Lost my Slicer

Well, I was plexing in a contested Amarr system when an enemy entered the system. I was flying my slicer, cruising along in a minor fortress.

He rolled up in a fleet firetail, jumped into my area and hesitated for a long time. Then his friend entered the system. I jumped out to a random planet.

I decided to return, however, reasoning that I could take him out before his friend got here.

I jumped in right on top of him, locked him, pointed him and opened fire. I was winning, put a web in and I had him pretty good. Then his buddy jumped in, also in a fleet firetail, and he kited off. His buddy and he dogpiled me, pointed and destroyed me. He was in armor, nearly in structure, when I ran out of cap and went down.

From his post battle derision I could probably have won that if I'd been any better at piloting. It's a humbling experience, and a costly one, as my insurance had expired.

Fortunately, I've got the cash and LP saved up for the Slicer II...but I think I'll mission a bit more before bringing it back out for battle.

The guy who killed me's nom de guerre was duc tayp. Charming, these Minmatar slime.

Fail Night

I tried to do some plexing, went to three contested systems, but couldn't scan out any plexes in any of them. Maybe I need some more scanning skills? I think I'm doing this right, just jump to each planet and scan for cosmic anomalies...I guess I ought to look up a tutorial and make sure I know what's up.

I hung around in Kamela the rest of the night with the other actives in the Amarr militia. Basically an ad-hoc camp that isn't actually a fleet. Whenever someone sees an enemy (or, indeed, any non militia) in system we jump on them. Didn't work tonight, but I'm hopeful that eventually this gets me on a kill.

Back to Faction Warfare

So, to relieve the tedium of the endless missions, I've gone back to Kamela with my beloved Slicer I, and I'm plexing.

Last night I went up to Langorn (or something like that), and secured an enemy minor plex, with active opposition from a pair of enemy craft (though they got distracted midway through, just tired of my jumping around).

Then I went back down to Arra (or Auga? It's 2 jumps from Kamela, one jump from Sosala). And secured a friendly major stronghold.

All told this got me about half way to my next promotion. It was much more exciting and tense than mission running. I think I'll try to finish plexing to a promotion, then X up for a fleet and try and get on a kill for once. That'd be so cool.

Flying the Slicer I, after a whole bunch of time flying the Binger I, is awesome. Fast, deadly...much love for my little slicer. And I've got the money/isk to replace it if and when the minmatar get lucky and take this one down.

Oh

So, I figured out what's going on with the range thing. He's using the equivalent of beam lasers for his faction, and just has t2 ammo and better skills, thereby coming pretty close to my damage. I feel kind of silly about that, I spent a good bit of time racking my brains to find a way to get multifreq damage at radio range. Not happening with the old pulse's.

On another note I've rigged my Harbinger, three cap rechargers. I can run my AB, my web, my DCU II, fire all my lasers and run my armor repair forever. What a load off! On the other hand I'm probably the single least dangerous Harbinger in the galaxy, with only 6 guns online and no heat sinks, but I'm going to fix that, soon as BC V is done training, should be in a couple days.

Something is missing...

So, I was missioning with Mardril, and I just can't account for the lack of range in my ship. I'm using T2 lasers, I've got a battlecruiser, he's doing similarly, though he's actually using a T2 ship, but he has far more range than I, without any noticeable decline in power. What's going on?

He mentioned something about ammo, perhaps there's a crystal that lets mission ships shoot further? Must be. I'm going to poke around and look at fellow Capsuleer's logs. See what I find.

Killing time...and rats!

So, I'm still chaining level III missions in Ebtesham. Still using the Binger I. All basically goes well. It's a bit tedious, but I remain resolute. Once I finish my BC V (about 2/3 of a month left), then there's just Destroyers left to learn and I'll be set as regards ships for missioning, then I can go back and work on my long neglected basics.

These basics are what's really keeping me out of PVP. The drones, the MWD, the probes and the warp disruptors, basically everything required to engage fellow capsuleers, as opposed to the humans who crew the ships my missions require that I destroy. It's all about the basics, turns out. Once I've got them down, and the isk that I'm making now will let me put them to good use, it's time to finally get deep into faction warfare. For now, and for the forseeable, however, it's missions all the way down.

Ain't gonna lie...

The Binger is a whole lot of sweetness. You might think, twice the firepower of a Maller, half the HP, and that's a certain point, but it's so much more than that. Because I'm not just going from 3 lasers to 7, but from 3 lasers to 7 Tech II lasers! Huge increase in firepower.

Now, the fragility is something to think about. I never came close to dying in level II's with the Maller II, but these level III's occasionally test the Binger I to it's breaking point. Need drones badly, as soon as the 'Month' (no joke, a whole month) for BC V is up I'm definitely getting drone skills. Then, back to the basics. I'm currently heavily specced in gunnery with the exception of my piloting skills and learning skills. I can only run a level 1 armor repairer, afterburner (not microwarp) etc.

