Warfare & Tactics

Made this setup several years ago. The fitting is fairly flexible, so while the basic fit doesn't require any implants to fly, if you run a geno set you could probably fit more more dps over tank, or tinker with higher scan res; it's pretty flexible.

Basic premise is that this is a combat probing pilgrim that doesn't have to offline or even really sacrifice much other than a neut to achieve that ability. This is the original fit with boosts, but there are a few different variants; the one I currently have sitting in my hanger focuses a little more on scan res over tank.

This can be used either for solo hunting or for fleets, and is quite adept at hunting down safes, OGBs, and even rage-quit pods. The tactic you use for it is once you've scanned down your target with the combat probes, you warp to 10 or 20 under cloak depending on preference, get up into tackle range, decloak and unload your neuts and TD with tracking speed disrupt loaded, skirting under 500 with the ab running. Since it sacrifices a neut for a probe bay it may take a little longer to cap the enemy out, but the element of surprise goes a long way I've found. This setup has a solid 35k ehp without any links or boosts affecting it.

Enjoy:
[Pilgrim]

Damage Control II
1600mm Reinforced Steel Plates II
Imperial Navy Adaptive Nano Plating
Imperial Navy Adaptive Nano Plating
Drone Damage Amplifier II

X5 Prototype Engine Enervator
J5b Phased Prototype Warp Scrambler I
Balmer Series Tracking Disruptor I, Tracking Speed Disruption Script
Medium Capacitor Booster II, Navy Cap Booster 400
10MN Afterburner II

Medium Unstable Power Fluctuator I
Medium Unstable Power Fluctuator I
Covert Ops Cloaking Device II
Expanded Probe Launcher I, Sisters Combat Scanner Probe

Medium Processor Overclocking Unit II
Medium Anti-Thermic Pump I

Infiltrator II x5
Acolyte II x5
Hornet II x5
Vespa II x5

Are you sure you need that cap booster ?
I've fiddled with my pilgrim fit just the other day and figured out that with 3 med newts cap lasts more then a minute, in that minute BS-s cap is nearly empty, so its on anything else.
And with just two newts i think you have plenty of cap, in the time you spend it, either the target is dead or out of cap or you are dead. You can turn off one newt when your cap hits about 30%, you can be sure that targets cap is almost at 0 then.
Also, i haven't flown for few years, had hiatus from eve, but 3 years ago i flew simmilar pilgrim just with sisters expanded prober ( 35 mil ) and two trimarks, so you can ponder that option, it gives you a bit more ehp.
Don't know imperial navy adaptive plating price, but you can crunch the numbers and compare ehp and overall price and chose better option for you.
;)

I presume DPS is around 300...
Not much, but consider that in most cases target will not have active hardeners or anything else, for that matter, active after 24 seconds ( two newt cycles), with guns severely gimped ( two TD..one instead of cap booster ), or shut off ( on amarr ships ) its a smooth sailing to targets destruction.
You just avoid ships with missiles. :P

I can't speak for Cat, but the next bubble camp I see in lowsec will be the first...

I never operate in null or w-space for pvp, so that's not a consideration for me.

Sure that would work well enough I guess; if you have friends and you're hunting in lowsec (which is generally what I'd use for this), the tactic I've seen in the past is to have somebody else come in an exeq or something to come rep after tackle lands. Generally a heavy buffer tank like that on a pilgrim is really useful because even if you're fighting people with guns like autocannons, drones or missiles that can hit you well enough, you'd have more than enough tank to sit there and soak dps until your backup arrives.

That said, with more careful selection and patience this makes an excellent solo lowsec hunter.

Join a corp Estella!

Catherine sounds like you're doing the same thing my corp is. We have dreamt of having recons like this in our fleets or solo scouting. I would recommend throwing the expanded launcher in the cargo for mobile depot refits but otherwise it's a strong start.