A New Outlook?

[VincentSeradin]

Well, I can blame Marcus for this.

Dec. 9 - 10, 2018
Marcus Arilia convinced me, somehow, to head out into the Placid/Black Rise region, thanks to some fortuitous wormhole connections, and try out this roaming frigate combat he had spoken of. We set out in Ostingele (as one does), and made our way through the low-sec FW in the Gallente area. Our roams were not particularly fruitful at first; we scraped by a few would-be gate camps and roams on our journey. Finally, we stumbled across a Condor in a faction warfare complex, and both entered the area intent on making our presence in the galaxy known in force.

We dropped in to find the Condor kiting a Federation Navy Battlecruiser. As a sometimes-patriot of the Federation, my Intaki sensibilities were offended by this blatant example of anti-Federation behavior and I activated my afterburner to burn in towards our target. It is at this point, I am concerned that my scrambler does not want to work, and I realize I have left the safety on. Damn my desire to remain safely off of CONCORD's radar! Thankfully, Marcus has already scrambled this fellow, and it isn't long before my safeties are off, and my scrambler joins Marcus's in ensuring that our Caldari friend shall not be leaving this complex in his ship. Between our 10 drones and the still-firing guns of our erst-while NPC compatriot, we make short work of the Condor. This victory afterglow is put on hold, however, as we are soon visited by a new ship that warps in off of the acceleration gate. A ship that is certainly larger, and most likely angrier, than either of our ships.

In the age-old spirit of "Getting the F- Out," as the kids say, we made our retreat, managing to even save our drones in the process. With a harvest fleet forming in w-space, I called it with this singular kill for the moment and returned to w-space, as Marcus discovered that just because someone drops a black-ops ship on your head, doesn't mean you can't still escape (and kill their cyno pilot for good measure!).

https://zkillboard.com/kill/73940952/
Condor: 520,564.26

Critical lesson learned: One's scrambler, webifier, and guns are useless if one does not remember to turn the safety off in low-security space. Additionally, at Marcus's advice, I learned to keep my scrambler on overheat when entering the complex, as you only have a brief window to capture your target, should they decide to flee your generous offerings of aggression.

-----

My interest in this "Pee Vee Pee" had not waned during the harvest, however, and I returned to Placid many hours later. Lacking Marcus's advice this time, as he had gone to sleep, it was on me to put the lessons I had been taught into action. I began my journey in Ostingele once more, and left for the Verge Vendor connections via Agoze. However, upon entering Agoze, I detected a Venture on the D-scanner. I traveled to the center of the system, and began to track down this ship, only to find myself showing up to empty space despite knowing that they had been there. Clearly this Venture was not completely new to this environment, and was moving between systems to avoid my predations. Eventually, however, they came to a stop in a large complex, and I began my approach by warping to the acceleration gate.

After confirming that the target was still inside through a short-range d-scan, I pre-heated my scrambler and webifier module, and landed on the plex at 15 km from my quarry. A FDU-aligned Venture, shielded by two Federation Navy ships. Now, one might ask why a sometimes-patriot such as myself would suddenly be so violent towards my militia brethren? The answer is quite simple, dear reader. By "sometimes-patriot' I of course mean, "patriotic when it makes me money. Or alcohol is involved. And violence, of course. Preferably all three." But I have digressed. Upon landing, I activated my overheated scrambler, and successfully tackled this Venture at 15km. A rather nasty surprise, I suspect, that my Maulus Navy Issue's Scrambler II has a base range of 13km (and overheats to 16km) and that it also counts as 4 points of scramble strength. A mistake that cost him his Venture in very short order as my drones set upon him like angry wasps in a summer drought.

And with this, my first solo-kill that I tracked and initiated on my own was now complete. Perhaps it will be a pirate's life for me just yet.

Drink up me hearties, yo ho...

https://zkillboard.com/kill/73944398/
Venture: 264,160.71

[Neemo Beer]

Thanks for that Vincent! Well done!

[Marcus Arilia]

I was quite glad when Vince said he wanted to go out hunting with me and my little Tristan that's somehow gained a reputation in of itself. As we wandered I could hear the anticipation building up as Kenny Loggins played in the background. We wandered around for awhile, avoiding gatecamps and a couple of roams as I didn't want to reenact Goose's death. We were'n't able to find a target rich environment, but eventually that Condor showed up on D, and knowing that there were no points for second place we just went for it. You don't have time to think up there. If you think, you're dead. We took it down and it was a nice good easy kill. Vince, you can be my wingman anytime, but just remember, no, I don't date students.

