Learn to Fly: Sacrilege

"Learn to Fly" is a new series in which we examine the specific skills required to properly fly a ship in Eve Online. In this post we take a look at the Sacrilege.

So you've purchased and properly fitted your new Sacrilege and it is hovering in the docking bay waiting to fly into space. Congratulations. You have one of the most deadly instruments of death and destruction on your hands, but it will be your own death and destruction if you aren't careful. And by careful I don't mean, "Oh I can't undock in that thing!," I mean learning how to fly it properly.

I don't give out fitting advice but I strongly suggest fitting ships to take advantage of their bonuses, so that means you should have HAMS loaded and be armor tanking this sucker. Since we are going to be taking a lot of Sentry Gun fire, I also suggest a strong Armor Repper be present. The rest I leave to you. (For goodness sake, learn how to trawl a killboard!!) Sheesh.

Fit

Ok, I've decided to share the current constantly changing and always updating fit that I am using.

Highs
5x Heavy Assault Missile Launcher II (Dps)
5W Infectious Power System Malfunction (Neut)

Mids
X5 Prototype Engine Enverator (Web)
Warp Disruptor II (Long point)
Parallel Weapon Navigation Transmitter (TP)
Experimental 10mn MWD (go speed!)

Lows
1600mm Rolled Tungsten Plate (Chewy)
Ballistic Control II (Extra ding)
Damage Control II (Extra Protection)
Energized Adaptive Nano Membrane (Resist!!)
Medium Armor Repairer II (Ouchie!)

Rigs
Medium Aux Nano Pump (Faster Rep)
Medium Ancillary Current Router (Moar juice!)


The first thing you will notice about your Sac is how large it is! And despite impressing the ladies this also means it is friggin' slow! And easy to lock! And will get caught if you ain't careful. It is a brick and flies exactly like a brick doesn't. This also means you have an advantage over almost everything you will face on an individual basis. 1v1 you are a mean killing machine against just about anything below a BS. But don't get cocky and go up against a Maelstrom, I made that mistake once and got popped.

Remember this, you are about to own the System you are in. You will be cautious, dangerous and take advantage of every single situation. You will also die eventually. It might take a day or a month, but sooner or later you will be caught and unable to escape. Deal with it. And don't fly it if you can't.

Undock. Crtl+Space you idiot! And hit d-scan. Intel, intel, intel. We are going to learn the fine art of what I call "Hard Point Bushwacking" otherwise known as hugging Stations waiting for a kill. This is not Station Camping, although it kinda looks like it sometimes. And other people will think you are Station Camping and will make fun of you for it, sometimes using harsh language, which might make you very sad... get over it! We know the truth. You can't Station Camp in a Sac because it is to friggin' slow!! You won't catch anything. We are hugging Stations because we may have to dock quickly. We are also using other Bushwacking spots, so make sure you already have spots above gates, spots off the Sun, spots below and above stations, insta-undocks on all stations, mid-warp safes and various other hide spots. Make those in a fast ship, not the Sac.

Target #1 - The Belt

From your perch you can d-scan all the local belts (this may take two or three station spots) and keep an eye on who is in there. People do still rarely rat or mine and you want to catch them and explode them. I'm not going to spend a lot of time on this because it should be easy enough. You need to learn the art of the double-tap scan. Here it is, 15 or 30 degree the belt. Ship on scan, let's say a Vexor. Warp to belt at 20 or 30. Immediately d-scan at 360! That's the double-tap. You should have been doing this before, so you already have an idea of what is around. Based on the local count you should have a good idea if he has buddies. Land and kill the Vexor.

If he has a buddy kill him also. This is a belt, there are no Sentry Guns. If he has two buddies, you may be able to kill them as well. But if one is a Falcon, or an Arazu, or something nasty - make your escape.

The smartest thing is knowing when to leave the kill. It is only one kill and usually not worth losing your Sac over.

Target #2 - Undocked

If something does undock on you, you need to make a snap judgement. Luckily Eve gives us a few seconds to decide. Anything smaller than a Cruiser is usually not worth the effort and will fall into Target #3. Transports, Cruisers can be locked and attacked. But know this, they may just dock up on you before you kill them. Leaving you with aggro and sentry fire. You are unable to dock and will have to warp off to remove the sentry fire. So part of the decision is what else might undock and/or warp in while you are killing him.

This is why you have a Web fitted. This is why being big also helps. Your station perch is not right on the undock, your station perch is above the undock! You will burn straight at the target and bump his sorry care-bearing ass into another County. The other day I hit a Thorax and he bounced 35k off the undock. That's rare, but it does happen. Then kill him.

Target #3 - Undocked and warped

It might seem sad to see those little ships escape, but you know something they don't. They are idiots and you are a killer. 7 out of 10 times they have warped in a panic and they haven't done so at zero. You are already aligned to their out-gate and in warp, sometimes right along side them which is just hilarious. If they do land at zero on the gate let them go and get off the gate!! If they don't land at zero, kill them. This tactic allows you to kill all sorts of things you'd never be able to kill otherwise, I mean you are in a Sac for goodness sake! How else can you kill Condors, Rifters, and other small ships?

Target #4 - Inbound

Sitting up there on your perch you can tell exactly where ships land when they come in from a Gate. You have those spots memorized and bookmarked. When a ship enters the system and is headed towards your station, you will burn to that exact spot and wait. He'll land right on top of you and you'll kill him. Usually you'll scare the crap out of them and they will forget they can just dock, or they didn't warp at zero, or they try and fight back. Which is the best.

Oh and when doing this you don't friggin orbit! You plow straight at them. That big front end on the Sac is there for a reason, use it!

Advice

• Don't overstay your welcome. This works best in small bursts. The longer you stay the more likely they will kill you. Do this at random times. It can also get extremely boring. So move on to the next system or go do something else.

• Carry ECM Drones. You only get 3 anyway and they can be the difference between getting caught and getting away.

• Carry ammo. At minimum Inferno, Nova and Thor's Hammer. I also carry all varieties. Get to know the different types and what they are good for. Use them. A few seconds less on a target can mean the difference.

• Respect other pilots. If someone was there before you, let them have it. The last people you want mad at you are fellow Bushwackers. Even those Station Campers. They can make life difficult and hot-drop you.

• Know your local. Learn the Corps and pilots. Look at their killboards. You want to know the ones with hot-dropping tactics, the ones with surprises waiting inside the station. Know your local!!


The Sacrilege is an awesome ship with limitless fun built right into it. It also has limitations. Know your ship and know your targets. Be better than the enemy. Know when to hold them and know when to fold them.

And most of all, have fun. Otherwise, why do it?