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.

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.