Wednesday 30 March 2011

I bought a Vengeance - part II


 This started out as a reply to the comments made on my last post, but once I got started I realised that I had a whole new post.


The fit:

3 Dual Light Pulse Laser II (scorch and navy multifrequency)
Salvager

Cold-gas Arcjet Thruster
Analyser
Codebreaker

2 Adaptive Nano Plating II
Damage Control II
Small Armor Repair System II

Going from memory, with Assault Ship II, my highest resist (explosive) is 90%, and my lowest (thermal) is 60%.


Regarding the fit:

As I'm in Angel territory, this resistance balance is fine, although for pvp I would probably try and plug my resistance hole. In the mean time, though, I will be upgrading to at least one Energised Plating once Hull Upgrades V finishes on Thursday morning. If I offline the exploration kit that I am not using (you only ever need one per site) I can probably fit two.

Being in Angel space does have disadvantages, though, as my DLP, as well as ignoring the ship's weapon bonus, walk right into the natural resists of Angel ships.

Usually, that's not too much of a problem, but last night I found three radar sites in .2 security space. That means loads of Battlecruisers and the occassional "Arch" frigate (which have even higher resists), so it took me two hours to clear out the three sites, as I slowly chewed through the massive hp/massive resists of the npcs.

With the ability to choose damage types, I could probably have done those three sites in 45 minutes. I am tempted to mount autocannons for versatility, but I only have T1 autocannons, and a good chunk of my gunnery skill points are is Small Pulse Laser Specialisation, which does not benefit my autocannon dps.


Training:

I could spend a week to get Small Projectiles V, which would speed things along, although given the ship I am using I could spend the same amount of time on Rockets V, which would be even more effective.

Of course, I have about 400,000 skill points across all of my exploration skills (including the mini professions), and I waste a lot of time just trying to scan down sites and open the spawn containers. I could really use some extra skill points there as well.

Until recently, I would not have considered shifting the focus of my training away from laser gunnery and tanking. After all, pve is simply what I do to fund my pvp; if it's not totally efficient, that's fine. However, now that I am trying to build up a cash fund for Crusaders, I notice that the pve is interfering with the pvp.

Yesterday, for example, I had hoped to do a little exploration right after work, and then look for a fight I can win. However, I spent so much time on running the sites, I had no time left to look for a fight. As my need for isk is never going to go away, it would make a great deal of sense for me to look at improving the efficiency of my money making.

In the short term, though, it's still just gunnery and tanking.

Monday 28 March 2011

I bought a Vengeance


Until recently, I was using an Arbitrator to run lowsec radar and magnometric sites. The drones gave me plenty of range, and moderate damage, which was about the best I could do.

However, the Arbitrator has some serious shortcomings, at least with my skill investment. The damage is not great - I have only T1 drones and Amarr Cruiser III - and the tank is not great if you make any concessions to pvp. The Arbitrator also takes a real pounding from anything larger than a frigate, thanks to it's size.

Even with resistance plates and an active tank, though, the Arbitrator is far from nimble, and it has problems with gate camps. I've lost an Arbitrator with several tens of millions of cargo on board to a gate camp, and it's not an experience I care to repeat.

So about a week ago I went out and bought myself a Vengeance. My gunnery skills are now good enough that I am in the same dps range as my Arbitrator's drones, but the smaller size of the Vengeance means that I am taking far less damage. Equally, the Vengeance comes with far higher resists, which makes the active tank very efficient, and gate camps should now also have a much harder time locking me and hitting me. More time to burn back to the gate.

I only have Assault Ships II, but I have already successfully run several magnometric and radar sites in lowsec. I'm loving the survivability as well as the fantastic asthetics. Hopefully, we do some good business together, this ship and I.

Friday 25 March 2011

Punisher Plan: 3rd Quarter Review


As if by serendipity, each quarterly review has seemed to be immediately preceded by some kind of revelation or epiphany. This one is no different, and my thoughts on skill investment (and my general lack thereof) has dominated this review and my plans for the future.


Skill planning:

As I mentioned in my last post, if it does not increase my ability to deal or absorb damage, I'm not training it. This is the logical extension of my observation that Punisher fights pit my tank and damage skills directly against my opponent's tank and damage skills. It will probably take me about a month to get the "direct" damage skills to V (Surgical Strikes, Rapid Firing, etc), and then I'll consider getting the support gunnery skills from IV to V (Controlled Bursts, Motion Prediction, etc). 

I will also be training my tanking skills, although these are fewer (and better developed) than my gunnery skills - Hull Upgrades V should finish by the middle of next week, and Mechanics V finished some time ago. This largely leaves the repair system and armor compensation skills.

Once my gunnery and tanking skills are maxed out (or close to it) I will start focusing on my other support skills.


Combat record & Target selection:

I have not had a kill since Punisher 6. As I mentioned in my last quarterly review, I think this is largely down to my Molden Heath move, as I'm now playing with the proverbial "big boys".

However, other choices have also played a role, and in particular my target selection. Of my last five Punishers, three were destroyed by the same pilot. Having utterly crushed me the first time, what did I really expect to change the second and third time?

Actually, that succession of encounters has been very, very helpful in opening my eyes to various issues, but it does not change the fact that I have been making poor target selection choices. The trouble is that enjoy the pvp experience too much. I have a blast even when I am losing. This makes all but the most one sided fights very tempting for me. It's worth noting that a number of my recent fights occurred when professional pvpers called me out and challenged me to a fight (that they were confident they would win); my reaction (often literally) tends to be "how can I say no to that?"

Well, I can say no to that. And I should. So my goal with the final five Punishers is to destroy at least as many ships as I lose (ie, five). This means that I'm going to take my time and look for fights that I can and should win.

This will take a while, and I accept that, but it's a player discipline that I really need to learn. I'll continue to post, but it will mean that far more of my posts are about topics rather than experiences, at least in the short term.

Fortunately, New Eden is a pretty interesting place


Looking ahead:

After the Punisher Plan I want to start a similar training plan for flying Crusaders. The exact timing will depend on how my skills are developing; I certainly don't intend to jump into Crusaders without a decent skill investment.

However, 20 Crusaders will cost me about 240 million, with fittings costing me about another 100 million. I don't have anything like that kind of cash, so I'm going to have to start pve again, something that I have been able to largely ignore recently. The timing is good, though, as it will give me something to focus on while my damage and tanking skills are developing.

Wednesday 23 March 2011

Punisher 15


The fit:

3 Gatling Pulse Laser II (Navy Multifrequency & Scorch)
5W Infectious Power Malfunction

Cold-gas Arcjet Thrusters
J5b Phased Prototype Warp Inhibitor

2 Adaptive Nano Plating II
Damage Control II
200mm Rolled Tungsten

This fit was for a specific fight - a rematch with Major Thrasher's most recent Rifter. My last fight had gone poorly because I had happened to be flying a Dual Light Pulse build, and I couldn't track him. This fit should have no problems with tracking, and I decided to try a straight buffer tank so I could neut him down, shutting off his repper.


The hunt:

As with any pre-arranged fight, there is not much in the way of introduction. Equally, Punisher v Rifter fights don't involve much maneuver on the part of the Punisher. I flew in a straight line to minimise angular velocity, and he flew a tight orbit to maximise angular velocity.

Everything worked perfectly; I had no trouble tracking him, and I shut down his repper after capping him out (he had a nos, though, so there was never any real chance of forcing him to drop his point).

