Ships & Modules

Right, i'm off to buy some merlins

PYFA isn't updated to inferno yet

Yes it is.

There's your problem. Try fitting a legitimate pvp setup instead, and the numbers drop quite a bit.



Which is slower than most battleships. Have fun being kited and insta-killed by everything smaller than a titan.

to be fair we don't know the upcoming other frigate buffs yet

If you drop the Neutrons for ions and use void (should have approximately the same range, tracking, and dps), as well as trade the T2 MSE for a meta 4 MSE does that allow you to drop the MAPC and upgrade to a MWD?

Sorry, I'm at work atm so I can't check it myself :(

Good luck getting kite killed by just about everyone but other blaster ships.

LOL. You clearly don't fly frigates in PVP. While in some circumstances a MWD is needed, for the most part you fly within scram range, particularly on this fit (did you miss the part where the range is WELL within scram range?). Also, with a MSE2 and a MWD, the sig on a merlin would be cruiser size, and all those battleships you are afraid of will have crushed you long before even your MWD speed would get you under their guns. AB is the right prop mod for a brawler frig. I apologize for assuming that everyone already knew that.

[Merlin, Merlin fit]

Damage Control II
Magnetic Field Stabilizer II
Micro Auxiliary Power Core I

Medium Shield Extender II
Experimental 1MN Afterburner I
Warp Scrambler II
Stasis Webifier II

Light Ion Blaster II, Void S
Light Ion Blaster II, Void S
Light Ion Blaster II, Void S

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

Finally updated my pyfa (I forgot to update, my fault)
Actually works well. Per PYFA, the EHP is about the same for 2 extender rigs and 1 em/1 therm. WIth the Ions and Void it is 184 DPS at 1.41+1.25. Very short range though, less fall of then CN antimatter. With null that fit gets 132 DPS at 2.63+3.5. Still respectable numbers. Also note that with an experimental AB, you get 999m/s, T2 is 1043 (I threw that fit together this morning before going to work and didn't have the meta 4 or t2 in my hanger).

To the people asking about why an AB fit, it really comes down to the need to be in scram range and sig bloom (and to a lesser extent the fitting requirements of a MWD). It does limit the ship's usefulness, and you won't be able to kill anything that can kite you at all. However, most frigs do fight within scram range. If your opponent is MWD fit and you are AB fit and you are in scram range, it is game over for the MWD fit ship. This is why many ships will dual prop fit (if they have the mids for it), MWD into scram range and AB when you are in close. However, even with a MWD, the merlin is not a fast ship and still prone to kiting by other frigs. It is now an amazing brawler (apparently what CCP intended), and will die to kiters unless you can land that scram/web.

Ok, here's a nice common PvP scenario: you land 15km from a nanocane.

If you have a MWD, you might be able to get into web/scram range, or at least run away.

If you only have an AB, your only hope is to immediately warp out and hope you escape before the Hurricane gets a lock and point on you. The Hurricane is significantly faster than you, and will immediately be moving away from you. Transversal drops to zero, you take 100% EFT dps, and you pop in seconds.

Since the same is also true of pretty much every single other ship with medium guns, the only time an AB setup is anything other than suicide is when you have an arranged 1v1 with another frigate and a reasonable expectation that they are not using a MWD/kite fit.

So your point is that if you fail at flying this ship it will die? I absolutely agree. Actually, the same can be said for your nano-cane, a carrier, and even a titan. If you fly it wrong and stupidly, it will die. In your scenario above, you have failed as a pilot before the first shot was fired.

My point is that a MWD is not, as you seem to insist, needed or even desirable for all forms of PVP, and the fact that I fit an AB to this ship is a VERY legitimate choice, despite your assertion to the contrary. I have flown and had excellent success with AB frigs, and while I do concede that there are scenarios where a MWD would be preferable, I personally think the AB frig is a much more versatile and useful fit for most of the PVP I fly in (low-sec mainly). My point in my post was not that the fit I came up with was the end all and be all PVP ship of all time, just that it was a VERY good fit compared to what the merlin had previously been capable of.