Mr Ga’len had been on my wish list for some time but for some reason we kept missing each other. Having caught up finally, we quickly agreed to meet on Wednesday 7th October.
‘Excellent’ I thought after he expressed some fear in losing this match. I need a win badly after a serious losing streak. I had been ahead since being downed by Mynxee and Sae Tiann some time ago. My fight with Wensley drew the score and after that I had been ahead in points for some time. Winning some fights even got me a lead of 5 points at one stage. Those days are over…
My fights with 00sage00 killed my confidence and my possible recapture of the lead.
I need this win. I need this win badly…
EFT came back out and I tried to come up with an old skool crazy fit to get the curve ball on Ga’len. ECM was again not allowed in this fight so that option was out. However other EWAR had not been disallowed so I tried to come up with another alternative to my Kestrel of Doom.
Tracking disrupters? Mmm Sensor damps? Yes that’s gonna be it. I spent 3 hours trying to find the modules that would allow me to fit what I wanted. I ended up buying stuff on contracts, Navy rocket launchers, Navy powercores, you name it.
My alt and most used CDM fighter is in Amarr waiting for Kirith so I can’t use him with his ‘ok’ sec-status to collect and haul my stuff. Nashh’s sec status however has dropped to near criminal status and shopping with him proved hard. So difficult in fact I aborted my hauling mission and decided a different fit altogether.
Having my fit collected in low security space proved time consuming but I got what I wanted and I found a sparring partner to try out my fit. Pastor Phelps, another Bastard hopeful, agreed to fight me to test if my fit and see if it would stand any chance.
I expected Ga’len to come in a Rifter and so did Pastor, brilliant. We met at a safe and I requested to go through shields only. /me sighs, pointless fail fit is all I can say. I tried double sensor damps with range scripts and a microwarpdrive... It worked for about 20 seconds but I forgot to check capacitor stability before actually buying and collecting these mods. Silly? Yes Stupid? Yeah I know. Stop going on about it.
We discussed the fit briefly and agreed after a range test that this fit could still work with Standard Missiles and range tanking. Yes it would work, and yes I was sure to win, without a shadow of a doubt. ‘Yes!’, I said that will be it then. Range tank and range dampeners. ‘What a frustrating way to die’ Pastor noted, immediately reminding me of my fights with Roc’s Firetail and Hallan Turek.
A lot went on inside my head, and within a split second I replied that that’s not how I roll. Loyalty to the gank and all that jazz. I docked up my fail fit to bring her back out with some standard launchers to try the theory anyway.
As I docked and evaded the station guns Ga’len convo’d me. ‘Crap’, practise time is over. This CDM is on.
I immediately refit to my standard fit and prepared to meet my foe. I would not get a chance to mess around anymore and this would have to do. I was still confident my standard gank fit could kill any frig at close range so without too much delay I undocked, psyched for the fight.
In my anticipation I made the mistake of hanging around the station for a split second too long, forgetting completely about the invisible timer I had read about some time ago but not experienced before. The station guns didn’t take more than 2 volleys to finish of my glorious Kestrel. How embarrassing, right in front of my prospective corp mates…
Docking up revealed my fleet of ships, now fitted and ready for action, but only one more Kestrel. Not a ‘Kestrel of Doom’ but a ‘Gank Kestrel’. Yes the same fit but unrigged. I asked Ga’len if he had fitted rigs and without a moment pause he posted his Rifter fit.
‘The Bleeding Rose’ was fit well and yes it did have rigs. I requested a moment to get the stakes even and rig my ship too and he kindly offered for me to take as much time as I needed.
My difficulties in shopping around limited my options and with nothing available within reasonable range I requested help in the local (not local) chat channels. But unfortunately no missile rigs were available. An increased transport price did not tempt anyone to make the trip to Hek for me in time so I decided to just go for it.
‘Feck it’ I said and undocked getting out of range of the station guns immediately this time.
We agreed to just fight without stealing from cans or any other delays. My kinda style. Sec status no longer an issue for me and it didn’t appear to be a worry for Mr Ga’len.
