Wednesday 31 March 2010

Tusker Interview #3

Romeo Blakstorm, fellow Tusker has posted another in his series of interviews with The Tuskers Corporation members, this time his interview is with yours truly.

I heartily recommend you read the interviews over at LIFE AMONG THE PIRATES. The Romance and the Reality.

Monday 29 March 2010

Johnny Two Jags

Kirith can now fly Assault Ships, he's actually been able to fly them for a week or two and now has lost two Jaguars in that time. They have been my two most expensive ship losses to date, though that is always to be expected from T2 ships. I have yet to form an opinion on them aside from noting their high cost as I do not feel that they have had a decent road test in either my "Solo" or "Gang" variants. This post is also where I thought I'd post the initial Jaguar fits I am using:

Solo:

Rocket Launcher II (Foxfire Rage Rocket)
3x 150mm Light AutoCannon II (Republic Fleet EMP S)

Medium Shield Extender II
X5 Prototype I Engine Enervator
J5 Prototype Warp Disruptor I
Cold-Gas I Arcjet Thrusters

Damage Control II
Gyrostabilizer II
Nanofiber Internal Structure II

2x Small Core Defence Field Extender I

[Statistics - Kirith Darkblade]

Effective HP: 9,733
Tank Ability: 34.89 DPS
Damage Profile - (EM: 25.00%, Ex: 25.00%, Ki: 25.00%, Th: 25.00%)
Shield Resists - EM: 78.13%, Ex: 56.25%, Ki: 47.50%, Th: 65.00%
Armor Resists - EM: 91.50%, Ex: 23.50%, Ki: 36.25%, Th: 72.38%

Capacitor: Lasts 7m 30s

Volley Damage: 349.96
DPS: 152.66

Gang:
[Jaguar, Kirith: MWD]

5W Infectious Power System Malfunction
3x 125mm Gatling AutoCannon II (Republic Fleet EMP S)

Medium F-S9 Regolith Shield Induction
X5 Prototype I Engine Enervator
Fleeting Progressive Warp Scrambler I
Phased Monopropellant I Hydrazine Boosters

Damage Control II
Gyrostabilizer II
Nanofiber Internal Structure II

2x Small Core Defence Field Extender I

Effective HP: 9,111
Tank Ability: 31.78 DPS
Damage Profile - (EM: 25.00%, Ex: 25.00%, Ki: 25.00%, Th: 25.00%)
Shield Resists - EM: 78.13%, Ex: 56.25%, Ki: 47.50%, Th: 65.00%
Armor Resists - EM: 91.50%, Ex: 23.50%, Ki: 36.25%, Th: 72.38%

Capacitor: Lasts 24s

Volley Damage: 255.63
DPS: 125.93

My first Jag loss was completely my fault, losing a Caracal on my overview and wheras I thought it warped out it was merely off my overview screen which was heavily crowded with NPC ships which for the record also had full room agro on me. It was destroyed before you could say "boom" having gotten precisely zero kills with it.

The second, I lost my Solo setup while part of a gang. I should have brought my gang setup I know though I dount I would have done any better in it. I just didn't think about it when we set out. I used it very effectively to hold down a Drake comfortably while waiting for bigger hitters to arrive by merrily speed tanking, I was involved in three Drake kills before I lost it. The actual loss occurred while we were trying to bait an enemy gang which ended up with egg on our faces losing my Jaguar and a Stiletto to a Stiletto, Taranis, Drake, Rapier, Hurricane & Apocalypse while we were trying to get a decent warpin on the Apoc.

I'm not done with Jaguars, I'd like to give them a fair chance before writing them off so I am sure there are more chronicles to come. What I am looking forward to road testing is my Wolf which is sat in Station, man that thing looks impressive. I'll detail my Wolf fit in another post.

Saturday 27 March 2010

Getting Rich Quick and Quite by Accident

***CAUTION: NON-PIRACY RELATED CONTENT BELOW! ***

Did I tell you that recently I created a second account? I think I did...

Well, anyway. The second account was made to give me some flexibility to not compromise on Kiriths training whilst allowing me to have a character to haul, a character to mine/mission and a character to probe.

