Ships & Modules

Just a basic response.

MWD give you a greater increase in speed, but that comes with increased cap use and it radically increases your sig radius which makes it easier for others to lock onto you and because sig radius is a factor in damage equations you are more susceptible to taking damage. Also a MWD can be shut down by a warp scrambler module.

AB does not give you as much of a speed boost, they consume less cap and they do not increase you sig radius and they cannot be shut down by a warp scrambler or a warp disrupter.

Which you use depends entirely on the situation you are in and what you need / want.

What space, like normal low, fw low or 0.0?

i imagine solo pvp?
i'm not an expert.
i'd opt for

- mwd (+nanofit) if i want kiting ship, this setup require quite the skills: once you get scram you're done.

- mwd (webx2+scram) if a brawler, i just overheat mwd and double click near the target, hoping to get in scram/web range and lock him down. if i fail, just retry. with the same type of web/scram your enemy should have the same range as you on those.
different ships with bonus can have different success (i.e. bonus on web range/efficiency)

- ab-kiting (scram+web) basically this fit allow you to keep your enemy at the range of your scram if he is MWD fitted. and the ab can help you mitigate some damage, specially if you can keep up your transversal.

but generally every setup has his own pros/cons...
when you got kited, in your blaster setup, maybe you didn't go up to a certain speed before entering his scram range?
did you have a scram/web on you to use on your enemy? etc

i've seen rhiload using a 3prop Barghest nano fitted (with links) etc
MWD to kite
AB to **** HIC up if scram
and mjd to get the f**k out

Since most of the basics are covered already, let me point out some things to consider.

The mwd gives you more speed than any other mod, so jumping into a situation that looks grim to begin with and you want to pull range as fast as possible.
At gatecamps an afterburner can allow you to get back to a gate, depending on distances. Sometimes the situation looks more grim than it is.

Usually a mwd is crucial to moving around when your intended target is too far away or you want to split up a group that has different ships.

A rule of thumb is mwd > afterburner unless the ship and your fit allow both or you fly a ship with special abilities.

K, in normal low - belts/non gated plexes and system gates are where most of your fights will happen then.
So in belts/no gate plexes you will be just a sitting duck for any inti/kite frig/cruiser easy for the pickings if AB is your only prop, with MWD you can at least try to slingshot it in your o-heated web/scram range or slingshot out and warp away. On gates AB can help if you decide to disengage vs an opponent with scram/no or only one web and you are close enough to the gate, but even then MWD gives you "separation" and more mobility so you can remove (or try to) the most unwanted ships first.

So imo in normal low the most effective prop variations are MWD; dual prop (AB/MWD); oversized prop (100MN, tho agility and fitting sacrafices you make for that can be a pita) just AB as an only prop is too restrictive for the environment you are flying in.

For blaster ships you can always fit dual web/scram/hull tank. x2 webs help with range control when you get in scram range and hull tank gives reasonable buffer and negate the cap issue.

1: Yes.
2: Yes.
3: It Depends(tm).
4: It Depends(tm)
5: If we're talking frigates, then, usually, Yes.


FYI: Some people, like myself, like to fly 'Dual Prop', with both an MWD and AB. This works particularly well with Dramiels and Firetails.

So, first up, unlike frigate pvp even the most close range weapons have enough range that scram kiting as such isnt that big an issue. A blaster ranis at 8km wont do much damage, a thorax or a navy exe still will, and for BS - well it will do basicely full damage and be happier at that range anyways. So while a blaster frig might need an ab to not totally die, you dont need it as much for cruisers and bigger.


So, mwd vs ab:

In a 1v1, starting within scram range a AB is superior to a mwd, it gives you range control and damage migation vs some targets. That is a advantage, but as said before the advantage isnt as big as it would be in the frig or dessie meta. Also its easier to fit and better on the cap.

Now, the reasons you usually want a mwd is that it allows you to move on grid and it allows you to escape or catch kiters. Lets say you fly a thorax, you are inside a medium at 0 and a stabber and two moas arrive on scan - now with an AB you would have to run. But with the MWD you can burn 200km off, wait for the much faster stabber to seperate itself and attempt to kill the stabber before the moas can catch up. Or if you are scared that there will be a blob coming, burn off 200kms and you have a lot of buffer time wise.

Or if the stabber has you pointed a mwd allows you to get away, while a ab ship is just to slow. In general the utility offered by the mwd usually outways the stronger 1v1 capabilities of the AB. Almost all cruisers dont really care about range control within 8km.


Now there are reasons to use both, which is dualprop (like on a oldschool sfi or cynabal) or to use an oversized AB. This gives you mwd speed with ab sig, giving you absurd sig tank - but you usually need links and implants and bling to make that work.



basicely, use a mwd

MWD or MJD for almost every ship larger than a frigate. Medium sized weapons and larger should not get "kited" in scram range. Load null for your blasters if you need more range. If you have AB on a cruiser or larger, you will be slow and only able to engage what lands on top of you or MWD's to you to engage you which is probably a bad scenario. The notion that you can run circles around other ships is laughable because they too will have MWD and neither of you are very fast unless flying a ship purposefully built for speed.

Kiting fits are the bane of blaster boats, but they can be dealt with if you know how.

If you're being scram kited (i.e. AB + scram), load up Null (assuming you're in a cruiser or bigger) and you can usually hit them if you pilot manually to keep traversal down.

If you're being long-point kited (i.e. Nano MWD), pulse/overheat your MWD to help you slingshot them into scram range where you can typically melt their face.

I've been a blaster pilot on and off for years (back to before scrams shut off MWDs) and as a general rule I've found fitting dual webs to be more useful than fitting dual prop mods. With dual webs you have an easier time countering both kinds of kiting fits, whereas dual prop mods won't really help you against a long-point kiter.

The downside of this is that you need four mids dedicated to propulsion and tackle (MWD, scram, 2x webs) which means on most hulls you're out of mids. However, if you're hull tanking your Gallente blaster boats, this isn't too big of an issue.