Wednesday 30 November 2011

Dramiel Roam #1


The hunt:

Suleiman had decided to organise a Dramiel roam through null sec. Few of us fly Dramiels in the Tuskers - we're space poor pirates who can't afford such things - but this was going to be a last opportunity to fly them before the coming nerf. Plus, it sounded completely awesome.

The fleet was restricted to shield Drams and Scimitars. As some of us are not capable of even sitting in a Dram, shield Interceptors were also allowed, as well as a couple of Sentinels for e-war and an Interdictor. Of course, I jumped into my shield Malediction, ready for some pew-pew.

We set off through 0.0 with about 18 ships, mostly Drams, and ran into a gate camp. There were about 8 of them, mostly in cruisers, but despite the class advantage, it was a complete massacre. We wiped them out to a man, with no losses.

Continuing on our way, we spent several hours blowing up ships in TEST space, and generally having a good time. Things took a turn for the worse after about our 5th hour of roaming.

We had jumped into a dead-end system to fight with a gang of BCs and Logistics ships. It was a close fought battle, but we were on the winning side; our manoeuvrability allowed us to pick away at stragglers and then get out before the counter-punch came. However, in the middle of the engagement, another gang jumped in.

We warped out, thinking that these were reinforcements for the locals, but in fact they were hostiles. Wounded from our own attacks, our initial opponents were wiped off the field. The victors then decided to camp us into the system, which, as luck would have it, held no wormholes.

Their gang quickly swelled to about 30 BCs and support, and our scouts told us that the out gate was locked down tight. We tried to log out, but they persisted for over an hour. Eventually I, and others, had to drop from vent and head to bed.


Getting home:

Later in the week I tried to get myself back to Hevrice. I picked an off-peak period and made my way back to low sec. I dodged some locals, and was doing well when I had a stroke of bad luck.

I was warping to a gate that was too far from any celestials to scan in advance. Using d-scan mid warp I could see two destroyers waiting for me. I knew this meant there would be a camp on the other side, but I figured that my odds of running it were better than trying to escape the waiting destroyers and finding a way around.

Jumping as soon as I hit the gate, I was followed immediately by the two destroyers. The bubble was up on the other side, so I aligned to a celestial and began to burn out of the bubble. My speed, I hoped, would be enough to save me.

However, as fate would have it, one of the destroyers loaded grid close enough to me to hit me with a scram! Speed gone, I tried to drift far enough from the bubble to get my pod out, but to no avail.


Afterthoughts:

A dissappointing end to what had been an excellent roam.

I did not learn until much later that the gang camping us in had joined our vent channel, so they were not fooled by the log-off attempt. It's something of a tradition in the Tuskers to joke about how easy - and pointless - we are to infiltrate. We have no corp wallet to steal, and because we mostly roam solo in cheap ships, we have little intel of value.

However, I don't think we can just laugh this one off. It was, truthfully, pretty fail. Our lax security cost us an hour of play time, and I lost a ship. Other members of my corp may also have lost ships, or have been forced to abandon them. That's a clear win to the null sec guys.

Tuskers don't do spies. Not because we're too honourable, but because we don't care. This ties into Mord's recent comment about contextual differences between low sec and null sec. For Tuskers, the fight is the point; we're not fighting for ideals, territory, or isk. Even winning is not strictly the goal. We're fighting because we want to improve our technical flying skills, and become the best pilots we can be. So infiltration is seen as a distraction from what really matters (at best) or crutch for poor pilots (at worst).

Of course, as we learned to our detriment, that does not make infiltration any less effective. Not a lesson I'm soon to forget; it cost me a ship.

Equally, I think we underestimated the null sec intel channels. Staying in one place (TEST space) for so long allowed the locals to put together a response fleet (and finding us was easy once they were logged onto our vent). While the timing and location seems to have been bad luck, a top quality null sec FC could easily have been shadowing us, waiting for just such an opporunity.

Still, it was a fantastic roam, and I very much enjoyed playing fast tackle for the fleet. Of course, in a Dram fleet, speed was not really what I was most useful for. Instead, I was a fast locking point on gates, and a good way of landing a point in latecomers to the battle without putting myself in too much danger.

Indeed, we had so much fun, we decided to do the whole thing again the following week.

Monday 28 November 2011

Fleet roles: Scouting


The Tuskers have had a couple of fleet roams into 0.0 that I want to post about, but lack of time (and internet issues) means I’m not getting a report up today. However, there are a number of spin-off topics I want to post about, and this is one of them.
***
This is not a “how to” on fleet scouting; I’m not Azual, and I can’t claim anything like his expertise on fleet warfare. Instead, these are simply my observations on certain fleet roles after participating in a number of Tusker fleets. Take from that what you will.

That said, it seems to me that every fleet needs two kinds of scouts; pathfinders and rangers. While the roles are similar, they require different skill levels and ship setups, and the success of a roam can be made or broken by the quality of the fleet’s scouts.

Pathfinders

These are what I would call entry level scouts. Their role is typically to stay one or two jumps ahead (or behind) the fleet as they travel from point A to point B. They are the eyes and ears of the FC and are practically under his remote control; they go where they are told, and only where they are told. The FC needs to know exactly where they are and what they see.
Almost anyone can fill this role in a pinch. Typically, it helps if they are flying a fast ship so that they can move at the fleet’s pace, rather than forcing the fleet to move at their pace. And being cheap with a fast align time means that the FC can fearlessly send them into potential traps; they will either escape, or their destruction is no real loss. Interceptors and many T1 frigates make ideal pathfinders.
These same ship qualities also make for excellent light tackle, and since the pathfinding role ends when the fleet stops moving, pathfinders often double as the dedicated tackle for the fleet, giving them a role in combat as well as on the move.

Because new pilots usually fly fast, cheap ships (although they don’t feel cheap to the new pilot), they are often given the role of pathfinder. It’s also a good way to integrate them into the fleet; it keeps them busy and talking to people when they might otherwise not know anyone during those long spells of just sitting on a gate, waiting for intel. And because the role comes with a fair degree of micromanagement from the FC (depending on the FC and the circumstances, of course) a new pilot will feel fairly confident that they are doing the ‘right’ thing, whereas they might flounder if left too much to their own devices.

Rangers

These scouts are the ones sent out to actually find the enemy, and they require a very specific skill set. Because an entire fleet is (literally) waiting for them to do their job, they are under constant pressure to find a balance between accurate information and fast information.

This is somewhere I go very, very wrong. A good ranger has a natural feel for the information coming in through his overview and his d-scan; he knows that Drake is at a POS without jumping to the POS to take a look, he quickly deduces that the Maelstrom is outside a station, and he can tell that the Merlin in the belt is bait.
I, on the other hand, don’t do ‘feelings’. I roam the way I fly – focused and meticulous. I excel at anything that requires these skills and my fights are won through management of my ship: cap management, heat management, module management, range management, and so on. There is nothing ‘magic’ about what I do; I’m just working the numbers.
So when I roam, I start by jumping around so I’ve quickly d-scanned the entire system, and then start narrowing down every target that I’m interested in, starting with the highest priority and working down the list. I won’t conclude that a ship is sitting on a station until I’ve seen it with my own eyes, or had it on 5 degree d-scan with a range check.

