Previously I said that in almost all situations it was better to use Rage rockets over faction. I would like to correct that point right now. Versus webbed MWD-fit frigates and above then, yes, Rage is the correct answer. Faster ships such as those with an afterburner are going to give you problems and you should switch to faction missiles. To illustrate this point here are some plots. For the Vengeance the switchover point is 300 m/s.

Vengenace shooting a frigate moving at 250 m/s.

Vengeance shooting a frigate moving at 300 m/s.

Vengeance shooting a frigate moving at 500 m/s.

Apologies for any confusion that I have caused. Oh, and for anyone interested I am generating these plots using the excellent pyfa fitting utility.

Whenever I’m feeling pretty flush I start running around with a head full of implants. To some this must seem like madness. After all I am predominantly a null security solo frigate pilot, I must lose implants all the time. To a certain extent this is true, I do lost more pods than gang pilots or low security PvPers but it is not anywhere near as bad as most people imagine. For a start, I view solo interdictors as very good targets. Anyway, digress, the point of this post is to discuss the relative merits of fitting implants.

As always let’s make this discussion about a particular ship. Here is my current Enyo fit, nicely boosted by the blaster changes that Crucible brought us:

[Enyo, MWD Neutrons]

Hobgoblin II x1


Those of you who’ve seen my previous Enyo post will notice that the improved fitting has allowed me to squeeze on a nosferatu. At Jita sell order prices this fit comes in at a nice round 37 million ISK which is really not bad for a frigate with 7087 EHP that can push 269 DPS out to 4.72 km + 4.84 km range (with Null) and effectively hit a frigate with 500 m/s transversal for full damage between 2.5 and 6 km.

Can we squeeze some more out of this already excellent hull without spending a ridiculous amount of ISK? Why yes, we can. A few implants here and there can make a real performance boost without breaking the bank.

Inherent Implants ‘Noble’ ZET300

No Gallente ship can consider itself complete unless the pilot has a ZET300 implant plugged into his head. For just 100,000 ISK you can give yourself 3% more structure hitpoints. In the case of my Enyo this boosts the EHP from 7087 to 7189, just a 1% increase to overall EHP but enough to potentially mean the difference between life and death on a ship that relies upon its structure buffer (3499 of those EHP are in structure). Its worth noting that in some markets you can pick up a ZET330 for a similar price and get an extra 0.5% structure buffer.

Zainou ‘Deadeye’ ZGS1000

This implant used to be a no-brainer for blaster frigates. It cost peanuts and delivered a 5% increase to blaster DPS. Since the Crucible patch prices have inflated and the current Jita market price is hovering around 20 million ISK. I would expect (hope!) that the price will normalise once speculation over the blaster boost settles down but I would be surprised if it returns to its previous low. Still for your 20 million ISK you get the Enyo’s damage boosted to a very respectable 282 DPS. If this is a bit steep for you then you can grab a ZGS100 for a 3% boost for just 600,000 ISK and get 277 DPS which is an absolute bargain.

Eifyr and Co. ‘Gunslinger’ CX-1

We are no longer in the territory of obvious choices now. This 3% damage implant will set you back a fairly hefty 20 million ISK in Jita. If you decide to splash out on it then (combined with the ZGS1000 above) your DPS will grow to 289. It becomes a decision as to whether you are willing to fork out this much ISK for what seems like just 7 DPS on a ship that already does more than enough. When combined with the cheaper ZGS100 it increases your total damage output to 284 DPS meaning that as long as small blaster implant prices stay high you are probably better spending your ISK on the more flexible ZGS100/CX-1 combination than a single ZGS1000. I say more flexible because the joy of the CX-1 implant is that applies to all turret types so you could combine it with a medium and/or large turret implant or even swap out the small hybrid one for another weapon system.

Zainou ‘Deadeye’ ZGC100

In the case of the Enyo you benefit more from boosting turret falloff than you do from a tracking bonus due to the ship’s native bonuses and the addition of a tracking enhancer on my fit. That makes this 3% falloff implant the best choice for your Slot 8 than the AX-1 in my opinion. Prices are highly variable but you can pick one up from Jita sell orders for 24 million. The actual net benefits of this implant are pretty questionable and I would suggest that you were maybe better off leaving this slot empty. The AX-1 adds no effective DPS to the Enyo at all so I’d steer well clear of it.

The graph below compares an Enyo fitted with the above implants to one with no implants. Both ships are shooting a hypothetical frigate with 500 m/s transversal.

So what can we conclude from this? Well, for the price of a couple of very cheap implants you can get a fairly respectable performance boost for the Enyo and, by extension, whatever ship it is that you fly. For a bit more you can really push the margins and if you’re willing to try and get things on buy orders you can do it without breaking the bank. Personally it means that I am going to streamline my implant choices a bit and rather than rolling with the best part of 100 million ISK in my head I am going to drop down to just a ZGS100, CX-1, ZET300 and a +3 learning implant for my current skill’s primary attribute coming in at a nice affordable 30 million or so. Much more reasonable, I’m sure you’ll agree while still squeezing a bit more from this and other hulls.

In the past I have talked extensively about my experiences flying gunships, especially the Rifter, Enyo, and Ishkur. Lately I’ve been trying something a bit different and having a play in rocket ships, especially the Hawk and Vengeance. So what are the differences? Well, the most obvious one is that rockets don’t take tracking into account. Instead they rely on the speed and signature radius of their target to calculate how much damage they do, like all other missiles in Eve. Also, despite their recent buff, they do lower base damage than turret-based weapons systems. In this post I’m going to look a little at rockets and in later posts I’ll talk about the fits I’ve been flying and my experiences in them.