Its early days of course and the first character I am making is a Hulk pilot who is also a small time manufacturer. I have the bonus that a friend of mind is a high sec miner who runs a few accounts which pretty much sit and mine all day, one of these pilots sits in an Orca and I can tag along in the gang and semi-afk mine in his gang taking all the bonuses and the cherry on top is that he does all my refining too at 100% yield.

Anyway, I digressed lol

So I had done some manufacturing and was selling my pile of goods in Rens. My second account active on my other PC while I'm chasing a gang around in Adirain with Kirith. I notice the alts wallet flash and do a double-take on my wallet balance. What was a moment ago 41m ISK is now 227m ISK. My sell order only had around 2m ISK remaining so I was like, erm wtf just happened? Seems someone just tried to buy from a sell order that was set very high and I got the ISK! Woohoo. However it doesn't stop there, as within minutes it happens again and my alts wallet has jumped to 338m ISK! the same sell order but a different buyer. Unfortunately I ran out of products to sell, quite a profitable evening if I do say so myself.

Well, at least now I don't need to save for a Hulk for the miner!

PS. I am still a dirty filthy pirate, but we's all gotta make a living right? Plus its ok because I turn the tables and make an Amarr character my slave and mine for me. Irony

Friday 26 March 2010

What's in a Name?

Arukemos asks in his recent blog post "So how did a lot of other players out there choose the names, did you just pick a bunch of random syllables and mush them together until you got something that sounded cool, or did you put some thought into it?" I thought I'd answer this for Kirith.

To answer the question I need to do two things, first to explain what I wanted the name to mean to me and two, to pull the two parts Kirith & Darkblade apart.

I knew form the outset that I wanted Kirith to be a pirate. This to me meant that Kirith needed a suitably agressive name that could be remembered by his victims. How do you make a name sound agressive? I hadn't a clue, I'm no literary genius or scholar getting only a grade D at GCSE in English. I drew on the only reference material I had available to me, books & other MMO's that I have played. I knew the sorts of names that the bad guys had and picked some that stuck in my mind and started toying with combinations. I ended up with:

Kirith....In World of Warcraft there is an incredibly long chain of quests, similar I guess to EVE's Epic Arc. Back when I did this before they made the whole game ezmode it was incredibly hard. One of the villains in the chain is called Kirith the Damned and he stuck in my mind. Picture below:



Around the time I created Kirith I had recently finished reading the Malus Darkblade series of Warhammer Novels and had really enjoyed them. Thus I struck upon Darkblade to be Kirith's surname. Picture of Malus Darkblade below:



So now you know how the name was derived. Is there a story behind yours?

Wednesday 24 March 2010

Kill of the Month: February

Yes I know, it isn't February anymore and no it isn't a typo.

Recently a monthly challenge was started on The Tuskers forums where throughout the month the killboards are scoured and kills are put forward for consideration as kill of the month. Last month my Drake kill in a Rifter was a contender.

There were five engagements voted on:
Tressin takes his toll on a destroyer gang in his Rupture
Bart takes out two Ishkurs in his Vexor
My Drake kill in a Rifter
Sonbalins Thorax snags a Vagabond
Latro takes out a Hurricane & Celestis in a Wormhole

As the votes rolled in it ended up as a a close run thing between my Drake kill with corp-mate SonBalin's Vagabond kill in his Thorax. The votes fell in a my favor and my prize, a shiny Imperial Navy Slicer. Granted I can't fly it but will do one day!

Tuesday 23 March 2010

What's with all these entertaining fights lately?

It seems that this last week has been one of the best in my EVE experience as a pirate. I've had some very fun and interesting fights. A small showcase below:

Rifter & Thorax
I had warped to the gate after spotting a lone neutral Rifter sat 10km away, I was trying to get him to aggress me but he was having none of it, as I was merrily orbiting him a second flashy Rifter piloted by Eviwyn, of Hellcats notoriety landed and locked me up and engaged, just after she engaged a non-flashy Thorax landed and also locked me up and engaged. Yikes! Unlocking the neutral Rifter to avoid getting accidentally gate-gunned I set about the Rifter and made good progress in destroying it. By the time the Rifter was down I was into around half-armour, I switched focus to the Thorax and his drones. Without the added pressure on my tank of the Rifter I was able to effectively speed tank the Thorax and his drones taking him out efficiently.

