Ships & Modules

I once created a Proteus fit that used a XLASB to go PvP hunting in null sec. I caught a lot of flak from people who really imo don't have an idea regarding ships fitting and tactics in EvE.

I write this post for those people out there who have some imagination and the nerve to experiment with extraordinary fits.

I don't remember the exact fit but it was something like this:

Covert Ops
Neutron Blasters

10mn AB
XLASB
Hardners
Scram

Magstabs
Nano's

Its an odd fit to be sure, however I came up with the idea by doing what most people don't do. Instead of going to Battleclinic and finding a good fit that someone else came up with I instead asked myself the following questions:

What will I be doing? => Killing people solo inside a nullsec hub with multiple unfriendlies.
What will be the most important attributes for my ship? => DPS, Agility, Speed
What will likely kill my ship => Taking too long to get a kill, getting scrammed, getting nueted

From that I decided that a shield burst tank using capless XLASB dealt with the requirements best - low slots free for magstabs, shield fit for agility / speed and cap free boosting, AB for low cap usage and scram switching off prop mod immunity.

I should be able to quickly align, warp in, gank my target, deagress quickly even when scrammed if something appears on d-scan, burst tank like crazy (long enough to get out of range or two a gate if I get tackled.

Did it work? I got 22 kills without dying, I finally got killed by hotdrop after attacking a cyno ship which was stupid but the kills had largely dried up and the majority of the people fled the systems I was hunting.

In short I fit the ship for the job it was supposed to do, not because it was highly rated, or because I was afraid of fitting it differently, or because everyone else fit their ship one particular way, regardless of whether they're solo, in fleet, or in a small gang.

That's what I suggest people do, if you read this and you're looking for fitting advice, ask yourself the same questions, by all means take the advice people give you but remember that a lot are just giving you the same advice they got and really havent' thought about their choices.

Its a yes and no thing, without seeing the specifics of the fit talked about if I had a few criticisms they would be that an MWD can be helpful in those situations, an AB being generally too slow, and that a Loki is probably better if you are shield tanking.

Fitting rules, bonuses and all this sort of thing are more suggestions than absolutes, mixing buffer and active tanking is often one I see spouted even though buffer/rep fits are effective and fairly commonplace.

Its all about learning the basics first, then you can work out for yourself when its a good idea to break from them.

People made fun of your fit because youre flying a stealth gank proteus choosing targets you know you'll win against (why would you uncloak otherwise?) so it doesnt matter what you fit on your ship. Yes your xlarge asb was effective. A hull repper would be as well. You could fit a midget on the front who would shout obsceneties that will be as useful as thr asb if youre picking your targets right.

Thinking outside the box is great. Battleclinic is ****, a buncha eft warriors who rarely fly what they come up with on paper. Gimping one of the best armor tanks in the game to fit a shield though? Why? Why try to fit a square peg through a round hole? There are better ships for shields. You can fit a stealthed nullified tengu to do 400 dps with hams and faction missiles, with ecm no less, and a better tank then that shield proteus.

If it works and you were having fun with it who cares what ppl think?

I have done the same type of fits with Tengu hulls. And of course, people only see the fits when you die, so then they 'lol' you.
I just liked trying different strategies and seeing if they could actually work.

Kinda spendy losses...but wtf? It's a game.

I never lost 1 solo. (Most solo's turned into a local spike of +3 or more) Never lost 1 in gangs under 6ish. Mostly against 10 or more pilots and even then it was typically a mistake I made that caused the loss.

I especially like T3, because they CAN be adjusted for odd fits. Wasn't that the intended role?

Battleclinic is the absolute worst place to get a fit for a ship unless you look at lossmails of people who have a clue.

On the other hand, have you learned that Megathrons have 7 turret slots now?

A question. Why do some people hate Battleclinic? I use it mainly for learning, and have seen a lot of good loadouts there.

EFT Warriors love to do the "should fit" route. What's really fun is catching them admitting that they've never even flown the ships they're commenting about fitting. Do what works for you. Wanna drop an LSE on an armor tanking ship? Rock it. I prefer the buffer myself, but hey. I even have a T2 Rapid dual-prop Navy Caracal that I love flying in L3's and L4's that works beautifully for me. Do you think I give a flying crap about what the 'leet peeveepee'ers think about it? Not in the least. I fly what I like to fly, and I fit with what works for me. Don't like my fits? Don't ask for my help or ask me on your CTA.

No one goes to battleclinic for good fits.

Probably should have mentioned the crystal set in the OP.

Long before ASBs were a thing, shield buffering with lots of gank was the preferred fit for many blaster boats, so your proteus fit (even without the crystals) didn't strike me as TOO odd, although certainly outside the box given the current meta.

I get asked alot about fitting, I offer a base line ship. I always say that it can be improved, or consider trying other modules in the place of another.

The cookie cutter fits, or base line fits, are there as a starter, you have to fly a ship for a long time to reach that end goal fit. As mentioned above it is how you fly it.

When I started playing I lived in a drake, it wasn't a mainstream fit, I was helping out in a lvl 4, the guy who's mission it was had to warp out, he was asking me to get out. I replied - warp back in mate I got this. Alot of older players offered scorn at my fit until they had seen how effective it was in running missions.

With EVE and fits there is always possible improvements, so do try stuff, just because you have found a way that doesnt work, doesnt mean you have failed, just means you may one day find the way that does. (kinda like an Edison qoute!)

I used to put down fits that I thought were terribad, now I offer suggestions/advice and dont mind if they are ignored. If they are enjoying what they are doing and how they are doing it, then whats the harm.

My recommendation - listen to all advice, remember it, apply what you think is best.

Please excuse my disparaging offhand remarks about battleclinic. They were meant jokingly, and are based on my own experience. On the times that I do visit, I consider myself lucky if I can find a single fit that is both A) for the current build and B) not terrible.