Warfare & Tactics

The rifter is not great these days, but some of your fits are very bad (meta 0 modules, the occasional empty low slot, etc.), which is definitely not going to help any.

See if this helps any: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=de1hwoFYA_k

That linked fit still has a T1 Meta 0 gyrostab and T1 meta 0 midslots?

I'd probably drop DPS from your low slots and use it for EHP. Maybe a small ancillary. Damage controls are almost always right, too.

Those videos are horrible advice to noobs, you need really good game knowledge to pull that off as its about finding those peopel and then piloting. Both of which you need to be good at before this works, a new 17 day old player (as in not a vet on an alt, but a legit new player) going into nullsec in a rifter is doing hundreds of times over and over.




@the OP.


So, for the rifter (which is a horrible ship, get a breacher instead) there are 2 versions, the arty one and the AC one (im talking about ab ones here mostly).

For the AC one:

something alike to this:

[Rifter, New Setup 1]
Small Ancillary Armor Repairer, Nanite Repair Paste
IFFA Compact Damage Control
Gyrostabilizer II

1MN Afterburner II
Fleeting Compact Stasis Webifier
Warp Scrambler II

200mm AutoCannon II, Republic Fleet EMP S
200mm AutoCannon II, Republic Fleet EMP S
200mm AutoCannon II, Republic Fleet EMP S
Small Energy Nosferatu II

Small Projectile Burst Aerator I
Small Projectile Ambit Extension I
Small Projectile Ambit Extension I



(fit is an example, you can go without the nos if you want or get a neut or fit more tank instead of the ambit rigs etc)

What you do vs ships with short ranged weapons is keep at range 9500km with a heated scram and load barrage, cycle your rep and your superior range will allow you (give you a chance to) to kill blaster ships (and people with lazors and t1 guns or other acs without t2 ammo).

Vs ships that have long range weapons, i.e railguns, arties, beams you orbit at 500m with faction ammo loaded.

Vs ships that have no tracking or range (i.e missile or rocket ships or tristans without guns) you keep at range 500 and load hails.


Always heat guns and the rep till they almost burn out.


Thats the AC version.




For arties there are 2 different approaches, scram kiting or semiscram kiting

[Rifter, New Setup 1]
Small Ancillary Armor Repairer, Nanite Repair Paste
IFFA Compact Damage Control
Gyrostabilizer II

1MN Afterburner II
Fleeting Compact Stasis Webifier
Warp Scrambler II

280mm Howitzer Artillery II, EMP S
280mm Howitzer Artillery II, EMP S
280mm Howitzer Artillery II, EMP S
[empty high slot]

Small Projectile Burst Aerator I
Small Ancillary Current Router I
Small Polycarbon Engine Housing I

(my eft is a tad outdated, this ought to fit now, if not get implants)

Load the right ammo, keep at range 8km if you cant heat the scram or 9.5 if you can and go do damage. Heat ab if you are getting to close.


Then there is this version:

[Rifter, New Setup 1]
Small Ancillary Armor Repairer, Nanite Repair Paste
IFFA Compact Damage Control
Gyrostabilizer II

1MN Afterburner II
Fleeting Compact Stasis Webifier
Initiated Compact Warp Disruptor

280mm Howitzer Artillery II, Republic Fleet EMP S
280mm Howitzer Artillery II, Republic Fleet EMP S
280mm Howitzer Artillery II, Republic Fleet EMP S
[empty high slot]

Small Projectile Burst Aerator I
Small Ancillary Current Router I
Small Polycarbon Engine Housing I


The same idea as above, but you can go much further away. This is horrible vs mwd frigs but much better vs ab ones. Something like a laser frigate can shoot to 11+3km with scorch, with this you sit at 19km and take 0 damage and you will win all the time. Same with blaster ships that use null or rocket frigs or other ac ships, a thrasher will do 150 dps at 10km with acs so you have no chance at killing him with the scram version but at 19km he does 20dps so you can win. Same with catalysts or cormorants. (but if they have a mwd they are faster then you are and will just burn to you and kill you, so you only win if they have a ab)



WIth the arty version, dont engage drone boats.








In regards to the rifter in general, its bad. The thrasher is amazing, the firetail is good, the breacher is very good so fly those instead (breacher needs quite a few sp though).

Haha, damn it, it should have a gyro.

The Rifter has pretty mediocre overall stats but can often perform beyond them due to its flexibility. More than most frigates, the Rifter requires you to understand both your own ship and your opponents when deciding how to act in a fight. Even when you know what you are doing the fights tend to be close. It is a challenging ship to learn in and you are not doing yourself any favors by using terrible fits.

Like some have said already, the rifter needs to make use of its bonuses to be viable, in this case falloff. This is similar to a another fit already posted here:

[Rifter]
IFFA Compact Damage Control
Gyrostabilizer II
Small Ancillary Armor Repairer, Nanite Repair Paste

1MN Afterburner II
Warp Scrambler II
Fleeting Compact Stasis Webifier

200mm AutoCannon II, Republic Fleet Phased Plasma S
200mm AutoCannon II, Republic Fleet Phased Plasma S
200mm AutoCannon II, Republic Fleet Phased Plasma S
Rocket Launcher II, Caldari Navy Scourge Rocket

Small Projectile Ambit Extension I
Small Projectile Ambit Extension I
Small Polycarbon Engine Housing II

Nanite Repair Paste x16
Republic Fleet EMP S x1000
Republic Fleet Fusion S x1000
Caldari Navy Scourge Rocket x200
Republic Fleet Phased Plasma S x1000
Barrage S x1000


Dont use cap warfare on this. You are supposed to stay at scramkite range and neut/nos will do nothing for you and if you have a small neut on you at that range you will hardly feel it so no worries. DPS with the Rocket Launcher is better.

Also if your skills are good enough you wont need to even use Barrage. With 13km falloff high damage ammo does its job well. try to stay at 7-9km from your target and dont forget to OH your scram when needed!

As for the Poly rig. The rifter has ok speed but may not be able to stay at range against some frigs so Id use this over a damage rig. Matter of taste I guess.


Things to look out for. Drones, rockets and ofc the usual kiters. Those are your weakpoints. This is what makes the rifter tricky to fly. Drones and rockets are used alot in frig warfare

Did you web the drone you were targeting?

Two words - TARGET SELECTION. Also, it's bad so fly something better.

Rovie

Rifter won't win a brawl against straight brawling frigates. It is good at scramkiting them. Avoid other, better, scramkiters such as rail comets and be wary of dualweb rocket frigates. Executioner, Atron and Tormentor should be rather tight fights as you have the better tanks and damage profile (both outgoing and incoming) against them, making it interesting.
Sem Skord is a bit of a Rifter wizard, look him up on his kb and see what he fights and kills.