: This Kestrel is used in a way that people generally call scram-kiting. That means you keep at the edge of your warp scrambler range and shut down the opponent's microwarpdrive and slow them down further with the web.

With your opponent held down, you maintain a tight orbit at your best speed and let loose with rockets. It is a good idea to set your default orbit for that ship to 8000 if you don't want to be manually piloting all the time. The missile velocity bonus of the ship will allow you to out-range blaster fit frigates easily. You don't even need perfect missile and frigate skills to fight effectively inside your scram range. Even frigates fit with railguns or artillery will be forced to fight in their falloff range, and since you can easily maintain your top speed of around 1km/s, they will have trouble applying damage if they can't web you.

Obviously, this tactic works best against brawlers that rely on MWD to close range. Atrons and Merlins come to mind as ships that are often fitted like that.

You can even engage ships with heavier firepower. Despite the shield tank your signature remains rather low which also helps with avoiding damage. In it's virgin flight with me at the helm, this ship survived a fight against an MWD fit gank catalyst. (I was at 95% structure by the end of the fight, but I won). Ships you should be wary of are those which are very likely to use webs themselves. Caldari Navy Hookbills, for example, should be avoided on 1v1 fights. Energy neutralizers can be a problem too if you don't manage to get out of their range quickly enough, but at least you can keep shooting at them without capacitor.

The DPS on this ship looks low when compared to turret-based ships, but that can be misleading. After all, with your opponent scrammed and webbed, you will apply close to full damage all the time even while you orbit at full speed to avoid incoming fire. While an Incursus or Merlin will do more DPS on paper, they will graze or miss ever so often if there is any significant transversal or radial motion going on. Even in comparison to blaster frigates, a maximum DPS of ~130 and volley damage up to ~340 is still pretty respectable. Since the Kestrel has a damage bonus for all light missiles and rockets, you get the added bonus of selectable damage type. I have used Mjolnir Rockets here, but you should choose the ones that best exploit your opponent's weakness. Because missile damage relies a lot on signature, shield tanked ships are the best targets to engage. Hence the Mjolnir Rockets in this example: They exploit the weakness in EM resistance which shield tankers tend to have.

All together, this is a very solid fit and a fun ship to fly for new pilots and more experienced PVPers alike.

Fly deadly.

OOC Entry 108 - Carriers and Mercs

The Easter weekend is behind us, and I used the opportunity of some time off to work on the next story chapter. This time I directly referred to the "Rooks & Kings Manual of Advanced Triage Carrier Tactics" for the way how Rasenzoku are using their carriers.

Like I said, this chapter also features some shipboard combat for which I have been browsing through quite some Dust514 informational material. As always I am dedicated to keeping things as close to game-lore as possible. I've never played the game myself, so I needed to get familiar with the weapons and armour that is being used by the infantry elite of New Eden.

It turns out, that I am still unable to bring the battle to a conclusion in this chapter, so you can look forward to yet another chapter full of excitement and action.

I think after this story I will have had enough for some time of large battles ;)

At some time my poor protagonists should be able to enjoy a moment of peace, don't you think?

TRS - Fitting Discussion: Legion Black-Ops Logi

I'm on a bit of a roll here with the "elite PVP" stuff, so bear with me for a bit. Next time I'll do something for the newbies again.

Many people consider the Legion the red-headed stepchild of the T3 ships. It's not great at PVE when compared to the Tengu. It lacks the DPS potential of the Proteus and often people will favour Loki support rather than Legion.

But there is one specialization where the Legion really holds the field undisputed: Armor black-ops logistics.

Logistics with black-ops gangs is a difficult thing, and that's why it is rarely used. You could have logistics on the field already before you drop your black-ops gang, but more often than not, that wont be the case. So if you want logi support for your hotdrop, the only possibility you have is to commit a T3 ship with a covert ops subsystem. Outside of the Etana Alliance Tournament price ship, no other alternatives exist.

So when you fly an armor black-ops gang, there are really only two possibilities for logistic T3 ships: The Proteus and the Legion.

To be honest, I only mention the Proteus here because it technically offers the possibility of an armour repair subsystem. In reality, you should never use a Proteus as a remote repair platform. It will be inferiour to the Legion in every way when set up like that. EHP, speed, signature, capacitor ... you name it. The Legion will always beat the Proteus. If you are going to bring Proteus hulls to your black-ops gang, then fit them for DPS and tackle, never for logistics.

The Legion, however, does work perfectly in that role:

[Legion, BLOPS Logi]
Damage Control II
Energized Adaptive Nano Membrane II
Energized Adaptive Nano Membrane II
Energized Thermic Membrane II
1600mm Reinforced Steel Plates II

Cap Recharger II
Cap Recharger II
Medium Capacitor Booster II, Navy Cap Booster 400
ECCM - Radar II
10MN Microwarpdrive II

Medium Remote Armor Repairer II
Medium Remote Armor Repairer II
Medium Remote Armor Repairer II
Medium Remote Armor Repairer II
Medium Remote Armor Repairer II
Covert Ops Cloaking Device II

Medium Trimark Armor Pump I
Medium Trimark Armor Pump I
Medium Remote Repair Augmentor I

Legion Propulsion - Wake Limiter
Legion Offensive - Covert Reconfiguration
Legion Defensive - Adaptive Augmenter
Legion Electronics - Dissolution Sequencer
Legion Engineering - Capacitor Regeneration Matrix

I'll start with the subsystems. The Covert Reconfiguration is the obligatory thing here, otherwise your Legion wont be able to jump through a black-ops bridge. The Adaptive Augmenter is another one you just have to choose because it has the remote repair bonus. Unfortunately, it does not have the range bonus you would usually see on logistics ships, and that brings up the issue of propulsion.

