Will you be my PvP Sensei?

With the kind of schedule I have these days, it's pretty impossible for me to partake in any kind of official corp operations. Don't get me wrong, it certainly not because the guys from Mobile Alcohol Processing Units weren't playing nice or ignoring me, but circumstances just made it impossible for me to join them when there were combat operations. I either logged in and out before anything interesting was happening, or simply was too many jumps away for me to get there in time.

So I've decided to go at it solo. What! Blasphemy you say? I hear you loud and clear on that one. I myself have always told folks to get into a good corp as soon as they can find one. But right now, that play style doesn't suit me. I'm more like a 3rd leg, a fifth wheel or whatever expression you want to use.

So earlier this week, I took the jump and left MAPU. I plan on staying in Heimatar for while, until I get familiar with my Close Range PvP Vexor setup. After reading up on the great advice that given to me after I mentioned I was fitting a Vexor for PvP, I've decided to use @00sage00's setup suggestion and am now on the hunt for those missing modules. Soon though, I'll be ready to test the waters with this new ship. First I plan on testing it out on NPC missions and pirates. But I know that soon, I'll have to face some real opponents.

Before I do that though, I thought I'd through a friendly request for some one on one lessons with fellow capsuleers willing to meet face to face and teach me the basics of PvP. I've read and will try to put into practice the wonderful advice that the Tweetfleet Father has put together in this wonderful post of his, "Piloting Savviness".

So if your willing to visit me and share some advice, I promise to be nice when I share our story on this blog of mine. But be aware that this is the setup you'll be facing... ....come to think of it, give this much of info to a potential opponent might not be a wise decision... of what the hell!

Close Range Vexor PvP Setup


Damage Control II
Energized Adaptive Nano Membrane II
Energized Adaptive Nano Membrane II
1600mm Reinforced Rolled Tungsten Plates I

10MN MicroWarpdrive I
Warp Scrambler II
X5 Prototype I Engine Enervator

Light Neutron Blaster II, Caldari Navy Antimatter Charge S
Light Neutron Blaster II, Caldari Navy Antimatter Charge S
Light Neutron Blaster II, Caldari Navy Antimatter Charge S
Light Neutron Blaster II, Caldari Navy Antimatter Charge S
Small Energy Neutralizer II

Medium Trimark Armor Pump I
Medium Trimark Armor Pump I
Medium Trimark Armor Pump I

Hammerhead II x5
Warrior II x5
Hornet EC-300 x5


Now if you'll excuse me, I have a podcast to do!

Getting ready for my first Player Kill - A Vexor PvP Setup

After roaming systems near or within the Heimatar Region over the last 2 weeks, I've finally gathered all the necessary modules, ammo types and drones for the all 6 Gallente Vexors I've setup for PvP. And though I'm based out of GERBOLD, earlier this morning I traveled to EBODOLD, a dead-end system of 0.4 security level. I'd been told that there was a good plex in the area, one where I could test out the Vexor setup I've been so diligently putting together for my first foray into the darker side of EVE, the Player-vs-Player.

The system has but only one station, fittingly numbered CK-19. I feel at home already! My plans over the next few days are simple: test out that PLEX as I get to know my Vexor setup. It'll give me the opportunity to go through to great PvP Guides I've recenltly come across: the first is "Piloting Savviness" by @00sage00, and the second is "The New Rifter Guide" by @wensley. Both are available in PDF formats by the way.

In the mean time, here's my PvP Vexor Setup. Experts such as Wensley and 00sage00 are more than welcome to critique and provide their advice. God knows I need it!


HIGH POWER

• 1x Medium YF-12a Smartbomb
• 4x 150mm Railgun II

MEDIUM POWER

• 1x DDO Photometry Tracking Disruptor I
• 1x Y-58 Hydrocarbon I Afterbuner
• 1x J5 Prototype Warp Disruptor I

LOW POWER

• 1x Emergency Damamge Control I
• 1x Microcell Nanite Explosive Hardener I
• 1x Energized Adaptive Nano Membrane II
• 1x 1600mm Reinforced Crystalline Carbonide Plates I

DRONES

• 1x Warrior II
• 5x Hornet EC-300
• 2x Ogre II
• 2x Infiltrator II

Ship Setups - Blockade Runners, by Casiella Truza

This guest post comes to us from Casiella Truza, who writes the blog Ecliptic Rift and can be found tormenting the Tweet Fleet at @casiella.


Think industrial pilots and traders don't get to have any white-knuckle fun?

Think again. We operate in the shadows of giants, in the spaces they cannot see nor follow. You might think that waxing poetic about a transport ship sounds slightly insane, and while you might have a point, the fact remains that the blockade runner presents pilots with tremendous fun and opportunities for profit.

This ship class gets bonuses to shield boosting or armor repair, depending on the racial type. But that bonus doesn't mean much in most cases, because this ship can equip covert ops cloaking devices, meaning it can warp cloaked.

In low-sec, a blockade runner pilot is nearly uncatchable at stargates. Once you've jumped through and see a gate camp, just choose your destination, issue the "warp to" command, and cloak immediately. If you do it right, only the Local comms window and perhaps a flash on the overview will signal your presence to the enemy. Your most vulnerable period will come when leaving a station, so if you get caught, keep moving, stay within docking range, and engage your shield booster or armor repairer.

Null sec might give you a little more trouble if you run into a warp disruption bubble, but even then you should generally survive if you keep your wits about you. Zoom out, find the closest point on the surface of the bubble, and align to it, then immediately engage your afterburner and cloak. You might reach the edge of the bubble before the enemy can decloak you, in which case you should align to the celestial nearest your heading and warp. Other typical nullsec navigation tricks may work better for you. Comment below and share your ideas!

Blockade runner pilots typically belong to one of two schools of thought. The first, and the one to which I belong, assumes that you use the ship to move small, valuable cargo (though not so small as to fit in a covops frigate). In this case, your ability to slip through gate camps or other hostile fleets matters most. You'll want nanofiber internal structures in your low slots, which will increase your agility but lower your structural integrity. (Protip: if structure HP matters for a hauler, you've already lost.) Inertial stabilizers can shave about half a second off of your align time, but they also increase your signature radius. With no rigs, I have 4063 m3 of space in my Prowler, or 5373 m3 with a couple of Medium Cargohold Optimization rigs. I also have an EFT align time of 5.8 seconds (5.2 if I use inertial stabilizers). If you feel like an opportunist and can fit it properly, you might throw a salvager in your spare high slot.

[Prowler, Quick]
Nanofiber Internal Structure II
Nanofiber Internal Structure II

10MN Afterburner II
Medium Shield Booster II
Invulnerability Field II

Covert Ops Cloaking Device II
[empty high slot]

The other school of thought wants to increase cargo space no matter what. Replace the lows with Expanded Cargoholds, and you can substantially increase your cargo capacity to 6604 m3 (or 8734 m3 with rigs). Then again, your align time increases to 7.9 seconds, and those two full seconds can mean the difference between a successful run or crying about Tech II insurance payouts.

Have fun space trucking!

The opinions shared here are those of its author and not necessarily mine. /CrazyKinux

Ship Setups - A Mission Running Dominix, by Shinzann

This is a guest post by Shinzann from Adventures in Mission Running. You can follow him @R_Javorsky.

