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Seeking Solo SB advice - target selection and good places to roam
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Kinkanna
Fangs of Ouroboros
#1 - 2012-05-13 16:53:22 UTC
So, after doing a lot of research on good fitting, and basic tactics, I have gotten myself a Purifier with a good fit with excellent skill levels in all relevant skills. I spent the last week flying around everywhere including low sec, wormhole space, to 0.0.

So far I have not killed a thing, or even really seen any really juicy to make a hit on.

The biggest problem I'm having goes like this

Wormhole - Quiet... totally dead quiet. Out of seven Wormholes I have dipped into repeatedly, 1 of them had ships outside of POS shields, and those pilots were in cloakers doing the same thing I was doing.

Lowsec - Wasn't expecting much, I wasn't really looking to be an outlaw anyway, but on the way to 0.0 space, I spent some time tooling around low sec... mostly people passing through, and in 5 hours of roaming, not once a player at a belt or point of interest like a pirate outpost etc.

Nullsec - Ok, way more exciting, except, 95% of the people I come across are docked up either at POS, or outposts/NPC stations. Still see plenty of traffic tho, and once or twice missed a potential target that if I had acted faster could have been an easy kill. But a lot of the potential targets I see are either ships I am not sure I should tangle with, or gangs of people I know I should avoid.

One problem I'm having is deciding on whether a target is doable or not.

Today i had a good opportunity to attack a Flycatcher, but... I read somewhere that such a move probably wouldn't have been the best choice. Esp for a virgin Stealth Bomber pilot.

Another thing I am noticing, I see a LOT of stealth ships out there now, like 3 out of 5 ships I see are cloakers of some kind like me.

Are they flavor of the month now or something?

The other group of ships I see a lot of are Strategic cruisers, are they that badass? Or what?

I have some experience in small gang roams with ships of all sizes... but I Really want to get into the solo hunting game.

So my guideline questions are:

What should I avoid attacking with my bomber (even if it seems obvious tell me).

What are the odds of catching ratters or miners in 0.0 these days? (I have seen NONE in 3 days and have traveled from Vale of the Silent through tribute and more and everyone is either docked, blobbed, or in a ship I am not confidant about engaging.).

Also I am quite proficient at the Dscanner, so please don't tell me it's just a matter of scanning for targets. Thats how I know they are at POS's and things :)

I am running a pretty standard fit.

3 arbs, 1 bomb launcher, 1 cloak.

1 mwd, 1 disruptor, 1 cap injector (75s)

1 Balistic control, 2 nanos,

Rigs to taste.

Comments? thoughts? advice?
Charlotte Elizabeth
Exit Bois
#2 - 2012-05-13 17:49:13 UTC  |  Edited by: Charlotte Elizabeth
For WHs check each one with the static mapper, most have at least some kind of activity and see what timezone the WH corp runs the sites, scan down all the sites with preferably an alt (in a probeship full of spare torps and bombs) before that time to avoid arousing suspicion.

Then you wait. and wait. and wait.

Hopefully someone will log on around that time and start running the sites. Don't bother attacking a WH tanked combat ship, I did that with my first ever bomber and it was an expensive time consuming lesson.

Just wait. and wait. and wait. Normally at this point I like to pretend I'm playing one of the Silent Hunter series.

Oh what is this on the dscan? A lone noctis. Your prime target. Wait for it to fill up on juicy salvage before making your move.

WH bombing requires a massive amount of patience, but the tears and loot you get from crippling a corps only dedicated salvager sure makes up for it.

As for anything else, I don't have much experience as I've only just started myself.
Kinkanna
Fangs of Ouroboros
#3 - 2012-05-13 18:17:06 UTC
All sound advice, similar to what other guides recommend.

Just seems like a LOT of waiting. I'm a pretty patient person, but waiting five hours in a WH system like I did the other day for a target that may or may not be appropriate is kinda... well. Its what it sounds like. Not fun. LOL

I expect to have waiting periods, but I usually only get 2-3 hours a night tops to play. I'd like it I could find at least ONE target in that time. So far 0.0 has far more possible targets, but as stated before, I'm not always sure about wether I can take one solo or not.

Like a ratting BS without warrior IIS I bet I could nail. A badger hauling loot is a no brainer (watch out for battle badgers!).

