Welcome to another edition of the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly where I walk you through some recent fights of note and honestly tell you the stories behind them. This has been an on-going series for as long as I can remember and I always try to be fair, open, and honest about each fight. But please keep in mind, these are solely from my own perspective and, as such, they are naturally biased. Let's stop beating around the bush and get started shall we?
Boredom is the enemy. The other day I was bored and just flying around in my Astero looking to get into some trouble when I spotted this Gila in a belt. No one else in local. Young player. I thought about this for a few minutes and warped cloaked into the belt to get a closer look. Sure enough it was just sitting there slowly moving. I had no back-up available close by, so I was on my own. I put my odds of success at about 25% maybe. A week or so ago, in a very similar situation, I solo'd a Vexor Navy Issue. The temptation proved greater than my sanity so I went for it. The drones were not T1 sadly, they were faction drones and I just couldn't kill them fast enough. Eventually even my incredible tank was pushed against the wall and a drone volley got me.
I freely admit it was dumb. But, on the other hand, it could have been glorious. It might be ugly, but I'd probably do it again. It is a game, remember?
The Good and Bad: Firetail Versus Comet
Being -10 comes with some issues obviously. One of those is engaging other ships on Gates. I have to let the other person shoot first, to avoid Gate guns, which immediately puts me at a disadvantage. Such was the case here at first. But my real disadvantage came after we had entangled each other with scrams - when his buddies landed on the gate in the Corax and Punisher. I lost my Firetail, but I still managed to solo the Hookbill. It took three of them to kill just one of me. So that's a win in my book.
The Good: Firetail Versus Comet
The great part about this fight is what happened afterwards. The other pilot convo'd me to ask about the fight and how he could improve. I really try to answer these requests as best I can given the circumstances at the time and luckily I was able to spend some time giving him advice. I bring this up now to share some of that advice with my readers. First of all my Firetail that day is scram-kite fitted and his choice of ammo was unable to even hit me. He should have loaded Null and he would have been better off. Also, it is not necessary in most cases to over-prop a Comet. (He has a 10mn AB on his fit) One of the benefits of a Comet is it's agility and while Pyfa might tell you that a larger AB will make you faster, it also makes you turn like a brick. He wasn't going to catch me under my web with that thing. Numbers are not always truthful.
The Ugly: Thrasher FI Versus Cat Navy
Another piece of advice for aspiring PvP players is this: Let other people start your fights. Here is an example of what I mean. I was out in my Thrasher and noticed a fight happening inside of a plex between four ships. Now I wouldn't normally slid into a plex with four ships, especially when two of them at close range brawlers. So I simply sat outside the plex and waited a minute. Sure enough, two of the ships exploded. So then I slid in and caught the Cat Navy heavily damaged. It only took one volley from my Artillery to turn him into dust. And, as a bonus, I managed to also catch two pods that were just sitting there waiting to die. I shot three volleys of ammo and got three kills. Easy peasy lemon squeezy.
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That's all for this edition. You never stop learning in Eve Online. Anyone who tells you different is lying to you. Every situation is different and experience is your best teacher. You can learn the basics from watching videos or reading blog posts, but there is no replacement for getting out there and living it. Don't be afraid to fail, to lose a fight or two, or of taking risks. Those are called adventures. And the beginnings of great stories. No epic tale ever begins, "And so everything went perfectly that day."
I hope to see you in space. Fly safe.