The Tank

Many an ancient lord's last words had been, "You can't kill me because I've got magic aaargh."
-- Magic armour is not all it's cracked up to be.
(Terry Pratchett, Interesting Times)

Not much about today, a good 1v1 vs Ava Starfire earlier in the day, letting a Harpy escape not once, but twice, but still managing to kill his Dramiel corp mate.

So things weren't looking up but late evening, one of my associates reported combat probes on scan as she was running an anomaly. A Cyclone is spotted on scan, shortly followed by a Tengu. Tengu moves off scan but is still in system, a boosting T3 no doubt but I was up for a fight regardless. My associate had cloaked in the anomaly and reported the Cyclone had warped in.

I undock Mort, a Hurricane class battlecruiser, something I haven't flown in a while in a configuration I haven't flown in even longer, a shield buffer fit.

I warp in on top of the Cyclone and engage immediately, he lights me up, scrammed I can't gain range as my MWD stares at me blankly, but I fight tooth and nail, his tank impressive, boosting... A lot. My shields are done for as we both enter armour except he boosts some shields back even under staggered dual neuts.

Mort collapses under the onslaught, the Cyclone at about 10% structure as I warp my pod to safety.

I decide to go back for seconds, grabbing Sgt Detritus, a Harbinger :)

The Cyclone had docked to repair the damage from the first fight and went back to the anomaly as he exited the station, I followed immediately, almost catching him on the gate but he waited for me inside.

Knowing I would struggle breaking his tank, my associate decloaked and engaged with her Ishtar, a flight of Ogre IIs spewing forth from her drone bay as I kept the Cyclone pinned down. The Cyclone still tanked like a champ but the combined firepower eventually breaking him.

A good fight for me in the end as I got revenge, even though it was a team effort, the Cyclone Pilot not saying anything after his loss, I don't think he was happy, the Tengu leaving system shortly after he did. Impressive tank mate, something I'm definitely interested in for the future.
I don't think I would have broken the tank on that thing without the Ishtar's help and would have lost another ship in the search for vengeance.

New shirt?

[OOC] Making a difference

"He's muffed it," said Simony. "he could have done *anything* with them. And he just told them the facts. You can't inspire people with facts. They need a cause. They need a symbol."
-- (Terry Pratchett, Small Gods)

A private conversation propped up as I logged in this evening, from somone I did not know but I always answer convo requests when I can, I have only edited some spelling to make it more legible, I've had a long day at work and my typing sucks when I'm tired. The conversation makes this blog and everything I've done in EVE worth it, inspiring others is something we oft forget and makes the act of living more rewarding