But what about a tengu or loki? What about a flycatcher? What about a rapier?
Death Toll007
Perkone
Caldari State
#4 - 2012-05-13 18:24:59 UTC
Solitude and Syndicate, the guys that live down there are dumb and easy kills. Suggest loading up an orca and scouting your way down there with a bunch of ships. Anckee is a good system to set up a base. Decent market, and at a crossroads. You could watch for ratters in the surrounding systems, and run the frig plex two jumps out for mods worth 300mil a drop. You can run that plex about six times a day.

-DT
Substantia Nigra
Polaris Rising
Goonswarm Federation
#5 - 2012-05-13 19:52:53 UTC
I've been playing round with bomber PvP for the last couple of months - carebear-in-a-hound and all.

My first kill came very quickly and surprisingly easily ... a w-space raven. Since then it's been sporadic bits and pieces and I agree with previous posters.

w-space solo bomber PvP is very good for scanner and other skills development, but can involve an awful lot of frustrating waiting. The alternative, hopping rapidly from system to syste, involves a lot of probe scanning. Time zones can be a bit of a pain, especially when you're not in a busy large-population time zone.

lowsec. I am no fan of lowsec for anything much ... except as a conduit between hisec and null, or sometimes between w-space and hisec.

nullsec. I play with the Bombers Bar gang and that can be good fun covops fleet work ... and great adjunct to the solo work. Check them out via the chat group of that name - Bombers bar. They usually take 'residence' in a nullsec system for a while, and gate camp sometimes roam, there. Sometimes it's deathly quiet (last night), sometimes overwhelming forces outgun our fleet of little ships, and sometimes everything just works and we get a bundle of decent value kills.

Yes, bombers do seem to be pretty popular atm. That may be because of some threads here about them, or just mebbe ppl recognising the cheap fun they offer.

I am no expert, but the stuff I have learned so far includes:
- Big ships are often good targets.
- Some drakes very evil (ECs or Warriors IIs) and some not so worrying.
- w-space tengu usually have more tank than a solo bomber can upset .... and I am yet to try two bomber semi-solo.
- Frigates are generally a PITA unless you have a gang with painters / webbers etc. They often hard to catch and you don't deliver a lot of damage because of their sig-size (except if they MWDing and you get a bomb hit).
- noctis's often die of fright. i am not convinced you actually have to activate any weapons to kill a noctis.
- Deep Space Transports can be very frustrating, especially when you go to all the effort to fit a +3 scram dedicated to killing him ... to discover that he also had a stab fitted.

I guess I am almost a 'vet' by now. Hopefully not too bitter and managing to help more than I hinder. I build and sell many things, including large collections of bookmarks.
Kinkanna
Fangs of Ouroboros
#6 - 2012-05-14 03:28:43 UTC
Well thanks to the advice on this thread I got some action tonight.

The key was to switch my stomping grounds from Vale of the Silent/North. to Syndicate/West.

A LOT more activity besides people blobbing and dock humping.

Of course, after killing my target (an Eris) in one shot (woo hoo!)
I got stomped and podded like a newb by their allies.

It was actually funny because I should have lived, but I got greedy and decided to try and stick around long enough to loot the corpse of the ship... which gave the others a chance to warp in and smack me around. It didn't help that my initial target dropped an interdiction sphere before they popped.

I should have spent those valuable seconds MWDing away from the kill and warping out/cloaking... but well, die and learn.

Good info here for new SB pilots... DON'T stick around to loot if the target drops an interdiction sphere unless the corpse is outside the bubble unless you know for a FACT you have more than ten seconds or so to loot the wreck.

What amazed me was how fast the interdictor went pop. One volley and KABLOOWIE! I was expecting at least a couple volleys to be required as destroyers are pretty small and torps shouldn't hurt THAT bad... should they? Maybe they MWDed?
ChromeStriker
Sebiestor Tribe
Minmatar Republic
#7 - 2012-05-14 11:05:35 UTC  |  Edited by: ChromeStriker
If you can catch a tengu/T3 in a anom or fighting npc's in general, your added dps can tip the balance to kill theyre tank even if yours on its own wouldnt. (also adding a TP can really ruin theyre day as every thing does moar dmg)

edit: beware precision missiles

edit edit: also tinker around using an afterburner instead of a mwd especially in lowsec (cant use a bomb anyway), and wh's (no bubbled gates ect). I use an AB fit almost all the time... something like this?