Normally a logistics ship would be fitted with an afterburner to keep it's signature low, but this ship will be forced to close range quickly with targets it needs to repair. To get at least some reduction of the resulting signature bloom during that approach, the Wake Limiter is used.

The Dissolution Sequencer is an obvious choice to increase you sensor strength so you are less vulnerable to jamming. The Tactical Targeting Network can be a good alternative because it increases your scan resolution, resulting in faster locks and defense against Sensor Dampeners. Because both subsystems offer similar stats and the same slot layout, you can switch them in the hangar depending on what you are facing in terms of enemy EWAR.

Finally, the Capacitor Regeneration Matrix is a good choice because of it's namesake capacitor regeneration and the additional low slot.

While we are on the subject of capacitor. Obviously cap is essential for a logistics ship to offer some resistance against neuting and to keep remote repair modules running. A Capacitor Booster is therefore a good choice here. Even without the cap booster, this Legion has the potential to perma-run two reppers as long as the MWD is turned off. For as long as you have charges, you can run four of them and maintain cap stability. The fifth comes in when incoming damage becomes really heavy. Under such pressure, you could load an 800 booster charge for one cycle (you wont be able to fit more) and run all reppers cap stable for the 12 seconds cycle time. If you are not neuted, you can run all reppers long enough to coast through one recharge cycle of the cap booster.

When it comes to the charges, note that the Navy versions have less volume, so you'll be able to fit more into your cargohold, and when it comes to the 400 charges, you can fit three instead of 2 into your cap booster.

When using 400s, you will even be able to run three reppers together with your MWD. That can come in handy if you need to get transversal up (keeping in mind that your signature will increase) or if you need to reposition yourself quickly on the field while still repairing someone. A situation where you need to keep up with a fast ship that is under attack comes to mind.

The ECCM can be run permanently without any problems, together with the Dissolution Sequencer it will provide quite good defense against jamming. If ECM is not an issue, you could fit a target painter for killmail whoring instead.

You could also go for a tankier version with three Trimark Armour Pump rigs. On max skills you gain about 14K EHP, but you would lose the continued use of one remote armor repairer. Basically everything I said above about how many reppers you can have running cap stable will be minus one. It's a question of preference, but if you fight enemies with high-alpha doctrines, the extra buffer can be a life-saver when your ship is primaried.

Some people really like to pimp their T3 ships. I'm not a fan of it if it's not strictly necessary. You shouldn't have any significant problems fitting this ship, but you can knock yourself out with Faction and Deadspace stuff or T2 rigs to give it even more tank than the 104K (118K with three trimarks) EHP it can already have with max skills.

Everything considered, the Legion offers a viable option to have logistics support for armor hotdrops. I myself have flown that configuration to great effect during such operations. Also, it's a damn sexy looking ship.

TRS - Fitting Discussion: Armour Loki Part 2

On this second installment of my Armour Loki discussion I want to start out with a fit that is more of a backbone for a combat fleet rather than support.

Role: Artillery Gang

This doctrine saw wide use among such noteworthy PVP crews as Black Legion, Shadow Cartel and Snuffbox. It is used for nullsec and lowsec mid-size fleets with fast tackle and logistics support. It looks like this:

[Loki, Arty Armor]
1600mm Reinforced Steel Plates II
Energized Adaptive Nano Membrane II
Armor Thermic Hardener II
Armor Explosive Hardener II
Damage Control II
Co-Processor II

J5 Prototype Warp Disruptor I
Tracking Computer II, Optimal Range Script
X5 Prototype Engine Enervator
Experimental 10MN Afterburner I

650mm Artillery Cannon II, Republic Fleet EMP M
650mm Artillery Cannon II, Republic Fleet EMP M
650mm Artillery Cannon II, Republic Fleet EMP M
650mm Artillery Cannon II, Republic Fleet EMP M
650mm Artillery Cannon II, Republic Fleet EMP M
650mm Artillery Cannon II, Republic Fleet EMP M

Medium Trimark Armor Pump I
Medium Trimark Armor Pump I
Medium Trimark Armor Pump I

Loki Defensive - Adaptive Augmenter
Loki Electronics - Immobility Drivers
Loki Engineering - Power Core Multiplier
Loki Offensive - Turret Concurrence Registry
Loki Propulsion - Fuel Catalyst

Tactically, this ship works similarly to a Zealot AHAC in the way how it relies on low signature and heavy armour for defense. The major combat asset of this fit is it's high alpha strike capability at a respectable range. (Up to ~2100 at an optimal of 21km) The Turret Concurrence Registry subsystem helps maximizing that. It also provides a tracking and falloff bonus which are both very useful for artillery cannons. When taking falloff into account, you can achieve engagement ranges of almost 50km. You can even switch to Tremor T2 ammunition and turn this into something of a sniper ship with 78km optimal range, albeit with a significant damage tradeoff. You will lose a good 1000 volley damage.