Despite my perfectly executed plan, I still lost. Convincingly. This post is not about what happened during the fight, it is about the realizations that followed it.

Victim: Taurean Eltanin
Corp: Strategic Conflicts Incorporated
Alliance: Unknown
Faction: Unknown
Destroyed: Punisher
System: Rens
Security: 0.9
Damage Taken: 1894

Involved parties:

Name: Major Thrasher (laid the final blow)
Security: -0.6
Corp: Angry Bipeds
Alliance: Guinea Pigs
Faction: NONE
Ship: Rifter
Weapon: 150mm Light AutoCannon II
Damage Done: 1894

Destroyed items:

Gatling Pulse Laser II, Qty: 2
Imperial Navy Multifrequency S
Adaptive Nano Plating II, Qty: 2
Scorch S (Cargo)
Cold-Gas I Arcjet Thrusters
J5b Phased Prototype Warp Scrambler I

Dropped items:

Gatling Pulse Laser II
Damage Control II
200mm Reinforced Rolled Tungsten Plates I
Imperial Navy Multifrequency S, Qty: 2
Scorch S, Qty: 2 (Cargo)
5W Infectious Power System Malfunction
Republic Fleet Titanium Sabot S (Cargo)


Post battle review:

Everything worked exactly the way it should have done. I tracked him and shut down his active tank. But I was utterly crushed. Why?

To find answers I turned to EFT. Major Thrasher had linked his fit to me earlier, so I plugged it into the fitting tool. I thought of posting his fit, but it is a total cookie cutter, with rigs to close a resistance hole, and to increase damage.

Turns out that with Vs and Hail, his ship does 127 dps. My fit, with Vs, does 78 dps. My fit, with my skills, does 51 dps.

Oh.

Equally, I was hitting his naturally high armor EM resistance of 50%, leaving me with an actual dps of about 25. My non-EM resists were about 68, giving him an actual (max) dps of 41. Even if I assume that his dps is only 90% of max, he was still doing about 37dps, which means I was doing only 67% of the damage he was doing, and he got a few cycles of the repair system in before cap became an issue. This is all before overheating, which (being multiplicative) favours higher damage weapons.
No wonder he had such a convincing win.

This was a real eye opener for me. Although I had started focusing on my gunnery skills, this fight forced me to realise that the limiting factor in my fights is no longer my player skill (although I still have a great deal to learn) but my character skill.

That's a problem I can solve, but it takes time.


Lessons for the future:

I need to improve my character skills. While I'll cover this in more detail in my next post, I'm switching gears in the short term, which is why my post rate has dropped from once per day to three times per week. If it does not increase my dps or my tank, I'm just not training it right now.

Monday 21 March 2011

Punisher 14


There was a great deal of good advice offered in the comments of my last post. I'm not ignoring it, but these next two fights occurred before I posted the last battle.


The fit:

3 Dual Light Pulse II (Navy Multifrequency & Scorch)
5W Infectious Power Malfunction

Cold-gas Arcjet Thrusters
J5b Phased Prototype Warp Inhibitor

Small I-a Polarized Armor Regenerator
Adaptive Nano Plating II
Damage Control II
200mm Rolled Tungsten


The hunt:

I was in Rens again, but this time just to do some shopping. Major Thrasher saw me in local and asked me if I wanted a rematch.

I laughed and told him that I couldn't beat his kiting fit, so I was going to save myself the cost of my fittings. He then told me that he was using a cookie-cutter build and linked his profile for me.

Sure enough, it was a standard (albeit rigged) Rifter, so I agreed to the fight. I'm not going to post his exact build here, as it will be included in my next quarterly review.

The battle was very simple. He had control of the distance and so he came in close, pointed and webbed me, and orbited at 500m.

None of this was too surprising, but as I no longer run with a neut, I could not just cap him out and establish range. And as luck would have it, I had gone shopping in one of my remaining Dual Light Pulse builds, rather than my favoured Gatling Pulse Laser build.

As a result, he was able to get under my guns - barely. I was hitting him occasionally for minor damage, and he was hitting me most of the time, but was close enough to his tracking limit that he was getting regular misses as well. The outcome was inevitable, though, even if it did take a while.

Victim: Taurean Eltanin
Corp: Strategic Conflicts Incorporated
Alliance: Unknown
Faction: Unknown
Destroyed: Punisher
System: Rens
Security: 0.9
Damage Taken: 2589

Involved parties:

Name: Major Thrasher (laid the final blow)
Security: -0.6
Corp: Angry Bipeds
Alliance: Guinea Pigs
Faction: NONE
Ship: Rifter
Weapon: 150mm Light AutoCannon II
Damage Done: 2589

Destroyed items:

Damage Control II
200mm Reinforced Rolled Tungsten Plates I
Small 'Ghoul' Energy Siphon I
Republic Fleet Phased Plasma S (Cargo)
J5b Phased Prototype Warp Scrambler I
Small I-a Polarized Armor Regenerator
Scorch S (Cargo)
Dual Light Pulse Laser II, Qty: 3
Imperial Navy Multifrequency S

Dropped items:

Scorch S, Qty: 2 (Cargo)
Adaptive Nano Plating II
Cold-Gas I Arcjet Thrusters
Imperial Navy Multifrequency S, Qty: 2


Post battle review:

Well, I'm obviously kicking myself for not flying my GLP build. Other than that, though, I'm not sure I could have flown the ship any better than I did. I had overheated my repper (not my guns though, as they were missing anyway - the result was not anywhere near close enough for it to have made a difference), and I had flown straight and level to get my tracking down as much as possible.

The maths were simply not on my side, and this is something I will look at in more detail in my next quarterly review.


Lessons for the future:

The first thing I did after the fight was sell all my remaining DLP II. It's cost me more to keep and use them than it has to sell them at a loss.

I also was not terribly impressed by the repper's ability to pay for itself over the course of this battle. Have I made the wrong choice in repper & nos v buffer and neut? I'll have to experiment a little.

Friday 18 March 2011

Punisher 13


The fit:

3 Gatling Pulse Laser II (Navy Multifrequency & Scorch)
5W Infectious Power Malfunction

Cold-gas Arcjet Thrusters
J5b Phased Prototype Warp Inhibitor

Small I-a Polarized Armor Regenerator
Adaptive Nano Plating II
Damage Control II
200mm Rolled Tungsten


The hunt:

I was out and about looking for a fight when I encountered a Rifter in Rens. I've been heading to Rens whenever I want a fight but don't have the time to properly devote to a low sec roam. It has not let me down yet.

He challenged me, and I flipped his can. I had fought Rifters before, but this fight was very different.

He started by zooming away from me, which told me right away that he was going to try and kite me. He got out to about 12km and started pounding on me with artillery, but then he suddenly warped away.

Surprised, since I was pretty sure the fight was his for the taking, I docked up. He convo'd me a minute or so later, and told me that he had suffered a disconnect. Did I want to continue?

I knew that this was a losing fight, but I thought that the experience of trying to fight a kiting Rifter was worth the cost of the ship, so I agreed.

This time we warped to a planet first, as I wanted to make the most of my experience, and I would be better able to see what was happening if the overview was less cluttered.

The second round began much the same way as the first. I couldn't catch him, even with overheated afterburners, so I began examining the combat log.

He was hitting me for about 220 a volley, roughly every 8 seconds. I managed to rep that for a long time, but ultimately he broke my tank. It's not that I ran out of cap, exactly, but having to pulse my repper to avoid capping out certainly did not help. Even so, it was one of the slowest kills I've seen, but as he was completely beyond my reach the entire fight, he had all the time he needed.

