Titus Ball's Starship Log

Hi folks, just a quick update to let you know about my new blog.

I’ve decided to self-host my blog and change the name as well.  My new blog is Subspace Rupture, and will mainly deal with Eve theory crafting, politics and any other topic that takes my fancy.

One of my fellow Brutor corp mates- Petrus Blackshell – posted some excellent articles on one of the most loved ships in the whole of New Eden – The Rifter.  Using fittings like Jessie’s Modified Rifter or mine below it’s one of the most versatile Tech 1 frigates and has been a staple part of Ushra’Khan’s Catch and Providence assaults as an excellent solo roaming ship and light support.  In our corp, anyone flying a rifter is always welcome – any experience for new flyers is good.

Today I want to discuss a fit I have been flying with some moderate success for my skill level and has given me some confidence in going solo.

Origional Image (c) CCP Games

Now the caveat is that the fit below I have never actually flown yet.  Up till now I have not put on the Nos or the rigs on yet, but in EFT the below fits fine (here you can see the last fitting I was in) and the numbers I think are quite impressive.  Going forward I will refer to real situations, relating to the previous fit but I believe they would be the same with the new fitting.

I haven’t killed much in it (only one crappy killmail actually) – but I’ve managed to survive several gate camps, packs hunting through enemy systems and I’ve survived some 1 on 1 engagements I may have lost otherwise.

This modified fit is designed to hit close and hard, while being able to hold your own against other frigates and small Tech 2 ships with a little surprise.

[Rifter, Titus Balls Modified Rifter]
Small Armor Repairer II
200mm Reinforced Crystalline Carbonide Plates I
Damage Control II

Small Capacitor Booster I, Cap Booster 200
1MN Afterburner I
J5b Phased Prototype Warp Scrambler I

150mm Light AutoCannon II, Hail S
150mm Light AutoCannon II, Hail S
150mm Light AutoCannon II, Hail S
Small Nosferatu I

Small Ancillary Current Router I
Small Projectile Ambit Extension I
Small Projectile Burst Aerator I

So first lets get the stats from EFT:

At all Level 5 we get a DPS of 247 with T2 close ammo, with EHP of 3,648 and a repair rate of 31 against uniform damage.  The ship is slow, 983m/s – but the afterburner will work even when pointed.  This ship also still aligns reasonably quickly – 5.3 seconds, so can still make an excellent scout to all but instalockers.  However against Inty’s so far, all of them have backed off when they weren’t able to break my tank fast enough allowing me to escape.  And probably uniquely with the Cap Booster + Nosferatu running this fitting is cap stable!

So far in a 1 v 1 the Jaguar seems to be a nemesis to be weary of, and probably the same with the Wolf.  The Rifter is definitely the cub of the pack.

I also like to call this fitting the ‘Minno Bait Ship’ – as you can see it packs a small punch and should be able to at least put up a fight against any bigger ship while you have it pointed for your friends to jump in.  I have yet to test this fitting in a fleet support situation, but I think it would do quite well.

I also haven’t tried it in Empire or Lo-Sec space but next time I go hunting war targets in Empire and Domain, I’ll be taking this ship.

By design I made it suitable for combat situations on a gate. Most of the combat has been hugging close to the gate letting the target orbit, while I approach them then back to the gate.  When I realise I get into a fight I can’t win with something like a Cruiser for example all I do is deagress and spam the gate jump button while injecting caps into the repper.  So far this has saved my life several times.

Because this new fit needs a little boost I’m happy to put rigs on it too.  The fitting does need some extra power to run but Tech 1 ships can fit three small rigs which are all relatively cheap.  You can easily cover the cost with a short ratting run and killing a few BS.

After fitting the Small Ancillary Current Router I to provide the extra power, I fit on two Projectile Turret rigs on to provide the extra DPS.  If you want to go for more of a tanking role two Trimarks put the EHP up to 4,238.

The next time I go out in this ship, I’ll write up a combat report next time I take it out and I hope you are willing to at least give this fitting a try.  I’d like to hear feedback if anyone does and let me know how you get on.

P.S. I’ll replace the image with some better screenshots – but I need to get on my good laptop to do this, probably some time tomorrow.

So I was bored and I decided it was time to take a holiday.

One thing that is always recommended to serious capsuleers is to go visit the birth place of our part of Space – New Eden and the EVE Gate.

Since my main account was still waiting to be activated, I fired up a crappy trial account, took the default frigate and flew into the abyss.

The first thing I noticed was how quiet is was.  I think on the whole way down in Eve sector I saw maybe one or two ships and those were miners.  If I wanted to be a hermit I’m sure it would be a lovely bit of space to live in.  Or a lonely pirate.

So anyway, I took a few pictures to share with you:

My visit to New Eden

My God...It's full of stars

So I don’t have any more plans to take a vacation for now – but some time soon I do want to go see Steve’s Wreck at some time.

Does anyone have any other suggestions for any places to visit?

So it looks like I’ll have to chill planet side for a while.

I had been waiting on this deal closing to activate my new character, Titus Balls, and was expecting some lovely cash to appear in my Paypal account – but I was a stupid boy and gave the buyer the option to pay into Google Checkout as well, which they did!

So dammit, I can’t activate it until I get the money in my bank now.

Anyway, I suppose I should introduce myself.  Titus Balls.  A salvager by trade, don’t let my scary look put you off – I’m genuinely a nice guy (most of the time).  I’m currently spending most of my time in Metropolis at the moment but in a past life I used to live in 0.0 Syndicate – so I’m an experienced pilot.

At the moment I have no affiliation but once I am back in Eve, pop by Hek or Bei and say hello if you see me.

Anyway, I’m going to sign off now and get me some Quafe and a whole load of booze and chill while I wait for my cash to come through.