Pewed right in the face!(again)

We like to eat CSAA

Shortly after we all made it into Provi, let's say about a week and a half, give or take, PL decided to come a-knocking.  While USUALLY we can be counted on to fight just about anything, especially the stupider the odds, engaging in TCU/CSAA fights just aren't our bag baby!

When our friends in Asset Liberation called for our help in defending a POS with said CSAA's we had a chance to chow up but mostly it all just ended up in failure.  Call us out of practice, or blame the evil lag monster, the POS wasn't long for this world.  During the crushing of the CSAA located in KPB, we had some rather bad blows against us, as Alpha and passwords lent PL some easy kills.

In any case, with  that part over leadership made the decision to head back to Syndicate and our old system of TXW.... "soon."  For now we just moved everything out of KPB and have started staging for the move back.  In the meantime all our trouble makers are setting out to go find some of their own trouble!  I immediately headed for Ivar where I had been setting up a place to Ninja-kill missioners and otherwise harass people.

I had specially outfit a Navy Issue Omen to be my go-to people killer after they aggressed me because I needed to find SOMETHING to use that bloody ship for!  Not too long into my playstint this sunday I tracked down a Vargur just finishing a deadspace mission.  I popped in to say hello there in my salvage fit vigil.  First I salvaged a large wreck and then stole a little lootzies to see if I could get a bite.  Yellow box.... and bam, into structure!  Holy crap, praying for a fast align I headed back to the station, making it out in 56% structure in one shot, close one!

I jumped into my ONI, heading back to the Vargur hoping they were still there.  Indeed they were but a painful 35km from my warp in point...  I pushed the AB up to full speed and started taking a near-immediate pounding.  Let's just say the ONI wasn't up to the task but at least it made it out alive, no embarrassing ship loss to post on the alliance kill boards.

I endured the laughter of my target in local, wishing I had brought that Abaddon down from Rens already, having it already fit and ready to go, but I had left it behind shipping other ninja essentials instead.  Oh well.

I logged for a bit and by the time I came back there was no more bear activity in my chosen system, leaving me bored and itching for a fight.  I was just three jumps from Rens and a further 3 from Amamake, a piratey plan formed in my head.  Suicide time!

Well, ok, that's what I call flying into the top belt of Amamake.  I fit a Rifter of the 400mm plate version in Rens quick, insuring it and leaving off the rigs.  Flew straight down to Ama, and on the jump in I barely avoided being squished by the resident's gatecamp.

I warped into the top belt expecting some action but found none, not even after minutes of loitering.  Top belt dissapoints again!

10 minutes of warping around looking for targets revealed a xxxxxXXXXXDeathXXXXXXxxxxxx rifter moving between the belts.  I waited for him in the top belt, about 100-150km off the warp in, Close enough for my AB Rifter to close quickly but far enough away that help warping into the other rifter wouldn't be close enough to matter for a bit.

So the Rifter landed shortly after that and pretty much from the start my plan went downhill.  I zoomed in, noting his 2k+ speed and pegged him for a MWD user.  My web and J5b warp scrambler would take care of that.  As soon as I got into range I knew he was bait and my hunch was correct as a Arazu and Cane landed at the warp in, some 70-80 km from me and this other rifter.

Now the smart thing to do would have been to scramble the other rifter, push range on him, and spank the warp out button, before the Razu and cane closed enough distance to kill me, but who said this was a smart fight?  I wanted to kill that Rifter, so I kept to my fight, eating through his shields and armor as the Cane drew inside range, pelting me with 425mm rounds from about 40-50km eating up my shields and parts of my armor with near hits.  The Arazu landed points on me just as the hostile Rifter popped, and despite my attempts to escape, I was shortly dispatched, my pod speeding free of the encounter.

Hey at least I was able to kill a fully t1 fit rifter before I died!  Anyways, back to Rens and a 15 minute timer later I was back into the area with another Rifter.  Now sadly all the fight seemed to be gone from the system and short of two faction warfare blobs declining to engage each other in the nearby system of Auga there was nothing going on.

