EVE-Mag.com

Can a Tractor Tractor a Can?

Published on 03. Jul, 2009 ... written by Ecaf Ersa.

CrazyKinux charges EVE bloggers everywhere with the task of writing about the mechanic they’d most like to see removed from EVE. I’m not technically a blogger so I don’t expect to be considered for any of the prizes that are on offer but the topic intrigued me so I thought I’d throw my idea into the ring whether it is eligible for the competition or not. I expect a ton of submissions on the topics of sovereignty and local chat so I figured I go with something a bit lower key.

Welcome to the ninth installment of the EVE Blog Banter and its first contest, the monthly EVE Online blogging extravaganza created by CrazyKinux. The EVE Blog Banter involves an enthusiastic group of gaming bloggers, a common topic within the realm of EVE Online, and a week to post articles pertaining to the said topic. The resulting articles can either be short or quite extensive, either funny or dead serious, but are always a great fun to read! Any questions about the EVE Blog Banter should be directed here. Check out other EVE Blog Banter articles at the bottom of this post!

“Last month Ga’len asked us which game mechanic we would most like to see added to EVE. This month Keith “WebMandrill” Nielson proposes to reverse the question and ask what may be a controversial question: Which game mechanic would you most like to see removed completely from EVE and why? I can see this getting quite heated so lets keep it civil eh?”

To kick off I ask the question: If such a thing existed in reality, what would a tractor beam know about a jetcan?

Ignoring the philosophical discussion of whether a piece of technology can “know” anything at all, personally I reckon that it can’t tell anything except that it’s an object that it can lock on to and apply it’s force to.

So why is it that when my alt, that is not in the same corp as my main, attempts to tractor over a can or wreck that is “owned” by my main, the tractor beam politely informs me that I can’t do that because it doesn’t belong to me?

How the hell does it know that? And more importantly why does it care?

In the real world we have many examples of technology that can enable you to break the law. Connected to my TV is a device that can record copyrighted programmes and films onto VHS tapes or DVDs. Not only that, I can also use it to copy a tape or DVD contained copyrighted material onto another DVD or tape. It lets me because the technology can also be used in a lawful way but more significantly because the company that made it didn’t break any laws in doing so. They merely pointed out to me that copyright laws exist and left it to me to act responsibly in it’s use.

Another example where the legality is much more blurred is with in-car radar detection devices which warn you of radar based speed cameras nearby. It is not illegal, at least not in the UK, to have a device “listening” to the radar frequency, only to actually receive a signal on it. This device doesn’t even really have a legal application, at least not in the form it is provided, yet the manufacturers broke no laws making it and possession of one is not illegal so they continue to be made.

Consider also the fact that, in the world of EVE, theft isn’t even really considered much of a crime. CONCORD will not respond to it and merely turn a blind eye for fifteen minutes while you take your revenge, should you so desire to. Add to this the fact that, with wrecks, whilst the contents may be considered to belong to the character that delivered the killing blow, the wreck itself is not, hence why you can salvage anybody’s wreck.

I can, however, see why CCP added this “legality detection” mechanic into tractor beams – it’s a sop to the jet can miners. As a part-time member of this group of EVE players I know all too well just how annoying it is to have your ore stolen and not have many realistic options of dealing with it in your mining barge. I can imagine the uproar that that would ensue if the ore thieves could just tractor your can out of your reach from 19kms away.

Despite the fact that I use jetcans to store my freshly mined ore, let’s throw the counter-point into the mix here: jet cans are not intended to be in-space secure storage for your ore. The somewhat inappropriately named “Giant” Secure Container is there for that purpose. Not only is it secure but you can anchor it against tractor beams too! The problem is with that misnomer – they are not giant at all. A Hulk pilot with decent skills will fill the 3,900m3 it provides in about 2-3 minutes making it pretty ineffective without at least two haulers at your disposal.

So CCP, how about a giant can that is actually giant? Even 10,000 m3 would be enough to allow your hauler to zip to the station and back. This would solve the problem to jetcan miners but how about missioners who already have to deal with ninja salvagers coming into their mission and taking their hard earned salvage. Well that one is simple, just make the wreck the property of the killing character, just as the contents are, thereby removing a legitimate gripe of many mission runners in the process. Then we can get rid of this crazy mechanic with absolutely no basis in reality.

This could also open up opportunities for a wider range of applications for tractor beams. How about trapping a pod to prevent it from escaping? Even more extreme could be the ability to scoop said pod to your cargohold although, on second thoughts, that is probably too extreme! With this you would be able to tractor a frigate inside the range of your battleship’s webber. You’ve sacrificed a high slot for something that may be of no use so there is give and take there.

So whilst exploring this line of thought, let’s point out that surely a tractor beam should exert pulling force at both ends of the “line” based on relative mass? Clearly a dreadnought isn’t going to budge if it tractors a frigate but try this round the other way. You’re only going to pull yourself closer to the dread, but then couldn’t that be used to create an additional speed boost through the slingshot effect?

Ooh, now here’s a wicked idea – how about a starbase tractor array? Sniper BS fleet? Not for long!

And right here a whole world of possibilities open up before us!

Have fun with whatever you happen to be doing and good luck to all the real bloggers with your entries which are all linked below for you to check out!

1. Diary of a Space Jockey, Blog Banter: BE GONE!
2. EVE Newb, (EVE) Remove You
3. Miner With Fangs, Blog Banter – It’s the Scotch
4. The Eden Explorer, Blog Banter: The Map! The Map!
5. The Wandering Druid of Tranquility, “Beacons, beacons, beacons, beacons, beacons, mushroom, MUSHROOM!!!”
6. Inner Sanctum of the Ninveah, Kill the Rats
7. Mercspector @ EVE, Scotty
8. EVE’s Weekend Warrior, EVE Blog Banter #9
9. A Merry Life and a Short One, Eve Blog Banter #9: Why Won’t You Die?
10. Into the unknown with gun and camera, Blog Banter – The Hokey Cokey
11. The Flightless Geek, EVE Blog Banter #9: Remove a Game Mechanic
12. Sweet Little Bad Girl, Blog Banter 9: Who is Nibbling at My House?
13. One Man and His Spaceship, Blog Banter 9: What could you do without?
14. Life in Low Sec, EVE Blog Banter #9: Stop Tarnishing My Halo
15. Cle Demaari: Citizen, Blog Banter #9: Training for all my men!
16. A Mule in EVE, He who giveth, also taketh away?
17. Dense Veldspar, Blog Banter 9
18. Morphisat’s Blog, Blog Banter #9 – Randomness Be Gone !
19. Facepalm’s Blog, EVE Blog Banter #9: What a new pilot could do without
20. Memoires of New Eden, You’re Fired
21. Kyle Langdon’s Journeys in EVE, EVE Blog Banter #9 Titans? What’s a Titan?
22. Achernar, The gates! The gates are down!
23. Speed Fairy, EVE Blog Banter #9: Down with Downtime!
24. I am Keith Neilson, EVE Blog Banter #9-F**K Da Police
25. Ripe Lacunae, The UI… Where do I begin… (Eve Blog Banter #9)
26. Clown Punchers, EvE Blogs: What game mechanic would you get rid of?
27. Estel Arador Corp Services, You’ve got mail
28. Epic Slant, Let Mom and Pop Play: EVE Blog Banter #9
29. Deaf Plasma’s EVE Musings, Blog Banter #9 – Removal of Anchoring Delay of POS modules
30. Podded Once Again, Blog Banter #9 – Do we really need to go AFK?
31. Postcards from EVE, 2009.07.02.00.29.06
32. Harbinger Zero, Blog Banter #9 – War Declarations & Sec Status
33. Warp Scrammed, Blog Banter 9 – Never Too Fast
34. Thoughts from an Accidental Minmatar Revolutionary, EVE Blog Banter #9 – Aggression timers, WTs and Stargates
35. More articles as they are posted!

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PVP Revolutions – The Merlin(Revised)

Published on 15. May, 2009 ... written by ShardowRhino.

In this week of Eve-Mag we are debuting yet another new feature in which we shine the spotlight on the various ships seen flying around New Eden. Our goal is to go beyond the idea of simply throwing ship configurations at you. Instead we wish to give the reader an in depth look at the pros and cons of each particular ship, to include easy to fit configurations that will allow new players to jump right into the fray with a fighting chance. To help create a “Revolution” in PVP. A revolution in how some players see it. How others approach it. How others attempt to embrace it. A Revolution in the mindset of those who have feared and loathed the undertaking of PVP for a plethora of reasons, of which I will not attempt to list nor explain within this article.

Our goal is to build up the arsenal of Rookie PVPers, starting with Frigates and working up to larger classes of ships, to help ease the growing pains of PVP as much as possible. While we acknowledge the fact that many sites offer “setups” or “configurations” it is through my personal experience that such sites rarely have content suitable for lower SP players. When one can find a low SP requirement setup it is rarely “Rookie”friendly or to be more specific, friendly to their wallet.

