Great new trend in PVP Videos

Like every other aspiring EVE pvp'er I on occasion watch one of the awesome Garmon or kil2 or Kovorix or Prometheus Exenthal videos to see how it is supposed to be done. I am not bad at this game. I can fly around 0.0 or low-sec just like they do. I can warp to 0 at ease. Gate camps.... I see them all the time. Sometimes I even impress myself by cleverly landing in a belt just as the hauler warps off.

The difference is that, while I run away or die at the gate.... they seem to have a different outcome. Why is it that my armor repper seems to be completely overwhelmed by incomming damage, while they have to turn it off on occasion to fool the massive enemy fleet that they are taking on solo into thinking that he is close to going down? Why is it that I find myself webbed well out of range of a rapier, while they seem to effortlessly sling themselves right at it and land a scram?

Fortunately the answers to these questions is starting to become more apparent. While in the past most EVE videos were accelerated playbacks of good fight after good fight, we are starting to see a bunch of videos that pause the action and actually explain what the heck they were thinking and how they do it.

Let's go over some of the best....
First we have Kil2 and Kovorix's Bringing Solo back youtube channel. They have a bunch of great winning, and more usefull, loosing fights complete with commentary. Good stuff.

The other big one is the EVE is EASY site put up by AT IX winning Genos Occidere pilots Garmon, Duncan Tanner and Will Adama. Very detailed information complete with maps, a lot of pausing, and a lot of thought. I really like this site. My only complaint, if you could even call it that, is that since they pause the action so much you don't realize just how fast paced the engagements are. These pro's really can think through all the tactical scenarios faster than I can start powering back to the gate. Great stuff.

Also worth looking at, especially for beginners are the videos being put up by Agony Unleashed as supplimentals to the PVP BASIC instruction that they (and I as a member of AU) offer. The two videos so far, one on tracking and spirraling, the other on the all important directional scanner, are signs of good things to come. Great work!

Back in Agony

So after spending a year wondering New Eden, I have returned to the only corp where I truly felt at home, Agony Unleashed. It has been an interesting year, I participated in 500 man Maelstrom fleets, asked for and received ransoms, failed at starting a noob corp (twice) and joined the carnage of Red vs Blue. But Agony is really where I belong. A null-sec corp that cares more about blowing stuff up then blowing up their ego. I seem to have joined at a good time too. Several old members are back. We live in Syndicate now, which, with Outbreak moving into our home system this past few days, should provide for much pew pew.

Just before I joined up Temprail (from Agony) completed a nice video called 'This is Syndicate'. Unlike the usual EVE video this one combines both great fights with an artistic eye. Well worth watching...

I Fail So Bad ... I killed myself :(

This made me laugh - Check out the bottom ship on the kill:http://www.agony-unleashed.com/killboard/index.php/kill_detail/75438/

Stupid BO hot-drop .... I guess Agony has found someone to replace me as Thursday night FC in the year since I left;)

At least someone else got revenge on their BO fleet ... http://www.agony-unleashed.com/killboard/index.php/kill_related/75448/

Edit: Reading this the next day it sounds like I am shedding tears. Not really meant that way. More just laughing at myself for bubbling my little gang in while tackling obvious bait.

Focus on the Primary!

Flying in various RvB gangs, as well as a recent Public Agony destroyer gang, I have noticed that a LOT of people just don't seem to understand that focusing fire on the primary is not just a piece of gentle advice from the FC, but rather the difference between victory and defeat. When the FC is calling a primary, unless there is a very good reason, that is what you should be shooting at.

Don't get me wrong, I appreciate that the enemy is splitting their fire. When flying a ship in a 15v15 engagement in RvB I appreciate it when I start taking damage from a single ship, allowing me lots of time to warp out and then return to the battle. I appreciate it that my own fleet is not loosing a ship every few seconds to focused fire. Rather we are all being evenly pelted to one degree or another. Oddly enough when I am called primary I appreciate it that I am getting all of the enemy e-war placed on me. It is good that, three or four tracking disruptors, a few stasis webs and enough points are placed on me that even if I fit nothing but WCS in the lows I would still not be able to leave. I know that my going down at that point is diverting valuable ewar away from my own side allowing them to inflict maximum damage and maneuver as needed.

Unfortunately I know that the same lack of focused fire is happening from my side as well.

In short, when in fleet place your DPS on the primary. Spread your e-war appropriately across the enemy fleet. One side does that and the other does not, they will win.

