Tuskers application accepted

I'm delighted to say that my application to join the Tuskers has been accepted! Tonight I should be able to get accross to one of their offices and drop in my offical paperwork.

Yesterday wasn't a tremendous day from a combat perspective. I took out a Caracal ratting pretty easy early in the day. His Pod went too when he failed to pay a ransom. Nothing great dropped from him though, but I was surprised to see a frigate size afterburner on a cruiser.

Later on in the day I lost a Rifter, I was set to ambush a cruiser (Scythe) in a belt when a couple of pilots from Arkane Dominion (AD) entered system. One proceeded to engage the cruiser I had been shadowing, Suspecting a trap by the AD Rifter & Drake tag team I attempted to interupt the Rifters attack on the Scythe but arrived just as it popped some 40km away. The Rifter warped out and I followed, half expecting to be greeted by the Drake aswell as the Rifter. Only the Rifter was present as I exited warp and landed practically on top of him so I engaged. However in a moment of stupidity I had my EMP & Gremlin ammo loaded from the Caracal in the morning but had reset my orbit range to Barrage. My DPS was very poor as a result and whilst his shields went quickly his armour didn't go as fast as mine as I adjusted range. My lack of a Damage Control on my "Gank" Rifter was a telling factor here and left me a little despondent of it's performance. I have slightly better feelings towards it now thinking back to how fast it sliced up the Caracal but it isn't really sold to me yet, but I still have two more of them ready and waiting for their maiden flights.

Tuskers application submitted

After plenty of thought, my application to The Tuskers has been submitted, hopefully it will go well but only time will tell as they say. Just to reply to a readers comment on joining M34N, I don't think that they would want me, given the fact that I only fly Rifters and it seems to be that they coming looking for you rather than taking applications :)

The only kill of the day has been a Reaper... whoopee! It landed at a gate at the same time as me, so I waited to see if he would shoot me, he did and he died swiftly. I let his Pod go as I wasn't sure the gate guns would appreciate me opening fire and therefore didn't rate my survival chances!

Tempted to apply to the Tuskers

I have to say I am very tempted at the moment to apply to the Tuskers. Many of the bloggers that I follow are applying there, and I have oft been tempted to apply before. The only factor deterring me from applying has been voice comms, which I have mentioned in a prior blog post. Well times change and it now has become a possibility for me to don a headset and join TS/Vent. I daresay that throughout the course of today I'll make my decision on whether to apply or not.

Kite Kill

It's been a few days since I posted anything. So I'll do a little bit of an update.

First, I lost a Rifter the other day to an Incursus. Granted the pilot was older than me but I thought that I would have put up a better fight than I did. Pursuing the pilot through a couple of systems I scanned him down to a planet. When I landed he was roughly 40km away, I started my approach as did he and at 20km I was pointed. The Incursus pilot maintained his orbit around 14km-20km and pounded me with his Railguns, I thought for a while that I would be able to tank it, but that did not prove the case. I wasn't able to eat into his orbit either as he would MWD out of range if that ever looked like a danager and overheated his modules at just the right time to ensure that I wasn't flying out of this one in my Rifter. Kudos to him, gf's exchanged in local and it set me to thinking whether an artillery Rifter was worth a go. I have knocked one up on EvE-HQ that I might try. Does anyone have any experience in them?

Targets have been scarce as I have mentioned a few times. Today I roamed into a system with a Myrmidon and Thrasher. They were in conversation, and when I appeared my bounty caught their eye. They seemed to be discussing ratting and killing me, how rude! I chased the Thrasher around for ages and nearly caught him once but fell just a tad too short and he warped out. I then pursued him out of the system and then back into it again! finally catching him in a belt, looting. He had a nasty fit and soon removed my shields and half my armour before I took up a wider orbit to lessen his damage, this strategy worked a treat and from 5km I reduced the Thrasher to slag in a pretty explosion then locked and dispatched his Pod after he didn't want to pay a 20m isk ransom, maybe a little extortionate but that's besides the point.