Original can be found at The Ancient Gaming Noob

The Dominix is one of the old warhorses dating back to the Gallente-Caldari War. While no longer regarded as the king of the hill, it is by no means obsolete. Its formidable hulk and powerful weapons batteries means that anyone not in the largest and latest battleships will regret ever locking horns with it.

Gallente Battleship Skill Bonus: 5% bonus to Large Hybrid Turret damage and 10% bonus to drone hitpoints and damage per skill level.

With the right skills, a Dominix truly can be a warhorse of a ship. Shield-tanking, armour tanking. Blaster, railguns or drones. Quite a few possibilities exist for kitting out a ship like this. Personally I prefer the active armour tanking drone boat set up. I can tank almost every level 4 mission I run across in Tranquility, all I need to do is swap out a couple hardeners and some drones and I'm good to go.


Original can be found at EVE Journal
The setup I use? It looks a little something like this:

[High Slots]

425mm Railgun II

Neutron Blaster Cannon II

Large Remote Armor Repair System II

Republic Fleet Large Proton Smartbomb

2x Drone Link Augmentor I

[Middle Slots]
Omnidirectional Tracking Link I
4x Cap Recharger II

[Low Slots]
Large Armor Repairer II
Armor Kinetic Hardener II
Armor Thermic Hardener II
Mission Specific Hardener II
Mission Specific Hardener II
Damage Control II
Amarr Navy Energized Adaptive Nano Membrane

[Rigs]
Large Anti-Explosive Pump I
Large Anti-EM Pump I
Large Capacitor Control Circuit I

[Drone Bay]
5 Mission Specific Tech 2 sentry drones
5 Mission Specific Tech 2 heavy drones
5 Mission Specific Tech 2 medium drones

The railgun and blaster are there purely to draw aggro and to supplement the damage from the drones. The sentries are to snipe further away targets, the heavies for cruisers and battleships that get closer, while the mediums are for smaller targets that get too close. The smartbomb can also be used for small, close in targets as well. During normal operation with just the armour mods active, the setup is cap stable.

As long as you don't bite off more than you can chew, or forget to turn on the armour mods, the Dominix is a very sturdy boat.

The opinions shared here are those of its author and not necessarily mine. /CrazyKinux

Ship Setups - Crusiers: All Purpose Uglies, by the Gaming Griefer

This is a guest post by the Gaming Griefer. You can follow him @JohnBatDell.

The cruiser class in EVE online is nothing if it isn't the most versatile. It was precisely this versatility which attracted me enough to make a priority of training every racial cruiser skill to V, and has kept my interest over all other ship classes save Assault Ships and Pirate Frigates. A competent cruiser pilot is a welcome addition to any roaming gang, if gang roams are your thing. They aren't mine. I was born in the year of the tiger, so I choose to hunt like one: alone.

As I mentioned, cruisers are my third choice. With to the upcoming changes slated for December 1st, anything I write about the pirate frigates would either be obsolete or theory-craft, and I don't really feel like parting with my favorite AF fits. Nevertheless, I've been fairly successful over my EVE career in cruisers, and if you manage to find me on Battleclinic, you'll see that cruisers are by far my favorite prey. Cruisers it is, then.

Before going into specific ship fits, there are a few things I'd like to prepare you for. The first thing is that I prefer an afterburner + warp scrambler combination over a microwarp drive and disrupter on almost everything. I use close range weaponry, and fitting a MWD is completely antithetical to close in fighting.

The second thing? Buffer tank... buffer tank... buffer tank. I fit a buffer on my ships when I can, with the goal being to give myself as many effective hit points as possible and outlast my opponent. Active tanks generally fail on PvP ships with a few exceptions. Having your lifespan, your damage output, and your tackle all tied to your capacitor is just asking for trouble.

The third thing I must point out is that all ammunition is variable depending upon the situation. I usually use T2 ammo in HAMs, and faction ammo in guns. The actual type… well…

One last thing: I use rigs on my cruiser fits. With the addition of medium rigs, and their lower costs, I just don't see why not. If you're going to roam around on your own, you need absolutely every advantage you can get, and throwing down another 2-9 million on some rigs just seems to add up for me.
With those caveats out of the way, I present to you my collection of favorite cruisers, which I dub my "all-purpose uglies".


Gallente
The Gallente Federation has designed some of my favorite ships by far. The ideas behind their engineering is simple: get in close to unload hell on your target with blasters and drones, and have enough durability to make it into blaster range and stay there long enough to make the other guy die for his corporation rather than you dying for yours. I like to make it personal, so this "in your face" philosophy has always suited me just fine. They've got a couple of decent choices in the cruiser department, but if I had to choose one, it would definitely be the Vexor.

My Vexor Fit

[Lows]
800mm Reinforced Rolled Tungsten Plates I
Energized Adaptive Nano Membrane II (x2)
Damage Control II

[Mids]
Medium Capacitor Booster II, Cap Booster 800
Warp Scrambler II
10MN Afterburner II

[Highs]
Medium Unstable Power Fluctuator I (x2)
200mm AutoCannon II, Republic Fleet EMP S (x3)

[Rigs]
Anti-Thermic Pump I
Anti-Kinetic Pump I
Anti-Explosive Pump I

[Drones]
Group 1
Hobgoblin II x1
Hammerhead II x2
Ogre II x2

Group 2
Warrior II x5

Some notable statistics:
392 DPS
442 m/s
22,844 ehp with 75/74/74/64 resists
-360 target cap per 12s cycle

The first thing most people notice when they see this fit is how I’ve not only opted for small guns, I've opted for small auto cannons to boot. The reasoning behind this is simple. The Vexor's primary strength is drone deployment, and though I could squeeze out another 125 DPS by fitting medium blasters, the advantages of fitting small guns, 2 medium energy neutralizers and an 800mm plate buffer are just too compelling for me. Though it spits out close to 400 dps instead of the 500+ of a gank-Vexor, it has staying power and can suck the life out of just about anything given enough time. Going with small auto cannons instead of small blasters drops a measly 13 dps for the advantage of guns that don't use cap. I felt this was important since all cap on this ship is earmarked for sucking the life out of my opponent and keeping him there.

The second thing people note is the drone grouping. Group 1 I use for targets cruiser sized or bigger, gaining about 75 dps over a group of 5 Hammerhead IIs. Group 2 is used for smaller targets. Warriors, I'd like to note, have the singular distinction of being the only drones that fly 5 km/s out of the box, giving them the ability to run right over most interceptors.

Minmatar
Minmatar ships were the last ships I trained for. This wasn't because they weren't good ships. It honestly had to do with how skill intensive they really are, and of course because they're butt-ugly.

As uneasy as they are for the eyes, they're even more uneasy on an opponent's hull. What's my favorite? If you guessed the Rupture, you win a cookie.

