So, well yeah...

Today I had one of those moments where for ages afterwards I'm thinking how did that happen. Tbh it's still making me wonder now.

The event, I lost a Hawk after undocking from a station to be greeted by a flashy Zealot only 5km away. Awesome went my brain and I engaged it knowing how badly Zealots fare against frigates and I was in a dual web Hawk. What could possibly go wrong!?

I was surprised when he engaged me in return, less so when I was webbed and pointed. He was managing to pull some decent speed despite being dual webbed and getting fair hits on me. The additional surprise was his active tank which I was only marginally breaking.

My buffer fit could only last so long and inevitably exploded. Offering gf in local and complimenting an unusual fit I docked up somewhat confused.

I'm only contented by a well used phrase, that one should never seek to assume!

Caldari & Amarr Frigate V

Quite some time ago now I chose to round out my racial frigate skills by getting both Caldari & Amarr frigate to V. The main rationale for this was to access the Hawk & Vengeance as I'm unable to use lasers or hybrids.

The Hawk & Vengeance pair very well with my skills follwing the completion of the Rifter plan as I maxed my unguided missile skills. It shows to me how long ago I did this as it was prior to the Assault Frigate buff.

In addition to the Vengeance & Hawk I'd also acquired a Caldari Navy Hookbill. At the time I really fancied flying the Hookbill, sadly though that desire has waned now before I've even undocked.

So it was that I bought myself a couple of Hawks and fitted up my Hookbill. Typically once I'd got the ships & fittings in Hevrice the Assault Frigate buff had been delivered too and my loadouts were somewhat sub-optimal. I'd thrown a Merlin into the mix too as I'd had some close fights with them and fancied tring one myself.

Here's the loadouts I've ended up with, I consider them highly developmental so please bear that in mind:

Raven Guard, my Hawk:

Ballistic Control System II
Damage Control II

1MN Afterburner II
Medium F-S9 Regolith Shield Induction
X5 Prototype Engine Enervator
X5 Prototype Engine Enervator
J5b Phased Prototype Warp Scrambler I

Rocket Launcher II, Trauma Rage Rocket
Rocket Launcher II, Trauma Rage Rocket
Rocket Launcher II, Trauma Rage Rocket
Rocket Launcher II, Trauma Rage Rocket
125mm Gatling AutoCannon II, Barrage S

Small Warhead Calefaction Catalyst I
Small Anti-EM Screen Reinforcer I

Kirith spits out 253dps in this little machine and it rolls with over 9k ehp.


Pookie, my Vengeance

[Vengeance, Pookie]
Ballistic Control System II
F85 Peripheral Damage System I
200mm Reinforced Rolled Tungsten Plates I
Small Armor Repairer II

X5 Prototype Engine Enervator
1MN Afterburner II
J5b Phased Prototype Warp Scrambler I

Rocket Launcher II, Mjolnir Rage Rocket
Rocket Launcher II, Mjolnir Rage Rocket
Rocket Launcher II, Mjolnir Rage Rocket
Rocket Launcher II, Mjolnir Rage Rocket
Small Unstable Power Fluctuator I

Small Bay Loading Accelerator I
Small Warhead Calefaction Catalyst I

Kirith spits out 212dps in this tough nut, again over 9k ehp but this time with an active tank that can perma run without the neut.

I've lost the first of each now and would have to say that I vastly prefer the Vengeance even if it is a bit on the slow side. I've never been much of a speed demon anways. Any tips or critique?

May 2012 Character Review

Is it just me, or did the last month fly by seemingly very quickly? Straight down to business then with the statistics for the last month:

50 Ship kills (31 Solo)

16 Pod kill (13 Solo)

2,559,261,053 Isk cost to victims (140,637,816 Isk received in loot)

8 Ships Lost

0 Pods Lost

211,192,519 Isk lost in value of ships destroyed

(70,554,703) Isk lost for the month

As you can see from the kills & losses above I've been far more active in game this month than I was the previous month, something I'm very pleased with. I have also flown far more recklessly which shows in the losses. Despite losing isk in the month when comparing kills & losses I've had a lot of fun in the process and that's what matter ultimately to me.

The ships I lost were:

1 x 400mm plated Rifter, a great 1v1 against a Merlin. In an effort to streamline my hangar I've been flying some ships with old fits that have been gathering dust. Despite this I've found some great fights, like this one.

1 x Suicide thrasher, a took a little part in the early stages of Hulkageddon. Actually I lost three Thrashers but 2 don't count in Corp as they were killed by Concord. I can't say I "enjoy" ganking but it was an interesting change for a day or two.

1 x Hawk, I engaged a Prophecy in a belt and whilst the brain said he's likely bait I wen't for it anyway. My Hawk died swiftly to him.

1 x Hurricane, Going back for revenge on the Prophecy I land with him, unfortunately for me he calls in a couple of Tornados to help leaving me buggered. Can't blame him and a fun twist.

1 x Vengeance, my first outing in the Vengeance was with a potential new Tusker, we roamed down to Heimatar where we ended up in a 7 vs 2 engagement. This tough little nut amazed me and we didn't go down without one of the best fights I've had in recent memory.

1 x Rupture, lost in when I managed to land right on top of a Talos. Quick and messy loss.

1 x Vigil, pretty lolfit. One evening a few of us went out in frigates for fun and I decided to try and lose this contraption which I did by getting one-shotted by a Thrasher.

1 x Stabber, on a long roam I ran into an EVE University gang in Heimatar. Jammed scrammed then deaded but this Cruiser amazed me by taking out an Enyo!

Here's what Kirith's skill chart looks like this month:

These are the skills that Kirith has completed training of this month:

Gallente Drone Specialization IV
Minmatar Battleship IV

Minmatar Battleship is still cooking and gets finished on Friday, right on cue for the roam I hope to take out. Might even buy something silly to lose on it, it's only isk right? Anyone have any thoughts on Fleet Tempest & Machariel fits out there.....?

After Minmatar BS V completes it's on to Heavy Drones all the way to V which will take me just about into July all being well.

I haven't prioritised trading this month, netting just 66m in profits. The market scene is still all over the place I find when not looking at it daily. My future capital pilot diversified into PI some more and has trained for an Iteron V to make the process easier. Now done with that she's back to training for the Thanatos. Speaking of which I've taken the first steps towards acquisition of the ship so more on that one day in the future. PI though is my carebear activity of choice and I'm pleased with the returns I'm getting which is the main cause of my lessened focus on station trading.

Total Ransoms Received: 555,360,662.30 Isk (5m Isk received in the month)
Battleclinic Rank:  447 (+25) 

Post Rifter Plan - Revisited

Firstly, thank you to those kind readers that offered feedback on the previous post. Very much appreciated.
 
The first skill plugged in was Assault Ships V which is now completed, true to form I went out to test it and lost a Wolf! It was a blessing to lose it in some respects as it was an heirloom from when my fittings skills were not what they are today and my next one will be something of a fire-breather in terms of deeps.
 
Next up we have Caldari Frigate V for the Hookbill and Hawk which will be followed by Amarr Frigate V for the Vengeance. This will then have me at all races racial frigate skills at V ready to train up the appropriate weapon skills.
 
Once this is done I expect I'll do either Interceptors or Destroyers to V.
 
Then the focus will shift to big stuff with me training for T2 large projectiles, opening up the Tornado and then on to Minmatar Battleship V.
 
It's probably best I don't commit to post Battleship at this stage in case I change my mind! I am sorely tempted by a Tengu or Loki though!