I had been reduced to a single spare Rifter in the hangar so I bought another 7 in, complete with fittings. I had decided that I would try a new variant this time and see how it went. It just tops 100dps with my skills which makes it my most powerful Rifter loadout. The Thrasher today was it's first kill, but the lack of a Damage Control was apparent. We'll see how it goes though, I have three of them to test out.

Here's the fit:
H: 3 x 150mm Autocannon
H: Rocket Launcher
M: Afterburner
M: Web
M: Scram
L: Gyro
L: 200mm Plate
L: Small Armor Repairer
R: Small Projectile Collision Accelerator
R: Small Projectile Burst Aerator

An encounter with SUICIDAL Larsen

After a long roam yesterday I came across two newer players, both flying Thrashers. Both appeared to be docked up, sometimes launching only to redock again. I played the being patient game for around 20 minutes and decided to leave the system once both players appeared to have logged off. Entering the neighbouring system I discovered one of the pilots must have escaped without me noticing and had not logged off. The Thrasher was in a belt that could be scanned from the gate I had jumped through. Warping to him I landed and he was far enough away to warp out. Following his trajectory I landed at his destination and caught him. Both he and his Pod went down swiftly and without fuss.

Next, the other pilot who had logged off jumped into the system, again in a Thrasher. I was about to hurtle off after him when a Pirate who I had been wary of for a long time entered the system. I had pinpointed the Thrasher by this time but decided to hold position. SUICIDAL Larsen was his name and he was in a Claw Interceptor. I warped around a bit but maybe it's paranoia but I could swear he was after me. Locating the Thrasher again I decided to use him as bait, keeping him on scan until the Interceptor went for it which within a couple of minutes it did I warped in. Tackling the Claw I went through his shields quickly, however his armour tank was incredible and all my damage was repaired. Meanwhile I was taking plenty of damage and was soon cap dry. I escaped with my pod and exchanged gf, commending him on his ship & skills. That was one tough Interceptor and I consider myself lucky to have gotten my Pod out.

Tonight has been slow again as there are lots of big gangs out there. One gang I saw had 10 Drakes present and a whole lot of support too. I did manage to snag a Rupture and its pilot's Pod too a moment ago, which is always a nice thing to end an evening on. I took out his drones first, he had three with a mix of medium and light. He had a pvp fit, unfortunately most of the T2 fittings in it blew up with the ship. It's actually quite nice to take out a ship that's pvp fit rather than someone unprepared in a belt ratting ship.

A little comic relief

Well this morning in another of my old haunt systems there were three members of a corp (Arkane Dominion), now the other week it was two of their corp members who executed the excellent trap on me with the Jaguar and the Raven. A little scanning and checking in history told me that two of these were newer players and one was an older more established player. Scanning located a Rifter, a Caracal and an Osprey. The cruisers appeared to belong to the same player, though this of course could be a ruse like the old priate trap trick of renaming a ship to that of a new player in the system. Through scanning it was determined that the Caracal was certainly mobile. The Rifter had disappeared, I assume docked up. The only pilot I was concerned about was the older one. I scanned the Caracal to a belt and found that it was the older player (bah!), Well I was comitted now so engaged and settled into orbit. Getting his shields down to around 45% before Warrior I's were committed I switched fire to them. The Osprey warped in and shortly after an once I had locked him he warped out, leaving his corp mate to his fate. The Drones went down, but this had given opportunity for the Caracal to recover shields back to 90% as it was clearly active shield tanked. Returning my fire to the cruiser it's shields went down steadily. Armour and structure went quickly too but I needed to reload when he was at 5% structure which was rather frustrating! Guns locked, stocked and ready to rock I took him down in a pretty explosion. The pilot escaping with his pod before I could lock it. I offered gf in local but it was clear that this guy had something to say. The local chat log is below.