[VincentSeradin]

Marcus, you may have had Top Gun on the mind, but I can assure you that I couldn't hear much over the sound of my adrenaline pumping through my head.

December 11th, 2018
So it was that I logged in to discover that my erstwhile compatriots of w-space had decided to spend the evening fighting other denizens of the EVE cluster. The nerve! How else will we learn to count to three, watch space bubbles wobbling about, and read the flavor text of combat sites in increasingly bizarre accents?

I decided to spend such a quiet time roaming the wormhole chain in my Buzzard, and I came across a C3 wormhole where three tantalizing relic sites were located. I mapped the entirety of the solar system, and warped out to the first of the relic sites to begin my treasure hunting. I had just finished breaking into a Serpentis wreck, and was making my way the next, when I discovered a set of Sisters Core Scanner Probes on the directional scanner. After ensuring that they were not my probes inadvertently left in space (a not-uncommon incident when one lives in w-space), I proceeded to activate my Buzzard's cloak and directed my ship on a vector away from the center of the site. The motion of my ship was perhaps a sign of paranoia more than good practices, but I believe my chances of being inadvertently de-cloaked drop drastically if I do not lie on the line connecting points of interest.

From this relatively safe position, I monitored the directional scanner, and began to consider two scenarios for the events that had transpired so far:

I had discovered a day-tripper, much like myself, who was tracking down the myriad of signatures present in the solar system

I was being pursued by a target who had detected me on d-scan, or had followed me from a previous wormhole.

As the seconds ticked by in silence, save for the ambient sound of the d-scan pulse, and the Core Probes remained in space, I felt increasingly sure that the former scenario was the more likely of the two. If this individual was hunting for an explorer, as my de-cloaked Buzzard certainly would have marked me as, they would not wish to keep probes in space for very long, as each second that passes with probes on grid is a second that a d-scan pulse can reveal your approach. Of course, this does not account for the possibility for the individual being a bad hunter...

Regardless, now the time had come to make a decision concerning what to do next. Since the other vessel had not yet appeared on the directional scanner, and the solar system was compact enough to cover in the entirety of the d-scan range, I felt comfortable making further assumptions concerning the ship that was now my silent companion. The presence of probes, and a lack of hull on d-scan, made it highly likely that a covert-ops frigate or a Sisters ship was currently mapping the system.

With these assumptions made, I decided that I would not let an opportunity to attack from the shadows pass me by. Further, my previous loss of an Astero in w-space had not yet been avenged, and this Would Not Do. I made great haste back to our home station in w-space, reshipped into a PvP-fit Astero, and made my way back to the system I had been observing. Upon entry to the system, I discovered that the probes that had been present were now gone, but no ship was present on the directional scanner. Where they now lying in wait for me?

I first warped to a planet moon from the wormhole entrance and drifted away, watching the d-scan as I waited for signs of activity. Minutes passed, but there was nothing but the steady pulsing of my scanner with me. But I was not convinced they had left, nor was I prepared to give up on a potential explorer target so easily. So it was that I warped to one of the three relic sites, and moved into position above the site. As the site was located above the ecliptic of the solar system, I felt this would give a comfortable buffer between myself and a target landing on grid, as well as providing a minimum lead time between detection and engagement should a target envelope present itself.

Several minutes passed as I watched the directional scanner in silence, when finally, out of the ether, an Astero appeared. Now, being on a relic site, either they were attempting to bait me out of the shadows to fight, or were going to engage in the noble act of Plunder and General Thievery. The last question I wanted answers to was what manner of fitting this individual might have on their ship. If they activated a relic analyzer, then I could be assured that their fit, even if well-built, was deficient to mine, as a critical mid-slot would be taken up by their analyzer (and further mark them as an explorer, not a fighter). When the sight of the relic "spotlight" beaming out from the dust between us, I knew that they were hacking away, and now was the time to strike.

I approached from a 45-degree angle, moving towards the left side of the relic site as they made a counterclockwise orbit. I wanted to ensure that when I de-cloaked, they would be in the least advantageous position to escape. And nothing quite foils an escape attempt than appearing suddenly in your prey's heading. At 7.5 km, I de-cloaked and locked the target, just as they made their pass around the front of the site. My scrambler activated as soon as my lock activated, and my flight of hobgoblins went to work. As they mulched away the armor of the Astero, the pilot actually managed to drift out of my scrambler range as we passed around the relic site, and my ship was "bounced" off of the structure, pulling me away from them. Perhaps it was a panic response, but the window disappeared quickly as I re-engaged my scrambler. It was at this point I became concerned that they had not yet attacked me; my fingers had been at the ready to engage repair modules that had yet to be needed. But if their ship was intended to be bait, their armor was disappearing far too quickly, and with no sign of a repair module on their own ship.