If we look at a Vengeanace fitted with Rocket Launcher IIs loaded with Caldari Navy missiles and operated by a pilot with all skills at level V then each rocket does 48.125 HP base damage, corresponding to 21.8 DPS. The explosion radius of a rocket is 20 m and the explosion velocity 127.5 m/s. This means that the rockets will do maximum damage against a ship with a signature radius greater than 20 m and travelling slower than 127.5 m/s. At higher speeds the rocket damage will be reduced. The formula for calculating missile damage is:

From this equation we can see that there are a couple of factors that we need to consider. The first thing to take into account is if our target is moving. If it isn’t then we can ignore the half of the equation with a velocity component and just look at the ratio between the ship’s signature radius and the missile’s explosion radius to determine how much damage is done.

If the target is moving then things become a bit more complicated and we have to evaluate a larger expression including the target’s velocity, the missile’s explosion velocity, and the damage reduction factor as well as the radius variables.

Let’s see what this means for an example Vengeance fit:

[Vengeance, Standard]

Small Bay Loading Accelerator I
Small Warhead Calefaction Catalyst I

What happens if we try and shoot a hypothetical ship with a 40 m signature radius?

The interesting thing about this graph is that it seems best to use Rage rockets in almost all situations. Unfortunately this decision comes with the drawback of a signature radius bloom pushing the Vengeance from 37 m to 49 m.

My biggest concern when flying a rocket ship, though, is that it just doesn’t have the DPS to melt targets like some of my favourite ships do. In solo frigate combat there is a general rule of thumb that you want in excess of 200 DPS in order to kill a target fast enough to do it before his friends arrive. So what happens if we compare the Vengeance posted above to another assault frigate, the Jaguar?

[Jaguar, Standard]

Small Projectile Burst Aerator I
Small Projectile Collision Accelerator I

This Jaguar fit does 206 DPS with close range faction projectile ammunition loaded and 164 DPS with Barrage.

Unfortunately these plots show us that in most realistic situations the Vengeance (and other rocket ships) are not able to lay down enough DPS to take out targets quickly. This is a shame, because in a straight up fight the Vengeance is an excellent ship but it just doesn’t have the punch that I am looking for in a solo roamer.

Last week I did an interview with Marc Scaurus for the Ransoms and Roams podcast. They’ve just released their latest episode and it includes our discussion. If you want to hear me talk about my time in Eve, ship fitting, and other odds and sods as well as the guys discussing fittings and the CSM then head to Ransoms and Roams and check it out.

PS – Man, its weird listening to your own voice.

Since joining Matari Exodus I’ve been slowly changing my focus from frigates to heavier ships. I’ve been flying Tempests in gangs for quite a while but now I’ve started to cross-train into other races and fly battleships solo. However, I’m not made of ISK so rather than running around in expensive fits with trimark rigs and everything else, I’ve instead been seeing how cheaply I can put together an effective battleship for. Eventually I settled on the following fit:

[Megathron, Budget]

Ogre II x5


With maximum skills this fit does 799 DPS and tanks 453.9 DPS with 65.1 kEHP. If you get the ship and parts from buy orders she’ll set you back about 92 million ISK and for 24 million ISK you can buy platinum insurance and get 80 million back when she dies. That means that each ship loss is going to set you back around 32 million ISK. That seems like a pretty good deal at first and its certainly a capable enough ship.

However, is it really the best value for money I can get? A triple repair Myrmidon costs a mere 60 million to fit and about 35 million to lose after insurance. That’s just a touch more than the Megathron. It will do 545 DPS and can repair up to 665 DPS so for that you get a little less damage but a lot more tank. You also have something that is more maneuverable, more engageable, and gets better DPS on small ships.

So where does this leave the so-called ghetto battleships? Do they have a purpose? I think they still do as training ships but the more I think about it, the more I think that they are better served by not scrimping so much on the fitting and just flying them as un-rigged T2 fits with T1 guns (at least for the time being).

[Megathron, Budget (T2 tank)]

Ogre II x5


This fit costs just 5 million ISK more to fit than the previous version I suggested and boasts 582 DPS of tank and 767 DPS from its weapon systems. The reduced DPS is due to the increased fitting requirements of the T2 tank. I’m definitely going to give this fit a chance but I have a feeling Jaster is correct and the Myrmidon is a better choice. It just goes to show quite how powerful the battlecruiser class is in Eve’s current form.

In the past I have written about how I have tried out the Ishkur a couple of times but somehow never quite managed to click with the Gallentean assault frigate. Well, the times they are a-changing and one night in Agil I was twiddling my thumbs and wondering what to take out. A fully-fit Ishkur that had been sitting there for ages caught my eye and I decided to give her another chance to impress me.

Since the Russian invasion of the north I’ve found Catch and the surrounding regions to be the best place to go for solo frigate PvP. Sometimes HED-GP can be a bit heavily camped but usually its pretty easy to pass through. With White Noise and NCdot both lurking a couple of jumps away in Providence, HED-GP currently being in the possession of Red Alliance, and -A- close by in GE-8JV it makes a nice little mixing pot with plenty of people to shoot.

Her first encounter was a Taranis in HED-GP itself. I’m not quite sure what the high damage interceptor thought it was going to do to an assault but I played dumb and let him tackle me. The battle was brief and the outcome fairly predictable. First blood for my Ishkur. A jump later I found an NCdot Dramiel and once again did my best to look stupid (trust me, its very convincing). He took the bait and I opened up with neutron blasters full of Null. With my web applied and an overheated afterburner making sure he couldn’t escape it was another good victory with drones and blasters doing their thing and I warped off before his friends could arrive.

With those two victories under my belt and suddenly starting to feel pretty warm about the Ishkur I decided to head back to Agil and take a break. Despite being considerably slower than a Jaguar I’d been able to pin down and kill a Dramiel and that’s pretty much the whole reason that I fly afterburner assault frigates in null security space.

Which brings me to the question of whether or not it is wise or advisable to fly a frigate without a microwarp drive. The way I see it, a microwarp drive and an afterburner both provide very different things. If you fit a microwarp drive your strength is your ability to burn around the field and pull people apart before swooping in for the kill. They are excellent for when you are fighting outnumbered and want to engage a gang’s tackle. They are not, however, fast enough to stop a Cynabal or Vagabond from getting you so you need to be cautious in that regard. An afterburner instead provides you with the ability to dictate the terms of a fight. If you are expecting to fight only one or two at a time then it gives you much more control over the engagements and allows you to do things like keep Dramiels pinned down long enough to kill them. On top of that people don’t expect them and if you are clever then you can hide the fact that you have one until its too late. The big risk is that you get tackled by an interceptor away from a gate or dockable station and then you will need to pull some stylish piloting off to get out of trouble.