We wish to help change the common misperception that PVP is out of reach of new players. We also wish to show that PVP is not only about T2 fitted Battleships, HACs and Recons but also includes Frigates, Destroyers and Cruisers. By creating and publishing setups which are sturdy,effective and easy to afford we hope to encourage this change. Rookies will soon find that getting kills does not start at 30,000,000 SP or two billion isk. Instead they will learn that they can easily afford to PVP. That even with 1.6mil SP a Rookie can easily contribute to fleet operations within their Corporation or Faction.

By blunting the edge of defeat and empowering PVP Rookies with knowledge we hope to tempt them from the safety and boredom that is the hangar. We believe that once a player gets a taste for PVP they will start to resemble a shark that detects blood in the ocean. To help create a desire, a frenzy and “appetite for destructi

on” is the ultimate goal of this feature. So forget what you have been told before about your inability to PVP and start the revolution within as you help leave a wake of destruction with your fleetmates!

Let us begin……

Race: Caldari

Class: Frigate

Hull: Merlin

The Merlin is the heavy hitter of the Caldari’s Frigate class ships. With its bonuses to shield resistance and hybrid optimal range this ship can take a beating most frigates could not hope to withstand, all the while fighting outside of web range. This is particularly useful for newer players that find themselves in a fleet taking on larger ships where maneuverability and speed are the key to surviving a firefight. As with all Frigates, once they lose their speed and maneuverability advantage against larger ships, they become nothing more then sitting ducks. With its small size and heavy resists the Merlin can prove to be a frustrating target for Cruisers and larger.

The bonuses of the Merlin are bound to be most attractive to 2 types of players. First off would be the Rookie pilots looking to bring some DPS to the fight or for those to nervous to rush headlong at another ship in as a dedicated “Tackler”. The other type of Pod Pilot the Merlin seems almost custom made for would be the aspiring Fleet Commander,or “FC” for short, participating in Faction Warfare. Both types of pilots would find the built in tank of the Merlin comforting, allowing both to keep their cool during a fight. The endurance of a fully fitted Merlin will give the Rookies extra time under fire, something that will eventually help remove some of the edge off of the adrenaline rush you can only find in EVE PVP, which is far from propaganda churned out to entice new players. The aspiring Commanders will gain additional time to lead his fleet of Frigates as he leaves fleet mates to server as tacklers while he provides supporting fire from range.

While the DPS of the Merlin is in fact lower, on average, when compared to other heavy Frigates of other factions, its range helps balance it out. The range allows the Merlin to engage most targets at warp gates and warp in points to FW complexes without having to close or camp a position. This allows the Merlin to forgo Afterburners and MWDs and invest the additional slot as well the PG/CPU into its tank and weapons. In EVE PVP a lot of players will take high damage per second versus range and average DPS. One thing Caldari pilots must remember is that not all fights are within 5km and with a web you can negate the speed the other player needs to close to their effective range. While they struggle to close you are continuously firing away, slowly ripping them apart, completely unopposed.

The Merlin’s mix of missiles and turret slots allows for flexibility in range and damage output. This helps to reduce the difference in DPS between the Merlin and other Frigates. While this can lead to shorter range set-ups using a mix of rockets and blasters, I feel the longer range configurations along with the durability of its tank will allow the Merlin to deal more damage over time. The range will also augment the tank as it allows the pilot to stay outside of the range of webifiers, smart bombs, medium neutralizers as well as NOS which can quickly mean the end for any Frigate. It is this overall flexibility that causes many players to doubt it, instead opting for faster, higher DPS Frigates as they are easier to understand. However a smart pilot should always take into account the possibilities a ship can offer before relegating it to the darkest corners of one’s hangar.

Configurations:

Setup: Standard fleet Merlin

Highs:
2x Standard Light Launchers
2x 125mm Railguns

Mids:
Small Shield Extender
Small Shield Booster
Warp Disruptor
Target Painter

Lows:
Damage Control 1
Overdrive Injector System

Effective HP: 2710
Damage Per Second: 24
Capacitor Endurance: 34 seconds

Pros:

The standard Fleet Merlin is a great starter ship for either new players to the game or to the PVP side of EVE. The Merlin’s resists in this configuration are supplemented by a shield extender and booster to help repair any damage taken during a fight. It’s Warp Disruptor allows it to help the fleet tackle any war targets they encounter and with the quick lock on time of a frigate. While it is not a dedicated “Tackler” every “point” helps in a fleet battle, be it a 5 on 5 or 100 on 100 fight, an additional “point” helps ensure that targets are unable to leave the fight. Rounding out the Mid slots is a Target Painter. The Target Painter is especially useful in a Caldari fleet as missile launchers gain the biggest benefits from a “TP”. The Fleet Merlin has exceptional range for a Frigate, striking out to an effective range of 24km allowing it to put fire on any target within seconds in most combat situations.

Cons:

The Merlin, again, is the heaviest of the Caldari Frigates and its emphasis is on tanking as opposed to speed. This makes the Merlin a slug against opposing Frigates. Due to the lack of a Stasis Webifier it cannot attempt to control the speed of hostile ships. This means fast, short range, high dps Frigates are bound to close quickly and stress the Merlin’s tank shortly. This will also lead to tracking issues against fast targets at short range. Also the Target Painter does not do much for the Merlin itself. Overall this setup is not recommended for roaming solo or in a gang that does not have enough Tacklers to keep short range Frigates from closing with the Merlin.

Conclusion:

The Fleet Merlin is a great starter ship for those looking to participate in PVP as part of a fleet. This makes it a great setup for those participating in Faction Warfare where fleets typically have a range of ship classes working together. The Merlin will be able to fire upon most targets before the bulk of the fleet and will help pin down a hostile ship. It also makes it an easy mark for his missile using fleetmates with its Target Painter. While the Merlin is still slow for a Frigate it was not designed to serve as a dedicated Tackler however it help bolster a fleets tackling ability. In the end the Fleet Merlin helps its friends in ways faster, short ranged Frigates rarely can.

Most new players will find that their Level 1 mission agents will hand out frigates as rewards making replacements relatively easy. Most players will find most of the mods during their missions further easing the pain of replacing combat losses. While the Merlin is not going to be putting out huge DPS it helps new PVP pilots gain experience in working as part of a fleet. The Target Painter and “point”, a “point” being a Scramber or Disruptor, gets the Rookie thinking about setups that are not pure tank or pure gank. Instead they will begin thinking about how to fit to help the whole instead of only themselves. I am sure that most FCs will agree with the concept of the setup even though they may have differences of opinion on weapons or speed. In the end the standard Fleet Merlin is a great starter PVP ship from which players can then branch out and explore the other areas of PVP all while starting strong in the mindset of working as part of a fleet.

Setup: Buffer Merlin  ::EDITED::

Highs:
2x ‘Malkuth’ Standard Missile Launcher
2x 125mm Carbide Railguns

Mids:
Medium Suborbinate Screen Stabalizer (Medium Shield Extender)

2x Invulnerabilty Field Sheild Hardeners

Prototype Sensor booster (scan resolution script)

Lows:
2x Micro Auxiliary Power Core

Effective HP: 5071
Damage Per Second: 25 with Iron hybrid rounds, 39 with Anti-matter
Capacitor Endurance: 1 minutes, 6 seconds

Pros:

While slightly different then your basic Merlin setup this configuration focuses on defenses which will allow the pilot to endure more punishment then normal. This is effective for plexing in FW where even a few seconds more can mean success or failure. The weapons load allows the pilot to strike at range, something that is useful for taking down plex rats while still being able to support your tacklers holding the warp-in point at a moment’s notice. As the enemies start to close in the pilot can swap the Iron Hybrid rounds for Anti-Matter rounds, increasing his DPS.

Cons:

This setup does not look to remedy what some would consider the problems with the Merlin. Without a Micro Warp Drive or Afterburner this configuration is still a slug. It also lacks a web and “point”. This means the Merlin pilot is unable to contribute to the fleet’s ability to tackle.

Conclusion

This config clearly needs to work as part of a fleet as it is unable to tackle its own targets. While useful in a fast roaming fleet made up of Frigates and Destroyers due to its range, DPS and tank it is the wrong configuration to bring to a fleet with larger ships. In mixed fleets, all Frigates should be equipped with at least a Warp Jammer or Disruptor due to their lock on speed when compared to Cruisers and larger. This configuration is also great for Faction Warfare “plexing” where its range can help pick off rats while being in effective range to support Tacklers quickly.

Edit Notes: The Buffer Merlin setup previously posted was a prototype for the configuration and stored in EFT under the same name. The revised Buffer Merlin is the configuration that I have used many times while a part of the Amarr Militia in 2008. For those that did not see the incorrect set up the difference was primarily in the midslots. Its effective hitpoints went from 2.6  to 5,071. Also its DPS went from 16/20 to 25/39 (Iron/Anti-Matter).