With high damage ammunition, the optimal range of your artillery cannons is similar to your web range. A very useful trait when considering the horrible tracking of artillery. At closer ranges you should definitely switch to a tracking script for that TC, so always keep one in your cargo hold. Apart from that tracking drawback and lower DPS, the artillery Loki is superiour to the Zealot AHAC fit. It has a staggering advantage in volley damage, it's hitpoints are far above the Zealot too and it's even slightly faster thanks to the Fuel Catalyst.

Just like the other fits, this one is prone to run into CPU problems, but again, you can optimize your fit by using implants or faction modules. If you do so, you open up the possibility to fit heavier artillery like this: 

[Loki, Arty Armor Faction]
True Sansha Armor Kinetic Hardener
True Sansha Armor Thermic Hardener
True Sansha Armor Explosive Hardener
1600mm Reinforced Rolled Tungsten Plates I
Damage Control II
Gyrostabilizer II

Tracking Computer II, Optimal Range Script
Tracking Computer II, Optimal Range Script
X5 Prototype Engine Enervator
Experimental 10MN Afterburner I

720mm Howitzer Artillery II, Republic Fleet EMP M
720mm Howitzer Artillery II, Republic Fleet EMP M
720mm Howitzer Artillery II, Republic Fleet EMP M
720mm Howitzer Artillery II, Republic Fleet EMP M
720mm Howitzer Artillery II, Republic Fleet EMP M
720mm Howitzer Artillery II, Republic Fleet EMP M

Medium Trimark Armor Pump I
Medium Trimark Armor Pump I
Medium Trimark Armor Pump I

Loki Defensive - Adaptive Augmenter
Loki Electronics - Immobility Drivers
Loki Engineering - Power Core Multiplier
Loki Offensive - Turret Concurrence Registry
Loki Propulsion - Fuel Catalyst

Now you can get a pretty sick alpha strike in excess of 3900 and an optimal range of 28 with 36 falloff  added. Thanks to the better resists, you get virtually the same EHP as before even with downgrading the armor plate. Still, this fit needs a +2% powergrid implant to work. This fit also shows the alternative of completely leaving point and tackle to other fleet members and go for even better range or tracking. You keep the web, however, to slow down targets at close range.

The total package comes with a hefty pricetag, but when flown properly with good logi support and even command bonuses from links, a squadron or two of those Lokis will turn into a fighting force that can punch significantly above it's weight.

Special Forces

As the last part of this discussion I want to introduce two more specialized fits. Both are built around 100MN Afterburners instead of 10MN Microwarpdrives. That way you keep signature low during approach or escape and reach similar speeds thanks to the bonus of the Fuel Catalyst subsystem.

The 100MN AB has two major drawbacks when compared with the MWD: First, it's rate of acceleration is a lot slower, so you will need two or more cycles to reach full speed. Second, once you achieve top speed, stopping or even maneuvering is extremely hard. You will have the inertia (and align time) of a freight train while the propulsion is active. Then again, when fighting inside scram range, that 100MN AB can make the difference between being unable to leave before the enemy tacklers are down and being able to pull range because scramblers do not shut down your propulsion module.

The first 100MN AB setup is a variation of the previously discussed heavy tackler:

[Loki, 100mn Armor Webloki]
Armor Explosive Hardener II
Armor Kinetic Hardener II
Energized Adaptive Nano Membrane II
1600mm Reinforced Steel Plates II
Damage Control II
Nanofiber Internal Structure II

J5 Prototype Warp Disruptor I
X5 Prototype Engine Enervator
X5 Prototype Engine Enervator
Experimental 100MN Afterburner I

220mm Vulcan AutoCannon II, Republic Fleet EMP M
220mm Vulcan AutoCannon II, Republic Fleet EMP M
220mm Vulcan AutoCannon II, Republic Fleet EMP M
220mm Vulcan AutoCannon II, Republic Fleet EMP M
220mm Vulcan AutoCannon II, Republic Fleet EMP M
220mm Vulcan AutoCannon II, Republic Fleet EMP M

Medium Trimark Armor Pump I
Medium Trimark Armor Pump I
Medium Trimark Armor Pump I

Loki Defensive - Adaptive Augmenter
Loki Electronics - Immobility Drivers
Loki Engineering - Power Core Multiplier
Loki Offensive - Projectile Scoping Array
Loki Propulsion - Fuel Catalyst

As with all other setups you can optimize here by using faction modules. By now I am sure you can fill in the blanks. As for the rest, this works just like the standard heavy tackler with the considerations for 100MN AB added.

