I just had to buy it. It matched my top.
A proper post is forthcoming this weekend, fly it like you stole it!
Tuesday, July 31, 2012
Something Wicked This Way Comes
Just a heads up to everyone. We're in a process of rebuilding, we're still in Syndicate, we're waiting for things (( Summer, vacations, RL issues, etc )) to wind down... and I bought a new toy.
I just had to buy it. It matched my top.
A proper post is forthcoming this weekend, fly it like you stole it!
I just had to buy it. It matched my top.
A proper post is forthcoming this weekend, fly it like you stole it!
Sunday, July 15, 2012
The Wolf's "5th low" revisited.
Hello hello!
Been some time since i did a good down and dirty examination of various Wolf fits. We know we have no choice but to armor tank it, but we have some serious issues to work with; the capacitor is tiny, the CPU is terrible, and we have 2 armor holes we have to patch, at least partially. A 400 plate is what many people will elect to run, but I simply dislike any fit that dosent have a repairer on it. While there are some 400 plate fits that run a repairer, these almost always have 125s or at best 150s on them, which will require some serious fitting sacrifices and faction/deadspace mods. Wolves have gone up in price, as have my Pilot's License EXtension costs, so I try to keep them below 50-60m now if at all possible. Dont get me wrong, if I felt that a 400 plate fit was "better", id spend the isk. In certain cases, it is! But... its slow, it has poor range, and it either runs an AB, or has no repper. None of these are sacrifices I am equipped to make.
For a baseline, there are a few things I have come to accept as "Standard" on any roaming Wolf I fly. This is written from the perspective of a solo pilot remember, who is very active in both nullsec and low. An AB can work, but... the wolf is ok scrammed, most of the time (NOTE. If you plan to kill cruisers with the thing, an AB is a much, much better choice than an MWD!) due to its gun range and tracking speed bonus. Our baseline fit:
4x 200MM AutoCannon II
1x Small Nosferatu II (Or meta, depends on fit)
1x 1MN Limited MicroWarpDrive I
1x J5b Phased Prototype Warp Scrambler I
1x Gyrostabilizer II
1x Small Armor Repairer II
1x Centii C-Type Explosive Plating
1x Pseudoelectron Containment Field I
1x ____________ (That 5th Mid were talking about!)
1x Small Anti-Kinectic Pump I
1x Small Projectile Collision Accelerator II (Can easily be T1 with marginal DPS loss)
The baseline numbers, with no implants and a T2 collision rig.
244 dps at 750 + 9k with Standard RF Ammo, 195 DPS at 1500 + 11.35 with Barrage
7022 raw EHP
45 sec cap life running all (This is a minor drawback generally) or 1m 48s without the MWD
2415 MSEC.
91.3/71.7/54.3/52.8 resists, 1128 armor.
The 3 modules we will look at on this fit (The most common "extra" mods to toss onto a Wolf, after SAR/Gyro/DCU/Patch explosive hole) are; A Tracking Enhancer II, an Adaptive Nano Plating II, and a 200MM Rolled Tungsten Plate. All 3 fit with the following tweaks;
200 MM plate means running a named nos due to PG useage
ANP II permits the fitting of a T2 Damage Control, which gains us some EHP due to better resists in all 3 areas.
First, the TE. It only changes our falloff and tracking speed; it increases our falloff with standard RF ammos to 11.7k, and with barrage to 18k!! That is a lot of gun range, and it does gain us some tracking speed, making our wolf very difficult to outtrack. (I can hit Stilettos in close orbit with barrage with 1 TE while scrammed... though I recommend loading something besides barrage for this! Doh!). Our tank retains the same numbers.
Secondly, adding the ANP II. That gives us 93.1/77.7/62.8/61.6 resists, lowers our gun range, dosent affect our speed. The higher resists also come from the T2 damage control we can fit on this fit. Retains its speed, has good resists and active tank.
And last, we can add a 200mm plate. 1785 Armor now, with our previous resists of 91.3/71.7/54.3/52.8. We lose a good bit of manuverability and speed here, but our overall armor amount has increased by a whopping (1785/1128) 58%! That is a HUGE increase, and we give up only some gun range, our speed drops from 2415 to 2272, and we will now align a bit slower, from 4.2 seconds to 4.7.
Well... the TE's "value" is hard to judge. I often depend on its added range. At 2.5k, our dps numbers are similar; 243 vs 239, for TE vs Plate or ANP. However, it changes fast beyond this; 218 vs 197 at 5k (Still ok!) 181 vs 144 at 7.5k. This is the range that we worry about with hawks and vengeances; it is an applied DPS difference of almost 40 dps. Interestingly, with Barrage at this range,the TE fit does 178 DPS (This is the range to think about switching ammo types at, see?) while the plate or ANP fit still does 144. At 10k, its 157 DPS with the TE, and 90 without. That is pretty significant. Very. Significant.
Some will scream "but dont believe the math! You cant calculate in hit quality with those numbers!" and theyre exactly right. The TE fit will do even better than those numbers suggest due to both tracking speed and hit quality at range... ouch!
So, now that we have looked at the damage numbers, lets look at the raw tank power of all 3 fits. We will calculate raw EHP vs pure kinectic and pure explosive damage, to armor only, as vs EM or therm, any of the 3 is in pretty good shape (though, more buffer will last even longer there) and kin/exp are the 2 we get shot by from sabres, thrashers, other wolves, enyos, harpies...Math here is pretty dependable:
Our formula for calculation is: Armor value / (1 - % resist) = raw EHP vs that type.
Fit 1, our TE II fit, has 2506 EHP vs pure kinectic, and 2400 vs pure explosive.
Fit 2, with an ANP II, has 3048 vs pure kinectic, 2960 vs pure explosive.
Fit 3, with a 200 plate, has 3966 vs pure kinectic, 3797 vs pure explosive.
Well. That 200 plate wins by a large margin here, and we can see that the minimal EHP gain from the ANP will NOT offset the loss in applied DPS at range if we select that over a TE... for now.
But, wont the extra resist make our armor repper work better? Yes, some. Lets check it out. Lets see how many repair cycles (x) will be required before our ANP fit out-EHPs our 200 plate fit: Our formula is:
(EHP fit 1) + X(Armor rep amount per cycle/(1-% resist) > (EHP fit 2) + X(Armor rep amount/(1-%resist)
So. Vs explosive (the 2 are similar enough that this holds true for both, and due to the way damage types and resists work, this is pretty reliable math)
2960 + X(80/.38) > 3797 + X(80/.47) and lets do some algebra. The (80/resist) tells us how much raw EHP vs that damage type we recover per rep cycle, as a SAR II Reps 80 HP per cycle. Yes, a deadspace repper will nudge numbers in favor of... well. Both. So...
2960 + 210X > 3797 + 170X
This means the ANP fit reps 210 "ehp" per cycle, the 200 plate fit 170 "ehp". Solving for X, which is rep cycles, we get:
40x > 837 or, X = 837/40, which works out to 20.9, or TWENTY ONE, repair cycles before the ANP is more beneficial to the fit than the plate. I have had maybe 2 frig fights last long enough to rep that many cycles.
So, the 200 plate fit is the clear winner in the tank department, but the TE is so, so helpful in applying our DPS...
Id say a solution is obvious. Fit both.
Till next time, folks, fly it like you stole it! Gonna see if i can wrangle a TE and a Plate in here somehow, and keep decentish resists!
