I can't count the number of fleets I've been a part of, both in my own alliance and in other peoples alliances that lacked good tackle.
When people Theory Craft Fleet Doctrines they usually focus on DPS, survivability, tricks, and heavy tanking while ignoring the most important role which is Tackle.
If you can't Tackle the Target you probably won't be able to kill it.
When I FC, I prefer to fly an Interceptor. This allows me to Scout and Tackle targets. However, due the nature of being a Tackler there is a chance you will be killed very early in the fight. That makes it a bad job for a FC.
Still, being able to see everything with my own eyes helps me to make better decisions and maneuver the fleet much more skillfully.
The reason I hesitate to delegate this task is because I feel it is so important and it also happens to be something I do extraordinary well. Our fleet gets more kills when I tackle.
The results of this a evident when I look at the killboard and compare fleets where I am in a Interceptor vs when I am fulfilling some other role... We always get more kills when I fly the interceptor.
For this reason I try very hard to push pilots into the Tackle Role and teach them how to be a good tackler, because I know how important it is.
Yet, as I said above most fleets don't have an Interceptor. Instead they bring 10 DPS ships, 3 Logi, Links, and on a good day a Lachesis or Bubbler.
I think the reason for this is that EVE players don't see the value of the tackler. They consider tacklers throw away ammo to be suicided in hopes of a kill.
After all it's just a Frigate, why should you fly a Frigate when everyone else is in cool T3 Cruisers or HACs?
This is my guess as to why so few people want to fly tackle.
It is my hope to make a Tackling Guide at some point, but until then I would like to give you something to encourage you to work on becoming an Expert Tackler.
As a Tackler you are both an Offensive and Defensive Weapon.
Offense:
- Scouting and getting initial tackle on a Target (Ratter, Miner, etc)
- Forcing a fight by tying down a ship in the enemy fleet and making them choose whether to stay and fight or abandon their buddy
- Providing a warp in for the rest of the fleet in the case of a Sniper fleet or other highly mobile fleet
- Moving quickly through enemy space in Interceptor fleets to confuse intel
- Getting a "Drive by" Scram on a target that is moving too fast for the fleet to catch
- Separating enemy fleets by tackling a Logi or some other important ship when they warp away
Defense:
- Protecting your fleet from a chasing fleet or tackler by hanging behind and tackling their chasing ships. Example: Long ago we had a Battleship fleet that was dropped by a much bigger group, we successfully disengaged then started racing home. The enemy sent multiple cruisers to chase so I hung back and tackled them on each gate for a short time to slow them down.
- Providing on grid warp ins
- Scramming a hostile interceptor to prevent it from tackling something in your fleet
- Rolling Safe spots for a fleet / Also in a sniping fleet to provide non-stop one line warps
As you see the Tackler Interceptor is a hugely important ship, and beyond a few small exceptions, no fleet should ever be without one.
Nice article.
Few parts actually fit more to anti-support role then tackler. But then again..it is huge topic.
In my opinion top level: tackler, anti-support or solo logi …are by far the most demanding and the most sought-after skill-set on EVE online.
LP
hell yeah. you want the whole alliance to love you? be the logi guy. people will just buy you logi ships if you will fly them. and you can just launch a drone to whore in on kms and most fleets are more then willing to let logi get in on some mails.
Oh yeah. And how come, multiple cruisers cant oneshot a freaking ceptor? Also, how did you manage to tackle multiple cruisers with 1 ceptor? I smell huge bullshit. Firts of all, one tackler is no tackler. One neut fucks you up. If you do it from far away with a disruptor, drones fuck you up, or one good tracking ship, or a lucky wolley and you are gone. Thats why noone plays tackler. Because its weak and useless. A normal fleet needs max a bubler and thats all. Or a whole tackler fleet. One ceptor is no ceptor.
I think your misunderstanding of what a Tackle interceptor can do is part of the problem.
You do not go in close with a Tackling Interceptor unless you are doing a “Drive By Scram” which if done right happens so fast the enemy doesn’t know what happened.
The way you tackle 2 cruisers is by doing it over multiple gates. Tackle one for 20 seconds on one gate then warp to the next gate and tackle the other for 20 seconds. You warp much faster than a cruiser, therefore you can catch up easily. Not to mention that many times if you tackle one, the other will stay to try to help his buddy.
