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The Rifter…

It was the second ship I piloted when I first started playing EVE and I’ve had a love affair with it ever since, it is just such a strikingly visual pleasure to see flying through space. Once upon a time it was the King of Frigates and throughout different updates, balance passes, etc… it has seen the bottom of the heap as well. Right now I’d say it’s in a decent spot and one of the things I really enjoy about the Rifter is just how many iterations you can fit into the same hull. Now keep in mind there are only two main DPS options for the Rifter – Autocannons or Artillery – and I personally tend to lean towards Autocannon Rifters. Here are just a few ways you can fit a Rifter.

[Rifter, NewBro PvP]
Counterbalanced Compact Gyrostabilizer
Counterbalanced Compact Gyrostabilizer
Overdrive Injector System II

1MN Y-S8 Compact Afterburner
Medium F-S9 Regolith Compact Shield Extender
Faint Epsilon Scoped Warp Scrambler

150mm Light ‘Scout’ Autocannon I
150mm Light ‘Scout’ Autocannon I
[empty high slot]
150mm Light ‘Scout’ Autocannon I

Small Core Defense Field Extender I
Small Projectile Burst Aerator I
Small Core Defense Field Extender I

— — —

[Rifter, 200mm Tungsten]
Damage Control II
200mm Rolled Tungsten Compact Plates
Small Ancillary Armor Repairer

1MN Afterburner II
Warp Scrambler II
Stasis Webifier II

200mm AutoCannon II
Small Energy Nosferatu II
200mm AutoCannon II
200mm AutoCannon II

Small Projectile Ambit Extension I
Small Anti-Kinetic Pump I
Small Anti-Explosive Pump I

— — —

[Rifter, Dual NOS]
Damage Control II
Adaptive Nano Plating II
Small Armor Repairer II

5MN Y-T8 Compact Microwarpdrive
X5 Enduring Stasis Webifier
J5b Enduring Warp Scrambler

200mm AutoCannon II
200mm AutoCannon II
Small Knave Scoped Energy Nosferatu
Small Knave Scoped Energy Nosferatu

Small Anti-Explosive Pump I
Small Auxiliary Nano Pump I
Small Anti-Kinetic Pump I

— — —

[Rifter, More DPS]
Gyrostabilizer II
IFFA Compact Damage Control
Small Ancillary Armor Repairer

5MN Y-T8 Compact Microwarpdrive
J5b Enduring Warp Scrambler
X5 Enduring Stasis Webifier

200mm AutoCannon II
200mm AutoCannon II
Rocket Launcher II
200mm AutoCannon II

Small Projectile Ambit Extension I
Small Projectile Ambit Extension I
Small Projectile Burst Aerator I

— — —

[Rifter, Hull Tank?]
Nanofiber Internal Structure II
Damage Control II
Reinforced Bulkheads II

1MN Afterburner II
Initiated Compact Warp Scrambler
Stasis Webifier II

125mm Gatling AutoCannon II
125mm Gatling AutoCannon II
Rocket Launcher II
125mm Gatling AutoCannon II

Small Transverse Bulkhead I
Small Transverse Bulkhead I
Small Transverse Bulkhead I

— — —

[Rifter, 400mm Tungsten]
400mm Rolled Tungsten Compact Plates
Damage Control II
Small Ancillary Armor Repairer

1MN Afterburner II
Stasis Webifier II
Warp Scrambler II

150mm Light AutoCannon II
150mm Light AutoCannon II
150mm Light AutoCannon II
Rocket Launcher II, Mjolnir Rage Rocket

Small Ancillary Current Router I
Small Trimark Armor Pump I
Small Projectile Burst Aerator I

— — —

– – –

Fjúka Hœttr!

Virðing,
Kalam

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Ýmiss Leiðs

Some may argue otherwise but in my opinion the diverseness of activities that you can give a try within New Eden is the greatest asset that EVE Online has but also its most daunting, especially for the NewBro.

I know that CCP are working on the NPE (New Player Experience) and hopefully the initial tutorial/Opportunities guide and Career Agents are fully functional teaching the basics and showcasing all that New Eden has to offer.

