A couple of kills and a bug.

Hi everyone,

So I was out yesterday evening so got my EvE time during the day. This is both good and bad.

It's good because I get to go out solo and experiment with things without having to turn down fleets and stuff.

It's bad because you don't have anyone to chat to or generally arse around with because most normal people are at work and don't get online till later in the day.

So I launched my Dramiel (of course) and headed into K-B where I know 0utbreak have a warp disruption bubble and I thought I would camp it for a little while on my own, creating a nice warp in 180km from the bubble and 200km from the gate. It was slow going and I could of probably roamed around a bit but was feeling lazy.

I caught a Reaper on the bubble and blew him to bits. I always think it's worth killing newb ships... especially in Null as you never know if they are carrying a shiney mod or something. I carried on camping and saw a Dramiel on scan. Seconds later he landed in my bubble and I went down for the fight.

We both engaged our scrams at the same time and started the slow dance of death, I think it was about 50-50 in damage... Until a Cynabal Pirate Cruiser suddenly appears and we both disengaged and started motoring away. The Cynabal took some pot shots at me from (what I thought) was 60km away.

Now this is where the BUG comes in. A couple of times over the last few days, and then again with this Cynabal the distance and speed part of the overview stops working. So the Cynabal which was showing as 60km from my Dramiel doing 5m/s on the overview was actually doing over 2km/s and was 16km from my Dramiel and had me pointed. Fuck!

I burnt away from the Cynabal in the opposite direction to the other Dramiel and managed to warp out in 16% structure. Gf's were offered in local and a bit of friendly banter ensued.

After repairing and challenging the Dramiel pilot to a 1v1 in my Jaguar, which he refused, I jump back into K-B and go back to my ninja spot. A few minutes later a Crusader Amarr Interceptor appears on scan and moments later lands in my bubble.

I warp to the Reaper wreck (which I had left there as a convienent 'warp to' point) and engage the Crusader. He first tries to run for the gate but soon realises he won't make it so engages. It is a close fight as I accidently orbit at 500m with Barage loaded but remedy that mistake and take the Crusader out.

While we have been fighting a Kestrel has warped to the gate 50km or so away and starts burning towards where I am now looting the Crusader wreck. I am in deep armor (in a shield tanker) but decide to try my luck against the Kestrel.

I orbit close with my AB on to try and minimilise incoming damage from the guys rockets. As I bleed into structure the Kessie is still at 20% shields so I disengage and tacitically retreat (read: run screaming like a girl) out of range and into warp. I have again survived, this time at 38% structure. I hang out for a bit and wait for my shields to repair themselves.

I head back to my spot to find the Kessie pilot has disapeared and a Flycatcher is in the middle of tacking down a Manticore. I think about making a run back to D87 and repairing before coming back to try and take out the Flycatcher myself, then I look in the 0utbreak channel and see Ziggy is online.

I tell him what is going on and he jumps into a Cynabal to back me up against the Interdictor who is now off the gate looking at some wrecks.

At this point I have full shields but no armor and 38% structure remaining. I wait for Ziggy and when he lands on gate I warp to the wreck the Flycather is closest to and get point and start engaging... and he starts to melt. Ziggy gets one shot off on him but otherwise it's a solo kill. I finish the engagement with 70% shields. I didn't know Flycatchers were so squidgy. I will definelty be marking those down in the 'solo'ble' column!

I hung around for a little longer but 30+ man fleets started rolling through K-B and D87 so I decided to call it a night and start getting ready to go out. All in all... A good day in my book.

Fly dangerous o/

Mail

P.S Only 54 shopping days till Christmas!!

Gangs and Solo.

Good morning,

So last night I logged on to TS and ScoRpS decided to start putting a gang together. Fantastic, I ask what is needed and get told to jump in either a Drake or Arty 'Cane.

PODLA Drake it is. (If you don't know what this is, it's basically a double web HML Drake with 2 x Nano and 2 x BCU's)

So I hang around for a few minutes and the order comes to go to the POS and start approaching the Titan. This fleet has turned from a general roam into a suicide Titan bridge fleet. Only one problem with that... I'm a trial member and, as such, do not get access to the POS. I pipe up on TS and ask what they want me to do.

A quick discussion happens and I am given a temporary password, just so I can take part in the fleet. Awsome.

So I warp to the POS and sit in jump range of the Avatar, waiting for our scout to find something to jump us into. After a little while the scout finds a Drake, Armageddon, Huginn, Hurricane and Megathron on a station and warps over to see if they will engage.

