Maller Mauling and a Lucky Escape

I was on my usual roaming route from Maut to Hevrice when I spotted a Maller on dscan towards a medium FW (don't know why I keep defining it as FW plexes anymore) plex. Mmm, I thought, if he went through all the trouble of bringing a Cruiser to a plex, maybe he went through the trouble of fitting it too, instead of just fitting a low stack of stabs. Remembering what I hated about Mallers, their lack of utility highs, I figured that my Tristan was up for the challenge.

A ComPlex Situation

Low sec now belongs to factional warfare.

The transition hasn't been a gentle one either. The influx of fw pilots to low sec is causing a lot of complaints about risk aversion from quite a few pirates. The removal of 2/10 plexes has caused many regions to become silent graveyards, leaving only memories of the great times it once hosted. All the focus has moved to the regions that factions war over so diligently, and with the rewards they give out to those willing to claim territory, it's no wonder capsuleers flock to have a share of the wealth. This wealth comes at minimal risk, ruining the age old saying of high risk for high rewards.

February Kill Summary

So February has ended and it's time to tally up the scores. My activity was limited the last half of the month, but still a good month.

February, 2013

Kills - 49 Isk(B) - 1.36
Losses - 19 Isk(B) - 0.28
Efficiency - 82.90%

Tristan vs Faction Frigs

I've had little luck finding kills the last week, probably due to lack of the time I spent looking for them. I spent my time looking for radar sites, hoping to bag some ISK so I could expand my arsenal. Creed Corbett did manage to find a juicy Raven Navy Issue which I reported to my fellow Tuskers.

Embarrassment, Milk & Rum and an Awkward Moment

I got into space on Friday afternoon and roamed around the Essence area when Creed Corbett, my ever faithful scout, reported an unnamed Catalyst running a mission in Hulmate. I headed over to him in my Tristan as Creed Corbett scanned him down. It was only a noob, but the scanning practice Creed got is invaluable. If only I knew the embarrassment that was to follow...

Ignorance is Bliss

I was flying around in Hevrice when I spotted a Venture on d-scan. Not even bothering to fit dual scrams I headed to his location and quickly ended him. He opened a private convo and told me that he was only trying to mine. I explained to him that killing was what I did, and pointed him to Azual's post for new players on how to survive low sec. He responded by putting a 100K ISK bounty on me.

I continued looking for fights and soon met my match against a Tristan. It was late at night and I performed horribly. Pretty soon I received a mail:

It's what I do
Paxton Wilson

Sent: Sun 2013/02/10 01:31:00 AM
To: Yuzuki Katayanagi

Looks like the bounty was taken up. Fly Safe

I couldn't help but laugh, but I let him have his win.

A New Toy to Play With

One thing I realized while cleansing my stockpiles of ships laying in hangers all over New Eden, was my love of Rifters was causing me to close my eyes to the other T1 frigates. I've started experimenting with others, having had lots of fun with the Merlin especially. There was one T1 frigate that I just couldn't best with the Merlin however, the ship that caught my eye since I got into my first pod, the Tristan. I fitted one up and went on a roam, and it wasn't long before I found my first fight.

The Cleansing Pt.3

In my quest to destroy every boat I own, I turned my gaze towards my large Rifter supply. I headed over to Hulmate, grabbed one and patrolled around Essence. I was hanging around in Adirain for a while, waiting for Jax Spade to arrive in his Mammoth to carry my loot to Jita when local comms caught my attention. Dark Magni requested a T1 frigate 1v1. I obliged by starting a fleet and inviting him over to a safe spot. I knew he was flying an Incursus so I loaded Barrage, figuring I'd stay out of blaster range if I could, and waited.

The Cleansing Pt.2

Continuing on my mission to blow up every ship I own, I headed out with a Rifter to look for more fights. It's been a while since I've flown a Rifter and I soon remembered how much fun T1 frigates could be. It didn't take long to find a fight.

The Cleansing Pt.1

Looking through my assets I was shocked by the sheer amount of crap I've been hoarding up since joining R1FTA. For all the noise I was making about my money problems I sure had a lot of shit to sell. To add to my disgust I discovered fitted ships that I have long forgotten and were now gathering dust in hangers all over New Eden. It was time for a cleansing, to relieve myself of these unused items and ships. I'll start hauling the items over to Jita soon, but the ships, they've got to get blown to pieces!

Educate While You Eradicate

A recent post by Azual Skoll, writer of the Altruist (an informative blog I’d recommend to any pvper out there), has been toying with my head for quite a while now.  His blog post explains how ganking new pilots create a mind-set of avoiding low security space at all costs. With the addition of the Venture in the new pilot’s arsenal, they’ve been flocking to losec in herds, and pirates all over are destroying these vessels with great pleasure. I myself fitted a reaper for just that purpose and had my first victim yesterday.