Finally, there is the possibility to use a similar setup as tackler and hunter-killer for black ops gangs by using the Covert Reconfiguration subsystem:

[Loki, BLOPS Webloki]
Armor Explosive Hardener II
Armor Kinetic Hardener II
Energized Adaptive Nano Membrane II
1600mm Reinforced Steel Plates II
Damage Control II
Co-Processor II

Warp Disruptor II
X5 Prototype Engine Enervator
X5 Prototype Engine Enervator
Experimental 100MN Afterburner I

220mm Vulcan AutoCannon II, Republic Fleet EMP M
220mm Vulcan AutoCannon II, Republic Fleet EMP M
220mm Vulcan AutoCannon II, Republic Fleet EMP M
220mm Vulcan AutoCannon II, Republic Fleet EMP M
Covert Cynosural Field Generator I
Covert Ops Cloaking Device II

Medium Trimark Armor Pump I
Medium Trimark Armor Pump I
Medium Trimark Armor Pump I

Loki Defensive - Adaptive Augmenter
Loki Electronics - Immobility Drivers
Loki Engineering - Power Core Multiplier
Loki Offensive - Covert Reconfiguration
Loki Propulsion - Fuel Catalyst

Because it lacks damage bonuses and a full rack of guns, this ship really is mainly a tackler. Yet again, some potential for optimization by means of faction modules exists here. One should go for better resists then. Because in it's role as hunter-killer this ship needs to move ahead of the Black-Ops gang and act as tempting bait for would-be attackers, so you need to be able to soak some damage while you light your cyno.


Wrapping up

So, this concludes my two part excursion into the realm of expensive "Elite PVP" fittings. If you are a new player, this can offer you an ambitious perspective for training. If you are more experienced, you might already be familiar with T3 gangs, but I hope I could still offer some insight. If you think of joining any of the small to medium gang PVP crews in the game, being able to fly something like this ship will make you a useful asset.

Of course, this was not an exhaustive discussion of Loki configurations. There are several more which are quite viable and widely flown, but this is one specific aspect I have personal experience with and which has been battle-tested. It remains a strong addition to T3 armor gangs or - in the case of the artillery fit - the main combat platform for roaming gangs.

That is until CCP Fozzie and Rise mess around with the T3 subsystems probably later this year. At that point I'll probably have to rewrite this whole thing.

Happy hunting!

TRS - Fitting Discussion: Armour Loki Part 1

In the previous few fitting discussions, I have focused on ships that were easy for new players to train into. This time I want to go for something more advanced. Full-on "elite PVP" material: A Strategic Cruiser. More specifically the Minmatar Loki in an armour configuration.

I will begin with a disclaimer: The fits I will discuss are meant for lowsec and nullsec gangs because that's the thing I have experience with. I imagine that the wormhole meta is different. I also heard they are using armour tanked Lokis in incursion fleets. I wont be talking about any of this. Neither will I take coalition level fleet engagements into account. I'm focusing on small and medium gang PVP tactics here.

Because this is about a Tech 3 ship, subsystems play a role in fitting. Rather than discussing each and every one of them, I will mention how the specific ones I choose are useful for the fit. Even though I am restricting myself to one specific fitting concept, there are still enough variations for this ship, so the whole thing will be two parts.

Now let's get started.


Basic Building Blocks:

For all the setups, I consider it fine to use the same set of rigs. It can be argued that one fit or the other could be optimized by changing rigs, but there is one rig setup which I consider the mean standard of all the armor fits I am going to discuss:

Medium Trimark Armor Pump I
Medium Trimark Armor Pump I
Medium Trimark Armor Pump I

In addition to that you will need the following subsystems to assemble all possible combinations I will be discussing in both parts:

Loki Defensive - Adaptive Augmenter
Loki Electronics - Immobility Drivers
Loki Engineering - Power Core Multiplier
Loki Offensive - Projectile Scoping Array
Loki Offensive - Covert Reconfiguration
Loki Offensive - Turret Concurrence Registry
Loki Propulsion - Chassis Optimization
Loki Propulsion - Fuel Catalyst

You wont need all of them if you only want to fly one sort of Loki all the time, but this is a T3 ship. The cool thing about it is that you can change the way it works by switching subsystems.

Now let's look at the first concept:


Role: Heavy Tackle and Support

[Loki, Armor Webloki]
Armor Explosive Hardener II
Armor Kinetic Hardener II
Armor Thermic Hardener II
1600mm Reinforced Steel Plates II
Damage Control II
Co-Processor II

Warp Disruptor II
X5 Prototype Engine Enervator
X5 Prototype Engine Enervator
Experimental 10MN Microwarpdrive I

425mm AutoCannon II, Republic Fleet EMP M
425mm AutoCannon II, Republic Fleet EMP M
425mm AutoCannon II, Republic Fleet EMP M
425mm AutoCannon II, Republic Fleet EMP M
425mm AutoCannon II, Republic Fleet EMP M
425mm AutoCannon II, Republic Fleet EMP M

Medium Trimark Armor Pump I
Medium Trimark Armor Pump I
Medium Trimark Armor Pump I

Loki Defensive - Adaptive Augmenter
Loki Electronics - Immobility Drivers
Loki Engineering - Power Core Multiplier
Loki Offensive - Projectile Scoping Array
Loki Propulsion - Chassis Optimization

Fits similar to this one are in wide use as heavy tackler. Implants or faction modules can significantly increase the tanking ability here. Using CPU friendly faction modules can free up CPU for more resistance like this:

[Loki, Armor Webloki Faction]
Federation Navy Armor Thermic Hardener
Federation Navy Armor Kinetic Hardener
Federation Navy Armor Explosive Hardener
1600mm Reinforced Steel Plates II
Damage Control II
Energized Adaptive Nano Membrane II

