Weekly Update!

I have been to lazy to update the blog much, so here's an update of the last week:

Looking at my killboard, the oldest kill of mine since the kronos was a Basilisk.  He had another basi came in to repair a loki that had decided to engage me and I just couldn't keep up with the repair rate of 2 basi's so I let the Loki go in hopes of catching one of the Basilisks off guard, which I did!  Woot!  Sadly the next ship I warped to was a Proteus that also shot me.  He however was MWD fit and was able to go approximately 1350 m/s, which was 150 m/s faster than my Worm could go even with the AB overheated... I think its time for an DED Space AB =(

My next kill was a Dominix who I don't recall much about except the fact that he seems to have CONCORD'ed himself on my Orca rather than pay his ransom.  Worth every laugh on that one, despite the fact I got no ransom.

My most recent kill was a raven.  I was 90% sure he was going to bring in friends as I was ransoming him because there was a rifter on D-Scan.  However, I made the wrong impression on him while trying to get ISK from him because I think I scared away the rifter... anyway, as I swapped to a basilisk to keep him alive so he would pay me his ship blew up... hence why I'm in a basilisk on the kill mail. Lol!

Fly dangerously,

Hianmar, a.k.a. TheEVEGamer

Pay Your Ransom, or Else!

What happens when you don't pay a ransom to me?

I get your corpse. That's what.

The other day I got my second marauder to shoot me and it was the first one I could actually attempt to kill! His railguns nearly wrecked my Worm but I was able to get him pointed and had my friend (toobs) bring in my Orca and Przckk come in for back up.

Well, it went perfectly: The guy even shot Przckk as he came in for a bump! So Przckk pointed him and I swapped to the Legion, put him into low armor and demanded a ransom of 500 million ISK (Didn't really demand, asked nicely infact). He said he'd just buy another one so I put him into 20% structure before asking again. He said “haha no way” and left convo.

I was not amused. I got Przckk to get his pod as he exploded, I ran over to neighboring Dodixie to get a pod juicing thrasher. I tried a ransom again: 500 mil and his pod would live to see another day. Again, he declined.

Up side? I got a new corpse and some “I'm gonna hunt you down” tears. Downside? Przckk went below -3.00 Security status and we were in a 0.9 system, He lost his hurricane (which I paid for in full as he was the one who finished off the pod [Damn Transversal]), his Vigil AND his Helios (the last two because he left the Helios out in space next to his vigil. When he boarded the Vigil, it got concordokkend as did his unoccupied Helios I was trying to save. WTF CCP?).

All Told:
Kronos Kill: 1.1 Billion ISK
Ship Replacement (Hurricane): 55 Million ISK

Watching one angry carebear lose his pod: Priceless

Fly Dangerously,

Hianmar

Edit:  I forgot to add the tears...

*He opens convo*
[ 2011.08.18 04:46:51 ] Hianmar > oui?
[ 2011.08.18 04:47:02 ] adamand zorf > how big are your corp
[ 2011.08.18 04:47:08 ] Hianmar > idk
[ 2011.08.18 04:47:12 ] Hianmar > not that big, why?
[ 2011.08.18 04:47:40 ] adamand zorf > im actualy looking for a pvp corp
[ 2011.08.18 04:47:46 ] Hianmar > [04:41:18] adamand zorf > yep i know  im stil gona hunt ya baby no hard fellings
[ 2011.08.18 04:47:55 ] Hianmar > we generally dont recruit people who threaten members =D
[ 2011.08.18 04:48:04 ] adamand zorf > lol
[ 2011.08.18 04:48:19 ] adamand zorf > i know was just curius
[ 2011.08.18 04:48:34 ] Hianmar > granted, 200 mil will make that up and aiden would tanke it as a repentacne for shooting me
[ 2011.08.18 04:48:39 ] Hianmar > aiden is ceo
[ 2011.08.18 04:49:22 ] adamand zorf > iu only have gone pvp for one day  in a thorax took down a dram and a phobos  was fun
[ 2011.08.18 04:50:13 ] adamand zorf > aned i now have the iskies to go pvp for ever so thats wat ill do
[ 2011.08.18 04:50:32 ] Hianmar > idk
[ 2011.08.18 04:50:37 ] Hianmar > you want your pod still?
[ 2011.08.18 04:50:50 ] Hianmar > cause last chance for the ransom bro =D
[ 2011.08.18 04:51:05 ] adamand zorf > naa  no implants so its a waste of god iskies
[ 2011.08.18 04:51:14 ] Hianmar > i want your corpse
[ 2011.08.18 04:51:17 ] Hianmar > =D
[ 2011.08.18 04:51:47 ] adamand zorf > well ill come for u  im kind of a buldog that way
[ 2011.08.18 04:51:53 ] Hianmar > cool
[ 2011.08.18 04:51:57 ] Hianmar > more chances to kill you
[ 2011.08.18 04:52:47 ] adamand zorf > why do you take the save kills theres no fun in that my pve kronos
[ 2011.08.18 04:53:02 ] Hianmar > AWE NO
[ 2011.08.18 04:53:06 ] Hianmar > transversal
[ 2011.08.18 04:53:12 ] Hianmar > the enemy of freaking suiciding =D
[ 2011.08.18 04:53:28 ] adamand zorf > more fun when peps  have a chance  to figth back
[ 2011.08.18 04:54:06 ] adamand zorf > the adrenaline kick
[ 2011.08.18 04:54:14 ] Hianmar > like when you volleyed my worm?
[ 2011.08.18 04:55:06 ] adamand zorf > to fast for anny real damn  knew i was getting a loss but fun if i could kill ya lol
[ 2011.08.18 04:55:25 ] Hianmar > what a waste of 1.2 bil
[ 2011.08.18 04:55:38 ] adamand zorf > baaah play mony
[ 2011.08.18 04:56:28 ] adamand zorf > do you do fact war fare or just greving peps
[ 2011.08.18 04:56:38 ] Hianmar > is there  a difference?
[ 2011.08.18 04:57:30 ] adamand zorf > ya well pves is just greving peps  war fare peps know rthey are gonna losse some times
[ 2011.08.18 04:57:49 ] adamand zorf > sry spelling
[ 2011.08.18 04:58:21 ] Hianmar > good day sir
[ 2011.08.18 04:58:41 ] adamand zorf > thx   hope to find ya  and have some fun
[ 2011.08.18 04:58:47 ] adamand zorf > cya mate