Finally, their ship succumbed to the flight of drones, and I locked up their pod, ensuring them a speedy journey back home (the least I could do). Upon examining the wreck, and the killmail, I made several curious discoveries. First of all, the lack of damage on their part was from them deploying a flight of EWAR drones in the form of Hornet EC-300s. But given their clustering around the wreck, I suspect they never actually managed to order the drones into action before being destroyed. The second curiousity was that my quarry had been equipped with two warp core stabilizers! At any point during our fight, presumably, they could have disengaged, but did not. Perhaps out of a panic response, or perhaps out of collisions with nearby structures causing their ship to "bump" off their escape vector.

Regardless, I gathered up the spoils of my hunt, and reentered the shadows, feeling like quite the U-boat captain, if I do say so myself...

https://zkillboard.com/kill/73957918/
https://zkillboard.com/kill/73957935/
Astero: 105,732,136.32

Lessons Learned: In this regard, I think that there are lessons for both me, and for those people unfortunate enough who may come under similar attack.

For me, I believe that my approach was solid, but that I also should overheat my scrambler when engaging from cloak on a target that is able to move so freely. While my scrambler was technically useless for this particular fight, given their warp core stabilizers, it was still a mistake that could lead to a loss of prey or a failure to contain a kiting ship.

For other, I think it may be worth reminding folks that if you are not prepared to fight in a dangerous area, then you need to always have an escape plan ready. This target, I believe, was actually hampered by their orbit around the relic site. In such a dangerous area, it would have, I believe, been much better to have the ship halted, but ensure that they had an escape route pre-planned and aligned such that when an enemy revealed themselves, they only need to accelerate to warp speed. Not ideal, certainly, but likely much better for survival than being caught in a deeply awkward position.

[Eir Geiravor]

I was quite glad when Vince said he wanted to go out hunting with me and my little Tristan that's somehow gained a reputation in of itself. As we wandered I could hear the anticipation building up as Kenny Loggins played in the background. We wandered around for awhile, avoiding gatecamps and a couple of roams as I didn't want to reenact Goose's death. We were'n't able to find a target rich environment, but eventually that Condor showed up on D, and knowing that there were no points for second place we just went for it. You don't have time to think up there. If you think, you're dead. We took it down and it was a nice good easy kill. Vince, you can be my wingman anytime, but just remember, no, I don't date students.

This is the most epic thing i've read on these forums - you took me right in to the danger zone, the danger zone of laughter

[Eir Geiravor]

Vince,
Your posts are pure gold, definitely living up to the standard Marcus set.

Thanks for taking the time to write up your engagements.

E

[VincentSeradin]

December 12th, 2018

Upon my return to my capsuleer duties, I was greeted with a message from my comrade, fellow Wormhole Enthusiast, and Tristan Aficionado Marcus Arilia: Partake of the Hunt Once Again? (ed. note: paraphrased). It was hardly within me to deny the offers of fun, plunder, adventure, violence, and possible mayhem (and our brethren w-space denizens were keen to watch the Hard Knocks keepstar fall to the Initiative onslaught). I set out to meet Marcus in Placid, minding his advice that the Stacmon-Ostingele gate was camped (to the surprise of precisely no one, I'm sure).

After a slight detour through Dastryns, I was reunited with Marcus in Agoze, and we began our patrol. Our evening began with a flash of near-combat with Agoze as we detected a Venture on d-scan, which Marcus simply could not stand for. We determined that they were located within an outpost and quickly jumped into action, and once we entered the acceleration gate, found our Venture sitting comfortably some 38 km from our landing spot. Sadly, upon approach, the Venture seemed keen to our piratical ways, and warped to safety mere seconds after we began our approach. Marcus attempted to entice the Venture pilot in Glorious Combat, but the pilot insisted they were "broke, skill-less, and bad at EVE." Given their apparent desire to sit passively in a low-sec complex in a stripped Venture for what must be hours, I was inclined to agree.