[Purifier, New Setup 1]
Ballistic Control System II
Nanofiber Internal Structure II
Nanofiber Internal Structure II

Warp Disruptor II
1MN Afterburner II
Medium Shield Extender II

'Arbalest' Siege Missile Launcher, Caldari Navy Mjolnir Torpedo
'Arbalest' Siege Missile Launcher, Caldari Navy Mjolnir Torpedo
'Arbalest' Siege Missile Launcher, Caldari Navy Mjolnir Torpedo
Covert Ops Cloaking Device II
[empty high slot]

Small Warhead Calefaction Catalyst I
Small Polycarbon Engine Housing I

No Worries
Kyle Frost
Inagawa Kai
#8 - 2012-05-14 13:09:52 UTC
WARNING! Wall of text incoming.

The setup that you are using is decent and has some advantages, but I recommend you try this one - Link

You lose the bomb launcher but your DPS is over 600 with good skills. You can play with the rigs a little bit and also fit an offlined salvager or core probe launcher in your spare high slot. Your “tank” is also much better. You can withstand a flight of light or even medium drones long enough to take down your target. Large neuts can be a problem, but attacking a target which packs one of these is risky to begin with.

Targets – the best targets for you are ratters, miners, and haulers. So, ratting battlecruisers and battleships (both t1 and t2), mining ships, t1 and t2 industrials, dedicated salvage ships – all good targets. Ratting HACs are also a potential target, but you have to be very careful and consider the situation. For example: you find a shield tanked Ishtar who is doing a sanctum and is currently taking fire from 5 BS rats (you can usually tell if the ship is shield or armor tanked by visually looking at it) – that is a good target. Your EM torps will hurt him bad and he will likely be dead before he can even set his light drones on you. However, if the Ishtar is armor tanked, he might be able to tank your damage, get drones on you and chase you away. Naturally, if you decide to use a Hound instead of a Purifier, the example is reversed.
You said we should state the obvious, so here we go (assuming you are flying a Purifier):
Vaga, Muninn, Zealot, Sac = no
Ishtar, Deimos, Eagle, Cerberus = potential targets
Recon ships = generally no. Maybe Arazu or Lachesis, but you have to overload your launchers and/or make sure to score a good bomb hit – then just pray you outdps them and they pop before you do. Since you asked about it by name – the Rapier is a big NO!
T3 ships = situational, usually no. T3 are a *****. Your chance of breaking their tank is pretty slim, unless you score a lucky bomb hit or something. The Tengu is the one that might have an EM resist hole, but Tengus often use an afterburner when ratting, so your torps do minimal damage anyway. Again, Loki is a NO.
Light dictors = no/bomb only. You won’t be able to kill a light dictor with torps, unless your target is asleep/********. You could pop them with a bomb if you can catch them while MWDing (or lure them to MWD towards you). You can try the following: position yourself so that your target is between you and a celestial body – moon, planet, whatever. Decloak at around 70km away and align towards your target. If he burns towards you, launch a bomb and warp to the celestial behind the target. With some luck your target will MWD straight into the bomb blast radius. Just remember, even with this tactic, attacking a light dictor is risky. If he decides to drop a bubble when he sees you decloak, you will probably get caught in it when you try to warp off. And if your target survives the bomb or has friends on grid… Regarding that Eris that you killed – my guess is your torp salvo caught him just as he activated his MWD, before he was able to pick up speed.
Heavy dictors = situational, usually no. HICs are usually way too overtanked for you to break and they rarely travel alone. With that said, HICs are not exactly offensive juggernauts and they have no drone bay. So if you catch a lone HIC somewhere you can try and pop him. If he is not active tanked you might be able to kill him.
Frigates = no/bomb only. Torping them is pointless, but you might be able to pop them with a bomb. Just remember, if they catch you – you’re dead. Interesting fact: an interceptor pilot with interceptor skill lvl 5 can survive a bomb even with MWD on. Obvious exceptions - cov ops frigates and other bombers. If you can catch them you have a decent chance of winning.
Logistic cruisers = yes. Sure, go for them. Just keep in mind that some logistics make great bait ships, namely the oneiros and the basilisk. The oneiros can pack impressive firepower for a logistics ship and a solid tank, and can actually kill you on its own if it catches you. The basilisk can pack a heavy neut and ruin your day when you least expect it. So if you see a logistics ship sitting alone in a belt or outside a station, 5 minutes after you have killed a ratter in that same system… go ahead and engage. But do so from 50km away and stay aligned Blink
Freighters and JFs – yes. Pretty much the only capital ships that you can engage in a solo bomber. If you can catch one at a gate or an unarmed PoS you can try your luck. Unfortunately, those things have lots of HP and it takes a while to grind it down when you are in a bomber. I have caught freighters in 0.0 twice. Both times I took them down to structure and then I had to leave due to enemy backup arriving on grid. Screenie
Orca – yes. Similar to freighters. Less HP but can pack drones.
Carriers and Motherships – obviously no. You might run into those in sanctums or havens. Unfortunately, you can’t kill them :( If you want to **** them off you can try destroying their drones/fighters with a bomb.