[09:31:39] Kirith Darkblade > gf
[09:31:57] Enkious > lolz not really...
[09:32:01] Enkious > i had a rat attacking me.
[09:32:20] Kirith Darkblade > Yes, that made all the difference ^^
[09:32:42] Enkious > um.. ya.. it did
[09:42:55] Enkious > come out come out where ever you are....
[09:43:38] Kirith Darkblade > Yeah, right. Fight on your terms. I don't think so
[09:44:00] Enkious > I did on yourz..
[09:44:06] Enkious > ;p
[09:44:17] Kirith Darkblade > Yes, that's what non-consensual pvp is afterall
[09:44:24] Enkious > it's just a blackbird...
[09:44:30] Enkious > Dun be so scurd...
[09:44:33] Enkious > can't handle the Ewar?
[09:44:38] Kirith Darkblade > Plus your mate in the Wolf who just disappeared
[09:44:51] Enkious > Xander Seven > i would offer to help, but i need to log soon
[09:44:55] Enkious > him?
[09:45:02] Kirith Darkblade > Yeah, him
[09:45:04] Enkious > Enkious > thats ok.. i want to kill him
[09:45:12] Enkious > yeah, hes gone.
[09:45:22] Enkious > would u rather me get the drake?
[09:45:34] Enkious > all tech ii?
[09:45:40] Kirith Darkblade > I don't really care much, as I will not fight on your terms
[09:45:59] Enkious > I only have 3 missle bays on here...
[09:46:10] Enkious > it's not like i can get threw your armor n e ways
[09:46:13] Kirith Darkblade > Bring a T1 frigate and we'll have a fair fight
[09:46:21] Enkious > hahaha you so funny
[09:46:39] Kirith Darkblade > Indeed. I'm a pure comic genius
[09:46:44] Enkious > Enkious' Blackbird
[09:46:48] Enkious > thats what i got on it
[09:46:53] Enkious > Tiz Weak
[09:47:22] Kirith Darkblade > Anyhow, thanks for the loot earlier. I'm off to put it in my hangar
[09:47:46] Enkious > thats fine.. run away like a dog with his tail inbetween his legs.
[09:47:54] Kirith Darkblade > Ok, will do
[09:47:58] Enkious > Thought so..
[09:48:01] Enkious > Kids...
[09:48:03] EVE System > Channel changed to Wiskeber Local Channel

It gave me a laugh

Finally some action

Having yesterday finished my extended roam route, today I followed it. I managed to snag a new player in a Thrasher in one of my old haunts, he did about half shield damage to me by the end of the fight. I caught his pod too and sent him swiftly back to the clone vats as being so young he wasn't worth a ransom & I'm still working on getting the cherished -10.0 security status.

The main event of the evening was catching up with a player running cosmic anomalies in a Cyclone. Some research on Battleclinic showed that this pilot knew how to fit his ships well. The pilot had escaped me earlier in the evening so I decided that I would try my luck anyway. We fought in a system with Faction Warfare complexes and it was at a Large Complex that I found him waiting. Engaging each other I had a flight of horrible Warrior II'2 after me whilst being Nos'd & Neuted. I made the Drones my primary target but already at this stage knew how it would end. Every time I started damaging the drones they were recalled and relaunched. Some small mercy was that his 425mm T2 Auto's couldn't hit me, but alas that they didn't need to and the Drones were more than up to the task pretty smartly dropping me into my escape Pod. I warped out to fight another day. I had a nice conversation with the pilot afterwards and hopefully will fight again some other day.

One other event of the evening that is noteworthy is that along my new route I came across three gatecamps. Being 25, 15 & 8 ships. I don't know whether they were Faction Warfare pilots or pirates but I wasn't hanging around to find out. Being fortunate that there were no Interceptors present I was able to make good my flight from each without being locked. I certainly will be more wary in future.

Oh so quiet

That about sums it up recently. It's been extremely quiet in my home "neighbourhood" of late. Maybe it is a consequence of my plummetting security status or just other factors. I've also been away on a family matter (18 hours spent travelling by train!) for a few days and thus been offline. Due to these factors my kills have been very few and far between.

My last kill was back at the weekend where I caught a Cheetah with its pants (cloak) down skulking at a Moon in Mateber. I'm sure that they won't make that mistake again any time soon. Unfortunately I wasn't able to carry all of the nice modules that it dropped in one haul and by the time I returned to the wreck it's previous occupant was sat over it in a Sleipnir.