Now… I’ve not actually gone through the current version of the tutorial/Opportunities guide or the Career agents and am curious if there is any notification or reference of Cosmic Anomalies?

If you’re into the PvE aspect of EVE then for a NewBro running High-Sec Cosmic Anomaly Combat Sites can be a fun, educational and lucrative way to spend some time in New Eden and it’s something the NewBro can get into straight away ~ but they may not know this?

You don’t need any extra modules or skills to find Cosmic Anomaly Combat Sites, they can be found by using the Probe Scanner interface. You can find the Probe Scanner interface by pressing ALT+D, then select the “Probe Scanner” tab and ensure the “Show Anomalies” checkbox is checked. This will show all sites within 64AU of your ship immediately at 100%. To save a bit of real estate on my screen I run around with my Probe Scanner and Directional Scanner stacked on top of one another so that I can easily switch back and forth between them.

How do you get to the site? You can right click right on the name of the site in the Probe Scanner interface and then select ‘Warp To’.

Which Combat Site to do can get a little confusing as there are eleven different sites that can be found in any High-Sec system. Seven will be Faction based and the Faction type will depend upon which Empire Region you’re flying through, the other four Anomalies are Rogue Drones which are found in all Empire Regions.

Faction Cosmic Anomalies:
• Class 1 (Faction) Hideaway
• Class 1 (Faction) Hidden Hideaway
• Class 1 (Faction) Forsaken Hideaway
• Class 1 (Faction) Forlorn Hideaway
• Class 2 (Faction) Burrow
• Class 3 (Faction) Refuge
• Class 4 (Faction) Den

Rogue Drone Cosmic Anomalies
• Class 1 Drone Cluster
• Class 2 Drone Collection
• Class 3 Drone Assembly
• Class 4 Drone Gathering

My advice to NewBros would be to run the standard Hideaway, Burrow and Refuge Faction sites plus the Drone Cluster and Collections but to stay away from the ‘Hidden’, ‘Forsaken’ and ‘Forlorn’ varieties of the Hideaway until they get a good handle on things. Most, if not all, of the sites have a chance for a Commander Spawn which can drop Faction loot and upon completion of the site there may be a chance that it will escalate, giving the pilot the exact location of a DED (Directive Enforcement Department)-rated complex.  You’ll know if you have received an escalation by getting a popup window when you’ve completed the site and you’ll get an entry in the “Expeditions” tab of your journal. You’ll have 24-hours to complete an escalation, after that the entry in you journal will disappear.

NewBros should be wary of the DED escalations and make sure they check them well before storming off to run them. While the Faction Rats and some structures in these sites often drop valuable Faction modules sometimes the escalations are located in lower security systems. NewBros should be fully capable of running the 1/10 and 2/10 DED-Rated Complexes but I’d steer them clear of anything greater than that until they’ve skilled into a Cruiser sized hull with a T2 tank.

What ship could a NewBro use to run these sites? The ship I’m going to recommend is a Rifter.

Why a Rifter?
• The fit below is just one example of a Rifter that a Minmatar NewBro can get into right out of the box and it’d would be, at max, a few hours of training for any other race to get into.
• Projectile Guns allow for the widest range of damage types.
• You can easily swap resistance modules to tank all the different Faction Rats
• Not overly expensive, just under 4 Million ISK for everything but ammo, and will pay for itself fairly quickly.

[Rifter, NewBro PvE]
IFFA Compact Damage Control
Counterbalanced Compact Gyrostabilizer
Counterbalanced Compact Gyrostabilizer

1MN Y-S8 Compact Afterburner
Medium F-S9 Regolith Compact Shield Extender
Upgraded Explosive Deflection Amplifier I

150mm Light ‘Scout’ Autocannon I
[empty high slot]
150mm Light ‘Scout’ Autocannon I
150mm Light ‘Scout’ Autocannon I

Small Core Defense Field Extender I
Small Projectile Burst Aerator I
Small Core Defense Field Extender I

Let me know if this helps you out when you start up your PvE endeavors…

– – –

Fjúka Hœttr!