I'm going to use the certificates to guide my learning of the fundamentals, I understand that's what they are there for.

Last thought, rapid fire level III's are lucrative. Fo realz.

Need Drones...

So, interceptors are an issue. I could always manage them with the Maller by, essentially, webbing them and warping in and out a lot. In the Binger, even if they are webbed, and even if they don't web me, I can't hit them once they are close.

Now, part of the problem may be that I can't run the afterburners and web at the same time. If I could, I could get less transversal and light them up. So rigs could fix that, likely. But the ultimate solution to this problem, per my understanding, is to get my drone skills up.

Just one problem, that'll take a while. Sigh...

Skill Considerations

I've finally finished Amarr Cruisers V, and Medium Energy Turret is close to completion. After that's done I'm going to go into BattleCruisers, looking for that Harbinger and the promised land of Level III's.

After that I think I need to go back for a while, get up my core competency's, so I'm going to be looking into filling out my lowest level certificates for a while. Get my navigation, fitting, etc. skills up. Maybe even advanced learning. All the while missioning at level III.

Finally, once I'm satisfied about that I'm going to swap over to the lower level pvp skills to do more than plex in faction warfare.

Punishing...

I've gotten my clone skills up, gotten my clone and gone to work for the 24th IC full time. I've been flying a Punisher, plexing level 1's.

This is necessary, but not terribly glamorous work. In particular, I've been unable to defeat an enemy capsuleer. My candy taunts me.

I'll perservere, however, and I'm considering getting a Maller or two (my funds are currently stable after a bit of panhandling) and working on the larger plexes. Maybe someone will want to fight then?

In general, the enemy seem better organized than we. It's disturbing. Once I'm more experienced at this I think I shall try and take on something of a leadership role.

Xenot's Standings...

I swear, each point of standing takes two to three times the effort of the one before it.

I'm right on the verge of getting 8.0 with the navy, in fact I'd scheduled that I'd get it last Thursday. Sadly, I'm still at 7.8. Unreal. It's such slow going...

I want my jump clones!

In addition, I'm at 9.9 with my agent. That's far less relevant, as getting to level 10.0 with a level 2 agent would be as much a badge of shame (watch me grind suboptimally!) as anything else, but seeing 9.9 just sit there is vexing. The 10.0 feels like the A+ grade, which is never given but held out to tantalize doctoral candidates to do better work. Gah!

I'm 1/3 of the way through Amarr Cruisers V. Should be about 18 more days. Then I'll grab medium turrets (Tech 1 guns are an embarassment), then Battlecruisers, and I'll finally be on to Level 3 missions. I'll have to get out of low sec to run those, can't afford to lose my level 3 mission running ship initially, but I'll be back soon enough, and I'll have my jump cloned punisher plexing jaunts to keep the excitement up.

Fitness via EVE

I'm not as fit as I could be, and the reason isn't hard to understand.

I'm active, and my meals are of ordinary size and duration. So why would I be fat? The answer is simple, I've a sweet tooth. On any given day I consume one or two candy bars. Obviously, this destroys my diet.

Thus, I've made the following vow. I shall not consume another candy bar until, and unless, I destroy an enemy capsuleers vessel. My craving shall grow and grow as I mission and mine, until ultimately, in service to the Empire, I destroy our vile enemy's. Then, and only then, shall chocolate and peanut butter pass my lips once more.

CVA, Providence, AAA, U-K

I'll shed my newcomer veneer for a second. It's simply too juicy not to.

CVA:

Much questioning has been going on as to what CVA was thinking. The answer is, essentially, that the CVA folks are hypothesizing when they are asking that question doesn't exist. Most alliances, null security alliances in particular, are a herd of peons led by folks who understand what's going on. I say this without attempting to give offense. I'm a peon myself. Anyone who thinks in terms of their individual capacity and enjoyment within Eve is. The leadership plays the much more complicated game of "Eve-Alliance", and keeps everything set up such that the peons can play their more enjoyable grunt version.

CVA isn't like this. CVA has always been the switzerland of null security alliances. It's never had a real conflict. Not ever. It started off as a marriage of an RP notion and a shrewd fellow (long since retired) who saw the advantages in NRDS. The leadership of CVA have had the sense not to rock the boat, and amalgamated other similar organizations to become Providence Holders without ever really changing this dynamic. The result is this: CVA are grunts through and through. Call them individual players, call them peons, grunts, what have you, there's no one in authority in CVA who isn't one.