Warp Disruptor II
X5 Prototype Engine Enervator
X5 Prototype Engine Enervator
Experimental 10MN Microwarpdrive I

425mm AutoCannon II, Republic Fleet EMP M
425mm AutoCannon II, Republic Fleet EMP M
425mm AutoCannon II, Republic Fleet EMP M
425mm AutoCannon II, Republic Fleet EMP M
425mm AutoCannon II, Republic Fleet EMP M
425mm AutoCannon II, Republic Fleet EMP M

Medium Trimark Armor Pump I
Medium Trimark Armor Pump I
Medium Trimark Armor Pump I

Loki Defensive - Adaptive Augmenter
Loki Electronics - Immobility Drivers
Loki Engineering - Power Core Multiplier
Loki Offensive - Projectile Scoping Array
Loki Propulsion - Chassis Optimization

I am using Federation Navy here because I have FW LP for them. In case you are not with the Gallente Militia, the True Sansha or Shadow Serpentis variants are usually a lot cheaper and have the same stats. Alternatively a CPU implant can be used to achieve similar results. If you are not flying in nullsec that much, I'd recommend going with the implant. Both options free up CPU to use a triple hardener setup in the low slots and then add an EANM. Alternatively you can fit a Gyrostabilizer, Tracking Enhancer or a Signal Amplifier. Effectively you gain an extra lowslot. Mind you, even with implants and faction modules, this ship is hard to fit. You will need good fitting skills, but then again, you wouldn't be flying a T3 if you hadn't? Right?

The fighting tactic for this ship is pretty straightforward: Due to the bonus of the Immobility Driver subsystem, your warp disruptor and your two webs have more or less the same range (1km longer for the warp disruptor on maximum skills). Your job is to lock a target, point them and put two webs on them. If you have more than one such Loki you can spread webs between primary and secondary targets. That will bring even faster ships to a near standstill. That makes them easier to hit, and prevents them from burning for gates or stations. Your defensive potential helps you to stay afloat once you have someone tackled. Ideally long enough for friendly logi reps land and for friendly DPS ships to blow your target to pieces.

With almost 16K armor hitpoints and above 100K EHP you should be able to hold out for a moment or two. The Adaptive Augmenter subsystem provides you with increased resistances, so make sure you have that subsystem skill trained high. The Microwarpdrive should be used no longer than necessary to get in range with your target. The Chassis Optimization gives you some extra speed to help with that. Once you have them, they wont be going anywhere fast. Pulse your MWD if they somehow manage to pull range anyway.

With high DPS ammo your optimal+falloff will be below 20, so your web and point actually reach further than the Autocannons. If you want to apply some meaningful damage I would recommend getting as close as 15km. That still keeps you out of web and scram range of ships with no bonus for those. Alternatively you can load Depleted Uranium or Barrage for longer range and less DPS. Depleted Uranium has a tracking bonus, but significantly lower DPS. Barrage has more damage and longer range, but also a tracking penalty. The Projectile Scoping Array very much favours autocannons because it has bonuses to rate-of-fire and falloff range, so I would personally always go for the highest DPS.

There is the possibility to make this thing even tankier - and slower - which doesn't necessarily defeat it's purpose and function at all. Consider this fit:

[Loki, Double Plate Armor Webloki]
Armor Explosive Hardener II
Kinetic Plating II
Energized Adaptive Nano Membrane II
1600mm Reinforced Rolled Tungsten Plates I
1600mm Reinforced Rolled Tungsten Plates I
Damage Control II

J5 Prototype Warp Disruptor I
X5 Prototype Engine Enervator
X5 Prototype Engine Enervator
Experimental 10MN Microwarpdrive I

220mm Vulcan AutoCannon II, Republic Fleet EMP M
220mm Vulcan AutoCannon II, Republic Fleet EMP M
220mm Vulcan AutoCannon II, Republic Fleet EMP M
220mm Vulcan AutoCannon II, Republic Fleet EMP M
220mm Vulcan AutoCannon II, Republic Fleet EMP M
220mm Vulcan AutoCannon II, Republic Fleet EMP M

Medium Trimark Armor Pump I
Medium Trimark Armor Pump I
Medium Trimark Armor Pump I

Loki Defensive - Adaptive Augmenter
Loki Electronics - Immobility Drivers
Loki Engineering - Power Core Multiplier
Loki Offensive - Projectile Scoping Array
Loki Propulsion - Chassis Optimization

Again, you can improve on resistance with CPU implants or faction modules that use lower CPU. Still, even with this vanilla setup you can reach 140K EHP and more than 22K armor hitpoints. Your weapon range will be slightly reduced, as will DPS. Volley damage suffers quite a bit, but you are not flying this ship to become top damage dealer on the killmail, you are flying it to make sure there will be killmails.


Up next?

In the second part of this fitting discussion I will focus first on artillery fits that are more for actual fighting, and then end it all with some special fits like a version for Black Ops drops and a 100MN Afterburner setup.

Fly deadly.

OOC Entry 107 - Ok, that was hard.

It has been over a month since I managed to continue my latest story. I am not even sure how long exactly, but now I finally made it: I published the third chapter \o/

I would love to say it was only my daily life that kept me for so long, but if I'm honest, I have to admit I had a terribly hard time writing this. I wanted to have black-ops battleships and bombers and all kinds of other stuff in it. I never really did a hotdrop with black ops ships in-game, so I had to read about it and get some advice.