His speed was very interesting, as he often sat at 0m/s, 300m/s and 1300m/s. I'm guessing that's full stop, normal speed, and prop mod activated. 1300m/s is possible for some ships with an afterburner, so I would guess that is what he was using, as it would present a lower cap burden (especially with the long point). Still, the fact he pulsed it so much could also have meant it was a mwd. His favoured range was 14km, but he clearly had some flexibility when it came to range.

Eventually, he broke my tank, and I received the lossmail.

Victim: Taurean Eltanin
Corp: Strategic Conflicts Incorporated
Alliance: Unknown
Faction: Unknown
Destroyed: Punisher
System: Rens
Security: 0.9
Damage Taken: 4012

Involved parties:

Name: Major Thrasher (laid the final blow)
Security: -0.5
Corp: Angry Bipeds
Alliance: Guinea Pigs
Faction: NONE
Ship: Rifter
Weapon: 280mm Howitzer Artillery II
Damage Done: 4012

Destroyed items:

Gatling Pulse Laser II, Qty: 2
Fusion S (Cargo)
200mm Reinforced Rolled Tungsten Plates I
Adaptive Nano Plating II
Small I-a Polarized Armor Regenerator
Imperial Navy Multifrequency S, Qty: 2 (Cargo)
Proton S (Cargo)
Republic Fleet Phased Plasma S (Cargo)
Scorch S
J5b Phased Prototype Warp Scrambler I

Dropped items:

Gatling Pulse Laser II
Cold-Gas I Arcjet Thrusters
Phased Plasma S (Cargo)
Imperial Navy Multifrequency S (Cargo)
E5 Prototype Energy Vampire
Damage Control II
Scorch S, Qty: 2


Post battle review:

We started chatting after our fight, and I congratulated him on his piloting, and his fit, which totally took me apart. It turns out that this guy makes his living doing 1v1. He experiments with fits, trying to keep his profitablity up. I liked his attitude, and we agreed that we would have to have a rematch at some point.

Despite my attempts to catch him, and to zig and zag my way closer, this fight was always his for the taking. While some ships can comfort themselves that if they had landed at zero they could have webbed him and won, the truth is that the Punisher does not have that option.

I ran some EFT tests after the battle, and I found that even with maxed skills and rigs, I could only get DLP 2 out to about 15km. He could simply move out beyond that, and keep pouring on the dps. Given that I could not catch him or outrange him (without destroying my build for close range combat), I took a look at tanking him indefinitly.

Small Armor Repair System II reps 80 hp over 4.5 seconds with max skills. That's 17.7 hp/s before overheat. I was taking (very roughly) 27.5 dps. In order to rep that indefinitely I would need to bring my resists up much higher than I believe is possible with a T1 ship. I looked at dual reps, but that would require me to drop resists, and I can't find a way to make it cap stable.

All told, it looks like a fight that the Punisher simply can't win, unless I was to adopt my own long range build. That's actually a thought that I find quite interesting, but I suspect that the Punisher is simply too slow (even when rigged for speed) to pull that off effectively.


Lessons for the future:

There are some fights that simply can't be won. That being said, the EFT review was helpful, and after I get my gunnery skills up, I need to work on my tanking skills; I suspect I will do far better against cruisers if I can permatank the inevitable Warrior IIs.

Wednesday 16 March 2011

Focusing for the Future: the results


The votes:

Traditional set: 33 votes (34%)
Ewar set: 42 votes (44%)
Khanid set: 20 votes (21%)

I must admit, the results of the vote surprised me. I had expected the Traditional set to be leading, with the Ewar and Khanid sets trailing behind. Obviously, that's not what happened; the Ewar Set took the first three votes cast, and has maintained a strong lead throughout the voting.

It is worth noting that the Traditional set still did well, getting slightly more that it's fair share of the votes. The big loser was the Khanid set, which was unable to compete.

A strong incentive to go Ewar, although going Traditional could also be justified.


The comments:

While the raw votes are helpful, I never intended to look at them on their own - why people voted the way they did is often more important than their actual vote. Their choice might be reasonable, but based on considerations that simply do not apply to my circumstances or play style.

Here are some of the comments I found most useful:

Good blog I enjoyed reading it. I suggest, instead of going for one of your three sets of skill plans, to concentrate on T1-T2 frigates for Amarr and support skills. Interceptors and assault ships mean you can take on more ships and they will also allow you to go looking for (solo) fights in 0.0 without being that vulnerable to gangs increasing your stomping grounds. Frigates are in my view best suited for the solo pvp you are doing now, especially if you have low sp. - Kara'ina

I liked this comment, not just because it made sense, but someone had clearly put my choices into the context of what I was doing. Very helpful, even though it did not recommend a specific set. However, it does (by implication) weigh against the Ewar set, which has no interceptors or assault ships. Arguably, only the Khanid set fields both of these in pvp.

Although Amarr ships are generally thought of as slow. The curse (E-war Set) nano's up brilliantly.

If you are going to focus on a particular part of Amarr ships for a while I would focus on the laser ships as they are generally the most useful to the most gangs(By laser ships I mean Harbinger, Omen Navy Issue and Zealot).

The E-war set are very good but they are quite niche, the curse gets used a lot in nano gangs but the pilgrim is used more as scout/rat ganker but has terrible dps. The sentinel I haven't used and although its considered the best E-war Frigate by a lot of people its still an E-war frigate and they are generally pants. - Korg_Leaf


Another very helpful comment - it addresses on of my concerns about the Ewar set, but also takes a long term view and recommends the Traditional set.

I think the Khanid set would suit you very well. As you mentioned, it offers a good bit of zoom, great damage (via a different weapon system), and excellent tank. While it's true you'd have to train rockets to tech2, it offers something lasers don't, those being the ability to chose your damage type as well as guaranteed damage every hit. In addition, the extra midslots will allow for better combat dictation, either in the form of ECM, tackle, tracking disruptors, or maybe a cap booster with charges to run dual reps.  - Truen1ght

Another great comment, and one I particularly valued because the author has been following the blog for a while now, and is able to make the recommendation based on (his perception of) my personal characteristics.

FNG also made a very compelling case for battle cruisers on his blog (and by extension, the Traditional set). He was helped by a similar post from Double Threat (a well known frigate enthusiast who has just discovered the joys of battlecruisers), although I am not aware that he is a reader of this blog.

What stands out about the comments is that they paint a completely different picture from the actual votes. For whatever reason, people voting for Ewar simply did not leave supporting comments. That leaves me to guess at their reasoning, and I have the sneaking suspicion that many of them voted for the Curse/Pilgrim rather than the skill set. Understandable, but not terribly helpful to a noob that is a good six months away from either of those ships.


So where next?

I know, long term, that I am going to try each of these sets. However, in the short term, I think the Traditional set makes the most compelling case, and offers the most advantages. I am very keen to fly the Khanid ships, but the lack of a T1 training ship puts them beyond my immediate reach. A strong Traditional skill set covers much of the Khanid skills, though, leaving only the weapon skills to train when I decide to branch out.

So now I am going to focus on getting all my gunnery skills to IV (minimum), and then I am going to do the same for all of my support skills. This will take some time, as I do not have daily access to Eve, which means that my training will sometimes have to focus on level Vs so that I do not drop training time.

I'm also going to stick with the Punisher, even beyond the 20 hulls that I initially purchased. However, I might occasionally mess around with other hulls, just to keep things fresh. It depends on my finances, of course.

