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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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