The credit goes to my fellow blogger Kamar Raimo for being an expert consultant and for providing a screenshot of a Widow. He tells me that one would rather use T3 ships than recons for such hotdrops, but I like Pilgrims and so I wanted to have Pilgrims in the story.

There needs to be some artistic license here!

I generally have little experience with the whole bridging business and cynos and all that. I have been in quite a few nullsec fights when I was with Noir and Black Legion, but nothing that I would call proper knowledge of all things involved in force projection through jump bridges. While this is a story and not everything has to reflect game mechanics 100%, I wanted it to be as realistic as possible.

All that made things complicated, and I find writing space battles difficult enough as it is. Then I also had to come up with some Rooks & Kings style elite PVP tactic that would actually make it possible for that smaller but more disciplined force to beat a much larger Hive fleet with a supercarrier as support. I developed new ideas all the time and then discarded them again.

I rewrote the whole thing from the ground up more than once, and I am still not sure whether it is really any good. I guess I let the readers judge. I just had to hit "publish" eventually or otherwise I'd go crazy with that story remaining unfinished in my head.

Originally I intended the battle to be just one chapter, but it turned out that it had to be two. Even as it is, this current episode is already four written pages long, and I always try to keep a single episode between two and three for ease of on-screen reading.

Well, at least you now get two episodes full of action. The second one will also feature some shipboard combat. I've never done that before, so I really wanted to give it a try.

I hope you have less of a hard time reading this chapter than I had writing it :D

TRS - Fitting Discussion: Poor man's ArmorHAC

I promised last time that I will discuss something else than a brawler ship and during recent fleet operations in armor cruiser gangs, I was reminded of the staple ArmorHAC. This successful small to medium gang Zealot-based fleet concept became famous for it's good performance and because of this classic piece of FC raging.

So what's the ArmorHAC all about:

[Zealot, ArmorHAC]
Heat Sink II
Heat Sink II
1600mm Reinforced Steel Plates II
Tracking Enhancer II
Energized Adaptive Nano Membrane II
Damage Control II
Armor Thermic Hardener II

Experimental 10MN Afterburner I
Warp Disruptor II
Stasis Webifier II

Focused Medium Pulse Laser II, Scorch M
Focused Medium Pulse Laser II, Scorch M
Focused Medium Pulse Laser II, Scorch M
Focused Medium Pulse Laser II, Scorch M
Focused Medium Pulse Laser II, Scorch M

Medium Trimark Armor Pump I
Medium Anti-EM Pump I

The concept behind this fit is simple yet effective. With Scorch and the Tracking Enhancer your optimal range becomes 30km and more. That makes this an ideal setup to fight at gates. On a non-regional gate anything that jumps through into your gang will be in optimal range and therefore take full damage. Likewise, if you jump into an enemy you can be pretty sure that you can engage them right away except if they are sitting far off in sniper ships.

Your defense relies on heavy buffer and resistance, and a very low signature for a cruiser sized ship. That is why this ship is flown with afterburners: To keep the signature low. That low signature results in longer lock times for the enemy and a reduction in incoming damage because it makes tracking harder. Also missile damage is affected negatively by low signature and that means an ArmorHAC gang can engage turret and missile ships equally well if speed can be maintained. They are vulnerable against excessive missile bombardment though.

The third midslot is pretty much up to your preferences. Many people fit target painters there to increase their chance to hit by increasing enemy signature. Others like to use a Sensor Booster for increased lock speed. Personally I like the web because it works well if a brawler tries to get under your guns.

The typical ArmorHAC gang will be supported by suitable logistics ships and - if you have enough ISK to burn and high skilled pilots - Armor fit Lokis with long-range webs. The latter are particularly useful against the main weakness of this setup which is kiting ships. Once an enemy gang can get outside optimal range, you wont be able to chase them down again. On the other hand, that usually means you can warp out and escape them.

To fly and fit a ship like that, high fitting skills are needed, and training the HAC skill is also not something that is done in a few days. On top of that, a Zealot hull is not what you'd call cheap. So I thought about possibilities for similarly effective setups that can be done with lower skills and hulls that are more affordable for the pilot on a budget.

The obvious first ship to look at would be the Omen. After all, the Zealot is based on that hull. So let's see whether an Omen can work as a "poor man's ArmorHAC":

[Omen, Poormans ArmorHAC]
1600mm Reinforced Rolled Tungsten Plates I
Damage Control II
Energized Adaptive Nano Membrane II
Tracking Enhancer II
Heat Sink II
Heat Sink II

Warp Disruptor II
Experimental 10MN Afterburner I
Tracking Computer II, Optimal Range Script

Focused Medium Pulse Laser II, Scorch M
Focused Medium Pulse Laser II, Scorch M
Focused Medium Pulse Laser II, Scorch M
Focused Medium Pulse Laser II, Scorch M
Focused Medium Pulse Laser II, Scorch M