A few jumps into our roam we detected a Tristan in a faction warfare complex, and leapt into action, no doubt in part to ensure that Marcus's desire to be the One True Tristan Pilot would not be challenged. We activated the acceleration gate, and upon landing on grid, found the Tristan a mere 3.5 km from our landing spot. Unfortunately for the other Tristan, I had learned much since my last encounter in the faction warfare grids, and he was scrammed and webified as soon as our ships hit grid. With ten drones between us, the Tristan melted with little trouble.

https://zkillboard.com/kill/73971751/
Tristan: 406,781.69

Our roam took us farther into the contested zones of the Caldari/Gallente, and we detected our next target of opportunity in Martoh: a Catalyst. We warped to the complex, only to find that the destroyer was not sitting inside the complex, but rather waiting on the gate for unsuspecting pilots! The nerve of such a pilot. Sitting upon an acceleration gate, preying upon the unwise and the unprepared? Who did they think they are? Me? This arrogance could not go unpunished, and we set our scramblers, webifiers, and drones upon our foe, adding a new kill to our list in short order.

Despite our destruction, however, the pilot seemed content to not warp away, despite his loss. The cheek! To camp a gate and then to sit passively in front of one's vanquishers? Despite my general disinclination towards pod destruction, such an affront could not go unanswered. I locked up our post-Catalyst friend and committed his consciousness to a temporary interruption. This act also, I believe for the first time in my EVE career, marked me with a criminal status. A status that filled me with such piratical amusement, I must add. Yet this was also so unfamiliar to my EVE experience, I timidly had to ask Marcus if this status would get me fired upon by gate guns.

Hey, a pirate has to start somewhere,

https://zkillboard.com/kill/73972058/
https://zkillboard.com/kill/73972079/
Catalyst: 1,620,321.69

Our next encounter occurred in Black Rise, where Marcus discovered an Atron combatting a Federation frigate in a FW complex. My nebulously-patriotic heart was so stricken with sorrow for my Federation comrade fighting so valiantly for the safety of the common man, I was forced to warp to a stargate, lest I lose myself to despair. Yet Marcus assured me that he had managed to webify and scramble this Caldari menace, and that the noble Federation pilot was fighting so bravely, and pressed me to join my Federation brethren in Glorious Combat. I gathered myself and resolved to join my comrades, and arrived to ensure the end to this terrible threat!

This account of events is, of course, completely true. It is certainly not the case that I managed to warp to a stargate rather than the complex because I forgot to click off of the stargate when I pressed "Warp To Zero." Nor is it the case that Marcus was forced to wait patiently while I turned my slow *** around, and I barely scraped into the killmail.

https://zkillboard.com/kill/73972243/
Atron: 1,055,122.70

With the Federation's soverignty assured, we continued our roam back into Essence, into the den of vice and danger that is Heydieles. Here, we discovered a Punisher located at a FW complex, and I managed to navigate my starship like a functioning adult leapt into action, landing upon the gate, to discover that, like our previous interaction with the Catalyst, our Punisher friend was sitting upon the acceleration gate. As I landed on grid first, and a mere 4km from my target, I hit scrambler, webifier, and afterburner and began my orbit, while my flight of drones flew to begin their assault. This Punisher, however, would be quite different from my previous encounters thus far, and I found myself being yellow-boxed, followed by the activation of a warp disruptor and the warning of incoming shield damage! A proper fight had begun!

My shields began to evaporate rather quickly, and I prepared to activate my armor repairer as I monitored the outgoing damage my drones and the slow punch of my artillery cannons were placing upon my target. When the enemy guns began to impact my armor, however, it became quite clear that whatever weak defense my shield had provided, my armor would be quite a different story, as only a sliver of armor vanished with each pulse of his guns. But I also discovered that, far from being a lightly-armored target as was common thus far, this Punisher would prove to be a tough nut to crack. Despite significant outgoing damage, our drones were only barely managing to overcome whatever repairs were being applied by the modules in use by our quarry. Further, the target seemed to be under the impression that Marcus would be the better target, and their guns turned upon him, even as our webifiers effectively kept him rooted in place. But his attempts would not succeed, as his repairs failed under the tearing of drones and the thunder of guns.