Kane Rizzel > evening
Talon Dusk > hi.... you don't know me but you are my hero haha...i have been reading your blog non stop for like 2 weeks
Talon Dusk > it helps me get through boring work days and i just wanted to say thanks
Kane Rizzel > haha, thanks :)
Kane Rizzel > you're welcome
Talon Dusk > and i am trying my hand at being a pirate but i really have no idea how your so god damn good lol.
Talon Dusk > like some of the things you do in a rifter make me speechless
Kane Rizzel > I've been doing it a long time and some would say I'm just lucky :)
Kane Rizzel > but mostly it's just knowing what you. your ship and your opponents ship are capable of
Kane Rizzel > and it's still fun to fly frigates
Talon Dusk > haha i doubt that...but yeah i am trying to be more solo based i was in a corp that was all about heavy armor 40 man baddon fleets and i started reading your blog and it inspired me to try my hand at solo
Talon Dusk > i doubt that its lucky is what i ment to say
Talon Dusk > but yeah i need to buy a few rifters and just start flying those go back to the basic's i guess figure that will be the best way to get better
Kane Rizzel > I'm glad the blog inspires solo tbh, that's a good thing
Kane Rizzel > haha, I started a character last week, just to see what it felt like to be a low SP player again
Kane Rizzel > only two solo kills so far but has been thrilling
Talon Dusk > yeah i mean flying in those big fleets just made me lose interest like i haven't been playing much the past two months cause i was just so bored with the game just got on to change skills
Talon Dusk > but then your blog made me realize even if i'm in a corp i don't need to always fly with people and i can go solo and get that thrill feeling.
Talon Dusk > but i am sorry for bothering you i just wanted to let you know how much i like your blog and how it has inspired me to try and be a better solo pilot...so if you are ever recruiting (i know you prob wont) or ever want a noob pilot to fly with let me kno
Talon Dusk > i would be more then happy to fly a rifter over to your home for awhile and hang out. but again sorry for bothering you mate
Kane Rizzel > very true that and I wish more people would actually realise that, was having an argument with some of my old nullsec corp mates about just that
Kane Rizzel > no worries dude, unfortunately I don't recruit but thanks and you're welcome
Talon Dusk > yeah like you say in your blog its nice to have people that you can fly with for somethings but most people don't realize you don't always have to be with them like lately i am on comms but i am just doing my own thing and i know you dont :( just wish you
Talon Dusk > did haha
Kane Rizzel > :)
Talon Dusk > maybe ill start moving out that way and can atleast die by you a few times and try to join one of the pirate corps over there.....lol i just want to learn how to be even slightly as good as you....
Kane Rizzel > I am planning a gank night through my blog, just need to sort a date and theme but you are most welcome to join in when I do, just keep tabs on the blog
Talon Dusk > yeah i am actually in 2009 right now haha....i went ALL the way back to the beginning and have been reading it from there :) hopefully that doesnt sound creepy....
Kane Rizzel > no it doesn't I did some good writing back then
Talon Dusk > you still do good writing...i just wanted to see how the world of eve has changed over the years. and i enjoy your writing so it was a win win
Kane Rizzel > eve has changed quite a lot and tbh, what I said to my old corp mates stands, the only reason I still play this game is because I did my own thing way back, most of them have quit the game and profess to have won eve but the winners are the ones who still play
Talon Dusk > yeah like i did what you did a few times and take little breaks like i just got a new job so for now till i get adjusted to that i only play weekends and what not but i do plan to start getting into the true solo world
Talon Dusk > and i have now started to scoop EVERYTHING that drops lol...but how do you make money off the little t1 crap?
Kane Rizzel > there's a few channels you can join if you're interested in piracy and solo/small gang stuff for advice and general chat, there's my public channel which is small but has some friends in it "Novakane", then there's "Independence" owned by flashfresh
Kane Rizzel > the CEO of The Bastards
Kane Rizzel > and there's Broadside, owned by Sard Caid, just play nice with the guys and you'll be able to get good advice off some of the residents
Kane Rizzel > I melt all the t1 stuff down into minerals and sell it
Kane Rizzel > when you kill a bunch of stuff it adds up
Kane Rizzel > basically sell all the meta,t2 and faction stuff and clear the loot hangar once a month or so
Talon Dusk > is there a skill that helps with melting stuff down? i am actually training alt for probing/boosting/freighter
Kane Rizzel > I think there is but tbh, I just melt it down, probably lose a lot but I've got no industry skills to speak of
Talon Dusk > haha neither do i...but i figured the alt could have one that would help make money...but i joined both those channels you told me about and maybe if i get enoug hcourage ill actually talk in them but i am kind of shy haha....i just really wanted to
Talon Dusk > thank you for pretty much making me enjoy eve again
Kane Rizzel > that right there, makes it all worth it :)
Talon Dusk > yeah i truly don't have words to describe it but i literally had no motivation to play anymore and just got on to keep skills going but then i found your blog and it made me realize what i actually want to inspire to be in the world of eve...
Kane Rizzel > http://www.twitch.tv/sardcaid also worth watching Sard when he does his solo/small gang roams
Talon Dusk > i have a quick question is Kiera actually you or is it truly someone else who plays that account?
Kane Rizzel > it's an alt
Kane Rizzel > just rp'd it as a separate person/sibling as it made the blog entries a bit more alive
Talon Dusk > ah okay...yeah i really always wondered if it was someone related to you....but thats cool...it is nice having a alt but i am not to good at probing yet takes lots of practice haha
Kane Rizzel > probing does need practice, I have three characters that are max skilled probers but knowing systems and basic probing mechanics and being comfortable with them is good
Kane Rizzel > with practice you become faster
Talon Dusk > yeah thats what i plan to do eventually...got to save up for a freighter thou haha...with all this loot i am starting to get
Talon Dusk > okay mate...i am in your chat channel now so ill leave you be...but i honestly cant thank you enough and i do hope we can fly together sometime....sorry for bothering you....but just cant thank you enough haha
Kane Rizzel > no worries
Talon Dusk > alright well ill see you in the channel mate thanks again...and like i said ill fly out there sometime and we can maybe go on a roam or you can kill me one of the two haha
Kane Rizzel > o7
Talon Dusk > o/

In other news

An isk farmer is spotted cloaking in the 2/10, I go to investigate, he's in the thrid room and I use the keys that have respawned to go in, all the wrecks of the plex guards evidence of him in there, killed off so he could cloak.

Kane Rizzel > oh look, an isk farmer

After a few minutes he decloaks and warps out.

Kane Rizzel > run little isk farmer, make sure when you come back to come for a fight

Feeling feisty I offer terms for our next meeting.