Double Dipping (is bad for your health)

So I was operating solo today, playing around and just generally trying to get shot in Auvergne, when a Megathron lets loose on my little harpy from 40km away!  I was like, oh shit!  That's 7km out of my point range and he's already aligned! 

But he was hitting my hard (I was not moving) and he decided that he was going to be able to kill me due to the fact that he popped drones.  Well, he was wrong.  The harpy burned fast and I overloaded my point to 33.2 km and was able to point him without him warping off.  I then murdered all his drones as his salvage alt warped off.  Still, there was the problem of him being still aligned. 

Enter MWD-Skirmish-Link-Orca.  Top speed, 365 m/s.  I burned the Orca approximately 70km away from him, aligned toward the station as well before turning around and burning back along his path of travel to bump him superbly out of alignment.  A quick swap to the Legion soon had him sitting in his pod, though I barely killed him before self-destruct (20 seconds left on the clock!).

As I swapped back to the Harpy I hit D-Scan just in case and sure enough I saw a Myrmidon and Retribution on scan!  These guys want to party!  So I refreshed aggro and warped back to the beginning of the mission but the retribution was gone and the Myrmidon bugged out a moment later, so I went back into mission to get my scan ship when the Myrmidon and a Thrasher show up on D-Scan!  Sounds like fun!

Well, as it turns out, Thrashers can have one hell of a buffer and my Harpy was soon toasted on the Dessy's hot autocannons.  The megathron pilot got his revenge, successfully killing my frigate.  I was too hasty and was eager for another kill on this guy who I thought was fairly stupid at that point.  My bad.  Moral? Don't double dip...

But it doesn't matter: I'd trade a 20 million ISK loss for a 140 million ISK kill any day. Anyway, it was an excellent and thrilling fight and he got his revenge in a thoroughly non-insulting way: an honorable 1v1. 

Plus, that loss also gave me an excuse to liquidate 300 million worth of loot in my Orca, so cheers! =D

Fly dangerously,

Hianmar, a.k.a. TheEVEGamer

Ninja 101 (Part 2: The Bait Ship)

In this guide I try to explain how to ninja without failing and hopefully without inspiring too many new ninjas because then I might be out of work =P

Part 2: The Bait Ship

This is probably the most complicated part of being a Ninja, for you will need a ship that can:
a) Invoke the wrath of the unsuspecting carebear
b) Tank said carebear and possible support
c) Point and Web the carebear and possible support
d) Pop the drones of the carebear as they are your biggest threat aside from friends in PvP ships
e) Keep up with the carebear (I've had an MWD Legion nearly escape me because he was 40 m/s faster than me and out of web range when he shot me)  Speed is CRUCIAL

The Popular Ninja Bait Ships and How to Fit Them

That said, your best bet is probably the Jaguar as it has T2 Resists, High Speeds and adequate DPS.  It also looks a good deal like its T1 counterpart the Rifter so it may also be mistaken at first sight.  Your Fit should look something like this:

High Power:
3x 125mm Gatling AutoCannon II
1x Salvager I

Medium Power:
1x Warp Disruptor II
1x Stasis Webifier II
1x 1MN Afterburner II
1x Medium Shield Extender II

Low Power:
1x Damage Control II
2x Power Diagnostic System II

Rig Slot:
2x Small Core Defence Field Extender I

Estimated Cost: 25 Million ISK

This thing will pretty much tank any mission runner(s) that does not have a web.  I have lost 1 Jaguar out of the 100's of people who have shot me and that was to a Rattlesnake with Dramiel support (web + webbing drones).  It is an effective ship, quite fun to fly and an excellent ninja ship.

