Last night I ran another public Aideron fleet and we got up to about 30 members before I turned the fleet over to Marcel and logged off. It was a decently productive evening, picking up on 12 killmails for myself and I know the fleet got more where I was too slow. I did take us into one losing engagement and lost my Enyo to a very prepared and powerful Soultakers fleet (pirates local to Old Man Star) but I had to try for that bait Vigilant before the logi and Stabber Fleet Issues came in. Really, I am surprised we didn't lose more than we did that fight!
I'm continuing to try and determine the best ship for me to be a Fleet Commander from. Two weeks ago I had started in an Enyo and switch to an Ares interceptor and found myself too distracted in the latter as I spent too many of my limited brain cycles worrying about tackling targets instead of thinking about the big picture.
This week I started off in my trusty Enyo once more but lost it early on, as mentioned, to the Soultakers. I liked the ship for its simplicity of use which is basically a shotgun approach with its big blasters and only a single drone... its like a bigger hitting Incursus and my love for that ship is well documented. However, in the fleet last night it was the only Tech II frigate and hence was a primary target for the pirate fleet to take out. It wasn't a big deal in that little fight as we were bailing already when I was going down, but in a longer even fight it would be detrimental to the fleet to have its FC taken out early (barring having secondary FC ready to step up of course).
I reshipped into an Algos destroyer to lead the fleet figuring its longer ranged railguns with Spike ammo and flights of light drones would allow me to fight at range and worry less about piloting and more about FCing. I found I was mostly right and that the ship flew well in some of the engagements where we were on top of the enemy, but any fights where the enemy was fast and running I was frequently out of the action. This is not necessarily bad as it gave me more time to look at the big picture, but when we were scrambling and warping around a lot I found the slower align and warp time taking its toll pretty fast and a couple times I had to designate on-scene FCs to call targets until I got there. Not a big deal, but it had me considering alternatives again.
So to summarize:
- Ares : fast and agile but required too much of my divided attention
- Enyo : solid and simple to use but attracted too much hostile attention in a fleet where everyone else was T1 and faction frigs
- Algos : good range and not too hard to use but slow and fat.
I might try another interceptor but a more combat oriented setup that allows me to get around the field but is not too dedicated on catching targets.
how about a tanky vengeance?
ReplyDeleteSeems as though a fed navy comet would fly a bit like your Enyo, while being a less shiny target and more agile. If you fit it mostly the same as your Enyo (one less gun, more drones, and an EANM II for the Sansha adaptive plate) you lose about 400 dps (still 270 with faction antimatter, before heat) and are a whopping 50% faster.
ReplyDeleteAlternately, take that almost-enyo fit, swap an AB for the MWD (a good option in FW) and you just enough space to add a neut in your third high slot that you can, for all intents and purposes, run permanently.
Finally, rails/disruptor/web keeps you out of 500m range, but still close to the thick of it if you want that, with Spike to let you pull back and still contribute.
Ugh. "lose about 40 dps", not 400.
DeleteI was considering the Comet but worried it might be too shiny as well. Its on the short list to try anyways, especially for all T1 frig fleets.
DeleteSome of the most powerful FCing techniques unlock once you know who's FCing. And in return you become vulnerable once you're known as a FC.
ReplyDeleteThere's two main plays:
- point the FC and kill his fleet around him. Most FCs won't warp out their fleet if they personally can't get out even if they're losing.
- headshot the FC, exploit the confusion.
Consequently you should think about tankiness. Also make sure logi have you locked up at all times (watch list is not enough).
Other than that it's fun to FC from the same type of boat as the majority of the fleet. If you're in talwars, fly a talwar - gives you the same speed and range as your fleet more or less.
And don't worry about dps or whatever, your main job is surviving not killing. It's probably better to have an expanded probe launcher and 4 empty high slots than to have 5 kick ass weapons.
From CaptainPlanet who couldn't get the posting to work from his tablet:
ReplyDeleteHey man,
I was reading your latest blog post, and I wanted to leave the following as a comment and an imgur link, but apparently my tablet doesn't like blogger comment forms, so I emailed it instead.
How about a dual-MASB LML Breacher? (At least for frigate and Dessie stuff, for a cruiser gang or anything bigger you might want to upship, idk.)
(There are several low meta mods because I do my pvp in lowsec and have paranoias about high-value lossmails, so all fits are a balance of effectiveness and cost.)
It'll tank just under 200 omni dps using 1 overheated booster, and you can use the other while the 1st reloads, or use both when under really heavy fire. It also goes 3.1km/s before heat, so you're pretty quick anyway, and with that bay thruster rig you can throw your missiles out to the end of your lock range (note, the 569 volley quoted includes drones, the true only-missile volley is 462). This image uses my characters skills (and no implants, though I do have AWU IV trained), but you can plug this into your own fitting tool and tweak it as needed.
Finished reading your post and just thought this might be the thing you're looking for when you're FCing small-stuff fleets. I really enjoy your blog, by the way.
Fly safe (or dangerously, depending on your own disposition),
A fellow internet spaceship pilot
Stabs hit the nails on the head. I'd also make sure that the secondary FC be in the same regular fleet ship you're in, or something similar, or something that's not likely to be called primary. Some people would argue that one could FC in a cloaked Cov Ops, but I personally prefer to FC from the front line (when I do FC, which is not often but it does happen).
ReplyDelete