Wednesday 29 June 2011

Vengeance v Drake

The hunt:

Another day, another roam. Some times you have to really look for the fights, and other days the opportunities just fall into your lap.

In this case, it was a Drake looking for trouble. He was sitting in a belt, and so I jumped in to say hello.

I kept my orbit wide to reduce his damage, and opened fire with Gremiln Rage. He must have been active tanked, because his sheilds did not seem to drop.

Equally, I was tanking his damage just fine. We were both having a fine old time wasting some ordinance against each other (it was pretty clear that neither of us could break the other) when the blob landed.

Yeah, Eve Uni. About two dozen of them. They had a long point interceptor, and he locked me down while the others jumped in. One ship and one pod later, I'm updating my clone.



Afterthoughts:

I have to admit that this loss bothered me more than any other I can think of. I suppose it's because I have foolishly thought that Eve University was somehow different from other Eve corps. I mean, I expect the Hatchery to blob me. It's what they do and they make do bones about it. Same with SKRUB and TORAH. And when I see those guys enter local I get the hell out.

Eve Uni, though, I have always given a special status to. First, I've never agressesed Eve Uni, ever. They teach newbs how to play, and I don't particularly want to mess with that. I know they run "anti-pirate" roams, but I always thought that this was about clearing gate camps - and let's face it, everyone wins when gate camps are cleared, even the pirates.

So when I saw Eve Uni enter local, I assumed that they would leave two guys having consensual pvp alone. And you know what happens when you assume...

It took me a long while to figure out that I was not mad at Eve Uni; they're just looking for an easy gank, same as 90% of the Molden Heath population. No, I was mad at myself for being stupid enough to buy the PR and let it cost me a ship and a set of implants.

Next time, I'll know better.

18 comments:

  1. Bad luck man. When I see EVE uni in local I spam random gibberish based on Lady Shaniqua's blog. They never talk back though =/

    http://ladyshaniqua.blogspot.com/2011/04/alarming-news.html

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  2. You should always avoid Eve-uni the KRIMINALZ WHO KILL JUSTIC BOATS (sorry LS).

    Truth be told if you are under -5, they will gank you no matter what. Lesson well learned I guess.

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  3. Hah, seems I am not the only one who has LS' blog in mind when I see Eve-uni.

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  4. I've given up on trying to kill drakes in anything frigate-sized. Also, he didn't need to be active-tanked, Drake's shield just works like that.

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  5. Eve Uni roll around in massive, ECM-heavy, gangs and in general are a pain and a nuisance because they are just unengageable.

    Also, trying to break a Drake in a Vengeance. Wow. You must have been packing a LOT of rockets!

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  6. Unless you are blue to Eve University (there are some perma red pilots / corps / alliances that are blue), if you are below -5.0 or GCC they will engage most of the time.

    While I'm ex Eve University, I occasionally go gcc from time to time; and do have to keep my eye on local for Eve Uni (I'm not blue to them to my knowledge).

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  7. I've never seen e-uni run around in anything other than a blob lol. I think they made a public statement recently about changing from nrds to nbsi also.

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  8. Funny how we all seemed to have immediately thought of Lady Shaniqua's Justic Petrol!

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  9. Yes, EVE-Uni has been NBSI-ing in Curse (which, really, is the best policy in 0.0), usually in 30+ ship blobs, with 3-5 Blackbirds (perhaps Falcons, too) and Logi. It has only been recently that I've seen them with 'dictors, which makes for an even more fun blobtastic experience.

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  11. Hi there! I'm a new pilot who's been focusing exclusively on PvE, and was wondering if I could hit you up in-game for some tips/starter advice. I'm getting extremely bored of level 4s, and I have amassed a sizeable wealth; I want to start a life in lowsec but am not sure where to begin.

    My in-game name is Sarah Ichinumi, and would love to speak to you in-game. :)

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  12. Not a problem, Sarah Ichinumi. I'll probably be on all day on Sunday, so feel free to contact me.

    When giving advice, I generally find it useful to know what kind of ships you want to fly, and what size gang you see yourself rolling around with. Skill point distributions and combat experience are also helpful, so that I don't start suggesting things you already have covered.

    Perhaps you'd like to send me an in game mail addressing those points?

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  13. Awesome! I'm usually on every night (hahaha...). I'm stuck at work right now, though, so I guess I might as well post here. :P

    I currently fly Caldari battleships, an SNI and RNI to be specific. (I've become very good at grinding, haha :P) I have about 2-3 billion in assets, 500 million of which is liquid, so I can definitely finance some extensive PvP screwups/experimentation. I've only just started running PvP ops with my alliance in a (rather poorly fitted) EWAR Scorpion.

    Fleet stuff is nice and all, but I definitely want to learn how to solo PvP, and my tackling/solo experience is pretty much zero. I get the sense that I'm missing out on some higher understanding of Eve combat; all I've been doing is shooting NPCs and/or jamming unfortunate souls who run into my alliance's gatecamp.

    Skill-wise, I'm pretty well-skilled in Drones (Can use T2), Missiles (Anything up to Cruise with decent skills), and Shields. I definitely don't want to solo PvP as Caldari though, missiles are just not effective enough, and I can't afford to sacrifice shield tank for point. :(

    I guess my first question would be what race you recommend for small-ship solo PvP. I've been leaning towards Gallente because of my drone skills, but I'm a huge fan of Amarr ship design...

    Would appreciate any feedback. :)

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  14. Hey uni will go blue with anyone.

    If you haven't stressed them then you may not plan too get a personal NAP.

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  15. Interesting that you're mildly disappointed at E-Uni for taking advantage of an easy gank when you yourself have posted several instances of taking on defenseless PI haulers. The danger comes with the territory, so it's not to be unexpected.

    That said, I love reading the blog, and best of luck to your future battles.

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  16. I gotta admit, I chuckled a bit, and a line from an old movie came into my head:

    "Nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition!"

    Nobody expects the Eve Uni blob. I hear it more and more often. I'm sure they do a lot of good in Eve - I'm not bashing them on that, for the record. I've also heard they only fly blobs and engage targets they overwhelmingly outclass.

    Was the drake bait, then? Different corp? I didn't see the KM link, so I figured I'd ask.

    Also, not being much of a low-sec PVPer myself (I've only recently gone into RVB on an alt to learn some PVP), aren't drakes generally bait, just like Mallers?

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  17. Actually, he wasn't bait. We chatted after the fight, and he was just as gutted as I was that Eve Uni had interupted. We'd both been having a blast in genuine solo pvp.

    That said, Drakes are a favoured bait ship due to their tank.

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