My Rupture Fit

[Lows]
Gyrostabilizer II (x2)
800mm Reinforced Rolled Tungsten Plates I
Energized Adaptive Nano Membrane II
Damage Control II

[Mids]
Warp Scrambler II
X5 Prototype I Engine Enervator
10MN Afterburner II

[Highs]
425mm Auto Cannon II, Hail M (x4)
Heavy Assault Missile Launcher II, Hellfire Rage Assault Missile (x2)

[Rigs]
Anti-Explosive Pump I
Anti-Kinetic Pump I
Anti-Thermic Pump I

[Drones]
Warrior II (x5)
Warrior II (x1 - reserve)

Some notable statistics:
532 DPS
509 m/s
22,069 ehp with 75/70/65/58 resists
Cap Stable

I opted for resistance rigs over trimarks, as both give about the same benefits to effective hit points, and I felt that fitting a Minmatar cruiser to fly less than 500 m/s was absolute sacrilege. This fit pretty much speaks for itself. It hits hard, soaks up damage like a sponge, and is very easy on the capacitor. It's fairly easy on the wallet as well. With a flight of Warrior IIs to fend off those pesky interceptors, there just aren't too many ships I don't feel comfortable going toe to toe with in this hull.


Amarr
Amarr ships usually rub me the wrong way. They just don’t seem to be built for my style of play, for the most part. Nevertheless, when I crossed trained for Amarr, I did so with a few ships in mind: the Zealot, the Curse/Pilgrim, the Punisher, the Sentinel, and (drum roll, please)...

...the Arbitrator.

My Arbitrator Fit

[Lows]
800mm Reinforced Rolled Tungsten Plates I
Damage Control II
Energized Adaptive Nano Membrane I
Reactor Control Unit II

[Mids]
Warp Scrambler II
Medium Capacitor Booster II, Cap Booster 800
10MN Afterburner II
Tracking Disruptor II

[Highs]
Medium Unstable Power Fluctuator I (x3)
Small Energy Neutralizer II

[Rigs]
Ancillary Current Router I (x2)
Drone Durability Enhancer I

[Drones]
Group 1
Hammerhead II (x5 w/ x5 reserve)

Group 2
Warrior II (x5 w/ x5 reserve)

Some notable statistics:
238 DPS
485 m/s
15,576 ehp with 66/55/48/45 resists
-648 target cap per 12s cycle

I was so happy when CCP introduced small and medium rigs, as it allowed me to construct this monster without a guilty conscience. Though it may not have the impressive tank or nasty bite my other cruiser fits have, this Arbitrator sucks an amazing 648 cap per cycle out of anyone within 6.3 km, and 540 out of anyone within 12.6. Simply put, if they don't have a cap booster fit, they'll be in trouble fast, and even if they do, they'll still probably be in trouble. The longer the fight progresses, the more this boat shines.

Anything I can do to panic the guy I'm trying to melt is gold, and if he needs capacitor for anything, this ship will be a very nasty awakening.


Caldari
Most PvP veterans will tell you Caldari ships, except for ECM specialized ships are crap. I think that's complete rubbish. Though it is true that missiles are underpowered in PvP, and also true that shield tanks usually use up precious mid-slots normally reserved for tackle, like anything else in the EVE universe, there are always exceptions to any given rule. If you were paying attention to my previous fits and what they say about my play style, you've probably already guessed what my Caldari submission to the "all purpose uglies" list is: The Moa.

My Moa Fit:

[Lows]
Damage Control II
Magnetic Field Stabilizer II (x3)

[Mids]
Large Shield Extender II
10MN Afterburner II
Warp Scrambler II
Stasis Webifier II

[Highs]
Heavy Ion Blaster II, Caldari Navy Antimatter Charge M (x4)
Heavy Assault Missile Launcher II, Hellfire Rage Assault Missile (x2)

[Rigs]
Ancillary Current Router I
Core Defence Field Extender I (x2)

[Drones]
Hobgoblin II x3

Some notable statistics:
440 DPS
493 m/s
23,293 ehp 34/48/61/67 resists
Cap Stable

Though certainly not my favorite cruiser, I've taken down a few battle cruisers in one, and more than a few cruisers and frigates. Their strength comes from their penchant for being underestimated, and in the colossal amount of punishment they can actually dish out and take.

There you have it. There are other ships I’d love to add to the list, but CrazyKinux limited me to a total of four. Honorable mentions go to the Stabber, the Thorax, the Maller, and the BlackBird.

The opinions shared here are those of its author and not necessarily mine. /CrazyKinux

Ship Setups - Electronic Attack Ships: Hyena, Sentinel, & Kitsune, by Manasi

This is a guest post written by Manasi the Mule of A Mule in EVE.


Skills needs

These are frigates level 5 skills, so on your way to fly interceptors EAS is not a terrible skill to get. Also needed are electronic upgrades to level 5 as well. Aside from that, the skills needed are really for the modules you might fit on these little guys. With a limited number of slots you’re going to have to be careful with both power grid (in the future referred to a ‘grid’) and CPU. Note at the time of this writing I am not able to fly the Keres so it was not included

Slot Layout

• Hyena 3/4/3
• Sentinel 3/4/3
• Kitsune 2/5/3

The one thing to know about EAS (Electronic Attack Ships) is that they are very specialized at what they are intended to be good at. How useful that is to you can be debated…

• For the Sentinel, that is energy vampire and & energy neutralizing. They also tracking disrupt!
• For the Hyena, that is long range webbing and target painting, with some speed thrown in.
• For the Kitsune, they specialize in electronic counter measures. (Referred to as ‘jamming’)

Pro's

Sensor strength

Something to point out is all of these ships have good sensor strengths in this order:

1. Kitsune ~ Gravimetric strength 24… same as the Rokh and Scorpion
2. Sentinel ~ Radar Strength 21…. only 1 point less than the Abaddon
3. Hyena ~ Ladar Strength 21…..Same as the Maelstrom

So their sensor strength is on par with battleships even though they are only frigates.

Speed and Agility

Inertial modifiers and base speeds

• Hyena 340 m/s 2.75 inertial modifier
• Sentinel 324 m/s 2.97 Inertial modifier
• Kitsune 315 m/s and a 2.7 inertial modifier

The Hyena is fastest, but not by a terrible amount and ALL of these will align to warp incredibly quickly. All these ships are given the ability to ‘get out of dodge’ really quickly. They will warp within a second or two of each other, somewhere between 4.6 S for the Hyena, to 5.84 S on the Kitsune.

Benefits

The benefits that EAS ships can bring are numerous. The Kitsune is light and fast and can keep up with small fast fleets that need some ECM support. Realize you will be ‘primaried’ first in a Kitsune for a reason. If other ships cannot lock they will become angry at you. The Sentinel can help you eat up interceptors. Just watch out for the other jammers. The Hyena can help stop people for exiting a bubble with their longer range web.

Cons

Durability

These ships will not last long nor, if they are engaged, will they survive very long, the notable exceptions to this are: The Kitsune and the Sentinel. If the Kitsune can lock fast enough she may survive the fight. The Sentinel has a better chance as tracking disruptors can reduce the tracking speed of turret weapons, allowing you to escape, and sometimes the speed to lock as well.

Lack of weaponry

The primary attack of these ships is the electronic measures they provide to the fleet. These are not damage dealers or solo ships. The majority of their ‘grid’ and CPU is to get them in, do their job, and get out (speed). There is absolutely no ‘tank’ what so ever…if you are targeted first, bail out.