I parked my Rifter nearby and intend to re-visit shortly.  That is if I can log in at all this week!

The Art of the Rifter (Art of, Part 1)

In Eve there are few ships classes that are as difficult to fly and as unforgiving as almost all of the  t1 Frigates.  Even "bitter vets" remember flying them with a smile, squeezing on your first good fit just to have it blown out from under you.  No matter your skill level the desire to fly them remains to some extent.  See if you can finally fit that bigger gun, or bigger tank.  Try to work out a way that rockets could be effective...  but I digress.

There are also few ships as well known as the infamous t1 Rifter.

Favorite of pirates, nullsec tackle, pirate hunters and Minmatar specialists alike.  The Rifter is the first of a long line of truly flexible Minmatar ships.  The ship can inspire fear and awe if fit properly or laughter if fit improperly.  It also highlights where SP and pilot skill meet to turn a otherwise serviceable ship into a great one.

If you haven't taken the time to read the guides availible on this workhorse frigate I suggest you take a look at the following.

Eve Online Rifter Wiki (taken from Wensley's Rifter Guide.)

These two guides delve deep into the depths of what flying a Rifter is all about.  Even the linked items at the bottom add volumes.

< Here we have what is largely my Rifter fit... at least one of them.  I don't like fitting anything above a X5 web on a ship this fragile but that's no reason why you shouldn't!  The important thing to note here are the Rigs and Faction Ammo.

Rigs add 22 DPS, enough to turn a fight in your favor.  Since they are so cheap now, each one being little more than the cost of the Rifter, the increase in performance they provide makes them a worthy expense every time.

Always bring more than one type of ammo.  On the other hand, refrain from changing ammo types during combat unless absolutely needed.  I recommend carrying faction EMP, Fusion, PP, and Titanium Sabot, as well as the T2 ammo Barrage.  EMP is great against those pesky shield tanking ships, while Fusion can work similarly well against armor tanked ships up close.  Phased plasma aka PP is great for needling Amarr t2 frigates since their lowest resist will be Thermal.  Barrage really should be your base ammo fit and flown with, only swapping to others when you know they will be needed.  Barrage allows you to strike at range, deep in your falloff at around 6-9km and still leave you with some level of being able to get out if things go poorly and orbit at a speed that makes tracking you a pain.

So why do I say refrain from changing ammo during combat?  It takes 10 seconds to reload your guns.  You have to be hitting for very very little damage for the new ammo type to make a viable change.  Enough of a change that you will be able to make up for your lost 10 seconds of damage.  In a cruiser or above this becomes less and less critical solo as you have enough time to make a change without it significantly changing the battle.  When you are in a frigate, that 10 seconds can be more than enough time to die.

To cover my other fitting modifications, In my high slots I fit a NOS instead of the usual Rocket launcher.  I like being able to sustain my tackle as well as stealing the energy required to run the small rep, even under medium and heavy neut cycles.  At times having cap can be the difference between winning and losing, or winning and letting the target warp out.  Now keep in mind that this is an AB setup, not a MWD fit.  It should be useful mostly for roaming lowsec looking for your first hundred kills, and not as fleet tackle or an interceptor replacement, unless you are in a wolfpack of similar ships and they are close by.

Advanced piloting tips. . . manual piloting, when done right, can save you a lot of ships, but getting to that point will be painful.  In the end, understanding how to engage and what to expect from you ship comes from losing more than a few.  Get used to double-clicking in space, and finding ways to twist your ship into the orbit you want vs the one the computer figures out.  Sometimes orbits can be the direct opposite way you are currently heading when you use the orbit button, so where before you were safely flying along at 1km+/- a sec, now suddenly you are down at 100m/s and a big fat target for those lazy gunners.  Usually ending badly.

The Rifter's utility as a training platform and ship is only paralleled by it's lethality.  I just love the look of the guns bristling off the sleek hull, and the Wolf and Jag take this look to a whole new level, but that is the subject for another pair of posts.