People ask me how I survive gate camps with just an afterburner to burn back with to which my response is “quite nicely, thank you”. As it happens the biggest threat when burning back to a gate is usually that a switched on Dramiel pilot will get a scrambler on you. With your MWD cut you are pretty much dead in the water. The afterburner doesn’t suffer from this problem. On top of that you don’t get the massive signature bloom that an MWD causes so by the time the heavier hitters get a lock on you you are already most of the way back to the gate. With an overloaded afterburner you need about 8 – 10 seconds to jump to safety, more than enough time.

A few hours later I logged back in and set out again to look for more fights. I poked around the usual systems but didn’t find anything exciting. There was either no-one around or camps that were too much for me to take on. Heading back to HED-GP I ran into a gang from The Seventh Day alliance, a PvP training group that is now home to Kil2. Despite buzzing around the edges of their gang I couldn’t persuade their Republic Fleet Firetail to fight me so in the end I just asked for a 1v1 in local and he was soon burning straight for me. Excellent. Approach, web, scram, blasters, drones, it was becoming routine now and proved far too much for the Firetail to take. I didn’t hang around to loot as a Loki had appeared on top of us although it turns out he was just there to try and get on killmails. That’s elite PvP right there, that is. Anyway, good fight to the Firetail.

A bit later on I stumbled into a GoonSwarm Federation Jaguar camping a gate. This should be a good match up and I was relishing the fight. He burnt for me and instinct kicked in. As his shields dropped the inevitable happened and a Falcon decloaked. He got his first jam cycle off on me so I did my best to keep range on the Jaguar and hoped he didn’t have enough common sense to take down my drones. He didn’t an instead concentrated his fire on me. I was winning the initial engagement handily but without my blasters adding to the DPS the fight slowed right down. This was made worse by the fact that I couldn’t get a lock to see how he was holding up. As I passed through 25% armour remaining I was rewarded with the sight of a bright flash as the Jaguar exploded, despite being able to warp out as I still had not managed to get a second lock on him. My drones turned their anger upon the Falcon and I settled into a tight orbit around the hated recon ship. Unfortunately he was firing on me and doing just enough damage to keep my capacitor dangerously low. After about five successive jam cycles I gave up, recalled my drones, and warped to safety. This is one of the good things about drone ships, even if they get a jam on you your drones continue to apply their DPS.

Happy with the day’s kills I logged off and called it a night. The next morning I was back and straight into HED-GP where local was significantly higher than I’d seen it for a while. There was a Dramiel kicking around and I was able to eventually lure him into fighting me. As in the previous fight I used the range of Null and the damage of my drones to lay down the hurt while my web and afterburner worked hard to keep him tackled. During the fight a Stiletto warped to us and rather than keeping range came in close to get a tackle on me. That was a mistake. As soon as the Dramiel exploded I switched my tackle to the Stiletto and began to work on him too. He was fit with a shield buffer and it was taking longer to chew through than I would have liked. Ships were landing on the gate one after another and I aligned away to a celestial hoping to escape as soon as the interceptor exploded. It wasn’t to be, a Raptor came in and got point on me before I could get away so I turned my guns on him too just in time for a Falcon to decloak and jam me. Great. By now their whole gang was upon me and my newly beloved little ships’ run was up. How many Russians does it take to kill a frigate? Twelve including a Falcon and black ops battleship, apparently.

By now I was thoroughly besotted with the Ishkur so I soon fitted up another and set out to look for more mayhem. I dropped into HED-GP and poked around a bit but found nothing much. There was a Sabre around but he seemed completely uninterested in fighting me. A problem that I’d had with several Dramiels over the last 24 hours. Maybe my playing stupid had lost some of its effectiveness. Bouyed by my victories I’d developed a habit of dropping drones a bit too soon and being too obviously aggressive. Anyway, I flirted with the Sabre a bit and eventually ended up hanging up on the station in HED-GP staring at him in a peculiar Mexican standoff. A smallish gang of Abaddons warped to the station and he suddenly gained the confidence to come after me. I made sure that I pulled plenty of range on the fearsome Amarr battleships and waited for his approach. I didn’t have to wait long and once again the well-rehearsed routine kicked in. It was a quick and brutal fight, the only real concern for me being a couple of lucky long shots from the Abaddons that put me into structure before my repair systems kicked in and I burnt away to safety.

So there you go. It turns out that the Ishkur can happily deal with both the major enemies of solo frigate PvP: Sabres and Dramiels. It must be love. But I am not so easily pleased. I wanted more. To compete with my beloved Wolf or the little Enyo that could the Ishkur needs a little something more. Something special. A certain je ne sais quoi.

Roaming into Querious I found exactly the thing. A Rapier was sitting just off a gate, uncloaked, doing nothing much. I had jumped in and my ship appeared just 12 km from the recon ship. Without a second thought I decloaked, overheated all my mid slots, and got myself into a nice tight orbit. Guns and drones began to tear into the Rapier’s shields while my overheated afterburner did its best to keep my speed up. Despite the fact I’d started the fight at point blank and got him scrammed, the Rapier returned my lock and slapped a pair of webs on me. It was do or die time. I turned on the heat and crossed my fingers.

To my delight he dropped Hobgoblins, a drone set that would come up against one of my best resistances and so I concentrated on staying out of trouble from his guns. As he hit half shields a Thrasher landed and began to lob shells at me from its 280mm artillery cannons. They were hurting more than the Rapier was but I kept to the task in hand, committed now. Next to land was a Drake. He too locked me up and slapped a target painter on me but other than the Rapier no-one had pointed me. Excellent. As the reconnaissance ship hit structure I prepared to align out and warp away only to see the Drake finally decide that it was best to point me. The Rapier exploded in a bright flash and my drones shuffled across to the Thrasher who took the opportunity to flee.