Everyone that contributed has my thanks, especially those that commented here or on the forum thread.

Good hunting, and fly dangerous.

Monday 14 March 2011

Punisher 12


The fit:

3 Dual Light Pulse II (Navy Multifrequency & Scorch)
5W Infectious Power Malfunction

Cold-gas Arcjet Thrusters
J5b Phased Prototype Warp Inhibitor

Small I-a Polarized Armor Regenerator
Adaptive Nano Plating II
Damage Control II
200mm Rolled Tungsten


The hunt:

I was on a shopping trip to Rens when I saw a can with my name on it.

Literally.

The pilot had been scoping local and picked me out as a likely target. He dropped a can with my name and convo'd me to offer a T1 frigate duel. How could I say no to that?

The duel started out as these things do, with my Punisher and his Rifter falling into orbit. As with my last Rifter fight, I decided to try and cap him out, so I turned on the neut. He webbed me, but I had no trouble keeping him in range and tracking.

Despite the decent damage my combat log was showing, however, I seemed to be only chipping away at his armor. As time went on, this I found that my own armour was being eaten away faster than his, which surprised me, because Rifters are not known for their durability.

I checked the combat logs again, and they confirmed that I was landing solid hits for respectable damage. I opened up my orbit to 5000m and switched to Scorch, and was surprised to see that this actually worked; I had not expected the pilot to let me dictate the range of the engagement. His damage fell off, but he was still far enough ahead that I was in trouble.

I was headed deep into structure, but as the Rifter was capped out, I decided to bail out and warp away. As luck would have it, just as I was entering warp, he got a wrecking hit on me - whereas he had been hitting for about 15 damage a volley, his wrecking shot hit me for nearly 100, which was just enough to take out my last piece of structure. Bad luck!

2011.03.07 19:52:00
 

Victim: Taurean Eltanin
Corp: Strategic Conflicts Incorporated
Alliance: Unknown
Faction: Unknown
Destroyed: Punisher
System: Rens
Security: 0.9
Damage Taken: 2130
 

Involved parties:
 

Name: Transported (laid the final blow)
Security: -1.5
Corp: Renegades of the Dark Crusade
Alliance: NONE
Faction: NONE
Ship: Rifter
Weapon: 150mm Light AutoCannon II
Damage Done: 2130
 

Destroyed items:
 

Proton S (Cargo)

200mm Reinforced Rolled Tungsten Plates I

Barrage S (Cargo)
Small I-a Polarized Armor Regenerator
Imperial Navy Multifrequency S, Qty: 3 (Cargo)
Phased Plasma S (Cargo)
Scorch S, Qty: 3
Dual Light Pulse Laser II, Qty: 2
Fusion S (Cargo)
5W Infectious Power System Malfunction
 

Dropped items:
 

Damage Control II
Adaptive Nano Plating II
Dual Light Pulse Laser II
Cold-Gas I Arcjet Thrusters
J5b Phased Prototype Warp Scrambler I



Post battle review:

I had a chat with the Rifter pilot after our fight, and it turns out that he was a 400mm plate fit. He had no real speed (hence my ability to dictate range), but had loads of tank (with natural resists against EM).

In light of this, I had made a lot of mistakes. First, I had failed to realise what was happening. The clues were all there, but I did not put them all together.

Second, his tank was pure buffer, so capping him out had zero impact other than causing him to drop his point and web. I should have saved my cap for my repper, and if I had done so, I would have had a real shot at winning this one.

Finally, once I realised that (for whatever reason) I could dictate range, I could have gone out much further than 5000m. Moving out to 7000+ early in the fight would have reduced his damage to virtually nil, and I would have been well within my optimal.


Lessons for the future:

This was a fight that I could have won, and my failure to do so was a result of pilot error, not a lack of skill points. Experience against different kinds of fit will help, but I still could have turned the fight around if I had been thinking more clearly.

I'm also going to drop the neut. The repper and the neut both want to do very different things, and I need to choose one or the other - my little Punisher is currently trying to do to much. For the moment, an efficient active tank seems better than cap warfare.

This messes with my "ideal" fit, because the nos has higher CPU requirements than the neut; I can't move up to EAN plating unless I downgrade something else. EAN gets more bonus from the resistance skills, though, so it might be worth dropping to a named DC. I'll have to play with the numbers.

Friday 11 March 2011

Punisher 11


I really debated whether or not to post anything today; I didn't want to bump my poll off the top of the page. However, six days is a really long time to not post, so while I probably won't post every day, I won't stop posting altogether. Towards the end of the 6 days I'll take a closer look at the results and some of the comments in a follow-up post.

If you have not voted for one of my skill plans, though, please do so! You can find it one post down.


The fit:

3 Dual Light Pulse II (Navy Multifrequency & Scorch)
5W Infectious Power Malfunction

Cold-gas Arcjet Thrusters
J5b Phased Prototype Warp Inhibitor

Small I-a Polarized Armor Regenerator
Adaptive Nano Plating II
Damage Control II
200mm Rolled Tungsten

I knew who I would be fighting when I put this fit together, and the last time we clashed I lost the damage race with my GPL, so I thought I would try a DLP fit this time.


The hunt:

I had arranged a remach against FiestyOne's Tristran, and we met in system for our duel. As before, we agreed to warp to the sun, and start at once.

A simple plan, but one that still had room to go.... sideways.

Mid warp FiestyOne spotted something in the scanner in the direction of the warp-in (I was really impressed by this, and I can't help but feel that this is a mark of a real pro - narrow beam scans mid warp to see what is waiting for you. Awesome stuff.). I can't remember what it was at this point, but it was something like a Daredevil. So she suggested that we immediately warp out and choose a new location.

The trouble is that I was so busy mentally preparing myself for the duel that I was not reading the private chat, so when we landed, I immediately opened fire on FiestyOne, just as we had originally planned. I only noticed that something was wrong when she was not firing back. That's when I read the chat log, so I switched off my guns and stopped trying to kite.

In the mean time, it seems that the Daredevil had decided to bail when two frigs appeared on overview (one of them flashy red), and given that I had started shooting, FeistyOne decided that we might as well go at it, and she burned towards me and opened fire.

Seeing this, I began firing as well, but by this time FeistyOne was well into her optimal and the higher dps blasters meant that she once again won the damage race, despite my attempts to overheat the DLP to compensate.

Victim: Taurean Eltanin
Corp: Strategic Conflicts Incorporated
Alliance: Unknown
Faction: Unknown
Destroyed: Punisher
System: Atlar
Security: 0.4
Damage Taken: 2749
 

Involved parties:
 

Name: FeistyOne (laid the final blow)
Security: -9.9
Corp: Twisted Inc.
Alliance: NONE
Faction: NONE
Ship: Tristan
Weapon: Hobgoblin II
Damage Done: 2749
 

Destroyed items:
 

200mm Reinforced Rolled Tungsten Plates I
Imperial Navy Multifrequency S, Qty: 2
Adaptive Nano Plating II
Phased Plasma S (Cargo)
Scorch S (Cargo)
Dual Light Pulse Laser II
Cold-Gas I Arcjet Thrusters


Dropped items:
 

Damage Control II
Imperial Navy Multifrequency S
Small I-a Polarized Armor Regenerator
Scorch S, Qty: 2 (Cargo)
Proton S (Cargo)
Dual Light Pulse Laser II, Qty: 2
J5b Phased Prototype Warp Scrambler I



Post battle review:

Both of us agreed that the fight had been a real shambles, but in fairness, FeistyOne was always the favorite. She's a damn good pilot, and she has loads of relevant skill points. While I think I would have done better without the confusion, it would be petty of me to try and excuse my loss away based on that.