Setup: The Berlin(short range Tackler)

Highs:
2x Light Ion Blasters
2x Rocket launchers

Mids:
1MN Micro warp drive
Stasis webifier
Warp Scrambler
Small shield extender

Lows:
Micro Auxiliary Power Core
Overdrive Injector

Effective HP: 1792
Damage Per Second: 35
Capacitor Endurance: 48 seconds

Pros:

The Ion Blasters and Rocket Launchers give this Merlin configuration greater punch then the typical weapon load out. The Merlin can make for a great tackler against larger targets, especially post QR due to its small signature radius. The small signature radius backed with the shield resist bonus will help ensure the Merlin’s survival. The Microwarp could be replaced with an Afterburner which will reduce the strain on the capacitor but reduce its top speed.The Warp Scrambler backed by a Stasis-Webifier will turn most PVP ships into sitting ducks waiting to be ripped apart by the Merlin’s fleetmates.
Suggestion: If the pilot is feeling confident they could drop the small shield extender and fit a Sensor Booster with a Scan Resolution Script to increase the Berlin’s chance of catching hostile ships before they warp off.

Cons:

The Merlin is the largest of the Caldari frigs designed with damage and resistance in mind making it a ranged fighter. When facing other Frigates a player will quickly realize that lighter designs have the advantage of speed which can be frustrating if the target is attempting to flee. The Merlin should only be used to tackle ships larger then itself as it will need more time to lock and close with the target then lighter Frigates such as the Condor.

Conclusion:

The “Berlin” configuration attempts to address some of the problems with most Merlin setups, that is speed, tackle and DPS. While the Berlin can close with targets and deliver higher levels of damage when compared to setups with light missiles and rails, it puts the pilot within range of Scramblers as well as Webs. Both will rob the ship of its speed leaving it unable to close meaning it will not be able to deal damage. In spite of this it allows a Caldari pilot to serve as a short ranged Tackler for mixed ship class fleets. They will be able to deal higher levels of damage then normal while helping their fleet lock down targets and hopefully bag additional kill mails. In the end this config is best used as a durable tackler for a mixed fleet or as part of a fleet of fast ships where its MWD allows it to keep up with running battles.

The Capacitor is limited when all mods are in use so the pilot must take care to monitor its level. The pilot should always give his Scrambler and Webifier priority over weapons fire. A tackler is useless if it cannot do its job! When necessary, shut off the blasters and stick to your rockets and tackling gear. The Micro-Warpdrive should be used when closing with the target and shut off within scram range as the drain on the cap and increase in signature radius will work against you by making you a bigger target for hostile ships.

Setup: BloodSucker!

Highs:
2x Small Nosferatu
2x Small Rudimentary Energy Destabalizers (small energy destabalizer)

Mids:
Initiated Warp Disruptor
Stasis Webifier
Small Converse Deflection Catalyzer (small shield booster)

Lows:
Micro Auxiliary Powercore
Overdrive Injector System

Effective HP: 1480
Damage Per Second: 0
Capacitor Endurance: Negligible

Pros:

The “BloodSucker” is based upon an encounter I had recently with a hostile Merlin pilot in FW. I was in a Moa thinking I had an easy kill in front of me but I was in for a surprise. This configuration is what I believe the pilot was flying. Due to its small size and ability to tackle backed with a boost in speed,thanks to an Afterburner, the Merlin was able to slip under my effective range with my medium rails making it extremely hard to hit. The shots that did land were reduced by the Merlin’s natural resistances. Once I had fired the Merlin proceeded to tackle me and begin draining my capacitor. Any damage I had inflicted was soon repaired. I was left there kind of embarrassed as I was unable to keep my tank online while firing at this little nugget that was unable to kill me. Thankfully he didn’t have friends with him.

Cons:

While the pilot that I encountered mounted a rocket launcher, it did virtually nothing as my natural regeneration exceeded his damage output. The fight ended as a stalemate as we had a good laugh in local and decided to disengage. The pilot had mentioned that he was able to beat other Frigates using the setup but mounting a single rocket launcher. Against Cruisers and above, the DPS of the launcher is going to prove useless. The cons of the above configuration is that you will be unable to deal any damage, leaving that role to your fleet mates. While he left my Moa unable to use most of it’s guns throughout the fight a ship with light drones would still pose a serious threat to the Merlin.

Conclusion:

The BloodSucker proved to be a nasty surprise. A surprise that would have allowed a hostile Cruiser to rip apart my Moa with out effort due to the capacitor drain the Merlin was able to execute. Thus bringing down my tank. The same tank that has had several groups of Cruisers and larger pounding away for some time before taking me down. While this configuration does not have a rocket launcher it increases its ability to drain the target.

The Merlin should feel free to burn up his capacitor in order to make use of the Nos. With the Afterburner, tackle gear, shield booster and destabalizers this should take little to no effort. The shield booster combined with the Merlin’s resists should negate any shots the target can land. In fact most of the damage the Merlin repaired during our fight was thanks to my own capacitor recharge rate being used against me. I must also mention the cap drain was exceptionally fast due to my own tank and weapons and his destabalizers and shield boosting which allowed the Nos to do their job.

This setup is extremely specialized and even with the removal of one Nos or Destabalizer and mounting a rocket launcher, the setup is best used as part of a gang where another ship can provide the firepower as you lock down and drain the target. This would be best accomplished with a wing mate on a safe spot just outside of overview range. They can then quickly join the fight once the Merlin knows that the target is unable to warp off and cannot use the warpgate. I can see a group of 2-3 frigates having great success against solo cruisers and maybe even against Battlecruisers that do not rely upon drones for its offensive capability.

:By Request:

Setup: SlowMo-Solo PVP(Warning:This fit is purely EFT theory at the moment!)

Highs:

2x ‘Malkuth’ Standard Missile Launchers

2x 150mm Carbide Railguns

Mids:

‘Fleeting’ Warp Disruptor

‘Initiated Harmonic’ Warp Scrambler

2x ‘Langour’ Drive Disruptor (Stasis Webifier)

Lows:

Micro  Auxiliary Power Core

200mm Crystalline Carbonide Plates

Effective HP: 2665

Damage Per Second: 29 w/Iridium charges , 40 w/Anti-Matter charges

Capacitor Endurance: Stable

Pros:

While the Merlin is slow for a Frigate this setup will be able to turn even the fastest Frigate into an even slower space brick with its 2 Webifiers and Warp Scrambler. It can also slap a point on a target out to 20km with its Warp Disruptor which also serves as a means of deception. Its pair of 150mm Railguns and dual Light Missile Launchers ensure that it can return fire on any hostile Frigate. The 200mm plate offers the Merlin additional protection while allowing you to carry a more then impressive array of tackling gear.

Cons:

This setup relies upon deception in order to work so do not expect this setup to work against the same pilot twice,  assuming you win.  1 vs 1 fights against a speed tank Frigate shoud, theoretically, give you the win. Against a buffer tanked ship with similar range will likely send you home in a pod.

I would not suggest using this Setup while next to a gate as it will take a while for the target’s speed to bleed away. Your best bet would be to sit off the gate and have the target come to you and away from the gate. This will allow you time to bleed their speed without them getting smart and jumping away.

Conclusion:

Again this configuration is EFT theory mixed with personal experience with the Merlin using other setups. At first glance this Merlin appears to be your typical long range Merlin that is lacking in tackle. Of the Frigate battles I have had in the past,thanks to Faction Warfare, the Merlin was my favorite ship and hostiles treated it the same way. Most wartargets that I encountered were Micro Warp Drive using speed machines. They simply rushed at my Merlin to close the range and take advantage of their higher DPS but extremely short ranged weaponry. Normally this would give them the advantage as their speed gave my Railguns hell, making it difficult to land a shot. My launchers however did hit but I was still left with 50% of my effective DPS sitting there, useless. This resulted in a few destroyed Merlins.

To a hostile Frigate pilot a Merlin is a sitting duck waiting to be picked off without a dedicated tackler supporting it. At first this setup appears to be a standard Merlin, long range weapons and a Warp Disruptor. This allows the target to believe he can simply MWD in,engage and MWD out of Disruptor range if it gets to hot for him.  If he believes he can take you down he has you pointed and most likely webbed. Even without the web he holds an advantage in speed meaning you cannot escape. Of course “All warfare is based upon Deception.” a bit of Sun Tzu if you will.

The pilot is now thinking how you wanthim to think. They kick in their MWD and rush you, laughing at your Disruptor’s pathetic attempt to tackle their 3km/s+ Frigate. You start to fire but they know its a matter of seconds before their greater DPS is in range and your rails become a joke. They get within web range and notice their speed is dropping, “big deal” until they realize they are dual webbed. As soon as they are reacting to that problem they realize their MWD just shut off and their speed is dropping even more. You turn off the Disruptor and the capacitor levels off around 50%.  You realize that you now control the range of the fight as your weapons continue to hammer away at a target that has no serious response.

While I have not used this setup before I will be sure to make use of it soon. Once I have a number of fights under my belt using this setup I will revise it with information based upon its performance. Feel free to leave a comment on its performance if you decide to try this or any other setup.

