I have been mostly flying Wolf class assault frigates for the last couple of weeks and here's what I've learnt the hard way, having lost seven of them:
- A cruiser/battlecruiser with ECM drones will kill you;
- A cruiser/battlecruiser with energy neutralisers will kill you;
- A fast frigate/cruiser with long-range weapons (including autocannons loaded with Barrage) will kill you;
- An Ishkur with two webs and blasters sitting at the undock point will kill you.
An especially stupid couple of losses happened when I tried to kill Cirock in his Stabber cruiser. I had killed him earlier on that when he allowed me to get close, but in our second fight he stayed about 17 kilometres away and shot me with Barrage rounds. I had a second Wolf ready and decided that together with BiggerGuns in his Rifter we'd be able to win.
I engaged first and, when Cirock once again settled into his preferred orbit, told BiggerGuns to warp to me at 20 kilometres. Of course, things rarely work the way you plan: 'Guns' Rifter appeared too far away and he could not approach Cirock in time. I lost a second Wolf, but at least my wingmate managd to get away.
To address the speed issue I've decided to carry a microwarpdrive with me and switch to it when I see a proper target, someone who can kill me from a distance but won't be able to track me at point-blank range.
Now, to good news. I've finally scored my first battlecruiser kill thanks to xxphilkeyxx who was ratting in a belt in Kamela in his Prophecy. I don't know if he had noticed me arrive at the belt, but that wouldn't have changed much as I came out of warp close to him and battlecruisers aren't known for their agility. I locked the larger ship and activated my guns, nosferatu and scrambler. He responded, with a bit of delay, by sending three Tech 1 drones after me, which I quickly dispatched. His guns were not hitting me at all so the whole fight was about me chewing first through his shield and then armour. I zoomed out just in time to see the battlecruiser explode.
What I like about militia guys is that they don't care what's going on in asteroid belts. There were about 15 of them in local when I was slowly killing the Prophecy, but no one disturbed us. Neither did they intervene when I destroyed johnny2combs' Omen in another belt and his Coercer at the same spot 15 minutes later. Guys, at least watch the scanner when ratting in lowsec!
Sadly, I ended the week with another Wolf loss. I killed another ratting cruiser in Lulm and docked at one of the stations. When I undocked, an Ishkur and a Jaguar tackled me and started hurting my ship badly. I tried to dock again, but did not make it. I checked the Ishkur pilot's records later and found out he specialises in killing other assault ships with an interesting setup - two webs and a scrambler in midslots.
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