Post Rifter Plan

As followers of my blog will be aware I’ve been working on the Rifter Plan for practically my entire EVE career with the objective of flying a max skilled Rifter of my preferred loadout. My preferred Rifter loadout is what I have affectionately named Grumblecub and looks like this:

H: 200mm Autocannon II, RF Phased Plasma S
H: 200mm Autocannon II, RF Phased Plasma S
H: 200mm Autocannon II, RF Phased Plasma S
H: Rocket Launcher II, Foxfire Rage Rocket

M: 1MN Afterburner II
M: Warp Scrambler II
M: X5 Prototype Engine Enervator

L: 200mm Reinforced Rolled Tungsten Plates
L: Small Armor Repairer II
L: Gyrostabiliser II

R: Small Projectile Ambit Extension I
R: Small Projectile Ambit Extension I
R: Small Projectile Burst Aerator I

She belts out 162 (187) dps and goes 1097 (1424) m/s. In short she’s a monster and I love flying her.

Once I complete this goal in about one month time I will be at a point which I haven’t been in EVE before, ever! That point is wondering what to train next. I have a number of skill plans input into EVEMon and I’d be grateful for any constructive feedback or suggestions which I haven’t considered from my readers.

The main thing to bear in mind is that I usually fly solo, rarely being available for most organised fleets.

Here are the options:

• Max out the skills for all the ships I can currently fly. I do have the willpower to do this :P

• Autocannon/Artillery Tempest. Feels like more of an option that I would use in fleets but maybe could attempt solo in an AC Tempest.

• Torpedo & Neut Typhoon. I have heard that people solo in these, but aren’t torps supposed to be dreadful?

• T2 Large Projectiles to fly the Tornado & later BS’s. Certainly going to be flavour of the month.

• Stiletto, I really should have learned to fly Interceptors by now shouldn’t I? But again, it seems more of a gang oriented ship and whilst the Claw is a combat Inty it’s allegedly terribad.

• Max out sub-cap Drone skills (excluding Sentries). Other than being tedious I don’t see a negative aspect here.

• Tengu. Expensive but I imagine they’re very versatile. Also, are they that much better than a Drake?

• Blackbird/Falcon. Again, gang work screams out loud here, how about a solo cloaky Falcon though…..?

• T2 Heavy Assault Missiles. Application for the HAM Drake and maybe on the Cyclone too for up close brawling.

• Vengeance. My maxed missile skills would love this ship, but lots of folk are flying them.

• Stealth Bomber. Black Ops gang based, flimsy as hell. Definitely a nice to have but would I use it often?

So what do you think? Please let me know your opinions.

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.