The Arbitrator - Solo possible?

With the launch of Inferno the Arbitrator got more interesting

The reason is: Drone damage modules were introduced.

Now the Arbi has ship bonuses to drone damage and TD effectiveness. With the added option of increasing drone damage output  by using the drone damage mods will it become a viable solo ship?

I have always loved the Arbi and I have been in the past tried to find fits that I could use for solo work. But I never found one that really worked. I would ussualy fitted them like I would fit a Pilgrim with a armor tank, neuts  and a TD. But had always to little damage output compared to the tank that it could fit.  It was decent and could take on other cruisers 1v1 but in a real PvP environment I found it lacking. (ahem.. I have to say that my poor piloting might have something to do with it too, :) ). 

So I gave up on it, at some point , as a possible solo ship. It only seamed to shine in fleets as a E-war support vessel.

With the changes  that came with Inferno I wondered if the drone damage mods could tilt the fitting balance in favour of the Arbitrator because in theory it can be fit with more (drone) DPS. But would it also have a decent tank? It would have to be shield tanked.


The most I could get out of the Arbi before was about 330DPS with a 18k HP armour tank or a 12k HP armour tank with a medium  rep. Both fits would have a TD, MWD and cap booster. The 18k version would be slowest ofcourse: 1260m/s or 1780m/s overheated.

So I started theory crafting and came up with this:

[Arbitrator, DPS drone boat ]

Drone Damage Amplifier II

Drone Damage Amplifier II

Drone Damage Amplifier II

Damage Control II

Warp Disruptor II

Experimental 10MN MicroWarpdrive I

Large Shield Extender II

Large Shield Extender II

425mm AutoCannon II, Barrage M

425mm AutoCannon II, Barrage M

Small Energy Neutralizer II

Small Energy Neutralizer II

Medium Anti-EM Screen Reinforcer I

Medium Core Defense Field Extender I

Medium Core Defense Field Extender I

Hammerhead II x2

Hammerhead II x3

Hobgoblin II x5

Hobgoblin II x1

Valkyrie II x5

It has a 25k EHP tank and  420 DPS (with Barrage and HH II's) which is more tank and DPS than a shield Rupture!

Now it is slower and it has less cap than the ship I just compared it to.. but I must say it does look promising. One big difference though. Almost all dps comes from drones (365DPS) which has of course its advantages and disadvantages.

But compared to the best fit I could come up with before it is an improvement in DPS and EHP.  What it lacks are the TD and cap. because it has about 1.44min of cap without using the neuts which is IMO to little. 


If I  ad a TD it will diminish the tank to about 18k EHP and the cap to 1.38min. The EHP would be about the same as the armour tank version but with more DPS and speed. The cap is still a problem I think.


So I am not sure what to make of it yet but I'll give a try on sisi in the next few weeks to see how it performs.

Let me know what you think.

P.S. sorry for all the font changes. I am still looking for my own style that I like. 

Cormorant brawler fit

After my experience with the Coercer I have become very interested in flying more Destroyers so I have been playing around in EFT to assemble dessy fits that could be interesting to use. 

One of them that I like is this one for the Cormorant:

[Cormorant, Solo blaster TD ]
Magnetic Field Stabilizer II

Adaptive Invulnerability Field II
Limited 1MN MicroWarpdrive I
Tracking Disruptor II, Optimal Range Disruption Script
Warp Scrambler II

Light Electron Blaster II, Caldari Navy Antimatter Charge S
Light Ion Blaster II, Caldari Navy Antimatter Charge S
Light Ion Blaster II, Caldari Navy Antimatter Charge S
Light Ion Blaster II, Caldari Navy Antimatter Charge S
Light Ion Blaster II, Caldari Navy Antimatter Charge S
Light Ion Blaster II, Caldari Navy Antimatter Charge S
Light Ion Blaster II, Caldari Navy Antimatter Charge S
Small 'Knave' Energy Drain

Small Anti-EM Screen Reinforcer I
Small Core Defense Field Extender I
Small Core Defense Field Extender I

Ammo: Null, Void and Faction Antimatter 

The theory:

The idea is to get in close with it and beat the crap out of anything in range of its guns.  What I like about it is that the Cormorant has room for the TD.  which will give it an advantage over other close range brawlers like the AC Thrasher or the blaster Catalyst. The TD will cut their optimal & falloff  down 50% while the Cormorant will be firing at its optimal. Now a faster ship like a frig or a Thrasher might compensate for that by closing to .0 range range but still .. not sure if people expect it and it might just give me the advantage I need to come out on top in a 1v1 fight.

The tank is alright.. ish with an overheated Invul. But I'll need to see how it works out in the wild. 

I originally had 7 ion blasters in this fit but I found it a bit too critical on cap so I added the Nos in exchange for a electron blaster. The difference is 2 DPS and some range but that might be worth it.

I managed to kill an Enyo in it on sisi and I think it has the potential to take on bigger targets as well like cruisers and T3 BC's if I can catch them unawares. And maybe, just maybe BC's but that could be wishful thinking. I

Downsides:

• It won't outrun anything, and it can be easily kited
• it is very vulnerable to neuts, 
• it is only really good for 1v1, 2+ opponents will become a problem real fast.

