The end of RvB......

You have got to love those tabloid style titles.

So I have decided to cut short my stay with RvB. In short I loved it. Instant on tap PVP, throwing cheap ships into the line of fire. Chatting s*** on comms with some pretty chill dudes. Whats not to love about that? Well for me after a while it does feel a little stale, not sure if its the solo pilot in me rebelling against the semi-arranged nature of the beast.

After looking at a few options like joining Eric Shang and moving to Sov Null or going to NPC Null again. Really there was only one option for me and that had to be joining back up with my boys Screaming Hayabusa. I have been with these guys in one guise or another for the best part of 4 years. We are a very strange bunch. We are all solo pilots to the point where if we see each other in local we will move straight on so as not to affect any hunting going on, we are that scary that if people see two of us in local all fights will be off! Thats not to say that we won't help out if someone is being #blebbed. Now that I said that I think Miura Bull and Nogusha actually fleeted up last night. In frigates of course.

So lowsec it is, but where will I go? There have been murmurs, mere whispers in back channels of a new forming thunderdome. A Bermuda Triangle of lowsec systems nice and close to a well stocked trade hub!

Where is this mystical place you ask.. 

Red vs Blue

In Real Life (IRL) the thing that gets in the way of playing internet spaceships, well it got in the way. New job and a new addition to the family means very little time for pew pew. Solo roaming was getting tough as by the time I got bits sorted on the Jita alt and undocked, I would have maybe 15-20 minutes to play. I still enjoy playing so didn't want to quit, but I have let a couple of accounts drop. Reading about the upcoming RvB Fifth Birthday Bash I decided give it another go. I did try a couple of years ago but didn't really make much of it.

There is almost always a fleet running! But whether you get another fleet to fight obviously depends on an opposing FC and numbers. The FCs work really hard to get something going, so if that means the team with reduced numbers shipping up so be it. I still only fly frigates, as thats what I do, but I might pull the trigger on some cruiser skills. I probably should have done that for last night as RvB held a cruiser Free-For-All in Jita of all places. The TiDi was terrible. Having never flown in any huge 0.0 fights, I had only ever seen it when the tiny little green ring come up in some random lowsec system because the system was on the same server as another loaded system. That was annoying enough, but last night it took about 20seconds for my merlin to get into warp. 3000 free fitted cruisers were up for grabs and many were lost about 150km off the Jita 4-4 undock. I could only manage half an hour but was good fun managed to cycle my guns on a few people and saw this morning that they ended up dying.

I can still solo \o/

I don't always jump straight into a fleet. I can just into a ship and go play either on some gates or off the Red HQ undock. This is some good experience dragging people away from their friends and killing them before the blob can catch me. This will come in handy as I would like to try out soloing in Null-sec again soon ala Suitonia and the like.

Much fun is being had and if you have ever fancied giving it a go, now is probably the best time as there are so many events organised for RvBs Fifth Birthday Bonanza. You obviously missed last nights Cruiser FFA but there are still plenty of roams and a Five person Team tournament coming up at the end of October.

Slice and Dice

So I have had a little break from EVE, only 2-3 weeks but it was needed. Before I left I had trained up to fly the Imperial Navy Slicer. I had flown this ship no more than a handful of times prior to my reset, and I am looking forward to getting some fights in it.

[Imperial Navy Slicer, Standard Kite Slicer]

Internal Force Field Array I

Heat Sink II

Heat Sink II

Nanofiber Internal Structure II

Small Ancillary Armor Repairer, Nanite Repair Paste

Faint Warp Disruptor I

Limited 1MN Microwarpdrive I

Small Focused Pulse Laser II, Scorch S

Small Focused Pulse Laser II, Scorch S

[Empty High slot]

Small Energy Locus Coordinator I

Small Energy Locus Coordinator I

Small Energy Locus Coordinator I

* I always use Genolution CA-1+2 for noob fitting purposes

So this is the fit that I have gone for, nothing out of the ordinary for a Slicer really. I originally got the urge to fly this ship from watching one of Suitonia’s videos. He made a few fitting and how-to videos and has taken over the Eve-Is-Easy youtube channel from some of the Hydra Reloaded guys.

Short post but I will write up some fights soon hopefully. Definitely go watch some of Suitonia’s they are great, lots of good tips and fitting advice for specific ships in each video.

Quafe Sub-Zero

As a birthday gift in 2011 CCP gave all active capsuleers a six pack of Quafe Zero. A legal booster which like the synth variations of normal boosters is free to be transported in highsec. This booster gave a +5% increase to ship velocity and +5% ship sensor strength.

I am not a habitual user of boosters but I do have some stashed away. Even just a +3% synth exile, which boosts armour repair amount, can mean winning or losing a fight. LockeFox has a great infographic you should go have a read.

So my idea for a christmas gift this year is Quafe Sub-Zero.

All fitted modules have a structure HP of 40 HP. Well, some Titan-only modules like Clone Vat Bays and Jump Portal Generators have 99,999HP (just to ensure you can't burn them out), but apart from that, it's all 40HP. Its this value which is reduced as you overheat the module or modules in the same rack. UniWiki has a good overheating guide here.

Quafe Sub-Zero increases the capsuleers control of ships cooling systems reducing the amount of damage taken, to fitted modules by 20%.

Every knows to overheat all the things in EVE Online, now imagine the advantage you will have overheating your repper for that few extra cycles, or getting that last few rounds off against your target before your guns are on fire.

Boring skillpoint post..

I always thought these sort of blog posts were a bit of a cop out, so I wont keep you long.

Alek Azam - Skillz that pay the billz..

A chap called Kirith Darkblade used do a nice little run down of the skills he had learned over time to add to his Rifter Plan. But its probably easier if you just go have a look at the link above. Guys who are just starting out I think the skills I have trained upto this point are a very good base for a starter PVP character. I know the draw to fly different ships is strong but concentrating on at least one race of ships to begin is a great help. You will concentrate on skills and not be a jack of all trades, but also you can spend more time learning certain flying styles before you move on to other ships.

Three months and 5 million SP into the reset and i’m still having lots of fun. I am getting to the point now, with a few more skillpoints, where i'm confident in engaging two or three guys at once in the Atron.

Remember when I said to concentrate on one race of ships.. Well I have decided to train for a slicer. The train isn't too far from the Atron as it uses the same tank and gunnery support skills. I fancy a little change and the Slicer is well sexy.

Contagious!

It seems to be catching. I now know of at least three players that have hit the reset switch. The MO seems to be ex Black Rebel Rifter Club pilots that still predominantly fly frigates. I guess if you are a Titan pilot its pretty hard to get back into your playstyle, but even after a week I was getting solo kills in an Atron.Good luck guys. I hope you have as much fun as I am...

FALCOWN Punch!

I will start by saying I didn't die. I have never really been affected by ECM, and if I have it obviously hasn't left a lasting mark as I can't remember.

I logged in the other day to set a new skill in the queue. I always quickly undock hit D-scan just to see if there is something to have a quick fight. Spotted a condor at a novice site. Redocked jumped in a Dual Prop Atron and went to say hello. He was 20km off the acceleration gate, I burnt for him and managed to land a scram “interesting” I was expected a kitey LML condor, but the rockets he had fitted were hitting me hard..

Suddenly.

Two. Yes TWO Falcons decloak and a Retribution tags along a few seconds later.

Although he was brawler fit he did still have a MWD, so I managed to pull range and warp. But that didn't stop me from throwing my toys out the pram, declaring:

Alek Azam: This game is retarded.. RAGELOG

Miura Bull: #lel