Use

These ships are good for specialized purposes. Let’s look at the Kitsune for example. It is a very fast locker (with a Sensor booster II and scan res script) and can be an effective anti-jammer role. Example: mixed fleet fighting in a system starts getting jammed by a falcon...Bring in the Kitsune and lock up the falcon…if you get the lock/jam first then your buddies are free to fire. Probably to most widely used EAS frigate in game. If the Kitsune is on the ‘field’ first they will be killed….immediately

The Sentinel is a different breed; she gets bonuses to neutralizing and draining cap. This ship is highly effective versus the interceptor class of ships. No capacitor, no MWD…no MWD the interceptor goes boom. This ship needs help in killing the interceptors and the Hyena’s (if fitted with painters) can help in that role. The tracking disruptors allow this ship to close in on anything except missile boats.

The Hyena is not seen very often. The webbing bonus is nice so I have seen them used in gate camps trying to stop folks leaving a bubble. They just die too fast and too easily. I have seen a few used in small fleets and gate camps to good use.

Builds

Kitsune

Slot	Module
LOW	'Hypnos' Signal Distortion Amplifier I
	'Hypnos' Signal Distortion Amplifier I
MID	1MN Afterburner II
	BZ-5 Neutralizing Spatial Destabilizer ECM
	Enfeebling Phase Inversion ECM I
	'Hypnos' Ion Field ECM I
	Sensor Booster II, Scan Resolution
HIGH	'Arbalest' Standard Missile Launcher, Caldari Navy Bloodclaw Light Missile
	'Arbalest' Standard Missile Launcher, Caldari Navy Bloodclaw Light Missile
	125mm Gatling AutoCannon II, Carbonized Lead S
RIGS	Small Signal Disruption Amplifier I
	Small Signal Disruption Amplifier I

Highlights:

• 10.76 Sensor strength
• 1.1 Second lock time on a Falcon hull
• 1010.13 M/s
• Cap stable

Sentinel

Slot	Module
LOW	Capacitor Power Relay II
	Inertia Stabilizers II
	Overdrive Injector System II
MID	Tracking Disruptor II, Tracking Speed Disruption
	Tracking Disruptor II, Tracking Speed Disruption
	Cap Recharger II
	1MN MicroWarpdrive II
HIGH	Small Nosferatu II
	Small Energy Neutralizer II
	Medium Pulse Laser II
RIGS	Small Egress Port Maximizer I
	Small Egress Port Maximizer I

Highlights:

• 3105.43 M/s
• Nos Range 19200
• Nuet range 18900
• CAP stable with max skills
• Lock time 1.8 Seconds on a Zealot

Hyena

Slot	Module
LOW	Power Diagnostic System II
	Overdrive Injector System II
	Inertia Stabilizers II
MID	Stasis Webifier II
	Stasis Webifier II
	Stasis Webifier II
	1MN MicroWarpdrive II
HIGH	280mm Howitzer Artillery II
	280mm Howitzer Artillery II
	Salvager I
RIGS	Small Auxiliary Thrusters I
	Small Projectile Ambit Extension I

Highlights:

• 3518.27 M/s
• 36.67 DPS EMP S 19K range
• Can web at 20 KM
• Locks interceptor at 2.99 Seconds
• Cap stable

Analysis

Looking at these three builds several things comes to mind:

• Each ship has something specialized that they are very good at. Wither you can USE that bonus depends on what you need the ship to do.
• Gate camp bring the hyena
• Anti-interceptor bring the Sentinel
• Anti- jammer bring the Kitsune

The sentinel can probably be used most offensively. Tracking disruption speed on those that target you plus your high velocity means guns won’t be able to track you well. Missile ships are your problem. 108 GJ of neutralizing per every 6 seconds will shut down an interceptor to be sure. So go after the interceptors neutralize them down and you and your friends eat them up. Your still very fragile though so don’t forget that speed is your defense.

The Kitsune is the most fragile and the slowest but using Bernoulli formula (thanks to Grismar’s EvE wiki for this)

C = J/S * 100%

C=10.76/28 * 100% or a 38% chance with a single Jammer to jam a falcon

Where J is the jamming strength of your jammer, S the sensor strength of the target ship and C the jamming chance in %. The chance to jam a target with multiple jammers is a simple deduction of Bernoulli's formula:

C = (1-(1-J/S)^n)*100%

c = (1-(1-10.76/28)^3 or 76.658 % with a full rack of BZ-5’s

This gives you a fairly decent chance to jam a falcon…you must remember you’re their #1 problem so you will be eliminated

Hyena of the three EAS I am familiar with this one may have been seen the most use probably at a gate camp setup. Yes a Rapier can do the job better, and you may survive better in it CAN be done. 20KM web means you can do a tight orbit around the gate and still be able to lock them down and web them. If you substitute a Warp Disruptor you might be able to do both ‘pointing and webbing’ roles in a small gang but remember you ARE very fragile.

The last word

The Kitsune, Sentinel, and Hyena, with the exception of the Kitsune, are underutilized. They are not terribly expensive, and they can do the job their bigger brothers can do with a bit more speed. Sadly many are not used, as they are quite fragile, most pilots do not wish to die a horrible death, without providing a good benefit to their friends. The Hyena, at gate camps can provide some effective webbing potential. The Sentinel can be used to break some really nasty shield tankers, and can be especially potent against interceptors... but missile fire can eliminate them. The Kitsune is a highly effective anti- falcon/anti rook ship, but tends to get ‘primaried’ and die very fast.

If you like these ships and their abilities combined with a bit more toughness look to the T2 cruisers: The Hyena is replaced with the Rapier, The Kitsune with the Falcon/Rook, and lastly the Sentinel is replaced with the Pilgrim. Bring your wallet with you as these ships are NOT cheap!

The opinions shared here are those of its author and not necessarily mine. /CrazyKinux

Ship Setups - The Stealth Bombers, by Hallan Turrek

This is a guest post by Hallan Turrek from A Merry Life and a Short One.

One of the four beasts said, Come and see.

Revelations - Chapter 6, Verse 1

Introduction

Welcome to the second installment of CrazyKinux's Ship Fitting series. Last week, Kirith Kodachi covered PvE fittings for Rifters and Breachers. This week I'd like to do the first of what will probably be many PvP fitting posts. I'll be covering Stealth Bombers.

Most people are unsure as to the role of stealth bombers in a gang. What you have is a highly mobile and cloaked piece of artillery, for better or worse. You can hit at range and hit hard. You can warp cloaked and sit in a safe cloaked. You decide when to engage and when not to engage. As long as you use it wisely, you will very rarely die.