Final Words:

These configurations can easily be modified by most pilots with an average of 3 in the related skills. These configurations are also in no way,shape or form the only setups possible. Instead these setups are meant to give the Rookie PVPer solid configurations from which to build upon. As the player gains additional SP, Isk and PVP experience they will find new ways to fit their ships that will bring them success against their opponents. Our goal is to get the thought process started as well as to encourage players to take a risk on a great aspect of the game. So good luck and happy hunting!

Tip: Since Railguns and Blaster deal Kinetic and Thermal damage I would suggest loading your launchers with EM and or Explosive missiles. By determining what kind of tank the enemy has may allow you to switch ammo types. While most people will say that changing ammo in a fight is suicide I have found in many FW plex fights,while using a Merlin, that I was able to do so successfully. Based off of the damage information saved I realized that switching to a different flavor of Missile that I matched and exceeded the damage output I would have had if the switch was not made. Also covering all 4 damage types allows you to strike at their weakness with at least 1 weapon which beats striking it with zero weapons, instead focusing fire on its strengths.

Tip: If you missions with any corp within the Caldari State you will be able to apply your Loyalty Points (LP) towards “faction ammo”. Doing so allows you to aquire Caldari Navy Hybrid charges and missiles. While the damage output may seem small when compared to the cost, in PVP you want every advantage possible no matter how slight it may be. If you must choose 1 type due to cost I would suggest Caldari Navy Small Anti-Matter rounds as the bulk of the Merlin’s DPS is from its Railguns.

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POE #1: Things all players should know

Published on 15. May, 2009 ... written by Jacob Mei.

Picture credit: Davik Rendar

Race, bloodline and sex are purely aesthetic in nature as players are not bound to their races ship types and there is no lock in to any profession. You may start as a miner and turn out to be a professional hit man.

While EVE forces you to select a gender , unlike other MMOs, it means nothing in game. Male or Female means nothing beyond the look of your avatar within the game and until CCP finishes its “walkable” stations your avatar is a mere mugshot. Players do not get a bonus or penalty to their skills or attributes based upon the gender of their avatar. Also, one should not expect to receive isk for ./dancing around public areas such as Jita 4-4. If you make such an attempt, it is my sincere hopes that you get suicide ganked.

EVE also lets you select an Empire from which your avatar is from and gives you their frigate skill at level 2-3 on average. Beyond this initial ship skill you are not bound by any rules or regulations as to which ships you can train and eventually fly. A player may start as an Amarrian with “Amarr Frigate” at level 3 but with a little isk to buy a skill book that character can be cruising around New Eden in a Rifter, all within a day. The same is true with weapons, as long as you have the isk for the skill books and are willing to dedicate the time to train , you can make use of any weapon system you desire.

Within each Empire there are several “bloodlines” and “careers” one can select from which seems interesting. It can be interesting and useful when it comes to creating a character that fills the role you wish them to fill seemlessly. Unfortunately most players have no clue as to what they want to do within EVE by merely looking at the log in screen as well as character generation screens. To be honest you can easily find EVE junkies of 2 or more years that have no clue as to what they want to become within EVE. It is a curse as well as a great game feature. Just like in Real Life you can decide what you want to do but if you cannot figure that out chances are you will be set adrift. Eventually everyone finds their way in RL as well as in EVE. No one should ever feel as though they must stick to their starter “package”. EVE is about exploring, blowing stuff up and building your own “Empire”.

Go out there and find new and interesting things to try and train for. But most of all, find what makes EVE fun for you and push it to the limit leaving your starting skill set behind you if you must. EVE was designed to be about “choice”, not choices you made at the character generation screen! In EVE, the only boundaries,limitations and handicaps are the ones you create in your mind.

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Introducing the “Proverbs of EVE”

Published on 15. May, 2009 ... written by Jacob Mei.

New Eve-Mag Feature: Proverbs of Eve

Its been awhile since I wrote anything that got published, real life has a tendency to demand all the free time of a college student when you least expect it though thankfully I did manage to find some time here and there.

Back in March during my spring break I stat down right before the next expansion hit and thought up of all the little tidbits of information that I thought new players, some of whom I thank for about three months of free game time, would need. These were one or two line, easy to remember, bits of knowledge that covered everything I could think of. Unfortunately even though the article was revised several times RL came calling and it went on the back burner, though looking back, that turned out to be a good thing. One day, ShardowRhino suggested that we take the many bits of info and go with a fortune cookie approach, so that is what we are doing.

Each week a Proverb of Eve (POE) will be published by various members of Eve-Mag. These will be quick bits of info, maybe a paragraph or two in length and a photo illustrating the point. They will be primarily targeted at newer and younger players but occasionally a POE may answer a question for older players. We hope you like this new feature!

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Noob! The First PVE Ships and Why!

Published on 24. Apr, 2009 ... written by Securitas Protector.

Kill NPC I: Amarr
-Amarr Tech I Ships

I’m sure many of you have at some point early in your EVE career decided that it would be a brilliant idea to take an Exequror or a Blackbird into a mission. You probably either lost it or left the mission feeling mystified and/or stupid because it didn’t work. For all of you who have not tried this yet, because you are too new or otherwise, good on you!

Of course, it’s one matter to know what not to fly in a mission, but it’s completely different to know what ships to fly and how to fit them. Here I’m going to cover every single Level 1 and Level 2 mission ship that will be realistically available to you early in your EVE career.

NOTE:
For all fits, please use Energy Weapons(Lasers) unless otherwise noted
All modules are Tech I unnamed – please upgrade according to your powergrid/CPU and skill capabilities for optimal results.

All “Recommended Skills” are not required, simply support skills that enhance efficiency.
Controlled Bursts III or IV, Energy Systems Operation III or IV, Energy Management III or IV, Small Energy Turret III or IV(for Frigates and Destroyers), and Medium Energy Turret III or IV (for Cruisers, and later on, Battlecruisers) are recommended for ALL Amarrian ships.

Vocabulary:

Pulse: If this is used in the context of a module, especially an armor repairer, shield booster, or afterburner, this means manually engaging and disengaging (click on the icon to engage, click again to turn off) a module to conserve capacitor as needed. A good example of this is to use an armor repairer, turning it on when you are taking significant amounts of damage, and then turning it off again once you are not.

Permatank: The ability of a ship to permanently engage it’s armor repairers or shield boosters, weapons, and every other energy-using module at the same time, indefinitely, without running out of energy.

Amarr
The Executioner:

While at first a seemingly capable mission ship, flying the Executioner even for a few minutes shows a completely different story. The 2/2/2 slot layout literally requires a pair of turrets in the high slots, however, what to do with the remaining 4 slots is a quandary. As per the description ingame, “The Executioner was designed specially to counter the small, fast raider frigates of the Minmatar Republic; thus it is different from most Amarr ships in favoring speed over defenses.” From this and our 2 low slots arises the problem with the Executioner as a low-skill mission ship. A low skilled speed-tanked ship cannot hope to evade all of the NPC’s, especially not if they’re using missiles, but that takes away the main difference of the Executioner from the other Amarrian frigates. Also, the capacitor on the Executioner is notoriously poor, and it is quite difficult to run both guns and an afterburner unless one fits many capacitor regeneration modules. While veterans can have fun blasting through a mission, for those new players(or old) that simply want to make as much ISK as fast as possible, the Executioner is not a contender.

Example Fit(Recommended):

High Slots:
2x Dual Light Beam Laser I, Standard S
Mid Slots:
2x Cap Recharger I
Low Slots
1x Small Armor Repairer I
1x Energized Adaptive Nano Membrane(or other Energized damage specific hardener)

Tactics: Orbit at optimal range and take down the closest enemies first; your beam lasers allow you long range so you can do this. To figure out your optimal range, undock from a station, right click on the icon of one of your lasers (make sure a crystal is loaded), and click “Show Info.” Go to “Attributes” and scroll down until you find “Optimal Range.” This is the range that you will do maximum potential damage up to. Keep in mind that you will be quite quite slow, so you’ll want to take out the fastest enemies as quickly as possible before they close range.

NOTE: This fit is not cap stable, either upgrade your modules, train more skills, or pulse the repairer(see vocabulary at top of article.)
Recommended Skills: Controlled Bursts III or IV, Energy Management III or IV, Amarr Frigate III or IV, Energy Systems Operation III or IV

Speed Fit(Not recommended for new players):
High Slots:
2x Dual Light Beam Laser I, Standard or Infrared S
Mid Slots:
1x Afterburner I
1x Tracking Computer I
Low Slots:
2x Overdrive Injector I

Tactics: Orbit at your optimal with the tracking computer on. Use Infrared crystals if you must get farther away, but at over 1KM/s with even Navigation I, if you’re careful you should be able to evade ANY Level 1 NPC

NOTE: Cap lasts 2:20 with no skills, Velocity is 992 m/s with no skills Optimal of 9.3KM – 12 based on crystals used.
Recommended Skills: Controlled Bursts III or IV, Navigation IV, Afterburner III or IV, Fuel Conservation III, Energy Management III or IV, Energy Systems Operation III or IV

The final verdict: Although a powerful and fast PVP vessel, especially in the area of tackling(preventing an enemy ship from warping or moving quickly) due to it’s high speed, the Executioner does not have the durability or endurance to become a major contender for the premier Amarrian mission Frigate.
Securitas’ Rank: 2/5 Stars

The Crucifier:

The Crucifier suffers the same basic problems as the Executioner: Low armor and shields, very limited slot layout, and a lack of useful bonuses. It’s intended for Tracking Disruption and is an admirable – and annoying for your opponent – PVP ship, but EWAR just doesn’t cut it in missions.

