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

An epic engagement

 People who are rather more than six feet tall and nearly as broad across the shoulders often have uneventful journeys. People jump out at them from behind rocks then say things like, "Oh. Sorry. I thought you were someone else."
-- Carrot travels to Ankh-Morpork
(Terry Pratchett, Guards! Guards!)

I arrived in my hangar in Gusandall station and was greeted by a message from one of the new locals, a challenge, a battle.

CptHaoc > where is megathron?
Kane Rizzel > on Cybetron with the rest of the Decepticons :P
CptHaoc > that answer made me reapproach
Kane Rizzel > lol
CptHaoc > undock. its time

How could I resist, my mighty Megathron war ship versus what I assumed would be a Maelstrom vessel of doom.

And so it was, I took my time, needed to do some stuff around the hangar first, checked and re-checked my ammo, cap boosters, seeing where I could jam a few more into the cargo hold, checked all mods, drones, and drugs.

I made myself a cup of Earl Grey and quietly enjoyed it before boarding Gasplode and undocking.

Battle would take place at Asteroid Belt 1-1, I warped in at a range I felt comfortable with and waited, sure enough, a Maelstrom appears on scan, just as a friend in a Megatrhon of his own jumped into system. I asked Kash to stay out of it and he kindly obliged. The Mael warps in, I drop a flight of Garde II sentries and closed, he drops Hammer IIs and a Berzerker SW-900 Heavy web drone.

I closed, pulsed the smart-bomb in my utility high, engaged web and scram and proceeded to  introduce hot anti matter into the Maelstroms pulsing shields.

His tank was amazing, I took a hit of Exile and started micro managing my reps and boosters, he was boosting a third of his shields with each pulse and doing great damage. It was going to come down to cap boosters.

I had gotten him to about half armour but his impressive tank would hold as long as his cap boosters did but he stopped doing damage as I easily repped back to full armour.

CptHaoc > weapons burned

Well that would make it easier, I turned off tank, stopped cap boosting but continued to harass his shields.

Kane Rizzel > your tank is awesome
CptHaoc > 100 mil to let my mael live
Kane Rizzel > kk
CptHaoc > DONE
Kunibert Grafenwald > ITS A TRAP
Kashmyta > boosh
Kane Rizzel > GF

And just like that, I made 100mil and the Mael lives to War another day. He warps out and I make way to retrieve my sentry drones when suddenly Pilgrim, decloaks off my starboard and engages, neuts firing the last remnants of my cap into oblivion, tracking disrupted and drones swarming me it seems like I'm done for, helpless.

CptHaoc > how many caps u got
Kane Rizzel > not enough for this pilgrim
CptHaoc > he's got a point on u?
Kane Rizzel > yep

I reload my cap booster and start firing off one at a time, pulsing my smartbomb but leaving my reppers off, I close to zero on the Grim and start to batter it, the Maelstrom pilot returns to the field in a Hurricane and helps me mop up.

Sakari Orisi > gf
Kane Rizzel > gf

I had three no charges in my cap booster...

Kane Rizzel > I had six more charges

But six in the medium container in my hold called 'Farjung <3'

Kane Rizzel > :)
Saara Orisi > Bah, so close

Not close enough.

Thanks to CptHaoc for coming back to help, Kash warped his Mega in at the end along with another of Haoc's corp mates in a Drake.

Belt 1-1 saw something epic and witnessed honour, something that is far too rare in this amazing universe.

CptHaoc > ur mega is a beast.
Kane Rizzel > thanks
CptHaoc > dunno what can i do next about that
Kane Rizzel > the tank on that mael was something else tbh
CptHaoc > well, i spent a few isk on a booster
CptHaoc > burning out my guns, is a true fail.
Kane Rizzel > happens tbh
Kane Rizzel > sometimes if you ungroup a few won't be burnt

This makes me wonder how much the booster was worth? :)

The Scythe

Although the scythe isn't pre-eminent among the weapons of war, anyone who has been on the wrong end of, say, a peasants' revolt will know that in skilled hands it is fearsome.
-- (Terry Pratchett, Mort)

Earlier this week I was approached by an old corp mate and friend Rex Hargrove for a duel of epic proportions.