Skills

What kind of skills do you need to start flying stealth bombers? I've made you a list:

Cybernetics I Instant Recall I Analytical Mind I Learning I Instant Recall II Analytical Mind II Learning II Instant Recall III Analytical Mind III Learning III Instant Recall IV Eidetic Memory I, II and III Analytical Mind IV Logic I, II and III Learning IV Logic IV Iron Will I, II, III and IV Spatial Awareness I, II, III and IV Empathy I and II Focus I, II, III and IV Clarity I, II, III and IV Electronics IV and V Electronic Warfare I and II Frequency Modulation I, II and III Electronic Warfare III Long Distance Jamming I, II and III Long Range Targeting I, II, III and IV Sensor Linking I, II, III and IV Signal Suppression I, II and III Target Painting I, II and III

Mechanic III Jury Rigging I, II and III Launcher Rigging I, II, III and IV Hull Upgrades I, II and III Acceleration Control I, II and III Evasive Maneuvering I, II and III Navigation IV Afterburner I, II, III and IV High Speed Maneuvering I, II and III Astrometrics I, II and III Astrometric Acquisition I, II and III Astrometrics IV Astrometric Pinpointing I, II and III Astrometric Rangefinding I, II and III Hull Upgrades IV Missile Launcher Operation I, II, III, IV and V Guided Missile Precision I, II, III and IV Standard Missiles I Weapon Upgrades I, II, III and IV Standard Missiles II and III Heavy Missiles I, II and III Torpedoes I, II, III and IV Missile Bombardment I, II, III and IV Missile Projection I, II, III and IV Rapid Launch I, II, III and IV Target Navigation Prediction I, II, III and IV Warhead Upgrades I, II, III and IV Racial Frigate I, II, III, IV and V Electronics Upgrades I, II, III, IV and V Covert Ops I, II, III and IV

These are not a ships for the faint of heart. That's about 90 days of training if you're starting with a new character. Everything on there is worth it though.

Ships

Next up is the list of Stealth Bombers. Now I fly all of them, but you'll likely be training up for just one. I fit mine all with the same concept in mind. Range, not damage. You will see no bomb launchers. You will see a damage control. You will see an offline expanded probe launcher. You will see a missile range of 73.7 kilometers. The lowest targeting range is 72 kilometers. The DPS is identical for each build.

Pick the one you'll be flying out of the list, and we'll start talking about why I fit it that way below.

_______________________________________________________________

The Purifier

And I saw, and behold a white horse: and he that sat on him had a bow; and a crown was given unto him: and he went forth conquering, and to conquer.
Revelations - Chapter 6, Verse 2

The Amarr Purifier has the lowest targeting range of any of the bombers you can use with my builds. It actually starts out with better range than the Hound, but given the small difference between it's targeting range(72) and it's missile range(73.6), I chose to not worry about it. Because of it's EM damage bonus, this is an especially effective Bomber against Ravens, Drakes, Falcons and Rooks. If it shield tanks, it's likely to have an EM hole, and no matter how well they plug it, it's probably going to be the lowest resist. This is especially useful when going after ratters in places that deal Explosive and Kinetic damage. Be sure to load Mjolnir Torpedos!

_______________________________________________________________

The Nemesis

And there went out another horse that was red: and power was given to him that sat thereon to take peace from the earth, and that they should kill one another: and there was given unto him a great sword.
Revelations - Chapter 6, Verse 4

The Gallente Nemesis is a ship I have not gotten much use out of. I prefer the Manticore for multi-purpose damage, but the Nemesis is a solid choice. Thermal is usually a better choice for when you're unsure of what you're going to face than Kinetic, Explosive, or EM. This will still give shield tankers a rough time, but not nearly as much as the Purifier. It will probably do at least decent damage to armor tankers as well. For the build I've given you, the sensor booster can be switched for another target painter if that's your preference. I prefer to lock faster if I can. Be sure to load Inferno Torpedos!

_______________________________________________________________

The Hound

And I beheld, and lo a black horse; and he that sat on him had a pair of balances in his hand.
Revelations - Chapter 6, Verse 5

This one's only kinda tricky to fit for range, eventually I settled on a tech 1 signal amp in the lows. The Minmatar Hound is pretty fast for a bomber, but that makes it pretty damn slow for a frigate. It gets a lowered targeting range in exchange for it's increase in speed. The signal amp kicks the targeting range over the needed threshold and then some. Any armor tanking ships that you run into should have a bit of trouble taking damage from this sucker. Especially if they're armor tanking NPC's that shoot EM and Thermal. Be aware of your situation. You can take that Signal Amp out if you decide to fit for damage instead of range, but not much else will fit in there. Due to CPU being tight, this uses a named MWD. Be sure to load Bane Torpedos!

_______________________________________________________________

The Manticore

And I looked, and behold a pale horse: and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him.
Revelations - Chapter 6, Verse 8

Finally the Caldari Manticore. It has more targeting range and CPU than you'll have any use for, but I find that extra wiggle room to be useful. Once again I opted for a sensor booster for faster locking, you may switch that for a painter or a damp on this ship because of it's excess of CPU. If you're trying to decide which bomber to use, this is probably your best choice. It's damage is multi-purpose and it comes with a few built in advantages Just be sure to load Juggernaut Torpedos!

The Equipment

Some of the items are optional. One could switch out that damage control, switch a few other things around and cram an extra ballistic control on any of those ships if they so wished. You can switch out the range rigs for damage rigs. You could go all painters on some of them or all damps on others.

One of the reason I chose to use range increasing rigs is that it increases my survivability. I have ample time to run away from anything chasing me. I'm near the edge of point range for even the longest range overloaded points. I'm outside immediate targeting range of most of my targets, and those that can get me targeted get a face full of range dampening. If no one's targeting me... I can cloak at will.

The sacrifice is DPS. Compared against a similar ship rigged for damage you won't get top DPS, but you'll survive the battle every time if you play it smart.

Some smart EFTer will look at those builds and note that you can get slightly increased range from mixing a flight time rig with missile speed rig. I prefer missile speed rigs because it increases the range of my torps while still allowing mine to hit at the exact same time as the bomber that shoots at 54 kilometers.

The damage control is a personal fitting requirement. Your choices may vary, but I've gotten good things out of it. It's saved my bacon a couple of times and it will for many more encounters.

Why a range damp? With this setup it is absolutely a must. The benefits of using one range damp at normal bomber range is minimal, but at this range you'll be able to remove a threat.

Why a painter? Easy enough, a painter increases the signature radius for the ship you're shooting it at. Torps were meant originally for Battleships to use, and as such do horrible damage to smaller ships. Stealth Bombers get a bonus to make them do a bit more damage to smaller ships, but you'll still run into some problems. Using a painter works wonders in increasing your damage.

Why a microwarp drive? If I kick that on and get hit by missiles I'm toast, right? Yeah you will, so don't do that. If someone shoots a bomb, or lets missiles of any kind fly at you, just move. Fly in a direction, preferably aligned to a planet. Do not activate that MWD. On the other hand, if you've warped to a gate at 70 kilometers expecting a fight, but the guy jumps through and your fleet is in pursuit, it's easier to just burn hard to the gate and go through(and once through, easy to burn away from the target). It's easier to set up your safe spots off gates. The MWD should almost never be used in combat unless you've landed way to close to something and it's decloaked you.

Why best named torp launchers instead of tech two? Skill requirements to start with. Also fitting requirements. You'll note that tech two torp launchers take alot more CPU than the Arbs. Unless you're flying a Manticore, they're almost not even an option. Just remember: if you have to drop a Ballistic Control Unit to fit tech two launchers, it might not even be worth it. The DPS of the faction torps is very nice.