The final verdict: The Crucifier is a very annoying and effective PVP ship due to it’s electronic warfare bonus, specifically in the area of tracking disruption. A Tracking Disruptor, or “TD” for short, hampers the ability of the target ship to hit fast-moving ships via slowing down the turret tracking speed, or, if loaded with the correct script, lowers the range at which an enemy turret ship can effectively fight. The change brought on by a TD is drastic – over 50% reduction in tracking or optimal range per TD on a well-skilled pilot’s ship. However, for those tempted to use this ship in missions, there are a few very good reasons why this is not a good idea. First of all, the MAXIMUM number of TD’s one can fit is 3, meaning 3 targets tracking disrupted. A typical mission might have 10-30 enemy NPC’s, meaning that you cannot negate the damage of more than three of them, no matter how effective your electronic warfare is. Additionally, many missions will have enemy missile boats, which Tracking Disruptors have no effect on.

Secondly, the Crucifier lacks a large amount of armor or capacitor, meaning that it can neither take a lot of damage or sustain this for very long. Once one adds the fact that the Crucifier has only TWO damage unbonused turret slots and only space for one light drone, the Crucifier becomes largely useless in missions.

The Tormentor:

While the description says that the Tormentor has “strong defenses that make it a tough opponent to crack,” the Tormentor is nothing of the sort. It has less armor than every Amarrian frigate save for possibly the Impairor, and with a lack of bonuses for weapons or tank. This, combined with the fact that the Tormentor only has 2 unbonused turret hardpoints, makes it a somewhat less than desirable PVE ship.

The final verdict: An excellent mining frigate but the Tormentor has no place on the battlefield. Ever.

Example Fit:
NONE – Don’t try this

The Inquisitor:

Despite it’s initial appearance, the Inquisitor is a quite potent mission-running frigate – with the right skills of course. Because of it’s lack of capacitor-using weapons and it’s (relatively) long missile range, the Inquisitor can either be speed-tanked, orbiting at high speed from 20km out and pounding it’s targets, or at relative close range with a fair tank. It has no resistance bonuses and it’s damage is rather lackluster, especially because you’ll be using your lows to tank or fly fast, not to increase your damage, but from personal experience this ship can easily complete any Level I mission. Be wise in how you fit it, for it’s slots are also limited.

Other advantages to the Inquisitor come from it’s missile-based weapons systems. Using missiles as your prime method of damage enables you to ignore tracking. In other words, as long as a target is in range and not outrunning your missiles which is not a concern in missions, you will always hit for full damage, or at least as much as NPC speeds and resistances allow, never having to worry about whether or not they are avoiding your turrets by moving too quickly. Additionally, missile launchers use no capacitor energy, allowing more energy for the rest of a pilot’s modules, for example an armor repairer or afterburner. Yet another advantage is the ability to choose one’s damage type, although in almost every single case using Sabretooth (EM damage) missiles on an Inquisitor is better, because the ship receives a 10% damage bonus per level to EM missile damage, but only a 5% damage bonus to all other types of missiles. However, in some rare cases, such as elite Guristas rats (Dread ship type), it is more advantageous to use other missile types due to said rats having EXTREMELY high EM resistances.

Example Fit:
High Slots:
3x Standard Missile Launcher I, Sabretooth Light Missile
Mid Slots:
2x Cap Recharger I
Low Slots:
1x Small Armor Repairer I
2x Specific Energized Plating I

NOTE: The Inquisitor has a 18.8 KM range with no missile skills. Additionally, you should only need to pulse(vocabulary section above) the armor repairer as it is NOT cap stable. It does not fit with no skills, but with minimum skills, such as Engineering III, and Electronics III, with possibly Weapon Upgrades III, it should.

Tactics: This fit has no afterburner, so the best you can do is to fly in a straight line, which will help you avoid SOME fire, while pummeling the closest targets(or fastest) with missiles first. If you come up with your own afterburner fit, orbit 20km away with the afterburner on and shoot enemies one at a time.

Recommended Skills: Missile Projection III or IV, Missile Bombardment III or IV, Weapon Upgrades III

The final verdict: A capable mission running craft, the Inquisitor is an uncommon sight in PVE because of it’s missile-based weapons, but nonetheless it gets the job done admirably for those with the missile skills to use it.
Securitas’ Rank: 5/5 Stars

The Magnate:

The Magnate looks cool and is great for finding safed-up enemies with the use of probes and a probe launcher. That said you should never put this ship in harm’s way, especially in a mission, for the Magnate was never designed with combat in mind. It has only 2 turret hardpoints and only 2 low slots, limiting both tank and damage severely.

The final verdict: You can fly this in PVE for the lulz, but don’t expect to get out of that mission anytime soon – or alive, for that matter.

Example Fit:
NONE – Don’t try this

The Punisher:

For the vast majority of Amarrians, the Punisher is the mission-running Frigate of choice. It’s the toughest Amarrian frigate, although it suffers from the same problems as the Maller; plenty of capacitor, plenty of tank, plenty of fitting, but very little damage. One remedy for this is to use an afterburner and close ranged pulse turrets, although some of the BEST fits for the Punisher use autocannons because of their complete lack of capacitor use and low fitting requirements. Seeing as the Punisher loses no damage or bonuses over using them, this is a wise decision in many circumstances. Be advised, however, the thing is a bit slow unless fitted with speed-enhancing modules.

Example Fit(Lasers, for purists, Recommended):
High Slots:
3x Dual Pulse Laser I, Standard S(to save capacitor)
Mid Slots:
1x Cap Recharger I
1x Afterburner I
Low Slots:
3x Specific Energized Plating(use named to save on CPU, you’ll need it for low skills)
1x Small Armor Repairer I

Tactics: Try to fly away from opponents to “kite” them with the afterburner on. This should get you a large amount of enemies following you directly, maximizing tracking and minimizing the damage placed on you. The way this works is that the NPCs are barreling straight towards you and presenting targets that are not moving laterally. Meanwhile, these same NPCs probably cannot match your range or speed, and therefore cannot hit you. Also, because you are taking less damage, you won’t have use the Armor Repairer as often, saving capacitor.
Recommended Skills: Controlled Bursts III or IV, Small Energy Turret III or IV, Afterburner III or IV, Fuel Conservation III

NOTE: Once again pulse the Repairer or get capacitor skills – very necessary for Amarr vessels.

Example Fit(Autocannons, Recommended):
High Slots:
3x 150mm Light Autocannon I, EMP S
Mid Slots:
1x Cap Recharger I
1x 1MN Afterburner I
Low Slots:
2x Specific Energized Plating
1x Gyrostabilizer I
1x Small Armor Repairer I

Tactics: Use your afterburner to chase down ships and pummel them at close range. Try to get within 2KM before you start firing. Only activate your armor repairer when you have the capacitor and need it.
Recommended Skills: Weapon Upgrades III or IV, Afterburner III or IV, Fuel Conservation III, Small Projectile Turret III or IV

NOTE: In almost all cases, one should not use non-racial weapons systems on ships because of “wasted” bonuses. The Punisher, Maller, and Prophecy are all exceptions to this rule due to their 10% laser capacitor bonus per level, but lack of any other laser bonuses. Because projectile-class weapons use NO capacitor whatsoever, and have lower fitting requirements (but also lower damage), they are excellent matches for these vessels. However, if one does not have Projectile weapon skills, it is usually not in a newer player’s interest to specifically train these.

The final verdict: The Punisher is either the best Amarrian PVE frigate, or ties with the Inquisitor, depending on your skills with their respective weapons systems(Lasers vs Missiles). Definitely something to put in your hangar.
Securitas’ Rank: 5/5 Stars

The Coercer:

While having plenty of damage, lightning-fast tracking, and a huge and very useful optimal range bonus, the Coercer is a less-than-optimal mission running ship. Twice to three times as expensive as the Punisher, with a larger signature radius and slower speed, making it easier to hit, and a weaker tank, as well as limited low slots, condemn this otherwise promising craft. That said if fit correctly with high skills it can “gank” it’s way through Level I and very easy Level II missions with ease.

