Tormented

Quote #163.

The kraken stirs. And ten billion sushi dinners cry out for vengeance.

-- (Terry Pratchett & Neil Gaiman, Good Omens)

A few days ago I was contacted by a long time reader, recently retired from wormhole space and looking to find his way in lowsec, as such he endeavoured to battle me.

Yesterday I spent a fruitless day hunting the Minmatar faction warfare zones, I was met with either overwhelming force or MWD kiters, with only one fight I headed home, rather despondent with only one proper fight the whole trip.

Sitting in Amamake, on what would seem to be yet another fruitless day, when all the Navy Slicers would warp away, Jiffah contacted me and asked if I was still up for the battle, now anyone who knows me will tell you I love 1v1s, have always and will always honour them, so I headed back to Gusandall after a quick shower and dinner to get ready for what I expected to be an interesting fight.

I haven't had a 1v1 in a while, folk are so skittish these days that I've even been laughed at for even offering, saying I would just get my 'friends' to come gank them, didn't know folk were so attached to their frigates to be honest, so to say I'm a little rusty is a slight under statement.

1v1s are a little different than most combat in the universe, for a start, you need to make sure your 1v1 tab is set up properly, not having the person you're fighting show up on your overview does not help your cause.

Jiffah arrived in Gus with a Tormentor, a ship I have not battled yet but one I've heard a great deal about. I had chosen my Battle Probe, a ship that I consider to be pound for pound the best brawler in the game

Tormentor

 



The Tormentor is a Combat Frigate designed for frontline fighting.
Traits 
Amarr Frigate skill bonus per level:
10% bonus to Small Energy Turret capacitor use
5% bonus to Small Energy Turret damage
Development
The Tormentor has been in service for many decades. For most of that time it saw service as a mining ship, its size barring it from making any kind of impact on the battlefield. As with most Amarr ships, however, its strong defenses always made it a tough opponent to crack, and with recent advances in turret capacitor use and damage output, its lasers have now stopped digging into dead ore and are instead focused on boring through the hulls of hapless vessels in combat. 

VS

Probe

 


The Probe is a Frigate designed for exploring the depths of space.
Traits  
Minmatar Frigate skill bonus per level:
7.5% increase to scan strength of probes
5% bonus to Salvager cycle time
Role Bonus:
+5 Virus Strength to Relic and Data Analyzers
Development
The Probe is large compared to most Minmatar frigates and is considered a good scout and cargo-runner. Uncharacteristically for a Minmatar ship, its hard outer coating makes it difficult to destroy, while the limited weapon hardpoints force it to rely on fighter assistance if engaged in combat.

Kane Rizzel > just say when you're ready
Jiffah > I'm
Kane Rizzel > ?
Jiffah > I mean I'm ready and waiting
Kane Rizzel > in warp, gl and hf
Jiffah > you too :)

I land on grid and nothing on overview, quick pan out, lock and engage, I know the Tormentor can have good range but I have a trick up my sleeve to force him in,, we dance around each other at 8km with purple pulses of death slamming into my Probe, I reply with salvos of rockets and autocannon fire, drones from both ships, pass each other on the way to the other.

We're both in armour, I'm pulsing my repper as I start to orbit to mitigate some of the scorch damage, my opponent however seems to have activated Beast Mode tank, I'm starting to get down to my last few remaining explosive rockets (Another thing to remember about 1v1s is to bring enough ammo)

I make the mistake of switching to thermal rage rockets, but after he near reps all his armour back I switch to faction thermal and start to overheat in earnest. I'm slowly dealing damage to his structure before he reps chuncks of armour back, it's starting to look grim as bits of my ship start melting, first to go is my scram, I'm having to nurse my gun and launchers to make sure they don't suffer the same fate. With one last burst of overheating, I punch through his last armour and decimate what structure is left, the Tormentor torments me no more

Kane Rizzel > great fight
Jiffah > gf :)

I scoop the loot and dock up to repair what is left of my Probe, everything is on fire and my deck crew are going to have a hell of a time fixing everything. 