Possible targets; 

• Frigs,
• Intercepters,
• AF's,
• Cruisers,
• Tier 3 BC's 

 

Combat log 290512

Starsystem: PC9-AY, Syndicate

Coercer (me) vs Thrasher & Drake

 

I lost a Coercer today because I underestimated a situation. 

I was sitting 100km from a gate when the Thrasher warped in at 100km from me. Nothing really happened because we both didn't approach eachother. I didn't burn for him because I knew I needed to kite him as much as I could so I ideally I would like him to approach me. But  he didn't move either. So I moved away and warped to the gate to see if he might follow. To my surpise he was only 100km away from the gate so it is clear that plan won't work :) I kinda expected him to be further away. 

Anyway I let my ship just sit at the gate to watch his next move and the scanner to see if anyone else shows up. Eventually the Thrasher did burn for me full speed so I accepted the invitation by flying away from the gate and at the same time get in position to activate my MWD when he came in range of my lasors.  Everything seemed to be going to plan until a Drake arrived on grid, on the gate. This is just as the Thrasher got into range and I needed to start focussing on my MWD timing.. I realized then that I was well within range of the Drake HML's and I aligned to a planet to warp out. But.. I change my mind and decide to forget the Drake (smart move ;) ) for now as we were moving away from it fast and I really wanted kill the Thrasher. The Thrasher was going down quit well but was getting dangerously close (I should have activated the MWD sooner). 

Then , a few seconds later, my ship blew up.. as the HML's hit from the Drake... I did get my pod out though fortunatly.

In hindsight I should have warped out and maybe try to separate  the Thrasher  if I could. The Drake hit me for full damage because of my activated MWD and this Coercer just doesn't have the tank to take that punishment. It was silly to ignore the Drake. Anyways.. lesson learned.

This little Coercer sure earned its costs. 125mil in kills + loot worth about 15mil for a 25mil ship loss. Pretty good I'd say.

Pleniers Coercer

Today I felt like taking this ship out for a spin:

[Coercer, Pleniers]
Damage Control II
Heat Sink II
Heat Sink II
Heat Sink II

Limited 1MN MicroWarpdrive I

Dual Light Pulse Laser II, Scorch S
Dual Light Pulse Laser II, Scorch S
Dual Light Pulse Laser II, Scorch S
Dual Light Pulse Laser II, Scorch S
Dual Light Pulse Laser II, Scorch S
Dual Light Pulse Laser II, Scorch S
Dual Light Pulse Laser II, Scorch S
Dual Light Pulse Laser II, Scorch S

Small Energy Locus Coordinator I
Small Energy Locus Coordinator I
Small Energy Locus Coordinator I

This is not a fit I came up with. I 'stole' it from a EvE player named Pleniers who posted a video on Youtube where he showed how he (I am assuming its a guy) used this fit. Here is the link: Link Pls have a look if you haven't seen it yet. I think it is worth your time. Anyway he deserves the credit for the fit.  

When I saw it this  just looked like so much fun for a a relatively cheap ship that I had to try it. It has got so much going for it that I like; it is Amarr, it has Lazorrrs (<3 \o/), it has decent speed and  it does 250+ DPS at 21 km! Yeah.. really, it does :) (with my skills). Amazing right ? I think so. But..... ehm here is the catch ...it ain't got no point. So .. it ain't no good for PvP.. right?

I have always heard ever since I have stared being interested in PvP in EvE that any, any PvP fit needs at least a point or a scram. It is mandatory, how else are you going to prevent your opponent from escaping? I mean , why torture yourself by letting a  potential kill escape once he/she/it notices that it is losing the fight. You need that point to get the kill, right?

First time I saw an earlier vid by Pleniers I felt surprised and didn't consider that this could work. Any sane person would warp out if he got the chance, you need a point or scram.  

I disregarded the concept as silly that could only work in rare cases and would not be worth anyone's time. 

Oke, so later I saw this vid from Kil2: Daredevil

Yeah, same thing with a Daredevil, no point or scram. And.. plenty of kills.. Now, Kil2 is my EvE pvp hero.  I watch almost all his vids and his and Koverix's commentary video's are my mains source of study material for learning PvP. So now I was taking this concept very seriously and started thinking about it. 

Watching this video I finally got how this concept worked: it is based on psychology not theory.. It is based on 2 things (I think);

1. The aggressiveness of your opponent and,
2. That people sometimes do not to check if they are pointed during a fight. They either assume they are pointed or are in a state of panic and forget that they can get out.

Having realized this the fit started to make sense to me. btw Imagine the possibilities of this if you could replace the point or scram on other fits as well and ad something extra instead of that.. hmm interesting. But I am starting to ramble.

On with the blog. So after thinking about all this and seeing Pleniers latest vid I wanted to try this amazing ' pointless'  ship. I wanted to see if I could make it work as well. It isn't that risky. It is not a very expensive experiment (only about 25mill for the whole fit with current prices in Dodixie) And if I don't look at the missing piont/scram, I really like the other stats of the fit. So I did take it out today with some succes. I went into Syndicate and found a fight. Here is the short story about what happened.