This evening has been another poor night on the hunt. I took the opportunity however to extend one of my roam routes, planting some useful bookmarks along the way. Perhaps in the next few days I'll head out that way again and see if I can find anything, I will just need to be wary as it sends me into Faction Warfare territory.

Rifter Loadouts

Inspired by a few recent blog articles by Wensley & Kane Rizzel I thought I post the loadouts of the Rifters that I currently fly. Now remember I'm only three months old and am without deep pockets or alts (excluding hauler) to finance me. I tend to fly one of two loadouts at the moment and alternate between them. When my current stock of Rifters is exhausted I'm going to try two more variants, but I shan't post those until they are tested.

"Classic" Setup
High
3 x 150mm Light Autocannon II
1 x Small 'Knave' Energy Drain
Mids
'Langour' Drive Disruptor
Cold Gas Arcjet Thrusters
Fleeting Progressive Warp Scrambler
Lows
200mm Reinforced Crystalline Carbonide Plates
Small Armour Repairer II
Damage Control I
Rigs
Small Projectile Burst Aerator
Small Projectile Collision Accelerator

"Cap-Boosted" Setup
High
3 x 150mm Light Autocannon II
'Limos' Rocket Launcher
Mids
Small F-RX Cap Booster (200 Charges)
Cold Gas Arcjet Thrusters
Fleeting Progressive Warp Scrambler
Lows
200mm Reinforced Crystalline Carbonide Plates
Small Armour Repairer II
Damage Control I
Rigs
Small Projectile Burst Aerator
Small Projectile Collision Accelerator

I have had much success with both loadouts and when my skills were lower I certainly found the cap-boosted fit easier to succeed with, especially against Neut ships. I alternate the fits now to give myself some variety and am looking forward to trying out some fits perhaps with less tanking capability but more gank capability.

Kills are like buses

I go a couple of days without a kill then two come along within 5 minutes of each other.

Yesterday I did find myself a Rupture ratting, all was going fairly well in the fight though his drones took a large chunk of armour away, but the damage was manageable as I had all bar one drone down and was working on the last until his two friends arrived. Deciding to scarper rather than engage in a futile fight I warped away as he didn't have me pointed. The pilot was confident that he would have blown me to pieces. Though surely that begs the question of why he called his mates in?

Today I had roamed unsuccessfully until I decided to do one last circuit before calling it a night. Locating a Vexor pilot ratting and after a little belt hopping I pinpointed him and engaged. He was fighting a couple of Angels as I landed within 3km of him and pointed him. He sent his four drones after me so I decided taking them out to be priority, in hindsight I didn't really need to as the hardly did any damage to me. He was equipped with ECM and a tracking disruptor, he did get a succesful ECM jam off on me but didn't warp out or attempt to. As soon as my sensors were online I repointed him and started ignoring his drones as a known and very effective pirate entered the system and I had a feeling I knew where he was headed. I had my warp out point selected then just as the Pirate appeared in a Jaguar I engaged warp and the Vexor exploded. Beautiful timing for the explosion. Parking in a safe spot the pilot of the Vexor mentioned that I was lame for jumping him ratting and that the rats did most of the damage. I say, he should be more careful in future, regardless of who did the damage.

The pirate left the system again shortly afterwards, his departure heralded the arrival of a new player in a Cormorant. Guessing he was headed for belt 1 my scan reported a positive hit and I dived in, landing 10km away I approached, pointed and destroyed the Destroyer very quickly, nailing the Pod too. I had a brief conversation with the pilot afterwards at his request. He didn't realise the dangers of low security space and wanted to know if his ship was really gone. I gave him a few bits of advice so that maybe he is a little more aware next time.

Mixed Fortunes

It's a been a few days since my last entry here. Things have been moving apace in life outside EvE which left me playing a lot less than normal.

I managed to bag a couple of ship & pod kills when I have been online. The Thrasher pilot was very surprised at the speed I scanned him down, he died and his pod as he didn't want to pay the small ransom.

