Noir. 200th Celebration.. And improving my skills
So, our celebrated 200th contract finally was complete, and we moved out of 0.0. Fortunately, I had no more humiliating losses and despite having next to zero game time available.. I was still able to get on a couple kills. So, while not out of the doghouse, I am near the doggie door.
As most pilots well know, particularly those of the larger alliances and coalitions, Noir. has begun their 200th Contract Celebration which has started off much better than our Curse campaign. We have wardec’d a ton of major alliances and have been flying around all over Eve looking to find targets. The response.. well, the response was predictable. Some corps left their alliances because of the War-dec, others like Eve Uni sent out 100 man fleets to hunt us down. Ah, gotta love it.
During this time I’ve improved both my skills with the interceptor and stealth bomber, getting the real life understanding needed to fly them well and effectively (so expect to see new configurations for both of them in the near future). I am also revisiting my skill at using the Rapier, Huginn, and Vagabond. The simple fact is that my understanding of how to use the Rapier and Huginn fell behind the times. Both of those ships aren’t exactly necessary in the major 0.0 fleets that the NC had fielded.. particularly since 1400mm equipped Maelstroms because they were the NC’s FOTM for quite a while. The Vagabond on the other hand, I never got to get good with in the first place, because of type of fleets that were being run against us at the time.
So, how does that relate to my time in Noir. Well, I am still surprised at how resistant I am at the thought of going back to Battlecruisers and the like. But, the merc life means exactly what it sounds like. You are trying to make money, and if a 40mil isk ship can do the task just as good as a 140mil isk ship, then you bring the 40mil isk ship. Sometimes doing that isn’t as easy as it sounds because.. hey, I’m a 70mil SP character.. doing the same job that a 4 or 5 mil SP can do nearly as good. But, that’s the reality of living a merc life.
On other notes, check out the new banner I got from Rixx Javix over at Eveoganda (http://eveoganda.blogspot.com/)!
The often despised Huginn
Of all the Recon ships, the Huginn is probably considered the worst of the bunch.. if not a close second for the title. Often, fleets and pickup gangs would rather fly with a Rapier over a Huginn, and consider the cloaking ability far superior to the additional tanking ability of the Huginn. Yet, the Huginn is certainly not to be discounted lightly. The simple fact remains that most people, in my modest opinion, outfit the Huginn wrong.
Because of its resists, the standard fit is usually three mid slot with tackle (two webs, one 24km disruptor), one 10MN MWD, and use the final two slots for its tank, either two Large Shield Extenders or a LSE with an Invulnerability Field. The low slots are then populated with a DC and whatever else the pilot decides. Yet, it is interesting to note that one of the certifications for the Huginn isn’t Shield tanking.. its Armor Tanking. While I tend to agree that this flies in the face of two very important facts, the first being that all Minmatar T2 cruisers are shield tanked, and the second fact that the resists on the ship clearly point to shield tanking as the optimal choice.. nevertheless, as a Recon ship, its job ISN’T necessarily to tank…
The Huginn carries two particular bonuses, the first is the often used web range bonus.. which on a Huginn can reach up to 40km using typical T2 Statis Webifiers, and 60km with faction. Still, with only two webs an interceptor can still reach speeds of almost 600m/s without implants, still fast enough to get out of a 24km range easily, and certainly not all that hard to get out of bubble range either. This is where the second bonus comes in. The Huginn retains its bonus from the Bellicose hull and this adds a 37.5% increase in the strength of a target painter. Add to that good target painting skills and you have something else entirely.
[Huginn, Armor TP Configuration]
800mm Reinforced Rolled Tungsten Plates I
Damage Control II
Energized Adaptive Nano Membrane II
10MN MicroWarpdrive II
Stasis Webifier II
Stasis Webifier II
Target Painter II
Sensor Booster II, Scan Resolution
Sensor Booster II, Scan Resolution
220mm Vulcan AutoCannon II, Barrage M
220mm Vulcan AutoCannon II, Barrage M
220mm Vulcan AutoCannon II, Barrage M
‘Arbalest’ Heavy Missile Launcher, Thunderbolt Heavy Missile
‘Arbalest’ Heavy Missile Launcher, Thunderbolt Heavy Missile
‘Arbalest’ Heavy Missile Launcher, Thunderbolt Heavy Missile
Medium Targeting System Subcontroller I
Medium Targeting System Subcontroller I
The above configuration now brings out the beauty of the Huginn. As an armored tanked Recon, it can blend effectively with the more popular armor tanked fleets currently in use. With the midslots free, it can upgrade its sensors to get just shy of 1300mm scan resolution. In practice, what happens in your typical gate camp is that once a interceptor class ship tries to MWD out of a bubble, the frigate’s signature (at best skill) shows up well below that of a small cruiser, making it very difficult to target and hit using medium and large guns. However, replacing the 24km point with a Target Painter now brings the little interceptor’s sig radius up to around 125mm.. the size of large cruiser… and a very easy target for your allied ships to lock onto and hit.
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