The duel was not without lessons, though. I should not have been ignoring my chat channels, even if there was a fight on. I know that most low sec pilots monitor the local channel during fights so they can spot help arriving before it lands on grid. I need to start doing the same.

I should also have been more decisive. If I was going to fight, I needed to keep fighting until there was a clear agreement that we would stop. If I was going to stop, I needed to stay stopped. Either course would have been preferable to what actually happened.


Lessons for the future:

This has been a timely reminder that I have a great deal to learn. While some of my fights go according to script (and I win or lose based on my skill distribution), I still don't have the range of experience to respond properly when things go off script.

I intend to work on that.

Thursday 10 March 2011

Focusing for the Future

 


Since moving from Domain to Molden Heath I have gone from fighting other new players to fighting pilots with many, many more skill points than I have. In some cases, the difference is more than an order of magnitude, and this puts me at an obvious disadvantage.

While I can never close that skill gap, I can, by focusing my efforts, close that gap in certain areas. However, this requires me to focus all my training on a specific ship over the next several months, and I need to consider my options carefully. If I choose a skill set that fits me, and the way I fight, then I stand a good chance of becoming a seriously dangerous pilot. If I choose a skill set that, however good it looks on paper, simply does not suit my play style, then I will have wasted months, and my pvp career will flounder.

So, no pressure.

In truth, the skill set that any given ship demands often overlaps greatly with the skill set demanded by one or more other ships. Thus, taking a more long term view, maxing out my skills for one ship will also leave me close to maxed out on other ships. These different ship groups, or “skill sets”, are worth considering individually.


The Traditional Set

This skill set is the classic Amarr skill set, with a focus on lasers, low slot tanking (ie, armor or speed), backed up by great capacitor and fitting skills. Pvp ships in this set include the Punisher, Crusader, Omen and Harbinger.

The Punisher is a straightforward brawler; easy to learn, if a little one dimensional. From a training perspective the low cost is a real plus, and if the ship is not quite “end game”, pilots can graduate easily from a Punisher to a number of other ships.

The Crusader is the fastest ship in the game, and a deadly interceptor. Despite using almost the same skill set as the Punisher, it flies very differently, relying on speed, rather than armor, to deny the enemy a kill. Like the Punisher, though, the premise of the Crusader is very straightforward; fly fast and carry big guns. Tried and tested, this is a solid step up from the Punisher if I want to stay focused on frigates.

The Omen, unlike the previous two ships, has a poor reputation. That reputation is largely down to the difficulty of actually fitting an Omen, but there are a number of experienced pilots that swear the Omen is the equal of the Rupture once your fitting skills are maxed out. Like the Crusader, the pvp Omen seems to be most successful when used with a mwd to kite and evade the enemy while abusing the range bonuses of Scorch. This is another very cost effective ship.

The Harbinger has an excellent reputation, but I have no desire to fly anything larger than a cruiser. Still, if that were to change, this set would flow easily into battle cruisers.

Set advantages:


A wide range of ships. Clearly, the Traditional Skill Set encompases ships of every class and cost. This should mean the set ages well, and is easy to learn on with a selection of cheap hulls.

Lasers. Let’s be clear, when we say lasers, we really mean Scorch. Scorch is a beautiful, beautiful thing, and it is what makes these otherwise unremarkable ships very, very dangerous. Close range damage from a long way away.

Builds on pre-existing skills. I already have about 1 million skill points in gunnery (although half are in fitting skills that benefit missile launchers too), which means that I don’t have as far to go to max out this skill set as I would some other sets.

Simple tactics. The Amarr are not known for their subtlety, and the Traditional Set reflects that. Just turn the guns on and try to keep at your ideal range. If that doesn’t work, switch ammo. Sorted.

Set disadvantages:

Lasers. Lasers require cap skills that other weapons do not, which adds to the time necessary to max out this skill set. They also deal predictable damage, and, lets face it, T2 crystals are not cheap to loose.

Lack of mid slots. Typically, ships in this set lack mid slots, which gives them limited ewar, and makes them a little one dimensional. Their one “trick” is either going to be a stupendous tank, or stupendous speed (both being generated from the low slots). This could get a little boring to fly. This is my biggest concern with this set.


The Ewar Set

This skill set focuses primarily on drones skills and ewar – typically tracking disruptors and capacitor warfare. Pvp ships in this set include the Arbitrator, Curse, Pilgrim and Sentinel. These ships are not huge dps machines, but they each try and take control of the fight and eliminate the enemy’s ability to respond. If successful, the kill becomes inevitable, despite the lower damage output.

The Arbitrator has an excellent reputation for solo pvp, and it is also quite cheap to fly. Probably the best learning platform in this set, it is very flexible to fit, and packs loads and loads of ewar. Of course, most Arbitrator fits are also quite slow, so there is a certain lack of “zoom factor”.

The Curse and Pilgrim are Arbitrator upgrades. These ships are very expensive, but have a ferocious pvp reputation. The Pilgrim is especially appealing, as the ability to hunt under the cover of a covops cloak is nearly unique. These ships are not for the novice, but a worthwhile goal for experienced and skilled pvp pilots.

The Sentinel is a frigate version of the Curse, and as such it is far more affordable. Still not for novices, it offers an intermediate between the Arbitrator and the T2 cruisers.

Set advantages:


A decent range of ships. The set does not boast as many ships as the Traditonal Set, and it is largely focused on cruiser hulls. Equally, all of these ships are flown in a similar manner, and use the same tactics. That being said, there are definite “beginner” and “end game” ships, which allows for a decent progression.

Asymmetric warfare. The Traditional Set would pit my gunnery and tanking skills against my enemy’s gunnery and tanking skills. If mine are better, I will probably win, but if they are not, I will probably lose. The Ewar Set takes a different approach, trying to take control of the fight and negate the enemy’s skills. While requiring more pilot skills, it can compensate for lower character skills.

Builds on pre-existing skills. Thanks to my pve tangent, I have reasonable drone skills (about half a million skill points), which means that I will not take as long to max out this skill set as some others.

Set disadvantages:

Very different approach. Although I like the sound of this type of combat, the truth is that I have no experience with it. If I commit to it, I am taking the risk that it just won’t suit me. On the other hand, by slowing down and controlling the fight I might actually be playing to my strengths.

Slow. None of these ships are known for their speed. While I have never wanted to be the fastest ship in the system, I do like a bit of zoom. I would be giving that up in exchange for other forms of control. This is perhaps my biggest concern when it comes to this set.


The Khanid Set

The Khanid Skill Set focuses on rockets and low slots. Pvp viable ships include the Malediction and the Vengeance, both of which are well regarded (since the rocket boost) pvp ships. The Sacrilege and Damnation also make an appearance, although they are generally less popular.

The Malediction seems to be a very forgiving ship, at least as far as interceptors go. With a cap-less weapon system and high resists, the Malediction is free to spend cap on armor repair, and does so efficiently. This means that while it is not as fast as the Crusader, it can cope with moderate damage, perhaps from drones or missiles. The extra long (nearly 30km before overheat) point also allows the pilot to regroup, moving out of range to consider his options, while still not allowing his enemy to escape.

The Vengeance, while slower and designed as a brawler, shares the Malediction’s abundance of extra cap, which again allows an effective active tank. While only a frigate, my understanding is that assault ships pack a cruiser size punch, which allows it to take on a wide range of targets.