Virðing,
Kalam

Röng Háttr

A few days ago over on https://www.reddit.com/r/Eve/ there was a post, Tiny idea for improving the NPE, which opened a discussion about having some ship fittings and possibly some sort of description for the reasoning behind the fit in the Corp Fittings Tab of the NPC Corporations to give new players some examples of how to fit a ship for a specific purpose.

I think this is a superb idea, ship fitting can be a complicated thing to grasp and having some examples with what and why would be brilliant for new players… but it would need to be implemented well.

• First and foremost the fittings will need to be attainable for a brand new player (this may be hard to achieve).
• They will need to be easy to find, I’d doubt the Corp Fittings Tab is all that prominent to a new player – how do you get them to see the NPC Fits?
• Obviously the fittings will need to make sense for the NPC Corp they are in and for what purpose they are filling – you wouldn’t (shouldn’t) find many Venture fits in the Republic Military School Corp Fittings Tab.
• I’m sure there’s some more points that I’m missing… ship fitting is an art and some pilots in New Eden are really messy artists and could use some help.

New characters in EVE all start with eleven skills (55,824 skill points). Two of those skills are race-specific, as an example here is what a brand new Minmatar character starts with:

1. Mechanics II
2. CPU Management III
3. Power Grid Management III
4. Gunnery II
5. Navigation III
6. Mining II
7. Astrometrics I
8. Science III
9. Spaceship Command III
10. Minmatar Frigate II (race-specific)
11. Small Projectile Turret III (race-specific)

That’s not much to go off when trying to build a fit for a new player, go ahead and throw a character into EFT with just those skills and try to fit a T1 Frigate decently – it’s nigh on impossible.

Completing the Tutorials does reward a new character with additional skill books and then they can get a few more if they do the Career Agent missions – these are very helpful for fitting hulls so a question arises… When do you introduce the Corp Fittings Tab? After the Tutorials, after the Career Agent missions – I’m not sure… I’ve not yet taken a good look at what skills are rewarded where in the Tutorial/Career Agent arc.

I’m going to attempt to use the Republic Military School NPC Corporation to illustrate a couple of fits. I’d think they would have, at minimum, two Rifter fits for new players; a PvE fit and a PvP fit. Here’s my take on them.

[Rifter, Vherokior Patrol Frigate]
Gyrostabilizer I
Shield Power Relay I
Shield Power Relay I

1MN Afterburner I
Adaptive Invulnerability Field I
Medium Shield Extender I

125mm Gatling AutoCannon I
125mm Gatling AutoCannon I
125mm Gatling AutoCannon I
[empty high slot]

Small Core Defense Field Extender I
Small Core Defense Field Extender I
Small Core Defense Field Purger I

• The Vherokior Patrol Frigate is used by Republic Military School pilots to patrol local space and keep it clear of pirate activity.

[Rifter, Minmatar Republic Fast Attack Frigate]
Damage Control I
Gyrostabilizer I
Nanofiber Internal Structure I

Medium Shield Extender I
Warp Scrambler I
5MN Microwarpdrive I

150mm Light AutoCannon I
150mm Light AutoCannon I
150mm Light AutoCannon I
[empty high slot]

Small Anti-EM Screen Reinforcer I
Small Anti-EM Screen Reinforcer I
Small Anti-Thermal Screen Reinforcer I

• The Minmatar Republic Fast Attack Frigate is the ship used by the Republic Military School to introduce their pilots to engagements against the other Capsuleers of New Eden.

Pretty easy fits to get in to but I’m not sure that they are attainable even after completing the Tutorial and Career Agent missions? And they’re just my thoughts… I’m intrigued to see if and where CCP will take the suggestion of Corp Fitting examples for the NPC Corporations.

– – –

Fjúka Hœttr!

Virðing,
Kalam

Bý Gnótt

I’ve been playing around with designing a Fleet Doctrine with some T1 Frigates – I’m thinking that this may be the kind of Fleet that I’ll take out for my first foray into the FC role. I’m naming it the “Killer Wasp Fleet”.