Example Fit(Lasers, Not Recommended):
High Slots:
7x Dual Light Pulse Laser I, Standard S
Mid Slots:
1x Cap Recharger I
Low Slots:
1x Small Armor Repairer I
3x Specific Energized Plating

Tactics: Shoot the ships closest to you first.
Recommended Skills: Controlled Bursts III or IV, Small Energy Turret III or IV, Weapon Upgrades III or IV

Example Fit: (Gank, High Skills):
High Slots:
7x Dual Modulated Pulse Energy Beam I, Standard S
Mid Slots:
1x Cap Recharger II
Low Slots:
1x Small Armor Repairer II
3x Heat Sink II

NOTE: First of all, the above fit is intended as an example “gank”(killing enemies before they kill you) fit, not one to be used by newer players – just a way to show newer players how this would work. This is not cap stable and should ONLY be flown if you have the skills to fit all of the above with ease. It has a 10KM range and does 136 DPS with good skills. If you know how to manually pilot your ship and avoid fire as much as possible, you will blow through missions.

Tactics: Shoot the ships that are closest to you first; with your damage you should melt any Level I NPC within seconds

The final verdict: Fun to fly and daring, but not very tough, and one midslot presents limited options, forcing one to choose between capacitor stability and speed or range. The Punisher is a much better choice, especially for newer players who want a higher degree of safety due to the Punisher’s tanking bonus. This is a great ship for those who already know exactly what they are doing as it presents a bit of a risk to a very new player, however, with it’s ability to blow through Level I missions with great ease.
Securitas’ Rank: 4/5 Stars

The Augoror:

This is the cheapest Amarrian cruiser, and thus, many newer pilots may be tempted to use it simply because it enables them to say “OMG I have a cruiser now!” However, the Augoror is a bad choice of solo mission ship for a variety of reasons. Note that it can make an excellent mission support cruiser, acting in a logistics capacity to assist other vessels.

Now, you ask, what’s wrong with it? Well, although that 10% armor bonus per level is very useful for making you survive longer and for PVP where a buffer tank is preferable, that very same bonus will also make you survive longer and not potentially indefinitely – in essence, it will not allow you to “permatank,” or to keep a repairer/hardeners on indefinitely, any better than a ship without the bonus. Basically, it does not change the RATE at which enemies chew through your armor, simply the TIME that it takes them to do it. Permatanking is practically a requirement for ANY mission ship in case you mess up on something or get warp scrambled. Alright, admittedly permatanking is not required, especially for higher-level players, however, for a new player just hopping into their first cruiser, it’s most desirable to be ready for anything.

Thus, the extra 50% armor even at Amarr Cruiser V does not help a mission running pilot in the least, especially considering the ship gets no gun bonuses, not even a capacitor usage bonus, and only has 3 turret hardpoints. The final death knell for the Augoror as a mission ship comes from it’s 5 m3 drone bay, meaning you can’t even rely on it’s paltry drone damage to complete a mission. In addition, the 10% Energy need bonus for Remote Energy Transfer modules also doesn’t help at all in a solo combat situation – who are you going to give energy to, the rats?

However, new players can help out older corp mates by giving them capacitor from the Augoror’s generous supply, assisting the older playing in tanking and keeping his guns running, so he might be able to fit more powerful (and power-hungry) weapons and a tougher tank than he might otherwise be able to do alone. In this case, the Augoror should be fit with Medium Energy Transfer Arrays in the highslots, and capacitor-boosting modules, such as mid-slot Cap Recharger’s and low-slot Capacitor Power Relays, to ensure that the Augoror pilot is able to keep the Energy Transfer Arrays operational. No tanking modules should be fitted, as the Augoror has a generous armor buffer, and the newer pilot will have plenty of time to warp out and back in. Additionally, this allows the ship to focus entirely on it’s logistical role.

The final verdict: Not a good mission ship, could possibly be used in extenuating circumstances. However, in a logistics role, this ship excels.
Securitas’ Rank: 1/5 Stars(a 0 is possible)
Recommended Skills: Energy Emission Systems III or IV, Amarr Cruiser III or IV

The Arbitrator:

The Arbitrator is the Amarrian Electronic warfare cruiser and only Tech 1 cruiser sized drone ship. While it’s bonuses don’t immediately appear to be helpful to a new mission runner, it is probably the best Tech 1 mission ship the Amarrian fleet has to offer. Because newer players often lack fitting skills such as Weapon Upgrades and Advanced Weapon Upgrades, or even Engineering and Electronics to V each, having drones as a main damage source frees up your powergrid and CPU for things other than guns.

Additionally, the capacitor is not continually being drained by the cap-intensive lasers, especially for a newer player that lacks capacitor skills. With a fitting of an afterburner, cap mods in the mids, and a full armor tank in the lowslots, even 4 lowslots is enough for any Level 2 mission. With Tech II drones this beast is capable for either PVP or PVE. However, for PVE work, the second bonus of 5% to Tracking Disruptor effectiveness per level is for the most part completely useless; the slots are better used for more cap mods to power your tank or drone mods to make your drones go faster.

The highs can be fitted with nosferatus and small guns for up-close work and aggressing groups of enemies, or drone links to increase the range of your drones.

Example Fit(Tank, Recommended):
High Slots:
1x Dual Light Pulse Laser I, Standard S(getting aggro)
2x Medium Nosferatu I
1x Drone Link Augmentor I
Mid Slots:
3x Cap Recharger I
1x 10MN Afterburner I
Low Slots:
3x Specific Energized Plating I
1x Medium Armor Repairer I

5x Hammerhead I(Gallente drones do more damage against pretty much all NPC’s regardless of resists, with a possible exception to some Blood Raider Elite frigates)
5x Hobgoblin I (Same as above)

Tactics: Move after the wrecks after you kill them to loot them, focus fire on the cruisers first(except for Elite Frigates, usually preceded with names like Dread, Elder, Shadow, etc) with your Hammerheads, recall drones after all cruisers are dead, launch Hobgoblins and engage all frigates due to the better tracking of light drones. BEFORE launching drones, fire your Dual Light laser at groups of enemies so that they attack you and not your drones.
Recommended Skills: Combat Drone Operation III or IV, Scout Drone Operation V, Drones V, Afterburner III or IV

The final verdict: With a combination of low powergrid and CPU needs, drone-based damage, and very low skill requirements, the Arbitrator is the preferred mission running ship in the Amarrian Tech I navy.
Securitas’ Rank: 5/5

The Omen:

Many turret-users out there may be tempted to use the Omen. Personally, I advise against this for a variety of reasons, not least of which is that the Omen is lacking in the powergrid department. While it does plenty of damage and is quite cap stable, newer players will find it difficult to fit longer range lasers, especially Heavy Beam Lasers without a fitting module or two. The 15 m3 of drone bay makes the Omen slightly more desirable, but once again it is outclassed in every area but damage by the Arbitrator and Maller. For more experienced players who like to blow through missions, the Omen is a good choice. However, for newer players, it simply requires too many support skills to be viable.

Example Fit(Beam Lasers, Not Recommended)
High Slots:
5x Focused Medium Beam Laser I
Mid Slots:
3x Cap Recharger I
Low Slots:
4x Specific Energized Plating I
1x Medium Armor Repairer I

3x Hobgoblin I

NOTE: This does not fit with basic skill, and in fact, one needs relatively high skills(Engineering IV, Electronics IV), to fit this, which is why the Omen is less than desirable as a cruiser. As well, the damage is less than an Arbitrator and the capacitor does not last long.

Tactics: Try to kite your enemies as best as possible, take out cruisers first, use the light drones against frigates, except in cases of Elite Frigates (Dread, Elder, Shadow, etc), which should be taken out VERY FIRST, as these will warp scramble and web you.
Recommended Skills: Controlled Bursts IV, Combat Drone Operation II

The final verdict: While not a bad choice, the presence of better alternatives leaves the Omen a secondary or “just-for-fun” choice.
Securitas’ Rank: 3.5/5

The Maller:

The Maller will find many fans among newer players due to it’s 5% bonus to armor resistances per level. As opposed to the Augoror’s 10% armor bonus per level, this resistance bonus actually makes a tank stronger instead of just lasting longer. Thus, for newer players without many tanking skills, the Maller will get the job done, albeit slowly. The problem with the Maller lies chiefly in it’s lack of a damage bonus; though it has the powergrid for a full rack of medium lasers AND a tank, it will certainly take a while to finish a mission. It has a very generous capacitor and a medium energy turret capacitor use bonus besides, and it’s tank makes it as hard as a rock. The Maller is the most expensive Amarrian cruiser though, and with the Arbitrator available for nearly half the price and as good or better to boot, the Maller simply is not needed. In fact, it’s tank is almost “too strong,” meaning that a player will end up overtanking for a mission, which is not a bad thing but definitely not a good one.

Example Fit(Tank, Recommended):

High Slots:
5x Focused Medium Pulse Laser I, Standard M
Mid Slots:
3x Cap Recharger I
Low Slots:
2x Medium Armor Repairer I
3x Specific Energized Plating I
1x Capacitor Power Relay I

NOTE: This is NOT cap stable and does not fit with no skills, you must train up some basic capacitor and fitting skills. It also takes advantage of the tanking bonus of the Maller with 2 repairers, if you don’t have enough capacitor pulse one repairer or upgrade the modules.

Tactics: Take out targets at your leisure, you have a very powerful tank, however, take out the cruisers first so you can begin taking less damage and pulsing the repper as soon as possible, once again with the exception of Elite Frigates, which you should take out as soon as possible.
Recommended Skills: Controlled Bursts IV, Amarr Cruiser III or IV, Energy Grid Upgrades II or III, Motion Prediction IV.