Ava
Been some time since i did a good down and dirty examination of various Wolf fits. We know we have no choice but to armor tank it, but we have some serious issues to work with; the capacitor is tiny, the CPU is terrible, and we have 2 armor holes we have to patch, at least partially. A 400 plate is what many people will elect to run, but I simply dislike any fit that dosent have a repairer on it. While there are some 400 plate fits that run a repairer, these almost always have 125s or at best 150s on them, which will require some serious fitting sacrifices and faction/deadspace mods. Wolves have gone up in price, as have my Pilot's License EXtension costs, so I try to keep them below 50-60m now if at all possible. Dont get me wrong, if I felt that a 400 plate fit was "better", id spend the isk. In certain cases, it is! But... its slow, it has poor range, and it either runs an AB, or has no repper. None of these are sacrifices I am equipped to make.
For a baseline, there are a few things I have come to accept as "Standard" on any roaming Wolf I fly. This is written from the perspective of a solo pilot remember, who is very active in both nullsec and low. An AB can work, but... the wolf is ok scrammed, most of the time (NOTE. If you plan to kill cruisers with the thing, an AB is a much, much better choice than an MWD!) due to its gun range and tracking speed bonus. Our baseline fit:
4x 200MM AutoCannon II
1x Small Nosferatu II (Or meta, depends on fit)
1x 1MN Limited MicroWarpDrive I
1x J5b Phased Prototype Warp Scrambler I
1x Gyrostabilizer II
1x Small Armor Repairer II
1x Centii C-Type Explosive Plating
1x Pseudoelectron Containment Field I
1x ____________ (That 5th Mid were talking about!)
1x Small Anti-Kinectic Pump I
1x Small Projectile Collision Accelerator II (Can easily be T1 with marginal DPS loss)
The baseline numbers, with no implants and a T2 collision rig.
244 dps at 750 + 9k with Standard RF Ammo, 195 DPS at 1500 + 11.35 with Barrage
7022 raw EHP
45 sec cap life running all (This is a minor drawback generally) or 1m 48s without the MWD
2415 MSEC.
91.3/71.7/54.3/52.8 resists, 1128 armor.
The 3 modules we will look at on this fit (The most common "extra" mods to toss onto a Wolf, after SAR/Gyro/DCU/Patch explosive hole) are; A Tracking Enhancer II, an Adaptive Nano Plating II, and a 200MM Rolled Tungsten Plate. All 3 fit with the following tweaks;
200 MM plate means running a named nos due to PG useage
ANP II permits the fitting of a T2 Damage Control, which gains us some EHP due to better resists in all 3 areas.
First, the TE. It only changes our falloff and tracking speed; it increases our falloff with standard RF ammos to 11.7k, and with barrage to 18k!! That is a lot of gun range, and it does gain us some tracking speed, making our wolf very difficult to outtrack. (I can hit Stilettos in close orbit with barrage with 1 TE while scrammed... though I recommend loading something besides barrage for this! Doh!). Our tank retains the same numbers.
Secondly, adding the ANP II. That gives us 93.1/77.7/62.8/61.6 resists, lowers our gun range, dosent affect our speed. The higher resists also come from the T2 damage control we can fit on this fit. Retains its speed, has good resists and active tank.
And last, we can add a 200mm plate. 1785 Armor now, with our previous resists of 91.3/71.7/54.3/52.8. We lose a good bit of manuverability and speed here, but our overall armor amount has increased by a whopping (1785/1128) 58%! That is a HUGE increase, and we give up only some gun range, our speed drops from 2415 to 2272, and we will now align a bit slower, from 4.2 seconds to 4.7.
Well... the TE's "value" is hard to judge. I often depend on its added range. At 2.5k, our dps numbers are similar; 243 vs 239, for TE vs Plate or ANP. However, it changes fast beyond this; 218 vs 197 at 5k (Still ok!) 181 vs 144 at 7.5k. This is the range that we worry about with hawks and vengeances; it is an applied DPS difference of almost 40 dps. Interestingly, with Barrage at this range,the TE fit does 178 DPS (This is the range to think about switching ammo types at, see?) while the plate or ANP fit still does 144. At 10k, its 157 DPS with the TE, and 90 without. That is pretty significant. Very. Significant.
Some will scream "but dont believe the math! You cant calculate in hit quality with those numbers!" and theyre exactly right. The TE fit will do even better than those numbers suggest due to both tracking speed and hit quality at range... ouch!
So, now that we have looked at the damage numbers, lets look at the raw tank power of all 3 fits. We will calculate raw EHP vs pure kinectic and pure explosive damage, to armor only, as vs EM or therm, any of the 3 is in pretty good shape (though, more buffer will last even longer there) and kin/exp are the 2 we get shot by from sabres, thrashers, other wolves, enyos, harpies...Math here is pretty dependable:
Our formula for calculation is: Armor value / (1 - % resist) = raw EHP vs that type.
Fit 1, our TE II fit, has 2506 EHP vs pure kinectic, and 2400 vs pure explosive.
Fit 2, with an ANP II, has 3048 vs pure kinectic, 2960 vs pure explosive.
Fit 3, with a 200 plate, has 3966 vs pure kinectic, 3797 vs pure explosive.
Well. That 200 plate wins by a large margin here, and we can see that the minimal EHP gain from the ANP will NOT offset the loss in applied DPS at range if we select that over a TE... for now.
But, wont the extra resist make our armor repper work better? Yes, some. Lets check it out. Lets see how many repair cycles (x) will be required before our ANP fit out-EHPs our 200 plate fit: Our formula is:
(EHP fit 1) + X(Armor rep amount per cycle/(1-% resist) > (EHP fit 2) + X(Armor rep amount/(1-%resist)
So. Vs explosive (the 2 are similar enough that this holds true for both, and due to the way damage types and resists work, this is pretty reliable math)
2960 + X(80/.38) > 3797 + X(80/.47) and lets do some algebra. The (80/resist) tells us how much raw EHP vs that damage type we recover per rep cycle, as a SAR II Reps 80 HP per cycle. Yes, a deadspace repper will nudge numbers in favor of... well. Both. So...
2960 + 210X > 3797 + 170X
This means the ANP fit reps 210 "ehp" per cycle, the 200 plate fit 170 "ehp". Solving for X, which is rep cycles, we get:
40x > 837 or, X = 837/40, which works out to 20.9, or TWENTY ONE, repair cycles before the ANP is more beneficial to the fit than the plate. I have had maybe 2 frig fights last long enough to rep that many cycles.
So, the 200 plate fit is the clear winner in the tank department, but the TE is so, so helpful in applying our DPS...
Id say a solution is obvious. Fit both.
Till next time, folks, fly it like you stole it! Gonna see if i can wrangle a TE and a Plate in here somehow, and keep decentish resists!
Ava
Sunday, July 1, 2012
To Syndicate, and BEYOND!
Skadi's Call has moved. Yeah, I am surprised by it too.
We have relocated to Syndicate, and are currently with the I-RED, a very good group of people and friends who have long been assisting our humanitarian efforts in the Republic. So far, so good; we are getting settled in, going on fleets, learning our way around the region, and getting to know the locals.
The locals being assorted russians, a few OKish combat corps and alliances... and Rote Kapelle.