Medium Anti-EM Pump I
Medium Trimark Armor Pump I
Medium Trimark Armor Pump I

Well, let's compare: The signature of the Omen is actually lower than that of the Zealot, so that's a good thing. Of course - being a T1 ship - it also has substantially lower armor resistance and one less low slot. In terms of absolute armor hitpoint buffer we get close to the Zealot. With the above setup a Zealot will be a bit above 101K armor hitpoints, the Omen gets around 97K. The main drawback here lies with the turrets. Because the Omen lacks the optimal range bonus of the Zealot, our engagement range will be reduced by a good 10K. A Tracking Computer like in the setup above brings you closer to the Zealot's range but not quite there. Also the damage output of the Omen lies significantly below the Zealot. On the other hand, the Omen can use drones, so we can actually push our DPS beyond what the Zealot would achieve when adding a mixed flight of light and medium drones. Another thing is speed. You will need to maintain transversal speed to help avoiding damage, and while the Zealot can run it's afterburner permanently, the Omen can't. That puts it at a disadvantage here.

So how about alternatives? Let's look at the other race that typically uses armor tanks. How about a Thorax with railguns?

[Thorax, Armorrailrax]
800mm Reinforced Rolled Tungsten Plates I
Damage Control II
Tracking Enhancer II
Energized Adaptive Nano Membrane II
Magnetic Field Stabilizer II

Experimental 10MN Afterburner I
Warp Disruptor II
Tracking Computer II, Optimal Range Script
Tracking Computer II, Optimal Range Script

200mm Railgun II, Federation Navy Antimatter Charge M
200mm Railgun II, Federation Navy Antimatter Charge M
200mm Railgun II, Federation Navy Antimatter Charge M
200mm Railgun II, Federation Navy Antimatter Charge M
200mm Railgun II, Federation Navy Antimatter Charge M

Medium Anti-Explosive Pump I
Medium Trimark Armor Pump I
Medium Trimark Armor Pump I

Because of the lower powergrid, we wont be able to fit a 1600mm plate with those guns, so the hitpoint buffer of the Thorax is below that of the Omen. The armor resists are spread differently and end up being slightly weaker, so in the end this ship has a good 8K less EHP compared to the Amarr T1 counterpart. It's signature lies between the Zealot and the Omen which is still OK.

Now for the good part: The Thorax almost reaches the DPS of the Zealot and has more than the Omen. When it comes to volley damage it exceeds both ships, achieving a maximum above 900. It's optimal range is close to the Omen, and with falloff added it will shoot farther than both Amarr ships. Because you will be in falloff range, you wont achieve full damage at such ranges, but at least you can still hit. In addition to that, the Thorax can actually control a full flight of medium drones, and that makes it better in DPS than either of the other two. So under the bottom line, the Thorax is the best damage dealer at ranges around 20K. That damage potential suffers from very poor tracking though. Because you are using tracking computers, you can actually mix and match scripts if you are closer to an enemy, but even with two tracking speed scripts you wont be as good as the lasers. With the lighter armor plate, the Thorax comes out on top when you look at speed, but just like the Omen it can not permanently run all modules and keep the afterburner active.

Let's consider an alternative for this particular ship:

[Thorax, Armorrailrax Dual150]
1600mm Reinforced Steel Plates II
Damage Control II
Tracking Enhancer II
Energized Adaptive Nano Membrane II
Magnetic Field Stabilizer II

Experimental 10MN Afterburner I
Warp Disruptor II
Tracking Computer II, Optimal Range Script
Tracking Computer II, Optimal Range Script

Dual 150mm Railgun II, Federation Navy Antimatter Charge M
Dual 150mm Railgun II, Federation Navy Antimatter Charge M
Dual 150mm Railgun II, Federation Navy Antimatter Charge M
Dual 150mm Railgun II, Federation Navy Antimatter Charge M
Dual 150mm Railgun II, Federation Navy Antimatter Charge M

Medium Anti-Explosive Pump I
Medium Trimark Armor Pump I
Medium Trimark Armor Pump I

Here it gets interesting. Now we reach an armor buffer above both the Omen and the Zealot. Because of lower resists, this ship still wont have the EHP of a Zealot but it does exceed the EHP of the Omen setup above. Tracking is now closer to both ships, but we do sacrifice a significant amount of range. Optimal + falloff together will be just under the optimal range of the Zealot. Despite achieving higher DPS than the Omen and better volley damage than both Amarr ships on paper, again you wont do all of that damage at the same range that the lasers turrets can achieve. Still, at ranges of 12K you will outgun both ships, and that is before you add drone damage. Not bad for a T1 cruiser.

Edit:
That being said, the Pulse Laser boats can switch to short-range crystals when finding targets at such close range. Multifrequency will increase DPS and volley damage slightly over Scorch. Because of the better tracking one could then outperform a Thorax. Conflagration is another option, then you would outdo the damage of a Thorax but you lose the better tracking. Still for slow targets at close range that track badly themselves (like battleships) Conflagration on an Amarr ship is the superiour damage dealer. (thanks to raylu for reminding me of that) 
/Edit

So when looking at low-skill and low-price alternatives for the classic ArmorHAC setup, both Omen and Thorax offer viable options. Tracking is the main weakness of the Thorax when compared to the two other ships, but with tackle and Target Painter support, a lot of that can be mitigated and it's superiour damage potential can be realized.