This is fine when roaming solo, and has gotten me many kills that others would have missed (while probably costing me at least as many fights that I would have found if I’d moved on the easier targets). However, it is needlessly time consuming for fleet work. Equally, though, I get very uncomfortable when trying to rush this process, which makes me a poor ranger.

On the other end of  the spectrum you have pilots like [name removed by request] (who is one the best rangers I’ve ever flown with in my  - admittedly limited - fleet experience), who can seemingly jump into a system and tell you where everyone is and what they are doing before he’s even loaded grid.

Of course, what he’s really doing is exactly what I would be doing in his place: bouncing around the system using d-scan. The difference is that [name removed] processes that data faster than I do, and is able to come to (correct) conclusions based on less information. And ultimately, that’s what makes him a better ranger than me.

Ship choice for rangers is a little more wide open than it is for pathfinders. While a ranger needs a certain amount of speed to find the enemy, there are different ways to start the fight. So one ranger might fly an interceptor to warp in and point the enemy, while another might fly covops to provide warp-in info for the pathfinders. Yet another might fly a bait ship. Ship choice will depend very  much on how the FC intends to bring the enemy to battle.

Practical Applications

Moving, with some trepidation, from observation to theory, it seems to me that it is important for an FC to know (at least informally) who his pathfinders are and who his rangers are.

Pathfinders, by and large, are not going to make good rangers. The fleet will move more and hunt more slowly, letting targets escape and increasing the chances that the locals will have time to organize effective resistance. Everyone loses - except the enemy.

Rangers, on the other hand, make perfectly decent (even excellent) pathfinders, but it’s a waste of talent. If someone needs to run into an insta-lock bubble camp, let it be one of the disposable pathfinders, otherwise you are down a ranger and forced to use someone else in the role they would have filled.

Wednesday 23 November 2011

Purifier 2.1

 


The fit:

Arbalest Siege Missile Launcher x3
Covert Ops Cloaking Device II
Core Probe Launcher

Cold-Gas I Arcjet Thrusters
Warp Disruptor II
Medium Shield Extender II


Nonofibre Internal Structure II x2
Ballistic Control System II

Small Warhead Calefaction Catalyst I
Small Bay Loading Accelerator I


The hunt:

I had tried camping a radar site, but things had not worked out. Rather than a battleship (or even a battlecruiser) the site was run by a Tengu. Because of the comparatively small sig radius, I thought my dps would not likely be enough to solo the cruiser. I called for backup, but the Tengu finished the site before backup arrived.

However, we did have a small fleet now, and we stumbled on a Ferox at a belt, so we (myself and two battlecruisers) all jumped in.

I took up a position about 50km from the fight as I did not need to be in point range. I aligned to a celestial and opened fire, with impressive results (okay I was impressed, but then I usually fly low dps ships). We quickly subdued the Ferox, and he agreed to pay a ransom of 60 million ISK.

This underscored a problem with long range missiles. When he agreed to a ransom, I already had two volleys in the air, so although I immediately shut down my launchers, I nearly blew him up via delayed dps!

However, language difficulties meant that the Ferox had thought he was paying a ransom of 60,000 ISK rather than 60,000,000 ISK. When he could not pay the agreed ransom we refunded him his payment and destroyed his ship.

2011.11.20 13:40

Victim: Arch3Ang3l
Corp: Reblier Ancbeu Administration of Defence
Alliance: None
Faction: None
Destroyed: Ferox
System: Hevrice
Security: 0.4
Damage Taken: 19712


Involved parties:

Name: Susitna
Security: -10.0
Corp: The Tuskers
Alliance: None
Faction: None
Ship: Hurricane
Weapon: Hurricane
Damage Done: 8348


Name: Ronan Jacques (laid the final blow)
Security: -9.7
Corp: The Tuskers
Alliance: None
Faction: None
Ship: Drake
Weapon: Caldari Navy Scourge Heavy Missile
Damage Done: 5588


Name: Taurean Eltanin
Security: -10.0
Corp: The Tuskers
Alliance: None
Faction: None
Ship: Purifier
Weapon: 'Arbalest' Siege Missile Launcher
Damage Done: 4479


Name: Serpentis Watchman / Serpentis Corporation
Damage Done: 1297


Destroyed items:

Thunderbolt Heavy Missile, Qty: 10
Heavy Missile Launcher I, Qty: 2
Shield Recharger I
Photon Scattering Field I
Medium Shield Extender I
Signal Amplifier II
Magnetic Field Stabilizer II
Warp Core Stabilizer I
Scourge Heavy Missile, Qty: 15 (Cargo)
Antimatter Charge M, Qty: 2978 (Cargo)


Dropped items:

Heavy Missile Launcher I, Qty: 3
Thunderbolt Heavy Missile, Qty: 40
250mm Railgun I, Qty: 2
Antimatter Charge M, Qty: 60
Invulnerability Field I
Warp Disruptor I
Magnetic Field Stabilizer II
Serpent F.O.F. Light Missile I, Qty: 100 (Cargo)
Thunderbolt Heavy Missile, Qty: 1850 (Cargo)
Mining Drone I (Drone Bay)


Strangely, although I am on the killmail, I don't actually receive any credit from Battleclinic.


Afterthoughts:

This was not a challenging fight, and if I had been in my Vengeance or Malediction I would not have bothered to post about it. However, there are still learning points here for a bomber.

I was the last one to land at the fight, so I had less time to inflict damage. However, I still did more damage than my Vengeance would have done if I had been first on the scene, so I'm happy with the contribution that the Purifier seems to be able to make to BC fights. More and more I am of the opinion that even if I can't solo in this thing, there is a future here for fleet dps/ewar; I'm certainly not regretting the training time I have put in.

However, this was my first real experience with the dps delay that plagues long range missiles. While not a big deal in this case, I could see it resulting in lost dps in a fast moving fleet fight.

I was not fired upon during the engagement, so I can't yet comment on the MSE, but I certainly did not feel disadvantaged by the lack of mwd; sig bloom can kill you just as fast as lack of speed.

Monday 21 November 2011

Purifier 1.3


The fit:

Arbalest Siege Missile Launcher x3
Covert Ops Cloaking Device II
Core Probe Launcher

Catalyzed Cold-Gas Arcjet Thrusters
Warp Disruptor II
Small Capacitor Booster II

Nonofibre Internal Structure II x2
Ballistic Control System II

Small Warhead Calefaction Catalyst I
Small Bay Loading Accelerator



The hunt:

It had been a bit of a depressing day, actually. I'd found a handful of targets, but something went wrong on each approach. Perhaps they finished their mission before I could creep into range. Perhaps I uncloaked myself on a wreck or structure. Different stories, but same result: no kills.

So when some of the lads found some trouble a few systems over, I was happy to head over to help them out. I was a couple of jumps off, and the fight was already under way.

We had a Cyclone and a Drake on the field to their Myrmidon and Hurricane. Going by com chatter, our Cyclone had been jumped by both the Myrm and the Hurricane, and Naoru's Drake had jumped in as support. They Myrmidon, for some reason, was called as primary. Presumably he had been first on the field.

The Cyclone tanked like a trooper, but was going down by the time I landed. I had warped in at about 30km and immediately opened fire on the Myrmidon, who was at about 20% armor. However, just after I launched (but before my torpedos hit), primary was switched to the Hurricane. This made sense, but was a pity; my torpedos stripped away most of his armor, and my second volley kept him there; since he was barely able to tank me, I suspect that the three of us would quickly have broken him.