We spoke for a bit, he would come slum it in Gusandall, we would battle and then have cookies and tea.

The decision about which class of ship to use was tough, I needed to level the playing field somewhat as I don't have a clone without implants that could massively swing the fight in my favour in a number of ships.

Somehow one ship automatically came up as the choice for this and I proposed Battle Scythes to Rex...

Scythe

The Scythe-class cruiser is the oldest Minmatar ship still in use. It has seen many battles and is an integrated part in Minmatar tales and heritage. Recent firmware upgrades "borrowed" from the Caldari have vastly increased the efficiency of its mining output.

Minmatar Cruiser Skill Bonus: 20% bonus to mining laser yield and 3.5% bonus to tracking links per level.

Role Bonus: 500% bonus to range of tracking links.

Well now, here's a challenge if I ever saw one, how would we turn these into ships suitable for battle. I thought long and hard about this ship and how to fit it. With no weapons bonuses I could choose whichever type of weapon system would suit me best.

My first thoughts though were to undergun and go with smalls. Blasters, while higher DPS, they were short range, autocannons gave me more options damage wise but there was something staring me in the face that I could not ignore... The massive EM hole on the shields of the Scythe. There was only one gun system that would do and that was lasers.

I also thought about going with rocket launchers, but bouncing ideas off another friend, Jonothan Xavier, we decided that heavy assault missiles would fit the purpose of the fit nicely, and also giving me damage options not available to lasers.

Here is the fit I finally decided on:

[Scythe, OOK!]
Damage Control II
Heat Sink II
Heat Sink II

Y-S8 Hydrocarbon I Afterburners
Large Shield Extender II
Faint Epsilon Warp Scrambler I

Medium Pulse Laser II, Scorch S
Medium Pulse Laser II, Scorch S
Medium Pulse Laser II, Scorch S
'Malkuth' Heavy Assault Missile Launcher I, Caldari Navy Hellfire Assault Missile
'Malkuth' Heavy Assault Missile Launcher I, Caldari Navy Terror Assault Missile

Medium Core Defence Field Extender I
Medium Core Defence Field Extender I
Medium Core Defence Field Extender I

Hobgoblin II x1

With OOK! ready for battle and the day of destiny upon us, I would have to wait for Rex to make his way out of zero zero for this epic encounter.

He arrived in Gusandall after a hectic trip from nullsec and went about setting up his BATTLE SCYTHE. I had made arrangements with the locals to mind their own business and stay out of mine as I started to meditate before what was sure to be the battle of my illustrious career.

We formed gang and I made my way to the safespot, Jon came in a Hyperion to make sure we kept it honest.

Rex undocked, an associate reporting his every movement, he made warp for my position and it was time to meet in glorious battle.

Rex landed about 15 clicks away and I hit my afterburner, chosen as it would not be affected by warp scramblers. I closed quite easily as we locked each other up, I launched my single hobgoblin drone and ordered it to attack, attack it did, my lasers tore space apart as they sent cleansing light across the gap, heavy assault missiles spewing forth and assaulting Rex's shields.

Locked in mortal combat, Rex launched that which has been my nemesis for far too long, a single EC-300 drone made it's way towards OOK!...

Rex's shields evaporated, his armour melted and his hull crumpled as the stress of space and my weapons fire was too much, the EC-300 not being able to get a jam on.

One of the more interesting 1v1s I have ever been involved in and a lot of fun.
Thanks to Jon for the advice with regards to fitting and to Rex for making the trip from nullsec for this.

Screw Dust514, Rust is here and now

Slab: Jus' say "AarrghaarrghpleeassennononoUGH"

-- Detritus' war on drugs
(Terry Pratchett, Feet of Clay)

The hangar is cold, too long have I been away. Tonight however I had a date, a date with explosions.

A few weeks back I was challenged to a duel by one Lau Wensink asking if I would be so kind to grant him a 1v1 duel. I agreed at the time but was unavoidably detained with other activities.

