Hi guys,
couldn't find actual usage videos. Cptn Benzie has a lot of theory and talks about setting up a perch but can anyone explain a bit more to me how to use the ship. I'm just training into a cov-ops cloaking device. I usually just go box to box and hack, keeping an eye on dscan. If someone comes in do I now react differently than in my Probe? Like do I try to cloak if they target me, and then warp away?
I've fitted the ship with Warp core stabilizer II and Multispectral ECM just in case.
Also in general when trying to warp away, do I mwd too or?
Thanks!
How to fly my new Cheetah
-
Biwako Acami
- Member
- Posts: 522
- Joined: 2016.04.18 12:46
- Title: Assistant Manager (Fittings), Ensign, Graduate, Management
Re: How to fly my new Cheetah
Post by Biwako Acami »
On Bookmarking
You can create a bookmark (and submit) as you're landing from warp at the site to create a 'perch' of sorts. The bookmark needs to be made at a distance greater than 150km from each of the cans (ideally 200km+, over 8000km and you risk being outside the site grid) You can then warp to the perch and directly to whichever can you want to hack. Activating a Covops cloak before initiating warp can mask your movements to any hidden hunter on grid. Never be de cloaked at your perch as it is not difficult to recreate perches with a ship using the same warp speed.
On Running Away
As with any cloak you want to probably be close enough to the can to hack but just far enough that you can cloak up at the first sign of danger (IIRC this would be around 2250 m, you get decloaked at 2000m.) The way I would do it is activate cloak, double click somewhere, activate MWD, double click somewhere else and maneuver while MWD is active (ideally in the direction of a celestial or bookmark). Once it cycles down coast long enough till you get clear of danger to initiate warp. If you get decloaked don't panic and try to cloak up and/or warp off. Hunters with regular cloak have a penalty on lock time and Cruiser sized ships generally take a while to lock up frigates so they may not be able to lock you up in time. Stealth bombers will lock you up but if they're not rocket fit and don't have you warp scrammed you can probably outrun them and warp off.
On Fittings
IIRC ECM isn't good anymore because it prevented the target ship from locking up other ships but changes in recent years allowed locking up the ship using ECM. A Burst Jammer breaks locks better however these need a lot of Capacitor for use on a frigate. You might want to worry about having enough capacitor to cycle an Interdiction Nullifier if you want to warp away from a hidden Interdictor in Nullsec/W-Space. Warp Core Stabilizers carry a penalty for you and most hunters are equipped to account for 1-2 stabs on their targets anyways. I would prefer to be nimble with a Nanofiber Internal Structure II.
Mentality
Be prepared to lose a few ships. How you fit/fly should depend on your risk appetite and how good you are at reacting to stuff. I hunted so many that i would only take T1's to hack in wormhole space and accept any loss if I get attacked. You'll have a few very good days to offset the bad/mediocre days. Be sure to bank when you're loaded with loot. Use a Mobile depot to deposit loot between sites in case you're working in a wormhole that has a lot of relic sites.
Good luck o7
You can create a bookmark (and submit) as you're landing from warp at the site to create a 'perch' of sorts. The bookmark needs to be made at a distance greater than 150km from each of the cans (ideally 200km+, over 8000km and you risk being outside the site grid) You can then warp to the perch and directly to whichever can you want to hack. Activating a Covops cloak before initiating warp can mask your movements to any hidden hunter on grid. Never be de cloaked at your perch as it is not difficult to recreate perches with a ship using the same warp speed.
On Running Away
As with any cloak you want to probably be close enough to the can to hack but just far enough that you can cloak up at the first sign of danger (IIRC this would be around 2250 m, you get decloaked at 2000m.) The way I would do it is activate cloak, double click somewhere, activate MWD, double click somewhere else and maneuver while MWD is active (ideally in the direction of a celestial or bookmark). Once it cycles down coast long enough till you get clear of danger to initiate warp. If you get decloaked don't panic and try to cloak up and/or warp off. Hunters with regular cloak have a penalty on lock time and Cruiser sized ships generally take a while to lock up frigates so they may not be able to lock you up in time. Stealth bombers will lock you up but if they're not rocket fit and don't have you warp scrammed you can probably outrun them and warp off.
On Fittings
IIRC ECM isn't good anymore because it prevented the target ship from locking up other ships but changes in recent years allowed locking up the ship using ECM. A Burst Jammer breaks locks better however these need a lot of Capacitor for use on a frigate. You might want to worry about having enough capacitor to cycle an Interdiction Nullifier if you want to warp away from a hidden Interdictor in Nullsec/W-Space. Warp Core Stabilizers carry a penalty for you and most hunters are equipped to account for 1-2 stabs on their targets anyways. I would prefer to be nimble with a Nanofiber Internal Structure II.
Mentality
Be prepared to lose a few ships. How you fit/fly should depend on your risk appetite and how good you are at reacting to stuff. I hunted so many that i would only take T1's to hack in wormhole space and accept any loss if I get attacked. You'll have a few very good days to offset the bad/mediocre days. Be sure to bank when you're loaded with loot. Use a Mobile depot to deposit loot between sites in case you're working in a wormhole that has a lot of relic sites.