There She Blows

It was Saturday 8th December. I was bored out of my mind and feeling a little depressed due to the losses I've suffered that day with only a shared Vengeance kill to show for it. First I lost a Malediction at a gate while my attention was diverted. My pod also followed. Then I decided to take on a Hookbill with my Atron. The loss wasn't really any surprise. My next fight was a bit more memorable.

The Rogue Rebel

Essence is home to many a R1DER pilot these days, specifically Adirain. Yesterday I went there to see if I can find anything worthwhile to shoot at. A quick glance at my D-Scan revealed another Rifter on scan. Delighted I checked local and spotted a fellow R1DER in the system, Bobby. A quick enquiry revealed that it was him sporting the Rifter. Dismayed at the loss of a possible fight I continued abusing the scan button and pretty soon a Catalyst showed up. I informed my fellow partner in crime and checked who the third person in local was. It was a new pilot, dipping his toe into losec for a quick thrill no doubt.

Stormy May Day

April is done and dusted and was by far my best month yet! Here's a quick summary of the month:

Kills: 55 (0.99B)
Losses: 19 (0.32B)
Efficiency: 75.27%

Essence has been kind and I had a lot of fun shooting noobs with a few good fights in between. On the first of May however, I found myself in Minmatar space. Dal to be exact. It was two days after killing the Vengeance and I was determined to get another kill in the Wolf.

Vengeance at last!

First of all I want to start the post by linking this:

 >>>>AT LAST!!!<<<<<

The Vengeance has eluded my killboard for quite some time now. I've always known my Wolf can take one down with relative ease, but the circumstances never played out right. This one was piloted by a fairly new pilot and he still gave me a run for my money. Especially because I forgot to turn on the afterburner...but screw it, I'm taking this kill and putting it on my hall of fame!

Rock you like a Hurricane

Recently I made a return to wormhole space along with Sorn Nordvind. You can read about our exploits on his blog post here. Needless to say, the crave for sleeper wrecks and glorious nanoribbons have returned,  but I wasn’t happy with my Hurricane fit.

I reread my old posts and reviewed old lossmails. I remembered Immortalus, my old workhorse, and how fond I was of its passive shield tank. I then read in one of my posts that its passive shield tank didn’t hold under heavy sleeper fire. I loaded the simulation of the old fit and started tweaking.

Thou shalt smite them with Malediction!

Droooooooool....

Malediction
Hull - Executioner Class    
Developer - Khanid Innovation
Role - Interceptor

Interceptors utilize a combination of advanced alloys and electronics to reduce their effective signature radius. This, along with superior maneuverability and speed, makes them very hard to target and track, particularly for high caliber turrets.
In addition to robust electronics systems, the Khanid Kingdom's ships possess advanced armor alloys capable of withstanding a great deal of punishment. Generally eschewing the use of turrets, they tend to gear their vessels more towards close-range missile combat.

It’s not only a nice looking ship, but also an effective brawler. I’ve finally finished training for this beauty and soon had it fitted for combat.

A Century of Kills

100 kills under the BRRC flag! As a cherry on top, my 100th kill was a solo reaper kill! Thank you to Sorn for offering to sit that one out, allowing me to have my "golden killmail"! Ryuu McLoud wasn't all that happy to lose his Procurer and started whining in local. Me and Sorn put an end to that. (technically that was my 100th kill, but don't kill the mood you technical bastard!) We started a fleet of rookie ships consisting of me (Reaper), Sorn (Inquisitor) and Tomba (Velator), but didn't find anything to shoot at.

Clash of Rifters

I’ve been flying in Essence a lot recently. Sorn Nordvind (he just started blogging himself, go read it – here) suggested that Essence was a good place to find fights so I went up there to see for myself. He was right, and there wasn’t any lack of BRRC presence either. Whenever me and Sorn fleet up we are soon joined by fellow rebels to join in the good times.

This morning while flying alone in my Rifter, I found a fight that had me on the edge of my seat. I was on my way to drop off the Rifter in Vitrauze, my makeshift base of operations, when another outlawed Rifter pilot landed near me. I decided to engage him, and he did the same. He was just out of my scramble and web range, my bullets didn’t touch him while he was slowly punching dents into me. I was being kited, and knowing the 400mm plates on my Rifter was slowing me down considerably, I cursed myself for engaging my turrets too soon, cutting off my escape route through the gates.

Against the odds

Yesterday I found two ratting T1 frigates, a Kestrel and Tristan, while in my favourite Cyno hunting pocket. I climbed into a Rifter and plunged myself to the belt.

I landed 30km off of them, and figured they would high tail out of there, but the Kestrel was heading straight for me. I switched on the afterburner and headed for an orbit. He opened fire first, and I followed suit. The Tristan was also getting closer, but I focused on the Kestrel first as the Tristan was piloted by a much younger pilot.