Tedrizze > o/

He leaves Gusandall

I receive this in the mail:

tard
From: Tedrizze
Sent: 2012.03.18 20:07
To: Kane Rizzel,

ye i engage in a t2 destroyer fully fitted for this plex!!!NOT

pathetic tool, besides: what are you doing in this plex??farming isk?

moron

My reply:

Re: tard
From: Kane Rizzel
Sent: 2012.03.18 21:25
To: Tedrizze,

I hunt isk farmers in the plex.

You're cloaking inside their waiting out the spawns so you are an isk farmer, labelled as such and will be hunted like the vermin you are.

Hugs and Kisses

Kane

Not very smart this one, I particularly like the subject line of my reply :D

Edit: It's getting better

Re: Re: tard
From: Tedrizze
Sent: 2012.03.18 21:33
To: Kane Rizzel,

So and you knew i was in the last room cloaked? :D :D :D

you were there to farm it yourself so please stop bitchin.

Now a fun fact: you need isk in this game to do a lot of pvp, which i do btw, so once in a while looting this plex is providing me enough isk to actually pvp.

--------------------------------

Re: Re: Re: tard
From: Kane Rizzel
Sent: 2012.03.18 21:36
To: Tedrizze,

HAHA, you're an isk farmer, plain and simple, you were spotted on d-scan in the direction of the plex, not rocket surgery (intentional use of this), I live here and make my isk hunting schmucks like you, so if you do PvP, kindly come back and show your credentials in the plex, till then, stay classy ISK farmer

Hugs and Kisses

Kane

--------------------------------

Re: Re: Re: Re: tard
From: Tedrizze
Sent: 2012.03.18 21:37
To: Kane Rizzel,

wow farming isk is such a SHAME, oh wait...

pathetic kido, see you soon when i shred your ass

--------------------------------

Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: tard
From: Kane Rizzel
Sent: 2012.03.18 21:40
To: Tedrizze,

Bring cookies

--------------------------------

Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: tard
From: Tedrizze
Sent: 2012.03.18 21:42
To: Kane Rizzel,

sure, i´ll bring the cookies ur mom gave me when i exploited her face

Suicide is Painless

Suicide was against the law. Johnny had wondered why. It meant that if you missed, or the gas ran out, or the rope broke, you could get locked up in prison to show you that life was really very jolly and thoroughly worth living.
-- (Terry Pratchett, Johnny and the Dead)

"I want you to set up one of those 'special' Thrashers for me please Monty" said Kane
"Sure thing boss, crew?" asked Monty, hopeful the answer would be 'no' as he knew full well that one of those 'special' Thrashers would never return to Gusandall.
"Won't need one, I'm going to high sec" came the reply from the Pirate
"Oh! Have fun" the look of relief on Monty's face was clear, but working for Kane for as long as he has made every job dangerous, not for himself personally but for the hundreds and thousands of recruits that have crewed space ships for NovaKane Incorporated through the years, those that have survived long enough and served with distinction earning a good salary and a place on one of NOVAK's flagships. Daemon Montrose was once such a raw recruit but now he was the Deck Chief for a notorious Pirate and probably one of the nicest guys he knew. Kane rewarded loyalty and hard work.

The Thrasher slips into the black, heads over to Emolgranlan, the target already identified, the trap already being primed.

Flying any ship without a basic crew takes phenomenal concentration from a pod pilot, immortal they may be, running every system on a ship on their own is the most demanding of tasks.

Not needing a crew for this job would make recruiting new crew down the line a lot easier, folk are happier to sign on if they stand even a small chance of surviving.

Is a suicide gank really suicide if nobody dies?

The Thrasher jumps into Emolgranlan and warps to the associate. The warp in is flawless, five clicks away and the Thrasher opens fire, four volleys are needed but eventually the target explodes, just in time to treat the incoming CONCORD patrol to a nice fireworks display.

The immortal pod pilot warps his escape pod out and heads back to low sec, a smile across his face.

In other news, I'm having an awful lot of folk self destruct on me during ransom negotiations, this fella in the Dramiel stalled during a 50million negotiation long enough for his pod to explode :( Guess I'll console myself with what was for once a decent loot drop :)

Pride and Extreme Prejudice, a Pirates Perspective Gank Night

"It's going to look pretty good, then, isn't it," said War testily, "the One Horseman and Three Pedestrians of the Apocralypse."
-- The Four Horsemen of the Apocralypse encounter unexpected difficulties
(Terry Pratchett, Sourcery)

I've been thinking about doing something special for those of you who have been reading a Pirates Perspective, reading the lunacy and sometimes lucid thoughts of one who flies alone for the most part.

One of the things I'm pondering, other than total domination of the universe, is a Gank Night, first pioneered by the denizens of the Scrapheap Challenge forums (Now known as Failheap Challenge) then German and Russian EVE forums and RvB.

I have an idea, the idea being I take a bunch of readers out on a roam and then promptly die to the guys with more ECM than DPS, but above all I want to have fun.