The ships are inexpensive, so not a huge hit to the wallet for any pilot, and with some numbers in the Fleet they would be effective, possibly pretty devastating with enough numbers. The DPS focused Rifter is kicking out 150+ dps (albeit with zero tank), pretty decent for a T1 Frig.

At my skill levels all the fits are cap stable and they’re quick. It would be easy enough to Meta 4 the guns, etc… for those without the appropriate T2 skills.

Here are the fittings I’ve been messing around with…

[Slasher, Killer Wasp Fleet – Tackle]
Nanofiber Internal Structure II
Nanofiber Internal Structure II

Limited 1MN Microwarpdrive I
Medium Azeotropic Ward Salubrity I
Warp Disruptor II
X5 Prototype Engine Enervator

125mm Gatling AutoCannon II, Republic Fleet Phased Plasma S
125mm Gatling AutoCannon II, Republic Fleet Phased Plasma S
125mm Gatling AutoCannon II, Republic Fleet Phased Plasma S
[empty high slot]

Small Anti-EM Screen Reinforcer I
Small Core Defense Field Extender I
Small Core Defense Field Extender I

[Rifter, Killer Wasp Fleet – Scram]
Damage Control II
Nanofiber Internal Structure II
Nanofiber Internal Structure II

Limited 1MN Microwarpdrive I
Warp Scrambler II
Medium F-S9 Regolith Shield Induction

Rocket Launcher II, Caldari Navy Scourge Rocket
125mm Gatling AutoCannon II, Republic Fleet Phased Plasma S
125mm Gatling AutoCannon II, Republic Fleet Phased Plasma S
125mm Gatling AutoCannon II, Republic Fleet Phased Plasma S

Small Core Defense Field Extender I
Small Core Defense Field Extender I
Small Projectile Burst Aerator I

[Rifter, Killer Wasp Fleet – Web]
Damage Control II
Nanofiber Internal Structure II
Nanofiber Internal Structure II

Limited 1MN Microwarpdrive I
Stasis Webifier II
Medium F-S9 Regolith Shield Induction

Rocket Launcher II, Caldari Navy Scourge Rocket
125mm Gatling AutoCannon II, Republic Fleet Phased Plasma S
125mm Gatling AutoCannon II, Republic Fleet Phased Plasma S
125mm Gatling AutoCannon II, Republic Fleet Phased Plasma S

Small Core Defense Field Extender I
Small Core Defense Field Extender I
Small Projectile Burst Aerator I

[Rifter, Killer Wasp Fleet – DPS]
Gyrostabilizer II
Gyrostabilizer II
Gyrostabilizer II

Limited 1MN Microwarpdrive I
[empty med slot]
[empty med slot]

Rocket Launcher II, Caldari Navy Scourge Rocket
200mm AutoCannon II, Republic Fleet Phased Plasma S
200mm AutoCannon II, Republic Fleet Phased Plasma S
200mm AutoCannon II, Republic Fleet Phased Plasma S

Small Projectile Burst Aerator I
[empty rig slot]
Small Projectile Burst Aerator I

I may even try to pre-plan something and just fit and hand out all the ships for the op, that may bring in more numbers – we’ll see how this goes?

– – –

Fjúka Hœttr!

Virðing,
Kalam

Gróa Festa

When I first started playing EVE the Rifter was the top of the heap for T1 Frigates, it was a BEAST! With all the ship balancing and the introduction of the Pirate Faction Frigates it is definitely no longer the optimal Frigate to fly but she is still a very versatile hull.

This is one of my favourite Rifter fits to fly…

[Rifter, 400mm Plate]
400mm Reinforced Rolled Tungsten Plates I
Damage Control II
Small Armor Repairer II

1MN Afterburner II
Stasis Webifier II
Warp Scrambler II

Rocket Launcher II, Caldari Navy Scourge Rocket
125mm Gatling AutoCannon II, Republic Fleet Phased Plasma S
125mm Gatling AutoCannon II, Republic Fleet Phased Plasma S
125mm Gatling AutoCannon II, Republic Fleet Phased Plasma S

Small Ancillary Current Router I
Small Ancillary Current Router I
Small Projectile Burst Aerator I

– – –

Fjúka Hœttr!

