Heavy Interdictor - Onyx

Previously I talked about the Eagle and Cerberus, the Caldari Heavy Assault Ships, and how they pale in comparison to cheaper Battlecruisers. Well recently I looked at the stats for the new Caldari Heavy Interdictor, the Onyx, and was quite impressed.

Regular Interdictors are tech 2 Destroyers that deploy Warp Interdiction Spheres (aka Bubbles) that prevent ships from warping while within them. Interdictors are fast moving but lightly armoured, and the bubbles that they fire can only be used in 0.0 (aka no security space). Heavy Interdictors are based on cruiser hulls (in the Caldari case, the venerable Moa) and use a new module called a Warp Disruption Field Generator.

There are a few interesting notes to make here. The Heavy Interdictors are slow but have amazing tanks for cruiser based ships, superior to Heavy Assault Ships which are known for being tough. In addition, unlike the Interdictor's bubbles the Warp Disruption Field Generator does not "fire" ammo but instead generates a bubble centred on the ship (hence the need for the vicious tank).

But wait! There's more!

The Warp Disruption Field Generator (no, I haven't come up with a short form yet although I'm leaning towards "warp disrupt gen" or "super scrambler") can by modified by a new feature called a script which is loaded like ammo (but not consumed like ammo in guns, more like Laser crystals) and changes its effect from a bubble to a direct beam against a target ship. The upshot is this: while the bubble effect can scram many ships within its 20 km range it can only be used in null sec space like regular warp bubbles from the light Interdictor, but the focused beam (28.8 km range at Heavy Interdictor Level IV) can be used in low sec. For all intents an purposes a long range warp scrambler of infinite strength.

The fact that this new module is a high slot item leaving a low slot for other purposes (like shield tanking, a plus for Caldari) means that the Onyx is a very attractive ship for me. Of course, there is a downside to all of this: its damage output is missiles (damn you CCP!) and its DPS is less than a Cerberus. But really, this ship is still pretty deadly and the tank and scrambling abilities are the real attractors.

So I put on the skills and last night bought and flew my first Onyx home and set it up. Expensive, but so deadly. I don't have the skills for the Warp Disrupt Field Generator yet, another few days is all.

I played with two different setups, one passive tanking and the other active tanking (nods to IPORC pilots for helping me out).

Passive Tank
[Lows]
3 x Shield Power Relay II
Ballistic Control System II

[Mediums]
3 x Large Shield Extender II
Photon Scattering Field II
Invulnerability Field II
Shield Recharger II

[High]
5 x 'Arbalest' Heavy Assault Missile Launcher I, Caldari Navy Terror Assault Missile
Warp Disruption Field Generator I

[Rigs]
Anti-EM Screen Reinforcer I
Core Defence Field Extender I

Active Tank
[Lows]
2 x Power Diagnostic System II
2 x Ballistic Control System II

[Meds]
Invulnerability Field II
Photon Scattering Field II
5a Prototype Shield Support I (Boost Amp)
Medium Electrochemical Capacitor Booster I, Cap Booster 800
Large Shield Booster II
10MN Afterburner II

[Highs]
Warp Disruption Field Generator I
5 x 'Arbalest' Heavy Assault Missile Launcher I, Caldari Navy Terror Assault Missile

[Rigs]
Core Defence Capacitor Safeguard I
Anti-EM Screen Reinforcer I

The active tank gives better resiliency at 509 defense rating but sucks capacitor energy at an alarming rate. I'll need to run the cap booster non-stop in any situation I need the shield booster. The passive tank has a better defense rating of 574 and but is only cap sustainable for three minutes and has a much larger signature (meaning I'm easier to target and hit) and no afterburner. And less DPS due to one few Ballistic Control, 194 to 232.

So I went with the active tank for a change, try and be smaller and more agile instead of my usual attempt to bulk up and weather the storm. I hope to get some live fire tests this week and if I do, I'll report back here.