I met one of Rote Kapelle on my first day in Syndicate, and we had a proper Wolf vs Wolf fight. My MWD, plateless fit went down to a 2 gyro, 400 plate/C tye SAR, AB fit Wolf flown by Namamai of Rote Kapelle, though she had entered structure when I went down. Not bad for a wolf with less tank, DPS, and range control!
Her fit got me thinking. I like no plate, as frankly, I fly the Wolf more like a heavy interceptor than a "in your face" brawler, and speed is life; the ability to string gangs apart, pull tacklers away, and all means that I have to keep my MWD... most of the time.
Namamai mentioned that her wolf was very, very good for killing Sabres. I like killing Sabres. I have built a new fit that I will report more on after some proper testing, an AB fit; others have done well with ABs in 0.0, in the right sort of fights, so why not? I will give it a go!
Undeterred, I have been part of several gangs and had some hilarious times, including a Scimitar that a pilot donated (By ejecting from it after being tackled, haha!) to me last night, fully fitted! Thank you! I have been wanting to learn to fly logistics, and now I can, and not cost myself a dime. It will be properly resupplied and renamed, and placed in service for SKDI.
Today, I had a fun fight versus a Slicer and Retribution, with a Hawk also in system. I was sort of hoping the Hawk would approach (He was in the corp with the Retri pilot) when the fight began, but he did not. So, 2 up, 2 down, loot scooped (What there is of it... their fits were odd, shown here and here. Kudos to them for taking the fight, and hope to see more of them.
I think I am gonna like it here... not to mention, the rumors of Ishukone having some connection to the development of insorum...
Ava, out!
We have relocated to Syndicate, and are currently with the I-RED, a very good group of people and friends who have long been assisting our humanitarian efforts in the Republic. So far, so good; we are getting settled in, going on fleets, learning our way around the region, and getting to know the locals.
The locals being assorted russians, a few OKish combat corps and alliances... and Rote Kapelle.
I met one of Rote Kapelle on my first day in Syndicate, and we had a proper Wolf vs Wolf fight. My MWD, plateless fit went down to a 2 gyro, 400 plate/C tye SAR, AB fit Wolf flown by Namamai of Rote Kapelle, though she had entered structure when I went down. Not bad for a wolf with less tank, DPS, and range control!
Her fit got me thinking. I like no plate, as frankly, I fly the Wolf more like a heavy interceptor than a "in your face" brawler, and speed is life; the ability to string gangs apart, pull tacklers away, and all means that I have to keep my MWD... most of the time.
Namamai mentioned that her wolf was very, very good for killing Sabres. I like killing Sabres. I have built a new fit that I will report more on after some proper testing, an AB fit; others have done well with ABs in 0.0, in the right sort of fights, so why not? I will give it a go!
Undeterred, I have been part of several gangs and had some hilarious times, including a Scimitar that a pilot donated (By ejecting from it after being tackled, haha!) to me last night, fully fitted! Thank you! I have been wanting to learn to fly logistics, and now I can, and not cost myself a dime. It will be properly resupplied and renamed, and placed in service for SKDI.
Today, I had a fun fight versus a Slicer and Retribution, with a Hawk also in system. I was sort of hoping the Hawk would approach (He was in the corp with the Retri pilot) when the fight began, but he did not. So, 2 up, 2 down, loot scooped (What there is of it... their fits were odd, shown here and here. Kudos to them for taking the fight, and hope to see more of them.
I think I am gonna like it here... not to mention, the rumors of Ishukone having some connection to the development of insorum...
Ava, out!
Tuesday, June 26, 2012
CCP Strikes Again
Well, the Wolf cant buy a break. Since the AF changes, its been a bit behind the curve compared to the Enyo, Vengeance, and of course, Hawk and Harpy, but it was still the sexiest looking ship ever to take to the skies.... until, CCP.
Yesterday CCP decided to make the sexy, sleek, 10-AC turret armed Wolf and make it into a rusty, dumpy, skinny sad little thing, with much fewer guns modeled on its hull, a horrid paint job.... and the models of the guns are about 1/5 the size they once were. No. Seriously. Its that bad.
Here is my old love;
And the new... thing....
What the hell? The gun models have ALL been relocated and shrunk to ridiculously tiny size, the hull shape has been drastically changed, and the paint job has gone from sexy silver to.... rusty. Bad. Rusty. I guess CCP wasnt happy having it be behind the curve, they decided to make it look like shit too.
A few of my all time favorite shots of my ship. RIP baby. It was awesome while it lasted.
CCP... what was wrong with the old model?
Ava
Yesterday CCP decided to make the sexy, sleek, 10-AC turret armed Wolf and make it into a rusty, dumpy, skinny sad little thing, with much fewer guns modeled on its hull, a horrid paint job.... and the models of the guns are about 1/5 the size they once were. No. Seriously. Its that bad.
Here is my old love;
And the new... thing....
A few of my all time favorite shots of my ship. RIP baby. It was awesome while it lasted.
CCP... what was wrong with the old model?
Ava
Tuesday, May 22, 2012
Destruction (And Sexism) in Heild.
So. This is a first for me, but, here we go.
Somedays, I have off days, as I stated in an earlier post. It happens. I do dumb things, run into people who are simply better than me, or both. I dont claim to be an expert; as a matter of fact, at the beginning of this blog, I explicitly stated that I am learning as I go, and the blog's entries reveal that.
I lost a 1v1. It happens, right? Korvus Falek, a member of Black Rebel Rifter Club, was so proud of it he posted about it on his blog... if you want to read the entry, its here so you can see for yourself. Hey, thats ok, I have a blog and post stuff about my fights too, right? Well... please read the entry. You may notice some differences.
I decided to reply, and dispel a few of the inaccuracies in his post, with regards to my wolf, myself, and what I do in EVE.
First. Lets compare fits....mine. This was my actual lossmail from the fight.
I was heading to null to rat/pew, so I was running an MWD, which is not my normal choice; an AB allows me better range control and permits fitting a T2 DCU. My TE/Gyro combo gives me good range vs those who kite at the edge of scram range and gives me more damage beyond about 6k than 2 gyros. I was also in a 10 million isk clone, running 2 +2s and a 3% small projectile damage implant.
The fight itself? I started off dealing early damage, and let him catch me... you know, like I have stated several other places in this very blog that I always do. I wasnt trying to "Kite", I have a scram. Even if i could do so (Which i have said elsewhere, in this blog, that I am bad at) I likely would have had a long point fit, eh? Yes, the blog he says I he read through, and wouldnt point out all the stuff I write that is "wrong". Must have been a thorough read. When I went down, he was in low armor, repping well... I suspect he used Exile, though it may just be the normal repping rate of an A type SAR.
So. By KITERS, i mean those things, such as Hawks and Vengeances who tend to stay at the edge of scram range, 7-8k, beyond the effective range of a fit without a TE.
Now... his fit.
Sheesh! Thats stout! 330m isk frigate, with im guessing a head full of slaves and possibly, as i mentioned, Exile.
I dont know that this was the exact fit, but similar; web/scram/AB, and definately a faction fit.
I had an MWD, which makes my ability to counter rocket damage, already basically horrid when webbed, even worse. It was a bad matchup, but a fun fight nonetheless. I was in a convo with him (we had fleeted, so he didnt have boosts or anything ) and he mentioned to try an AB. Yeap. I know. Anyway, he says I got "mad" and left when he started "epeen waving"... lets see....
