[Solo AAR] Big 'Tings
Posted: 2019.04.19 16:10
Since I came back to EVE I’ve been trying to do more than just the standard solo Frigate PvP in Low Sec. I’ve decided to go up market, and try flying some bigger ships solo - Cruisers/BCs/Battleships. This is a whole new ball game from the fast paced frigates I’m used to, and I’ve had a bunch of fun with it. I thought it might be interesting for people to see the lessons I’ve learned so far - both for other people who want to try doing solo big ships, and for FCs of our fleets, given I’m essentially flying what would normally be our prime targets for blobs!
Fight 1:
Glen and I had been chasing this frigate gang around together earlier (we picked a few off), but when Glen logged off, I took my Hurricane on a solo roam, and bumped into the same gang, who scented revenge, seeing me alone. The Hurricane fit was one I’d thought would be ideal for fighting frigate gangs like this. Dual webs and a scram for locking down small ships coming in close for my Autocannons to blow them away, and an MJD to help me jump away from people trying to kite me.
This didn’t quite go as planned. The frigates were almost all AB fit, and while I killed a couple as they approached me (ALWAYS SPIRAL IN!) once they got under my guns, I found I struggled to apply damage even with dual webs! The issue I think was that I had no prop module (besides the MJD), so I was virtually stationary, allowing them to get a fast orbit with an AB inside 500m. Even with dual webs, my medium weapons apply virtually zero damage inside of 500m. With a propr mod I could have at least pulled their orbits more elliptical, and got some hits in. Either way, my drones took out one or two more, but these guys were smart enough to kill off the drones pretty fast - leaving me scrammed by an AB fit Condor and Worm I simply couldn’t hit. (Lesson for FCs: Killing drones is VERY effective!).
I think I could actually have still escaped - only the Condor had me scrammed (Worm had no tackle) and if I’d realised that I could have tried to neut the Condor out with my Small Neut and escaped. Sadly I derped out and Neuted the Worm instead, and ended up succumbing. The big lesson for me here was the value of prop modules to help tracking, plus the need to keep calm when spreading modules across multiple targets.
Kills
Fight 2:
I took my Armageddon for a roam around. This is one of Kelon Darklight’s fits, and again has a very wide engagement range - 20km Neuts, an MJD for escaping kiters, 62km Heavy Missiles, tons of Drones…
I was trying to bait a cruiser gang I knew were pulling a recon trap in system, but they actually got busted by a Frigate fleet...who then got a bit cocky and came after me. They also had two Jackdaws alongside the frigates.
The Dramiel was the priority target (due to his scram) but popped fast to my drones, with his SAAR completely deactivated by my Neuts. Those Neuts quickly proved the overall MVP here, they completely killed the speed of each kiting ship, letting my drones get on top of them (the RHMLs helped, but drones did most of the damage). This group also tried popping drones, but the Armageddon has so much space I was carrying a second wave of lights.
I bait tanked HARD to keep them interested (I think I spent most of the fight at around 10-20% armor), but in reality it was relatively comfortable throughout. Lesson here being the devastating value of Neuts as tackle, and how dangerous it can be to be baited into thinking you might be able to win a fight.
Kills
The only part of the fleet I didn't get were the Jackdaws who smartly stayed poking me at at 60km+, at the edge of my missile range and well outside my Neut range. With no real chance of catching them, I just warped out at the end once the frigates were all dead.
As well as the lessons above, the biggest thing I’ve learned so far is that module management is much more important than in frigate/dessie fights. The fights last much longer, so managing heat, and capacitor becomes much more important than a frigate fight which is over in 30s. You also just have so many more modules to keep track of (especially on the Armageddon), so spreading modules across multiple targets is an art I’m still learning. Even in the Armageddon fight I know I made numerous errors:
- Forgot take take Exile until about halfway in..
- Forgot to swap ammo types from what I'd expected to use against the cruiser gang
- Initially I wasn't tracking my drone health
- Didn't overheat modules at times I should have, and left heat on when I really shouldn't have (thereby coming close to burning out my missiles for no good reason )
Here's to more fun!
Fight 1:
Glen and I had been chasing this frigate gang around together earlier (we picked a few off), but when Glen logged off, I took my Hurricane on a solo roam, and bumped into the same gang, who scented revenge, seeing me alone. The Hurricane fit was one I’d thought would be ideal for fighting frigate gangs like this. Dual webs and a scram for locking down small ships coming in close for my Autocannons to blow them away, and an MJD to help me jump away from people trying to kite me.
Spoiler
[Hurricane, Breeze One's Hurricane]
Damage Control II
Energized Adaptive Nano Membrane II
Energized Adaptive Nano Membrane II
Gyrostabilizer II
Gyrostabilizer II
Medium Ancillary Armor Repairer,Nanite Repair Paste
Medium Micro Jump Drive
Stasis Webifier II
Stasis Webifier II
Warp Scrambler II
Small Energy Neutralizer II
220mm Vulcan AutoCannon II,Republic Fleet Fusion M
220mm Vulcan AutoCannon II,Republic Fleet Fusion M
220mm Vulcan AutoCannon II,Republic Fleet Fusion M
220mm Vulcan AutoCannon II,Republic Fleet Fusion M
220mm Vulcan AutoCannon II,Republic Fleet Fusion M
220mm Vulcan AutoCannon II,Republic Fleet Fusion M
Medium Anti-Explosive Pump I
Medium Trimark Armor Pump I
Medium Trimark Armor Pump I
Damage Control II
Energized Adaptive Nano Membrane II
Energized Adaptive Nano Membrane II
Gyrostabilizer II
Gyrostabilizer II
Medium Ancillary Armor Repairer,Nanite Repair Paste
Medium Micro Jump Drive
Stasis Webifier II
Stasis Webifier II
Warp Scrambler II
Small Energy Neutralizer II
220mm Vulcan AutoCannon II,Republic Fleet Fusion M
220mm Vulcan AutoCannon II,Republic Fleet Fusion M
220mm Vulcan AutoCannon II,Republic Fleet Fusion M
220mm Vulcan AutoCannon II,Republic Fleet Fusion M
220mm Vulcan AutoCannon II,Republic Fleet Fusion M
220mm Vulcan AutoCannon II,Republic Fleet Fusion M
Medium Anti-Explosive Pump I
Medium Trimark Armor Pump I
Medium Trimark Armor Pump I
I think I could actually have still escaped - only the Condor had me scrammed (Worm had no tackle) and if I’d realised that I could have tried to neut the Condor out with my Small Neut and escaped. Sadly I derped out and Neuted the Worm instead, and ended up succumbing. The big lesson for me here was the value of prop modules to help tracking, plus the need to keep calm when spreading modules across multiple targets.