I went to KTHT-0 without much incident. I had seen there was some activity there on the map. I used the method kil2 posted some days ago:Finding fights so see it works  ;). Check it out if you have not. Local had about 5-6 people in it when I arrived. 

I warped to the planet near the station to check for any activity. There was an Oracle and a Rapier at the station which, together,  is a bit to much to take on for me. I did try however but warped away after the first 2 volleys from the Oracle blew my shields away. I moved on to  1-NKVT. A Sabre followed me into the system a few moments later. 

Note: A Sabre is the perfect opponent for this fit. It is likely shield tanked and will have close range weapons so I started looking for an opportunity to fight it. I want to have it at 20km away from me and keep that distance from it as long as I can to put as much dps on it as I can. But how do I  get in that position? That is the problem.

So, I warped from celestial  to celestial  to locate the Sabre using the scanner. He seemed to be warping around too (or cloaking idk) . Finally I scanned him down at the KTHT gate and I warped to it at 50km. 50k is enough distance for me to feel safe and keep my options open. At that time I am still expecting his friends to jump in. He was not alone, that is what I assumed.

As I arrived he warped off. So now I did't really know what to do but just hang around the gate at 50-60k . Moments later he warped back on grid though, lands at 0m from the gate and starts burning for me right away.. which is perfect for me. I locked his ship and switched my camera to it to see what he was doing. I started shooting at 30km (way to soon.., hoping my lazors wouldn't burn out) and realized that I needed to run away :),ups.. I was still flying at an 90 degree angle from him at that moment. I clicked in space to fly in the same direction as he was when I realized that I forgot to turn on my MWD.. oh f*** he is going to catch me ..

He does catch me .. but fortunately by the time he is on top of me his shields are gone and his ships armor is dropping fast.. I am scared then that he will orbit my ship and I won't be able to finish him off because of the poor tracking scorch provides. Hence I switch to Multi at the last moment. And then.. he pops.. 

Meanwhile his friends have jumped in but they are at a safe distance, about 95k away.. I am very scared at that moment (don't ask me why I just am) , my adrenaline is pumping and I warp out as soon as I can to get to safety. Which seems to take a very long time. So that fights ends well for me. - 1 Sabre.

I am very satisfied with that kill. A 73mil kill with a 25mil ship. And.. this fit definitely worked. The Sabre pilot was very aggressive and that was his downfall. I don't think he ever realized that he could have gotten away and I am not sure that was his intention if he did know. 

So I can conclude from my own experience today that you can successfully PvP without a point or scram. I mean, Kil2 showed it can be done and Pleniers showed it as well.. But if I can do it , a rookie space pvp cadet^^ , anyone can.

Thanx Pleniers, definitly a very cool ship/fit. I hope I will have a lot more fun in it.

[EDIT] I am aware that in PvP-fleets ships often do not fit point/scrams. I am talking about solo-PvP only here.

The Syndicate

Moving took me longer then I had hoped due to a mistake I made with my jumpclone positioning ( destroyed a clone in Derelik and then realized I didn't have the standings requirement to create a new one in Verge so I had to fly all the way back, facepalm) 

Now that I have finally entered The Syndicate I've been on a few scouting trips into the region and I plan on doing that the coming week or so.

My goal on my  first trips  have been to make tactical and insta -bookmarks around the gates , safespots and insta-warps from the station undocks. Not for all systems but for the systems that I think I will need to regularly fly thru  when I am getting in and out of the region. Using them will make it possible for me to travel relatively  safe if I want to. While i am doing this I am checking out the local inhabitants and what kind of traffic is moving thru the systems.

Today I had planned to scout from EZA to 98Q-OS but I didn't get far. Three jumps in, in VV-VRC, I caught an interdictor camp on scan at the IIRH gate while there was a 10+ ship fleet sitting in the M2 gate.  I had managed to evade them when I came in from M2 by running like a madman :-) while overheating my MWD (6000+m/s, hell yeah) . Thank CCP for the speed of my Crusader.My decision to not bring a T1 frig as a scout  has already paid off.

Speedy Devil

With the gates blocked by interdictors and 20 in local I decided to call it a day ,dock up and wait for a better moment to continue. I don't want to risk my interceptor just yet. Patience is a virtue. The wise know when to quit and when to come back..

I do sometimes feel tempted to take the crusader into battle though. Yesterday when I warped to a planet I landed 70km away from a Taranis. A perfect opportunity for a 1v1 and I hesitated to attack or not. I decided to fly away. That didn't feel to good I can tell you .. running away when I want to learn how to  PvP?  But  still a wise choice in hindsight. I have no experience in flying a Crusader and the Taranis with its drones would prob have chewed me up even if I managed to keep range from it (which is highly questionable knowing my lack of successes so far). Besides scouting is my primary goal right now and I need to pick my fights well , not waste ships and get demoralized. Gotta stick to the plan.

So far Syndicate seems very active and it is living up to its reputation.