Lessons From Early Fights (Part 1)

On a high from my first mission runner kill, I started fishing around Ruvas again the following Saturday. The only nibble I got was from an Armageddon.

LESSON 1: When an Armageddon "nibbles" on your stationary salvaging Heron, you can kiss the Heron goodbye. If salvaging, orbit the wrecks instead of parking on them.


Still, this meant I was free to return in the Drake. He was in a Guristas mission, so I loaded up the explosive Fulmination Rage, followed him through a gate, and locked him up. He returned fire almost immediately, but I didn't realize the danger when he dropped four Ogre IIs on me. In retrospect, I now know that this was a significant increase in his DPS that I could have quickly removed from the field.

LESSON 2: If his drones will hurt you, kill his drones.

At the time, I was confident that I could burn through his tank first. But even with an overheated tank, his lasers and drones worked through my shields and started eating up my Drake's armor. I could see where his damage was coming from, but how was he soaking up my damage so easily? At the 3 minute mark, with my target still in low armor, I was forced to pull my drones and go to warp as I started taking structure damage.

I realized afterwards that I had a salvager in my 8th high slot, instead of my usual medium neut. Would it have made the difference in breaking his active tank? There's no way to know for sure, but note to self...

LESSION 3: Keep your PVP ships fitted for PVP. If you take a module off, put it back on!

I chatted with him afterwards, congratulated him on fending me off, and explained how to post his Heron kill to Battleclinic. He agreed to show me his fitting, and sure enough, it was a PVP-style omni-tank. He said that a friend had gifted him the Armageddon, and he just kept flying it the way it was.

LESSON 4: An armor tanker fighting Guristas might still have explosive resists. :P

Regardless of the outcome, it was a good fight. I figure I could have won if I'd played differently--especially regarding his drones--but I still sensed that the Drake wasn't going to be able to cut it in every situation. Time to dust off one of my old PVP Ravens... (part 2)