Busting a small low-sec ratting gang
Entering system, this gang were at the only belt immediately on scan, by the time I had warped there they had left, so using the gold old pirate initiative I selected the next belt I thought that they would go to and warped to zero. Landing amongst a Kestrel, Tristan & Caracal I decided to take out the fastest first. So the kestrel went down, followed soon after by the Tristan. The Caracal had not warped out to my joy and was trying to avenge his corp-mates by spamming Heavy Thunderbolt missiles at me. He didn't last long with my fire switching to him. I bet they must have been scratching their heads wondering wtf just happened afterwards. PS. Ignore the Osprey on related kills, I found that later.

OPM Holdings
I'm sat safed in Adirain and see a Kestrel ratting in a belt. I warp in pop it, and pod the pilot. Return to safe spot to wait out GCC and the pilot returns in a Stabber, goes to the same belt again so I warp in pop the ship and pod him again. Return to safe to wait out GCC. Pilot re-enters local in a Stabber with a friend in a Rupture, I warp in pop the Stabber and his pod but am gallantly gunned down by the Rupture. Fortunately I jettisoned my loot at my safe before engaging. I return to base to reship. I return to Adirain again to find him back again! Ratting, again! This time he's in a Rifter so of course I go in, pop his ship and pod him again. Way too funny.

The Typhoon 50 jumps away
Bourreau, a corp-mate says on vent that he got a Typhoon tackled piloted by a three month old. Problem is that he's 50 jumps away! In for the long haul Bourreau sets to work. I decide to jump clone to Aralgrund, jump in a Rifter and speed for his location some 11 jumps away. Bourreau notes that another pirate has entered local. I eventually arrive after probably ten minutes and rendezvous with my friend in his Jaguar. We soon have the Typhoon in low armour as a Rapier decloaks 175km away and starts to MWD towards us. Bourreau bugs out to save his Jaguar but I want this guys ship killed so I hang in as the Rapier closes. As the Rapier gets within 17km from me the Phoon explodes and I align out only to be webbed, pointed and have Warrior II's sicked on me. I shoot down a number of the Drones and the Rapier bugs out \o/.

Another Corps low-sec op ruined by Kirith
So last night I'm minding my own, cruising around look for something to pewpew. I sight a gang of four ships ratting together. A game of cat and mouse ensues and I eventually land amongst them and catch their Thrasher while the rest of them bug out, I pod him too as there's another Thrasher looming. Once my GCC is up I set off in search of the other three, two systems out I find them but see a Brutix on scan too. Hmm, I drop off my loot at a station then undock to go for no guts no glory kamikaze style madness. I warp in on the Rupture, Rifter & Caracal. Boom, Rifter goes down first then the Rupture and his Pod, finally the Caracal. Battle report here. As I finish off the Caracal the Brutix appears and a Dramiel is on scan. I align out and burn away from the Brutix escaping before returning to loot the field.

The Rifter truly is a ship to fear in the hands of a madman who does not care so much about losing it! Who said solo piracy is dead!

100 Frozen Corpses

As of last night I have now collected 100 frozen corpses from the unfortunates who have been podded by me. Kept safe and cold in a special section in my hangar.

\o/

Monday 22 March 2010

The Blob

Last night I had my first experience as a part of a low-sec roaming "blob", all I can really say about it is that I really disliked it.

The gang formed was of approximately 25 ships of mixed size between frigate & battlecruiser hulls, predominant were the battlecruisers. It felt so slow and unwieldy (typo?), perhaps my experience was sullied by being a frigate hull.

Until I get into a Battlecruiser to take part at a different level. I do not plan on being part of a "blob" again.

Saturday 20 March 2010

Thrasher

And so, recently I completed training my skills to fly a Thrasher to level IV across the board. I boldly then boarded the noble craft and headed out of Aralgrund station in search of booty and conquest, Yarr! At first impression she aligns and accelerates seemingly slower than the Rifters I am used to but nothing too serious.

