Ships & Modules

Blasters are fun

That's all that matters

Fit?

Imaginary

Almost as good as my 5k dps thorax

P.S. I can put random dps numbers next to a ship name too.

It's about solo and very small gang in low sec. Maximum 5, mostly medium sized ships. Because of "not getting out of fights" and "not chasing anyone around" we tend to fit shield&nano most of the time. Mostly roaming or camping but not too stationary.

Getting blobbed is quite common. So we tried not to commit completely, by using fast&agile ships with good damage projection @long point range. Nano missile ships and even nano&shield Amarr boats. The latter worked quite good (because of Scorch) but had issues when things went wrong. For instance assault ships under the guns. A shield Amarr boat doesn't have much defence against this. Missile boats worked better here because dual-web is possible. I know Winmatar would do this job perfectly awesome, but as said I just don't like them that much.

Having said that, the biggest "issue" I have with nano&kiting is pure and raw damage. Since we don't go into scram range damage is lower. Fighting against soft targets (other nano&shield stuff) works, but as soon as our target has any substantial tank (happens more and more for any reason), with only such few people the fight just lasts too long. Result is we don't get our target down before getting blobbed too much or getting caught by fast, tanky stuff. So my thought was: instead of not committing, we commit 100% and finish the fight as fast as possible. When the blob arrives we're gone already. Sounds like fun for me ^^

Thanks to your input I think maybe we should combine both tactics a bit. Still shield fit but focus on max damage and built for close range. That way we're able to chase things and (maybe) to bail. Funny fact is, a normally armor tanked ship is (ofc) faster and does more damage at better range with better tracking when shield fitted.

But why (when) armor tank Gallente ships then? I could imagine for medium sized fleets where individual damage doesn't count as much as the benefit of more tank + free med slots for ewar and stuff?

OK so in my experience you armor tank when you have Logi, or when your enemy is kind enough to come in at you point blank...i.e. I'm gong to sit in one spot orbiting an anchor and taking incoming damage head on while i spew forth pew pew goodness. Also armor makes more sense when taking gate guns perpetually in low sec...more ehp, better resists, Slaves...

If you are roaming/camping with 5 or so guys (I assume in 0.0 and not taking gate guns) and your general goal is to kill what you catch FAST then gtfo I say go with shield. If you want to keep it Gallente/Amarr you can do that, though really Mimatar fraeking excel at the warfare you are talking about :D...but since you said you didn't want that. Here are some possible Shield options and an Armor one.


Armor, I recommend Amarr.


[Harbinger, Armor]

Focused Medium Pulse Laser II, Scorch M
Focused Medium Pulse Laser II, Scorch M
Focused Medium Pulse Laser II, Scorch M
Focused Medium Pulse Laser II, Scorch M
Focused Medium Pulse Laser II, Scorch M
Focused Medium Pulse Laser II, Scorch M
Focused Medium Pulse Laser II, Scorch M
Medium Energy Neutralizer II

Y-T8 Overcharged Hydrocarbon Microwarpdrive
Warp Disruptor II
Medium Capacitor Booster II, Navy Cap Booster 800
X5 Prototype Engine Enervator

1600mm Reinforced Rolled Tungsten Plates I
Energized Adaptive Nano Membrane II
Adaptive Nano Plating II
Heat Sink II
Heat Sink II
Damage Control II

Medium Trimark Armor Pump I
Medium Trimark Armor Pump I
Medium Trimark Armor Pump I


Vespa EC-600 x5


Shield, Balls to the Wall Deeps...will not hold up under fire, but will melt targets with the quickness...


[Harbinger, Shield] Needs 3% CPU implant

Heavy Pulse Laser II, Conflagration M
Heavy Pulse Laser II, Conflagration M
Heavy Pulse Laser II, Conflagration M
Heavy Pulse Laser II, Conflagration M
Heavy Pulse Laser II, Conflagration M
Heavy Pulse Laser II, Conflagration M
Heavy Pulse Laser II, Conflagration M
[Empty High slot]

Y-T8 Overcharged Hydrocarbon Microwarpdrive
J5b Phased Prototype Warp Scrambler I
Large Shield Extender II
X5 Prototype Engine Enervator

Heat Sink II
Heat Sink II
Heat Sink II
Tracking Enhancer II
Tracking Enhancer II
Damage Control II

Medium Anti-EM Screen Reinforcer I
Medium Core Defence Field Extender I
Medium Core Defence Field Extender I


Hammerhead II x5



[Brutix, Blasty] Needs 3% power implant.

