Warfare & Tactics

Right, I know I'm probably going to get a lot of flak for this, but I'm going to go ahead and ask people on the forum for advice anyway, and hope I don't get flamed too much. :)

I've recently returned to the game. (About 1 week ago) I've joined up with an FW corp and I'm having a good time, but I'd like to get into the mysterious art of solo PvP. I've been trying to read up on some guides but I still have the feeling I don't have a clue what I'm doing. Most of the things I've been reading are several years old as well, so I'm afraid the things I'm learning from them are outdated.

This is where I'd like to ask for general advice. What are some good general tactics for finding targets or in fights, or what are good guides to help me? I've been looking up some videos on Youtube, but more often than not they're from people showcasing their kills without any actual advice in their video.

I'm a Gallente pilot, and I'd currently like to work on my skills in T1/T2 frigates and destroyers before moving up. I've been trying to get some action with an Incursus, but what it currently feels like is that I simply orbit at 500 with an AB on, hit the T2 antimatter loaded blasters and pray that whatever I'm attacking dies before I do. It doesn't feel like I'm thinking much with this thing.

Currently I'm training to be able to fly the Rifter. (For some reason I never trained Min but I did train Gal BS... I honestly have no idea what I was thinking years ago.) I'm hoping it will offer me some more options/tactics in a fight when I can fly it than the Incursus.

So can anyone offer me general tips for the Incursus/Catalyst or other Gal ships in PvP? Am I doing it right or totally wrong with the Incursus? I've been avoiding T2 frigates because I'm unsure I can take them. I have no idea what i can or can't attack in the Incursus.

Would looking into a T2 Frigate help? I'm considering either the Enyo or the Taranis. What would be best for me and how should I fit it? I'm hearing a lot of contradictory info on Taranis fits, so I'm confused.

I want to solely focus on low-sec PvP.

I'd really appreciate any help or advice people could give me with this. Just pointing me in the right direction of a good guide will mean a lot.

Thanks in advance,
Dave

(I hope this is the correct board?)

Instructional videos. 3, 4 and 5 will be of most use to newcomers especially with regards to positioning and understanding how to move about to your advantage http://www.eveiseasy.com/solo-shield-rupture/

Bringing solo back with Kil2 and Kovorix is a great series of podcasts covering all sorts of topics. Watching the youtube vids mentioned in that thread will also go a long way to teaching you some things. (find this on page one of the My Eve subforum.

Wensleys rifter guide is still relevant and covers fitting and engagement philosophy which applies outside of that one ship. His blog is here http://www.rifterdrifter.com/

Miura Bulls blog has lots of detail on frigate fits but also more importantly on roaming and how you should think about intel gathering and assessing local activity while roaming solo. http://brutorbullfighter.blogspot.co.uk/

Garmon wrote a guide about using the taranis to draw tackle off large gangs and finish them off... while a lot of the information is still valid from a tactical point of view, the game has changed since then and it's less viable. Partly because of changes to the types of ships you use this against, partly because of the type of fleet compositions that are used these days but primarily because people are a lot wiser to the dangers of chasing down ships and leaving their blob behind. This still happens though not as much and it's still a very informative read... http://www.eve-search.com/thread/1146401/page/all

There are many more but these will all help to get you into the swing of things in terms of thinking about your roams, engagements and fittings.

Oh. one key guide that I think is often overlooked and REALLY shows you some good tactics that are relevant to all forms of frigates is this lovely 'interceptor 101' guide http://www.eve-tribune.com/index.php?no=2_40&page=6

Over time, by getting out there and having a go, you will learn so much and gain invaluable experience of what works, what doesn't work, and every time you win or lose you will learn a valuable lesson and should be able to come out of each and every engagement more knowledgable and prepared for future engagements.

A key issue while soloing compared to being in a fleet are that you need to make all the decisions yourself, and any understanding of other ships and their typical methods of engagement will inform you of what is possible and what is a waste of time. Whether to kite, brawl, draw off tacklers, burn back to gate or simply to burn off and leave are all easier decisions to make when you know what the enemy ships are capable of, and like I said, you learn this best through direct experience.

You also benefit greatly from learning how to gather intel and actually find other ships to fight. Learn how to use your directional scanner well to find what ships are in system and where they are exactly. Using them to pin down what celestial a potential target is at is key to getting fights successfully. Learn to scan down a system quickly so you know if its worth sticking about or if you should just leave. Usually scanning from gate, then scan from sun or planet 1 and MAYBE then scanning from the outer planets (take time to look at a local sytem map and you will see lower numbered planets are in the centre and outlying planets will need scanning down individually by warping to them... its probably only worth it if they have lots of belts or a complex near them.

evemaps.dotlan.net can tell you where the high traffic, high npc and high pvp activity is taking place and is a great tool. the main page also lists currently 'hot' systems and while these themselves may be something of a deathtrap to a soloer, you can gravitate to the systems surrounding these places since there will typically be more activity there.

Roaming FW regions in a fast tech I or faction frig looking to catch some noobs in plexes can be fun for a change.