Kills
Spoiler
I took my Armageddon for a roam around. This is one of Kelon Darklight’s fits, and again has a very wide engagement range - 20km Neuts, an MJD for escaping kiters, 62km Heavy Missiles, tons of Drones…
Spoiler
[Armageddon, Simulated Armageddon Fitting]
Drone Damage Amplifier II
Drone Damage Amplifier II
Damage Control II
Large Ancillary Armor Repairer
1600mm Rolled Tungsten Compact Plates
Energized Adaptive Nano Membrane II
'Refuge' Adaptive Nano Plating I
Heavy Electrochemical Capacitor Booster I
500MN Y-T8 Compact Microwarpdrive
Large Micro Jump Drive
Warp Disruptor II
Rapid Heavy Missile Launcher II
Heavy Energy Neutralizer II
Rapid Heavy Missile Launcher II
Rapid Heavy Missile Launcher II
Rapid Heavy Missile Launcher II
Heavy Energy Neutralizer II
Rapid Heavy Missile Launcher II
Large Auxiliary Nano Pump I
Large Auxiliary Nano Pump I
Large Processor Overclocking Unit I
Berserker II x5
Praetor II x5
Warrior II x5
Hornet EC-300 x5
Acolyte II x5
Infiltrator II x5
Caldari Navy Mjolnir Heavy Missile x500
Caldari Navy Nova Heavy Missile x250
Caldari Navy Scourge Heavy Missile x500
Navy Cap Booster 3200 x6
Caldari Navy Inferno Heavy Missile x500
Dread Guristas Inferno Heavy Missile x125
Nova Fury Heavy Missile x500
Nanite Repair Paste x200
Mjolnir Fury Heavy Missile x500
Inferno Fury Heavy Missile x500
Drone Damage Amplifier II
Drone Damage Amplifier II
Damage Control II
Large Ancillary Armor Repairer
1600mm Rolled Tungsten Compact Plates
Energized Adaptive Nano Membrane II
'Refuge' Adaptive Nano Plating I
Heavy Electrochemical Capacitor Booster I
500MN Y-T8 Compact Microwarpdrive
Large Micro Jump Drive
Warp Disruptor II
Rapid Heavy Missile Launcher II
Heavy Energy Neutralizer II
Rapid Heavy Missile Launcher II
Rapid Heavy Missile Launcher II
Rapid Heavy Missile Launcher II
Heavy Energy Neutralizer II
Rapid Heavy Missile Launcher II
Large Auxiliary Nano Pump I
Large Auxiliary Nano Pump I
Large Processor Overclocking Unit I
Berserker II x5
Praetor II x5
Warrior II x5
Hornet EC-300 x5
Acolyte II x5
Infiltrator II x5
Caldari Navy Mjolnir Heavy Missile x500
Caldari Navy Nova Heavy Missile x250
Caldari Navy Scourge Heavy Missile x500
Navy Cap Booster 3200 x6
Caldari Navy Inferno Heavy Missile x500
Dread Guristas Inferno Heavy Missile x125
Nova Fury Heavy Missile x500
Nanite Repair Paste x200
Mjolnir Fury Heavy Missile x500
Inferno Fury Heavy Missile x500
The Dramiel was the priority target (due to his scram) but popped fast to my drones, with his SAAR completely deactivated by my Neuts. Those Neuts quickly proved the overall MVP here, they completely killed the speed of each kiting ship, letting my drones get on top of them (the RHMLs helped, but drones did most of the damage). This group also tried popping drones, but the Armageddon has so much space I was carrying a second wave of lights.
I bait tanked HARD to keep them interested (I think I spent most of the fight at around 10-20% armor), but in reality it was relatively comfortable throughout. Lesson here being the devastating value of Neuts as tackle, and how dangerous it can be to be baited into thinking you might be able to win a fight.
Kills
Spoiler
As well as the lessons above, the biggest thing I’ve learned so far is that module management is much more important than in frigate/dessie fights. The fights last much longer, so managing heat, and capacitor becomes much more important than a frigate fight which is over in 30s. You also just have so many more modules to keep track of (especially on the Armageddon), so spreading modules across multiple targets is an art I’m still learning. Even in the Armageddon fight I know I made numerous errors:
- Forgot take take Exile until about halfway in..
- Forgot to swap ammo types from what I'd expected to use against the cruiser gang
- Initially I wasn't tracking my drone health
- Didn't overheat modules at times I should have, and left heat on when I really shouldn't have (thereby coming close to burning out my missiles for no good reason )
Here's to more fun!