Why not best named sensor damps and painters? Cost. You gotta keep your costs down. You will lose this ship sometimes. It's best to understand that now. I've lost it to a smartbombing gatecamp and warping down on a friendly bubble while a battle was already engaged. It stung. Lower costs whenever possible. The next best named modules are literally almost as good. Use them instead and save ten million.

Why an offline expanded probe launcher? This was not something on my original fit. I used a core probe launcher for a bit, then switched to a small armor rep for 0.0 work. It came to me that sometimes we needed a combat prober. If you're doing 0.0 work, you want an out, and core probes will find you a wormhole eventually. That makes you a mobile resupply point. Find a WH to highsec and let your corpmates know. You'll have to offline a lot of stuff to get it working, but once it's online probing a logoffski is a snap. Your gang will love you when you just happen to have this at the right time.

Strategies

Remember, a bomber can warp cloaked. There is no reason not to cloak as you align to warp from gate to gate. Just hit warp, then cloak as soon as gate cloak dissapears. You can do cloaked scouting easily as well. Just be wary of bubbled gates in 0.0.

When in combat, I prefer to orbit my target at 65 kilometers, adjusting as necessary. If you start way inside or way outside of where you want to be, uncloak and microwarp drive to where you want to be. Make sure to turn it off when you're done. Also be sure to activate your modules on the target(assuming he doesn't have inactive drones around him). Even if he has drones, once you're out to your max range, you'll be outside of his drone control range. Just be careful, there are rigs and modules that increase that drone control range. You still ought to be able to warp out before they kill you. Just be watching.

Use your modules properly. If you're primarying a Myrm that just won't die, and a Raven lands on grid with intent to violence your boat, do yourself a favor: take the range dampener off the Myrm and put it on the Raven. Have operational awareness.

Heavy Assault Cruisers are something you must watch for. A zealot will mess your day up instantly if he's fit for range. Get him damped, if there is more than one, rethink decloaking. Any HAC set up for range can murder you very quickly.

Make sure to load some other damage types into your holds. It's fine to carry mostly what you're bonused for, but sometimes you'll hit some serious resistance problems. Just watch that damage.

I suggest you have fun in the ship as well, cause if you aren't it's a waste of time.

Conclusion

Did you actually get this far? Alright, thanks for reading. Thanks to CK for thinking up this crazy idea. If you find it useful, make sure to let me know.

Peace.

The opinions shared here are those of its author and not necessarily mine. /CrazyKinux

Ship Setups - The Minmatar Breacher & Rifter, by Kirith Kodachi

This is a guest post by Kirith Kodachi from Inner Sanctum of the Ninveah. You can follow him @kirithkodachi.

Minmatar ships tend to be odd birds. Besides the use of projectile weaponry, they tend to be all over the map in terms of other major systems. Some make use of missiles, others add in drones. Some are natural armour tankers, others better with shields, and some can go either way depending on the setup.

The downside of this is that you need a lot of varied skills trained well in order to handle the Minmatar lineup; the upside is that once you have those skills you have access to a flexible and powerful fleet.

I'm going to look at two Tech 1 Minmatar Frigates, the Rifter and the Breacher, and discuss some basic setups.

The Breacher

Often overlooked, the Breacher is one of the few Minmatar ships dedicated to missiles and as such can be thought of as a Minmatar version of the Caldari Kestrel. While it only has four missile launcher hardpoints, it is a lot faster with smaller signature radius and higher scan resolution for faster locking. Taking advantage of those strengths is easy.


Lows
Ballistic Control System II
Overdrive Injector System II

Mids
1MN Afterburner II
Small Shield Extender II

Highs
3 x Standard Missile Launcher II

This fast little ship can harry opponents up to 40 km away and fly over 1100 m/s without overheating and without the huge signature increase from a MWD. Not a bad setup for level 1 mission running should you want to avoid getting too close to the NPCs.

It takes a lot of practice to balance the capacitor using modules and make sure you don't run dry at the wrong moment, but once that skill is mastered you can take on a lot of ship types and be confident of coming out on top. The numerous named modules is to save on CPU.

The Rifter

The Rifter is actually decent at level 1 missions and frigate belt ratting as well. While the armour tank will work adequately in that scenario, the Rifter is one of those ships that can choose to shield tank in a pinch.

Lows

2 x Gyrostabilizer II
Overdrive Injector System II

Mids

Small Shield Booster II
1MN Afterburner II
Small Capacitor Booster II, Cap Booster 200

Highs

3 x 200mm AutoCannon II
Rocket Launcher II

You're going over 1200 m/s and the shield booster can keep you alive in those situations where you bit off more than you can chew. Your DPS is surprising with the Gyrostabilizers and big 200mm calibre weapons. Fly in, orbit tight, kill target, hit the next one. If things get too hot, boot it out of there with your afterburner and shield booster blazing.

Now, there is a world of options between the first and second setups. Passive armour tanks, bigger guns, energy neutralizers, afterburner versus MWD, the list is damn near endless. Hence why the Rifter is well liked by pod pilots.

The opinions shared here are those of its author and not necessarily mine. /CrazyKinux

Ship Setups - The Series

If there's one aspect of EVE Online that many players enjoy, it is playing around with the various ship modules to come up with the best ship setup (or loadout as it's also known) for a particular task. Whether mining, hauling, PvP or PvE combat every ship of every race has the potential to play vital roles as long as it has the right set of modules.

In effort to share the wealth of knowledge that the EVE Blogging Community has acquired, I've decided to start a new series of posts: Ship Setups. These posts will all be guest posts written by other bloggers, some part of the EVE Blog Pack, some not. The idea is to provide a friendly platform for discussion, where bloggers and readers can share their insight on the Art & Science of ship fittings.

I'll be using this post to list all future Ship Setup posts - by race and class. So be prepared to test out a few new setups, or to challenge the authors.

1. Breacher and Rifter (Frigates) by Kirith Kodachi
2. The Stealth Bombers, by Hallan Turrek
3. Electronic Attack Ships: Hyena, Sentinel, & Kitsune, by Manasi
4. Cruisers: All Purpose Uglies - Vexor, Rupture, Arbitrator & Moa, by the Gaming Griefer
5. A Mission Running Dominix, by Shinzann
6. Blockade Runners, by Casiella Truza

Many more to come!

Thought I'd add the ship setups I've written in the past as well to have everything in one spot!

1. Vexor set-up for both Solo and Gang PVP
2. Myrmidon Ship Setup
3. A Vexor set-up for security missions
4. A Daredevil set-up for agent missions

The Elistist: <-- NEW

• Good Ship Fittings
• Experimental Fittings

[Latest Update: March 9th, 2010]

EVE Online Speedlinking for Saturday August 22nd, 2009

Well what a week this was for EVE Online! And we're still weeks away from the October Fanfest! That promises well then, doesn't it! Let's get to it then shall we.