Example Fit(Alternative, Recommended):

High Slots:
5x 220mm Vulcan Autocannon I, EMP M
Mid Slots:
1x 10MN Afterburner I
2x Cap Recharger I
Low Slots:
1x Capacitor Power Relay I
3x Specific Energized Plating I
1x Damage Control I
1x Medium Armor Repairer I

NOTE: If you want to have a bit of fun, this is a bit more daring and less “tough” setup, but as the Maller receives no laser damage bonuses, it does not lose any damage, and in fact gains one from the close range weapons. The capacitor is more stable as well. Also, this fits with NO skills and you can upgrade quite a bit, whether to 425mm autocannons or to more tech II modules.

Tactics: Burn towards the cruisers first and take them out quickly, once again with the exception of Elite Frigates. With this ship you have to be VERY cautious with Elite Frigates as they can and will evade the tracking on your medium-sized guns, and you have no light drones to dispose of them. In this situation, I recommend burning away from them with the afterburner and hitting them as they follow you, or take them out before they can reach you.
Recommended Skills: Medium Projectile Turret III or IV, Motion Prediction III or IV, Afterburner III or IV

The final verdict: The Maller is a quite capable mission ship at any level, and higher-skill players will even be able to get some damage out of the thing, but it is outclassed in price and in ease of use by the Arbitrator.
Securitas’ Rank: 4.5/5

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Political Structures: Reaching for Liberty

Published on 27. Feb, 2009 ... written by Securitas Protector.

My alliance, Liberty., disbanded. Normally, no one would care, and maybe no one does anyway, but there are a few lessons that one could learn from how we went from an alliance with control over an entire region with 500+ players to nothing in a matter of a month and a half or so.

So, what did we do wrong, and what rules can we make out of it?
To start with…

Never overextend yourself as an alliance – don’t take more space than you can hold.

First of all, Liberty came in and took Pure Blind by storm, even though we only had maybe 200 members at the time. Sure, it was some feat, and it’s very tempting, taking a whole region by ourselves(with some help) like that, but ultimately it was a very bad decision in the long run. Even at our peak member count, we could not consistently patrol our space and defend our outlying miners and ratters. This made it so that ratting in any of our systems was a dangerous expedition, and even in our “home” of P-2, we couldn’t evict raiders, simply because we were spread too thin.

It is very important to regularly have gatecamps and operations within your own space, to reassure your members that it is in fact, your space.

Always utilize the space you have.

Secondly, except for a few possible exceptions, we did not utilize our space to it’s full extent. Mining operations were few and far between, as were ratting ops, or even PVP ops in general. If we ever ran complexes, I never really heard about it. Don’t get me wrong, Liberty was a great alliance and great fun to be in, but even when we had an entire region under our dominion, it just wasn’t used to it’s fullest extent. I feel that if we had continually ratted and mined and built things while in Pure Blind, perhaps we could have resisted the eventual invaders with much more strength.

Host operations and many of them

Always keep your pilots engaged and doing damage to enemies, it makes them feel important and as if they have a purpose. When I was in Liberty, ops were few and far between, even to defend our own space or gatecamp. The more busy you keep your pilots, the more they feel as if they are in an alliance worth their time, ISK, and energy.

Keep participation up

Always be sure to keep your pilots engaged, and to have punishments(that are actually carried out) for those who do not participate. Often someone would call out an op and attendance would number less than 50% of online, active pilots, even those in the same system as the rally for the op; they simply didn’t come because they were ratting or “doing something more important.”

Communication, communication, communication

This might seem like an obvious one, but always keep constant contact between Alliance leadership and the grunts on the front line. Having a sense of where you are today, what your purpose is, and where you’ll be tomorrow is important for any pilot. Often, new moves were announced or carried through with some pilots staying behind or leaving POS’s or other assets behind. New policies and initiatives were carried out without widespread knowledge.

Ventrilo and/or Teamspeak are great tools for communication, as well as forum boards and alliance mail. One of the things that Liberty did do right is mandating that ALL pilots had to be on Teamspeak ALL the time-although even then, communication was limited at best. I often found myself doing things without knowing why or how this was going to advance our cause.

Choose your friends wisely

When we did move into Pure Blind, we were surrounded by the massive, extremely powerful Northern Coalition, and faced an IRON that no longer held space. Although we were allowed to stay for some time, this was a recipe for disaster. We did form our own small coalition, but when it came down to it, most of our friends did not stay with us and in fact turned on us. Thus, when the NC supported IRON’s bid to retake Pure Blind, we fell in a matter of days, perhaps a week at most.

Keep your players excited and in touch – stay together

After we were kicked out of Pure Blind by the NC, we had a quick period where we were in Empire, not much was going on, and people were leaving by the droves. Perhaps some of them were simply dead weight, but after nothing eventful happens for a few weeks, it’s hard to blame those who leave. After a few weeks in Empire, we did move to Fountain as renters, however, not everyone moved and Liberty was split, with some players left in Empire and some who moved to Fountain. Ultimately this led to a less cohesive alliance and further breakdowns in communication.

In conclusion

To clarify, I’m not attacking Liberty or it’s leadership at all; we had some great people in charge, and that’s why we got as far as we did, I’m glad I was a part of Liberty while it lasted, and if it ever reforms I will not hesitate to rejoin. However, in retrospect, we didn’t always make the best decisions, which is to be expected – nobody’s perfect and as alliances go I feel that Liberty was a great one, but I’m laying down our mistakes here so we can all learn from them. I know I, and many other ex-Liberty members, already have.

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Political Structures: The Great Fall

Published on 14. Feb, 2009 ... written by Securitas Protector.

Band of Brothers disbands. Just weeks ago, this expression would have been met with laughs and disbelief. And now, because of the actions of one rogue director, it has come to pass. But I’m not here to give you the news and juicy details, I’m sure you all already know them. If you don’t, go look it up, it’s a very engaging read. No, I’m here to tell you that from my point of view, this is overall a good thing, and why.

Now, before you all begin to yell at me that BoB was a great alliance(or not) and this was foul play by the Goons and a rogue director, I’m not disagreeing with you. In fact, it was foul play, and that is the exact reason it was a good thing. Events like this are uncommon in most other games, if not in the intelligence/counter-intelligence area then in the pure scale. Much like the actions of the Guiding Hand Social Club or the massive scam that was the Eve Investment Bank hooked new players who had never seen this kind of thing in gaming before, an entire massive, very powerful alliance laid low by one rogue operative makes for an intriguing story, with plenty of room for head-shaking, dropped jaws, or cheering. Very few other games support metagaming of this scale, and thus this is one of the many selling points of Eve.

Even now I shake my head in amazement as I look back on these past weeks, and I recall my mouth hanging completely open the first time I heard the news. Whoever’s fault it was, whatever the reason this happened, it is weirdly compelling and brings an entire new side of EVE to light: the value of intelligence, counter-intelligence, and contacts. It embodies the fact that EVE embraces warfare on all fronts, from fleet engagements with capitals by the hundreds, to small gang warfare, to POS warfare, to economic warfare, to forum warfare(CAOD) and morale warfare, to intelligence and counter-intelligence, to scamming. A careless or unsuspecting enemy can be attacked on multiple fronts, and not even be aware of it until after it happens.

In conclusion, whether you are for or against metagaming, the fascination at so many hours of work demolished in a few minutes is just as profound. It is moments like this that EVE’s players will always remember, and eventually look back upon fondly while saying “What other game could that even happen in?” This is how massive scams, theft, spying, impersonation, market manipulations, and metagaming transcend the simple action of the event itself, and become something else, and that something else is what sets EVE apart. Thus, in terms of new players joining because of yet another famous event, the fall of one alliance could potentially bring many others into existence.

Imagine the headlines on MMOG sites: “EVE’s Most Powerful Alliance Destroyed by Lone Defector.”

That’s why whenever I think of the disbanding (sorry) of Band of Brothers, a smile comes to my face.

What do you think of the whole incident?

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To EVE or Not to EVE … is that EVE’n a question?

Published on 11. Feb, 2009 ... written by RothimusPrime.

Picture credit: Wotlankor

A Noob’s Beginnings (Part I)

I have been playing EVE for about a month now. I couldn’t believe how terrible this game was. Don’t hang me yet…this was of course due to me not giving it a chance. The sheer complexity and potential of EVE is completely overwhelming the first time you log on, and continues to be so for while. Just making my first character with no prior knowledge of the EVE universe was a daunting task. However, as I said, I have been playing for about a month now and I can safely say I am obsessed with this “game”.

When I first began, I had no goals, no ideas, no clue what to do. I did have a couple buddies that started with me, so we stuck together and helped each other out. We began by mining, and quickly learned we needed a little rat protection. So one of us got a missile launcher and some standard missiles (oh how we’ve grown since then). This kept us safe enough for the time being to allow us to mine and haul our ibis and frigate cargo loads back to the station (very inefficient). Soon enough, I stumbled upon a player wanting to help a noob. She gave me 5 million isk and I thought I’d died and gone to heaven. I immediately joined her Corp, no questions asked.