We began to collect the spoils of our prey (including many T2 drones, no doubt from those assailants who had faltered beneath the frankly irresponsible amount of armor this fellow had), when a Hecate appeared in our local grid. This put a rather abrupt end to our post-victory analysis, but we managed to warp away before they could engage us. At the time, I thought my drones, which were still on grid, would be casualties of this scattering, but Marcus managed to gather them up before escaping as well.

https://zkillboard.com/kill/73972817/ (Good Lord, man, do you have an armor quota?)
Punisher: 8,372,220.04

Post-Fight Analysis: Having had time to observe the fitting from the Punisher since the fight, I must commend the fellow for a clever build. The armor plates, Punisher bonuses, and repairs meant that it took 7,000 damage before finally succumbing! For blaster fits that are pretty common for Gallente ships, this is a terrifying amount of armor to tear through. Unfortunately, this build also left him extremely vulnerable to ship like my MNI or Marcus's Tristan, as we can project damage from quite a distance even without guns. With an anemic falloff range for those 150mm light autocannons, and the velocity penalty of 2(!) 400mm armor plates, the most this fellow could have hoped to do was kill our drones, as even our Gallente ships could outpace such a heavy-fit Punisher.

----------------------------------------

It was at this point that our roams had attracted the attention of Ticerium, my dear friend and comrade from the pre-Uni days (read: The Dark Times). He joined in on our Piratical revelry, and we set out to find new and engaging fights. And by Engaging FIghts, I of course mean that we came across the same plex-camper as we had discovered before. With our honor at stake for having allowed this camper to escape, we once again warped to the complex, with Ticerium screaming ahead with a proper microwarpdrive. If we could not kill this fellow, he would at least learn to stay out of complexes when Marcus, Ticerium, and Vincent come around.

However, this time the fellow appeared either AFK or gripped with the existential crisis that comes with the realization that in a game about immortal space pilots casually throwing antimatter explosions at each other for "the lulz," they had chosen the single most boring career path possible. Regardless of the reasons, we were able to tackle him properly, with Ticerium managing to get the initial stab, followed shortly by both me and Marcus.

Ticerium joined in on the Flashy Red Club as he attacked the pod of this camper, putting a (temporary) end to their camping ways. It was only after we checked Local, that we realized he had spoken to us. Specifically he had said, in Chinese (according to Google Translate), "Kill me, thank you." And while I'm sure Marcus would prefer to indulge this man's wishes in perpetuity with the sort of religious fervor one usually reserves for Crusades, it was time for us to move on.

https://zkillboard.com/kill/73974171/
Venture: 260,083.8

We journeyed to Renarelle, where our first kill of the night had occurred, and Marcus discovered a Tormenter in a complex. It is here, though, that our story begins to take a dark turn. Marcus tackled the man initially, finding him to be like the Punisher before, though equipped with lasers. Which made him either more or less metal than the Punisher, depending on whether you prefer lasers or explosions. But in my attempt to join in on the tackle, I had, at some point, managed to reset my default "Warp To" from 0m to 100km. I genuinely do not know how I managed to do that, but so it was that I managed to land at 90 km while poor Marcus fought alone. Ticerium managed to land properly, and began to add to the fight, but it wasn't quite enough to save Marcus, as his Tristan succumbed to the outpouring of damage from the Tormenter's lasers.

The pilot turned their attention to Ticerium, who was now the sole participant of this contest. Though his ship lacked a repair module, the hefty buffer provided by Ticerium's 200mm plate and nano-membrane (as well as the significant resistance already present in armor against EM damage), managed to keep him safe until I entered 57km, and was able to finally engage my drones fully to the fight.

So it was that Marcus lost his Tristan, but his loss was not in vain! The enemy pilot also seemed to take his loss in stride, even offering a rematch in another system. As I alluded to, however, our luck had run out at this point, as we discovered in transit to a new system that a rather hefty group of pirates had taken up residence on the in-and-out gates of Abune. While I managed to direct Marcus away from the gate, and I managed to squeeze past just as they established themselves, Ticerium fell to their guns, and was pod-killed to boot.

https://zkillboard.com/kill/73974711/
Tristan: 6,776,827.49

https://zkillboard.com/kill/73974728/
Tormenter: 7,916,334.81

https://zkillboard.com/kill/73975738/
Comet: 21,245,009.38

Lesson Learned: Don't reset your "Warp To" button? Seriously, that was baffling to me, though at least I'm cognizant of it now.

---------------------------------------

With a few losses of ships, and separations borne out of gate camps, and the fragmentation that naturally occurs when bouncing between star systems, we regathered near Ostingele, and set out to find new fights. But it is here, dear readers, that the last encounter of the night occured. We detected a Garmur on the directional scanner, and decided, after some deliberation, to give a proper go of it.