Nevertheless, I switched targets. I had aligned to a planet that kept me near enough the fight to target each of the two BCs, so that was not a problem. Still, I need to break this down, step-by-step, because everything that happened next took no more than a few seconds.

First, I left-clicked the Hurricane on my overview. Then, I hit the "target" button, and my overview started beeping at me, indicating that I am trying to target something. As soon as the target was locked, I reengaged my torpedo launchers.

However, the beeping continued, and I realised that my autotargeting system was trying to target the drones that both ships had just sent my way. I immediately spammed my "warp" button, but nothing happened.

That's when I realised that I no longer had the celestial I'm aligned to on my HUD because I  had left-clicked on the Hurricane, bringing that up instead. I quickly tried to reacquire the planet on my HUD, but at this point I was already in my pod, because an mwd bomber has just over 1k ehp.

It was over for me that fast.

2011.11.20 09:51:00

Victim: Taurean Eltanin
Corp: The Tuskers
Alliance: None
Faction: None
Destroyed: Purifier
System: Indregulle
Security: 0.2
Damage Taken: 817


Involved parties:

Name: Jaxx Blackfox (laid the final blow)
Security: -1.7
Corp: The Jazz Lounge
Alliance: None
Faction: None
Ship: Myrmidon
Weapon: Hammerhead II
Damage Done: 790


Name: Jethro Winchester
Security: 1.3
Corp: The Jazz Lounge
Alliance: None
Faction: None
Ship: Hurricane
Weapon: Warrior I
Damage Done: 27


Destroyed items:

Core Probe Launcher I
Cap Booster 75, Qty: 5
Catalyzed Cold-Gas I Arcjet Thrusters
'Arbalest' Siege Missile Launcher
Covert Ops Cloaking Device II
Small Bay Loading Accelerator I
Ballistic Control System II
Nanofiber Internal Structure II
Small Warhead Calefaction Catalyst I
Caldari Navy Mjolnir Torpedo, Qty: 108 (Cargo)


Dropped items:

'Arbalest' Siege Missile Launcher, Qty: 2
Warp Disruptor II
Core Scanner Probe I, Qty: 8
Caldari Navy Mjolnir Torpedo, Qty: 39
Small Capacitor Booster II
Nanofiber Internal Structure II
Nanite Repair Paste, Qty: 51 (Cargo)
Cap Booster 75, Qty: 20 (Cargo)


Naoru was able to finish off the Hurricane and point the Myrm. We rushed to reship, but the Myrm launched some ECM drones and escaped.

2011.11.20 09:53:00

Victim: Jethro Winchester
Corp: The Jazz Lounge
Alliance: Unknown
Faction: Unknown
Destroyed: Hurricane
System: Indregulle
Security: 0.2
Damage Taken: 18296


Involved parties:

Name: Naoru Kozan (laid the final blow)
Security: -9.5
Corp: The Tuskers
Alliance: NONE
Faction: NONE
Ship: Drake
Weapon: Thunderbolt Fury Heavy Missile
Damage Done: 16759


Name: Taurean Eltanin
Security: -10.0
Corp: The Tuskers
Alliance: NONE
Faction: NONE
Ship: Capsule
Weapon: 'Arbalest' Siege Missile Launcher
Damage Done: 1537


Destroyed items:

Small Unstable Power Fluctuator I
V-M15 Braced Multispectral Shield Matrix
Warp Disruptor II
Republic Fleet EMP M, Qty: 20
Tracking Enhancer II, Qty: 2
Medium Anti-EM Screen Reinforcer I
Damage Control II
720mm 'Scout' Artillery I, Qty: 3
Medium Ancillary Current Router I
Y-T8 Overcharged Hydrocarbon I Microwarpdrive
Medium Core Defence Field Extender I
Large Shield Extender II
Republic Fleet EMP M, Qty: 880 (Cargo)


Dropped items:

Small Unstable Power Fluctuator I
Gyrostabilizer II, Qty: 3
Republic Fleet EMP M, Qty: 40
720mm 'Scout' Artillery I, Qty: 3
Warrior I (Drone Bay)



Afterthoughts:

Wow, are these bombers fragile. Granted, the timing sucked, but I should have used the right-click drop-down menu to target the Hurricane. My reactions were correct, and in time, but the process I used was a legacy of flying interceptors and assault frigates - you want your target to be on your HUD because you are constantly using your orbit/keep at range/approach buttons to control range and speed. That just does not work for tank-less bombers.

While I don't have a killmail to show for it, I was happy with the dps I was able to put on the Myrmidon, and the single volley I put on the Hurricane was decent. If I can avoid dying, I can contribute meaningful dps to a BC fight, which was one of my goals with bombers. Even if I can't solo in them, I can always fit them up for range and lob salvos at whomever Sule is kiting.

Still, I've been consistently disappointed by the lack of tank on this build, so I'll probably try the MSE fit next. I'll have to lose the mwd, but I've not really used that anyway; most of the time I'm cloaked up.

Friday 18 November 2011

Purifier 1.2



The fit:

Arbalest Siege Missile Launcher x3
Covert Ops Cloaking Device II
Core Probe Launcher

Catalyzed Cold-Gas Arcjet Thrusters
Warp Disruptor II
Small Capacitor Booster II

Nonofibre Internal Structure II x2
Ballistic Control System II

Small Warhead Calefaction Catalyst I
Small Bay Loading Accelerator I


The hunt:

I spent some more time scanning down wormholes, and discovered a C1 with no W-space wormholes, just another low sec exit. Checking out the exit system, I found myself in Derelik. I decided it might be worth roaming around a fairly quiet area of low sec where the Tusker tag did not automatically set off alarm bells (and was not set to red in contacts).

As it happened, I jumped into a system that was being scanned down by someone doing exploration. I sat tight, and let him finish scanning and move on. My hope was to let him get used to my presence in local, scan down the valuable sites while he went to get his site-running ship, and then ambush him. It might have worked, except it turned out that there were no valuable sites in this system.

Checking the galactic map, I saw that most of the systems around me were empty, but there were a couple nearby that had a few pilots in space. Time, I decided, to check them out.

Nearly everyone seemed to be either cloaked or posed or docked up; about what I expected in a backwater like this. It reminded me very much of my time in Amarr low sec. However, I did manage to catch a Wreathe leaving an unarmed pos (else I would not have dared uncloak). Sadly, he was not carrying anything of value.

After waiting out my GCC, I returned to my wormhole, only to find that the exit to Verge Vendor space had disappeared! As the wormhole had had plenty of time remaining on it, someone must have actively closed it. I was now a long way from home.

Rather than try and make the long journey back to Hevrice, I instead decided to keep roaming W-space looking for a closer exit. I eventually found one that put me only a half dozen jumps from Hev, but the exit was in high sec.

Boy, was THAT a learning experience. Despite emerging in the middle of nowhere, the Federation Navy was on me immediately. And despite my two Nanofibres, the gate guns seemed able to shoot at me before I could hit warp. With no tank, I barely managed the three jumps into low sec. A very close call.

I docked up for repairs, waited out my aggression timer on the gates, and then returned to Hevrice.