Now there are alternatives to the Jaguar.  The next most popular bait ship that I have seen is the Ishkur.  It is effective, but a bit more fragile than a Jaguar or Harpy.  Fitting should like this:

High Power:
2x Light Ion Blaster II
1x Small Diminishing Power System Drain I
1x Salvager I

Medium Power:
1x Gistii B-Type 1MN Afterburner
1x x5 Prototype I Engine Enervator
1x Faint Warp Disruptor I

Low Power:
1x Damage Control II
1x Coreli C-Type Small Armor Repairer
1x Armor Explosive Hardener II

Rig Slot:
1x Small Anti-Explosive Pump I
1x Small Anti-EM Pump I

Drones:
5x Warrior II
Xx Logistic Drones For Aiding and Abetting Fellow Ninjas

Estimated Cost: 60 Million ISK

This fit is recommended for those of you who wish to use a Gallente Assault Frigate rather than a minmatar one.

For those of you who have a little more ISK or a little more gumption, the Worm is also an excellent choice of ship.  However, as I said before, its cost can run into the hundreds of millions (I know a ninja who has lost 2 worms, each worth over 600 Million ISK).  Here is my fit:

High Power:
2x Rocket Launcher II
1x Salvager I

Medium Power:
1x Republic Fleet Warp Disruptor
1x Federation Navy Stasis Webifier
1x Medium Shield Extender II
1x 1MN Afterburner II

Low Power:
2x Power Diagnostic System II
1x Damage Control II

Rig Slot:
3x Small Core Defence Field Extender II

Drones:
5x Warrior II
5x Light Shield Maintenance Drone I

Estimated Cost: 340 Million ISK

The Worm is fun to fly and can seriously ruin any carebear's day.  It's cost is also a factor in getting shot, as carebear's may wish to ruin YOUR day by trying to kill you and blow up your 70+ million ISK ship. 

Hianmar's Bait Ship (of choice):

I personally find that the Harpy is the best assault ship and bait ship in my Orca (I also have a Jaguar and a Worm in there).  It's high DPS (184 with my skills) and sturdy tank, coupled with its decent speed capabilities and low volume make it an excellent Orca based baiting ship.  Here is my fit:

High Power:
4x Light Ion Blaster II
1x Salvager I

Medium Power:
1x Warp Disruptor II
1x 'Langour' Drive Disruptor I
1x 1MN Afterburner II
1x Medium Shield Extender II

Low Power:
1x Damage Control II
1x Power Diagnostic System II

Rig Slot:
2x Small Anti-EM Screen Reinforcer I

Estimated Cost: 22 Million ISK

That pretty much covers the topic of baiting ships.  If you have any questions or comments, please add them below and I will get back to them ASAP. 

Part 3: Gank Ships coming soon

Ninja 101 (Part 1: Overview and Scanning)

I'm bored and my internet is being too uncooperative to play EVE so I thought I'd start a guide to everything in EVE that I know how to do, starting with ninjaing.  I know I'm not gonna get called out by my corp-mates because, lets face it, not that many people read this blog at the moment.  Anyway, mylootyourtears.com gets more hits and Khalia, Paul and Aiden give everything away!  So here goes:

Ninja 101 Overview

This guide is going to be a multi-part, mostly complete overview of the art of the Ninja Salvager.  This introduction piece will hopefully tell you which skills you will wish to train so that you are optimized for Hunting, Baiting and Killing your targets.

Part 1: Scanning

Scanning is probably one of the most essential skills for a ninja to have, crucial if they want to operate solo.  Scanning is not just task that requires Skill Points, but it also requires a real finesse and eye for scanning marks as well as knowledge of how to set up, resize and manage probes.  Since the release of Incarna, it has also been exponentially harder to scan in EVE.  This means you need every advantage you can get, so train all your support skills to the recommended level [RL: __] shown below next to the skill name.  You should also look into some implants if you plan on ninja-ing regularly, or at least scanning regularly.

Essential Skills to Train:
Astrometrics [RL:IV] Increases maximum number of probes by 1 per level, max probes 8 at level 5
Astrometric Pinpointing [RL:IV] Reduces Max. Scan Deviation by 10%
Astrometric Acquisition [RL:IV] 10% Reduction in Scan Time per level
Astrometric Rangefinding [RL:IV] 10% Increase in Scan Probe Strength per level
Covert Ops [RL:IV] Skill at using covert ops ships, gives a bonus to scanning
Racial Frigate of Choice to Level V Allows use of a covert ops ship, winmatar is optimal for Orca as it is the smallest covert ops ship.  Also allows easy training to Jaguar assault ship for baiting.

