Sunday 8 April 2012

Active

The consensus seemed to be that if really large numbers of men were sent to storm the mountain, then enough might survive the rocks to take the citadel. This is essentially the basis of all military thinking.

-- (Terry Pratchett, Eric)


A Hurricane is a mighty test for the ship I was flying, but it was a test I was going to take, or as the case was to be, let the test take me.

Cyclone
Cyclone The Cyclone was created in order to meet the increasing demand for a vessel capable of providing muscle for frigate detachments while remaining more mobile than a battleship. To this end, the Cyclone's eight high-power slots and powerful thrusters have proved ideal.

Battlecruiser Skill Bonus: 5% bonus to Medium Projectile Turret rate of fire and 7.5% bonus to shield boosting per level


99% reduction in the CPU need of Warfare Link modules.


I had been hunting a Tengu running a drone complex in Eifer, but headed back to Gusandall. As I jump through a Hurricane pilot that was reported earlier appears in Gus local, so I warp straight to belt 1-1 and wait...

... Didn't have to wait long as the Hurricane warps in at range. His MWD pulse clearly showing he was quicker than me, getting into range of my scram was paramount, as I started the approach under full MWD speed, I needed to get under 12km for my scram's overloaded range and it wasn't easy as the Hurricane easily outran and out ranged me, pulsing my shield booster as the Hurricane's 425s tore into me.

I pop a strong blue pill, the universe takes on a blue hue, an immediate headache a side effect, reducing my ability to keep my shield capacity at full strength but the massive boost to my neural pathways allowing me to maximize the shield boost from the shield booster.

Massive chunks of my shield being ripped away, massive chunks of my shield being repaired, timing of my cap boosts becomes critical as dual neuts from the Hurricane putting pressure on my capacitor, the time has come, I overload my MWD, a cap boost charge fires, I force the engagement into scram range as I get within 12km, my overloaded scram bites hard and the MWD of the Hurricane is nullified, I close to point blank, second cap booster fires, shields bouncing like crazy, I'm starting to miss timings on cap boosts, the dual neut pressure hurting, the 425s hurting, my shields dipping further, armour hitting red, my drones seemingly off on their own mission to kill an Angel cruiser, double you tea eff guys?
It doesn't take long for me to get my timings right, overloaded shield boosts and cap boosts allowing me to stay ahead of the damage and neut cycles... Just.
My drones, having killed the cruiser, decide to come back and help me.

At this point though, I have broken the shields of the Hurricane and am biting into the soft underbelly of the passive shield, its weak armour being ripped apart by my rockets and 220s, and in no time his structure starts to vaporize under the assault, my weapons near melting point as the Hurricane explodes.

A rather good fight, sentiments shared in local comms.

I'm having fun in active tanked ships of both shield and armour variants and for the first time in a very long time I suffered side effects of the drugs that help boost them to insane levels. Some of the fits might not be conventional but damn if they don't keep you interested :)

Active tanks fell out of favour as of late, replaced by logistics and remote repair chains, but for solo they can be really effective in my not so humble opinion, whilst still vulnerable against neuts and large amounts of deeps, choose your targets and have fun.

Edit: To include the ship I was flying, thanks Trony for pointing that out :)

16 comments:

Afandi said...

Hwel The Playwright would cheer this post. :)

I've recently acquired some Cyclones, modeled after a fit of yours, but I wonder - would they be effective without a blue pill? I'm used to the stronger tanking of the Myrmidon and seeing a shield boost of 320 leaves me a bit...in discomfort.
Can you give me some tips? :)

Anonymous said...

an alt with boosting links is a good idea

Kane Rizzel said...

If you paid careful attention to the blog you would have noticed there wasn't even skirmish links involved in the fight, let alone any other links, just strong blue pill and an xl booster, stop being jelly bro, your constant crying just makes you look silly, it's just a game and I don't need your pity as you put it. Must suck to be anonymous.

Afandi, I'll reply to your questions later when I get home from work.

Anonymous said...

yes yes, if you say so, no links, none at all..

Kane Rizzel said...

Never stop replying, never stop caring, I love you my little stalker

Kane Rizzel said...

Afandi: the XL booster can boost plenty, but it is a burst tank, even with the dual cap boosters, you'll burn through your cap, more so under neut pressure. I use navy cap boosters, strong blue pill as it expands my target selection, sure you can use normal blue pill or even fore go drugs, but it does narrow down what you can successfully tank whilst doing damage to kill them.

I've seen what a large booster cyclone can do with links, as used against me a few weeks ago, and it was very impressive, a link alt would make the tank godly but will still die to too much deeps and neuts.

Choose your targets wisely, load the right ammo for the job and if all fails, it's not a terribly expensive fit, grab another and continue till you win.

Anonymous said...

Never stop replying, never stop caring, i pity you my little lover

Kane Rizzel said...

Please carry on, I live off your pity, it fuels my spaceships

Anonymous said...

at first you dont want my pity and now you do want it. make up your mind
or do you realize it might fuel your booster alt. nice

Kane Rizzel said...

I just find it amusing you care so much and take so much time out of your day to try make a point.

Anonymous said...

i will always be here, reminding people about your links, always...

Kane Rizzel said...

Thanks, you make my day doing it too :)

Lhorenzho said...

wow a significant amount of information contained in your post and replies. Many of us looking to gain some sense of competence with the cyclone can certainly pick up some tips. Thank Kane.

Afandi said...

Thanks for the tips, Kane. I guess I'll have to set the drug skills in the queue after all. :)

shoki said...

look at this little butthurt bitch. you got popped? some ebil piwate popped your RUPTOR OF DOOM?
awwwww, come, i'll give you a hug and boo-boo will pass

ant

Anonymous said...

Never stop making them mad, Kane. Lowsec belongs to you: all others exist at your leisure.