Afterthoughts:

This was the first time I had fired my torpedos at another player, and I was impressed by the volley damage; I nearly alpha'd the (admittedly untanked) hauler. Of course, the second volley was a long time in coming.

This kill was not a real test of the Purifier, or my fit, but it did give me a good taste of what I needed to do. I screwed up by hitting orbit rather than aligning out (not that it made a difference against this target), simply from force of habit.

The loss of my return route was a stark warning about the dangers of W-space. Up until then, it had not seemed a big deal, but all of a sudden it looked like a much, much larger place. Something to keep in mind.

The run through high sec was also illuminating. Solo bomber fits come in two flavours; mwd/booster fits and ab/shield fits. Mwd fits are more popular because you can outrun drones and because you have added maneuverability as well as an immunity to large neuts.

However, ab fits have their advantages. No sig bloom, for a start, and a much larger tank. This makes them better against missile ships (I am told) and as my damage type pushes me towards fighting Caldari ships, that's no bad thing. However, it would also have made a huge difference on the high sec run, allowing me to take a hit from the gate guns without worrying that I was going to explode each time. It also gives you more fitting space for other options; an ab Purifier can fit T2 launchers, if it wants to.

I'm going to stick with the mwd fit for now, but I look forward to trying an ab in due course.

Wednesday 16 November 2011

Purifier 1.1




The fit:

Arbalest Siege Missile Launcher x3
Covert Ops Cloaking Device II
Core Probe Launcher

Catalyzed Cold-Gas Arcjet Thrusters
Warp Disruptor II
Small Capacitor Booster II

Nonofibre Internal Structure II x2
Ballistic Control System II

Small Warhead Calefaction Catalyst I
Small Bay Loading Accelerator I

As the Purifer is a completely new ship type for me, I'm going to be recording more of my battles, even if not particularly eventful, as I need to learn a host of new player skills, as well as develop a fit that suits me. I've also returned to Punisher Plan numbering for the time being.


The hunt:

I spent several hours scanning down wormholes and exploring the systems within them. Sometimes the system was (or seemed) completely empty, while other systems contained POS, but no sign of an active player.

I discovered one very active class 6 wormhole with a serious W-space corp in residence, but their main ship seemed to be a Tengu, which I felt was too small for my bomber to properly engage.

Finally, I found a C1 wormhole with a Cyclone and Drake running a ladar site. Thinking it unlikely that I could take them both together, I arranged for a few corp mates to wait outside the wormhole for me to provide a warp-in.

As I maneuvered closer, however, another bomber uncloaked! He opened fire on the battle cruisers from well outside of point range, and they simply warped off. I continued to watch as the bomber then blew up the sleeper wrecks that had accumulated. He then activated his cloak and disappeared into the night.


Afterthoughts:

The attack run I had set up was a bust, but I still felt that I learned a lot.

First, I learned a great deal about operating in W-space, from scanning down wormholes to searching for targets. All stuff that I had read about, but putting it into practice was useful.

I also learned that much of W-space is (or seems) empty. Whether it would still seem that way if I dropped cloak, I don't know.

The other bomber's attack run was also illuminating. When I've attacked battlecruisers in the past, they have always been ready (and generally willing) to fight back against a smaller opponent. Despite having hull class and numbers on their side, neither of the battlecruisers in this instance tried to do so. Perhaps there is a different attitude in W-space, where anything could be a trap; you can't check local to make sure he's alone.

Of course, I had initially been puzzled by the bomber's method of attack, as he could not have hoped to keep either of his opponents locked down long enough to kill them. However, when I continued to explore the system, I saw the bomber again, but this time docked at a POS at the far reaches of the solar system. It dawned on me then that he had not been actually trying to destroy the interlopers, but rather warning them off his turf.

How interesting.

Friday 11 November 2011

Feeling Rusty (part 2)





The hunt:

Returning to the Hev station after my Malediction loss, I reshipped to my trusty Vengeance. I double checked the loadout and the cargo hold, and slipped back into space.

At first I had trouble finding the Bellicose and I feared that I would be denied the opportunity for a rematch. However, he reappeared after a short while; perhaps he was just replenishing his drone supply.

I warped back in on him at another belt, and the fight was on at once.

I knew he had neuts, but I didn't really care; the Vengeance is not a dancer, it's a brawler. Orbiting at 500m seemed good. Predictably, I'm neuted at once, which strangely gave me a degree of confidence; the Bellicose did not really understand how this fight was going to work.

My cap regen is just silly, so I had no problem activating any of my non-repair system mods. Using my web, I turned my attention to the drones and destroyed them with the Caldari Navy Foxfire I had preloaded. The second wave of drones received the same treatment.

At this point, we both moved into the second phase of the fight. I reloaded to Gremlin Rage to break his shield tank, and he had eaten through my shields and was hitting my armor. This meant I now had to try squeezing repair cycles out between his neut cycles, and because I'm using a Coreli repair system (as opposed to the more cap hungry, but powerful, Centi repair system) I was able to do so.

I started pummeling him with overheated launchers, but switched off the overheat once my launchers hit 50%; this was going to be an endurance fight and I could not afford to burn anything out. I also noticed that I had missed one of his drones, presumably because my targeting system had been full when I initially engaged them. I could not effectively engage it with Rage rockets, so I'd have to just let it be. The damage was low, but every little bit helped him.

The next few minutes seemed like hours; they were very, very tense. My entire focus was on keeping my modules online and maximising my my rep cycles. I didn't even notice Kaal pull up in his Harbinger and ask if I wanted help. After not receiving a response, Kaal simply parked himself next to the fight to watch.

We both entered structure together, but he had far more structure than I did. Still, my rep cycles were putting me back up into armor each time, so it was simply a matter of timing. Would his shot catch me right at the bottom of a rep cycle, or would I grind him down?

As it turns out, luck was on his side and a "solid hit" at just the wrong time turned my hull to scrap.

2011.11.06 08:39:00

Victim: Taurean Eltanin
Corp: The Tuskers
Alliance: None
Faction: None
Destroyed: Vengeance
System: Hevrice
Security: 0.4
Damage Taken: 4263


Involved parties:

Name: Siva Surya Kshatriya (laid the final blow)
Security: -3.2
Corp: Buccaneers of New Eden
Alliance: The Forsaken.
Faction: None
Ship: Bellicose
Weapon: 220mm Vulcan AutoCannon II
Damage Done: 3616


Name: Serpentis Trooper / Serpentis Corporation
Damage Done: 647


Destroyed items:

Gremlin Rage Rocket, Qty: 7
Damage Control II
Rocket Launcher II, Qty: 2
X5 Prototype I Engine Enervator
Small Anti-Thermic Pump I
Warp Scrambler II
Energized Adaptive Nano Membrane II
Small Bay Loading Accelerator II
Standard Exile Booster (Cargo)
Phalanx Rage Rocket, Qty: 564 (Cargo)
Foxfire Javelin Rocket, Qty: 600 (Cargo)
Caldari Navy Foxfire Rocket, Qty: 364 (Cargo)
Gremlin Rage Rocket, Qty: 420 (Cargo)
Thorn Rage Rocket, Qty: 600 (Cargo)
Foxfire Rage Rocket, Qty: 440 (Cargo)


Dropped items:

Gremlin Rage Rocket, Qty: 21
Rocket Launcher II, Qty: 2
Coreli C-Type Small Armor Repairer
Adaptive Nano Plating II
1MN Afterburner II
Caldari Navy Thorn Rocket, Qty: 600 (Cargo)
Caldari Navy Phalanx Rocket, Qty: 600 (Cargo)


Kaal then immediately blew away my opponent (thanks, Kaal!).