This left just the Drake and I tried to coax a little bit more performance from my already stressed afterburner. Slowly but surely I was able to pull range, repairing the incoming damage as and when my heavily depleted capacitor allowed. 20 kilometers. 22… 23… 24… 25… Warp! WARP! COME ON, WARP!! No joy, the Drake had seen my plan and overheated his point just to be sure. My afterburner was in danger of failing on me and I had to allow it to cool down and the Caldari battlecruiser began to close the gap again. Drat. What to do? There was no way I had enough juice to out run him, if I shut the afterburner down to repair it then I’d suffer at the hands of his missiles, and I was 80 km from the safety of the gate. With no other options presenting themselves I decided that my best course of action was to make a run for the gate but sadly I finally ran out of capacitor with 60 km to go and my ship finally succumbed to her aggressors.

An excellent fight and almost certainly that special something to finally cement the Ishkur in my heart. Long live the Ishkur!

NB: Since I wrote this the war for Catch has heated up a bit so be careful if you plan on heading down there looking for PvP. Last night the gates in Querious were pretty hot too but that’s another story and another ship.

I posted a bit back that I was taking a break from Eve to focus on getting some things done in real life. Well, the good news is that I did manage to meet my deadline and as a result I now have a new job and am in the process of moving to a new flat. The bad news is that, while I could barely shake the addiction when I had to, my life is now full of all sorts of bits and pieces and as a result Eve has been suffering.

Its weird how when you need to give something up it is hard to do but then all of a sudden other stuff comes along and you happily toss what you were doing before away.

That’s not to say I’m quitting Eve or packing up this blog. Just that I have noticed that I am barely reading forums any more, haven’t posted here in an age, and have pretty much stopped reading most Eve blogs. Maybe its just the summer. Maybe I’m moving on. Maybe I just need something new. Who knows?

So please, bear with me while this feed is a bit slow. As soon as I have a good story to tell, you will be the first to know.

A while back I wrote a post about the Enyo, a fun little assault frigate that is overshadowed by its more popular brethren. For fifteen million ISK, or a little more if you want to add a T2 rig, you can have a whole lot of fun in these guys. Last night was a good example of this.

Keen to go find something to do I set off for Curse in trusty Enyo looking for adventure. Immediately upon jumping in B-VIP9 I spied a hostile camp. An Abaddon, Drake, Drake, Raven, Onyx, and Falcon were waiting, split between the gate and a sling bubble aligned towards the 9SNK-O. There was nothing I could do in a simple frigate so I pointed them out in our intel channel and moved along my way. A gang formed up so I turned back to go get eyes on them and, once my support was next door in Egbinger, warped to the gate at range to draw their aggression. I warped in a bit too cautiously (I’ve had bad experiences with Abaddons) and only the Raven aggressed. No worries, the gang jumped in and the Abaddon and Raven fell to them. I made a dash for the Falcon but he warped before I could lock him down so no mails for me in this skirmish.

While the gang were mopping things up a Republic Fleet Firetail appeared and I gave chase. He led me on a merry dance around the planets and belts of several systems before, braver for the presence of a friend in a Rifter, he allowed me to get a point on him. With Null in my blasters he was unable to out-range me and I tore through his shields, armour, and structure. The Rifter was also upon me and with his friend down I turned my guns on him and made short work of him. My humble little Enyo had acquitted himself well and was already ahead on the ISK war.

I continued my roam, moving into NIH-02 where, as I prepared to warp away, two Dramiels landed on the grid. I reported them to my corpmates and the told them I was going to fight them. “Do you need Rapier support?” xxxAlloxxx asked. No response, I was already working on my battle plan. I warped to the M-MD3B at 100km and aligned back the way I had come. A few seconds of hammering the directional scanner and I was rewarded by the sight of a single Dramiel in warp to me. Perfect. He landed at zero on the gate and, having pulled plenty of range, I cut my speed and watch to see what he’d do. He turned for me and began to burn. It was all going to plan. The second Dramiel landed and seemed to be content with hovering on the gate while his friend came for me. To make sure they didn’t get to warp range I turned back and charged towards him. My guns span up and hot rounds of plasma tore into his shields. It took him a while to react and before he got into a comfortable orbit I’d reduced him to half shields. A few seconds later it was all over and the first Dramiel was reduced to scrap. His mate didn’t seem keen to get involved after watching the mauling and warped off. I looted and warped to the gate only to see the second Dramiel return to the wreckage of his colleague. I hit warp and got on top of him. This time there was more of a fight and I actually had to use my armour repairer when he got into a close, stable orbit. Thanks to my tracking enhancer I was still landing hits and he didn’t turn to escape. My wonderful little Enyo had done it, she’d killed two Dramiels. Good girl. I grabbed as much loot as I could and returned home to drop it off safely.

With the loot safe I turned back and continued my journey. This time it was uneventful until I got as far as E02-IK. There I found the usual suspects hanging around on the station and I hung around allowing them to snipe at me from the safety of the docking ring. A bit of banter in local later and they undocked a Stiletto. Game on! I warped to a belt and the Stiletto followed, landing 100km away from me. Time to take him down. I span up my microwarp drive and charged towards the interceptor who began to do the same to me. It was all going perfectly until I bounced off an asteroid at 40km. Damn damn damn! I was now pointed by the Stiletto and was going to have a hard time trapping or shaking him. I made twists and turns, bursts of acceleration, and just straight line dashes but never quite managed to latch onto him or break free. At the same time support was landing and I had a Drake, Brutix, and Cerberus shooting at me. Stuck with the Stiletto I decided instead to focus on taking down the Cerberus instead. I spread them out as best as I could and then dove in to land my scram and open up on the heavy assault cruiser. Sadly the advanced Caldari ships have high resists against blaster ammunition and it was taking a long time. In the meanwhile the Stiletto came into scrambler range and I switched to him instead only to change my mind again and lose both targets. Drat.

More Benny Hill-style burning around ensued and I was eventually able to land a second scram. This time I meant business and began to pound at the interceptor. Extra support had arrived in the form of a Celestis and I was eyeing it nervously as it approached. I was already being tracking disrupted but the Stiletto had dropped into hull. With just a slither left the Celestis got into scrambler range and allowed the Stiletto to burn free. Never mind, I locked up the Celestis and turned my attention to that instead. I burnt through his shields and was into his armour by the time the whole gang landed on me. The game was up and my brave little Enyo had finally had her time.

I didn’t get any killmails to show for the last battle but my little girl did an excellent job. She was up against several much heavier ships and gave three of them good reason to worry. May she rest in peace!

A little while back a new group of pilots moved into Molden Heath. They go by the name of The Hatchery (9POOL) and have migrated to Eve from the Team Liquid StarCraft community. If the fact that they play this alien game full of confusing language and crazy Koreans wasn’t enough, they have spread the disease to my own corporation. There is nothing more depressing than to log into communications channels only to hear people babbling about “zergs” and “pylons” and other incomprehensible stuff. Even our corporation forums have been affected.

There are two stations in Oddelulf. For the longest time Gunpoint Diplomacy have based out of the bottom station. While it lacks what I consider to be the most basic facilities (a clone bay and repair shop – I mean, seriously, who lives in a station with no repair facilities?!) it does provide a good base in a busy area. Its main advantage over the other station in system is that it has a large undocking radius and provides an instant warp to the Bosena gate. When you live in hostile space these two facts can be vital. The Hatchery have moved into the top station. While blessed with a repair facility this station has a miniscule docking ring leaving you vulnerable the second you leave you hangar. To confound that it is an Amarrian station and ejects you downwards into the depths of space with no hope of warping to a celestial object of any kind.

This arrangement has lead to an increased rivallry between the two corporations with the latest phase being to anchor cans around each other’s stations named in the style of StarCraft features. Quite simply, I can no longer tolerate this infestation. I am a good, honest combat pilot and this playing of games sickens me. It is time to do something about it and, convieniently there is a long running war declaration between our corporations.

The worst of it all is that The Hatchery put their new recruits in Rifters and use them as disposable tacklers before swarming their targets with battlecruisers. This is an insult to New Eden’s finest combat vessel and it cannot be tolerated. Rifters are not for ganking innocent pilots going about their business. They are for elegant, decent, and honourable frigate combat between gentleman warriors. The only possible solution is a series of Rifter duels to allow The Hatchery to re-establish their place as gentlemen and scholars instead of cowardly dogs serving their master, Kwark Uk.

[ 2011.06.22 18:42:46 ] Wensley > 9POOL
[ 2011.06.22 18:42:50 ] Wensley > I AM WATCHING YOU
[ 2011.06.22 18:47:53 ] Wensley > I DEMAND HONOURABLE RIFTER COMBAT
[ 2011.06.22 18:49:00 ] Wensley > /emote throws down his glove

My request for honourable combat was met with derision and cheap jibes about Falcons, those most accursed of ships.

[ 2011.06.22 18:50:53 ] Wensley > YOUR HONOUR HAS BEEN QUESTIONED
[ 2011.06.22 18:50:59 ] Wensley > WILL YOU NOT RESPOND?
[ 2011.06.22 18:51:06 ] TLweken > i will not
[ 2011.06.22 18:51:22 ] Wensley > THEN YOU ARE NO GENTLEMAN, CUR

Still they would not meet me in combat. I was but one Rifter and they were many but none of them had the courage to step forward and defend their honour.

[ 2011.06.22 19:00:07 ] Wensley > THAT IS NOT HOW MEN BEHAVE. I THOUGHT THAT THE HATCHERY WERE BRAVE WARRIORS NOT YOUNG BOYS.
[ 2011.06.22 19:02:22 ] Krystyliz > my falcons alt falcon alt isnt here, i only 1v1 with 2 falcons
[ 2011.06.22 19:03:11 ] Wensley > SIR, YOUR WILDEAN WIT LEAVES ME LOST FOR BREATH
[ 2011.06.22 19:20:14 ] Wensley > YOU “MEN” LEAVE ME NO OPTION BUT TO SEEK MORE HONOURABLE FOES. YOU SHALL HENCEFORTH BE KNOWN FOR YOUR COWARDICE ON THIS DAY.

Exasperated by the obstinance I had no choice but to retire from the field in order to return at a later date and once more seek my satisfaction. It was mere hours later when such an opportunity arose and I again undocked my duelling vessel ready for combat.

[ 2011.06.22 21:50:55 ] Wensley > SIRS
[ 2011.06.22 21:51:02 ] Wensley > I DEMAND SATISFACTION
[ 2011.06.22 21:51:08 ] Aeth Gemulus > You can’t get no
[ 2011.06.22 21:51:16 ] Aeth Gemulus > hey hey hey
[ 2011.06.22 21:55:01 ] Wensley > ARE YOU MEN OR MICE? STAND AND DEFEND YOUR NAME!
[ 2011.06.22 21:55:25 ] Dade Corban > Like a Toss…..
[ 2011.06.22 21:55:31 ] Dade Corban > Running up Terrans RAmp……
[ 2011.06.22 21:55:37 ] Dade Corban > Oh there’s too many….run away
[ 2011.06.22 21:56:18 ] Wensley > SIR, YOU SPEAK IN A FOREIGN TONGUE. WHAT IS IT YOU SAY?
[ 2011.06.22 21:56:24 ] Aeth Gemulus > Stand, you say? I am never off my feet, I defending the sovereignty of Oddelulf the sweet.
[ 2011.06.22 21:57:12 ] Wensley > SIR, YOU ARE ON YOUR KNEES LIKE THE DOG YOU ARE.
[ 2011.06.22 21:57:55 ] Aeth Gemulus > and when you threaten our station or our fields of wheat, you shall feel the incendiary heat of our DRAEKS
[ 2011.06.22 21:58:00 ] Aeth Gemulus > or, we will charge a scimitar at your blob
[ 2011.06.22 21:58:46 ] Wensley > SIR, I AM REQUESTING, NAY DEMANDING, HONOURABLE RIFTER COMBAT. I CARE NOT FOR THESE DRAKES OF WHICH YOU SPEAK. SUCH DEMONIC CONTRAPTIONS HAVE NO PLACE IN THE AFFAIRS OF CIVILISED MEN

Once again my requests for a gentlemanly trial by combat were met with derision and childish jibes. It must be true what they say, that the men of The Hatchery are not men at all but mere boys. Nay, they are less than that. Even a young Brutor girl would have responded to my challenges by now. Dogs, the lot of them.

?[ 2011.06.22 21:59:09 ] Aeth Gemulus > I would be honoured to have one of my rifters assploded at your hands
[ 2011.06.22 21:59:15 ] Aeth Gemulus > gimme a sec to prime the falcon alt though
[ 2011.06.22 21:59:50 ] Michael Harari > falcon alt and dual links are up
[ 2011.06.22 22:00:35 ] Wensley > SIRS, YOU DO ME DISRESPECT WITH SUCH TALK
[ 2011.06.22 22:01:19 ] Aeth Gemulus > my rifter is now ready, I am undocking
[ 2011.06.22 22:01:25 ] Aeth Gemulus > I expect to meet you on the field of battle
[ 2011.06.22 22:01:28 ] Michael Harari > im coming to watch in a shuttle
[ 2011.06.22 22:01:33 ] Michael Harari > plz do not shoot
[ 2011.06.22 22:01:53 ] Wensley > I, SIRS, AM A GENTLEMAN. MY WORD IS MY BOND.
[ 2011.06.22 22:02:20 ] Aeth Gemulus > its a rifter
[ 2011.06.22 22:02:21 ] Aeth Gemulus > really
[ 2011.06.22 22:02:36 ] Michael Harari > aeth is chairman of the hatchery ethics committee
[ 2011.06.22 22:02:39 ] Michael Harari > he wouldnt lie

At last it appeared that my challenge had been accepted. Alas, it was not to be. These spaniels are attempting to make a mockery of me.

[ 2011.06.22 22:03:02 ] Aeth Gemulus > Flee, coward
[ 2011.06.22 22:03:07 ] Aeth Gemulus > le griffin is mighty
[ 2011.06.22 22:03:31 ] Wensley > IS THERE NO MAN OF HONOUR AMONGST YOUR NUMBER?
[ 2011.06.22 22:03:47 ] Wensley > MUST YOU HIDE BEHIND SUCH CHILDISH TRICKS
[ 2011.06.22 22:05:34 ] Michael Harari > wensley isnt fighting me
…
[ 2011.06.22 22:05:36 ] Michael Harari > im in a shuttle
[ 2011.06.22 22:05:42 ] Aeth Gemulus > I’m in a rifter
[ 2011.06.22 22:05:49 ] Aeth Gemulus > no problem here that I can see
[ 2011.06.22 22:05:52 ] Michael Harari > Wensley, u AFARIAD OF SHUTTLE?
[ 2011.06.22 22:06:17 ] Wensley > AFRAID, SIR? AFRAID. YOU DO ME WRONG. IT IS BELOW ME TO ATTACK AN UNARMED CIVILIAN VESSEL.

Finally a man of honour stood up and refused to be bound by the shackles of their cowardly ways. Aeth Gemulus, a gentleman amongst curs, undocked a Rifter and met my challenge. The combat was swift and brutal. Our ships flew towards each other, my microwarp drive powering me towards destiny and honour. Targetting systems resloved their locks and guns span into life. Rounds of super-heated EMP flew between the ships. I watched with glee as my viscous early assault appeared to have given me the advantage. However, as the fight progressed I observed my advantage diminish as my foe overtook me. My shields were faltering as his still hung on. Dismayed, I could do naught as my defences failed and projectiles began to tear at my armour. Moments later my own guns were tearing into my opponents armour and I appeared to be slowly making up for lost time but it was too late. Both vessels stood with less than half their hull integrity remaining but a final, devastating volley from Mr Gemulus’ ship stripped away my last remaining defences and exploded my vessel.

[ 2011.06.22 22:10:50 ] Wensley > AT LAST. A GENTLEMAN AMONG SCOUNDRELS
[ 2011.06.22 22:12:12 ] Aeth Gemulus > EN GUARDE
[ 2011.06.22 22:13:53 ] Wensley > WELL, PLAYED, SIR. I SALUTE YOU.
[ 2011.06.22 22:14:09 ] Aeth Gemulus > ./bow

It had been a brutal fight and the first Rifter duel that I had lost in two years, I believe. My decision to fit a microwarp drive had meant that I needed an ancilliary current router rig and had comprimised my defences. Aeth, on the other hand, had fit for maximum tank with a power diagnostic system and shield power relay providing him with extra shields. This had proved to be the deciding factor and had won him the fight. With my lesson learnt I prepared another combat vessel, this time with an afterburner and a second core defense field extender to solidify my shields.

[ 2011.06.22 22:21:05 ] Michael Harari > I AM ON YOUR STATION, YOU ARE BEING CAMPED IN
[ 2011.06.22 22:21:13 ] Michael Harari > DO NOT UNDOCK, SIR WENSLEY
[ 2011.06.22 22:22:00 ] Wensley > SIR, HIDING IN STATIONS IS DISHONOURABLE. IT IS FOR WOMEN AND BOYS.
[ 2011.06.22 22:22:13 ] Michael Harari > THEN YOU MUST BE A WOMEN AND BOYS
[ 2011.06.22 22:23:15 ] Wensley > SIR, YOU MUST TAKE THAT BACK

It appeared that the success of Mr Gemulus had inspired the other members of his corporation. A new challenger, Mr Harari, had presented himself for combat but not before insulting my own honour and gallantry. This was unacceptable and I prepared for combat. I sped towards my new challenger, guns primed, and attempted to land a warp scrambler on my target. Mr Harari was alert to this and dodged my initial thrust, parrying with a well-timed microwarp drive burst. He shot out of my reach and began to pepper me with artillery fire, slowly eating away at my shields. I made a couple more feints and thrusts but each time he sidestepped my advances, getting under my own defences in the process. It was time to try something else. I feigned retreat and moved out of the range of Mr Harari’s weapons. My subterfuge worked and he came charging at me. It was a rash move on his behalf and this time I was able to snag him with my scrambler. By now I was low and shields and it was a painful few seconds before I was able to tuck in close and avoid his blows. Now the battle swung in my favour and I was easily able to remove his shields, armour, and structure. My honour had been restored!

[ 2011.06.22 22:26:28 ] Wensley > THE NAME OF MY FAMILY HAS BEEN RESTORED
[ 2011.06.22 22:26:42 ] Wensley > YOU HAVE HONOUR, MR HARARI. I TIP MY HAT TO YOU
[ 2011.06.22 22:26:47 ] Wensley > BRAVO, SIR, BRAVO
[ 2011.06.22 22:28:46 ] Wensley > GENTLEMEN, I MUST DEPART MOMENTARILY

I took my leave of The Hatchery to repair my vessel and deposit the bounty I had retrieved from my vanquished foe’s wreck. Upon my return to Oddelulf I found a third challenger. A Mr Terra and some uncouth delinquant who goes by the name Firebolt145 had undocked in Rifters.

[ 2011.06.22 22:40:23 ] Firebolt145 > those guns
[ 2011.06.22 22:40:23 ] Firebolt145 > on that rifter
[ 2011.06.22 22:40:26 ] Firebolt145 > look fucking awesome
[ 2011.06.22 22:40:57 ] Wensley > SIR, AS YOU HAVE SO, ERM, ELOQUENTLY, PUT IT, THE RIFTER IS A FINE SPACE VESSEL
[ 2011.06.22 22:41:09 ] Wensley > I FEEL NO OTHER HULL MATCHES HER GRACE AND EFFICIENCY
[ 2011.06.22 22:41:24 ] Wensley > THIS IS WHY SHE IS THE CHOICE OF GENTLEMEN OF HONOUR
[ 2011.06.22 22:41:40 ] Im Jed > OMG RIFTER ON THE UNDOCK
[ 2011.06.22 22:41:56 ] Firebolt145 > i shall be but a nice spectator
[ 2011.06.22 22:42:00 ] Firebolt145 > of this following fight
[ 2011.06.22 22:42:39 ] Wensley > MR FIREBOLT. ARE YOU A MAN OF COURAGE AND HONOUR?
[ 2011.06.22 22:42:44 ] Firebolt145 > no.
[ 2011.06.22 22:42:45 ] Firebolt145 >
[ 2011.06.22 22:43:36 ] Wensley > THEN YOU ARE NAUGHT BUT A SCOUNDREL AND I SHALL TALK TO YOU NO FURTHER
[ 2011.06.22 22:44:18 ] Wensley > MR TERRA, WHAT IS THIS VESSEL YOU SO RECKLESSLY CHARGE ME WITH?

Mr Terra was approaching me at high speed and I correctly assumed he was also piloting a cowardly artillery vessel. Men who will not fight within the range of a warp scrambler are not men with which I am willing to associate myself. I engaged my own thrusters and prepared to intercept. With propulsion and tackle modules overheated I sped towards my foe, locking him up at the earliest chance. Despite my best efforts a deft sidestep by Mr Terra allowed him to dodge my advance and he retreated beyond my reach.

[ 2011.06.22 22:48:04 ] Caelum Terra > ITS A SLICER
[ 2011.06.22 22:48:24 ] Caelum Terra > im so bad at piloting
[ 2011.06.22 22:48:53 ] Caelum Terra > THIS TRACKING IS NOT TOO GOOD
[ 2011.06.22 22:49:43 ] Wensley > SIR, DO YOU PRESENT YOURSELF FOR AN HONOURABLE DUEL?
[ 2011.06.22 22:49:50 ] Caelum Terra > not with this ship
[ 2011.06.22 22:49:51 ] Wensley > OR DO YOU INTEND TO RUN LIKE A DOG?
[ 2011.06.22 22:50:06 ] general dogzbody > fuk you this dog dont run
[ 2011.06.22 22:50:45 ] Wensley > SIR, YOU HAVE DISGRACED YOUR NAME

By now a Curse piloted by the so-called General Dogzbody had taken up residence on the Hatchery’s station. His presence halted my search for honour as he openly admitted to being a blaggard and a scoundrel. I am wise enough not to trust such a man and, while Firebolt and I eyed each others ships up, both watching for a false move, he siddled up on our dance, locking both ships. The Curse is not an honourable vessel. It is a thief’s vessel. A slaver’s vessel. I will have nothing to do with it.

[ 2011.06.22 22:38:15 ] Wensley > GENERAL DOGZBODY, SIR, THIS IS A MATTER OF HONOUR BETWEEN MYSELF AND THE GENTLEMEN OF 9POOL. PLEASE REFRAIN FROM INTERFERING WITH THIS MATTER.
[ 2011.06.22 22:51:56 ] Wensley > MR DOGZBODY, I FEAR YOU INTEND TO INTERFERE
[ 2011.06.22 22:52:16 ] general dogzbody > noyt in this ship my word
[ 2011.06.22 22:53:18 ] general dogzbody > <--- spectator
[ 2011.06.22 22:53:47 ] general dogzbody > but dont want to hang off stn as like everyone in here red to me : -))
[ 2011.06.22 22:54:46 ] Wensley > WITH RESPECT, SIR, ONE DOES NOT NEED TO BE SO CLOSE TO SPECTATE
[ 2011.06.22 22:55:04 ] Firebolt145 > CHARGE THE CURSE
[ 2011.06.22 22:55:16 ] Wensley > INDEED THERE ARE MANY POSITIONS CLOSE TO THE STATION WHERE ONE CAN OBSERVE OUR DUEL WITHOUT UNNERVING THE PARTICIPANTS
[ 2011.06.22 22:57:13 ] Wensley > SIRS, LONG HAS IT BEEN SAID THAT KWARK_UK IS A MAN WITH NO HONOUR BUT FROM THIS DAY FORTH HIS NAME AND THAT OF HIS FOREBEARS WILL BE AS MUCK
[ 2011.06.22 23:14:16 ] Wensley > MR UK, I WOULD NOT SPEAK OF MY THOUGHTS UPON YOUR PERSON LEST THERE BE LADIES PRESENT

At this point our nervous dance was interrupted by a Hatchery battlecruier squadron. While I was confident that, despite their known and proven lack of honour, this fleet was not for me I was horrified to see that the chief scoundrel himself, Kwark Uk, had not only locked me but opened fire in his Drake. Can the man sink yet lower? I would not have thought it and yet here we are, my search for honour amongst his followers thwarted by the most mangy of them all.

Forced to retreat to the safety of the station I had no option but to wait things out before resuming my quest. It was not long before Caelum Terra, shamed by his earlier cowardice, undocked again to attempt to restore his name. This time he had come prepared for close range combat and we closed upon each other primed for battle. There was no side-stepping this time, like a champion pugilist I locked him in my embrace and we began to trade blows. It appeared that he had opted for an armour tank for this bout and I found myself webbed down and my movements impeded. With my vessel slowed he began to pull away from me until he eventually broke free of my hold. Intolerable! I rushed back in, landing heavy blows as I charged, and this time he had no answer. His vessel was destroyed with minimal damage to my own, his panicked attempt at flight had proved unsuccesful and despite this abberation I deemed him to have redeemed himself from his earlier actions.

[ 2011.06.22 23:13:55 ] Wensley > BUT THE HONOURABLE SIR TERRA WHO HAS REDEEMED HIMSELF AFTER EARLIER COWARDIST
[ 2011.06.22 23:14:14 ] Caelum Terra > GFGFGF
[ 2011.06.22 23:14:25 ] KwarK uK >
[ 2011.06.22 23:14:26 ] Caelum Terra > UR WARSHIP REALLY HURTED MINE

Seeing the fate of his colleagues, the most honourable of Hatchery members, Mr Gemulus, wished to avenge their losses.

[ 2011.06.22 23:28:54 ] Aeth Gemulus > YOU WOULD PREY UPON OUR YOUNG
[ 2011.06.22 23:28:58 ] Aeth Gemulus > I SHALL VANQUISH YOU
[ 2011.06.22 23:29:08 ] Wensley > HOWEVER, IF YOU WISH TO DEFEND YOUR HONOUR YOU MAY ENGAGE ME IN SINGLE COMBAT
[ 2011.06.22 23:29:58 ] Wensley > DO YOUR WORST, SIR
[ 2011.06.22 23:30:02 ] Wensley > DO YOUR WORST
[ 2011.06.22 23:31:41 ] Caelum Terra > im locking just to check hp
[ 2011.06.22 23:31:42 ] Caelum Terra > btw

Again we faced each other on the field of combat. I observed his movements closely and noticed that, based upon his speed, he had changed his approach and was facing me with an armoured vessel instead of the shields he had sported in our previous encounter. I switched my munitions accordingly and closed for battle. Again we locked each other in a close embrace, his webs allowing him to dictate the terms of the battle. The initial thrusts played into my hands, our ships pounding each other from close range. Seeing the damage he was taking, Mr Gemulus began to pull out further to mitigate my damage. The wrath of my autocannons continued unabashed. Chunks of his armour were filling the arena, ricocheting off the hull of Mr Caelum’s observing vessel. My own shields had resisted the onslaught valiantly but now failed as we raced to see who would run out of armour first. Joy of joys it was not me. My previous loss was avenged and my honour fully restored. In the closest of duels to date I had best my foe.

[ 2011.06.22 23:32:12 ] Caelum Terra > gfgf
[ 2011.06.22 23:32:17 ] Aeth Gemulus > gf
[ 2011.06.22 23:32:39 ] Wensley > WELL FOUGHT SIR. MY LOSS IS AVENGED.
[ 2011.06.22 23:33:18 ] Wensley > YOUR GALLANTRY IS NOTED, MR TERRA
[ 2011.06.22 23:33:30 ] Caelum Terra > npnp
[ 2011.06.22 23:33:42 ] Wensley > IT WAS INDEED A CLOSE MATCH. IT WAS AN HONOUR.
[ 2011.06.22 23:33:57 ] Caelum Terra > yeah it was pretty close
[ 2011.06.22 23:39:03 ] Titus Veridius > no ambush?
[ 2011.06.22 23:39:08 ] Titus Veridius > Thats dissapointing
[ 2011.06.22 23:39:33 ] Wensley > THESE ARE PROVEN MEN OF HONOUR
[ 2011.06.22 23:39:43 ] Titus Veridius > I dont believe you
[ 2011.06.22 23:40:01 ] Wensley > THEY HAVE BESTED ME IN SINGLE COMBAT
[ 2011.06.22 23:40:22 ] Wensley > I COMMEND THEIR VALOUR

My work for the day was done. I had found that there are men of honour amongst the vipers and I salute their bravery. Maybe now more of them will step forward and throw off the shackles of their oppression. These men who follow the false ways of StarCraft are learning that it is combat in New Eden that shows our true characters. I hope that the lesson is well learnt and that more of them will meet me on the field of combat.

Whilst some of your number have redeemed themselves, Hatchery, there are many others who have not. From them I demand satisfaction. If you are any kind of men at all you will pick up this gauntlet and do battle with me. If not then I pity your mothers who have raised such craven excuses for men.

Hi guys. Remember me? Hope you’re enjoying patch day. Anyway, I’ve been out and about in some spaceships having fun. Still a bit too busy to blog properly but I thought I’d share the map of where I’ve been on my travels. There aren’t many places I haven’t visited these days. Not sure I fancy a trip to the deep south any time soon.