This has several consequences, the disastrous failure at cap ship warfare only the most visible (doctrine of mediocrity. They'd never done it, so they bombed.) It was obvious that they'd be defeated. Why did they ship up? Before we answer that let's look at another question.

Why are they still mouthing off to AAA? Why no quick behind the scenes capitulation? Why the odd silence from official channels? All of these answers are the same answer. They are still peons. They have no real skin in the game.

What's the risk of poor behavior for CVA's leadership? The 4 main guys have all the assets they could ever imagine. They've run Providence all the way through to Dominion. They could play EVE for literally ever and never want. They are taken care of.

They take losses the same way you take the loss of your mission running BS when you are a level 4 Empire runner. It's vexing, but trivial. Truth be told, they don't even log in that much nowadays.

Thus, they have naught to lose by standing on principle, or, you know, for whatever. They are also as bad at alliance warfare as any newcomer suddenly thrust into command authority. What they know is administering providence, shepherding greys, smacking blinky's. They are still learning alliance warfare, but doing so publicly. This is shameful, thus their silence and incoherence.

AAA/U-K:

So that's CVA's side of things. What's up with the other side? Why are they taking so long to smash Provi?

Simple. They are the doms, and like all doms, they aren't in the driver's seat. Their relationship with Provi is important, but they need provi to go back to being space cops. It doesn't work if they are just another null sec alliance.

Imagine if Switzerland invaded someone. They'd lose, sure, but you don't want to beat them and own them, you want them to go back to being Switzerland! You need the neutral banker! In this case, you need the guys who are satisfied by doing a bad Concorde impression, and lure neutrals out to 0.0 for you to prey on.

U-K is similar. They are the RP foes of Provi, but they have sort of evolved into real pirates, over time. They don't want to be pirates full time, like all the other groups out there. They are the Ulshra-whatever. They Come For Their People! What will that motto mean when they own Provi and AAA is their only neighbor? AAA sure isn't about to start making Amarr noises to satisfy their vanity.

Providence Holders:

Aside from CVA, the other Holders are a diverse bunch, but can be summed up in the following camps.

0.0 Alliance members: These guys think they are in a real 0.0 alliance. They are ready to fight, losing is fine, it's better than being forced to be space cops forever. These guys are primarily in Paxton Federation, but Sylph has a number as well.

Industrialists: Mostly s3v here, but others as well. These guys are just in Providence Holders because it's a 0.0 alliance that never gets into big boring wars. They want to be out in 0.0, but have no desire to be space cops. These guys would strike a deal with AAA, but aren't really the ones with anything to offer them. They aren't the ones who make Provi what it is/has been.

RPers: These guys are the goods, they are space cops and FWarriors. What you think of when you think of CVA/Provi. They don't want to capitulate for RP reasons, but they want to get back to business as usual ASAP.

All told, a fine mess.

AAA/U-K want (the bosses, here, the grunts just want to play EVE), CVA to come to its senses and return to being subs (seriously, banzai tree metaphors? Could there be a more insulting way to propose peace?). Providence Holders wants what I've described. The leadership is essentially AWOL. They are playing their individual chars, and mostly forum war anyway. They simply don't care for the levers thus far being applied.

My guess? AAA/U-K leadership throws up its hands and bows to the pressure of it's membership, and destroys Provi, maybe with the help of a deal making faction, probably S3v. New Provi doesn't attract greys in the numbers that old Provi did. CVA's leadership makes a big deal about how they will one day return, but effectively never do. Provi as a whole might recollect itself in the 24thIC.

Got a better handle on the way this will eventually work...

Ok, so my dream is to make money doing level 4 missions for agents within the security of the Empire, then lose money doing battle with the Minmatar in the 24th Imperial Crusade. Good so far.

There are some snags though. When I die, I'll lose my implants, which I've recently seen are essential to good skill learning. Simply not dying isn't practical. My teachers have always stressed the doctrine of mediocrity. Those who do something more are better at it. Thus, I'll initially be up against far more practiced foes. I'm going to lose ships, pods and clones.

Jump Clones enter the picture. By getting approval from the Amarr Navy I can use Jump Clones to do battle, without risking my carcass or implants. I'm currently rated a 7 out of 10 by the Navy, and they give out Jump Clones to those with an 8 out of ten ranking. I just need to do a few more missions and I'll be set!

On that subject, I got all of my learning skills to level 5, except for Empathy which is a 4, and I'm taking a break. I'm currently finishing up the level 4 set of Amarr Cruisers, with designs on Medium Energy Turrets immediately after that. I'd love to upgun the Maller II with some nice Tech 2 lasers, and increasing the resistances of the armor is no small thing either.

Second Hand Kill

While performing missions for the Amarr navy, I happened to notice a Hurricane flying under the control of it's ships auto-pilot. This is ordinarily a common enough practice, but the surprise was that he was piloting his ship into Gyerzen.

