Soldarius
TreadStone Standard
Tribal Band
291
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Posted - 2012.10.24 03:11:00 -
[2] - Quote
Went to Duality to test the new Caracal. I tried 3 different fits, RLML, HML, and HAM. All were able to fit with no serious issues.
I found the RLML setup to be pretty fun. Since I'm lazy and can't be bothered to move to the combat system, I just fit it and took it into some belts in Period Basis.
I had no problems eliminating the belt rats no matter their size. I was able to get under the BS guns, but at the risk of getting neuted by the bloods. BS rats took a bit of time. But it wasn't difficult. My lows were all BCS II. Rigs were EM shield resist and extender rigs. Shield tank was 2x LSE II, prop mod, long point, and webber. I never needed any of it except the tank ofc. Fury Light missile range on the Caracal is pretty decent at 51km. Ofc this will get nerfed. So CN will likely be the ammo of choice for LM dps projection.
The increased RoF made waiting for the 3 volleys to pop frigates go by fast. Cruisers took about 5 volleys. BS ofc took longer. I never felt in any danger at range or even right on top of them. I was able to get under their tracking w/o prop mod running. At range my shield buffer got down to about 2/3.
HML fit required using one of the lows for a coproc. Since the forth BCS did little for my over all dps due to stacking penalties, I wasn't worried about it. The others remained BCS IIs. Kept the same rigs. Dropped one LSE II to free up the necessary grid. Swapped it for a sebo because of the HML range being so very long. (Que incoming HML range nerf statements.) The HML fit was nice due the the Caracal's range bonuses.
I was never in any danger. Even using Rage ammo, 1 shot the frigs, 3 shot the cruisers, took out the BS in fairly short order. Atm CN range is around 120km. With range rigs I could get 140km, necessitating another sebo. Once the range nerfs go through, a range fit will be rigs and sebo, with normal fits matching missile range with the Caracal's inate locking range.
My vollies were doing in the neighborhood of 1100 per shot on their armor.
HAM fit was noticebly worse. I swapped the coproc for a RCU II, and then had to downgrade my long point from T2 to meta 4 to free up enough cpu to fit them. I also included 1ea rigor and flare rig, as well as a warhead calefaction rig ot make the HAMs better at actually applying damage.
The range was about right at 25km. I was thinking happy thoughts about proper pvp ranges with a long point until I noticed how little damage was actually being applied. My applied dps (Rage or CN) was worse than the HML Furies I was using by half. Yes, half! 539 damage per volley vs BS-size targets is crap.
Frigs took 3 shots, cruisers about 5, and BS took even longer. Because of the short range and weaker applied dps, I was constantly getting neuted out and unable to stay in webber range. They were even able to MWD out of missile range entirely at some points. And with no option to deal dps at longer ranges, I had no choice but to follow along with 0 transversal to even get my missiles to hit. The extra time and crappy transversal meant I was getting pounded. It was so bad I actually went back to station and refit, pulling my long point for an extra hardener.
Oops, neuted. So much for the hardener. Shields still got down to 1/3 before I finally killed the rats.
I hope the new missile changes get on Duality. I want to test this again with the new stats. Imo, the HML fit was best, with RLML fit being a close second. HAMs, as usual, still suck. And I don't think they will be any better come Retribution unless CCP does something drastic with them, like massively buff their stats.
Eve fitting tool showed the following raw dps numbers w/o drones using high dps ammo:
RLML IIs: 250dps
HML IIs: 350dps
HAM IIs: 450dps
Perhaps when TNP skills are being applied to HAMs I will see a better result. Until then, they suck ballz.
I know folks will qq about this report being vs NPC bloods. But what is important is that I was able to control the engagement criteria so as to get very similar conditions for all the combat encounters. And neuting is something that will be encountered. So I feel that bloods are a good NPC to test against.
"How do you kill that which has no life?" |