Naturally the Zealot has the better resist tank and therefore profits more from logi support, but the T1 alternatives work well enough to allow for participation of newer players with lower skills in an ArmorHAC gang.

OOC Entry 106 - Sacrificed on the marketing altar

With this post I will do two things which I never did before: I will throw a serious j'accuse at CCP and at the same time defend a griefer. Even me - a currently inactive player - could not miss the perfect storm in the EVE community that was created by the Erotica 1 Bonus Room Affair. I was following the threads and blogs and comments with a rather blasé attitude, and then this happened:

Let me make one thing perfectly clear at this point. I have nothing but contempt for scammers and griefers who prey on the weak. The practices of Erotica 1 and his friends at Minerbumping are among the worst examples of in-game behaviour that can be found in EVE as far as I am concerned. Still, in this particular ruling of CCP I see nothing but a marketing lie and Erotica 1 became the convenient sacrifice to prop it up.
 

A Dangerous Hypocrisy 

When Ripard Teg wrote his blogpost, both the EVE community and third party media latched on to it and the reaction was largely negative with only a minority defending scamming and related practices as legitimate gameplay., The public image of EVE had taken a serious hit: Obviously this must be a game where sociopaths and sadists can freely engage in their despicable activities and are fully condoned by the game's creators. At a time when the influx of new players into EVE is as high as it hasn't been in a long time, CCP found itself at an impasse: Should they let this slip and stand vilified in the wider gaming media, or should they take action and possibly alienate a significant part of the playerbase by putting restrictions on the sandbox.

In the end they opted for a singularly double-faced approach. They declared to the playerbase that nothing will change (after all, real-life harassment has always been forbidden) but simultaneously kicked Erotica 1 from the game.

The problem with this is, that CCP is guilty of serious, and dangerous, hypocrisy here. While Erotica 1 has become a very prominent scammer and griefer that could be made an example of, many similar and even worse practices still go on. Goons will still scam people out of all their stuff with the false promise of a membership in their ranks. The New Order will still obsessively hunt and kill every "carebear" they can find, over and over again, openly declaring that they want them gone from the game. ALODs will still be published on websites, accompanied by articles that publicly ridicule the person who managed to lose an expensive and/or ill-fitted ship in a stupid way. The collecting and publishing of tears and rage continues at an unmitigated pace. Racial slurs and misogynistic trashtalk still persist both in-game and metagame communication.

EVE has not become any less infested with the likes of Erotica 1 or even worse griefers. As Erotica 1 states himself on reddit:

If I'm banned, then there are thousands of players, with clear evidence on the internet and within logs that should be as well for more aggregious(sic) activities.

Of course CCP can not, and will not, do that. They have made their bed (or sandbox) and now they have to sleep in it. That bed is infested with vermin, but they show all the world how they have removed one flea and now probably expect everyone to accept that as proof that everything is fine.

But that's a lie, and with this lie they pave the way for remaining griefers and scammers to reel in new victims who have been given a false sense of security. After all EVE is fine now that this "evil sadist" has been banned. CCP is taking action to defend the weak against such abuse.

Pardon me if I laugh bitterly at this.

The Gevlon Defense

What I really respect Gevlon Goblin for is putting his money where his mouth is -  Alekseyev Karrde on DOW Episode 71

What really should have happened here is a promotion of in-game retaliation. Gevlon Goblin - in my view - is a pretty crazy person, but he did something that hundreds, if not thousands, of others who complain about Goonswarm have not done: He tried to create trouble for them in highsec to a degree that they would be hurt by it. One can discuss the level of success he had with that endeavour, but he decided to look for an in-game (and metagame) solution for something he perceived as an in-game problem: The influence Goonswarm and their allies were having in highsec space.

All those people posting accusations and screaming for a ban (if not even a prison sentence) for Erotica 1 could - and should - have instead done just that. Warn everyone publicly and thereby restrict the pool of potential victims for that scammer. Harass the New Order with wardecs and counter suicide ganks. Infiltrate the organization of Erotica 1 and his friends to steal right back from them. In the past, I became aware of one stratagem where a griefer and troll was hit hard and life in his favorite hunting ground was made impossible for him: That was when Zedrik Cayne set up Socratic.

All those people with their righteous rage could have done similar things with Erotica 1.

Actually, if CCP wanted to mess with the sandbox to support the weak, then they should implement a way how victims can actually band together and make life more difficult for the perpetrators. What if all those mission runners who have perfect standings with the Caldari Navy could pool LP to gain a docking ban charter for known scammers and griefers, evicting those guys until they got their standings back up? Erotica 1 would have to move his assets out of Jita and could be attacked, not to mention having to look for a new hunting ground.

The whole problem here is not that there are people who will do their malicious best to exploit the uninformed, the naive, the gullible and the weak. The problem is, that there is very little the victims can do to fight back against someone who basically sits in a station and conducts all his nefarious business from there.

I would even dare to say that people like Erotica 1 would appreciate the challenge.

Instead, CCP opt for a publicity stunt at the cost of one particular player who I personally would call the most elaborate scammer and griefer, but certainly not the worst, and ultimately at the cost of more new players who get blindsided by that publicity stunt.

If I were to put it as outrageous hyperbole, I'd say CCP just scammed a lot of potential new players in ways that Erotica 1 could not have done better.