Virðing,
Kalam

Banahǫgg Spá – 2015-03-19 | 07:23

Operation Banahǫgg Spá After Action Report
2015-03-19 | 07:23

 

Overview, Goals and Objectives:

• Late last night I headed to Resbroko looking for a fight and find one I did.
• As soon as I jumped in there was JD Existence near the gate in a Magnate with a Criminal Flag.
• I held cloak for a few seconds to double check what a Magnate was and then dove in.
• Rifter vs a primarily exploration based Magnate… I thought it was going to be an easy fight – I was wrong!

Analysis of outcomes:

• I hit approach, overheated everything, got him scrammed and webbed and started applying damage.
• I was hitting him well and took his shields right down quickly.
• Then he started applying damage to me as well and I was gaping a bit before realizing he had drones out and then checked the scroll down of the fight and saw that he had some guns too.
• He got me into armor and I hit my rep. Normally I’d have a solid amount of capacitor but it cycled just once and I was already running out, I was getting nuet’d.
• It was all over once my cap ran out.

Conclusion/Summary and Post Action Thoughts:

• This Magnate was a fun surprise, he nuet’d the heck outta me!
• Can’t believe I gaped on drones again. Although I’m not sure shooting a couple of his drones would really have mattered, the Magnate has a good sized Drone Bay (40 m³) and I was fully committed to the engagement – I wasn’t going to run away.
• Well… actually even had I wanted to I couldn’t run away as I had ZERO cap.
• My Rifter died.

 

I took a look at zKillboard after our fight and was able to find his Magnate fit. Sneaky little ship!

 

[Magnate, JD Existence’s Magnate]
Damage Control II
Energized Adaptive Nano Membrane II
Micro Auxiliary Power Core II
Small Armor Repairer II

1MN Afterburner II
Small Capacitor Booster II
Warp Scrambler II

Small Unstable Power Fluctuator I
Dual Light Pulse Laser II,Scorch S
Dual Light Pulse Laser II,Scorch S

Small Auxiliary Nano Pump I
Small Auxiliary Nano Pump I
Small Nanobot Accelerator I

Hobgoblin II

 

GF JD – thanks for the fun!

 

– – –

Fjúka Hœttr!

Virðing,
Kalam

Gjálfrmarr – [Rifter, Banahǫgg Spá Mk.G]

20 frigate plan Rifter.

[Rifter, Banahogg Spá Mk.G]
400mm Reinforced Rolled Tungsten Plates I
Damage Control II
Small Armor Repairer II

1MN Afterburner II
Stasis Webifier II
Warp Scrambler II

‘Arbalest’ Rocket Launcher I, Caldari Navy Inferno Rocket
125mm Gatling AutoCannon II, Republic Fleet Fusion S
125mm Gatling AutoCannon II, Republic Fleet Fusion S
125mm Gatling AutoCannon II, Republic Fleet Fusion S

Small Ancillary Current Router I
Small Ancillary Current Router I
Small Projectile Burst Aerator I

 

 

– – –

Fjúka Hœttr!

Virðing,
Kalam

Kann Skúta Rata

After running a couple of combat sites the other night, and not getting any good loot, the idea of a roam was tossed out into the Alliance and Corporate Chat Channels and just a few minutes later there was five of us un-docking and starting to burn towards our first destination. Our Kitchen Sink Fleet consisted of a Kitsune, a Merlin, a Manticore, me in Banahǫgg Spá Mk.N and one Sabre.

We roamed far and wide but didn’t have any luck with finding an engagement so started burning back towards home. It took a bit of coaxing but on the way home we did finally find a fight in NWX-LI with some The Serenity Initiative pilots.

It’s funny how the scout and intel chains/channels work in EVE, we had roamed quite a bit so apparently ‘word’ got out that we were around but that ‘word’ was truly mixed up. Our Merlin pilot had to leave so just four of us jumped into NWX-LI. There were a few ships on D-scan so we investigated a couple of the belts and combat sites, which turned out to be empty, then all got on station and watched a couple of SERIN pilots play station games and go on about how they know we’ve got our Stealth Bomber fleet waiting in the wings… huh???

