A tale of two fits: Executioner v Condor

Small kiting ships are a very solid choice for flying solo, and for running FW plexes. Although the dps and tank are far lower than for brawling fits, the ability to evade bad matchups or roaming gangs is very useful. If you don't have support nearby, running, very fast, is often the correct decision.

However, there are huge differences between kiting ships, and understanding the mechanics that govern how you fight the ship is very important. Take these two fits as an example:

[Executioner, Executioner - solo beam]
Heat Sink II
Heat Sink II
Nanofiber Internal Structure II

5MN Y-T8 Compact Microwarpdrive
Warp Disruptor II
Small F-S9 Regolith Compact Shield Extender

Small Focused Beam Laser II, Imperial Navy Standard S
Small Focused Beam Laser II, Imperial Navy Standard S
Small Focused Beam Laser II, Imperial Navy Standard S
[empty high slot]

Small Energy Locus Coordinator I
Small Processor Overclocking Unit I
Small Anti-EM Screen Reinforcer I

[Condor, Condor - nano]
Nanofiber Internal Structure II
Ballistic Control System II

5MN Microwarpdrive II
Warp Disruptor II
Stasis Webifier II
Small Shield Extender II

Light Missile Launcher II, Caldari Navy Scourge Light Missile
Light Missile Launcher II, Caldari Navy Scourge Light Missile
Light Missile Launcher II, Caldari Navy Scourge Light Missile
[empty high slot]

Small Bay Loading Accelerator I
Small Anti-EM Screen Reinforcer I
Small Polycarbon Engine Housing I

On paper, these fits are very similar. The Executioner does 120 dps, and 3903 m/s, with 2702 ehp. The Condor does 90 dps, and 4002 m/s, with 2582 ehp. Both are cap stable, and can hit out to point range. Both are shield tanked, with the EM resistance hole closed (lasers are one of the main weapon systems that can reach out to a kiting frigate, and Amarr drones are the most likely to catch them and kill them). While the dps seems a little different, that's largely an artifact of the two different weapon systems.

However, actually killing your opponent in these ships requires you to fly very differently. Especially if, like me, you are not a master of the often referenced and rarely explained 'manual piloting' that the best pvpers use.

Suppose you hit 'orbit' at 17 km, with your mwd on, so that your opponent - let's assume an afterburner frigate - can't easily catch or hit you. This throws you into an actual orbit of roughly 19 km.

The Condor will hit easily under these conditions, while the Executioner will probably miss with every shot. Tracking is a two way street, so flying in a way that wrecks your opponent's tracking also wrecks your own tracking. If your tracking is much better than your opponent's, such as when using blasters against a laser ship, you may not care, but in this case we care very much.

Of course, the Condor won't do full damage, because moving targets take less damage from missiles, and irrespective of how you fly, your opponent is unlikely stop moving. But some damage is better than none, and unless you run out of ammunition, you'll win eventually.

So the Condor can protect itself with range and tracking, and hitting 'orbit' is a solid choice (subject, always, to responding to your opponent - you can't just hit the button and call it 'done').

Let's suppose instead, though, that we hit 'keep at range'. This is dangerous, because we have very little transversal (and a massive signature, thanks to the mwd), so anything that can hit us will do so for significant damage.

As long as our opponent can't do that, though, the Executioner is actually in a very good place. It will hit for full damage with nearly every volley, because as long as the range and tracking are fine, we don't really care what our opponent does. In fact, we are probably more difficult to slingshot using 'keep at range' because our momentum is lower.

The Condor, however, gains nothing from 'keep at range', as changing the way we fly does nothing for our dps, and our defensive web already helps us prevent people from catching us with a slingshot.

Let's imagine our opponent has drones, though. Perhaps he's in a Tormentor. Dangerous drones, but not immediately lethal. Now, 'keep at range' is suicide. Forcing the drones to chase us is our only chance.

Both of these fits can deal with drones. The Condor can web and destroy them (probably using 'precision' missiles), while the Executioner can switch to Gleam, and shoot them down as they trail behind in a neat little row. The difference is that the Executioner has to deal with the drones first because flying to survive the drones probably means being unable to hit the frigate, while the Condor may well be able to simply outrun the drones permanently while still landing solid hits (this is especially likely if the other pilot has chosen to launch Gallente drones).

The Executioner has one more trick, though. 'Keep at range' is not the only way of improving your tracking without manual flying. Because angular velocity = transversal velocity / distance, you can reduce your angular velocity by flying in a wider orbit.

So, if we set 'orbit' to 21 km, rather than 17 km, putting us in an actual orbit of roughly 23 km, we may well find that we can start landing hits without slowing down. The danger, of course, is that we are only 1 km away from losing point on our target, and with an overheated afterburner, a good pilot might be able to do that. But in exchange for that risk we put more distance between ourselves and danger, while keeping our speed nice and high, and probably improving our applied dps.

Meanwhile, the Condor gains very little from this wider orbit. This, in turn, leads us back to the fitting room, where the Warp Disrupter II has lower value to the Condor than it does to the Executioner.

By downgrading the Condor's midslots to meta items, and dropping the damage rig, we can replace the Nanofiber II with a Ballistic Control System II. This pushes us up to nearly 100 dps - a 10% boost - while dropping our speed to 'only' 3,824 m/s.

Is it worth it? That depends. But recognizing how you will actually have to fly a ship helps make fitting room decisions easier.