Warfare & Tactics

Well as for specific fits/etc you'll have to ask elsewhere - but if you insist on being cloaky on top of everything the pilgrim is really your best bet by far. Any cloak on a non-cov-ops ship really nerfs your lock speed horribly and is awful for camping.

I suppose you could also try a stratios yourself or something....But the Pilgrim is still going to be better vs most targets I think.

Rapier.

Arazu has no deeps, no lockspeed so it can't really tackle the things it can kill, and those it can tackle it can't kill. Pilgrim is decent IF you land the initial tackle right. Miss that one, you may very well end of at the wrong end of the killmail.

Now the Rapier on the other hand, that's one candybox of sexy goodness! It has several things going for it, starting off with an acceptable lockspeed and acceptable DPS. Neither are stellar but you can definitely take on pirate frigs, T3 destroyers or T1 cruisers with it.

While still retaining its GTFO potential in case your target happens to be an advance scout for a fleet coming through.

I repeat: you won't kill battlecruisers, ratters or HACs with it (which would be above its weight class anyway); but staying in your own class the range control is golden.

Once you're done fiddling around with those, take a look at the Proteus/Loki. (Tengu's also absolutely amazing but rather than you catching them you'd have to wag your tail a little and hope they come after you ;-)

I'd actually suggest a Curse over a Pilgrim for these kinds of duties. D-Scan Immunity is as good as a cloak until combat probes pop out.

You may also wish to pop your other character into a Vexor or Vexor Navy Issue and do the Drone Assist thing for more DPS. With a few Drone Link Augmentor thingies in the high slots, that Vexor can be orbiting you at ~70km. The plain Vexor is also very, very cheap.

I used to do something similar with 2x Vexors assisting drones to my main in a Dramiel for bubble camping. It can work very well. Just remember to drop a bunch of decloak cans at the point on the bubble where people will land.

a Falcon Alt is very popular to bail out 1337 "solo" peeveepee pilots

for the purposes of a bubble camp, i'd rather have extra DPS.

Good price, but my concern is low DPS, ~100 and low tank, EHP ~2k...which limits my targets to non-PVP frigates (entosis/cyno/explorers)?

Putting a cloak on any non-cov-ops ship immediately adds the "sensor recalibration delay" before you can target anything when you decloak (20-30 seconds!!!) - and then you lock targets at *half* the speed even then. Meaning anything smaller than a battleship is going to have time to get out of your bubble and warp away before you can lock it.

Also if you use a ship that is meant to have 8 guns instead of a ship with utility high slots you are taking away 1/8th of your DPS if you do manage to lock anything...

When I am not in a fast-locker camp with a friend I am 'solo' [1] bubble camping YMJG-4 with a pilgrim (or sometimes a stratios).

I use a dictor for my bubbles, because I am living in hostile space and they just gang-destroy anchored bubbles if I use those. I also use long-distance (several thousand km) drag bubbles and do not use decloak jet-cans for catching cloakies [2] - to reduce my availability to be trapped and killed by hostiles.

The Pilgrim is just plain awesome for this. It doesn't have heaps of tank or heaps of DPS but the neut bonuses allow you to engage, well chosen, targets above your weight-class. IMHO it is way superior to the Curse, simply because it is entirely invisible unless and until you want to be seen ... to DS, to overview, and to combat probes.

In the majority of cases I do not even uncloak the Pilgrim, my bubbler sabre being enough to kill the target. For major unknowns with the potential to kill me I also have a backup falcon. For middle-of-the-road targets the Sabre just bubbles, burns, and cloaks and then if they land int he bubble trap the Pilgrim doe sits business.

Good targets for my Pilgrim include:
- All small ships
- laser and hybrid turret ships (needing cap to deliver damage)
- Projectile turret ships ... they do kill off my drones, and I managed one hurricane kill with my last surviving warrior II, but I do especially love Svipuls, Vagabonds, and Hurricanes (and am still waiting to catch a Maelstrom).

Intermediate targets for my Pilgrim:
- BCs and BSs generally ... they often escape using their MJD

Problem targets for my Pilgrim are:
- heavy hitting drone boats ... I do not like praetor IIs at all and nasty evild drone boats often continue to deliver damage if jammed
- heavy hitting missile boats ... but they are neutralised by the faklcon if I deploy it
- well flown cap-boosted ships with the ability to outkite me (the orthrus worries me)
- hotdroppers, but isn't that always the case :-)

My fits are no secret ... since I get hotdropped and killed from time to time ... and my KB showcases my successes and failures both. My stratios hits harder and has more small-gang survivability, but it costs a lot more and being a brawler setup is more vulnerable to being hot-dropped. being a brawler the lack of neut range bonus matters little.

1. My solo camping is not one ship but a collection of ships that I multibox and pick-and-choose depending on time of the month and personal inclination.
2. I do catch and kill cloakies, just using a different technique.

Nahhh, it does not *require* more than one ... that's just how I play it. An entirely solo pilot with either a dictor or an anchored bubble certainly could camp, but for me I'd probably be having to replace lost ships way too often to make that viable or fun.

In the past I have carried a small bubble in my cargo and roamed, setting up ninja stop bubbles here and there. That works with pretty much anything you want to fly. You have to be able to get around and pick and choose incoming targets. If you're a non-cloaky you are vulnerable to tough cloakies counter-trapping you, but it will work. Again, the pilgrim is very good for that - covops, good range of potential targets, decent cargo space - but you can also do it with a 'ceptor or a T1 frigate.

I run my own semi-solo multiboxed minifleet with sabre, pilgrim, falcon, with bigship backup and logistics ... plus scouts in ajacent systems and elsewhere. That's just how I choose to play and, clearly, it's not for everyone.

You cant really solo pvp semi afk like a cougar cant really hunt while also taking a nap.

The svipul is a good choice for catching small stuff, you will struggle with bigger stuff that has a decent tank.
The curse is good solo because of its ability to nearly remove both (most) weapon systems and active tanking ability. You will struggle against a passive tanked ship such as a drake, a buffer tanked larger ship, and anyone using ancillary reppers. But it is still possible to take down these targets with a curse solo. It can be a time commitment though.

T3 cruisers are actually the best solo hunters IMO. However i think the ship you may be looking for is the stealth bomber. It has no targeting delay after decloaking so you can be more selective with your target while making your bubble appear to be unguarded. Your not going to take out anything big with it but you can catch a lot of the light tank stuff with it. It also allows you the flexibility to play semi afk. Also it is dirt cheap, so not a huge loss if you lose a few.

Doesn't work. (don't ask me since when, but it hasn't for ages)

Agreed on Stabber / Vagabond though- those are really useful.