The Sacrilege is the Vengeance’s big brother; a close range, thick skulled brawler that wins through absorbing damage (often with dual reps), rather than a high dps. An interesting ship, but the price tag associated with T2 cruisers also ensures that I would not be flying one any time soon.

Set advantages:

Rockets. Rockets are the only close range weapon system that can compete with Scorch for range. They also ignore tracking, which makes them excellent in dog fights, and even give the pilot a strong answer to a frigate’s worst enemy: drones! They also use no cap, a point I have touched on above.

Slot layout. Khanid ships have a fantastic slot layout, allowing full tackle or some incorporated ewar. Thus, they have more tactical freedom than their Traditional Set counterparts (indeed, this is the reason that the Retribution is not even pvp viable).

Amarr resists. Despite having fewer low slots, the inbuilt resists of Khanid ships means that they don’t lose any ability to absorb damage. Indeed, for solo purposes the resists make an active tank much more efficient, and the cap-less weapon systems help even more.

They look awesome. This is not a point to be overlooked. While Amarr ships generally look good, if you are going to be staring at a single spaceship months, there is something to be said for making sure that it is one of the two most awesome looking spaceships in New Eden.

Set disadvantages:

Narrow range of ships. While the two Khanid frigates have different roles, they are ultimately both frigates. I’m also not sure how much variety the cruiser actually offers, besides a larger tank. This is potentially a problem in the long term, although past experience has taught me that frigates are generally my favorite hull to fly.

Cost. This set does not offer a cheap ship to practice with, as the Khanid “theme” exists purely as a series of T2 ships. While the Malediction does offer a fair amount of “gtfo” and might be able to escape destruction the way my Punisher cannot, each loss will be a very expensive lesson. If pushed, the Inquisitor might make a serviceable training platform in the short term - while generally overlooked, I have encountered a number of pilots that have used it successfully.

Rockets. I would have to start from scratch with this weapon system. It would probably be worthwhile with the recent changes, but painful nevertheless. Rockets are also still a bit of an unknown at the moment, as many people still shun them because of their reputation. I suppose that an alternative would be to accept the loss of the damage bonus and stick with lasers, but that seems inelegant.

The financial and skill costs are my biggest concerns with this set.


Your Views

Now, I am genuinely torn between these three different sets. Each one seems very cool, and I lean one way and then another as time goes by. Ultimately, though, I have to pick one for the medium term and stick with it.

Before I make a decision, though, I would like to hear what more experienced pilots have to say on the matter - perspective is a valuable commodity. So I have included a vote, below. While I won’t promise to be bound by the vote, I will find it very pursasive. When voting, don’t just vote for “the best”, vote for “the best for Taurean Eltanin”. You’ve read about my fights, you’ve seen how I think and react. Which set is most likely to bring me success and enjoyment?

Which skill set should I be trying to max out over the next 3-6 months?



Thanks for voting. I want as many opinions as possible, so please direct your friends here if you think they would be interested. If you have a blog, links are appreciated.

Finally, don’t be afraid to leave a comment. I’m looking for all the input I can get!

Wednesday 9 March 2011

Puisher Plan: 2nd Quarter Review


One of the great things about keeping a record of my fights is that I can revisit them and consider them critically with the benefit of hindsight. I am also able to look at fights spread over a period of time, and search for trends and habits. This is what I see so far.


Fits & Fitting:

At the end of the 1st quarter my fits and fitting skills were hopless, and I recognised that. I put some serious work into this area, and I now believe that my fits are rock solid (although I do not rig, yet), and my fitting skills are nearly maxed out (only have Advanced Weapons Upgrades III - don't need more at the moment).

I have two "optimal" fits now - neither of which I have flown exactly, as I am trying to come by the final parts at a decent price - one with DLP and the other with GPL. I prefer the GPL fit (it has better tracking and better tank, at the cost of some range and dps) and once my back stock of DLP II is gone, I shall stick to the GPL fit.

I am toying with switching the neut for a nos, though, as I have been facing more and more drones. My neut is useless against them, and another cycle or two of the repair system has obvious appeal. My cap skills are also lagging behind my other support skills, so using my cap as a weapon against more experienced pilots is not terribly effective.


Combat Record:

I have three kills now, and two of those pilots were pvp pilots (albeit younger pilots, like myself). This is a huge improvement over my zero kill record at the end of the 1st quarter. However, I recognise that I don't have a single kill since coming to Molden Heath.

From a combat record perspective, moving to Molden Heath was a mistake. The pilots here are more agressive, more skilled, and just plain better at this than I am. If I had stayed in Amarr I would probably be on Punisher 7, and I would have several more kills.

On the other hand, I think I would be a less dangerous pilot. I would rather continue to push the envelope, even though it means less short term success, than try and improve my "stats" by limiting my pool of opponents.

I would also be enjoying myself far less.


Focus:

Nevertheless, I do need to address the fact that I am regularly facing pilots with 20x the number of skill points that I have, in addition to their combat experience. I am never, ever going to catch up.

What I can do, however, is catch up in a specific area. Any given ship has only a certain number of relevant skills, and once those are maxed out, further improvement is not possible. If I focus on maxing out the skills for one particular ship, then over the next 3-6 months (or year, depending on the ship), I should achieve a certain amount of parity with the more experienced pilots around me.

This begs the obvious question "what should I focus on?". That's a huge topic, and my next post will address my options as comprehensively as possible. I'll also include a vote, so that anyone who wishes to do so can easily express a preference.

For right now, though, it is enough that I accept the need to focus.


Low sec:

Two of my last five losses were fights that I did not want to start in the first place, but occured because I am not yet fully settled into Molden Heath, nor totally familiar with the mechanics of low sec. I anticipate more of this, but I need to work on keeping it to a minimum.


Playstyle:

The Punisher is a great ship, but it's very reactive. Many of my fights seem to boil down to a straight forward competition between my ability to deal and absorb damage, and my opponent's ability to deal and absorb damage, because I lack any way of controling the fight (I'm slow, limited ewar, etc). At best, I adjust my speed and ammunition to make sure that I have the range and tracking to keep applying damage to the enemy.

In this kind of fight, my skills are largely measured against my enemy's skills and (due to age) found lacking. This, I have realised, is why people so often say that you need great skills to fly Amarr ships (and the Punisher in particular). Years from now, that will work to my advantage. At the moment, it makes life difficult for me.

I am also not sure if that is how I want to fly. I like the idea of having some way to control the fight, although I recognise that I have very little experience of doing so. It may well be something to keep in mind when choosing which ship to focus on, however.

Tuesday 8 March 2011

Punisher 10


The fit:

3 Gatling Pulse Lasers 2 (Navy Multifrequency & Scorch)
5W Infectious Power Malfunction

Cold-gas Arcjet Thrusters
J5b Phased Prototype Warp Inhibitor

Small I-a Polarized Armor Regenerator
Adaptive Nano Plating 2
Damage Control 2
200mm Rolled Tungsten


The hunt:

I was on a roam around Molden Heath, when saw FeistyOne in local - the pilot that downed me in Punisher 7. I said hello, and expressed my regret for not giving her a "gf" last time. We started chatting, and I was challenged to a T1 frigate dual. How could I refuse?

A few minutes later I spotted a Tristram on my scanner, and guessed it was FeistyOne. We agreed to warp to the sun at zero, and start as soon as we landed.