Heavy Neutron Blaster II, Void M
Heavy Neutron Blaster II, Void M
Heavy Neutron Blaster II, Void M
Heavy Neutron Blaster II, Void M
Heavy Neutron Blaster II, Void M
Heavy Neutron Blaster II, Void M
Heavy Neutron Blaster II, Void M

Y-T8 Overcharged Hydrocarbon Microwarpdrive
Large Shield Extender II
Warp Scrambler II
Stasis Webifier II

Magnetic Field Stabilizer II
Magnetic Field Stabilizer II
Magnetic Field Stabilizer II
Tracking Enhancer II
Damage Control II

Medium Anti-EM Screen Reinforcer I
Medium Core Defence Field Extender I
Medium Core Defence Field Extender I


Hammerhead II x5



[Myrmidon, Shield AC]

425mm AutoCannon II, Barrage M
425mm AutoCannon II, Barrage M
425mm AutoCannon II, Barrage M
425mm AutoCannon II, Barrage M
425mm AutoCannon II, Barrage M
425mm AutoCannon II, Barrage M

Y-T8 Overcharged Hydrocarbon Microwarpdrive
Large Shield Extender II
Warp Disruptor II
Large Shield Extender II
Invulnerability Field II

Gyrostabilizer II
Gyrostabilizer II
Gyrostabilizer II
Tracking Enhancer II
Tracking Enhancer II
Damage Control II

Medium Anti-EM Screen Reinforcer I
Medium Core Defence Field Extender I
Medium Core Defence Field Extender I


Hammerhead II x5
Vespa EC-600 x5
Warrior II x5
Hornet EC-300 x5


[Myrmidon, Shield Blaster]

Heavy Neutron Blaster II, Null M
Heavy Neutron Blaster II, Null M
Heavy Neutron Blaster II, Null M
Heavy Neutron Blaster II, Null M
Heavy Neutron Blaster II, Null M
Heavy Neutron Blaster II, Null M

Y-T8 Overcharged Hydrocarbon Microwarpdrive
Large Shield Extender II
Warp Disruptor II
Large Shield Extender II
Invulnerability Field II

Magnetic Field Stabilizer II
Magnetic Field Stabilizer II
Nanofiber Internal Structure II
Tracking Enhancer II
Tracking Enhancer II
Damage Control II

Medium Anti-EM Screen Reinforcer I
Medium Core Defence Field Extender I
Medium Core Defence Field Extender I


Hammerhead II x5
Vespa EC-600 x5
Warrior II x5
Hornet EC-300 x5

P.S. Myrm works best with ACs...ECM donres are usually the most useful in a small gang if you are fighting multiple targets, DPS drones are most useful when fighting a single target. You can fit a flight of 5/EC-300 5/Hobgoblins in the Brutix/Harb if you prefer that to full on EC-600s.

All of this is assuming you dont want to go shooting around in Tier 3 BCs....Talos/Oracle/Tornado/Naga can spit out some CRAZY deeps at excellent ranges...but they will melt as fast or faster than the BCs above and cost a lot more...also needs T2 large guns, so takes some more training.

So I tried a Blaster Thorax last night. I have to say it was cool. Different, but fun.

Now another question arises: How would (the new) Caldari blaster boats perform in that brawler role? CCP stated they want the Caldari hybrid line to perform like the Naga. Also new Merlin stats are on Sisi. This leads to:

Caldari hybrid line:
- damage + range (Naga)
- damage + resists (Merlin)

Gallente
- damage + tracking (Talos)
- damage + active tank (new Incursus)

After that I'd say both variations of Gallente hybrid boats would still perform better as brawlers. Also Gallente is faster. On the other hand, Caldari offers better agility and lots of med slots. For dual web for instance. Nice for range control. But I'm not sure how important this could be for a dedicated brawler. Maybe to 'kite' other (equally sized) Gallente blaster ships slightly outside of their shorter blaster range. Same against Minmatar.