---------------------------------------------------------------
Channel ID: (('fleetid', 1122610806817L),)
Channel Name: Fleet
Listener: Ava Starfire
Session started: 2012.05.14 14:31:42
---------------------------------------------------------------
[ 2012.05.14 14:31:56 ] Ava Starfire > SS?
[ 2012.05.14 14:31:56 ] Korvus Falek > rdy for warp in when you are
[ 2012.05.14 14:32:02 ] Korvus Falek > roughly
[ 2012.05.14 14:32:03 ] Ava Starfire > Ok, warp to you?
[ 2012.05.14 14:32:22 ] Korvus Falek > yeah
[ 2012.05.14 14:32:25 ] Ava Starfire > ok
[ 2012.05.14 14:32:30 ] Ava Starfire > if is dualrep
[ 2012.05.14 14:32:31 ] Ava Starfire > i will cry!
[ 2012.05.14 14:32:36 ] Korvus Falek > lol
[ 2012.05.14 14:37:09 ] Ava Starfire > =(
[ 2012.05.14 14:37:51 ] Ava Starfire > Well
[ 2012.05.14 14:37:53 ] Korvus Falek > hehe gf
[ 2012.05.14 14:37:58 ] Ava Starfire > Just means I dont fight vengeance anymore
[ 2012.05.14 14:37:59 ] Ava Starfire > meh
[ 2012.05.14 14:38:08 ] Ava Starfire > 2nd wolf i lost today and nothing to show
[ 2012.05.14 14:38:22 ] Ava Starfire > how about fight in something that isnt a veng?
[ 2012.05.14 14:38:33 ] Korvus Falek > only ship i fly tbh =P
[ 2012.05.14 14:38:37 ] Ava Starfire > Well
[ 2012.05.14 14:38:43 ] Ava Starfire > I just wont fight it anymore
[ 2012.05.14 14:38:52 ] Ava Starfire > MWD wolf simply cant beat it
[ 2012.05.14 14:39:05 ] Ava Starfire > dosent help im in a shit 10m isk nullsec clone atm either
[ 2012.05.14 14:39:47 ] Korvus Falek > hehe use something other than mwd =P
[ 2012.05.14 14:39:59 ] Korvus Falek > a wolf can beat a vengeance
[ 2012.05.14 14:40:06 ] Ava Starfire > I was heading to null
[ 2012.05.14 14:40:06 ] Korvus Falek > but not my vengeance =P
[ 2012.05.14 14:40:07 ] Ava Starfire > =P
[ 2012.05.14 14:40:11 ] Ava Starfire > You all distracted me
[ 2012.05.14 14:40:18 ] Ava Starfire > Ok, epeen measuring time i guess
[ 2012.05.14 14:40:20 ] Ava Starfire > bye
Hmm. I said "MWD wolf cant beat vengeance" (which it may or may not be able to) but lets call attention to this line:
[ 2012.05.14 14:39:59 ] Korvus Falek > a wolf can beat a vengeance
[ 2012.05.14 14:40:06 ] Ava Starfire > I was heading to null
[ 2012.05.14 14:40:06 ] Korvus Falek > but not my vengeance =P
That's pretty smug, and is the reason I left the convo. Now, looking back, I admit I was in a mood, and as eve smack/chestbeating goes, this wasnt that bad... however, the blog post he wrote is much, much worse than just about any local smack I have ever seen. I dont smack, denegrate people, or point out anything wrong they do in a negative way, and I certainly dont make any sort of claims that I am some sort of frigate savant. After killing someone, I will usually (if they seem new to pvp and/or eve) offer some tips. Often, I give new pilots isk for frigs. I try to encourage people. I dont see any reason to chestbeat or proclaim awesomeness OOCly in a video game; it's a video game, after all. I suppose not everyone does that. Hey, its ok, its a big game.
I refit (with an AB and plate, a fit i run sometimes) and returned to fight him again, only getting intercepted (And losing, ack! My luck!) to a rail daredevil, only due to my own stupid; the DD had dipped into struct when I died, had i loaded barrage, would have forced him off. Korvus was at the sun during the fight, watching.
I noticed he didnt mention that in his entry?
RL intervened, I didnt have time to come back a third time to try again. I plan to soon.
So, lets recap; I lost a fight. Someone makes a rather condescending, smug, and sexist post about how awesome he is, and how dumb I am, on his blog. I replied. I'll let you readers be the judge; please, read both entries, and just decide for yourselves. Yep. I lost the fight.
Im pretty sure I know which one of us is the loser.
Ava
Oh, and Korvus? I excuse you, hun, you're a man. Or male of some sort, anyway.
Somedays, I have off days, as I stated in an earlier post. It happens. I do dumb things, run into people who are simply better than me, or both. I dont claim to be an expert; as a matter of fact, at the beginning of this blog, I explicitly stated that I am learning as I go, and the blog's entries reveal that.
I lost a 1v1. It happens, right? Korvus Falek, a member of Black Rebel Rifter Club, was so proud of it he posted about it on his blog... if you want to read the entry, its here so you can see for yourself. Hey, thats ok, I have a blog and post stuff about my fights too, right? Well... please read the entry. You may notice some differences.
I decided to reply, and dispel a few of the inaccuracies in his post, with regards to my wolf, myself, and what I do in EVE.
First. Lets compare fits....mine. This was my actual lossmail from the fight.
I was heading to null to rat/pew, so I was running an MWD, which is not my normal choice; an AB allows me better range control and permits fitting a T2 DCU. My TE/Gyro combo gives me good range vs those who kite at the edge of scram range and gives me more damage beyond about 6k than 2 gyros. I was also in a 10 million isk clone, running 2 +2s and a 3% small projectile damage implant.
The fight itself? I started off dealing early damage, and let him catch me... you know, like I have stated several other places in this very blog that I always do. I wasnt trying to "Kite", I have a scram. Even if i could do so (Which i have said elsewhere, in this blog, that I am bad at) I likely would have had a long point fit, eh? Yes, the blog he says I he read through, and wouldnt point out all the stuff I write that is "wrong". Must have been a thorough read. When I went down, he was in low armor, repping well... I suspect he used Exile, though it may just be the normal repping rate of an A type SAR.
So. By KITERS, i mean those things, such as Hawks and Vengeances who tend to stay at the edge of scram range, 7-8k, beyond the effective range of a fit without a TE.
Now... his fit.
Sheesh! Thats stout! 330m isk frigate, with im guessing a head full of slaves and possibly, as i mentioned, Exile.
I dont know that this was the exact fit, but similar; web/scram/AB, and definately a faction fit.
I had an MWD, which makes my ability to counter rocket damage, already basically horrid when webbed, even worse. It was a bad matchup, but a fun fight nonetheless. I was in a convo with him (we had fleeted, so he didnt have boosts or anything ) and he mentioned to try an AB. Yeap. I know. Anyway, he says I got "mad" and left when he started "epeen waving"... lets see....
---------------------------------------------------------------
Channel ID: (('fleetid', 1122610806817L),)
Channel Name: Fleet
Listener: Ava Starfire
Session started: 2012.05.14 14:31:42
---------------------------------------------------------------
[ 2012.05.14 14:31:56 ] Ava Starfire > SS?