This is the fit I’m using right now:

H: 7 x 200mm Autocannon II
H: 1 x Small Energy Neutralizer II

M: Medium Shield Extender II
M: 1MN Microwarpdrive I
M: J5b Warp Scrambler

L: 2 x Gyrostabilzer II

R: 3 x Small Core Defence Field Extender II

Puts out about 250 dps with faction ammo.

On my first trip out I found a few targets upon which to test my wrath, entering Wiskeber the local population was high and warping to a scan spot I notice a mix of frigate and cruiser hulls from the same corp. Decided not to test my chances on them I moved to Mateber and sighted a Merlin in a belt. As I warped in the Merlin warped out as a Malediction interceptor landed with me, was this a TARP? I certainly thought so at the time, valiantly trying (and failing) to catch the Interceptor I noticed I had forgotten to bring any Barrage S as local spiked heavily, as I was chastising myself for ineptitude a Cheetah appeared in the belt who died incredibly fast to my guns as I don’t think I even pointed him. I aligned out of the belt as the ships I had seen in Wiskeber descended around me, at one point I had 5 points on me, but thankfully no scrams. Then I was perma-jammed, with nothing else I could do I overheated the MWD and very nearly burnt it out before I got out of range and lived to fight another day.

On my way to Todifrauan I normally swing through Brin & Halgatlid (typo?), In Brin there’s a Stabber and a Punisher, the Stabber is new player, the Punisher is an outlaw. Sighting the Stabber at a belt I go in and engage, but wait, whats this he has a Scram! Pretty unusual for a Stabber. So I’m stuck against a faster ship unable to close range. We are tearing into each other when the Punisher lands. I align out and it seems that the Stabber has the same idea, I escape with around 120 structure, the Stabber in armour. My shields recharge quickly and the Punisher is still in space so I go and sit at a nice obvious Planet. Soon the Punisher lands and it’s game over for him before he really knows what hit him, he perhaps thought I would be a soft target with zero armour and practically no hull. Turns out when talking about the fight in Corp chat that my victim was the room-mate of one of my corp-mates!

My last fight of the evening, other than nuking a macro pilot’s pod on a gate was against a Harpy that was at zero on a planet. A fellow pirate, we engaged as I landed and it was pretty close. I emerged victorious, though with just 10% shield remaining. Feeling very pleased with the Thrashers performance I headed home with my hold full of booty, optimistic about the adventure the ship and I are sure to have.

Thursday 18 March 2010

Fleet Command

One evening recently I joined a pre-organised corp T1 frigate fleet led by my fellow blogger Kishin Hattori. I hadn’t thought I would be able to join the fleet as the start time was somewhat late for me, but alas I was online at the start time and thought “what the hell”. I also wanted to show my support to him as it was his first time leading an organised fleet.

The fleet assembled and we had a fair mix of dps and ewar, unfortunately what we didn’t have were targets. We roamed systems near and afar, only to be disappointed. Even Old Man Star was deathly quiet, though I did manage to lose my Rifter. I always tend to have terrible luck in OMS or do something really stupid.

Targets had been glimpsed, but were not forthcoming until after nearly two hours roaming a Hurricane was sighted and tackled. All did not end well however as when our 15 man gang landed in the belt after a long warp to find ourselves 70+km from the Hurricane who was accelerating away at 1500m/s. Our tackler went in for the scram to kill his MWD but was caught then by the Hurricanes neuts and drones and consequently died in a ball of fire.

The call was given that the op was ended and that we should head back to base. At this point it was very late, but I decided to stick my nose in Hulmate on the way home just on the off chance. What I found was an Ishkur seemingly ratting in a belt. I called to the remaining fleet members and they said they would make best speed running the gate guns, though they were 4-5 jumps out. I decided to try and keep the Ishkur interested which a pretty dangerous decision in hindsight. Kiting him and his drones and shooting them down before he would recall them. He warped away a couple of times but eventually I found him again as the fleet arrived. I went in, announcing to the fleet I had point I offered a prayer to the gaffer tape gods to keep me alive until they landed. Secondary and teritiary points were called and I resumed kiting the drones, just as I capped out it was announced that the Ishkur was down \o/. A fitting end, and just what was needed to end the op for the night.

Hats off to Kishin (no pun intended) for have the stones to organise and run the fleet. I hope to join the next one. What he has also done, damn him is to make me think about doing something similar and organising a fleet myself. Time will tell I suppose, but I guess I’m going to need to do something while I train for Cruisers & Battlecruisers!