Yes I've been away and yes I'm rusty but there's nothing like violence to shake the rust off. The duel was to take place in Eifer, at a safe spot of Lau's choice, I always allow my opponent to choose the safe and form the fleet as it gives them peace of mind that no one will interrupt our little party. We had decided to use Battlecruiser class ships and looking over the assembled hardware in my hangar I was torn between my trusty Hurricanes, two different setups but both rather efficient, and the Harbinger, a brick of a ship but capable of a rather beautiful light show.

Well, Lau was on his way and I chose that age old method of choosing something when undecided, I tossed a coin, Heads it would be the Hurricane, tails, the Harbinger.

The coin spun in the air and took its sweet time to fall, reminds me I need to make sure the artificial gravity is reset in the hangar. I caught the coin and placed it on the desk, a certain unease came over me as I slowly lifted my hand.... Tails

I walked over to the Harbinger, named Sgt, Detritus, an absolute slab, massive armour plates and pretty lasers. My pod was set up nearby and I made preparations to be plugged in. Once inside the pod it was inserted into the Harbinger, systems coming online as soon as I was set. I ran through the installed modules, making sure everything was in order, that I had the correct crystals for the pulse lasers and everything was five by five.

Lau had opened comms with me and said he was in Eifer, I told him to set up a safe and we'll form fleet when I get there.

The long undock of Gusandall station is dark but it helps one focus on the task at hand. I started running through my mental checklists, wondering what I would face, what my tactics would be, finally the night sky of Gusandall greeted me, a fantastic site.

I warped to the Eifer gate and jumped through, automatically aligning and warping to a central safespot where I could scan most the system. Once there I was greeted by a Drake on scan. Interesting, a most formidable battlecruiser with a legendary shield tank. We formed fleet and waited a bit for Lau's capacitor to regen before I would warp in.

Once ready Lau gave the signal, we agreed beforehand the fight was to the wreck of the ship, no podding, suited me fine. I warped to zero, landing about 5 clicks off the Drake, warp trails still streaming off the Harbinger's golden hull as I swung her around and made a direct line for the Drake. Warp scrambler set to overload, stasis web set to overload, I locked the Drake and opened fire.

A flight of light ECM drones spewed out of the Drake's drone bay and it was then I deployed my own drones, a flight of Warrior IIs, chosen specifically to deal with the prospect of ECM. I locked each drone and set my own to deal with them.

The PvP rust was showing as I was neuting drones, webbing and scramming them and Lau got away from me for a moment, until of course I dusted the cobwebs from between my ears and got my act into gear. All the ECM drones were dealt with, but I had more pressing problems, Lau had stripped my shields and was slowly eating away at my massive armour buffer, I had closed the distance and had him firmly tackled, a medium energy neutraliser sucking the lifesblood of the Drake away, my lasers eating at his shields. I had started to overheat everything but neglected to turn off my MWD, my sig radius that of a small moon meaning Lau's Scourge Fury missiles had a whale of a time with my armour. Schoolboy error Kane.

I shut the MWD off, Lau wasn't going anywhere as he was firmly pinned down. My lasers and neut were overheating, climbing into the red, I stopped overheating the lasers as I broke through the Drakes imperious shields, not long now, his armour stripped away, hull venting gas and fuel into space and then my guns winked out, overheated beyond repair. Sweet zombie jesus Kane? What the fuck is wrong with you? I had left the neut running overheated and it did collateral damage to my lasers, burning them out. Lau, at most had 5% structure left and it was down to my flight of Warriors to finish the job and they did a fine job, heroes, each and every one of them.

Lau's Drake exploded, illuminating the expanding cloud of gas and fuel. A fantastic fight, really enjoyed it, burnt out lasers and all. I was at 27% armour when Lau popped, nice and close, just the way I like it.

We spoke for a bit after and then Lau went on his merry, slightly disappointed I think but he did very well and respect to him. This duel is only a small part of this pilots adventures and it appears he has taken it upon himself to challenge celebrities from around the EVE universe to duels, a fantastic idea and one I'm honoured to say I've been part of.

Take a look at Lau's blog for further adventures and you never know if or when he'll challenge your celebrity :P

I docked up in Gusandall, set the crews to knock the dents out of Sgt Detritus' armour and lit a cigarette... I'm back... Sort of.