I warped in first, landing on grid approximately 20km away from the Garmur. In retrospect, I see why this fellow set up there. As I engaged my afterburner, the Garmur activated it's microwarpdrive and began to orbit me at about 20km. It was at this point, I need to say, that my god, Garmurs are fast. I have never quite seen a vehicle move like that save for my Dramiel. Sadly, it was clear to me, and to my compatriots that there was little I could do, as my attempts to orbit something that had me seperating rapidly from my teammates. Further, as everyone in the group was equipped with afterburners, there was little chance for them to catch up to a vehicle that was moving at roughly the speed of light.

Still, at least my repairer did its job to the bitter end. To the point that the Garmur's pilot felt it necessary to call in a Dramiel for assistance. Between their two weapons, my ship was not long for this world, though I was able to warp away before they took my pod along with me. Additionally, they were able to catch Ticerium in their grasp, and his Hookbill was their second catch of the encounter.

https://zkillboard.com/kill/73975994/
Maulus Navy Issue: 32,769,519.59

https://zkillboard.com/kill/73976009/
Hookbill: 27,002,775.67

Lesson Learned: Garmurs are cancer and if you fly one you are literally The Devil.

Actual Lessons Learned and Final Thoughts:

Warning: Incoming REAL TALK
While my description of the last combat encounter of the night might seem depressing, I actually had a really good time on our roam. The Garmur engagement didn't go our way, but I knew full well that I may not win the encounter. I feel like I really learned how my ship can handle different combat encounters through the night, and the Garmur fight was no different. I also learned about the Garmur's operational envelope which is genuinely something I did not know, as the Garmur was added to the game well after I had gone back into hibernation.

My frustrations with EVE both in the present and in the past have been a feeling of uselessness. That nothing I do will ever let me win a fight, or get better at the game, no matter how much I try. This leads to a dark cloud over my head at times when I am "blapped" early in a fight, because its a sudden return to that feeling of uselessness. That I should have just stayed in a station because I didn't contribute as anything other than cannon fodder, and I'll never been seen by my fellow EVE pilots as anything except chaff to be entertained at best, and ignored at worst.

But this engagement feels different because not only do I know why I didn't win the fight (and choices I could make to better approach a future fight), but I managed to at least continue to fight and use my modules and my tools to the best of their ability. An example, at least to me, is that my repair module really made this pilot commit to the fight (such that his partner did a not-insignificant amount of damage!). Given how my ship was set up and the choices I made during the fight, it's likely that no iteration of this particular fight would have gone my way, but for really the first time in EVE, I genuinely feel that I gave a hard fight to a player in a combat situation, and got a good fight in return.

As far as better choices that might have swung the fight in our favor, I believe the principle mistake I made is that in my attempt to approach the Garmur, I pulled the fight away from Marcus and Ticerium. Had I moved back towards my squadmates, it's possible they could have exploited the orbit mechanics and caught the Garmur with a warp scrambler, which would have effectively ended the fight.

[Falling Snow KumaMoto]

I've learned a lot from these writeups, so thank you! I offer a purely philosophical interjection:
I have it on good authority (reddit, no less)
that Garmur pilots
are to be denied content
of any kind
at all times.

I recognize this statement is a matter of taste more than knowledge, but I offer it nonetheless.

[Marcus Arilia]

Vincent, another fantastic write up. I had a ton of fun roaming around with you guys. Luckily for us both the WH life subsidizes our semi-suicidal low sec losses. I’m also glad to hear the feeling of uselessness is subsiding. That was my goal in going roaming was to help get you some good kills and not feel like you’ll get insta-blipped regardless. I’m always up for another roam, I just may need to find a cheaper way to repair the sec hit than buying tags.

[Eir Geiravor]

Vincent, another fantastic write up. I had a ton of fun roaming around with you guys. Luckily for us both the WH life subsidizes our semi-suicidal low sec losses. I’m also glad to hear the feeling of uselessness is subsiding. That was my goal in going roaming was to help get you some good kills and not feel like you’ll get insta-blipped regardless. I’m always up for another roam, I just may need to find a cheaper way to repair the sec hit than buying tags.

You could always stop podding in lowsec. Unless Bob told you to do it.

[VincentSeradin]

My my, it has been far too long since I last posted. It has been quite the eventful few days for me. Roams, raids, and even the occasional slap fight!

December 15
We began our roam, as we so often do, in the Placid region. But this time, we would be joined by a new member of our slowly-growing piratical bunch, Rothbard! And, perhaps more surprisingly, Marcus opted to try out a ship that wasn't a Tristan! (Shocking, I know. But be brave, we'll overcome this dark time together...) Our first two kills of the night were, as I recall, quite uneventful incidents. Our fist engagement on an Imicus equipped with moon-mining survey probes. Presumably there are rogue moons about in EVE, waiting for the perfect opportunity to pounce on unsuspecting prey...