You can try killing people that camp out in 1/10 and 2/10 complexes but be aware that most of these people use every trick available to them and I've noticed many of them nowadays rely on links alts to let them keep you at range and are often not worth engaging unless you fit specifically for them.

The above is of course only my opinion and some will disagree completely but don't agonise over the theory so much that it stops you actually getting out there and finding stuff out for yourself. Also don't take all guides as gospel and if you think you want to try something out that seems unorthodox, it might be a bad idea that has been proven over time not to work.... or it could just be a great new strategy. Catching people off guard by doing something they don't expect is a great way to turn an engagement to your advantage.

Overall just get out there in a decent fit ship and get some experience.

Rifter is a fine ship. I personally don't think the Rifter is a strong enough reason to cross train over especially given the recent null ammo buff. If you don't like the blaster incursus, try fitting out a rails incursus and lolkite cocky rifter pilots to death. Heck, try kiting thrashers with a rails incursus for lolz. They never see it coming.

I don't fly Inties but training for Gallente Inties is a fine choice. Any fleet will gladly have a competent forward scout who can fly inties and herotackle Tier 3 BCs sniping people at gates and cocky Tengu pilots.

That was probably the most useful thread I have seen in a long time.

If you type the name of a gun and link it in your chat bar (or just open in info menu in some way) you can click on the icon of the gun in the top left, and it should open another window that will show you what it looks like in space. The nice thing is you only need to look up one gun per type as they just change colors for meta levels (IE, galium autocannons have the same model but different color than T2). Autocannons are pretty simple, I usually run into trouble with hybrids though.

Shield and armor mods are little trickier. Active mods like boosters and hardeners will cause a colored pulse over the hull, with the obvious regeneration of hitpoints for boosters and reppers.

Merlin is a hell of a ship, try fitting it different to see what fits your style. The 3 main types are medium shield booster (Jude Lloyd of the Heretics flies a mean active Merlin, can 1v1 damn near anything within reason), medium shield extender (my personal favorite) or the less common armor+dual webs. Don't feel locked in to one weapon system either. I've flown Merlins with lasers, blasters, autocannons AND railguns. They all have their advantages and pitfalls, and you should train T2 small weapons over most categories, it only takes a few days per.

I agree with deen, the rifter isn't a strong enough reason to train Minmatar. With very little skill points, you are better off concentrating on a single race. I also think that the Gallente assault frigates are much stronger than Minmatar's but this is arguable. Don't forget the Taranis either ! A few tips to keep in mind:

• Learn the directional scanner.
• Pay attention to Intel channel.
• Know your ships limits.
• Know your own limits.
• Know your potential targets.
• Know the ships to avoid.
• Never listen to Deen :)
• Have fun !

Also, something that hasn't been mentioned yet, know the game mechanics very well. It's too important to include in the list above. It's mind blowing the number of people who burn back to gate when they jump into a gatecamp without waiting for the session timer.

Lady Spank I admire you for taking the time to write what you did.

Labceh

Knowing what you should do is great, but knowing what you shouldn't do is just as valuable. We tend to learn more from our mistakes anyway.

best advice i can give is to live in a nice low sec pocket. learn who the locals are. wat they do, how they do it, when they do and from where are all important things. using the battle field to ur advantage is key when doin solo.(the battle field being the sys ur in)
gal ships are great for spittin dps when in range plus the drone boat can put a real hurt on frigs and so on.

although not needed i would tell u to get an alt to help u solo pvp.( yes i know some will say its not solo if theres more then 1 char but **** u im using 2 screens *****) falcon, booster and added dps alts can be a great help as most ppl tend to blob with 5 to 7 ppl on just 1 guy. im sure u will see this as u get more into pvp.

expect to be hot dropped almost everytime u get a fight. now since u fly gal ships, i would say training for the enyo, ishkur, ishtar and myrm are ur best bets for solo pvp. the myrm is in no way easy to fly and solves ur issuse with just goin in and hoping for the best.
watchin ur cap use, range incoming dmg, drone hit points and d-scan make it ( for me any way ) the most mutitask heavy ship for solo as i use duel repps as my fitting. lady spank posted earlier that knowing wat certain ships can do can help u with engaging targets. i can't tell u how true and important this is when in pvp.

however knowing awhole lot can only do so much. gettin exp is goin to be ur best friend. if u think its bait shoot it any way see wat happens. try to think about wat u can do if **** hits BEFORE u engage a target.

best of luck dude and i hope to kill u at some point.

Thanks for the many replies, everyone. I've got a lot of stuff to look at.

Having an alt for PvP scouting and whatnot isn't really an option for me. I can't afford to spend money on too many accounts and I lack the dexterity to dual-box properly, even with two monitors. If I would get myself an alt, it would primarily be an industrial I think, but thanks for the advice nonetheless.

Not so easy to find some fights I could take yet. If you see me flying around and you're up for it, I'm always willing to havea real/practice 1vs1 to get some experience with things.

Spend a bunch of money on buying a Falcon Alt, a Booster Alt, some neutral Logi Alts and then you should be good to go.