Posted by prometheus09 on
October 16, 2009
The Captains Log 16/10
I have had a few requests for how to set up some ships to gank hulks. So here it goes.
The first thing and only thing you need is damage; puts as much damage potential on to your ship as humanly possible. This includes fitting the biggest guns possible to your ship and then adding as many weapon upgrades as possible. Yes I know going over three is normally not worth while, but what else are you going to put? A buffer tank you say. There is no point in that, once CONCORD is there they jam you so lasting longer is not that big of a deal. Just get out as much damage as you can. Also buy some faction ammo, you only need few rounds to last you before CONCORD gets there. Also, use blasters as they do the most damage out of all the weapons systems out there, so that generally means flying Gallante. That is the basic fit you want on any gank ship. You can then put on other modules as you need (such as points, drone upgrades, afterburner etc).
Now when using these fits make sure that you have at least two Vexors per Hulk (one may do it if it is not tanked). For the Catalyst you can get away with two (again if not tanked) but you should aim for a minimum of three. Now without further ado the setups (thanks to Daq for writing them up).
Vexor
Magnetic Field Stabilizer I
Magnetic Field Stabilizer I
Magnetic Field Stabilizer I
Magnetic Field Stabilizer I
Omnidirectional Tracking Link I
Warp Scrambler I
Warp Scrambler I
Heavy Neutron Blaster I, Caldari Navy Antimatter Charge M
Heavy Neutron Blaster I, Caldari Navy Antimatter Charge M
Heavy Neutron Blaster I, Caldari Navy Antimatter Charge M
Heavy Neutron Blaster I, Caldari Navy Antimatter Charge M
Small Energy Neutralizer I
Garde I x3
Catalyst
Magnetic Field Stabilizer I
Magnetic Field Stabilizer I
Magnetic Field Stabilizer I
[empty med slot]
[empty med slot]
Light Neutron Blaster I, Caldari Navy Antimatter Charge S
Light Neutron Blaster I, Caldari Navy Antimatter Charge S
Light Neutron Blaster I, Caldari Navy Antimatter Charge S
Light Neutron Blaster I, Caldari Navy Antimatter Charge S
Light Neutron Blaster I, Caldari Navy Antimatter Charge S
Light Neutron Blaster I, Caldari Navy Antimatter Charge S
Light Neutron Blaster I, Caldari Navy Antimatter Charge S
Light Neutron Blaster I, Caldari Navy Antimatter Charge S
Hobgoblin I x1
So now that you know the setups, get out there and use them.
Posted by prometheus09 on
August 15, 2009
The Captains Log 15/8
How to use Bombs
With the changes CCP has made to Stealth Bombers (Torpedos and Covert Ops Cloaks) and to Bombs (made them vastly cheaper) they are beginning to see a lot of use. Today, however, one of my alliance mates lost his Nemesis to some Brick Squad members during a bombing run and he couldn’t figure out why. So here I am explaining to you all how to use bombs.
A couple of points to begin with
- They have a 30km flight time and a 15km explosion radius.
- Your intended targets should really be frigate, destroyer or cruiser class hulls (unless flying in large numbers). Anything above that will have the tank to deal with you.
- Bombs deal different damage types – Concussion/kinetic, Shrapnel/explosive, Scorch/thermal and Electron/EM
- Bombs have a 99.5 resistance to the type of damage they do
- Eg. concussion bombs deal kinetic damage and have 99.5 resistance to kinetic damage BUT NO OTHER DAMAGE TYPE
- What does this mean? If multiple Stealth Bombers fire bombs of different damage types at the same time, they will blow each other up.
- Eg. A Hound fires a Shrapnal then a Manticore fires a Concussion bomb at the same target. The Shrapnel bomb will detonate first and blow up the Concussion bomb, meaning it will do 0 damage.
- Bombs are affected by sig radius’s. The smaller the ship the less damage a bomb will do (remember this changes with the fittings being used and what modules are active, MWD etc)
- You do not need to target your intended victim to fire a bomb. A bomb will fly in the direction you ship is pointing for 30km and then explode. They are a launch and forget weapon.
- Unlike missiles you can warp and they will still do damage.
And personally my golden rule is: Fly in groups not solo. Bombs don’t do that much damage; most ships will survive one hit from a bomb. Therefore fly in groups of Stealth Bombs and shoot bombs together to get the maximum amount of kills you can.
And my silver rule: People are stupid. While some ships you cannot normally take on you still can because sometimes people will fail to fit a ship properly or not be paying attention etc. So if you see something you want to take on just for the hell of it who am I to argue. I have done this before and will again. You never know you may get lucky.
Preparation is everything
Preparation is everything. If you set up a bombing run properly to begin with you are less likely to die and get the kill you want.
- Scout your target.
- When you identify a possible target see what ships they have. Remember point 2 above; don’t waste your time on things you can’t kill. (Remember my silver rule)
- Are there interceptors there? These ships can kill you easily. They will cover the distance between you and them in no time so always keep this in mind, you may want to pass them over if they have a large amount of Interceptors waiting.
- Is there a bubble? Can you get a bubble there? Most of your intended targets will be able to warp out when they see a bomb being launched. Therefore you really need a bubble there to ensure they don’t escape.
- Getting into position
- After you fire a bomb you want to get out alive. At 30km you are just out of point range for most ships, but a ship with good speed (Interceptors) can travel the 6km gap between you and their point range in a little over a second and locking you doesn’t take much longer.
- All the Stealth Bombers have a base align time of around 8 seconds. Again this will vary with skills and fittings.
- So the objective when setting up you bombing run is to be roughly aligned with a celestial as you fly towards your target to fire the bomb. As soon as you fire your bomb initiate warp to the celestial that is closest to the direction you are flying in. This will lower you align time as you will already be at max speed and just have to turn your ship that little bit to warp.
- If you are in a system that you camp often or roam into often setup bookmarks near all the gate, stations, POS or whatever it is you like to camp that are around 35km from them and will allow you to roughly align to a celestial when you fly towards your target.
- Fire your bomb
- The key part here is point and click = dead.
- Make sure you have the celestial you are going to warp to selected in your overview and have your mouse hovering over the warp icon
- Turn off your cloak using the relevant F# key.
- Fire your bomb with using your F# key
- Hit your warp button as soon as your bomb is gone.
If all has gone well your bomb will detonate on target, you will get some kills and most importantly have gotten out alive.
Prometheus09