The Rifter I bagged tonight, he was new player who didn't see me coming or get a single shot off. Deeming it pointless to ransom his pod I scooped another corpse.

Then my fortune changed. I noted a Jaguar pilot in system and fancied my chances. I did smell a trap as the pilot had followed me from a previous system but I decided "what the hell". I scanned him down to a belt and he engaged me. Yep, definitely a trap I thought. He was MWD and artillery fit so easily kept me at 20km while he hit me and kept me target painted and pointed. Another player from his corp entered the system and soon the belt in a Raven, the Raven wasn't really doing any damage on me but the Jaguar began to. Unable to break free I accepted that this was going to end only one way. I warped my pod out safely and commended my adversaries on a well executed trap. They allowed me to come back and scoop my modules which was nice, and wholely unexpected too.

Ambushed!

So I log in and depart the station in the accustomed fashion. In my home system there is a Rifter piloted by a Corp mate of the Rifter I destroyed last night, he's skipping about between belts, apparently not ratting thus I decide that I think its a trap. Lestaways, I find him and attack, once I attack local is increased as the pilot from last night enters the system. I finish off the Rifter as the Rupture arrives on scene. I lock and destroy the Rifter pilot's Pod for good measure before switching to the Rupture. I am heavily pinned down by the Rupture and taking heavy damage as I was already at 60% armour after the fight with the Rifter. Sure enough my Rifter explodes and I warp my pod back to home base for a ship swap. Exiting the station I attempt to find the Rupture, but its at a safe and soon warps out of the system.

During the course of the day I see the duo again on several ocassions, unfortunately for them their ambush trick won't work a second time.

On my roam I find myself in another system bordering high security space, a young pilot in a Thrasher enters the system just as I am about to leave. Deciding to stick around I scan him down to a belt and warp on in, he's under fire by a rat so I tackle him and have soon destroyed the Thrasher without a scratch due to his artillery fit. The pilots gets his Pod out very fast.

Still waiting out the Global Criminal Cooldown timer another pilot enters the same system in a Stabber, again they're quite young so after a spike in local clears I track them to a belt. I get them tackled quickly but then get rat agro. Switching from killing the Capsuleer I take down the rat in short order before coming back to them. It doesn't take long for the Stabber to be destroyed and I manage to snag the Pod and destroy it too bringing me ever closer to that -10.0 security status.

Replication

Last night was quiet again. I did find a couple of targets in Tabbetzur system but sadly there were two other pirates in the system from the same corp so I didn't feel like taking the risk of engaging only to find myself under assault from a third party.

Later on I did find a pilot whom I had fought on a previous occasion in a different system. I scanned them down to an Angel complex in the system. Warping in the overseer tower had been destroyed so they must have been in the second room. I headed back to my home base to grab a spare room key that I had in the Corp Hangar before returning to the complex location. Warping directly to the complex I scanned on my way in. I found that my quarry was on scan but not in complex, drat! Sat at the acceleration gate trying to pinpoint their location, they warp in so I immediately engage them. My adversary is in a Rifter and is five months my senior with a pvp fit. The fight is a long one but I prevailed and was rewarded with the obligatory pretty explosion. It took nearly 4000 damage to bring that Rifter down. The pilot escaping easily with their pod.

Checking the killmail I can see the reason it took such a beating to kill the Rifter, the pilot was using a T1 version of the Rifter fit that I was flying. Against other frigates this fit can take some punishment.

Back when I first fought (and killed ;)) this pilot I was flying a Cap-boosted fit, they were in a classic fit Rifter. After the fight they requested my fit, which I obliged in giving and it seems that they liked it and started using it themselves!

Embarassment

The nights roam started off just dandy. Exiting my home base station a player a few months old is surfing the belts. I scared him away on my initial warp in, so after waiting a little while I warp back and catch him. It's a nice easy fight and he's soon down in a pretty explosion. I locked his Pod too, offer ransom but get no reply so wish him "byebye" and send him back to the clone vat.