NOTE: Like I said at the beginning, battlecruisers and battleships which are fitted for ratting make excellent targets. Those same ships can kill you in no time if they are fitted for PvP. In general, engaging a PvP fitted ship with a solo bomber is very risky and I wouldn’t advise it. And yes, I realize you can’t always know for sure if a ship is PvP or PvE fitted. You will just have to use common sense, educated guess, or whatever you wanna call it. For example, a sensor boosted hurricane which has artillery guns fitted (check visually) is not a PvE boat and is more than likely to insta-pop you if you engage him.

Let the gun do the talking!
Kyle Frost
Inagawa Kai
#9 - 2012-05-14 13:15:28 UTC
Hunting grounds. Like the posters above me already mentioned, 0.0 is the place to go. If you are flying a Purifier I recommend Fountain, Cloud Ring, and the north regions – Deklein and Branch in particular. Goon carebears and their pets make excellent targets. Last time I was in Branch I was able to bag 3 battleships in no time. You can try other 0.0 regions too, but if you decide to go in the south – Delve, Period Basis, Catch, Providence and so on – you might wanna switch to a Hound.

Check your starmap for systems which have military upgrade lvl 4 or 5. These systems have numerous anomalies and are likely to have ratters doing them. Also, systems with low truesec (-0.8 and below) and a large number of belts are often favored by ratters. Station systems with many people in local sometimes present the best targets. Don’t get scared by the number of hostiles – people in 0.0 rarely stay in fleet or coordinate with each other while carebearing, but at the same time they get a false sense of security from the fact that they are on home turf and there are many members of their corp/alliance in local. If the system has lots of people in it and your victims are not paying attention to the intel channels, they might not see you at all and continue with their carebear activities long after you have entered local. Sometimes they see you, but they figure 1 lonely bomber is no threat…

In my experience, miners are a bit harder to catch these days. I think their peaceful nature makes them more cautious and aware. They like to mine in hidden gravimetric sites. If you have a core probe launcher on your bomber you can online it and find the place where they mine. The miners would probably be gone by the time you warp to the hidden belt, but you can bookmark it and come back later (a good tactic is to login right after DT and probe down the gravimetric sites in the system, then come back later during the day and try to catch some miners before they can warp to safety). Check your starmap for systems with lvl 2-3 industry upgrade – that’s where you are most likely to find miners.

Try and engage your targets in belts or in anomalies/complexes. It’s always nice if you can time your attack and engage at the same time when your target is under fire from a nice rat spawn. You can find lots of targets in largely populated systems, but that also means that enemy backup could form and arrive quickly, so be careful. Keep your scanner open – if you see another ship within 1 AU, it might be time leave. Attacking targets at stations is risky. Pretty much the only ships I risk attacking near stations are mining and hauling ships – the ones that I am certain I can pop with 2-3 salvos. Attacking at a gate is also risky, unless you have a scout on the other side.

Well… that’s a nice wall of text, isn’t it? I hope it helps Pirate I wish you good hunting!

Let the gun do the talking!