As soon as they go red box the cyno is opened and the order to jump is called. The opposition fleet disengaged as soon as the cyno opened, all except a lone Drake pilot. The Battleships, Recon and Hurricane dock up while the Drake, still red boxed on our scout, is called primary and swiftly dispatched.

We take the fleet on a roam through Doril and back round to D87 but find absolutely nothing. On return to D87 a bio is called so I go AFK for 30 mins or so.

On return most of the fleet have gone and it's me and ScoRpS left. I jump into a Jaguar and start wandering the area around D87.

I find a Drake one jump out in a mission or plex so quickly head back to station and grab a Rapier to scan him down, only to realise that I had bought a probe launcher but NO PROBES! D'oh!

Giving up on that idea I head back out in the Jaguar and start looking for a fight.

Now I should probably fill you in on this Jaguar. It's armor tanked for a start.

The fit runs like this: [Jaguar, Double Web]

3x 150mm Light AutoCannon II (Republic Fleet EMP S)
Small Nosferatu II

2x Stasis Webifier II
Warp Scrambler II
1MN Afterburner II

200mm Reinforced Rolled Tungsten Plates I
Small Armor Repairer II
Damage Control II

Small Projectile Burst Aerator I
Small Projectile Collision Accelerator I

This thing runs about 160 DPS overloaded with a little under 7k EHP and does about 1,200m/s also overloaded.

The idea behind this is to counter anything that comes in close. Dramiels would make for a good fight... at least a normal fit one would.

So I was out in this thing and tbh I was hunting the cocky Dramiel pilot hoping to repeat what I did a few days ago, though this time without the killmail whores!

So anyway abot 10 jumps into my circular route I finally run into a Dramiel and we start the engagement.

I close in and put the double webs on and start pouring on the damage and then... I'm capped out. What the hell? And hang on a second.... Is that Dramiel SHIELD BOOSTING?!

I get the Dramiel down to 50% structure before I go pop.  I say good fight to the russian... who ignore me and head home without my Jaguar. Once home I do a little research on this guy and find his fit.

All I can say is... My Jaguar would be able to take on a normal fit Dramiel... This is not normal, but it worked for this guy and he got a good kill out of it.

[Dramiel, Russian Dramiel]

2x 150mm Light AutoCannon II (Republic Fleet EMP S)
Small Nosferatu II

Medium F-S9 Regolith Shield Induction
Small C5-L Emergency Shield Overload I
Cold-Gas I Arcjet Thrusters
J5b Phased Prototype Warp Scrambler I

Power Diagnostic System II
Gyrostabilizer II
Pseudoelectron Containment Field I

2x Small Anti-EM Screen Reinforcer I
Small Anti-Thermal Screen Reinforcer I

3x Warrior II

Ah well. I know now that I need to swap my neut for a nosferatu to try and keep my repper going as long as possible.

I hope I get to try this Jaguar on a solo 'normal' fit Dramiel at some point.

Fly Dangerous o/

Mail

Looking for small gang PVP

Hi everyone,

I'm hoping that I have finally sorted out the virus warning thing that comes up on this damn blog everytime someone tries to read it. There is no virus as far as I can see though I do admit to not being the most anal about computer security.

Anyway, last night I logged on, undocked my Dramiel and got invited to a fleet as the screen resolved. Saiyon and Amber Shouna were in local and inviting me to come pew with them.

Now to explain this, I will point you to the EvE O forums and this post here. Back? Ok good lets continue.

So Saiyon and friends had agreed for me to FC for them and give them a first hand view of low-sec PVP from and 'experienced' pilot (LOL) and we had agreed to meet up in Isho and head out from here.

As I undocked I hit scan and, ignoring the now friendly Arbitrator and Maller, I notice a Wolf on scan. Still in the 10 sec undock timer I narrow the Wolf down to the sun and engage warp.

Saiyon is, at this second, telling me to jump on mumble (which i didn't have) and supplying me with and address and port etc. Dropping out of warp I am 20km from the Wolf so start closing in while telling Saiyon and Amber to warp to me without warning of what I am doing. Understandably their reactions are a little slow and the Wolf is tearing through my shields while I am slowly messing up his Armor... to slowly...  and I had to make a run for it.

As I ran my fleet mates landed and the Wolf bailed. Good fight Duke Thunderhorse of Black Rebel Rifter Gang. =)

(P.S Durzo, I saw your comment and will be looking you guys up soon for a chat)

So after Saiyon changed out his fit I started heading off to Mara to poke around a bit. I jumped in and saw a Caracal on scan and got Saiyon and his mates (now joined by Fang Tang in a Vexor) to hold in Hasama. As I was trying to narrow the Caracal down a Heron dropped combat probes and scared him out of Mara. Damn it!

