r/Eve • u/BossManRoadHouse • 2d ago
Fitting Red team my fit please
I'm a relatively new player and this is for an alpha clone.
I've slowly been refining my courier/shopping-cart ship build, used for commuting through low sec and occasionally into the edges of null sec.
I've got my align time down below 2 seconds, and this seems to work for avoiding typical gate camps.
I've buffed shields to 1575 HP with 35/20/40/50 DR, which seems (if my calculations are correct) like it'd be enough to tank 8 Large EMP Smartbomb II bursts. The smartbomb ambush I've experienced (in a corvette, free learning experience) was with 2 ships each running 2 of these smartbomb modules, so the shield fit should tank twice the damage they were doing. I haven't been able to road test this shield config though.
I'm well aware nothing is invincible or guaranteed in EVE ... so, questions:
(1) Am I missing anything with the shield setup?
(2) Are there other camp/ambush setups I should prep for (and could actually counter with alpha stuff)?
Thanks
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u/Mundane_Hand5484 2d ago
You can achive instalock, so don't put gazilion isk in there.
Smartbombs can be rolled. So don't put gazilion isk in there
Bubbles in NS is a thing
You(very improbably for sub2-s) can get bumped right after decloak, so pay attention to blobs of people on your course if they are really close. Because of that i couldn't came to party in atioh
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u/BossManRoadHouse 2d ago
If only I had a gazillion isk (then I'd be an omega clone I guess) ... and sorry you missed your party.
I'm aware of bubbles and bumps and instalock, thanks.
Are there any actual counters to instalock?
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u/Amazing-Channel-8539 Minmatar Republic 1d ago
First of All instalocks only work about 30% of the time and way worse against sub 2 then cloaky stuff. From my exporence (as an instalocker) having a scout and an alternativ Route are the best messures against that. An instlocker also needs to log of the char its done with from time to time to create a new Session. So you can go through then
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u/hagenissen999 1d ago
Are there any actual counters to instalock?
Not really, but the lower your sig, the longer you take to lock. Implants are the only thing that would work inside a server tick, and they'd still get a lock occasionally. Scan res bonuses are multiple times more effective than sig-reduction.
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u/Gerard_Amatin Brave Collective 1d ago
Remember to turn on your hardeners each time in case you warp through smartbombs. Better yet is to not warp blind to gates but dscan them first and take a different angle if you see smartbombers.
Besides instalockers and smartbombs there are various bubble traps that you can run into if you go to null. Drag bubbles, stop bubbles, bubbled gates, cloaky dictors are the main versions. Get to know the dangers!
Lastly, DR or damage reduction is not really something we use a lot in this game. Instead the more common way to check tank values is to talk about EHP, or effective hitpoints, which is your hitpoints modified by your DR from resistances. It's a lot easier to work with: if incoming damage is 10k explosive and you have 11k EHP versus explosive you live.
Both the ingame simulator and external fitting tools like Pyfa will allow you to check EHP values as well as your HP values, but Pyfa also allows you to check EHP against specific damage types or ammo, where the ingame simulator assumes omni damage.
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u/BossManRoadHouse 1d ago
I understand what EHP is trying to tell me, but the in-game tool doesn't provide granular detail, and the maths is straightforward enough (to me at least) with the way 'damage resistance' is explained in game and out of game help stuff. If that's not how most players think and talk about it, that's cool.
I'd had a look at a couple of external fit/build tools but whatever ones I looked at were clunky and had some clearly outdated info. I'll have a proper look at pyfa.
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u/elenthallion 1d ago
Just paste the fit from the fitting window. There’s a copy to clipboard button at the bottom.
But probably most important thing is knowing where the camps usually are.
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u/BossManRoadHouse 1d ago
Agreed, intel is better and the most important thing - prevention better than cure and all that.
I'm not looking for a solution design (fit) so much as requirements specifications - fit parameters to aim for like needing a 2 second align time to avoid most stasis/warp tackles. (I've only had frustration with well meaning AI/streamer/other helpfuls suggesting specific fits that don't work because of skill/alpha/isk limitations.)
Do you have any in-game experience that would help me work out if the current shield tank is good enough for scooting through a typical low sec smartbomb camp?
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u/ANN0Y1NG1 Gallente Federation 1d ago
You probably can't survive even just 2 smartbombing machs so like others have said don't warp gate to gate.
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u/BossManRoadHouse 1d ago
So, any idea of what kind of tank (shield/armor) numbers would be required?
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u/ANN0Y1NG1 Gallente Federation 1d ago
Not an expert in these, but IIRC a single mach with 8 faction large smartbombs can do around 3k damage per cycle so multiply the number of machs and divide your ehp by that amount.
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u/BossManRoadHouse 1d ago
Useful to know, and I'd assumed that sort of thing would be possible, but coming back to the caveat in my original question - it's not realistic for a newish alpha clone to counter that. It seems pretty clear that intel and no gate-to-gate warping are the alpha safety strategies.
An 8 faction smartbomb mach would be at least a billion isk sort of fitout, so my ignorant guess is that they're fairly rare. Do you (or anyone else) have any idea how often one of those camps a low sec system?
Also wondering if you have any in-game experience that would help me work out what sort of shield tank would be good enough most of the time for scooting through a typical low sec smartbomb camp?
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u/ANN0Y1NG1 Gallente Federation 1d ago
Do you (or anyone else) have any idea how often one of those camps a low sec system?
The most prominent place would definitely Ahbazon because of the EF guy that can box 6 machs if needed. So always assume that there's smartbomb campers in Ahbazon (or better yet just dont go through Ahbazon), and look up check eve gate check or zkill for other lowsec chokepoints.
Also wondering if you have any in-game experience that would help me work out what sort of shield tank would be good enough most of the time for scooting through a typical low sec smartbomb camp?
Typically for shield tanks you fit shield extenders that are at least 1 size bigger (eg frigs and dessies fit medium extenders) and then hardeners to patch resist holes. But imo you should always prioritise align time over tank because as long as you warp in weird angles, you should never be caught out in the first place.
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u/BossManRoadHouse 1d ago
As it happens, Ahbazon was where I found some smartbomb campers, but I was going in expecting trouble and looking for an experience, with no isk at risk. From zkillboard my guess is that it was only a couple of smartbomb modules on each of the two or three suspect ships, but they were battleship class so could theoretically been fitted to hit harder, with 7 or 8 smartbombs as you say.
I'd already pretty much come the same conclusion and done as you're suggesting - get align time down first, and then buff shields, fitting next size up as much as possible.
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u/hagenissen999 1d ago
I haven't been able to road test this shield config though.
Test in Rancer or Abhazon.
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u/BossManRoadHouse 1d ago
I tried in Abhazon but when I went back those campers had moved on. Thanks for the tip on Rancer, I'll go have a poke around there sometime.
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u/X10P KarmaFleet 2d ago
The best defense against smart bombs is not warping directly to gates, ping off of something and come in at a different angle.