On landing I set my orbit, locked and my primed weapons didn’t need any further encouragement. Faction rockets slamming his shields as expected. Taking big chunks out of is preliminary defence I felt the power surging from my gank setup.
With his shields gone and mine at half strength I already worried that it may not be enough. His armour at half strength with my shields at half capacity would make me feel better for sure…
The faster Rifter hull sure did not take long to catch up with my Caldari frigate and my range had been reduced to nothing worthy. His armour reaching the halfway mark matched the point of my shields breaking.
The inevitable was due and I knew what this meant. I prepared a screen shot with the secret hope of capturing an explosion other than that of my Kestrel.
No such luck it appeared. Ga’len defeated me well, his fit superior to mine.
It’s a shame my efforts to come up with an alternative fit did not come to fruition, and it’s a shame I cannot just yet commit myself to a range tank fit. For the same reason I felt bad for using triple ECM’s on Venom I suppose. But both Roc and Hallan have done it to me in a very effective manner without getting any stick from the public so why do I feel bad for attempting the same? Should I change my stance or is range tanking as bad as ECM in a 1 vs 1?
Food for thought for sure, maybe I should stop being such a pussy and do it. It is clear I need to come up with a different Vessel for frig fights as this ship has now outlasted its purpose. Ga’len killed off the ‘Kessy of Doom’.
He kindly traded me back my dropped loot in the hold of his Rifter. As a present I got to keep the Rifter that beat me, as long as a rematch will be held at some point with the same ships. This would require me to skill for Rifters but I think the stats will prove that that may not be a bad idea…
Please read the next post too with some interesting stats on the CDM’s sofar…
It was a pleasure to meet you on the field of battle mate. Train up for rifters, I think you will like them!!
ReplyDeleteFor determining what is "fair": Arranged 1v1s are simply a duel between two solo PvPers who don't want outside interference. The CDMs are ultimately an emulation of that. With that criterion, range tanking _to a degree_ is fine; in PVP certain types of ships do indeed do that.
ReplyDeleteSo when does it become unfair? I'd say around 24 km, the maximum range of warp disruptors. Flying a sniper fit that can hit from beyond that can indeed work, but is completely unrealistic. It would be the equivalent of a battleship 1v1 where one opponent in a Rokh or Apocalypse warped in at 250 km and simply MWDed away the entire fight. In such a circumstance, you would simply warp out, as the whole fight is pointless. CDMs are not much different.
This line of reasoning also carries over to ECM to an extent. Aside from the specialized Caldari ECM ships (which almost never solo PvP, and usually fit tanks if they do), no one else uses ECM for protection (except perhaps some ECM drones for escaping in sticky situations). ECM makes fights as pointless as excessive range.
Well, that's my 0.02 ISK. I'm sure that there will always be disagreement on this subject though. :P
Nash, god love ya but the Caldari ships are not designed for solo pvp, they just aren't, yes they can get close. Yes they can even win at times the fact that you still fight with a Caladri ship is the issue. Not the skill of the pilot. Caldari ships (IMO) are like small tough terriers, singular combat with one is well interesting but meh there is REASON they are not used all that much in 0.0 PvP. If you get 15-20 of them together ..look out.
ReplyDeleteYes, you have used them well, Yes, you have done better in fights than I ever thought you could but honestly the SHIP is your weakness, not your skills or missing something.
Hell cross train Gallente bro, they seem more your style, from what I can tell.
Enjoyable read as always..good hunting
~Manasi
Thanks Sage, interesting comments.
ReplyDeleteThanks Manasi, I am indeed cross skilling to Gallente at the moment, the ultimate goal being the Ishtar but on the way picking up the Ranis, Vexor and Myrmidon.
=)
My opinion on the range / ECM issue: Range can be overcome with superior speed, and increased speed has other benefits beyond reducing range.
ReplyDeleteECM however works especially well on smaller ships and when jammed you are forced to wait out the 20 seconds. And the only defense is a module that gives no other benefit.