Warfare & Tactics

generally, active tank is better than buffer -> you can regain hp while a buffer fit cannot. (unless you are some monster shield passive recharge fit but then youre also probably gimped in some way)

however, with a buffer tank, the enemy MUST do x amount of dmg to kill you, so thats a pro.

also, buffer tanks are somewhat more unwieldy than actives -> armor buffer means you are slower and shield buffer means you have massive sig

for fleets, you usually want a buffer fit because of two very simple reasons -> friendly logi + incoming alpha. one thing about fleets though, never assume you will catch reps even if you broadcast. you could have some ****** logi pilots in fleets or they could simply have neut/damp pressure and will just be dead in the water. hope for the best, plan for the worst.

my preference is to usually go active tank, and slap a cap booster on if needed (generally only when the ship has 4 or more mids)

EDIT:
or go dps tank for the luls
i.e. no tank, massive gank.
EX: 3 heat sink coercer with dmg and rof rigs and a longpoint. easily get 400 dps with scorch and laugh as frigs are vaporized at 20km

if by "..check out fittings.." you mean battleclinic, please dont ever use that site lol most of everything on there is garbage

I Do a lot of Solo work in a Phobos in Low Sec and ive run both a 250,000 EHP buffer fit and a 45,000 EHP active fit with 400DPS

i can say from experience that even when i was being neuted my active tank was easily kept up by some Navy 400's from a medium booster II. and i keep a few backup 200's. Sure a large enough fleet lands they break your tank and even when you manage to de-agress and jump away youll get caught from time to time and in a bad spot. However compared to the buffer sure it takes them forever to chew into that armor but once its low its not coming back up without help and you need experience to know when your tank is going to hit bingo and you have to de-agress or lose the ship.

In my opinion do whatever your comfortable with, but try both out first so you get the hang of it and see both sides of the coin

this "detractor" understands eve more then the site, yes, however, that doesnt change the fits that are on that site. most of the fits on there are from so called "eft warriors" or just high sec wannabe pvp'ers that have no grasp of the meta and think the only ships worth flying are battleships. so sure, you can discredit me, but that doesnt change the inherent fact that battleclinic is full of crap. i was simply just trying to help the newbro out.

@Zero Sum Gain: best way to learn about eve pvp is to experiment with different fits yourself, preferably ones that you come up with on your own. the reason for this is so that you will fight how you want to fight and will train/practice/skill for it (instead of training t2 medium whatever and deciding you just dont like that weapon system). when you lose fights, think of WHY you lost, did something not work right? did you just not have enough dps? etc. when you win fights, think of why your opponent couldnt kill you and ask yourself the same things. being able to record your fights will help with this but is not necessary. biggest thing is to just be honest with yourself, always say gf in local regardless of win or loss, and always always always dscan.