[ 2012.05.14 14:31:56 ] Korvus Falek > rdy for warp in when you are
[ 2012.05.14 14:32:02 ] Korvus Falek > roughly
[ 2012.05.14 14:32:03 ] Ava Starfire > Ok, warp to you?
[ 2012.05.14 14:32:22 ] Korvus Falek > yeah
[ 2012.05.14 14:32:25 ] Ava Starfire > ok
[ 2012.05.14 14:32:30 ] Ava Starfire > if is dualrep
[ 2012.05.14 14:32:31 ] Ava Starfire > i will cry!
[ 2012.05.14 14:32:36 ] Korvus Falek > lol
[ 2012.05.14 14:37:09 ] Ava Starfire > =(
[ 2012.05.14 14:37:51 ] Ava Starfire > Well
[ 2012.05.14 14:37:53 ] Korvus Falek > hehe gf
[ 2012.05.14 14:37:58 ] Ava Starfire > Just means I dont fight vengeance anymore
[ 2012.05.14 14:37:59 ] Ava Starfire > meh
[ 2012.05.14 14:38:08 ] Ava Starfire > 2nd wolf i lost today and nothing to show
[ 2012.05.14 14:38:22 ] Ava Starfire > how about fight in something that isnt a veng?
[ 2012.05.14 14:38:33 ] Korvus Falek > only ship i fly tbh =P
[ 2012.05.14 14:38:37 ] Ava Starfire > Well
[ 2012.05.14 14:38:43 ] Ava Starfire > I just wont fight it anymore
[ 2012.05.14 14:38:52 ] Ava Starfire > MWD wolf simply cant beat it
[ 2012.05.14 14:39:05 ] Ava Starfire > dosent help im in a shit 10m isk nullsec clone atm either
[ 2012.05.14 14:39:47 ] Korvus Falek > hehe use something other than mwd =P
[ 2012.05.14 14:39:59 ] Korvus Falek > a wolf can beat a vengeance
[ 2012.05.14 14:40:06 ] Ava Starfire > I was heading to null
[ 2012.05.14 14:40:06 ] Korvus Falek > but not my vengeance =P
[ 2012.05.14 14:40:07 ] Ava Starfire > =P
[ 2012.05.14 14:40:11 ] Ava Starfire > You all distracted me
[ 2012.05.14 14:40:18 ] Ava Starfire > Ok, epeen measuring time i guess
[ 2012.05.14 14:40:20 ] Ava Starfire > bye
Hmm. I said "MWD wolf cant beat vengeance" (which it may or may not be able to) but lets call attention to this line:
[ 2012.05.14 14:39:59 ] Korvus Falek > a wolf can beat a vengeance
[ 2012.05.14 14:40:06 ] Ava Starfire > I was heading to null
[ 2012.05.14 14:40:06 ] Korvus Falek > but not my vengeance =P
That's pretty smug, and is the reason I left the convo. Now, looking back, I admit I was in a mood, and as eve smack/chestbeating goes, this wasnt that bad... however, the blog post he wrote is much, much worse than just about any local smack I have ever seen. I dont smack, denegrate people, or point out anything wrong they do in a negative way, and I certainly dont make any sort of claims that I am some sort of frigate savant. After killing someone, I will usually (if they seem new to pvp and/or eve) offer some tips. Often, I give new pilots isk for frigs. I try to encourage people. I dont see any reason to chestbeat or proclaim awesomeness OOCly in a video game; it's a video game, after all. I suppose not everyone does that. Hey, its ok, its a big game.
I refit (with an AB and plate, a fit i run sometimes) and returned to fight him again, only getting intercepted (And losing, ack! My luck!) to a rail daredevil, only due to my own stupid; the DD had dipped into struct when I died, had i loaded barrage, would have forced him off. Korvus was at the sun during the fight, watching.
I noticed he didnt mention that in his entry?
RL intervened, I didnt have time to come back a third time to try again. I plan to soon.
So, lets recap; I lost a fight. Someone makes a rather condescending, smug, and sexist post about how awesome he is, and how dumb I am, on his blog. I replied. I'll let you readers be the judge; please, read both entries, and just decide for yourselves. Yep. I lost the fight.
Im pretty sure I know which one of us is the loser.
Ava
Oh, and Korvus? I excuse you, hun, you're a man. Or male of some sort, anyway.
Thursday, May 10, 2012
Nullsec and Me (And impending FW changes)
How time flies!
Having gotten my fill of 1v1s in Angel Creo-Corp Plexes (and other places) the last 2 or so months, I began to get a little bored. Faction War is in a somewhat sad state; unpopular impending changes will make it so that enemy militia cannot dock in space controlled by the opposing force (pretty dumb) that one can earn FW LP for plexing (I am ok with this change) and a few other tweaks, such as upgrading your controlled systems by spending LP... basically, its gonna be sort of like sov null. I think. Anyways, yeah, its unpopular... but militia combat has degenerated into blob vs blob of the worst sort, and it is very, very difficult to solo, at least without a lot of frustrating losses. Ill have to work on this.
Anyways, enough complaining about FW. I decided to begin poking about in nullsec, so I fitted up my trusty wolf and headed off to Great Wildlands, for a bit of good-ol roaming. My standard fit, with an MWD, of course, a fit that I now fly virtually all the time. A wolf with an MWD has a tough time vs scram fit cruisers (Most of them) so I narrow my target selection some, but I gain a lot of kiting ability, the ability to counter kiters much easier, and the ability, most importantly, to pull gangs apart and/or GTFO.
1st trip in, I spot a wolf and thrasher at the 9SNK gate in BVIP. I figure theyre together, camping the small bubble i see on Dscan, when I see GFs in local and the thrasher pilot's pod! Hmm. I debate for a moment, and during that moment the Wolf must have repped up, as he was at almost full SHIELD by the time I landed (I debated for a while... first time in null, haha)
I warp to a safe above the gate, and see the wolf sitting next to the bubble... and right next to the thrasher wreck. I load fusion and warp down to the wreck, scramming him and lighting him up, pulling to 8k range. He was pretty slow responding, and he exploded before I hit armor. I pop the pod for good measure, and scoop up my loot... quite a haul, better than I am used to! I drop my loot in Egbi and roam around, but everyone i meet is either in vagabonds/canes/cynabals or in cloaky haulers or bombers.
Here is a funny part of null. Its very empty. Like, emptier than losec. At least GW is. I guess M-M and the other station systems have more activity, and I will begin poking around there shortly, but 99% of the time, I was alone in each system, leisurely ratting and making safes to evade bubbles. Yes, safes.
Bubbles come in 3 flavors; 1) a Warp Disruption Field generator attached to a heavy interdictor. These mean burn out, or back to the gate, as hictors mean gangs. I have yet to see one.
2) A probe that a Sabre (or other interdictor, though no one flies anything but sabres) launches. These mean burn back to the gate, burn off... or kill the sabre. That last option is almost a certain pod loss if you lose, but we're in null, we should be in cheap clones anyway. No guts, no glory! Load EMP or plasma, heat everything, and see what happens. The standard kite at edge of scram range dosent work vs sabres, so try to get close for max gank. Sig radius, fit, and a bit of luck will decide this fight.
3) Drag bubbles. These are bubbles that people place in line with celestials (like other gates) so that when someone warps to the gate, they are "dragged" 50-60k off the gate, into the bubble. NEVER warp directly to a gate unless 1) youre sure it isnt bubbled 2) no one else is in system or 3) you want to kill whats camping the bubble. Make safes at odd angles near gates; 150k is too close, i preger 250-300. We shall see why in a few minutes. Warp to the safe, THEN down to the gate... or down to the bubble, if you want to kill what is camping it!