So there I was, a noob in a very large Corp that is, from my understanding and reading, a very well known Corp in a very well known Alliance. I didn’t know what to expect or what to do. Everyone was very friendly, informative, and helpful with donating isk to my noobish blunders. However I just wasn’t a part of the Corp. I didn’t have any access to anything (i.e. Corp Hangar). After a week of milling around my Corp’s HQ in Amarr space, a war broke out. At first I thought it was cool, well it wasn’t. I basically had 24 hours to hightail it (aka jump) far enough away that chances of a warring enemy wouldn’t find me. So I made like 14 jumps to Caldari space and just mined a ratted there in those 1.0 and 0.9 sectors. After a few days of this, I decided to head out with my buddy. We tanked up as best we could and headed straight for the fighting grounds to see what would happen. Needless to say, we were pod’d about 20 mins after we started our journey. It was kind of exciting, but also annoying since I didn’t exactly have a lot of spare isk.

Then we both woke up back where our clones where and continued on mining and ratting in the secure sectors. My buddy found another player who invited us out to join him on some Level 4 missions, and we jumped at the opportunity.

— End Part I —

To anyone thinking about EVE or just getting started, hang in there…it gets way better, and if you find me in or around the Brybier system, I just may help you out.
Part II to follow assuming Part I gets published, and hopefully more.

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The 36 Strategems of War – Part 2

Published on 07. Feb, 2009 ... written by Black Claw.

Strategems for Two Equal Forces

I’m back! Some of you didn’t even know I was gone, I’m sure. Well, I hope you had a good xmas and New Year, and now we (I?) can get back into the swing of things. For me, that means continuing the Art of War series with part 2 of the 36 Strategems of War.

Now, these following strategems focus on the immediate options you might have at hand. Using what you already have or what exists in your your environment, creating illusions, making new weapons, or forming new and creative plans. They require that you look at your situation with fresh eyes and understand how your opponent looks at your same environment and arsenal, so that you can create convincing illusions.

7. Create something out of nothing

Get what you need by trickery or illusion. If you need to make some ISK very quickly but you don’t have the resources with which to do so, you can do so by trickery. Find someone to sell a Caldari Navy Raven to, and offer it for a price that’s cheaper than anything else out there. Create a contract for them and name it Caldari Navy Raven (CNR), but put a normal Raven in there. Do it using a trade window only, and ask for the amount that you want. They’ll see the name of the contract, and the item, and won’t have the time or the curiosity to examine and take in that you’re actually selling a normal Raven instead of a CNR.

It won’t work all the time, as some people will actually look properly before they buy, but it will work often enough for you to make a good amount of money from almost nothing.

Just remember that doing this too often will give you a bad reputation, so you might want to use an alt. The money you raise from naive buyers can help you fund your war.

8. Use a well-known path to advance by a hidden path

Use the commonly expected strategy to hide the real strategy. Military tactics, applied to certain systems, suggest certain obvious attacks. It’s said in ancient texts that before Hitler invaded France, the French knew he was building up his military, but they believed that no army could penetrate their famous “Maginot Line.” They instead made their preparations for Hitler elsewhere. He used their understanding of military theory to further this illusion, but then used a lightning fast attack force never yet seen, called panzer units. These armoured tanks burst through the defenses of the Maginot line, doing what a normal army couldn’t, and what France never expected.

Similarly, the D-Day invasion of the same war was expected by the Germans, but they assumed it would occur near Calais, which was a place more hospitable to a large force trying to land quickly. The rough seas and long, exposed stretch of Omaha Beach, fronting onto miles of confusing “lanes” that could mislead invading soldiers, was considered unlikely because it offered so little advantage, so it was lightly guarded. However, this is where the main invasion force came in.

Try to use the enemy’s expectations against them. If they think a particular strategy is foolish, then use it, as they will not be expecting it and will not have planned for it.

9. Watch the fire burning across the river

Use delay if it enhances in-fighting within the enemy alliances. If you have an egotistical opponent or somebody who tries to advance by abusing others, then time is on your side. The wise fighter waits to let a foolishly aggressive or egotistical opponent alienate those around him and creates problems within his own administration. If things work out, the in-fighting that a manipulative, cruel, or controlling leader creates in the alliance will eat up his energy and resources and increase the wise opponent’s advantage over him.

10. Conceal a dagger in a smile

Never express anger, and never express sarcasm – no smack talking! They show weakness, and they show a hastiness in revealing motives. Concealing a dagger with a smile may be taken as advice to be treacherous, but it also has an honorable side. You can be powerful and dangerous – and polite.

The kindly person who suddenly and decisively reveals the dagger sheathed in his belt is going to be taken more seriously than the fool who brandishes a dagger on any provocation. Threats, sarcasm, and open hostility serve no good purpose, no matter what your goal. Disassociate yourself from your ego and strike hard because you know it is time to strike, not because your anger is gratified in striking. Do this once in front of others, and your smile will be respected thereafter, because everybody will know there is a dagger behind it.

11. Cut down the plum tree to save the peach tree

When you cannot avoid losses, sacrifice the lesser for the benefit of the greater. The saying comes from the problem of blight infesting fruit tree groves. Farmers would decimate the blight by removing the plum trees, thus allowing the peach trees to get all the benefits of the nutrients in the soil.

Leaders have been called upon to sacrifice one band of men to save another. In everyday life, recognizing that one cannot have his cake and eat it too forces us to choose our priorities. The person who knows that he must engage in struggle sets up a hierarchy of goals so that he knows ahead of time what he can sacrifice and what he cannot.

A leader who takes his fleet back into battle to save one or a few, can lose the entire fleet. That is the mark of stupidity.

12. Steal any passing goat

Make use of everything you get from the other side. Sun Tzu advises to “forage on the enemy,” and we can do this by looting his ships, but also by hoarding the information that he might carelessly provide.

Look at how an opponent treats others. Note where he makes trouble for himself or where he has blinded himself. Look at where he smacktalks and why. Take inventory of what irritates him and what frightens him. What the opponent views as inconsequential and the things he lets slip can provide you with valuable material for managing your side of the conflict.

Coming soon – Strategems for Direct Attack

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I’m not a bad person … You just make it easy!

Published on 30. Jan, 2009 ... written by Ebonezer Skrewed.

I haven’t written in some time, and that’s primarily because I’ve found a lack of things that I feel I could comment on, as the other writers on EVE-Mag have already covered them by the time I think about them! Now, however, I feel that I’ve found something that I could speak about…

… Wardeccing. Primarily, wardeccing people that seem to be a target for your corporation and you. Does this make you a bad person? That’s generally a matter of opinion, and I’m going to express mine. The fact is, a wardec on a corporation that apparently has money, flies good ships but isn’t very PvP central may seem like a waste of effort and time, but let’s just say that you’re in it for the money and for the fact that you love to watch other people explode, like me.

Our corporation recently put a ‘dec on a corporation that regularly seems to fly Tech II ships, Harpy’s, Astarte’s, the sort like that. The problem is for them, they seem to primarily run them for missions, and while this makes them a lot of money, it seems to be that they were not fully prepared for the whirlwind that we brought down on them. For example;

• We locate a few of them in a system, and we rather gather our forces.
• We idly harass them for an hour or two with smaller ships that can’t do much damage, just to irritate them into action.
• Myself and another, both in a thorax, wait a single jump away as the others move in larger ships.
• Given the go ahead, we jump in, warp up to the Astarte – Whom is sitting at a station, folks! – then begin shooting away.
• He returns fire, and my thorax takes a beating, but I stick at it, keeping him distracted until… His friend in a Harpy undocks, apparently now eager for a fight.
• The others jump in and immediately warp in, locking up the Astarte as he is closest to station. My thorax goes up, I get to sit there for a minute in my pod as the Astarte explodes into pretty lights. I dock.
• I hear that the Harpy has been blown up as well, and I’m given a share of the loot.

I came out of that, after rebuilding my thorax completely, about maybe 10-15 million ISK richer. Not a big haul, you might think, but for me it is. I’m not an industrial, nor do I really have the patience for mining, but sacrificing a ship to blow other people up? I can do that. We were polite, no smack talking, just a ‘gf’ and some congratulations about in ventrilo. Does this make us bad people?

I mean. Let’s be honest. If you make it easy for someone to make a profit from blowing you up, then it isn’t them that’s the bad person. It’s you. For being a big enough target to garner the attention. Piracy, wardec, can-flipping, it’s all just a part of the game. You might not like it, and you might think that horrible, despicable people might do it then cackle with glee as they go out into their terrible lives RL… We don’t, really, by the way. I try to get involved in those three things I said as much as I can, because of the buzz they give, knowing I could be blown up, but I also have the chance of making ISK and another kill from it.

We’re not all bad. Just that we’re morally bankrupt when playing a video-game.

Ebonezer Skrewed.

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