From the hundreds (thousands?) of fights I've had with solo frigates, there's one factor I've found to be extremely important in deciding whether or not you get blobbed, or get a chance to escape before they land. That's DPS Output.
For example, when you compare flying the Taranis with the Claw, the Taranis does significantly more DPS and spends less time one the field exposed to being blobbed and ganked.
It's very common that you will warp out right as the enemy fleets frigates are landing on top of you and it's your DPS Output that decides how fast you kill your target.
In the case of a taking on multiple targets DPS can also mean killing more targets before you die.
Often times fits try to balance DPS and Tank and end up with sub par stats in both.
For example, the Cyclone has an AWESOME Shield Boosting Tank, but it's DPS is only around 500 and that's with good skills. This lends it's self to killing Cruisers or taking on slowly evolving fights where people trickle in and you have time to chew through your targets.
Don't get me wrong, I love the Cyclone, it's cheap and when you get a good fight with it, it's incredibly fun.
But lately I've wanted to play with some fits that were more focused on GANK which is high DPS output. A fit that puts Firepower first and Tank second.
The idea here is to find a target, sit on top of him, and breath nuclear fire on him.
Make your opponent die so fast he panics and his piloting suffers.
To make that happen I chose the Brutix which is known for High DPS Output and a decent active Armor Tank.
Many of you may gasp and say "You're fitting against the bonuses of the Brutix!" or "The Brutix is supposed to be Armor Fit."
I know, I know, and you know what? That makes me like this fit even more. I've always been a proponent of Tricky Fits and Misdirection in PVP.
The reason for this is because so many fights in EVE workout to be a sort of predetermined Math Equation. People have a set of rules that they use to decide if they can take a fight, bait long enough for help to arrive, etc.
People look at a Maller and see a low DPS, Heavy Tank bait ship. They don't expect it to be Gank Fit.
An assault ships see a Tornado and decides "If I can get in close under his guns I will kill him easy!" then finds out the Tornado has Small Guns (200mm Autocannons) fit instead of large guns, plus a scram and web = Dead Assault Ship.
They see a Stabber and expect a Kite, not a close range frigate brawler. So frigates rush to Scram and Orbit at 500m thinking that they will outrun the guns tracking and get an easy kill. But soon find out they walked right into the jaws of a very nasty ship (As Seen in The SFI PRO Guide).
That's the type of Misdirection in PVP that I really enjoy. Forcing people to fight you because they think they can win, only to be greatly mistaken and die horribly.
Which is why I made a ASB Shield Tanked Gank Brutix Fit that I will be testing soon.
Here's the EFT image and fitting:
[Brutix, ASB Gank]
Damage Control II
Magnetic Field Stabilizer II
Magnetic Field Stabilizer II
Magnetic Field Stabilizer II
Tracking Enhancer II
Power Diagnostic System II
Experimental 10MN Microwarpdrive I
Large Ancillary Shield Booster, Navy Cap Booster 150
Large Shield Extender II
Warp Scrambler II
Heavy Neutron Blaster II, Void M
Heavy Neutron Blaster II, Void M
Heavy Neutron Blaster II, Void M
Small Unstable Power Fluctuator I
Heavy Neutron Blaster II, Void M
Heavy Neutron Blaster II, Void M
Heavy Neutron Blaster II, Void M
Medium Anti-EM Screen Reinforcer I
Medium Anti-EM Screen Reinforcer I
Medium Anti-Thermal Screen Reinforcer I
Hammerhead II x5
P.S. Always Platinum Insure Solo Tech 1 Battlecruisers!
I’ve never used a shield fit ship in PVP. How much shield rep do you get from the large ASB? Any skills that improve the amount healed each cycle?
Not much, and what you see there is without implants or drugs. I will likely use Blue Pill with it.
As for skills, yes there are some that help a little, but not a ton.
The ASB will run out of charges in 30 seconds or less if ran non stop. The idea is to make the fights very fast, kill your target and get out.
At least that’s the idea, we’ll see how it goes…
I put this together last night, and it shows a lot of potential. Even though I have Medium Hybrids at IV, Gallente Cruisers at IV, and Gallente Drones at IV, I still put out over 800 DPS. I may take this out on one of our 9-10 man roams when it’s “Battlecruisers only” night.
However, I do have concerns regarding it’s tracking. What do you expect it to be able to do effectively? I’m hoping this might be able to handle frigs, but my thinking is perhaps cruisers. Do you think a second tracking enhancer would be of any real benefit? Thoughts?
I wouldn’t count on being able to kill frigs with it, not without a web. If you dropped the ASB, fitted a web and a extra TE, then fitted one level smaller blasters maybe.
But this ship is more focused on killing Cruisers and Battlecruisers. Your drones will help deter frigates somewhat.
That is more aligned to what I was thinking. I just wasn’t absolutely sure, hence my question. Thanks!!!
Have you considered dropping the extender for a invo field? You’d probably suffer penalties for stacking on EM to some extent, but it may give you a slight edge against harder hitting targets in terms of ehp and their applie damage.
Hey guys,
I just wondered if there was anyone that has managed to test this idea out in actual combat? I was thinking of throwing one of these together but wasn’t sure if it had already been used to success or failure at all?
Cheers guys
– jub
I have had some success with it, but lately I’ve been getting more fun from a MWD and MJD Structure tanked Brutix. Might even make a guide about it.
Lately I have been experimenting with different guns and i have found the Heavy Electron Blaster to have much better tracking than even the 180 Dual autocannon. With standard drop the tracking can be improved by 20%. This could help against small ships as well as ships with small sig radius ie Deimos, SFI abd Vagabond to name a few, at a price of abit less GANK.
I would love to see your structure tank hank brutix. This sounds like a great idea with a MWD and MJD being your disengage tool. Have you ever used the MJD to get away from frigates and then have them charge at you straight? Would that make a difference in how easy they are to hit?
*gank brutix