Later on, I engage a thrasher in a belt, and what do you know, I lost? I started my repper late AND this person had fit a TE and loaded barrage; methinks he read up on me. Wonder where he could have done that... GFs were shared, and I skulked off home.
A few days later, I see a Claw, Catalyst, and Drake in OPI. Hmm. There are 3 gates in this system... and one was camping each gate. Now, I could have slipped past that Drake easy as pie, but we're not here to slip past anyone, are we? I wanted that Claw and Cattie. I warp to within 30k of the gate the cattie was on, and aligned, MWD off, to the sun. Predictably, the Claw lands, burns toward me, and dies gloriously, getting WAY too close to me on his approach. He popped in 2 shots. The Catalyst, strengthened by the company of his corpmate on field, had also by now burned toward me, and I opened up on him, reducing his ship to slag. Terrible fit, by the way... by now, the drake has landed, and I quietly ignore it as i scoop the loot and bounce, not wanting to chance a drake that wasnt pointing me from 20k in an MWD fit wolf. 2 down, off I go home. Good fight.
This trick with picking gangs apart and isolating tacklers or members with gate aggro/warping at ranges is one I am loving, and the fights are far more fun than old fasioned 1v1s in losec. Can I do it? How long should I stay around? What should I kill first? How do I split them? Do they have something that can web/scram/ecm me? These questions and many more run through my head, but I am loving every second of it. And I am getting a bit more confident....
I am ratting and a Capital Punishment Cyclone keeps following me. For hours. Sigh.
Ok. Pirates. Im going to share a tip. If, in the first 2 hours, someone hasnt commited to fighting you, because your ship is blatantly something they cannot fight (Most cyclones are active tanked with scrams, yuck!) maybe ship down and/or go find someone else. Im glad he didnt... he called a friend!
I jump into UNJ, with the intention of leaving him behind, when I see he has a corpmate in a dramiel on the gate... oh! Hmm... cant fight this close to gate. I pray and warp to my bubble evasion safe, 250k above the gate. I manage to warp off as the Dramiel begins to target.
And then it merrily burns at me at 4700 msec.
Oh, happy day. I align to the gate and light my MWD. Dram is coming closer... closer... and points me when I am 180k or so off. The cyclone still has not jumped in. At this range, I know he can jump and warp to his corpmate as soon as I redbox (As this dram was in no danger of killing me anytime soon) so I wait until i see her straight behind me... 27k away.
Perfect.
Stop my ship, wait for speed to hit 75%, and immediately reversed direction and burned straight at her. Scram on! I open up with plasma, the cyclone jumps in... she is dualproped, which means her AB is still on... gotta leave my MWD on or she will get away. Her shield evaporates, followed quickly by armor and hull, and a Dramiel Goes to heaven! The cyclone is landing... ack! I align to the sun and burn away, warping off, leaving the bewildered duo behind. Dram killed, Cyclone evaded, though I was unable to get the somewhat meager loot, it was a pulse pounding, if short, fight.
I am loving nullsec, folks. I recommend you hop in a cheap JC, grab your favorite MWD inty or AF, and head out there. Who knows... maybe we'll meet each other, eh?
Having gotten my fill of 1v1s in Angel Creo-Corp Plexes (and other places) the last 2 or so months, I began to get a little bored. Faction War is in a somewhat sad state; unpopular impending changes will make it so that enemy militia cannot dock in space controlled by the opposing force (pretty dumb) that one can earn FW LP for plexing (I am ok with this change) and a few other tweaks, such as upgrading your controlled systems by spending LP... basically, its gonna be sort of like sov null. I think. Anyways, yeah, its unpopular... but militia combat has degenerated into blob vs blob of the worst sort, and it is very, very difficult to solo, at least without a lot of frustrating losses. Ill have to work on this.
Anyways, enough complaining about FW. I decided to begin poking about in nullsec, so I fitted up my trusty wolf and headed off to Great Wildlands, for a bit of good-ol roaming. My standard fit, with an MWD, of course, a fit that I now fly virtually all the time. A wolf with an MWD has a tough time vs scram fit cruisers (Most of them) so I narrow my target selection some, but I gain a lot of kiting ability, the ability to counter kiters much easier, and the ability, most importantly, to pull gangs apart and/or GTFO.
1st trip in, I spot a wolf and thrasher at the 9SNK gate in BVIP. I figure theyre together, camping the small bubble i see on Dscan, when I see GFs in local and the thrasher pilot's pod! Hmm. I debate for a moment, and during that moment the Wolf must have repped up, as he was at almost full SHIELD by the time I landed (I debated for a while... first time in null, haha)
I warp to a safe above the gate, and see the wolf sitting next to the bubble... and right next to the thrasher wreck. I load fusion and warp down to the wreck, scramming him and lighting him up, pulling to 8k range. He was pretty slow responding, and he exploded before I hit armor. I pop the pod for good measure, and scoop up my loot... quite a haul, better than I am used to! I drop my loot in Egbi and roam around, but everyone i meet is either in vagabonds/canes/cynabals or in cloaky haulers or bombers.
Here is a funny part of null. Its very empty. Like, emptier than losec. At least GW is. I guess M-M and the other station systems have more activity, and I will begin poking around there shortly, but 99% of the time, I was alone in each system, leisurely ratting and making safes to evade bubbles. Yes, safes.
Bubbles come in 3 flavors; 1) a Warp Disruption Field generator attached to a heavy interdictor. These mean burn out, or back to the gate, as hictors mean gangs. I have yet to see one.
2) A probe that a Sabre (or other interdictor, though no one flies anything but sabres) launches. These mean burn back to the gate, burn off... or kill the sabre. That last option is almost a certain pod loss if you lose, but we're in null, we should be in cheap clones anyway. No guts, no glory! Load EMP or plasma, heat everything, and see what happens. The standard kite at edge of scram range dosent work vs sabres, so try to get close for max gank. Sig radius, fit, and a bit of luck will decide this fight.
3) Drag bubbles. These are bubbles that people place in line with celestials (like other gates) so that when someone warps to the gate, they are "dragged" 50-60k off the gate, into the bubble. NEVER warp directly to a gate unless 1) youre sure it isnt bubbled 2) no one else is in system or 3) you want to kill whats camping the bubble. Make safes at odd angles near gates; 150k is too close, i preger 250-300. We shall see why in a few minutes. Warp to the safe, THEN down to the gate... or down to the bubble, if you want to kill what is camping it!
Later on, I engage a thrasher in a belt, and what do you know, I lost? I started my repper late AND this person had fit a TE and loaded barrage; methinks he read up on me. Wonder where he could have done that... GFs were shared, and I skulked off home.
A few days later, I see a Claw, Catalyst, and Drake in OPI. Hmm. There are 3 gates in this system... and one was camping each gate. Now, I could have slipped past that Drake easy as pie, but we're not here to slip past anyone, are we? I wanted that Claw and Cattie. I warp to within 30k of the gate the cattie was on, and aligned, MWD off, to the sun. Predictably, the Claw lands, burns toward me, and dies gloriously, getting WAY too close to me on his approach. He popped in 2 shots. The Catalyst, strengthened by the company of his corpmate on field, had also by now burned toward me, and I opened up on him, reducing his ship to slag. Terrible fit, by the way... by now, the drake has landed, and I quietly ignore it as i scoop the loot and bounce, not wanting to chance a drake that wasnt pointing me from 20k in an MWD fit wolf. 2 down, off I go home. Good fight.