2011.11.06 08:39:00

Victim: Siva Surya Kshatriya
Corp: Buccaneers of New Eden
Alliance: The Forsaken.
Faction: None
Destroyed: Bellicose
System: Hevrice
Security: 0.4
Damage Taken: 10332


Involved parties:

Name: Kaal Redrum (laid the final blow)
Security: -9.8
Corp: The Tuskers
Alliance: None
Faction: None
Ship: Harbinger
Weapon: Heavy Pulse Laser II
Damage Done: 482

Name: Taurean Eltanin
Security: -10.0
Corp: The Tuskers
Alliance: None
Faction: None
Ship: Vengeance
Weapon: Gremlin Rage Rocket
Damage Done: 9850


Destroyed items:

220mm Vulcan AutoCannon II, Qty: 2
Medium Anti-EM Screen Reinforcer I
Medium Core Defence Field Extender I, Qty: 2
5W Infectious Power System Malfunction
Large Shield Extender II
Tracking Enhancer II
Republic Fleet Fusion M, Qty: 66
Republic Fleet EMP M, Qty: 745 (Cargo)
Gremlin Rage Rocket, Qty: 450 (Cargo)
Caldari Navy Phalanx Rocket, Qty: 450 (Cargo)
Rocket Launcher II, Qty: 2 (Cargo)
Thorn Rage Rocket, Qty: 450 (Cargo)
Caldari Navy Thorn Rocket, Qty: 450 (Cargo)


Dropped items:

Warp Scrambler II
220mm Vulcan AutoCannon II
Damage Control II
X5 Prototype I Engine Enervator, Qty: 2
Medium 'Gremlin' Power Core Disruptor I
Gyrostabilizer II
Republic Fleet Fusion M, Qty: 132
Barrage M, Qty: 958 (Cargo)
Caldari Navy Foxfire Rocket, Qty: 414 (Cargo)
X5 Prototype I Engine Enervator (Cargo)
Small Armor Repairer II (Cargo)
Rocket Launcher II (Cargo)
Republic Fleet Fusion M, Qty: 487 (Cargo)
200mm Reinforced Rolled Tungsten Plates I (Cargo)
Damage Control II (Cargo)




Afterthoughts:

As we both warped our pods away (and Kaal scooped my loot and started salvaging - thanks, Kaal!), we wished each other enthusiastic "gfs

However, I'm pretty disappointed in my performance; this fight could have easily been won outright if I had screwed up less.

1) Although I knew the Bellicose was shield tanked, I preloaded Caldari Foxfire, not Caldari Gremlin. Yes, that was mostly to shoot at the drones, but there was some shooting at the Bellicose between waves. I only needed another 500ish damage to win, so squeezing a little more dps out of that initial exchange could have won it for me.

2) I should have checked my overview rather than relying on my autotargeting system to determine if all the drone had been cleared. One drone, over several minutes, almost certainly made the difference between a win and a loss here. I'm satisfied that, after having screwed up, I did not compound my error by then trying to clear that last drone, but it should simply never have happened.

3) I did not reactivate the overheat on my launchers at the end of the fight. Killing the overheat early was fine, but I should have turned it back on when we entered into structure. Again, this would have probably made the 500 damage difference that I needed to win.

4) I did not overheat my repair system or pop my Exile pill. This was REALLY dumb. I had it in my head that this would increase my cap usage, which I could not afford. It's true that overheating my repair system would have caused it to cycle faster (which means it uses cap faster), but it makes no difference to the individual cap cost per cycle. Instead, I would have repaired an extra 20% or so, which would have turned this into an easy win. Popping the Exile would have done the same thing, with no cap consequences at all.

So, without trying to diminish or excuse my opponent's win, I really snatched defeat from the jaws of victory here. I've simply spent too much time away from the game (unavoidable) and too much time (when I am playing) freeloading in fleets. That's not strictly fair, I suppose, but fleet work does focus on a very different skill set, so I have allowed my solo skills to atrophy.

I need to do something about that. I think I'll probably spend the next month or so avoiding fleets if I can (except perhaps black ops) and focusing on those long distance solo roams I used to do so often. I'll probably die lots, and lose a ton of ISK, but if I can get back on top of my game it will be worth it.

For anyone that wants to fight a Vengeance, however, I'll point out my opponent's initial mistake, which was turning on the neuts too soon. As you can see from my bat-rep, a Vengeance can easily run everything except the repair system under neuts; the cap regen is simply that good, even without rigs.

That meant that Siva's own cap was suffering, which had consequences later in the fight, as there were a couple of periods where he must have turned off his neuts to avoid capping out. If he had not burned cap when it didn't matter, he could have kept the pressure up. Instead, he should have waited until I actually started using the armor repair system before starting the neuts.

As an aside, it seems that Lady Luck loves a fool, as Kaal was able to recover my deadspace repair system and salvage an intact armor plate. With the other loot taken into account, I'm probably actually ahead, financially.

Wednesday 9 November 2011

Feeling Rusty (part 1)


The hunt:

Sometimes it takes a specific event (or series of events) to really crystallise a thought that's been lurking at the back of your mind.

I had just logged back on after a long absence, and I was keen to pew-pew. I undocked in an AB fit Malediction (plate, no neut) and went looking for trouble.

Trouble was easy to find. A Bellicose was bouncing around the celestials in Hev, and I decided to give it a go. He was looking for a fight too, and we missed each other a couple of times before I finally landed right on top of him.

I immediately webbed and pointed him, and set myself into a wide orbit to avoid neuts. After doing so, I concentrated on destroying his drones, which were the main threat.

Unfortunately, although I had activated my afterburner, the client had dropped the command somewhere, and I was so focused on destroying his drones that I did not notice. To be sure, I knew what the range was, and I could also see that he was neuting me, but I assumed that he had two webs or the like, and so I did not think I could do much about it. Instead, I moved into the tightest orbit I could, hoping that I could still get under his guns with my reduced speed. It didn't work.

2011.11.06 08:18:00

Victim: Taurean Eltanin
Corp: The Tuskers
Alliance: None
Faction: None
Destroyed: Malediction
System: Hevrice
Security: 0.4
Damage Taken: 2400


Involved parties:

Name: Siva Surya Kshatriya (laid the final blow)
Security: -3.2
Corp: Buccaneers of New Eden
Alliance: The Forsaken.
Faction: None
Ship: Bellicose
Weapon: Hobgoblin I
Damage Done: 2316


Name: Serpentis Defender / Serpentis Corporation
Damage Done: 84


Destroyed items:

Small Bay Loading Accelerator I
Warp Scrambler II
Caldari Navy Foxfire Rocket, Qty: 129
1MN Afterburner II
Small Warhead Calefaction Catalyst I
Phalanx Rage Rocket, Qty: 450 (Cargo)
Caldari Navy Gremlin Rocket, Qty: 450 (Cargo)
Foxfire Rage Rocket, Qty: 450 (Cargo)


Dropped items:

Rocket Launcher II, Qty: 3
200mm Reinforced Rolled Tungsten Plates I
Damage Control II
X5 Prototype I Engine Enervator
Small Armor Repairer II
Thorn Rage Rocket, Qty: 450 (Cargo)
Caldari Navy Thorn Rocket, Qty: 450 (Cargo)
Caldari Navy Phalanx Rocket, Qty: 450 (Cargo)
Caldari Navy Foxfire Rocket, Qty: 414 (Cargo)
Gremlin Rage Rocket, Qty: 450 (Cargo)


Warping my pod out, I dropped a "gf" in local and went back for my Vengeance.