Implants:
[Slots 1-6:] Low-Grade Virtue Set Pros: Greatly increases scan probe strength.  Cons: Cost (1.6 Billion ISK), low attribute enhancement (only +2 points)
[Slot 6:] Hardwiring - Poteque Pharmaceuticals 'Prospector' PPF-1 or PPF-2 Reduces Max Scan Deviation by 6% or 10%
[Slot 7:] Hardwiring - Poteque Pharmaceuticals 'Prospector' PPG-1 or PPG-2 Reduces Scan time by 6% or 10%
[Slot 8:] Hardwiring - Poteque Pharmaceuticals 'Prospector' PPH-1 or PPH-2 Increase Scan strength by 6% or 10% 

Items:
Covert Ops Ship: Cheetah, Helios, Buzzard and Anathema are all covert ops ships, a must have for any ninja.
Combat Probes and Expanded Probe Launcher: Allows you to scan down ships
Sister's Scanner and Combat Probes: Grants additional bonuses to scan strength, not as necessary for the average ninja, especially the probes.  Launcher is always a plus.


Technique:

Your scanning technique will depend a great deal upon your skills and implants.  I currently don't have implants or great skills, but here is the technique taught to me by another ninja who is an excellent scanner (can scan a system at a rate to keep 2-3 active ninja's happy + self).  He has all the recommended skills and the prospectors (cannot afford virtue set) along with a covert ops ship and sisters probes/launcher.

Here is the ideal layout:

Click to Embiggen

From this position, you will probably not get a direct 100% hit on any ship unless it is a marauder or some MWDing battleship.  For the most part you will have to move your probes (press and hold shift while left clicking  and dragging on any of the arrows) along the x, y, and z axis; resize (click a probe in scanning window, hit "control" + "a" and right click to resize); and move your formation inwards or outwards ("alt" and left click on any of the arrows and drag mouse) so that you have an overlap once more in the middle of your formation.

It is fairly straightforward once you get the hang of it, but play around and start to learn the little tags (The boxes on the overview are the same as in scanning) and what size ship the correspond to.  Also, you may wish to adjust your filters so that you can skip over certain ships.  I personally avoid industrials and barges, but that's me.

This same technique can be used to scan down anything else, provided that you change your probes (core probes for looking for things like wormholes and exploration sites).  Learning to scan opens up a whole (hehe... cause you can find wormholes) new dimension to EVE giving you lucrative new careers to pursue.

Part 2: Baiting coming soon


.

Overdue

Whoops, it seems it has been a week since my last kill and at least that since my last post.

News:

I've made five or six kills since my last post, most notable among them was a Megathron Navy Issue who paid me only half of my ransom.  I asked for 500 Million ISK and he refused to pay anything till I put him in structure.  I then received 275 Million ISK which was most unsatisfactory.  I shot him down!

This was supposed to be posted on 6/9/2011... dunno why it wasn't

Wahoo!

Ok, so I was bored today and decided to scan and mission runner gank for myself (What?).  It turned out to be an excellent idea!

First person I scanned down was missioning in a Caldari Navy Raven with his friend in a Hurricane.  The CNR could shoot me, the hurricane could not.  Now, they weren't altogether happy with my unannounced arrival and decided that they would party somewhere else, like at Aunia II at approx. 30km from the warp in.

I was bored and not expecting much of a response I locked and quickly unlocked the CNR, which tests for auto-lock.  About a minute later, I notice missiles flying into my Harpy!  He shot me!! So I overloaded my point for two cycles (Range of 32km!), burned towards him and proceeded to pop his drones one by one with my blasters of doom.  Then the Orca arrived and I burned into a tight orbit to hold him down tighter, which was unnecessary as he did not move at all.

In all the excitement, I failed to my attempt at a ransom by being to franc (I notice pointing out the value of the ship to the pilot and going 20% under that helps).  So he had to be killed.  Easy 100 million ISK.

Daron Gekh, an old friend of mine from my n00bier days in EVE learned a quick lesson on why PvP in a PvE ship is dangerous, I had him into low armor after convincing him to fight my little assault frigate.  Now he knows better =P

However, as he paid my ransom he lived to mission another day in his Dominix Navy Issue... he's also alive because he's a friend.

My second and final kill of the night was an Apocalypse who I did the same trick to as the CNR with the auto-lock.  He too did not wish to pay a ransom and as he went into low armor he decided to self-destruct, so I melted him quickly too.  He had a Megathron friend on D-Scan for a while, but he was a no show to the party =(

So that was my night, a fairly eventful and fun one =D

Fly Dangerously,

Hianmar, a.k.a. TheEVEGamer