This trick with picking gangs apart and isolating tacklers or members with gate aggro/warping at ranges is one I am loving, and the fights are far more fun than old fasioned 1v1s in losec. Can I do it? How long should I stay around? What should I kill first? How do I split them? Do they have something that can web/scram/ecm me? These questions and many more run through my head, but I am loving every second of it. And I am getting a bit more confident....
I am ratting and a Capital Punishment Cyclone keeps following me. For hours. Sigh.
Ok. Pirates. Im going to share a tip. If, in the first 2 hours, someone hasnt commited to fighting you, because your ship is blatantly something they cannot fight (Most cyclones are active tanked with scrams, yuck!) maybe ship down and/or go find someone else. Im glad he didnt... he called a friend!
I jump into UNJ, with the intention of leaving him behind, when I see he has a corpmate in a dramiel on the gate... oh! Hmm... cant fight this close to gate. I pray and warp to my bubble evasion safe, 250k above the gate. I manage to warp off as the Dramiel begins to target.
And then it merrily burns at me at 4700 msec.
Oh, happy day. I align to the gate and light my MWD. Dram is coming closer... closer... and points me when I am 180k or so off. The cyclone still has not jumped in. At this range, I know he can jump and warp to his corpmate as soon as I redbox (As this dram was in no danger of killing me anytime soon) so I wait until i see her straight behind me... 27k away.
Perfect.
Stop my ship, wait for speed to hit 75%, and immediately reversed direction and burned straight at her. Scram on! I open up with plasma, the cyclone jumps in... she is dualproped, which means her AB is still on... gotta leave my MWD on or she will get away. Her shield evaporates, followed quickly by armor and hull, and a Dramiel Goes to heaven! The cyclone is landing... ack! I align to the sun and burn away, warping off, leaving the bewildered duo behind. Dram killed, Cyclone evaded, though I was unable to get the somewhat meager loot, it was a pulse pounding, if short, fight.
I am loving nullsec, folks. I recommend you hop in a cheap JC, grab your favorite MWD inty or AF, and head out there. Who knows... maybe we'll meet each other, eh?
Sunday, April 15, 2012
Ammo, the Wolf, and the current state of frigate PvP.
Well, how time flies.
Me, Kalaratiri, and Tabor have split from Teraa Matar and formed a new organization, Skadi's Call, to focus more on small gang and solo combat. Teraa Matar are great people, and theyre a great organization... a decision I make with a heavy heart. Ailing health also led to the decision, as TRA was growing large (by my standards, 25 or so members!) and I was having a difficult time managing it. Kikia, my friend, good luck. You'll need it with that batch.
To the matter at hand; the Wolf! The current state of frigate and AF combat, especially in the warzone, is: kiters. Loads of them. Falloff and Artillery Wolves, Hawks and Hookbills with TDs, Vengeances, even rail Ishkurs and Enyos. This has led me to change my fit once more; I now run one gyro and one TE. This gets me 12k falloff with high damage ammunition, and 18k!! with barrage. Kiting wolf? Go away or die. I have more tank than you.
The question of what ammunition to use is one I face every time i enter a fight, and thankfully, I have developed a good set of guidelines. Of course, ammo selection is infinately more complicated when more than 1 target is involved, but hey, that is part of the fun!
First; anything which kites beyond scram/web range gets barrage fired at it. The only things which will do this often are slicers, certain rifters (who will have a TD) certain firetails and dramiels, who will also have a TD, certain wolves, and Hookbills. Speaking of Hookbills, a new theme is LML hookbills with MWD, long point, and THREE sensor damps. Thankfully, as they dont want to get too close, you can usually slip from point range. If not... well, we cant kill everything, 100% of the time, now can we? I am jealous of those midslot options, but at least outside the warzone, hookbills are not that common.
Barrage is also used on Hookbills or any other T1 frigate which kites inside web range with a TD, as their resist profile isnt as complicated as among T2 ships. Webbing/TDing arty jaguars, while rare, also get beat up with barrage. Anything else, I will use a short range, high DPS ammo; Fusion, EMP, or Phased Plasma, and always RF variants. Rail Enyo? Inside web range? Stick with fusion, same with ishkur. Outside? Get barrage loaded quick.
Versus enyos, ishkurs, jaguar, and wolf, I use fusion, unless one of the above conditions is met. I also use it on that rare occasion where I fight a armor hurricane (never ends well, I try anyway!) or rupture.
Versus harpies, hawks, and sometimes vengeances, I will load EMP. Yes, a hawk or harpy which dual EMP rigs will have a slightly lower overall EHP profile vs Fusion. However, in the off chance they do not, which is common, EMP is a much better choice. I generally use Plasma on vengeances, but EMP is a good choice, as any vengeance (save Dual SAR fits) WILL have plugged the thermal hole. The profile is still very close, however.
Versus retribution, usually vengeance, and all T1 who are not TDing me and are inside scram/web range, ie, Daredevils, Destroyers, Rifters, Comets, etc, I use Plasma. Learning who has what, and when to swap ammo types, when not to, is a trick that comes with time. However, the above is a good guideline; I keep short range ammo loaded when i am on my way in. If i need to swap to barrage, odds are the incoming DPS is fairly light, and I will have time to do so.
AFs, our usual targets, can be broken into 2 groups; those which kite our 2 midslot wolf, and those which melt our face off, cause we cant web them away. What do we do?
Group 1, kiters, consist of Hawks, Vengeances, and certain Wolves and Enyos. These are things we want to get as close to as possible. Vs the rocket boats, keep your AB on, and use approach, as any speed we can get will help mitigate damage a bit. Try to start if possible at 0; i will warp around and force them to chase until I get them to land on me at 0-10, and then do my all to land solid early damage, depending on falloff and that initial DPS advantage to win me the fight. If it is a kiter who isnt using rockets, ie, a wolf, often I just shut my AB off to conserve cap for my repper. They will often die before they realize how hard I am hitting and wont have time to align out. Kiting wolves tend to not fit DCUs... which is why I dislike them.
Group 2, things which melt our face. This is the Harpies, Enyos, Ishkurs, and most Jaguars. These, I will do my all to start at 20-30k and begin landing damage long before they can respond. As I have said before, it is Kiting, but with intent to be caught; if you do this too long, theyll just bail. Early damage is how I beat enyos and harpies, and I honestly dont think I can kill one if we start at 0 unless I am very, very fortunate. Always heat that repper as soon as they land scram, as the hurt is coming.
Group 3 is other Wolves and Retributions. Most of these wolves will be plated, and will either have 150s and/or a plate, and no TE, so i am faster and have better range. Sit at 7-8k and kill them with impunity. Retribution? If you need me to explain how to kill a Retri in a wolf, you should probably fly something else. A wolf will simply win with better speed, and much better resistance against its damage.
Finally, Hail. yes, Hail! When do you use it? Should you?
With our TE and our newfound tracking bonus, a Wolf with hail has better tracking than it did with EMP before the changes... you know, when I was killing every DD and Dramiel with 200s? Yep.