Tuesday 16 March 2010

The Big Three Oh

Last Friday I reached the grand old age of 30.

I felt I should really buy Kirith a birthday present or two on my behalf, but decisions on what to buy. There are three options that come to mind:

1. A Dramiel, all the rage at the moment. I’d need to do quite a lot of training for it in terms of Gallente Frigate V and about a months Drone skills for me to be happy flying it. This would be fine though, as I will need the drone skills for my upcoming Cruisers & Battlecruisers.

2. A Republic Fleet Firetail, feels a bit like a poor mans Dramiel or a rich mans Rifter with an extra midslot. Whilst the trend is to shield tank these, I like the idea of trying and beefed up version of my cap-boosted Rifter. EDIT: Since drafing this I have received one as a gift!

3. A Wolf, again more skills than I have planned would need to be trained to fly this in the form of Assault Ships to at least IV (probably V).

I haven’t yet decided, other than that I should buy him something.

Some words of thanks must go to my corp-mates who have been very generous with birthday gifts. Gift-wrapped for Kirith have been:

· A Battlecruiser of my choice
· Exotic Dancers
· Jaguar
· Offers to have Happy Birthday sung down Vent, kindly declined :P
· Rifters
· Spirits

Certainly none of this has been looked for, but it’s really nice nevertheless especially considering that I haven't been a Tusker all that long. The camaraderie I see every day is truly something that sets EVE apart from other MMO's that I have played.

EVE Blog Banter #16: Do you wish to know more?

Welcome to the sixteenth installment of the EVE Blog Banter, the monthly EVE Online blogging extravaganza created by none other than me, CrazyKinux. The EVE Blog Banter involves an enthusiastic group of gaming bloggers, a common topic within the realm of EVE Online, and a week to post articles pertaining to the said topic. The resulting articles can either be short or quite extensive, either funny or dead serious, but are always a great fun to read! Any questions about the EVE Blog Banter should be directed to crazykinux@gmail.com. Check out other EVE Blog Banter articles at the bottom of this post!

The third Blog Banter of 2010 comes to us from ChainTrap of the Into the unknown with gun and camera EVE Blog. He asks us: "Eve University turns six years old on March 15th; six years spent helping the new pilots of New Eden gain experience and understanding in a supportive environment. EVE is clearly a complicated game, with a ton to learn, so much that you never stop learning. So, the question is; What do you wish that someone had taken the time to tell you when you were first starting out? Or what have you learned in the interim that you'd like to share with the wider Eve community?"


First, Happy birthday EVE Uni. I do hope they keep going as strong as they have for the last six years, especially if they keep coming to low-sec and giving good fights like this one last week where our mixed gang engaged a fleet of approximately twenty EVE-Uni (please excuse shameless Tusker plug).

And so to the question at hand: What do you wish that someone had taken the time to tell you when you were first starting out?

A bit difficult to answer for me. I'd been doing my homework in fits and starts on EVE for a long time before I actually started playing, I read loads of blogs and websites, observed my friend using both of his characters and consequently learned loads before I took the plunge. I felt that I went into EVE truly with my eyes wide open. That said, there were still things that I learned and also some misconceptions I picked up on that perhaps might benefit from being set straight. I am going to focus on those related to Low-Sec space, so here we go in no particular order:

1. In most parts of Low-sec most gates are not camped. Faction Warfare areas do seem to be the worst for this though, so be warned.

2. The Directional Scanner can save your life.

3. There is no Sec. Status hit for shooting at someone who is Red on your overview.

4. You can shoot someone who is red on your overview anywhere & anytime.

5. If anyone shoots a "non-red" character near sentry guns, the sentries will shoot them, but not you if they shot you first, that is unless you are red yourself of course.

6. Many parts of Low-sec are empty of players most of the time.

7. Interdiction bubbles cannot be used in Low-Sec.

8. Most Low-Sec gate camps can be succesfully flown through in a frigate hull with minimal risk.

9. When you undock from a station you are invulnerable for 30 seconds unless you activate any modules or tell your ship to move. You can however stop your ship and remain invulnerable during those 30 seconds.