EVE Blogosphere

• Eve Tweeters « Yarrbear Tales - Important EVE capsuleers using Twitter
• Space Captain Starke and the Tribal Liberation Force | EVE-Mag.com
• Nashh Kadavrs EVE Blog: Celebrity Death Match #5 Kirith Kodachi
• So I thought last weekend was busy - Advice on fleet movement
• Bookmarks Mark II ~ Inner Sanctum of the Ninveah
• Review – Crow ›› EVE's Weekend Warrior
• Live Blogging the QEN - Q2 2009 ~ Inner Sanctum of the Ninveah
• The Most Dangerous Game | EVE-Mag.com
• EVE Player Blogs OPML Download updated | The Wandering Druid of Tranquility
• Howto: know if someone tries to scan you down - Aeon's EVE
• Sweet Little Bad Girl: Another milestone - Congrats!
• Punishment: Things are about to get interesting
• EVE - Wotlankor:
• Prelude to battle
• There and Back Again
• Letrange's EvE Blog: Pilot Attitude
• Level Cap: How to Get More People Playing Eve
• The Industry & Community react to CCP's DUST 514
• The EVE Blog Pack Expansion - This is your chance!
• Blog Pack Open For Submissions ~ Inner Sanctum of the Ninveah
• Getting onto the Blogpack « A Misguided Adventurer

Massively

• Fan-run EVE contest will let winner interview CCP dev on podcast
• EVE Evolved: Wormhole piracy 101 - Massively

CCP Devs

• Audio in EVE Online
• Unholy Rage
• Production, Production, Production - We want more production ....
• Quarterly Economic Newsletter for Q2 of 2009
• Patch Notes for Apocrypha 1.5

District 9 Reviews

• 9 Things Parents Should Know About District 9
• Review: Gritty Lead Performance Drives District 9’s Alien Vérité
• Level Cap: District 9 Mecha Madness
• Why District 9 is like a videogame, and why it says more about apartheid than you think (Spoilers)

Gaming & Miscellaneous

• Rock, Paper, Shotgun:
• Things Of Mass Effect 2
• RPS Asks: Do You Build Your Own PC?
• Nothing To Do With Air Benders: Avatar
• 7 Good Reasons to Switch to Windows 7
• 7 Reasons to Avoid Windows 7

Lots to read as you can see! Enjoy.

EVE Online Speedlinking for Saturday August 15th, 2009

It's been a while since I last did one of these. Speedlinking posts take a lot of time to put together and as we're currently expecting a second MiniCK in the next few weeks, most of my free time over the past few months has been spent taking care of the two current ladies in my life, leaving little time for long gaming session or the research needed to put together these Speedlinking posts.

A change in my methodology was needed if I wanted to start doing these posts on a regular basis again. Having gone through several tweaks, I think I've nailed it down to an art form, which should result in having this feature on a weekly schedule again. Anyways that's the idea! So here goes...

EVE Blogosphere

• EVE Player Blogs OPML Download updated - Ga'len updates the blog list, removing deadlinks and adding a few new ones. I've actually got a list of over40 blogs that I need to add. I plan to do this some time in the next few days!
• Tengu Ship Setup - Part I and Part II - The ever knowledgeable Kirith explores the innards of the Caldari Strategic Cruiser "Tengu"
• Review: EVE Strategic Maps, Edition 3 over at Inanity and Doom
• Some sweet looking screenshots over at EVE Online Postcards - Rookie ship - Ferox
• Nashh Kadavr is onto something interesting with his Celebrety Death matches
• Celebrity Death Match #1 Shae Tiann
• Celebrity Death Match #2 Wensley
• Celebrity Death Match #3 Mynxee
• Some EVE Players have great artistic talent and interesting sens of humour. Giant Ideas is one such fellow. Notice this poster ad about staying quiet in local!
• Mynxee, the now EON-published-head-of-the-Hellcats, recently published a guide to EVE Online Holdem, for those not willing to wait for Walking-in-Station to play their hand.
• Repeating the same mistake: Why EVE’s skill system is the way to go - Syncaine digs into the advantages of a skill system such as EVE's. Join the already voluminous discussion and see as well Kirith's take on the subject!

Massively

• In his article "The fight against RMT in EVE Online", James Egan dwelves into the hotbed that is Real Money Trades.
• See "Video interview focuses on emergent gameplay in EVE Online" for a great video interview of Nathan "Oveur" Richardsson over at Gamereactor (in Swedish).

From CCP Games

• "The Precious Tableau" - A new EVE chronicle
• "The Second Coming of Moondoggie" - A better in-game browser anyone?
• "The Way of the Plex" CCP Grimli on Plexes, ETC and ISKs

Last not but least I want to remind you of the current contest I've got organized with CCP where you'll have a chance to interview a CCP Dev during one of my podcasts! Make sure to submit your entry before next Wednesday! Read about it on my blog, on the EVE Online site, and discuss it on the EVE Forums.

As always, Fly Safe!

Vexor set-up for both Solo and Gang PVP

The Gallente Vexor has got to be my favourites cruiser, if not ship period! There's something about the look of the ship, it's armour tanking abilities, or the fact that it it can carry a good stack of drones with its 100m3 drone bay. And so I'm always looking for a good ship set-up, playing around with various configurations. I can't tell you how much time I've spent docked at a station, putting and pulling ship modules, then undocking and testing theses set-ups. Its' a good part of the fun of EVE.

So I was quite pleased to see and article in the latest issue of EON (issue #10) on the subject of PVP Cruisers set-up. The thorough article written by Sivona, explores the PVP configurations for a number of Tech I cruisers, in both Solo and Gang iterations. The cruisers listed in the article are the Caldari Caracal and Blackbird, the Amarr Arbitrator and Maller, the Gallente Vexor and Thorax, and finally the Minmatar Stabber and Rupture. Here below is the Solo PVP set-up for the Vexor proposed by Sivona:

• 4 x Light Neutron Blaster
• 1 x Medium Diminishing Power System Drain I
• 1 x 10MN Microwarpdrive
• 1 x Warp Disruptor II
• 1 x Stasis Webifier II
• 1 x 800mm Reinforced Rolled Tungsten Plate I
• 1 x Energized Adaptive Nano Membrane II
• 1 x Damage Control II
• 1 x Medium Armour Repairer II
• 5 x Hammerhead II
• 5 x Warrior II

I haven't tried it myself, as I mostly get involved in NPC combat running missions (in order to increase our standing with various NPC corps - more on that later), but I'm interested in testing it out. If you're interested in other ship set-ups then see all the ones I've ever listed here. If you want to read the whole article by Sivona, then either order that issue, or even better, subscribe to EON and enjoy the best MMO magazine ever created! And for those who'd want to get the complete collection of issues, you can even order back issues. These Brits are bright little poodles! =)

Definitions (courtesy of Grismar's EVE Wiki)

• PVP: Player versus player
• Armour Tanking: A ship outfitted to boost armour resistance and regeneration
  
  

Caldari Wyvern reviewed on EVE TV

Any episode of EVE TV, and ship review. This time it's the mighty Caldari mothership, the Wyvern. I really love EVE TV's new format and the splitting of the show into it's various parts. Makes it easy to jump to your points of interests.

Wyvern (Episode 18)

Image courtesy of the EVE Online Player Ship Gallery.

EVE Ship reviews on EVE TV

I missed the last two EVE TV broadcasts and only watch them earlier this week. As many viewers, I was happy to see the move to the free format. I don't mind the commercial, and must say that the cast and crew are getting better with every show.