Afterthoughts:

As I warped away from this fight, the idea that I had lost my edge really began to take root, building on the events of the past month or so. I had pursued a target well outside the engagement envelope of my own ship, and then made a stupid rookie mistake that had ended the fight before it was even really begun.

Time away from the game has a performance cost. Equally, my life in Hevrice has been something of a soft one; corp mates find targets and help take down larger ships, small gangs do battle under expert leadership providing an endless parade of easy kills, and generally I can rely on other pilots to mitigate my own weaknesses.

How different from my solo days in Amarr space or Molden Heath. But one fight can be a fluke, right? Going back with my maxed out Vengeance was sure to produce a different result...

Monday 7 November 2011

Killmail etiquette



This is a post that I've been meaning to put up for a while, as a result of discussions I've had with other pvpers, both in corp and out. None of my comments are directed at anyone in particular.

Killmail whoring. It's an ugly term for an ugly practice, but we've all done it. We all like being on killmails. We all like seeing our Battleclinic rating and our combat efficiency go up. So we all like to get in on low risk killmails, even if we didn't really "earn" it.

Because we all do it, we also all tolerate it, to one extent or another. Still, there's a line out there somewhere, and when a fellow pilot starts crossing that line on a regular basis, resentment starts to build. Here's my take on the "unspoken rules" of killmail whoring.


1) You need unequivocal approval to join any one on one fight.

Nothing pushes a pvper like a straight up 1v1; these are the fights we all dream of, the fights where you learn and grow as a pilot, win or lose. These fights are also rather hard to come by, so having someone jump in uninvited deprives you of a great experience, a valuable learning opportunity, and an attractive killmail.

Furthermore, interrupting these fights tarnishes your reputation, your corp mate's reputation, and your corporation's reputation; your victim will never believe that your intervention was not by design, so don't intervene lightly.

For these reasons, always get express permission before interrupting a 1v1. Simply asking if they want backup will do the trick. If they say "yes", you're in the clear. If they say "no", leave them be.


2) You need tacit approval before joining any fight where the target needed to be brought to battle (scanned down, bubbled, bait, etc).

Even if the fight is not going to be 1v1, someone put a fair amount of work into finding this fight. While they may well welcome assistance, you should make your intentions clear in plenty of time for them to object.

Usually, the easiest way to do that is to join their fleet and ask where you should be ("you want my Malediction on the gate, right?"). You've given notice of your intentions, and if anyone feels strongly, they have a chance to object.

3) If there has been a public call out, you are generally free to jump in...

If they didn't want company, they would not have advertised the fight on vent or in chat. Still, good manners suggests publicly signalling your intentions as early as possible. Again, this gives people the chance to object if they feel strongly ("Actually, it looks like we've got enough people right now")

4) ... unless the fight is nearly over by the time you get there.

When three frigates have nearly downed a battlecruiser, I guarantee you that none of the pilots will be pleased when you show up and open fire as the last sliver of structure disappears. It was a tough fight, and the killmail no longer shows that, especially if you are flying a heavier class of vessel.

Don't even ask. Be a man and help them try and point the pod. There will be other fights.

Politeness will probably push your corp mates to offer you a slice of the loot. Bow out; they'll respect you more for it.

5) Be a rain maker.

Some pilots are alpha hunters. They actively seek out targets and are very, very good at finding them. To a certain extent, the Tuskers (by virtue of their recruitment process) are all alpha hunters (although I'm more than happy to accept that certain members of the corp stand out above the rest).

However, many corps also have another kind of hunter - beta hunters. These guys spend most of their time in station or in safes, but are always happy to lend a hand when a fight is found. There's nothing wrong with being one of these guys (and it has nothing to do with pvp skill), but try to make sure that you are providing the corp with a fair share of kills, and, by extension, your fellow pilots with a fair share of killmails.

Of course, these are just my own views, and they are very general; the specifics of any given situation (or set of personalities) may well override them. Feel free to add your own views, rules, or guidance in the comments.

Friday 4 November 2011

Malediction & Jaguar v Merlin & Rifter


The hunt:

This is a recent fight, which I have been prompted to post by Cable's account here. I always find it interesting to see the same fight from different angles, and so I'm posting this now so that people can read it alongside Cable's account.

I had started my day in New Eden by roaming in my trusty Vengeance. I had encountered a Merlin, piloted by Yarr Beard, that was sitting at the sun. I jumped in to say "hello", but Yarr Beard was a sneaky 300km off the warp-in point. He wanted a fight, but also wanted to be able to choose those fights. Very cunning.

He told me in local "I'm brave, but not suicidal". Fair enough, I thought. It would have been a pretty one sided fight, and he was clearly too canny for my flashy Vengeance to sneak up on, so I continued on my way.

Later in the day I switched to my Malediction as I wanted to test the armor tanked fleet interceptor (with web!) I have posted about previously. As I roamed around, I again saw Yarr Beard sitting at the sun. This presented me with an excellent opportunity to test my fit, so I jumped in again.

As before, I landed about 300km from Yarr Beard, so I started burning towards him. Around this time Cable asked me if I wanted a hand with the Merlin - he had clearly spotted us both at the sun on Dscan. You can always count on Cable for good manners when it comes to killmails (which reminds me - I need to do a post on killmail etiquette), but I could not in good conscience claim to have engaged the Merlin yet, so I told Cable he should feel free to jump in and see if he could land any closer than me.

Of course, 300km is not actually that far for a fleet interceptor, and I do about 4km/sec before overheat, so I actually reached Yarr Beard before Cable landed. Yarr (for short) liked his odds against my interceptor better than he had liked the odds against my Vengeance, so he let me catch him. I broke my approach early so I did not get carried into scram range, and pointed Yarr at a safe distance.

Now, the fit I was flying was not using any missile range rigs (something I intend to change, as I think I can safely lose the locking speed rig as the benefit is negligible), so my theoretical range was only 15.2km. That meant my actual range was closer to 13km; very close to scram range. I danced about the Merlin, peppering it with rockets and evading his efforts to scram and web me.

It was around this time that both Cable and the neutral Rifter landed. Cable, of course, was a long way off, but the Rifter was disturbingly close. He immediately burned towards me and tried to engage.

Now, I probably would have bailed at this point, but the arrival of the Rifter had distracted me from my piloting long enough for Yarr to hit me with a scram. I was stuck, and started to take damage from Yarr's missiles.

I told Cable that I couldn't handle them both, and we quickly fleeted up so Cable could warp to me. I called the Merlin primary (I know it has a stronger tank, but a quick look at the damage coming from the Rifter told me that Yarr Beard was by far the more dangerous of the pair), and Cable started to pile on the hurt as soon as he landed, while I tried to align to a celestial while overheating my rockets.

