Crow v Vexor

 

The hunt:

The last time I took on a Vexor in my Crow it was largely because I could not find anything else to fight. This time, however, I decided to engage simply because I knew that victory was possible, and I was prepared to take my chances in order to get an above class solo kill - my very favourite kind of kill.

He was sitting in a belt, either bait or ratting. Vexors aren't usually bait ships because their drone bay makes them scary for frigates, so I though the chances were good that he was ratting. Since he had probably jumped to zero and then moved some distance towards the rats, I warped in at 20 km with a preheated point.

I had guessed the range correctly, and landed my point as soon as I dropped out of warp. I activated my mwd and settled into a 18km orbit while loading Javelin (I tend not to jump in with Javelin loaded, as I may need to close - or open - some distance in a hurry).

He opened fire and sent his drones after me, but they were not Warrior drones, so they stood no chance of catching me. With that established, it was simply a matter of whittling down his tank before he exploded.

2012.01.22 10:33:00

Victim: Damad Aideron
Corp: Federal Navy Academy
Alliance: None
Faction: None
Destroyed: Vexor
System: Lisbaetanne
Security: 0.4
Damage Taken: 7380

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: 7380

Destroyed items:

250mm 'Scout' Accelerator Cannon
Uranium Charge M, Qty: 154
10MN MicroWarpdrive I
Core Scanner Probe I, Qty: 4
Expanded Cargohold I
Overdrive Injector System I
Core Scanner Probe I (Cargo)
Uranium Charge M, Qty: 256 (Cargo)
Antimatter Charge M, Qty: 310 (Cargo)
Tungsten Charge M, Qty: 80 (Cargo)

Dropped items:

250mm 'Scout' Accelerator Cannon
Reactor Control Unit I
Salvager I
Medium Shield Extender I
Core Probe Launcher I
Medium Shield Booster I
100mm Reinforced Nanofiber Plates I
Heavy Neutron Blaster I
Warp Core Stabilizer I (Cargo)
Praetor I, Qty: 2 (Drone Bay)


Afterthoughts:

From the killmail, and the lack of rats in the belt, it looks like he was actually doing some exploration. Huh.

Fights like this tend to be very one sided. However, you don't know who's favoured until you actually engage. If he had been packing Warrior II drones, or I had landed within medium neut range, or one of any number of things had been different, I would have stood no chance of winning, would have had real difficulty just saving my ship.

But once you find out that they don't have any of those things, then you have inevitability on your side. That really front-loads the excitement in many cases, although I've still been known to mess up even "safe" fights.