Neuts are not an issue, except from the Curse and Pilgrim. Against a Battleship with a single heavy neut you are virtually unaffected because of his 24 second Cycle time. Thus you regen in between his cycles enough to keep MWD and Point. And to restate it, you almost never orbit at less than 13km to tackle.
Drones are almost never an issue unless they are from a Drone Bonused Ship. The Worm, VNI, etc are all ships that can give you some trouble. Otherwise a ship with 5 light drones is almost a joke. Orbit wide (~23km) and keep your speed up. The drones will charge in, do some good DPS then fall off and do nothing for a while before charging in again. As time goes on their charges become more disordered and less of a threat. Also, most pilots in Tackle Interceptors fit weapons specifically for killing chasing Drones. DPS from a Tackle Interceptor is pointless except for when it’s used to kill drones.
A bubble is nice, but against competent pilots it’s by no means a sure tackle. A nano gang can easily burn out of a bubble.
A Fleet where everyone has tackle is also great but none of them can go 5 km/s or maneuver like an Interceptor.
To restate my point, EVERY fleet type where I have flown an Interceptor has gotten more kills as a result. Whether it’s because of a unexpected (by the enemy) tackle, an awesome warp in (fly 100km behind the enemy fleet and have your fleet warp at 100km), or just a Gank because I am able to cover more ground in the Interceptor and thus find more targets.
This is true for:
-Armor / T3 HACs
-Battleship Fleets
-Nano Fleets
-Assault Frigate Fleets
-Aug Navy Fleets
and so on…
BTW I fly a Dual Point Inty, which means it has a Disruptor and Scrambler.
Yeah. Then i guess we play different games, no problem. Last 20 ceptors i used in fleet blew up even before we saw the enemies on overview. And i use amarrian ones. Drones eat them with 1 hit. And whatever uses neut on me, my ship slows down and blow up from 1 shot. But as i told. Probably different game. Oh forgot to mention. 5k/sec is not much when a battleship can do 2,5k/sec. Also got killed by a solo gila. He chased me, an i was flying a straight line with heated mwd. And the gila was simply faster than me in a ceptor. So yeah… bs…
Same game but played differently.
The Malediction is a decent Interceptor, probably my second favorite. It has 3 mid slots, but I typically use just a Disruptor with a Medium Shield Extender so I can have some EHP Buffer.
The reason you die so fast is because you are not managing Transversal Velocity, Range, and your Fitting lacks EHP Buffer.
Battleships do not go 2.5km/s. A Macherial maybe, but the majority of BS will not break 1.5km/s.
A Gila is a Drone Bonused ship that almost always fits Rapid Light Missile Launchers. It is a Frigate Killing Ship and should typically be avoided by Interceptors.
Most likely the Gila in question had links, implants, and was overheating to stay with you long enough to kill you.
A Gila with links can get up to around 4 km/s in a short burst. However, with RLMLs and Bonused Drones it would only need 10-20 seconds to kill you.
Oh and forgot to ask. how do you fit a scram, a disruptor, and an mwd on something which has 2 mid slots only? (a lot of ceptors have only that much.)
All Tackle Interceptors have at least 3 Mid Slots, the Crow and Stiletto have 4. I only Dual Point on those two.
Translation: Explain to me what I could learn by just looking at the ship info page of the various interceptors.
so this is you. i never knew. lol. and i have read some of these articles. nice to see someone else saying what i have always said. it’s like people want to fly something they are good with like tackle and they are spit on by some fcs. i actually had a guy once who was not super old and could only fly certain ships. i told him to show up and tell them thats all he could fly. they told him if he couldn’t bring [insert most popular t3 here] then don’t bother. i had some convos with some people soon after. i was so pissed.
tackle is probably the most fun you can have in the game right up there with bombers and recons. i don’t even remember the last time i flew a bs size ship in combat. it’s like flying a brick around. i would like to see assault frigs get a little rework now. and some may not agree but imho the keres is the best damn tackler in the game and one of the most under used ships in the game.
So basically you prefer Erwin Rommel’s and Richard the Lionheart’s command style? Very effective but as you noted risky. So the crow and stilleto are the best tackle intereceptors? Do you think the ares could be made effective without making it a clone of the other tackle interceptors?
I think the Ares is a nice inty overall. Not as flexible as those with more mid slots, however it is fast and agile, so it does well as a long tackle.