Ships & Modules

i just bought one.
on paper it looks too good to be true.

discuss.

It can be a fun boat. Its dps is less then stellar and it's ehp isn't staggering so it really shines in very small engagements. Once you start getting up to small gang size and larger it just becomes a juicy, high value target that will be called primary more sooner then later.

They are extremely fragile. Helpful ships for gatecamps though.

^this. It's just outclassed in what's practical.

Just to elaborate on a few things as I really, really, wanted to like this ship:

- It has a combination of neut and laser boni, which is fail since the NOS nerf. Both eat cap like pocorn - firing lasers at the same time with neuting is like shooting your own foot. I fly Bhaalgorns, but then I only fit neuts and rely on logis to keep my cap and tank up and let others do the damage.

- Lasers and non-range bonused neuts don't work very well on cruiser level, because you combine close range with the worst tracking in the entire game. Both, MF and conflag are total crap compared to any other weapon system since the blaster buff. Using either of them is poison to a neut ship because both increase cap use, whilst providing sub-par dps and unflexible damage. The only justification to still use lasers in this game is scorch, which isn't of use in the ashimmu.

- It can be tanked better than the curse or pigrim, but then it's far too slow thanks to fail-armor tanking.

- If shield-tanked, it's niche becomes very cornered - and even then, it's still slow.

- The Curse can be shield-tanked and nanoed, which makes it viable but hard to get fights in. For more DPS, it has enough launcher slots so you get additional capless and flexible dps.

- The Pilgrim can sneak up on its targets, use the mids for TD and can fit ACs in the high slots which provide additional capless, well-tracking dps with free damage choice without missing out on a 100 percent bonus.

Maybe it's just my range of flying styles being incompatible with the ship, but if there's any faction cruiser I'd call total fail, it's the ashimmu (well - actually it's on par with the phantsasm at being bad).

sorry - dp -wanted to edit and quoted.

If you had, say, a small AHAC or armour T3 gang (4 to 6) with a guardian pair to back them up, and you didn't want to drop 650M on a neut Legion, you can make the Ashimmu work in some situations - such as wormhole fights - where you can keep it fed with cap and its armour tanking, short range, cap-using guns and slow speed are less of a liability.

In fact, I say this because Sudden Buggery used the Ashimmu as a mini-Bhaal in wormhole fights, and I've been on the recieving end of them when backed by Guardian pilots, and it has all the right ingredients to make you bug out to hisec. It can be a very fun ship as long as you don't try running everything at once.

For nullsec, and a lot of Lowsec, I'd say you could find a use, but not easily. But the only other place it shines is in hisec gate camping where the web bonus and neuting are very valuable.

But it is very situational.

I've also seen Ashimmu fleets in Incursions (NCO's??) because they do well vs frigs with faction webs and get decent DPS...and there's always the Guardians backing them up.

I dunno, it would probably kill a Phantasm.

I use it for gate camps or nano roams on occasion.

I was thinking last night just how awesome the Ashimmu would be if it was 100% bonus to Projectile weapon damage instead of lasers...
It's a ship I always want to use but can never find a use for. Only used one in anger once, got attacked by 3 Punisher frigates in lowsec. Was fun seeing them typing "wtf happened to my cap" and such into local!

I've love to use one pimped out with expensive mods and slaves to give it more buffer and fly it in a small gang!