Noragen Neirfallas wrote:Kaivar Lancer wrote:^ Next step is to kill a T3 in a battle Venture. :)
Ive seen a tengu killed by a firetail
Hmmmm... Tengu eh? I can't quite match that (yet). :) But hopefully the following tale will be almost as inspirational.
The day I soloed a Cynabal... in a T1 dessieAfter a bout of "yarring" in low sec against neutrals, I withdrew my ship back to Orvolle to restock and repair my ship. I'm flashy yellow as a suspect, but it didn't bother me as I was warping to station. As I exit warp and land on Orvolle I (the local trade hub), I notice a Cynabal lock onto me and dent my shield. There was no significant damage, though, and I docked a split-second later.
As I waited for the suspect timer to end, I thought about the Cynabal waiting outside. Apparently it was piloted by a FW ganker, looking for legit targets to blap as they exit their warp to Orvolle I. I wasn't familiar with the Cynabal, and looked it up on the market. It appeared to be an expensive cruiser-sized ship.
I was still green in terms of PVP, but I saw this as an opportunity to get some experience versus bigger hulls. All I had available was the cheap T1 destroyer I came in (an Algos), so losing it would be no great deal.
I had some experience hunting clone rats in low sec, and knew how to "speed tank" by flying under a cruiser's guns. Since I was going to fight a human player, and not a dumb AI, I felt I had to improve my destroyer's fit. I fitted low friction nozzle rigs to increase my ship's agility, damage control + 2 x drone damage amplifiers to my lows, web + scram + 1MN AB to my mids and blasters to my high. My DPS was very good. My tank, not so much. In fact, besides the DC, it was non-existent.
Once my suspect timer ended, I undocked and looked around for the Cynabal. Sure enough, it was still outside the station. Or rather, it was
behind the station. The pilot had cleverly placed his ship behind the station's walls, creating an obstacle between him and his prey. While his artillery can shoot through the walls, any ship that wanted to brawl would have to fly around or over the walls to engage him, buying him valuable DPS time. Very clever.
As I was no longer suspect, the Cynabal obviously chose not to engage me, and I was disappointed about refitting my ship for no reason. At this point, my subconscious and instinct took over. For no reason whatsoever, I decided to fly over the station's walls and "bump" the Cynabal, in the vain hope of being attacked and getting the Cynabal concorded. No dice. The Cynabal didn't respond. I orbited and bumped him for a few more seconds, and got bored. Just before I warped away to a star gate, I thought the pilot had a pretty cool hiding spot behind the station, and bookmarked it, just in case. Again, this was just all instinct.
As I entered warp, I suddenly received a duel request from the Cynabal pilot. My anti-spam reflex quickly rejected the duel request. I slapped myself a second later. This was actually what I wanted! Too many hours in Jita and Dodixie will do that to you. I exited warp at the star gate, and issued my own duel request back to the Cynabal. It was accepted.
The battle was on!
Perhaps the Cynabal was expecting me to warp back to station, and blap me from a distance as he hid behind the station. But I was armed with his bookmark. I warp back and land within 5000m of the Cynabal.
PERFECT! The predator has become the prey! My instincts from hunting cruiser-sized NPCs take over, and I orbit at 500m, shredding him with my blasters and drones.
The Cynabal was helpless. Or so I thought. It couldn't hit me and it had no web, but I saw it slowly turn... and casually warp away.
Noooo! I'd forgotten to turn on my scram!!! Typical PVP newbie mistake.
I sat there for 20 seconds, cursing my own stupidity. But still, I didn't die. A tie between a Cynabal vs T1 dessie is still pretty good, right?
As I contemplate what to do next, I suddenly see the Cynabal return on my overview. The duel was back on! He had warped to station, and was 20km in front of me. Between us was the station's walls. In order to engage him, I'd have to fly over the walls and cover the 20km without getting hit too much.
I overheat my AB and fly straight up to clear the walls, just as the Cynabal's DPS begins to land. As I clear the station, my shield alarm rings and I'm down to armour. Three or four more hits and I'm dead.
I'm clear of the walls. All that's left between me and the Cynabal is 20km of empty space. I turn my ship and double-click to the side of the Cynabal, propelling my ship towards him while retaining some angular velocity.
Bam! Bam! Two hits, and I'm almost in hull. One more hit, and I'm probably dead. As I close the distance to 10km, I suddenly notice messages about the Cynabal's howitzers missing me.
I might just make it. Sure enough, I cover the distance. I flick on the blasters and sick my drones on the Cynabal while orbiting at 500m. As I wither his shields to nothing, I go through a rushed checklist in my head. Scram on? Check. Cap stable? Check. Orbit distance good? Check. Speed okay? Check. Enough ammo? Check. Guns overheated? 70% damage!!! During the initial stage of the duel, I had overheated my guns, and totally forgot about it. I turn off overheating before I lost all my guns.
The process of popping the Cynabal took a few minutes. In the end, I actually felt a little bad, blowing up 185m isk of spaceship in a 7m fit, and offered the following in local chat:
n++[ 2015.06.21 14:45:00 ] Kaivar Lancer > sorry buddy
But I only felt a little bad.
Killmail
https://zkillboard.com/kill/47407590/