EVE New Citizens Q&A

Hello there!

I'm a very, very new player to EVE. After some research and consideration, I've settled on Interceptors as my main goal for the time being. Being slightly impatient with slow vessels, I think that the fast-paced dogfight PVP action I hear these sort of ships can get into is very appealing.

So I've looked at fits, read a few other forum posts, asked people from my corp, but I'm still wondering: As experienced players, what do you think that anyone new to 'ceptors needs to be especially mindful of? Are there any specific mistakes you see made regularly by new players that I should avoid? In addition, is there a good guide somewhere out there I should read on how to learn to handle manual maneuvering better?

Thanks in advance for any and all replies!

firstly, do you plan on flying tackle ceptors or combat ceptors? Tackle ceptors tackle for gangs, and don't really use their weapons for anything other than shooting off drones. Combat ceptors generally mix facemelting and tackle in varying degrees

The biggest dumb thing that inty pilots do is assume that because they're fast, they don't need a tank. That's wrong. Warrior IIs will have no problem catching you, and even long-range small guns (e.g. dessies) or other weapons that you happen to be at a not-perfect angle to will hit you. Speed augments your existing tank, it does not replace it.

Most tackle ceptors are shield tanked to avoid the loss of speed that comes with armor tanking. A decent Ares or Stiletto fit can reach 6-7k EHP easily.

Here are 4 big things that have helped me survive in small ships:

- Range: For combat interceptors, check the optimal and falloff range of your guns. Remember that optimal is where you'll be able to do the most damage while falloff is how far out you can be while still applying SOME damage.
For fleet interceptors, know the range of the warp disruptor you are packing so you know what distance you can operate in.
For both types of interceptors; the larger your orbit, the faster you can go.

- Weapon Tracking: Generally speaking, the closer you are and faster you are going the harder it is for your target's weapons to track you.
Autocannons and blasters have the best tracking while lasers have the worst.
Missiles always hit, but the damage they deal is dependent on your sig radius (your "signature footprint") and speed. Turning on your MicroWarpdrive will greatly increase your speed (mitigating some damage), but it will also increase your signature footprint (which increases damage taken).

- Transversal speed: What this is/means is "the speed that you are moving relative to your target" (and vice versa). Generally speaking, if you are moving parallel to your target and/or you and your target are stationary, the lower your transversal is and the easier it is for your target to hit you.

- Knowing aggro mechanics helps immensely as it can help you get out of bad situations (ex. you find yourself on a gate fighting someone, you realize that your target's friends are coming, you stop fighting and try to hold out for a minute or so to jump through the gate ans escape).

They insta pop on approach and drones chew them up if orbiting

I.

Edit:

Dont fly those except u know what ure doing. Buy a rifter with T1 MWD fit and find a BS to harrass -> ceptor aint that much better.

Ares is not a combat interceptor, it is a fast tackle pretty exclusively.

Since you're talking about dogfighting specifically, Taranis is what you want. Here's the short version of why:

1- Why Gallente? Interceptors are ******* fast. You think you have an idea of how fast from looking at numbers, but you do not. This means you need more tracking than your body has room for, wrapped in some tracking and sprinkled with some fresh diced tracking, in order to reliably hit another small ship that's also orbiting* you.

2- Why Taranis (and not Ares)? More guns, bonuses focused on damage, better base defensive stats. Simple as that.

That said, no race's interceptor is _bad_ (though I'd be careful with shield-tanking one because signature radius is more important than you may think) and it's not a huge deal to get a few more x2 skills to 5. So even if you take my advice and then second-think it later it's a matter of a couple weeks to just train into another race and weapon type. There's a level of "pick what seems cool and go with that". Minmatar ACs have tracking that's probably plenty sufficient fully trained, for instance.

* "orbit" in the general sense of going around you, literally setting a mechanical orbit with the drop-menu or fast orbit button is something you won't want to do a lot.

Thanks for the tip! Honestly, I hadn't even considered Gallente 'ceptors before this. Had been mostly thinking Crusader or Malediction, since I play Amarr, and had mentioned the Ares and Stiletto mostly because a previous response had mentioned them!

I'm likely going to go ahead and shoot for the Taranis- Like you said, it's only a week or two's time lost even if I decide it isn't for me. I am curious, though; Are the Crusader and Malediction still valid options? Or do other ships simply outclass them for the job too badly?



Thanks for the link, and the encouragement! I really do think I'll enjoy flying Interceptors, even with the previously mentioned downsides they have.

Very slightly off-topic:

I know it isn't an Interceptor, per se, but what about the Imperial Navy Slicer? It seems to be geared towards a similiar role, and gets a nice damage bonus, but does it really hold up against true blue 'ceptors?

Oh no in low sec the gate guns will kill you. That hasnt changed.

Big thing to remember two kinds of interceptors.

Those with tackling range bonus: fleet ceptors meant to work with a group usually no tank.

Those with dps bonus and no tackling range bonus: Combat interceptors, or the anti interceptor/anti frigate.

Ares: Runs around like mad trying not to get killed, while maintaining point.

Taranis: GET OVER HERE! PEW PEW!

If you plan on rolling solo the Combat interceptor is what you want. If your with peeps they want you flying the fleet kind.

As a ceptor Manual pilot always. overview commands are a swift recipe for dieing in a fire.

Oh yeah Thermodynamics 5 is helpful, know when to over heat always have nanite paste on hand.

By "no tank" methinks he means "resist/sig tank only".

With T2 resists and shooting the drones, if you don't live long enough for your fleet to take over, you have a fail fleet or you have much to learn about flying inties.

Think of the Slicer (or any other navy faction frigate) as a cross between Assault Frigates and Interceptors. They are faster than the former, but lack their high resistance profile... they are beefier than the latter, but are not quite as fast.

In the case of the Slicer, it can perform the interceptor role fairly well... however it doesn't have that nice MWD sig-bloom reduction bonus that Interceptors have making it MUCH easier to hit.
One role I've found the Slicer to excel in is anti-frigate support. It is faster than any T1 frigate and most Assault Frigs... which means that it can stay out of web-scram range quite well... and it has a range bonus for its weapons... which gives it the ability to deal a respectable amount of damage at range.