One of the reports I always look forward to is the ship review. And since EVE TV now splits the shows into its various parts, each ship review can be accessed directly. Here listed below are the links to the last 4 ship reviews.

Amarr
Abaddon (Episode 16)

Image courtesy of CCP.

Caldari
Eagle (Episode 14)

Image courtesy of the EVE Online Player Ship Gallery.

Gallente
Eris (Episode 15)

Image courtesy of the EVE Online Player Ship Gallery.

Minmatar
Wolf (Episode 17)

Image courtesy of MotherMoon.

I plan to link new reviews as each new EVE TV Episode is released. Enjoy the clips!

Still looking for a good PvP setup for my Myrmidon

The saga continues. After recently posting about the tribulations (1) (2) of my PvP experimentation, fellow EVE Online player Arrghs was kind enough to suggest the following PvP setup after chatting with him in a private channel.

HIGH SLOT: 3 Nos, 3 Electron IIs
MED SLOT: AB/Web/Scram/Electrochem injector
LOW SLOT: 2 Medium Reps, therm/kin/exp hard, Damage control

Though I haven't really tried the setup yet, something tells me that this one should work a bit better, especially since this time, I'm getting all Tech II weapons and gear. I'm currently in the process of gathering the right modules, and also training accordingly to meet all these new requirements. Add to that the new tactics that I'm learning (like not to fly solo in low sec), and I should have an easier time during my next encounter.

It'll most likely take a week or two to get where I need to be in order to able able to fly such a set. Once I've got the complete setup, I'll let you all know.

PVP Myrmidon setup

So after an evening of hard work, here below, is the PvP Myrmidon setup that we put together last night.

Here is the list of modules from the Highs to the Lows:

• High Slots
• 4x Heavy Electron Blaster I
• 1x E5 Prototype Energy Vampire
• 1x Drone Link Augmentor I
• Medium Slots
• 1x Sensor Booster II
• 1x 10mn Afterburner
• 1x Warp Disruptor I
• 1x Patterned Stasis Web I
• 1x Medium F-RX Prototype I Capacitor Booster
• Low Slots
• 2x Medium Armor Repairer
• 1x 1600mm Reinforced Rolled Tungsten Plates I
• 1x N-Type Kinetic Hardener I
• 1x N-Type Explosive Hardener I
• 1x Armor Thermic Hardener I

So this is the setup with which I left Khanid Prime earlier this evening, on my way to defend FIX properties in 49-U6U. That was 15 jumps away. Right after I completed my fourteenth jump, 6 pilots jumped with me in 5V-BJI. Unfortunately, even the best PvP setups can't help you when the odds are stacked up 6-to-1. Let's just say I never made to 49-U6U! I'll post the evemail (or killmail as it's called) in the comments section. The one thing that I'm proud of, id the length of time I lasted, even with six ships pounding me!

After waking up in Badivefi, I can say that I've learned my first lesson on PvPing: never travel alone in low sec. Guess I learned that the hard way. But do not despair, I plan on getting funds from the corp, getting a new Myrmidon, and setting her up with the same setup. This time though, I'll try using my brains a little bit more!

The Carebear that dreamed of going pew pew!

I've been playing EVE for over 4 years now, and have mostly been what is commonly known as a carebear within the EVE community. That is, a player that either does PvE, mines, manufactures, trades, or any combination of the previous, as opposed to PvP.

I've always wanted to go after the rats that have destroyed my ships, looted my cargo, or ruthlessly podded me. The funny thing is that though I've always acted like a carebear, I've trained like a PVPer. Case in point, of my 32 million skill points, 8 million are in Gunnery, almost 7 million in Drones, and 2,5 million in Missile Launcher Ops. That's almost half my skill points in combat. Talk about a harmless carebear! Not!!

So tonight, I've spent all my time in a hangar in Badivefi, chatting away with two professional PvPers, Alexis Aristide and Sine Tamar, going over a PVP Myrmidon setup. I can't wait to take her out and let it rip on some poor unsuspecting pirate - and I'm not talking the NPC kind.

I'll let you know about the setup we came up with and tell you how I did in my first PvP engagement where I wasn't the victim!

Fly safely all - there goes the carebear in me!

Customized ship exterior to be added to EVE

In a startling development, CCP has just announced that in a yet to be announced patch, a feature that will let users customize the exterior of their ships will be added to the game. Basically, we're talking about custom paint jobs for ships here folks! Take a look at this following Kestrel in all its beauty!

(Original link to image is here)

Ok, so this isn't exactly true. But you've got to admit this is one feature that a lot of you, including yours truly, would love to have added to the game. Maybe not to the extant of the ship above, but you get my point. I mean corp and alliance logos on ships would be a good start, then maybe color schemes. All of these could be done within certain boundaries or color pallets for each race.

Now, I'm no hardware-bandwidth-tech-whatchamacalit-guy, but I figure that one of the reasons this hasn't been implemented yet has to do with the quantity of new data that would need to be networked if every ship flying nearby would have one of those custom paint jobs. Still, I look forward to the day when the hardware/network/client can handle this and we can start to customize our ships. Until then, we can only dream of Hello Kitty Krestels.

A Vexor set-up for security missions

As most you know, I've been running a lot of missions these past few weeks, both for fun (isn't that the purpose of gaming) and also as per our corporate directives to increase our standings with the Khanid.

There are quite a few ships which I'm skilled enough to pilot, but I always tend to come back to my good old Vexor. I've gone through a few of them now having lost some to missions where the darn NPC pirates had the upper hand, or (usually) through unwanted PVP. But you learn and adapt (or die). Which is a great part of the fun I find in EVE.

I don't know how many hours I've spent with my ships in stations, reading through the EVE Forums, chatting with corp mates, trying different set-ups. Some poor, some fun. In some cases I'll go for speed and maneuverability, in others for a good tanking. Don't know what tanking is? You've tanked your ship when she's able to take a beating for a long time before Armor and Structure go. So you usually load up on Armor, Shield and Hull, and hardeners (Shield or Armor).



I've recently come up with a set-up (see above) for my Vexor which seems to be working very well for my current level 3 missions. I send out my Hammerhead II drones off to a target and stay at a range of about 22 km shouting down the rats. I can take a lot of beating before my shields go down (if I recall correctly they're at 3200 points! Yes that's on a Vexor!). If any rats get close, I'll shoot them down with the Dual 180mm Gallium Machine Guns, once they get with a good range (about 8500m).

Here's my current Vexor set-up:
High slots
2x 720mm Howitzer Artillery I
2x Dual 180mm Gallium Machine Gun
1x Micro 'Notos' Explosive Charge I

Medium slots
1x Medium Shield Extender I
1x Large F-S9 Regolith Shield Induction
1x Shield Boost Amplifier I

Low slots
2x Type-D Power Core Modification: Reaction Control
1x Reactor Control Unit I
1x 800mm Reinforced Steel Plates I

Drones
5x Hammerheads II

Now, eventually, I'd like to come up with the right set-up for PVP, though I'm far from ready for that. Having recently joined the Phalanx Division within PPL's Military Division, I'll get there pretty soon (more on that later).

Finally, here's a screenshot of a recent mission. Lots of action eh!