After some swaying the SERIN pilots did agree to meet us at a belt in system. We got on grid first and started pulling range away from the belt and after a few minutes the SERIN Fleet arrived. They came with three Caracals and a Vexor which seemed like a little overkill against our Fleet. We were being FC’d by Fifth and he tried to separate one of the Caracals off but the SERIN pilots were being pretty disciplined. Eventually we were able to get one separated for a few seconds but we didn’t’ have the DPS to break his tank quick enough and had to let him go and pull range again. This cat and mouse game went on for a few minutes then one of the SERIN pilots warped off, reshipped, and came back in a suicide tackle Kestrel.

Unfortunately for the Kestrel pilot Fifth predicted where he would warp back into the belt and we were there to greet him. We got his Kestrel and Pod and with those called it a night, bailed out of system and burned home.

 

– – –

Fjúka Hœttr!

Virðing,
Kalam

Gjálfrmarr – [Rifter, Banahǫgg Spá Mk.N]

One of the Rifter fits I’m flying for my 20 frigate plan.

[Rifter, Banahǫgg Spá Mk.N]
Damage Control II
Adaptive Nano Plating II
Small Armor Repairer II

Limited 1MN Microwarpdrive I
X5 Prototype Engine Enervator
J5b Phased Prototype Warp Scrambler I

150mm Light AutoCannon II, Hail S
150mm Light AutoCannon II, Hail S
E5 Prototype Energy Vampire
E5 Prototype Energy Vampire

Small Anti-Explosive Pump I
Small Auxiliary Nano Pump I
Small Anti-Kinetic Pump I

Hail S x1180
Nanite Repair Paste x25
Republic Fleet Phased Plasma S x1000

 

 

 

 

– – –

Fjúka Hœttr!

Virðing,
Kalam

Banahǫgg Spá – 2015-01-10 | 04:29

Overview, Goals and Objectives:

• I’ve been making almost daily trips to Resbroko to check out the Amarr Novice Outpost and again it had been a few days since I’d last gotten any luck finding someone.
• On this particular trip there was only a few in local, less than 10 so my hopes were not high but I went and took a look anyway.
• After entering the system I warped to within 100km of the Outpost and shortened the range on my D-scan.
• There was a Rifter on short range D!
• I didn’t waste anytime, warped off to a close safe, set up a few modules, checked D-scan again, then warped back to the Outpost at 0 and activated the gate immediately once coming out of warp.

Analysis of outcomes:

• Rootufi Aldent was in the Outpost in the Rifter maybe 12 to 15km away from my entry point.
• The heart was pumping, I was a little excited, and I totally gaped on activating my prop mod but did start my approach and got him targeted.
• I didn’t want to take a Security Status hit so hoped that he would engage first and he did oblige.
• As soon as he shot I activated everything – Warp Scram, Stasis Webifier, AutoCannons, Rocket Launcher – and made sure I had a tight orbit.
• Rootufi got me into armour but with the help of the repper my Rifter was able to tank his DPS and after I overheated my AutoCannons and Rocket Launcher his Rifter went down in short order.
• He wasn’t quick enough with his GTFO and I managed to target, web, scram and pop his pod as well.

Conclusion/Summary and Post Action Thoughts:

• After I looted his wreck I warped off to my perch repped up my armor and let my shields recharge.
• I waited around for a few minutes to see if I’d get any more action but there was no joy.
• Missing the activation of my propmod likely cost me with me taking some extra damage but in the end it didn’t matter that much – I didn’t lose my Rifter so it was a good engagement.
• Recorded the engagement with ShadowPlay and put together a video, albeit a rather amateurishly edited video but with it being my first real attempt I don’t think it’s too terrible?

 

Again… Thanks for the fun Resbroko pilots – and I will see you again soon!

 

– – –

Fjúka Hœttr!

Virðing,
Kalam