Noticing Htrag of CBS in his Nighthawk and his links alone in local I called the gang in and get them to a safe spot on the Dantumi gate while I go in to try and scare up a fight.

On the gate as I jump in is a Drake, Daredevil and Rifter. I start burning off them and decide to do a little solo trick here. I watch the Daredevil start burning towards me and lowered my speed to slightly faster than the Daredevil to try and get him off the gate and more importantly away from the Drake.

Playing with my speed I manage to pull a 90km range on the Drake with the Rifter 30km off me and the Daredevil 10km off. I slow slightly and let the Daredevil get a scram on me. I hit full speed and orbit and activate everything I have.

We're dancing in the ring of death and he has his web on me slowing me down and hitting me hard with his Neutron blasters while I have loaded Fusion ammo and start stripping his armor away at a good rate.

The Rifter has closed and has now joined in the fight, with another web on me and compined DPS of a Neutron Blaster Daredevil and a 150 AC fit Rifter, this fight could go either way.

My shields are gone as the Daredevil explodes and I immediatley switch to the Rifter. I am now in deep armor and watch carefully as first his shields and then as he hits half armor I hit structure. This is going to be close. My Damage control does it's job and the damage definetly slows, just enough for me to finish the Rifters armor and strip his structure till only a pod sat in the middle of a wreck.

I finish the fight with no shields, no armor and 86% structure not to mention some fleet members who didn't get in on the kills. Whoops...

The Drake is still around but by now I have brought my fleet mates into Dantumi, he bails and heads to Ossa.

We check out the local systems finding nothing then head back up the pipe through Isho, noticing Duke is still out in his Wolf, and towards Tama.

Unfortuantley we find very little on the way to Tama. A couple of BS's we couldn't take (Scorp and Machariel) and a Rifter who didn't want to play.

As we hit Tama RL interrupted my carefully laid EvE plans. My 1 year old boy woke up needing some milk and cuddles to go back to sleep.

Sorry I didn't get any kills for you guy Saiyon, Amber and Fang. I promise that when we go out over the weekend I WILL get us a fleet kill and not be totaly selfish ;-)

Fly dangerous o/

Mail

The return of the solo pvper

Two posts on the same day you guys are so spoilt (if anyone even reads this anymore with that damn virus warning)

So anyway my last entry was quite down hearted but this one is much more upbeat. First of I decided to go on another roam today, this time in my Dramiel. I also decided to head to an area that I have called home and still think of as my spiritual birth place, Ishomilken.

So I started out and couldn't find a decent fight in the 20+ jumps down to Isho so headed straight to one of my old favourite hunting areas, Mara.

On jumping into Mara I noticed a Hurricane on scan. I have fought Hurricanes in Dramials before and always come off very much dead. However I decided to take a look as he was in a belt with wrecks out.

Warping in I get the tackle on a neutral Hurricane and start bringing his shields down expecting to either get jumped or neuts to be slammed on me. Nothing happens accept he tries shooting me with 425ac's which miss me over and over again.I realise that my guns are doing very little against this guys shield and open a convo with him. I ask um for 50 million ISK ransom which he says he doesn't have so the fight gOSS on. Being so far from the rest of my Corp means I have no help to call in so when a Ferox comes on scan I ask him to come in and help me.

The Ferox pilot laughs at me and thinks I am baiting him to his doom... Good idea but I could really do with some help!

Then Htrag of Carebear Stare enters local. Now he is a very hostile red from a Corp I have had problems with in the past but I tell him in local where I am and in he comes to help me finish the Hurricane off. Big thanks go to Htrag of CBS on this one.

Looking at the killmail I realise why I couldn't do it alone. That is one tanky little Hurricane!!

After this fight I go back to Isho and find a ratting Catalyst and then chase a Rifter around till he dies in a ball of flame.

Then a Rifter opens a Cyno in Isho and I kill that in a old Drake I have had for about 2 years! I warp from the kill to a belt where a damn Rapier uncloaks and cyno's a Redeemer onto my ass, I manage to get the rapier into hull before I go pop!

Heading back out in my Dram I kill a Burst and log off with a good feeling, maybe lowsec isn't dead, maybe I just haven't been looking in the right place!

Fly dangerous o/

Mail

P.s sorry for not having any funny pictures at the moment. I'm blogging from my iPod touch while either on the toilet or in bed, only chance I get to squeeze one out... So to speak ;-) lol