I knew Yarr would have a strong tank, but I had not realised just how strong it would be. Favouring a cap boosted active tank, he was very, very resilient. Fortunately for me, my Malediction is fairly fast, even without the mwd on, has a low signature radius, and has a stupid amount of ehp for an interceptor (just shy of 6k ehp). With Cable's overheated dps added to the mix, Yarr exploded just as I entered structure.

2011.10.30 20:03:00

Victim: Yarr Beard
Corp: Caldari Provisions
Alliance: None
Faction: None
Destroyed: Merlin
System: Adirain
Security: 0.4
Damage Taken: 2460


Involved parties:

Name: Cable Udan (laid the final blow)
Security: -9.9
Corp: The Tuskers
Alliance: None
Faction: None
Ship: Jaguar
Weapon: 150mm Light AutoCannon II
Damage Done: 1193


Name: Taurean Eltanin
Security: -10.0
Corp: The Tuskers
Alliance: None
Faction: None
Ship: Malediction
Weapon: Foxfire Javelin Rocket
Damage Done: 1267


Destroyed items:

Small Anti-Thermal Screen Reinforcer I
'Arbalest' Rocket Launcher I, Qty: 2
Null S, Qty: 59
Small Capacitor Booster II
Cold-Gas I Arcjet Thrusters
Light Neutron Blaster II
J5b Phased Prototype Warp Scrambler I
Small Anti-EM Screen Reinforcer I, Qty: 2
Caldari Navy Gremlin Rocket, Qty: 500 (Cargo)
Caldari Navy Phalanx Rocket, Qty: 500 (Cargo)
Null S, Qty: 600 (Cargo)


Dropped items:

Null S, Qty: 59
Damage Control II
Micro Auxiliary Power Core I
Medium Shield Booster II
Light Neutron Blaster II
Caldari Navy Phalanx Rocket, Qty: 52
Caldari Navy Thorn Rocket, Qty: 500 (Cargo)
Caldari Navy Foxfire Rocket, Qty: 500 (Cargo)
Navy Cap Booster 400, Qty: 8 (Cargo)
Standard Blue Pill Booster (Cargo)


That left just the Rifter. I was so close to destruction that he could easily have finished me if he had not been distracted by Cable opening fire. He allowed me to drift outside of point range, and my mwd roared into life, quickly putting into a wide, safe orbit while I held point on the Rifter. He soon fell to Cable's guns.

2011.10.30 20:04:00

Victim: Kodz Tokar
Corp: Ordo Mercuia
Alliance: Dec Shield
Faction: None
Destroyed: Rifter
System: Adirain
Security: 0.4
Damage Taken: 1589


Involved parties:

Name: Cable Udan (laid the final blow)
Security: -9.9
Corp: The Tuskers
Alliance: None
Faction: None
Ship: Jaguar
Weapon: 150mm Light AutoCannon II
Damage Done: 1589


Name: Taurean Eltanin
Security: -10.0
Corp: The Tuskers
Alliance: None
Faction: None
Ship: Malediction
Weapon: Rocket Launcher II
Damage Done: 0


Destroyed items:

Republic Fleet Fusion S, Qty: 143
Small Diminishing Power System Drain I
X5 Prototype I Engine Enervator
Pseudoelectron Containment Field I
Small Capacitor Control Circuit I, Qty: 2
J5b Phased Prototype Warp Scrambler I
Small Egress Port Maximizer I
Beta Reactor Control: Capacitor Power Relay I
Republic Fleet EMP S, Qty: 340 (Cargo)


Dropped items:

Republic Fleet Fusion S, Qty: 143
Small Armor Repairer II
150mm Light 'Scout' Autocannon I, Qty: 3
Republic Fleet EMP S, Qty: 143
Cold-Gas I Arcjet Thrusters
Republic Fleet Fusion S, Qty: 680 (Cargo)


Cable and I both pointed the pod, and ransomed Kodz for 5 million. Cable handled the ransom, as it was practically a solo kill, and asked for 5 million based on the character's age. I think this was a mistake because this was clearly someone's alt; they were very aggressive for a new character and clearly knew what they were doing. There was a good chance they had +4s or +5s for enhanced learning. In any event, they immediately agreed to the ransom and we let them go.

At this point, Cable left with the bulk of the loot while I stayed around to salvage some of the T2 wrecks that were presumably results of Yarr's earlier engagements. As I was salvaging, Yarr jumped back in with another Merlin.

Now, I was trailing hull fire, here, and not being active or passive tanked, I was in no better shape than I had been at the end of our last fight. Rather than engaging directly, then, I simply held a long point on Yarr Beard and gave Cable the warp in. I was unable to offer further assistance, and the fight was a real nail biter - Yarr's tank held out for a long time before it finally succumbed.

2011.10.30 20:26:00

Victim: Yarr Beard
Corp: Caldari Provisions
Alliance: None
Faction: None
Destroyed: Merlin
System: Adirain
Security: 0.4
Damage Taken: 3501


Involved parties:

Name: Cable Udan (laid the final blow)
Security: -9.9
Corp: The Tuskers
Alliance: None
Faction: None
Ship: Jaguar
Weapon: 150mm Light AutoCannon II
Damage Done: 3501


Name: Taurean Eltanin
Security: -10.0
Corp: The Tuskers
Alliance: None
Faction: None
Ship: Malediction
Weapon: Warp Disruptor II
Damage Done: 0


Destroyed items:

Small Anti-Thermal Screen Reinforcer I
'Arbalest' Rocket Launcher I, Qty: 2
Medium Shield Booster II
Small Capacitor Booster II
Light Neutron Blaster II, Qty: 2
Small Anti-EM Screen Reinforcer I, Qty: 2
Caldari Navy Gremlin Rocket, Qty: 500 (Cargo)
Caldari Navy Phalanx Rocket, Qty: 500 (Cargo)
Caldari Navy Foxfire Rocket, Qty: 500 (Cargo)
Null S, Qty: 300 (Cargo)
Navy Cap Booster 400, Qty: 7 (Cargo)


Dropped items:

Damage Control II
Null S, Qty: 134
Micro Auxiliary Power Core I
Cold-Gas I Arcjet Thrusters
Caldari Navy Phalanx Rocket, Qty: 56
J5b Phased Prototype Warp Scrambler I


We pointed Yarr's pod and offered him warm "gf's" in local; he had fought exceptionally well against above class ships (and 2v1 odds) and then come back for more. We chatted for a bit, and then Yarr asked us to pod him to save him the time spend returning to his home base. We obliged him.


Afterthoughts:

I really like the durability of the plate fit Malediction, but really disliked the lack of regen. I also feel that any mwd Malediction needs at least one missile range rig, which would boost my theoretical range from 15.2km to 17km; enough that kiting becomes less of a chore. I'm going to mess about with things a little, and see if I can come up with something that still gives me a web while also having a little more depth than just a big tank.

I also really enjoyed fighting in the Malediction generally. I think I'll put together an ab fit for solo work. I should still be fast enough to navigate low sec safely, but better able to take on ab frigates, kiting at the extreme of scram range. Of course, my shield fit mwd Malediction has also proved to be a decent solo kiter, so perhaps that's another option.