And that's exactly what we did. We pointed each other, and opened fire. Because she was using blasters, I tried to cap her out. I made sure that I kept our respective speeds in within my tracking profile, and it was a straight up damage race.

Which she won - by a respectable (but not embarrassing) margin.

2011.03.05 15:31:00
Victim: Taurean Eltanin
Corp: Strategic Conflicts Incorporated
Alliance: Unknown
Faction: Unknown
Destroyed: Punisher
System: Atlar
Security: 0.4
Damage Taken: 2313


Involved parties:
 

Name: FeistyOne (laid the final blow)
Security: -9.9
Corp: Twisted Inc.
Alliance: NONE
Faction: NONE
Ship: Tristan
Weapon: Light Electron Blaster II
Damage Done: 2313
 

Destroyed items:
 

Heavy Assault Missile Launcher I (Cargo)
Fusion S (Cargo)
200mm Reinforced Rolled Tungsten Plates I
ECM Burst I, Qty: 2 (Cargo)
Small I-a Polarized Armor Regenerator
Small Armor Repairer I (Cargo)
EMP S, Qty: 100 (Cargo)
Massive Scordite (Cargo)
Imperial Navy Multifrequency S
Adaptive Nano Plating II
Dual 180mm AutoCannon I (Cargo)
Gatling Pulse Laser II
Scorch S (Cargo)
Proton S, Qty: 100 (Cargo)
Shield Recharger I (Cargo)
 

Dropped items:
 

Photon Scattering Field I (Cargo)
Small Shield Transporter I (Cargo)
Monopropellant I Hydrazine Boosters (Cargo)
Widowmaker Heavy Missile, Qty: 100 (Cargo)
250mm Light Artillery Cannon I (Cargo)
Imperial Navy Multifrequency S, Qty: 2
Miner I (Cargo)
Damage Control II
Phased Plasma S, Qty: 101 (Cargo)

Cold-Gas I Arcjet Thrusters

5W Infectious Power System Malfunction
J5b Phased Prototype Warp Scrambler I
Gatling Pulse Laser II, Qty: 2
Small Capacitor Battery I (Cargo)
Scorch S, Qty: 2 (Cargo)
Proton S, Qty: 101 (Cargo
)

Gf's all around, and FeistyOne then contracted my wreck back to me, which was really awesome.


Post battle review:

Again, my ability to deal and absorb damage was simply less than my enemy's ability to do so. While I have been working on my fitting skills, my damage and tanking skills have been neglected. I will need to do something about that soon.

When the battle was first ended, I was kicking myself for not trying to get out of the Tristram's optimal. In hindsight, however, the web meant that I had no ability to do so. Still, I should have considered the possibility, rather than overlooked it. I need to work on that.

I am also becoming more dissatisfied with the neut. I love the idea, but it is yet another area where my skills are simply measured against my opponent's skills, and I don't have the capacitor skills to win that competition yet. I will have to consider going back to the nos, at least in the short term, so I can get a few more rep cycles in.


Lessons for the future:

Try (at the very least) to control tracking and range. Also start working on tanking skills as soon as reasonably possible.


Tangent:

Most of the time, I just don't understand why people go on and on about Eve being dark and seedy game. Everyone I meet seems to be pretty awesome. In fact, the people who blow me up seem to be the most awesome; it's only the carebears that get snippy. And I bet they are really nice to other carebears.

Sure, I see some (really) obvious scammers in local, but they just take advantage of other player's greed.  As W C Feilds once said "You can't cheat an honest man. He has to have larceny in his heart in the first place."

Perhaps what people find in New Eden is simply a reflection of themselves.

Monday 7 March 2011

Punisher 9


The fit:

3 Gatling Pulse Lasers 2 (Navy Multifrequency & Scorch)
5W Infectious Power Malfunction

Cold-gas Arcjet Thrusters
J5b Phased Prototype Warp Inhibitor

Small Armor Repair System 1
Adaptive Nano Plating 2
Damage Control 2
200mm Rolled Tungsten

My "traditional" gatling pulse fit. I prefer it to the DLP fit, but as I have a dozen or so DLP II stashed about, you will probably see a mix of the two.



The hunt:

I was bouncing around the backwaters of Molden Heath, getting to know the area and making safe spots, when I came to a system with a few ships in local. Wanted to see who was around, so I warped to an asteroid belt to run a scan (I had no hunting safes in the system at that point).

When I came out of warp (not at zero) I attracted the attention of a couple of rats. It took me a moment to realise that, though, as my overview does not include npcs on my usual tab (I'm not hunting for them, and they can make things pretty cluttered).

By  the time I realised that what was going on, they were on top of me. Not a big deal, and certainly nothing I could not handle. However, that was the moment a Rupture decided to warp in.

Of course, I noticed him right away, and I decided that this was not the way I wanted to start a fight, so I tried to warp out.

And that's when I learned that when the security rating of a system gets low enough, the rats carry points.

Knowing that I could not eliminate the rats before the Rupture's point came online, I turned into the Rupture and approached obliquely. I managed to get into a tight orbit, and throughout the fight his guns were largely useless. His Warrior IIs, however, were enough to get him there.

I warped out in my pod, dropping a "gf" in local, that went unanswered.  I soon found out why - as far as he was concerned, the fight was not yet over.

Now in this particular system there was a very obvious route to high sec. I had warped to my gate safe before warping to the gate itself, and I immediately saw that the Rupture had warped right onto the gate to try and grab my pod. If I had warped directly to the gate, he probably would have got me, too.

As it was, I simply waited while he took a pounding from the gate guns. Eventually he had to warp away, and I warped into the gate, and was on my way to high sec and safety.

Victim: Taurean Eltanin
Corp: Strategic Conflicts Incorporated
Alliance: Unknown
Faction: Unknown
Destroyed: Punisher
System: Illamur
Security: 0.3
Damage Taken: 2526


Involved parties:

Name: Soku Linchen (laid the final blow)
Security: 1.8
Corp: prtschft
Alliance: NONE
Faction: NONE
Ship: Rupture
Weapon: Warrior II
Damage Done: 2182

Name: Angel Predator / Archangels
Damage Done: 344

Destroyed items:

Gatling Pulse Laser II
200mm Reinforced Rolled Tungsten Plates I
Imperial Navy Multifrequency S, Qty: 2
Adaptive Nano Plating II
Proton S (Cargo)
Small Armor Repairer II
J5b Phased Prototype Warp Scrambler I


Dropped items:

Gatling Pulse Laser II, Qty: 2
Damage Control II
Imperial Navy Multifrequency S
Phased Plasma S (Cargo)
Scorch S, Qty: 3 (Cargo)
Fusion S (Cargo)
5W Infectious Power System Malfunction
Cold-Gas I Arcjet Thrusters



Post battle review:

The fight started with a mistake on my part; I warped to a belt. Now, not being a pve type, I did not know that some rats could point you, so it was a case of ignorance rather than overlooking what I already knew. In the future, though, if I want to check out some belts on the scanner, and I have no hunting safe, I will warp to the planet, not the belt.

That being said, I think I handled myself pretty well. I didn't panic, I took the correct action by moving to minimise his damage, and I got my pod out. After the fight I kept my head and warped to my gate safe rather than to the gate, and probably avoided podding as a result.

Again, though, I am starting to notice certain patterns in my fights, and I will comment more on those in the upcoming 2nd quarter review.


Lessons for the future:

There is no need to ever warp to a lowsec belt unless you already know there is a target there.