(Honestly, I look at the fitting of this Imicus and it instills in me the type of deep confusion that is usually reserved for esoteric math problems. Or how Matthew Lillard managed to have such a robust film career.)

Regardless, we put this ship out of its deep misery (it was the only right thing to do), and soon found ourselves attacking a much better-equipped target. Marcus discovered an Incursus in a Novice complex, and Rothbard and I arrived shortly thereafter. Between our drones, and the proud work of the ever-dilligent Federation Navy's finest, poor Roth barely had time to get his scrambler and neutralizer on the Incursus before it met its fate.


https://zkillboard.com/kill/74038444/
Imicus: 1,484,241.51 (It's telling that 1/3 of the total ISK loss is in probes alone...)

https://zkillboard.com/kill/74038701/
Incursus: 1,494,661.56

Notes: I believe that the Incursus provides a nice example of some intermediate ship-fitting lessons. The Incursus is not a terrible fit, per se, but notice that the pilot has three magnetic field stabilizers, and an inertial stabilizer in their low slots, while also rigged with three small friction nozzles. This ship is the very definition of a complete "glass cannon," but one that absolutely did not work in this pilot's favor, as he was short-range fit in his guns. While this fit almost certainly provided ample protection from the tracking speed of larger guns, the need to be close to his NPC target meant that when we landed on grid, he was not in an aligned position (as they need to orbit their target within 3km for antimatter blasters to be effective), and wasted valuable time having to turn his ship into the direction of a warp-out target.

While it could be said that the addition of armor and other modules to provide repairs would not have helped against three enemy targets, and you are almost certainly correct, it absolutely might have changed the outcome of a fight where only one enemy ship was engaging him.

Lesson Learned: Don't write up your AAR a few days after the fights have happened, or you won't be able to remember what the hell happened early in your roams.

-------------------------------

Our next fight was long in the making, as I discovered a Venture in the asteroid fields of Costolle. A Venture? Actually mining? What insanity is this? I was compelled to express my confusion in the most violent way possible, and so I tracked down the target using narrow-field scans. Upon discovering the target's location, I warped to the asteroid field, and found the Venture approximately 30 km deep in the asteroids. I began to burn towards them, but alas, the miner managed to escape the Maulus's slippery gaze, as they made haste away from this would-be predator.

However, in the limited time we had been in Costolle, the local environment had begun to swell from a healthy handful of locals. Further, and perhaps more pressingly, as I had prepared to find new targets a Hecate dropped out of warp onto the asteroid field as well. Whether tempted by the Venture or my beautiful visage, I managed to enter warp before they dropped fully onto grid. It was here that I called for us to leave Costolle for the time being, as I would like to live a long, rich life, and the adrenaline shot that comes from a tactical destroyer landing in one's grid is not something I imagine a doctor recommends for one's health.

But our roams from there managed to find no prey, save for an Atron (named "Worm," no less) that managed to persistently escape our grasp, and we re-entered Costolle some time later. It was at this point that I once again found a Venture lurking in the asteroid fields. And, once I had landed upon grid, I discovered that it was once again our Miner friend from before! But this time, they did not turn and flee as I burned in. It was at this point I was concerned that this was a trap. Paranoia, or good practice? Either way, I kept a close eye on local as I managed to snare the Venture with my scrambler, and called for Marcus and Roth to join the attack. I maneuvered my ship into position away from asteroids, to avoid being caught in a bounce should the Venture turn out to be bait for a lurking ship, and Marcus landed on grid near me.

It was at this point that the Venture began to finally move, either having signaled their friends, or having just realized their peril. With the local population still a good handful above "comfortable," and the feeling that the Venture had been just a hair too easy to catch, Marcus made the call to destroy the Venture before our lingering drew unwanted attention. This denied Roth a chance to get on the kill, sadly, but Marcus ultimately made the correct call, as just a few moments later, an Algos destroyer landed on grid. I made the call to scatter, though it brought a question from Marcus whether we should attempt to engage the Algos. I felt that the dynamics of our situation were too fluid to rely on for and repeated my call to scatter, and we left the asteroids (and Costolle) within seconds.

https://zkillboard.com/kill/74039052/
Venture: 3,121,916.09

Notes: I believe there are a few useful notes that can be drawn from our encounter with the Venture. First, don't be dissuaged by a lonely roam in low-sec and null-sec. Persistence will pay off, and even veteren pilots in low- and null-sec make mistakes.

