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.