Sunday 6 March 2011

Punisher 8


I'm not going to go through my usual breakdown for this one, as there is not much to tell. I was making a gate safe when a couple of cruiser/battle cruisers landed right on top of me. I don't think they had been hunting me; it was just some bad luck.

And that's why we have dedicated safe-spot ships.

Victim: Taurean Eltanin
Corp: Strategic Conflicts Incorporated
Alliance: Unknown
Faction: Unknown
Destroyed: Punisher
System: Bosena
Security: 0.4
Damage Taken: 2244

Involved parties:

Name: Delicious Pain (laid the final blow)
Security: 1.1
Corp: The Corporation of Noble Sentiments
Alliance: NONE
Faction: NONE
Ship: Hurricane
Weapon: Warrior II
Damage Done: 2191

Name: Dorn Zask
Security: 0.5
Corp: The Corporation of Noble Sentiments
Alliance: NONE
Faction: NONE
Ship: Rupture
Weapon: Warrior II
Damage Done: 53

Name: Ceragor
Security: 1.5
Corp: The Corporation of Noble Sentiments
Alliance: NONE
Faction: NONE
Ship: Rapier
Weapon: 650mm Artillery Cannon II
Damage Done: 0

Destroyed items:

Gatling Pulse Laser II
200mm Reinforced Rolled Tungsten Plates I
Imperial Navy Multifrequency S
Phased Plasma S (Cargo)
Scorch S, Qty: 2 (Cargo)
Adaptive Nano Plating II

Dropped items:

Gatling Pulse Laser II, Qty: 2
Damage Control II
Imperial Navy Multifrequency S, Qty: 2
J5b Phased Prototype Warp Scrambler I
Scorch S (Cargo)
Fusion S (Cargo)
5W Infectious Power System Malfunction
Cold-Gas I Arcjet Thrusters
Small Armor Repairer II

Saturday 5 March 2011

Punisher 7


The fit:

3 Dual Light Pulse 2 (Navy Multifrequency & Scorch)
5W Infectious Power Malfuction

Cold-gas Arcjet Thrusters
J5b Phased Prototype Warp Inhibitor

Small Armor Repair System 1
Adaptive Nano Plating 2
Damage Control 2
200mm Rolled Tungsten

Small Auxiliary Power Relay


The hunt:

After being away for a bit, I decided to spend some more time in Molden Heath making bookmarks with my Punisher, looking for a fight.

A few opportunities came my way; a Daredevil spent some time trying to pin me down, but I wanted a fight I at least stood a chance of winning.

After about 30 minutes I noticed that a Navy Comet was trying to track me down, and I decided to let it. I warped to a planet and then burned off the warp in point by about 30km and played afk.

Five minutes or so later, the Comet warped in and started burning towards me. I used the time to plan for the coming battle.

The pilot, FeistyOne, was a 2007 character with nearly a -10 security status. I was pretty sure I could assume that her ship was maxed out, which did not bode well for me. I could have bailed at that point, but that would not have taught me very much

Looking at the bonuses on the Comet I guessed that she was going to get in close and orbit at 500 or so to disrupt my tracking. My velocity column on the overview confirmed that she was faster than me, and so I would not be able to kite.

This was my plan, then. I would start moving away from the Comet once she got close to Scorch range. She would still catch me, but I would get a little more time to apply damage. Once she was in close I would switch to Navy, but I would also start neuting; if I could cap her out then she would loose her speed advantage and I could try to kite.

That was the idea, at least. However, when starting up my engines I did not properly take into account acceleration. It took me far longer to come up to speed than I had expected, and she was on top of me before my speed came up. So much for free damage.

As I had expected, FeistyOne pulled into a tight orbit to wreck my tracking, but she also launched three Warrior II drones. This shocked me; I had not realised that the frigate carried drones, and it was clear that this was where most of her damage would come from.

Now, my only plan was escape. I had to survive long enough to cap out FeistyOne and warp away. The odds were long, but it was the best I could do. I doubt I would have been successful even if a Rupture had not warped in and finished me off.

Victim: Taurean Eltanin
Corp: Strategic Conflicts Incorporated
Alliance: Unknown
Faction: Unknown
Destroyed: Punisher
System: Atlar
Security: 0.4
Damage Taken: 1640

Involved parties:

Name: FeistyOne
Security: -9.8
Corp: Twisted Inc.
Alliance: NONE
Faction: NONE
Ship: Federation Navy Comet
Weapon: Warrior II
Damage Done: 1462

Name: Ariartus (laid the final blow)
Security: -10.0
Corp: Gunpoint Diplomacy
Alliance: NONE
Faction: NONE
Ship: Rupture
Weapon: 425mm AutoCannon II
Damage Done: 178

Destroyed items:

Angel Silver Tag (Cargo)
Small Ancillary Current Router I
200mm Reinforced Rolled Tungsten Plates I
Imperial Navy Multifrequency S
EMP S (Cargo)
Scorch S (Cargo)
Dual Light Pulse Laser II, Qty: 3
Supplemental Screen Generator I (Cargo)
Cold-Gas I Arcjet Thrusters
J5b Phased Prototype Warp Scrambler I

Dropped items:

Damage Control II
Imperial Navy Multifrequency S, Qty: 2
Scorch S, Qty: 2 (Cargo)
Small Armor Repairer I
Proton S (Cargo)
5W Infectious Power System Malfunction
Adaptive Nano Plating II
200mm AutoCannon I (Cargo)



Post battle review:

I made a lot of mistakes here. The worst was my failure to properly review the Comet's capabilities. I also vastly underestimated what a 2007 pirate was capable of. In hindsight, I stood no chance at all.

I also regret not offering a "gf" in local; I was too busy spamming warp to get my pod out. However, FeistyOne clearly deserved the "gf", as she had completely out skilled and out piloted me.


Lessons for the future:

Molden Heath offers plenty of fights, but I need to work harder to find ones that I can possibly win.

Tuesday 1 March 2011

War dec fail.


As a parting shot at my old Tash-Murkon stomping grounds I decided that I would try war dec'ing a local mining corp, so I set up a one-man corporation and declared war.

The results were disappointing.

I had chosen a smallish corp with about 8 members (although I only ever saw four or so regularly). The CEO was several years old, although his bio suggested that he had been sold to a newer player at some point. I had chosen this particular corp because they seemed game to challenge can-flippers; they often gave their cans creative (and supposedly clever) names that taunted and insulted pirates.

I was not terribly serious about the war; I certainly did not expect to make money out of it. But if I got a couple of good fights to write about I would have been happy, so I noted the names of regular players along with their play time. I'm glad that I did this, or I would not have been able to spot what happened next.

So how did this supposedly 8 man corp of moderately experienced players react to being war dec'd by a one man corp lead by a noob? They ran like school girls, which is ironic, given that one of their favourite insults for pirates is their supposed youth (according to this corp, pirates are all 12 year olds craving attention because their parents don't love them).

Sure, their corp numbers have barely changed, but the regular players are all in a new corp, while the CEO lives in a station with a load of alts (same name, but with increasing numbers).

What a cowardly crew.

Not terribly impressed with the war dec system - I had to wait 48 hours before the war went active. If I were to try again I would choose a much larger corp; more chance to find a pilot willing to actually engage in combat.

So far, however, Molden Heath seems to offer plenty of fights, so I am unlikely to bother.

PS. A family member has gone into hospital, so I am taking a few days off work to help look after things. This will probably mean that I am not very active on Eve for the next few days, and any blog posts will reflect that. Thank you for bearing with me.