Secondly, I believe that I made the correct call by scattering when the Algos landed on grid. With the benefit of hindsight, it's quite possible that we could have successfully fought off the Algos, especially if Rothbard entered the fight. However, at the time, the lack of response from the Venture to my approach, and the arrival of the Algos appeared to be too coincidental. With only three total pilots in our fleet, two on grid, and only local repair modules for logistics, I felt that the addition of a destroyer landing outside of our engagement envelope, and the possibility for additional support was too much to justify staying.

In this regard, I believe its prudent to emphasize that I ascribe to the philosophy, in EVE, of "Always stack the deck in your favor." Or, as I'm fond of seeing in military humor, "In combat, there are no rules, always cheat; always win. The only unfair fight is the one you lose." But, this is a game, and I'm sure there are many people who quite enjoy the seat-of-your-pants action of taking all offers of violence, or engaging targets even when in a disadvantageous position. And if you are one of these people, then by all means, approach the game in a way that is most fun for you. But this is also my AAR, dammit. Go write your own!

-------------------------------

Our final encounter of the night, sadly, would not be a success. As the roam continued through low-sec, we chanced across a ship on the directional scanner that caught our attention. A Praxis battleship, with the title, "No PVP. Only Farm." Broken english? Unneccessarily large ship? A lack of support ships or other fleet support? It did not take Mad Max to tell us that this was clearly Bait (with a capital 'B'). But, unlike the Algos before, we were in a position to attack on our terms. And dammit, we'd come this far, why not see what would happen in a blaze of glory?

Why the hell not. I was first to warp in on the Praxis, which we discovered was stationary on the acceleration gate leading to a Gallente Large Outpost. When I landed on grid, I did not immediately engage, instead waiting to see if this initial action would summon his allies. But no such summoning occured. Instead, I simply began to orbit at 10km, waiting to see how the dynamic would change. It was at this point that the Praxis was the first to engage! I was locked up, and a saw that he was trying to use nosferatus on me! But, there was a distinct lack of damage coming from the Praxis, or even attempts at damage, and I called out to Marcus and Roth to enter the fray as I released a flight of Warrior II drones and set them upon the ship along with my warp scrambler.

As Marcus and Roth arrived on grid and began to attack, I realized that the Praxis's attempt to neturalize me were not succeeding! Further, with only a paltry amount of capacitor being used by my ship to run a single afterburner, and my ship's guns requiring no capacitor (blessed be projectile turrets when used against cap warfare). But Marcus and Roth found the Praxis to be far more difficult to deal with, as the Praxis proved to have a substantial armor tank (to the surprise of no one, I'm sure). They soon found themselves being webified, and Roth was scrambled as he entered his optimal range. And, to further complicate the matters, the Praxis's allies finally showed themselves as a Kestral and a Punisher landed on grid.

With the situation now fully resolved, we opted to cut our losses and run. As I lay outside scrambler range, I was able to escape before the Praxis's allies were able to lock on to him. Roth was able to break the Praxis's hold on him, either through EWAR drones, or because the Praxis felt Marcus was the bigger threat (And I think we can all agree that when you look upon Marcus, you see the fires of war burning in those eyes...). Marcus's Federation Navy Comet would meet its end under the blows of the Punisher's lasers and the Praxis's drones.

https://zkillboard.com/kill/74040605/
Federation Navy Comet: 17,955,877.77

So it was a sad but noble end for our proud Gallente pilot, and the end of our story.

At least it seemed that way at the time.

As it turns out, we were not the only roamers in low sec that evening. About an hour after we had returned to w-space and gone to bed for the evening, there was another roaming gang that came across the Praxis. And with no local repairers on the Praxis, the damage we had dealt to the armor was still present, making us participants in the Praxis's demise:

https://zkillboard.com/kill/74041099/
Praxis: 190,442,327.99

Lesson Learned: When you start a fight, make sure you give it your all! You never know when you'll end up being a part of a much bigger fight, and you might just get some wins you wouldn't expect!

[Falling Snow KumaMoto]

Nice! Again, enjoyed the write-up very much.

One request for update: the first imicus killboard link is actually a duplicate of the first incursus kill.

[VincentSeradin]

Thank you for catching that mistake, Falling Snow. I do try to proofread these posts before sending them out!