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Monday, July 16, 2012

Too Much Fun

Normally I find something interesting to write about over the weekend.  Not this weekend.  I was heavily involved in watching Alliance Tournament X and playing Eve.  No time for surfing the net and getting inspiration for a post.

I have to say that this weekend's coverage of AT X was pretty interesting when the stream worked.  Apparently the new studio, while looking good, had some wiring issues and it lost access to the internet during one of the matches.  I have two sentimental favorites I root for, Red vs. Blue and Capital Punishment..  Red vs. Blue, who should fly under the name "Purple", I think is a sentimental choice for a lot of players.  Capital Punishment. is a small pirate corp practicing their trade in Minmatar low sec and as a Minmatar pilot myself I have to root for the home team.

Both Red vs. Blue and Capital Punishment need victories to advance to the knockout stage.  RvB, one of the few 2-0 teams to not clinch a spot in the finals, can ensure a spot with a victory over Pandemic Legion.  I'm not sure what the scenario is if RvB loses.  Capital Punishment. is in a worse spot.  They need to win plus Verge of Collapse has to lose.  I don't know the scenario for Capital Punishment. advancing if Verge of Collapse wins, but I think it involves Verge of Collapse not getting full points in their match.

While watching the tournament I managed to finish my latest faction grind so I now have stations in my low sec area where I have perfect refining.  That isn't as important as it was before the changes that eliminated drops of meta 0 loot from rats and scrap metal taking up hardly any space.  But having the capability is handy if I ever try my hand at low sec mining.  I hear CCP might buff mining ships one day.

Finally I broke my two-year moratorium and finally flew an armed ship into low sec.  I'm still wary of the pros coming in and swatting me around so I fitted up a Hound and went ratting.

If I wasn't undocking, you'd never see me
Ratting in a stealth bomber?  I found I could do it as long as I don't mind warping off.  Just align to a celestial so if the damage is too bad I can just warp off at the touch of a button.  I also have found that finding a celestial that does not point my ship directly away from the rats helps mitigate the damage. With a target painter and firing Nova Torpedoes to take advantage of the Hound's 15% bonus to explosive torpedo damage per Covert Ops level I managed to down groups of 3 Angel battlecruisers and even a group consisting of an Angel battleship with 2 elite cruisers.

I think my tactics not only work against the rats but take into account the realities of low sec.  If someone shows up on grid, I can instantly warp away and cloak up.  A stealth bomber is pretty squishy.  However, I think I have a fit that will allow me to take some potshots at people who do land on grid if the situation is favorable.  While I'm not looking for kill mails, I might get one if I run into someone even less experienced than I am.

So no thought provoking post today.  I had too much fun playing Eve.

5 comments:

  1. Rat in a SB in NPC null. More BS (BB) rats there makes the SB make more sense. You could use a Meta-fit T1 cruiser. Hull+fittings+insurance would make it a far more cost effective endeavor.

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  2. Glad you're enjoying AT X, so am I.

    Also glad you're venturing forth into dangerous waters. I was ninjaing some mag sites in null this morning, so quite a similar illicit ratting experience. I actually used a cloaky Drake but will switch to a blingu soon in the hopes that not losing my Drake implies I won't lose my more expensive ship.

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  3. I know a lot of people that do the stealth bomber ratting. I use an assult frig and my corp mates favor cynabals.

    They were running the numbers last night for ATX. We have a small window of chance if the gods favor us. This is the third one Cap punishment has entered and the first time they have progressed this far. People would love to go to the finals. However, there is a lot of internal pleasure at advancing as far as they have.

    Herding cats down in Molden Heath, Erryday.

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  4. RvB best B!
    Unfortunately, I can't stand our forums and so haven't yet found out exactly how many points we need against PL. Anyone know?

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    1. Edit to above: "Can't stand" = find layout confusing, not don't like.

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