Missions & Complexes

Irmur Filara, in specific, with an alt's minmitar Stabber cruiser. The optimal range is 25km with a 53km falloff. Using Nova Missiles for the 2 missile slots, and all 4 gun slots occupied by 650mm Scout Artillery using Depleted uranium M. I am trying to figure out how tracking works. The ship is fit with a Fourier Tracking Program and level 3 tracking skills in gunnery (motion projection) yet almost all of the hits from the guns miss vs this frigate. It's a level 2 mission. I'd expect issues with a level 3 or 4 elite frigate given this skill list.

Gunnery Skills:
Gunnery 5 by the afternoon
Medium Projectile Turret 3
Motion Prediction 3
Rapid Firing 3
Sharpshooter 3
Surgical Strike 2
Weapon Upgrades 4 on the training que.

What am I doing wrong?

Addition: I sometimes hit when at range of 30-36km (max range the alt's missiles will go atm). Just curious as to what drives these numbers. Clearly, part of it is it's an elite frigate (maybe) since the missile damage is much less than it was on the regular frigates.

Ok, first you are using long range weapons (Artillery) so the tracking is already horribly bad. Without getting into equations and crap it's basically this. The smaller the ship is than the size of your weapons (i.e. Frigate verses Medium weapons) the harder it will be to hit effectively. Then you take into account the speed at which that ship is traveling, making it again harder to hit. If the ship is outside your Optimal but inside your Falloff, you may hit it but at a reduced amount.

The other thing to take into account is Transversal Velocity. The short end of that discussion is if the ship is flying STRAIGHT at you, it has a low transversal and thus will track well, if it's flying at a diagonal from your ship it's transversal is high and your guns will track poorly.

Lastly is skills. There are ways to increase both weapon tracking and missile damage application on smaller/faster targets in each of their skill groups. You can increase this chance with Tracking Enhancers (low slot), Tracking Computers (mid slot), Target Painters (mid slot, does effect turrets but not as much as missiles), Rigs like Projectile Metastasis Adjuster as well as Warhead Flare & Rigor Catalyst for missiles. There are a few implants as well, but at your low SP I wouldn't bother. And finally there are (2) combat boosters of which you can safely use the Synth versions in Highsec for a 3% effect. They would be Synth Drop (turrets) and Synth Crash (missiles). Some last tidbits to further help out:


Frigate/Destroyer -> Small Weapons/Light Drones for best dmg application

Cruiser/Battlecruiser -> Small-Medium Weapons/Light-Medium Drones

Battleship/Structures -> Small-Medium-Large Weapons/Light-Medium-Heavy-Sentry Drones

Focus the camera on the rat you want to hit. Rotate the camera behind it. Double click in the direction the rat is flying. You will now reduce transversal velocity in relation to the rat. fire your guns and watch a rat explode.

Also use rapid light missile launchers and drones against frigates.

I'll keep all the advice in mind for the future. Already came up with a fit for 425mm autocannons in EFT, if I choose to swap, but I'll remember the kiting tip. Thanks for the information, everyone involved.

Medium artillery should hit fine on small things if you keep the angular velocity low.

Just aggro them and fly away and shoot them as they chase.