I have three themes:

Cruisers of a Lesser Evil™

Something different, maybe an AHAC style gang using the lesser knwon tech 1 cruisers

Alpha Thrasher Army

Does exactly what it says on the tin, Arty Thrashers, in a group, fuck most everything up, will have one or two Sabres along for tackle.

And BUBBLES!!!!!

LOT'S OF FUCKING BUBBLES!!!!! aka Interdictor Fleet.
Any interdictor, as long as when we warp on grid and everyone drops bubble, the hostile fleet goes:


It's only an idea at the moment, I'll need to take a weekend off work to accomplish said task so a date isn't available and see what kind of interest there is and what numbers would be involved, but it's a totally awesome wicked idea that will involve serious fun times for everyone.
Join ingame chat channel 'NovaKane' or reply here if this interests you in some way

Garmonation 9

I've never made a PvP video, even though I've always had dreams of making the bestest, most well edited, awesomest soundtrack with most unbelievably tense and exciting fights. But if I did, it would almost be something like this:


Fakes and Posers

A few weeks back y'all may recall my epic solo of a carrier, well, there wasn't a killmail and as such, there is no record of me ever killing said carrier, other than my word , game logs (Which never show anything according to the powers that be) and a screenshot.

Some folk however, purporting to be paragons of virtue, slayers of the unjust and all round goody two shoes have gone and posted a fake carrier killmail.

Altaen > Well, if I'm mad, it's because my buddy Dame is stirring up shit over a fake carrier mail that I had nothing to do with other than the fact that I cause the carrier in question to self-destruct

EM be mad cause they are now tarred with the same brush of the Coalition they work with, FC for and are now trying to distance themselves from. Should have taken the Purple Koolaid when I offered it.

Though shall not Covet

"Yes, bugger all that." said Nanny. "Let's curse somebody."
-- Even Nanny Ogg gets upset occasionally
(Terry Pratchett, Wyrd Sisters)

Been a slow day, so I bring you a lone miner, in his Covetor, safe in his High Security pocket.

This message brought to you by the True Minmatar™ and the Asteroid Freedom Front of Heimatar™

I bet he mad

"Bonsai!"
-- (Terry Pratchett, Reaper Man)

Ahrieman > does anyone in this low sec posket ever undock?
Kane Rizzel > we do, but pnly when we feel like it
Ahrieman > so no, got it
Kane Rizzel > tbh, if there's a gang about, I don't fancy taking the bait
Ahrieman > i'm soloing
Ahrieman > you should know that i don't have a gang with me
Kane Rizzel > you're corp history means you won't get much on just words
Ahrieman > what's wrong with my corp history? and do you even have scouts? You shouldn;t need to take my word on anything if this is your home system
Kane Rizzel > heretics aren't known to fly alone and wormholes make even the most poignant of scouts kind of redundant
Ahrieman > you're kidding right?
Kane Rizzel > just saying mate
Kane Rizzel > you want a fight, bring the dram to the 2/10
Ahrieman > do you realize how many good solo pilots Heretics have?
Ahrieman > the only people that think they don't fly alone are the same people that spend more time on the forums than actually playing the game
Kane Rizzel > cause I spend a lot of time on forums
Ahrieman > well then, don't listen to the people that do

At this point he warps into the 2/10

And dies

Kane Rizzel > gf
Ahrieman > gf?
Ahrieman > i was stupid to give you the fight oyu wanted
Ahrieman > but this area is boring

And then he left

Kane Rizzel > he mad

Edit: Just been chatting to Ahrieman in private chat, he not mad, just disappointed, good people :)

Credit where credit is due

- "Have you any last words?"
- YES. I DON'T WANT TO GO.
- "Well. Succinct, anyway."
-- Death at the other end of the scythe, for once
(Terry Pratchett, Reaper Man)

Very early this morning, at a time I really should have been asleep at, I tangled with a Dramiel.
Ordinarily a Dramiel doesn't present me with too many problems, but this one was different. It had a long point, artillery and as I would find out later, an ace up it's sleeve.

I undocked a Hawk, something I'm rather enjoying, engaged the Dramiel, easily dispatched it's drones and then was never able to get within range, the Hawk died.

Thinking is not my strong suit when deprived of sleep but I thought I'd try get him with a Daredevil, the strong, long web maybe more suited to catching him, would still need to fly smart to negate his damage.

I warped in, he's at range and where he would stay for the remainder of this five odd minute long dogfight. I locked him up, then lost lock, jammed? No, Damped, sweet jesus, what a maneuver, very smart, down to a 14km lock range, I would never get close enough to acquire lock, let alone land a web, no matter what I tried, he was one step ahead, the Daredevil died.

An expensive evening, an expensive lesson but two very good fights.

Nicely played :)