Reading the Tusker forums, I see that Yarr Beard has put in his application to join us. I wish him the best of luck, and am sure he will be a credit to the corporation.

I suppose I should also thank Cable for, *ahem*, saving my sorry mwd ass when Yarr Beard managed to land a scram on me. Of course, we will never speak of this again.

Wednesday 2 November 2011

Profit Account for October 2011

Evekill statistics for September 2011:
  • Kills: 29
  • ISK destroyed: 2.13 billion
  • Losses: 3
  • ISK lost: 0.12 billion
  • Efficiency: 94.61%
  • Kill/Death ratio: 10/1

Battleclinic Rank: 23,757

Another month without as much time online as I would like, in this case because of travel. Not getting to play much is something of a trend these past few months, and to be honest I don't think that's going to change for a while. Times are tough.

Still, my efficiency is up, largely because I spent the first part of October flying point for some of Suleiman's BC roams. Sule's roams are awesome for effeciency, because we mostly crush everything we engage, which is pretty much anything that has fewer than two logi's or E-war boats. Managing to avoid stupid deaths has also helped.

I've tweaked the format of the accounts again, moving the Explanitory Notes (which change very little from month to month) to the end of the accounts, with my comments following right after the statement of profit/loss. I think most people will find that a bit more accessable.

I have also taken to manually adjusting the Evekill values; while better than Battleclinic, it's still crediting my lost deadspace modules as three times more than I actually pay for them. I'm erring on the side of too expensive, but the scale of the error needed to be dealt with. In future, I may break down each loss into parts so that any changes I make are transparent.

Last month's figures can be found here.

Schedule of Income

Solo Income

Dropped modules and other loot
ISK 57,575,961

Ransoms
ISK 101,500
Bounty on Jethro Tchull (ISK 92,500)
Bounty on Mike Avery (ISK 9,000)

Total Solo Income
ISK 57,677,461

Group Income

Dropped modules and other loot
ISK 35,000,000
Malediction et alia v various; fast tackle on a BC roam (ISK 5,000,000)
Malediction et alia v various; fast tackle on a BC roam (ISK 16,000,000)
Malediction et alia v various; fast tackle on a BC roam (ISK 10,000,000)
Malediction & Jaguar v Merlin & Rifter (ISK 4,000,000)

Ransoms
ISK 2,500,000 
Kodoz Tokar (ISK 2,500,000)

Total Group Income
ISK 37,500,000

Total Income
ISK 95,177,461

Schedule of Expenses

Solo Expenses

Reasonable losses (see note 1)
ISK 37,017,323
Vengeance (ISK 37,017,323) - Vengeance v Curse; a gate camp.

 
Avoidable losses (see note 2)
ISK 37,161,950
Vengeance (ISK 37,161,950) - Vengeance v Dramiel & Loki; was lured off gate and then forgot to overheat my prop mod when burning back.

Other expenses
ISK 949,148
Repairs (ISK 936,248)
Ransom CSPA (ISK 2,900)
Contract fees (ISK 10,000)

Total Solo Expenses
ISK 75,128,421

Group Expenses

Reasonable losses (see note 1)
Nil.
Nil.

Avoidable losses (see note 2)
ISK 18,934,789
Malediction (ISK 18,934,789) - Malediction v Vagabond; forgot to overheat my prop mod when fleeing (again).

Total Group Expenses
ISK 18,934,789

Total Expenses
ISK 94,063,210


Schedule of Profit (Loss)

Total Income
ISK 95,177,461
Less

Total Expenses
ISK 94,063,210

Net Profit (Loss) (see note 3)
ISK 1,114,251


Appendix 1: Comments & Criticism


In theory, I turned a profit this month.

In theory.

Of course, that "profit" doesn't even pay for the month's ammo, an expense not included in my accounts because it's so hard to track. I'm clearly not going to get rich like this.

Not that getting rich was a real priority.


Income

Acting as fast tackle for a BC gang may be fun, but it's not the big bucks. There are too many people involved for things to be really profitable, especially as tech 1 BCs typically engage other tech 1 BCs. No decent ransoms. No decent salvage. And then split 5-10 ways.

Solo roaming was more profitable, but I did not do much of it due to real life commitments and travel.


Expenses

The good news is that I'm dying less. My maxed out Vengeances are much harder to kill, and there have been several encounters that I have managed to escape simply on the basis of my resilience. However, when I do lose a Vengeance, it's about twice the cost of my basic fit.

That said, I'm flying the Vengeance less these days; the Malediction is just better at navigating low sec safely. I'm thinking of putting together an AB brawler fit for solo work while I keep the mwd fits for fleet work.


Improving Performance

Last month I set a goal of a 10/1 kill ratio, and I achieved that goal. I want to try and keep that ratio up, but I also need to actually turn a profit here so I can afford to expand my range of ships.

Bombers are a big unknown here. I finally get into a decent SB at the beginning of this month, and with the potential to take on larger targets I should theoretically become more profitable. However, I also recognise that getting into a new hull is a learning curve, and I may well see my profitability nosedive as I find all the different ways that SB don't work.


Appendix 2: Explanatory Notes


Accounting basis

This profit account has been prepared on the basis of income received and expenses incurred. That is, income is only recorded when the ISK has actually been deposited in my wallet and the expense of purchasing a ship is recorded only when the ship has been destroyed.

All accounts have to make decisions about when, and how, to record income, and each method has it's own advantages and disadvantages. I prefer the income received basis because it takes the guesswork out of preparation, but I recognize that this means that there will be cases where a profitable month may show a loss, simply because the bulk of the faction loot is still on contract in Jita. The reverse is also true. However, as long as the accounts are consistent, long term trends in profitability can be reliably monitored, especially if we remain alert to the possible biases.

All figures are rounded to the nearest ISK, and are derived from character and alt wallets unless otherwise stated.


Capital & Liquidity

These accounts also do not address issues of liquidity or capital. Although I may be profitable, for example, I may have no ISK in my wallet because I have converted those funds into ships and modules.

I have chosen not to address capital or liquidity for two reasons. First, this adds a great deal of additional work to the accounts, for very little additional gain. Capital and liquidity matter in the real world, where a corporation's ability to offer security for debt (capital) and meet the interest payments on that debt (liquidity) are critical issues. New Eden, mercifully, does not work like that.

Second, it would provide just a little too much information about me. If I ever have to pay a ransom, I'd really prefer that whomever is ransoming me cannot see, to the nearest ISK, how much money I have!


Notes

Note 1: "Reasonable losses" includes all losses where it was reasonable for me to engage the target and no fundamental play error occurred during the fight. Evekill costs, net of insurance, are used for simplicity, and dropped modules count as destroyed for the purpose calculating these costs, unless those modules were recovered after the fight. Manual adjustment sometimes occurs where modules have been overvalued compared to the actual price paid.

Note 2: "Avoidable losses" includes all losses where it was unreasonable for me to engage the enemy or a fundamental play error occurred during combat. Evekill costs, net of insurance, are used for simplicity, and dropped modules count as destroyed for the purpose calculating these costs, unless those modules were recovered after the fight. Manual adjustment sometimes occurs where modules have been overvalued compared to the actual price paid.

Note 3: In this line, a figure in brackets indicates a loss rather than a profit.