10. Don't fly what you cannot afford to replace immediately.

11. If you get caught and a ransom offered, think about the value of your implants and hardwirings plus the cost of clone replacement before blowing off or being abusive at the person(s) who just destroyed your ship. You are far more likely to survive the episode.

12. Not all pirates are honourable. (shocking I know!)

13. If you want some variety in your game, some risk and more of a challenge then find yourself a quiet low-sec system and think about doing some exploration, ratting and perhaps missions. If you don't then stay in High-Sec.

14. Even a Frigate can kill your Battlecruiser ;)


Disclaimer: All the above is written by a pirate, so my views may be erm....slanted?

Sunday 14 March 2010

How could I forget the Exotic Dancers

An addition to my previous post where I mention about losing a Rifter to an Ishkur, the Rifter lost was one of my birthday presents and in it were held a few items to make the party lively, notably Spirits & a hareem of Exotic Dancers. With the demise of the Rifter the hareem were lost, though the Spirits survived! Hurrah!

I happened to mention this in local and the pilot of the Ishkur very graciously contracted me some more Exotic Dancers, party on!

Thanks von Diel!

Achievement unlocked, 20 points

This week I killed something which I had been wanting to do since I became an ebil piwate, I killed a Retriever mining in low-sec. Yes I know I’m easily pleased but it was awesome and I was very chuffed.

Other than this rather entertaining kill it has been another bloodthirsty week in the life of a pirate, feels like loads of ships have been helped to go back to their nature as micrometeorites and space dust. Battleclinic says I have now podded over 100 pilot’s too!

This week notably I had three fights against Ishkurs, Don, a corp mate of mine advocates that you should never kill the drones on a Ishkur and just concentrate on the ship itself. I do disagree on this and to date I have always chosen to kill the drones first. In a Rifter there really isn’t an alternative otherwise you die in a fire. My chosen method is to burn away from the Ishkur keeping him out of range and shoot the drones down as they come, granted this is easier when those drones are not Warrior II’s! In the three fights I have been fortunate that I have not been alone for the whole fight. In one fight I did lose my Rifter but in the other two I prevailed with a combination of overloading repper & AB while shooting the Drones, until my corp mates arrived anyway. The Ishkur is certainly a fearsome opponent for a Rifter. Sure while I kite the Ishkur and it’s drones I lose point and the Ishkur could warp off, but I tend to find that their bloodlust seems to make them not notice this, bonus!

This week I have lost a lot of ships including my first Thrasher loss, a lot more than I have in any week since I started playing I think, current tally sits at 7 since last Sunday. Quite an entertaining loss was to Trony, who said after the fight that he had come to Hevrice to kill me after reading the blog, surely my writing can’t be that bad ;D. Good fight again Trony and nasty Taranis you have there schooling both my corpmate Kishin and then me as I warped to his aid.

If you haven't already seen, Romeo Blackstorm has started a series of interviews of Tusker pilots, they are a great read and I thoroughly recommend them. You can see his latest interview with Tusker Director Ronan Jacques here.

Wednesday 10 March 2010

Solo PVP Playlist

A little while ago there was a thread on The Tusker forums asking what you listened to while "pirating". Now when I'm in a gang/fleet call it what you will I do not tend to have music on the background, or if I do I have it on very low volume as it tends to get confusing when your on voice comms at the same time. However, when solo it's a different matter entirely and the volume gets cranked up loud! I thought I'd share my playlist with you;

Age of Love (Remix)

Acension, Someone (Remix)
DJ Misjah & DJ Tim, Access
Hi-Gate, Caned & Unable
Kirsty Hawkshaw, Fine Day (Remix)
Mauro Picotto, Pulsar (Remix)
N-Trance, Set you Free
Placebo, Every You Every Me Also, Cruel Intentions = Cool Film
The Prodigy, Voodoo People
The Prodigy, Speedway
Public Domain, Operation Blade
Rammstein, Du Hast
Rammstein, Feuer Frei
Sash, Adelante
Terrorvision, D'Ya Wanna Go Faster?
Tomcraft, Loneliness
2 Unlimited, No Limit Yes I admit ownership of this song

Do you listen to a specific playlist when online?

