Crow v Vexor

The hunt:

So, with Caldari Frigate V I was finally ready to set out in my new Crow, using the fit I posted here.

I made my way south towards Essence, which is usually a good way to find a pvp frigate to tangle with. That's really what I was looking for; something to put me through my paces so I could try adapting to my reduced point range.

However, it was early, and most of the pvpers seemed to occupied with other things, much as I had been lately; holidays are like that. Because of the lack of targets, I did not immediately write off the Vexor when I saw it on D-scan.

In truth, I'd think twice about taking on a Vexor even in my Vengeance. They have a decent tank and enough drones to actually apply dps. If they have a neut, it gets even harder. I probably could do it in a Vengeance, but it would be a close run thing.

On the other hand, my Crow would (hopefully) engage outside of neut range and be able to get out if things got too hot; that's what that MSE was all about, right? So I jumped into his belt at range, and landed a fast point.

In my Malediction, I would have orbited at 20+km while I took out the drones, but with only a 24 km point, I needed to start a little closer; 18 km felt about right. I wiped out the first wave of drones, but ignored the second wave; they were Hammerheads, and simply couldn't catch me.

I then turned my rockets onto the Vexor itself while tightening my orbit to 15 km to ensure solid hits - I still only have Interceptors IV, so I'm a little short on range. I marveled at the simplicity of having a racial damage type (something I've never had to worry about since giving up turrets about six months ago); choosing my ammunition was very straight forward!

While not stupendous, the Crow's superiour dps (as compared to my kiting Malediction) was immediately evident as I began chipping away at the Vexor's tank. He was doing his best to hit me, but to no avail. Eventually, inevitably, he popped.

2011.12.31 09:46

Victim: Kenner Plaude
Corp: Center for Advanced Studies
Alliance: None
Faction: None
Destroyed: Vexor
System: Melmaniel
Security: 0.3
Damage Taken: 4430

Involved parties:

Name: Taurean Eltanin (laid the final blow)
Security: -10.0
Corp: The Tuskers
Alliance: None
Faction: None
Ship: Crow
Weapon: Thorn Javelin Rocket
Damage Done: 3974

Name: Serpentis Chief Scout / Serpentis Corporation
Damage Done: 309
Name: Corelum Chief Infantry / Serpentis
Damage Done: 147

Destroyed items:

Limited Neutron Blaster I, Qty: 2
Small Nosferatu I
Overdrive Injector System II
Uranium Charge M, Qty: 100 (Cargo)
200mm Railgun I (Cargo)
Medium Armor Repairer I, Qty: 2 (Cargo)
Antimatter Charge M, Qty: 100 (Cargo)
Medium Capacitor Battery I (Cargo)
Hammerhead I, Qty: 7 (Drone Bay)

Dropped items:

Antimatter Charge M, Qty: 176
Limited Neutron Blaster I, Qty: 2
Sensor Booster I
Overdrive Injector System II
Local Hull Conversion Expanded Cargo I
Type-D Altered SS Overdrive Injector
10MN MicroWarpdrive I (Cargo)
Medium Shield Booster I, Qty: 2 (Cargo)
F-293 Nutation Target Coupling (Cargo)

This is when my reduced point range came back to bite me. I hit "approach" just as the Vexor was about to blow up so that my trajectory did not carry me away from the pod. I then landed a point on the pod, and hit my orbit button so I could begin ransom negotiations. I've done this dozens of times in my Malediction.

However, my Malediction has a 30km point, whereas the Crow only has 24km. Somewhere between my residual motion, my orbit command and the pod's motion, I was thrown out beyond point range, and the pod warped off. Damn!


Afterthoughts:

I was very, very pleased with how the Crow performed against the Vexor, and I very much enjoyed flying it. I can see myself spending a lot of time in this ship, and I'll be making an effort to max it out over the coming month or so.

Obviously, I need to adjust my flying habits in light of the reduced point range, but simply hitting "approach" a second time (after targeting the pod) rather than "orbit" will probably solve the problem.