Hail's range sucks. Its tracking sucks. But, it has a place. When?
Vs anything with low explosive resists and that is also webbing you. What? When its webbing you? Did you hear that right? Why? We're moving slower??!
That is the point. You are moving SLOWER. An unwebbed wolf, say, fighting another wolf or a dual MSE jag, will be outtracking its own guns without very, very careful range management. Even vs a target bigger than you, say, a rupture that for whatever reason dosent have a web, you will do less damage if youre orbiting at 500-1000 with AB on with hail, than you will with fusion.
Weird, eh? Honestly, I use hail for one purpose; ratting. I have tried it in combat vs other frigs, and I dislike it. That being said, Darkstar Pwnyouall from my good friends at Black Rebel Rifter Club, swears by it! He uses it vs Harpies, Enyos, and Jags, as I said, anything with lowish EXP resist and a web, and he has great success with it. I may look into it in further detail sometime, but for me, 4 ammo types is enough to manage.
Notice, I didnt link any kills. That isnt because I dont have any, far from; the past 6 weeks have been epic. I just have decided to focus less on "look what I killed" and more on "This is what I do" for the moment. Others do the storytelling much better than me anyway.
Off to get a cup of tea and figure out what I want to do this afternoon. Fly it like you stole it!
Ava
Me, Kalaratiri, and Tabor have split from Teraa Matar and formed a new organization, Skadi's Call, to focus more on small gang and solo combat. Teraa Matar are great people, and theyre a great organization... a decision I make with a heavy heart. Ailing health also led to the decision, as TRA was growing large (by my standards, 25 or so members!) and I was having a difficult time managing it. Kikia, my friend, good luck. You'll need it with that batch.
To the matter at hand; the Wolf! The current state of frigate and AF combat, especially in the warzone, is: kiters. Loads of them. Falloff and Artillery Wolves, Hawks and Hookbills with TDs, Vengeances, even rail Ishkurs and Enyos. This has led me to change my fit once more; I now run one gyro and one TE. This gets me 12k falloff with high damage ammunition, and 18k!! with barrage. Kiting wolf? Go away or die. I have more tank than you.
The question of what ammunition to use is one I face every time i enter a fight, and thankfully, I have developed a good set of guidelines. Of course, ammo selection is infinately more complicated when more than 1 target is involved, but hey, that is part of the fun!
First; anything which kites beyond scram/web range gets barrage fired at it. The only things which will do this often are slicers, certain rifters (who will have a TD) certain firetails and dramiels, who will also have a TD, certain wolves, and Hookbills. Speaking of Hookbills, a new theme is LML hookbills with MWD, long point, and THREE sensor damps. Thankfully, as they dont want to get too close, you can usually slip from point range. If not... well, we cant kill everything, 100% of the time, now can we? I am jealous of those midslot options, but at least outside the warzone, hookbills are not that common.
Barrage is also used on Hookbills or any other T1 frigate which kites inside web range with a TD, as their resist profile isnt as complicated as among T2 ships. Webbing/TDing arty jaguars, while rare, also get beat up with barrage. Anything else, I will use a short range, high DPS ammo; Fusion, EMP, or Phased Plasma, and always RF variants. Rail Enyo? Inside web range? Stick with fusion, same with ishkur. Outside? Get barrage loaded quick.
Versus enyos, ishkurs, jaguar, and wolf, I use fusion, unless one of the above conditions is met. I also use it on that rare occasion where I fight a armor hurricane (never ends well, I try anyway!) or rupture.
Versus harpies, hawks, and sometimes vengeances, I will load EMP. Yes, a hawk or harpy which dual EMP rigs will have a slightly lower overall EHP profile vs Fusion. However, in the off chance they do not, which is common, EMP is a much better choice. I generally use Plasma on vengeances, but EMP is a good choice, as any vengeance (save Dual SAR fits) WILL have plugged the thermal hole. The profile is still very close, however.
Versus retribution, usually vengeance, and all T1 who are not TDing me and are inside scram/web range, ie, Daredevils, Destroyers, Rifters, Comets, etc, I use Plasma. Learning who has what, and when to swap ammo types, when not to, is a trick that comes with time. However, the above is a good guideline; I keep short range ammo loaded when i am on my way in. If i need to swap to barrage, odds are the incoming DPS is fairly light, and I will have time to do so.
AFs, our usual targets, can be broken into 2 groups; those which kite our 2 midslot wolf, and those which melt our face off, cause we cant web them away. What do we do?
Group 1, kiters, consist of Hawks, Vengeances, and certain Wolves and Enyos. These are things we want to get as close to as possible. Vs the rocket boats, keep your AB on, and use approach, as any speed we can get will help mitigate damage a bit. Try to start if possible at 0; i will warp around and force them to chase until I get them to land on me at 0-10, and then do my all to land solid early damage, depending on falloff and that initial DPS advantage to win me the fight. If it is a kiter who isnt using rockets, ie, a wolf, often I just shut my AB off to conserve cap for my repper. They will often die before they realize how hard I am hitting and wont have time to align out. Kiting wolves tend to not fit DCUs... which is why I dislike them.
Group 2, things which melt our face. This is the Harpies, Enyos, Ishkurs, and most Jaguars. These, I will do my all to start at 20-30k and begin landing damage long before they can respond. As I have said before, it is Kiting, but with intent to be caught; if you do this too long, theyll just bail. Early damage is how I beat enyos and harpies, and I honestly dont think I can kill one if we start at 0 unless I am very, very fortunate. Always heat that repper as soon as they land scram, as the hurt is coming.
Group 3 is other Wolves and Retributions. Most of these wolves will be plated, and will either have 150s and/or a plate, and no TE, so i am faster and have better range. Sit at 7-8k and kill them with impunity. Retribution? If you need me to explain how to kill a Retri in a wolf, you should probably fly something else. A wolf will simply win with better speed, and much better resistance against its damage.
Finally, Hail. yes, Hail! When do you use it? Should you?
With our TE and our newfound tracking bonus, a Wolf with hail has better tracking than it did with EMP before the changes... you know, when I was killing every DD and Dramiel with 200s? Yep.
Hail's range sucks. Its tracking sucks. But, it has a place. When?
Vs anything with low explosive resists and that is also webbing you. What? When its webbing you? Did you hear that right? Why? We're moving slower??!
That is the point. You are moving SLOWER. An unwebbed wolf, say, fighting another wolf or a dual MSE jag, will be outtracking its own guns without very, very careful range management. Even vs a target bigger than you, say, a rupture that for whatever reason dosent have a web, you will do less damage if youre orbiting at 500-1000 with AB on with hail, than you will with fusion.
Weird, eh? Honestly, I use hail for one purpose; ratting. I have tried it in combat vs other frigs, and I dislike it. That being said, Darkstar Pwnyouall from my good friends at Black Rebel Rifter Club, swears by it! He uses it vs Harpies, Enyos, and Jags, as I said, anything with lowish EXP resist and a web, and he has great success with it. I may look into it in further detail sometime, but for me, 4 ammo types is enough to manage.
Notice, I didnt link any kills. That isnt because I dont have any, far from; the past 6 weeks have been epic. I just have decided to focus less on "look what I killed" and more on "This is what I do" for the moment. Others do the storytelling much better than me anyway.
Off to get a cup of tea and figure out what I want to do this afternoon. Fly it like you stole it!
Ava
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