Jiffah > One more round if you don't mind?
Kane Rizzel > sure
Kane Rizzel > mind if I change ship?
Jiffah > sure
Jiffah > fair enough
Kane Rizzel > the probe is a little op
Kane Rizzel > that tomentor tanks like a beast
Jiffah > I burned out my AB, after that it was only matter of time when you finish me
Kane Rizzel > I always end up burning something out

Jiffah returns in another Tormentor but I want to try something a little different, I go for an old Incursus build of mine with one minor upgrade from my old standard

Tormentor

 



The Tormentor is a Combat Frigate designed for frontline fighting.
Traits 
Amarr Frigate skill bonus per level:
10% bonus to Small Energy Turret capacitor use
5% bonus to Small Energy Turret damage
Development
The Tormentor has been in service for many decades. For most of that time it saw service as a mining ship, its size barring it from making any kind of impact on the battlefield. As with most Amarr ships, however, its strong defenses always made it a tough opponent to crack, and with recent advances in turret capacitor use and damage output, its lasers have now stopped digging into dead ore and are instead focused on boring through the hulls of hapless vessels in combat. 


VS

Incursus

 



The Incursus is a Combat Frigate designed for frontline fighting.
Traits
Gallente Frigate skill bonus per level:
7.5% bonus to Armor Repairer effectiveness
5% bonus to Small Hybrid Turret damage

Development
The Incursus may be found both spearheading and bulwarking Gallente military operations. Its speed makes it excellent for skirmishing duties, while its resilience helps it outlast its opponents on the battlefield. Incursus-class ships move together in groups and can quickly and effectively gang up on ships many times their size and overwhelm them. In recent years the Incursus has increasingly found its way into the hands of pirates, who love its aggressive appearance. 

Jiffah > Ok, same spot, i'm here
Kane Rizzel > ok, omw gl and hf

I warp in again, Jiffah is at 18km from me, and he moves rather quickly, but very soon we're in range of each others scrams,but my blasters seem to be doing very little damage to his shields, I'm barely scratching him at this point, so with a web advantage I move closer and reload to void, the Tormentor explodes.

I check the killmail and see why my damage to his shields appeared weak 

Kane Rizzel > gf again
Jiffah > gf
Kane Rizzel > did not expect the switch to shields
Jiffah > hehe
Kane Rizzel > thought my damage was really poor lol
Jiffah > rushing straight to you was clearly a mistake
Kane Rizzel > I switched to void
Kane Rizzel > so yeah
Kane Rizzel > clear punched right through
Jiffah > more important you caught me with scrambler
Jiffah > no chance for MWD
Jiffah > anyway that was fun
Kane Rizzel > yeah, thanks for that, very rare I get 1v1s these days, everyone so paranoid
Jiffah > thank you too for accepting my challenge
Kane Rizzel > you're welcome dude
Kane Rizzel > will do a blog about it :)
Jiffah > That's it for now, fly dangerous o7
Kane Rizzel > o7
 

Thank you again Jiffah, was an honour to battle you.

I did the Faction Warfare loop once again, swinging via Bosena and the only fight I got was a terribly close encounter versus this fellow, good fight sir, I was in structure and on fire :)


Edit: A little closer to home while I sort out my loot hangar to be moved to market a curious fellow in a Worm calls me out

hoogy thekiller > Gusandall IV - Republic Justice Department Tribunal
hoogy thekiller > come out

So I undock in my Tristan, I'm almost convinced it's a trap as he's hugging the station but I intend to see this through as I close and start to circle, he engages and the fight is on, I'm already in armour as my drones and guns start to chew meaningfully into his shields, an overloaded repper is just about dealing with the incoming damage but I have now well and truly got him as his shields vapourise and chunks of armour are shredded away, he explodes violently, lighting up the dark side of Gusandall station.

Kane Rizzel > gf
hoogy thekiller > fuck u
Kane Rizzel > no use get angry about it, you called Gus out
hoogy thekiller > can i see ya fit
hoogy thekiller > and i had lagg

Oh well, sorry for your lag.Other than the guy being an absolute muppet it was a very good fight.

Gusandall IV - Republic Justice Department Tribunal: Courts where judicial matters are judged

And this finally arrived in the mail this afternoon, my favourite ship in the whole wide universe