Sunday 7 March 2010

Back in the saddle

Well, my week away is over and its back to work tomorrow. Holidays do fly by too fast and I now feel like I would benefit greatly from another week off work to recover if you will.

As I have been away my posting has been rather less than I normally aim for. Given that my playtime this week has been very low I have little for my weekly update.

Wolf
This is my most satisfying kill of the week, the pilot was working on capturing a Faction Warfare complex after having cleared the rats. Whilst his fit wasn't spectacular it was a very close run fight. His wreck contained nearly 12,000 rounds of Barrage S ammunition so that should see me for a long while. I had the confidence to go after this Wolf after I had engaged one before I went away in Onne and were it not for the untimely intervention of a neutral drake and it's T2 light drones I would have without doubt destroyed it as it survived the fight with just 15% structure. My modules and ship took a severe battering in this fight, here's a screenie of my Rifter after the dust had settled:



I'm getting somewhat of a reputation in The Tuskers for taking out Battlecruisers in my Rifter. In the last couple of days I have upheld the reputation by despatching another Hurricane. The pilot of the Hurricane was unfortunate enough to lose his Pod to me aswell after messing around with ransom negotiations, my patience does ultimately have limits, especially so when sat in a system with many potential hostiles. I did find another pilot ratting in a Drake, but unfortunately was not able to break his tank. Always embarrassing!

As I mentioned in a previous post, the time has come for me to fly something bigger and more useful to the Corp. Along the way I have decided to train for the Thrasher, which I am currently working towards. Picking up the skills to use MWD's, Neuts, Shield Rigs and Shield Extenders which I'll need for the bigger "stuff" on the way. I always save the skill to actually fly the ship to last to make sure I have all the ancillary skills I need to fly it well. All being well I should be behind the wheel? of a Shield buffer fit Thrasher at Destroyers IV on Friday (which also happens to be my 30th birthday!). Might have to go lose the five sat in my hangar on the day to celebrate!.

Tuesday 2 March 2010

An Introduction

I thought it may be wise, given this blogs recent addition to the EVE Blog Pack to introduce Kirith to you. This will serve to save those of you he might otherwise need to trawl through loads of old blogs to work out who I am, how I got here and what I do. Of course if you still want to do that then I would encourage you to do so to get to know me better

Also, I appreciate that many readers will view this either via your IPhone (awesome aren't they!) & Capsuleer or through a third party application like Google Reader and as such may not visit my actual blog page so I thought I could mention what's there without you needing to go have a look-see.

Without further ado, and I'll try to keep it brief...

In "Real-Life" I'm a 29 year old Accountant living in Cornwall in the UK. I have been playing EVE for around six months, 99.9% of that time I have spent as a pirate in low-sec. Two or three months ago I joined The Tuskers, who for those that live under a rock (not intended as a pun or slur against miners! Though, bring your Hulks & Barges to Hevrice KK?) The Tuskers are a low-sec pirate corp based out of the Verge Vendor region. Kirith flys solo most of the time and for the first six months has only flown Rifters, so I consider him to be something of a specialist in them. Did I say that the miners could bring their Orcas to Hev too? Oh right, yes anyway.

My main blog page contains a little bit of additional information about my recent goings on, such as:

- A Picture of yours truly...
- What my security status is, been true -10.0 a while now.
- How many frozen corpses I have successfully gotten back to my hangar, 73.
- Total of all ransoms I have received. Tuskers always honour ransoms!
- My current Battleclinic ranking, around 1400 I think (too lazy to check)
- The current bounty on my head, NIL after being podded recently :(
- There are links to all my kills in chronological order.
- A list of all my losses.
- Links to all the blogs that I follow.
- Traditional tag cloud.
- Soon to be added are links to all the EVE Blog Pack members

Well, I think that will do for now.

Monday 1 March 2010

Proud to be part of the EVE Blog Pack

Just a quick post from me today as I'm still on holiday....

I was really pleased to find myself added to Crazykinux EVE Blog Pack earlier today. This week I'll be adding links to all the Blog Pack Members to my blog page. Considering I'm relatively new to EVE (less than 6 months) it is a privelige to be amongst so many veterans and fellow respected bloggers.

That's all for now, you may carry on.