Good luck o7
Just a humble scout
-
Crayox13
- Member
- Posts: 14
- Joined: 2023.12.27 17:43
Re: How to fly my new Cheetah
Thank you very much for the detailed explanation! Now perching makes sense, I misunderstood it.
On running away, you mean you do this if you are locked and pointed? And couldn't warp away fast enough, right? Last time on a ghost site I activated stab and I think it helped me warp away when I was pointed by rats. That's why I have it mostly. It all happened so fast that I'm not sure how I got away. I still don't have ecm on my current fit since I had to fit scan enhancer (not sure what it's called). So I guess I won't use it, will see if I can fit a Burst jammer.
Thanks again!
On running away, you mean you do this if you are locked and pointed? And couldn't warp away fast enough, right? Last time on a ghost site I activated stab and I think it helped me warp away when I was pointed by rats. That's why I have it mostly. It all happened so fast that I'm not sure how I got away. I still don't have ecm on my current fit since I had to fit scan enhancer (not sure what it's called). So I guess I won't use it, will see if I can fit a Burst jammer.
Thanks again!
-
Biwako Acami
- Member
- Posts: 522
- Joined: 2016.04.18 12:46
- Title: Assistant Manager (Fittings), Ensign, Graduate, Management
Re: How to fly my new Cheetah
Post by Biwako Acami »
The On Running Away section was focused on PvP encounters if you leave High Sec space. The benefit of a Covops ship is that you can cloak up to break the locking up cycle of the hostile ship. Ships coming out of cloak have a penalty timer that has to lapse before they can start locking stuff up and then there's the time to lock a target. Ships warping to the site need to come out of warp first, burn towards you while locking you up. Between the two you have a good window to cloak up. (Unless there's a cloaky smartbomber, then you're doomed because they can apply damage immediately if they're close.) If you're locked or pointed, the benefit of the Covops is gone, you can't cloak so you'll have to create distance to avoid warp disruptor range, get out of the range of an interdictor probe or even get out of the hostile ship's lock range so that you can cloak up again; as long as your ship can withstand the DPS being applied during all this.
Ghost sites are tricky. Even experienced pilots can end up losing a frigate once in a while. You have a window before rats start shooting but I always thought there were multiple rats that could warp disrupt you so the stabs may not be enough. A common tactic is to scan the cans with a cargo scanner and get away with the most expensive can. I would suggest checking a youtube video on advice for fitting or avoiding rats. I'm more familiar with how to hunt on that site. In risky space, don't be surprised if a Covops fit Cruiser decloaks and starts locking you up. Failing the hack will destroy a frigate so you are left with no escape option if you can't finish the hack in time. The explosion will destroy your ship but tanky Cruisers can generally brush off the damage to tag you for a kill and/or loot whats left in your ship's wreck. A Covops fit Frigate could decloak on grid but away from the explosion radius to spook you into failing the hack. My suggestion is get in, be quick and get out early. When you have good hacking skill level and a better grip on running these sites you can experiment with more advanced techniques.
Ghost sites are tricky. Even experienced pilots can end up losing a frigate once in a while. You have a window before rats start shooting but I always thought there were multiple rats that could warp disrupt you so the stabs may not be enough. A common tactic is to scan the cans with a cargo scanner and get away with the most expensive can. I would suggest checking a youtube video on advice for fitting or avoiding rats. I'm more familiar with how to hunt on that site. In risky space, don't be surprised if a Covops fit Cruiser decloaks and starts locking you up. Failing the hack will destroy a frigate so you are left with no escape option if you can't finish the hack in time. The explosion will destroy your ship but tanky Cruisers can generally brush off the damage to tag you for a kill and/or loot whats left in your ship's wreck. A Covops fit Frigate could decloak on grid but away from the explosion radius to spook you into failing the hack. My suggestion is get in, be quick and get out early. When you have good hacking skill level and a better grip on running these sites you can experiment with more advanced techniques.
Just a humble scout
-
Crayox13
- Member
- Posts: 14
- Joined: 2023.12.27 17:43
Re: How to fly my new Cheetah
I also have covops cloak. That's the next thing I wanted to ask you. So if they are locking me I can cloak, but if I'm locked I can't cloak? Even if they aren't pointing or webbing me. Just have me locked.
Yeah, I did 2 very lucky ghost sites with crazy loot. Scary but awesome! First one lol wasn't even aware so I hacked 4 cans before escaping with like hull barely holding
Yeah, I did 2 very lucky ghost sites with crazy loot. Scary but awesome! First one lol wasn't even aware so I hacked 4 cans before escaping with like hull barely holding
-
Biwako Acami
- Member
- Posts: 522
- Joined: 2016.04.18 12:46
- Title: Assistant Manager (Fittings), Ensign, Graduate, Management
Re: How to fly my new Cheetah
Post by Biwako Acami »
Yes, this includes NPCs. You should read the Cloaking mechanics section on the Cloaking wiki page to get familiar with what all you can or cannot do.
Just a humble scout