Gyerzen, my stomping ground, is outside of Concord's umbrella of protection. It's also a destination system, so the Hurricane's auto-pilot would turn off and leave him sitting right by the gate. If the pilot didn't return his attention to the controls, his vessel would be easy pickings.

I was in the Maller II. I could certainly destroy an essentially unpiloted Hurricane. Even with the gate guns striving to defend him I was confident that I could pull it off.

Should I? The pilot was in service to the Minmatar academy. I regard myself as the enemy of all Minmatar who have not joined the 24th crusade, so it was a tempting target. If he'd been a member of the Tribal Liberation force (our evil opposite number) I would have destroyed him without compunction. Alas, he was officially a neutral in the conflict. (Which is nonsense, anyone who is not on our side is our enemy in the conflict between good and evil).

If I engaged him, Concord would flag my actions, and hold them against me. Further, the very gate guns, loyal servants of the Amarr Empire though they were, would be compelled to fire upon me. As mentioned, I doubted they would accomplish much, but seen from another perspective it would be blasphemy to initiate a battle with the forces of God's Empire.

Ultimately I split the difference. I used the local channel to relay his coordinates to a few of Gyerzen's ever present outlaws, and he was detonated in short order. Concorde overlooked this action, and I've retained my blemishless (not a word but you get my meaning) standing. It lacks the satisfaction of a personal kill, but the end was accomplished.

Implants

I grabbed a full set of +3's to increase yet more the pace of my learning. I could easily afford this due to all of the level 2's I've been running.

I've also gained "jump clone" priviledges from the Amarr Navy. I'm not sure precisely what this entails, I think it's the ability to have a new, implant-less, body for militia work. That would be highly useful, I have to admit.

I feel a fool for not buying the +3's earlier. I allowed my fear of loss to overcome my rational understanding of what the expenditure would likely bring.

The only slot I don't have anything in is slot #8. Slots 1-5 are full of my attribute enchancing implants, while the remainder have slots from the Navy missions and LP store. Rigs...Implants...better ships. I feel like a true Capsuleer!

Learning...missioning...

There's no end to this, I swear. I'm half way through the basic learning skills, just 3 more to get to level 5. So tedious...and I can only manage level 2's solo until I'm done, so it also stifles my progression. Tempted to just skip out on the last learning skills once I finish the one I'm on, and learn piloting/gunnery till I can do level 3's.

Seems like a more profitable way to go, certainly. Something's got to give.

Missioning Ship

So, in the time between now and when I finish my Learning skills (which is like 5 weeks), I have to be missioning. Gave me some thought as to what I want in a mission ship.

#1: Size appropriate. Enough doing level 2's with a frigate, or level 3's with a Cruiser. From now on I fly as advised.

#2: Turret boat. I don't have the SP to devote towards learning whole new paradigms of the game until I'm flying level 4's routinely, and participating in Faction Warfare.

Therefore, for level 3's I want to fly a Harbinger, and a Battleship for level 4's. Seems simple enough. Do level 2's till learning skills complete. Then finish training cruiser skills. Then get battlecruiser skills (also destroyer for salvaging, coercer is of course the only one for this), then move to Level 3's.

I expect I'll deviate from this plan eventually, but this is the current approahc

Slicer I is scheduled

I got the blueprint from the Navy, for a cool 10 million isk and 30k LP. I've scheduled the job, looks like I should have it in about 2 days. I'm going to grab fittings for it, a dozen or so of my Punishers and maybe a Maller or two, then put them in a Bestower and ferry them down to the nearest High Security space to the war zone.

Can't wait!

To my fellow mission runners

There's a lot of confusion as to what to do when you are attacked by an enemy capsuleer. It's really pretty simple.

#1: While missioning in low security systems, remain if possible aligned to a warpable target.

#2: Work your scanner. If a shady capsuleer appears, jump to safety.

#3: If you are snagged by a predatory capsuleer, don't lose your cool. Shoot at them if it looks like it'll do any good, but typically you are doomed. Regard the ship as a loss and focus on getting your pod out.

#4: Don't talk to your assailant, or into the local channel. They are hungry for interaction, lonely souls. If they weren't, they'd be like us. It's far more profitable to shoot mission targets than mission runners, they do it in order to get challenge or interaction. Give them neither. Behave as much as you can like a mission target.

#5: Don't seek revenge, don't respond to taunting mails. Bide and return to your activities after they depart, or go elsewhere if they seem minded to stay. Don't hire mercenaries, don't go and fetch what you think is a capsuleer fighting ship, don't put a bounty on them, don't do anything to encourage them. Return to your chosen style of flying as soon as possible.