The embarrassing antic was yet to come, some time later I arrive at a gate and an Incursus is there. I wait to see if the pilot will agress me and am cheered when after a minute or so that they do. I start an orbit as they approach and in a moment of not engaging brain tackle them, in my infinite eagerness to fight I have agressed them before they me thus incurring the horrible wrath of the sentry guns. Bidding farewell to Miss Boathook I warp away to a moon to lick my wounds and hang my head in shame. What a twit!

Feeling utterly demotivated I head back to home base and think on my foolishness to hopefully learn my lesson.

Surprising new player

Last night was another deathly quiet night in low-sec. Roaming for nearly two hours without finding a soul, as per usual on my way back to base I find myself a target. A new pilot in his shiny new Rifter. Tracking him to a belt, he is canny and makes a run before I am in scram range. Trying to ascertain where he went based on his last known trajectory I select a location and pursue. Unfortunately I had not picked the right one. Scanning around for a minute he disappears off scan. I warp back to the area I had found him before and find him immediately at the belt that he had warped from previously. He really must have wanted to loot his wrecks. I was 20km away so thought he would warp out like before, but I am surprised as we both head for each other. I find myself locked and under fire. We settle into the dance of death and I am doing very little damage to his shields so it's taking a lot longer to break him than I expected. He is actually through my shields before I am through his but I can comfortably rep the damage without issue. I then break his shields and am quickly tearing his armor and structure away. Pretty explosion ensues and his Pod warps away extremely quickly denying me another corpse for the Corp Hangar.

I was quite surprised with a few things in this fight. The speed the pilot got his Pod out, the speed at which he did damage on my shields and the low amount of damage I did to his shields. He had 200mm Auto's and triple Nano's. Perhaps the Nano's made him too slippery for me to hit effectively. Who knows! Maybe this is someones alt character and he knew about getting his pod out safely. I doubt I will ever know.

Stoopid mistake

Lets recap on yesterday first as it won't take long. Sunday must have been the day of rest for a lot of people that's about all I can say. When eventually I did come across a Cyclone in a belt and duly pinned him down, took out his drones and 60% of his shields. To find that a Pilgrim decloaked nearby, as soon as he appeared on scan I warped out rather than take the assumed raping he would land on me. The Pilgrim was joined by a Hurricane shortly after and they finished off the Cyclone. Turns out I had a nice conversation with the Pilgrim pilot in local afterwards and he lives in the same part of the UK as me, it's a small world we live in.

Anyhow, on to the stupid mistake of the day. I found myself a nice Rupture, knowing as you will how I am a bit partial to a bit of Rupture in my Rifters. He was ratting, and as I fathomed his ratting route I lay in ambush for him. Surely enough he warps in like a good Rupture pilot and I approached and locked. Note here the key problem, I approached and did not orbit. Thus it was that I melted in the face of his autocannons and came to a delightful halt in front of him where he could rape me some more. Realising far too late the mistake I had made, I went bang before I could get into orbit. Hopefully a mistake I won't repeat anytime soon!

What happened afterward however, went some distinct way to compensate for my earlier folly. I stumbled upon a capsuleer around 4 months old flying a Hurricane. Deciding that I fancied my chances I followed him around which resulted in a little back & forth between systems and then to a belt where I guessed he may be waiting for me or hiding from me. Either way I was committed to the fight. Engaging a good orbit (this time) I set about the task at hand. He set a wave of three medium drones on me which I primaried as the biggest threat as he seemed to be artillery fit with some launchers. The drones went down pretty easily which enabled me to resume on the Hurricane itself. The Hurricane pilot convo'd me and was talking a little about this blog and ships, though conversation seemed to stop when I went into his armour. The fight was taking ages though and I was primarily concerned that other pilots may join in as per my fight yesterday, to that end I kept a keen eye on the scanner. Late in the fight another drone was deployed (or one that had been recalled) and promptly shot down. I was graced eventually with a satisfying pretty explosion, I requested a ransom for the pod and was instructed to nuke it, so I duly did without needing to be told twice. If anyone wonders how the Rifter held up in this fight, well it was never in any danger, comfortably repping to full and never going cap dry even with a web on me most of the fight. Here is a screenie: