Needs FRAPs ffs

I have played around with the idea of FRAPSing some of my engagements. often it would be kind of boring, but every so often it would be a highly entertaining affair which would perhaps show a few people a thing or two.

Last night on the roam, I was heavy scouting in SS Planet Dollaz 2 jumps into lowsec after the fleet had got welped in a BS engagement versus Snuff Box. I won't go into details on that, as I wasn't present on field, but suffice to say everyone was mid reshipping and I was YOLOing around.

I was hunting, or at least hoping to be hunted by, a Vexor. I know the Planet Dollaz can take a solo cruiser, perhaps two if they are bad and noobs. I was confident i could at least tackle him hard till someone came along to get backup point and DPS. My only problem was a guy in system in a Talos. I'd done the maths, and blaster Talos was 1100-1300 DPS of horror which would hand me a lossmail in seconds, so the objective was to get tackled by the Vexor and bleat on comms, whilst avoiding the Talos. Not an easy task in a hauler.

As it turned out, my "PI" milk run ended up on planet 3 POCO at zero, and a small distraction saw me on grid, not aligned, when the Talos landed. I immediately tried to GTFO...but it seems I warped into the side of the POCO and was bouncing off it. Ruh roh, raggy. Boy, did i bleat on comms. Girlishly, I may admit.

However, this is where the wish for FRAPS comes in. I was a mere 100m away from the Talos, and although he was hitting me hard (down to 10% shield!) I pulled out all stops. First off, was not to point him back until the exact last minute, in case it gave the game away. Second was to overload the Invul, big time. But most importantly was manually piloting around him in an orbit of 200-300m at the blistering speed of 150m/s. Even large blasters can't track that well, and that's what saved the bacon. Barely.

So. End result was a Talos who died to a huge gang, and a Nereus which didn't die to something that, reasonably, ought to have completely pwned the shit out of it in seconds.

Then we set about greening up the killboard, and it's kind of a luxury to be in a Q-ship. You get to point a Raven on gate with a scram and not get shot for the whole battle.

Orthrus

Yesterday a threadnaught was started on EVE-O when CCP Rise announced the Orthrus.

ORTHRUS

Caldari Cruiser Bonus per level:
20% bonus to missile damage

Gallente Cruiser Bonus per level:
10% bonus to warp scrambler and warp disruptor range

Role Bonus:
200% bonus to missile velocity
50% penalty to missile flight time

Slot layout: 6H, 5M, 4L; 0 turrets, 5 launchers
Fittings: 900 PWG, 460 CPU
Defense (shields / armor / hull) : 2950 / 2280 / 2100
Capacitor (amount / cap/sec) : 1550 / 3.16s
Mobility (Max velocity / agility / mass / align time): 245 / .48 / 9362000 / 6.23s
Drones (bandwidth / bay): 25 / 25
Targeting (max targeting range / Scan Resolution / Max Locked targets): 50km / 300 / 7
Sensor strength: 21
Signature radius: 120

I will leave you with this image to show you how OP this shit is going to be. OK, that's a full Tengu and Loki booster, but without any appreciable pimp, and considering it still has 175 calibration on it (hello T2 field extender rig or a Polycarb) we have 426 DPS at 85km with a 70km dissy and 4,776m/s. That is probably 57km dissy and 3,500m/s without OH, but still.

You can run down a ceptor and kill it, with Precisions, and run away if the ceptor tries to disagree with this situation.

Even without boosts, you'll have 45km dissy and 2,700m/s.

Even comparing just the raw stats to, say, an Arbitrator it's clear the Orthrus has a huge amount over our least-loved Amarr T1 cruiser. Sure, you'll be paying through the nose for the orthrus and want something special, but do you really need 325 extra powergrid, 170 capacitor, 7 sensor strength (!!), 45m/s base speed and overwhelming EWAR bonus of 50% extra disruptor and scram range?

I mean, you try fitting a 1600 plate to an Arbitrator and one medium neut. Good luck with that. The Orthrus can do it and fit 5 HML's and get actual DPS.

Its pretty ridiculous. I'm not expecting to owwn one for 3-6 months after patch day, because OMFG. But at least the guys in Pure Blind are going to be spending their entire eve career until 3rd June humping level 4's for LP's. Talk about a massive, massive payout to them.

A tingle of excitement

Yesterday, BUGRY.

Today, TALUN?

I hope this sees low-class wormholes fill up again with people who actually bring fights. Sure, you make big bank in C5's, but it's kind of a farm-all or fight-all scene, where small entities cannot survive by getting decent fights (and get blobbed hard by 30+++ Proteuses with 30% of the fleet Guardian coverage) and where monthly brawls  get FRAPsed and written up on the forums like they are earthshattering events.

Meanwhile, you go about your business in the long grass at the low end of town, racking up more kills, more ISK killed, more fun, less vids, less e-peen.

No longer, I hope. TALUN were great fun. Poke the hornet's nest, harvest the tears, scuttle away when the content you created was too much.

Flight of the Planet Dollaz #2

I found some rats on a gate in lowsec and went ratting. In my Nereus, on gate.

Aggressed on gate by a Prophecy, I wander off gate, then back to gate. When the prophecy is bleeding into hull, I activate scram and web, to try to hold him for the gate guns to kill. He caps me out at just the wrong time, and my scram drops, allowing him to bail to a planet.

I follow, and so does a Goonswarm Vagabond. I scram the Prophecy, confident that eventually the Vaga will just kill him and then get bored kiting me and/or call for help to take me down, in maybe 20 mins.

timmy selby > battle neurs op
timmy selby > please nerf
timmy selby > Loroseco Kross
timmy selby > Plox
timmy selby > dont be a dick
Loroseco Kross > I'm not
Loroseco Kross > I didn't shoot either of you
timmy selby > neurs is to op
Trinkets friend > lol, you suck timmy
timmy selby > Holy shit
timmy selby > That reacher is unreal
timmy selby > u can tank 500dps
timmy selby > thast crazy
Trinkets friend > gf
timmy selby > gf
timmy selby > thast crazy
timmy selby > link ur fit
Trinkets friend > its sekrit
Loroseco Kross > 2 rite m8
Trinkets friend > I just wanna go to barlaguet and buy one thing
timmy selby > u couldnt break me
timmy selby > without gate guns
Trinkets friend > Gate guns could but i capped out at the wrong time for my scram
Trinkets friend > you got lucky :)
Loroseco Kross > Wait
Loroseco Kross > The Nereus was winning?
timmy selby > thats why i have neuts
Trinkets friend > yeah
Loroseco Kross > Hahahahaha
timmy selby > on the gate
Loroseco Kross > That's brilliant hahahaha
timmy selby > I got fucked
timmy selby > :L
timmy selby > gate guns tore me up
EVE System > Channel changed to Local : Aulbres

Trifecta of fail

Whenever I see a tractor in highsec, I probe it out if I have time. Todayy, I found my way through a very long chain to Iyen-Oursta and saw two tractors on scan. While i shuffled a few stolen Cyno System Jammer Array to Jita for sale (can't remember where I stole them from, but w/e) I probed down the tractors. One got scooped by some mission-runner, the other belonged to a guy in a Venture in a belt.

I loaded my prowler up and came back to Iyen-Oursta. I bumped the Venture off and decloaked my loki, beginning to shoot. The Prowler hockey-shuffled the Venture away from his stricken Tractor while i laid into it with an anemic cloaky Loki DPS. Eventually he realised what was happening, jinked away from the Prowler, and tried to come in for a scoop. A bit of a Loki bump, and that was looking like a no-go for him, so he warped off.

Now, my Loki fit is terrible at DPS (234) and OK at tanking (classified, but +800), so it was going to depend what he brought back whether I'd fight. I cloaked the prowler, figuring at least I could avoid random revenge ganking.

Surprisingly, he brought a Noctis, so i was thinking he would just be trying to go for a scoop, so first up was a bump. Then he shot at me, allowing me to murder him. I thought it was just a Nosferatu, but it appears he had smartbombs.

So of course, the first thing I do is scoot the Prowler in to bomb range and get him CONCORDOKKENED. Then I podded him.

Trifecta. Plus he also has a killright on him. 

Sure, some dude may have bumped you off your tractor and killed it, but it's only a tractor unit. Don't turn 7M into 130M in losses. 

Phoenix revival a fizzer

There is a mixed bag of goodies in the Phoenix rebalance pass, as detailed on the F&I Discussion thread.

The resist bonus is overdue, and brings it in line with the Chimera, Rokh, Moa and Merlin as a hefty resist-bonused Caldari boat. This will greatly help the Phoenix's survivability in those situations where you don't immediately get primaried, aren't solo bashing a POS, or just happen to live in a C5 or C6 Pulsar, where this will really begin to shine.  It will increase the active tank from a turgid 13K DPS tank (overheated) to around 18-20K (hard to simulate in Pyfa), or a sustainable 2900 DPS - enough to survive most POSs long enough to blap the defences and make the DPS sustainable. Not that it's a problem except for the odd low-class wormhole dread faced with solo bashing a proper deathstar - in its usual habitat, a 2900 DPS tank is more than enough, for you will have friends.

The change away from kinetic-only ammo is welcome, and definitely a bonus. The damage bonus swapping to ROF is also a bonus, given the promulgated percentage in paper DPS that is on the cards - 25% for Citadel Cruise, and 33% for Citadel Torps.

The indicated buff to Citadel Cruise and Torp missile parameters is welcome. 33% greater velocity is helpful, because now you won't be able to outrun them in a hauler (OK, a Prowler, but you get my point). Your cruise will now go 7km/s and your torps 3.4km/s - although range is the same, which is fine. You get dropped off grid and warp down to your target, so no change there.

There is also a bit of swapsies with the explosion radius and explosion velocity going up 38%, and down 14%, respectively for Cruise, and +75% and -50% for Torps. This is good, because it is really terrible right now, so any buff will help.

However, this is where it all falls apart. Explosion velocity for cruise goes from 45.7 m/s (base) to 63.06 m/s, and from 31.5m/s for torps up to a scalding 55.12m/s. This means that an unwebbed capital (its main prey, apparently) can only reduce 50% of the damage by moving about the field!

Then, of course, is explosion radius. 14% off the base for Citadel Cruise of 1225 leaves you at 1053. An armour fit Nid with Claymore gang links has a sig radius of 2,070. You get a meagre 4,650 of 6250 DPS out of a Phoenix now, using Cruise, versus a moving Nid. This represents 60% damage application. For Citadel Torps you also get around 4600 applied DPS right now, versus the same Nidhoggur - out of a theoretical 11,000, that's a pathetic 40% versus its main prey.

Simulating the new missile parameters via adding three T2 rigor rigs, you get close to 90% damage application from Citadel Cruise, and a better 70% using torps. This is bad news - even buffed your applied DPS versus a slow-moving carrier is less than 100%. Consider the transversal of a Nid orbiting a Moros (next to zero at any range) and you can see why no one should be or will be impressed by the new numbers on the Phoenix. Your tracking is so good on the Moros vs other caps, and the base DPS is already so high, you'd be mad to give that up for the crap shoot that missiles is.

The balance here is obviously avoiding making the citadel missiles so good that they become blapping machines - after all, there's no fancy flying you can do, no orbit speed or range, which will mitigate your damage liability when being shot at by missiles.

The thing is, as pointed out by wise poasters, who would design a missile to take down a target such that it only does 70% of the job?

The clear objective should be to give Citadel missiles of all flavours explosion velocities close to that of their targets - namely, 100-120 m/s. The explosion radius can also be adjusted, assuming infinite ISK for T2 rigs of course, to ensure that a battleship which is under way with an AB (300 sig, 350m/s) takes 50% damage.

If the Phoenix isn't made into a blapping machine, the improved missile velocity won't counter the alpha of all turret weapons. The key lesson here (as pointed out by the wise scholar Bagehi) is that on paper the Phoenix begins to look useful. However, it's only on paper.

My experiments with cruise missile Ravens and Typhoons has shown that TP's are king. Pushing the envelope hard enough requires triple rigor rigs and twin TP's, something only the Typhoon brings to the party, given its explosion radius buff takes care of the other half of the equation. The Raven can only rig itself 3 times, is a shield tanker so gives up midslots for tank (a fruitless exercise), and can't buff explosion velocity at the same time as sig radius. In essence, fast missiles are good in theory, but in reality if you're going to kill anything it's precise, high impact missiles, even if they hit a few seconds later. Remember, the missile velocity only matters for the first hit, not the second - DPS is flat.

Therefore, it would be better to take a leaf from the Typhoon's book. Give the Phoenix a 50% explosion velocity buff on the hull, ditch the missile velocity bonus and flight time nerf (it's irrelevant!), and tweak the ROF. This will result in a huge improvement in applied DPS versus moving targets (increasing the citadel ExVel to 90m/s, meaning 100% DPS vs moving unebbed caps, and torp to 77m/s, giving 80%) without unduly threatening lower-sig radius ships like battleships.

Of course, if you web and TP the shit out of something, pushing a BS sig to 2000 and keeping it below 75m/s, it will take the full alpha  strike of the missiles. Big deal - you'll need a web loki, and at least 2-3 TP's, and rigor rigs, and have the enemy pinned down within the engagement range of the Phoenix - basically, only people silly enough to land within 50km of a torp Phoenix or 160km of a Cruise Phoenix. Plus, it must be pointed out, anyone in the same situation facing a Moros with a 2,000m sig and no speed, will most likely suffer a horrible fate as well.

That's my fix.

Vale, Staticmapper, wormhole.es, wormnav.com

So, it seems that API based NPC kill information available to the above IGB based tools (also, Siggy, ExCAM) will be deprecated by CCP because the API is not intended as an intel gathering tool, and none of these tools are available in the client itself, hence it's an unfair advantage for those with Siggy against those without. Or something - FoxFour's logic about why is a little sloppy.

Now, given some people live in wormholes and don't even know about doubletap, cannot read up on eve-survival.org about how to run their sites, and do not add their targets to watchlist via using eve-who, I really doubt that using an out-of-game widget is unfairly advantaging someone.

I mean, yes, Siggy is a little unfair. Being able to see in real-time ratting, combat or derping occurring in any system you have scanned out within the past whenever, that's a little bit much. That, as pointed out by someone else, allows you to scan a chain and just leave Siggy running and wait for derp to occur, and you make your way down the chain to collect "PVP". The broken part is being able to see this whilst not necessarily in the system at the time.

However, the way I use Staticmapper, wormhol.es (or wormnav, which is now gone) is to gather intel on the patttern of behaviour. After all, you can remove out of game widgets, but it won't protect people who are too idiotic to crit their entrance or put an alt on it. For the people who are smart enough to do this, you need to lurk. To determine whether to lurk, especially in the AU TZ where activity is 10% of the EU/US, you need evidence of past activity spanning 48 hours.

Now, in k-space you get this via the map. Apparently this is going to remain, because it's in the client. It will also presumably remain for API pulling, too, eg DOTLAN will show 48 hours of NPC, jumps, ship and pod kills in a handy little graph. Take, just randomly for example 3BAD-Z. You can hopefully see a daily peak of ratting occurring as carebears log in and smash a few sanctums or havens in their cyno-jammed nullsec bear den. This is API generate information which someone can use out-of-game at any time to plan activities in game.

I don't get the logic that information should be only available in-game. Well, I do - but if so, CCP must remove the API info from k-space as well, effectively shutting down intel gathering except via the starmap in-game. 

It is clear CCP wants to encourage gameplay by making people log in (and theoretically decide they want a 4 billion ISK ratting Nightmare and pay for it with PLEX, I think, is their idea) and not spend their time logged out trawling API information to decide when to log in or if to log in at all.

That is fine, however i question whether this is counterproductive. People play EVE as much on the forums (via recruiting, smacktalking) as they do out of game (at Fanfest, EVE Vegas, EVE Downunder, etc) or over a drink at the pub. This is a community thing, and a metagame, wherein the game occurs outside the game as well as in.

To be facetious in proving my point, for example, CCP could remove all EVE Wiki information, forcing you to show info on all items in-game and construct your own database, in order to construct pyfa or EFT. This way you'd have to do all your ship fitting in-game (mmm, tempting to PLEX up for that 'Mare!) and it would stop all those theorycrafters from creating the next great FOTM doctrine. This would be a pure MMO experience, everyone derping about in shitfit ships, aside from the guys who spend their lives logged in and who figure out how to fit their ships in-game.

It's ridiculous. So, too, is removing API kill info from w-space because you should do it for k-space as well, otherwise it is actually just a nerf to one third of EVE space.

Of course, CCP needs to articulate why w-space in particular doesn't get API support. Is it because of the great unknown? is it because they feel Siggy or ExCAM or other API tools are breaking immersion, or resulting in lazy gameplay, or an uneven playing field?

I don't know. But if my use of Staticmapper, Wormnav and wormhol.es is an unfair advantage, then so be it. They should nobble watchlisting, which is as effective at setting login traps as anything else.

I am connected to Lowsec, where you get Local and idiots and pirates. All I have to do to get pew pew, now, is go out my static and sit in top belt. I fear, however, that w-space is going to suffer, until someone finds a way around it or CCP puts features into the game.

Or maybe people will stop blobbing together in gigantic 200 man fag collection corps, hiding in the long grass of massed numbers and fleets with 50% Guardians, and do what w-space should be doing - small gang covert roaming.