Example of this would be on the Agony run destroyer fleet I was on. Although there was a large discussion in the forum from some non-agony wondering about the importance of shooting the primary, during the fleet we were able to give the FC the concentrated fire of all of our DPS. And thanks to the enemy fleet on two occasions spreading fire around to me enough that my paper thin thrasher had lots of time to get out of dodge when needed.

Taking the nap-train back to 0.0

After giving up on pirating I recently joined a corp in the Important Internet Spaceship League Alliance, BDEAL for short. It is quite a change from my days in Agony. Holding space and having blues can actually make for fun times. Since BDEAL is part of the ClusterFuck coalition which is Allied with the Norther Coalition, 0.0 has suddenly changed from a dangerous place to one where I could Jump-bridge across all of in a mater of minutes. Each system being filled up with a swarm of blue.

One aspect of being part of this huge nap-train is that I have been on many fleets led by many different kinds of FCs. Most notably I was in a fleet led by, and mostly populated by the Goons.

In Agony comms discipline is king. As anyone who has attended one of their classes will know they have a very structured way of calling intel, ordering warps, calling e-war and generally running a fleet. Even is so-called de-centralized gangs, conversation is kept under control and discipline is respected. In short and Agony fleet is the exact opposite of a goon fleet.

The goons have a well deserved reputation for blabbing on and on about body parts and other NSFW topics. Members routinely ridicule other members and discipline is non-existent. Even the FC will go on and on about special snowflakes and what not. If I had to guess maybe 5% of comms is dedicated to EVE, the rest is just the something awful forums put to voice.

Interestingly enough this goon-fleet started to track and be tracked by an Agony gang. Agony is now allied with NC-dot and is causing a mess in the Venal region. In short Agony was the enemy. I had earlier pop'ed one of their Cyno-alts earlier in an unrelated encounter, and was mildly amused as my friends were being tracked by the Goon scouts.

The main concern for the goons was a fear that the Agony fleet was going to light a cyno and titan bridge a NC-dot fleet on top of us. Although this is something Agony does rarely, it has happened and their new friends may helping them. After bumping along for a few systems it seemed (through the above mentioned chatter about womans body parts) that we were jumping into them.

So how did the drunken, undisciplined, lewd and rude Goon fleet perform against a disciplined Agony fleet??? Agony was obliterated. A few ships got away, but three BC and a recon were destroyed.

The fight was over as soon as it started. The goons (and BDEAL) outnumbered agony at least 3-1. Agony should have never pressed the engagement on those terms.

The interesting thing for me was the way the goons operated. Although their lack of discipline was apparent, what was also apparent was why they are such an effective fighting force in New Eden.

1. Follow orders: When the FC wanted someone to do something... they did it. Ask someone to check the next system.. and they did. If not they get ridiculed so they do it right the next time
2. Structured Fleet Management: Although they seem to have their own odd terminology for it (magic snowflake or something) they set up the watch list and the fleet correctly to maximize bonuses and keep vulnerable ships repped.
3. Excellent Scouting: Through alts and blues they knew exactly where the agony fleet was at all times and knew it's composition
4. Big Picture: The goon FC was probably right. Agony should have had a cyno and a drop ready from their allies. Goons do that all the time and expect it. The goons know when and how to use their allies.
5. Aggressive: The goons will enter a fight irregardless of the consequences. The FC figured we were going to be wiped out when we engaged. Turns out he was wrong. EVE PvP does not really reward cowardice.

So in short, everything you have ever heard about the goons is true.... they are lewd, crude, undisciplined, goofing off most of the time and if you underestimate them.... you are dead.

Agony PVP-Basic class being sponsored by Fly-Reckless

As many of you know I am a big fan of the Agony PvP-Basic class. So much so that I ended up joining Agony. Well Silicon Buddha (himself a former Agony member) of the Fly Reckless podcast fame is sponsoring a PvP-Basic class on Jan 22nd and 23rd. If you want to take the course but have had difficulty getting in before the sign-ups are filled, or can't afford the isk, then have a look.

He is taking signups on his website first before Agony opens it up to the general public.

5 Things a NEW PLAYER can do to improve their PVP experience

Earlier I wrote an article describing 5 things I would like CCP to do to EVE to improve the experience. It got me thinking about what a new player can do to improve their PvP experience.

5. Take it easy on the learning skills
So many people say to train up learning skills and use implants. They are carebears. You want to kill stuff now, not wait a month to train up stuff that won't help you kill stuff now, and will take at least another year before they pay off. Filling your head with implants is even worse..... you PvP and you will get podded. Unless you have unlimited ISK having expensive implants will make PvP seem too expensive. Instead you should concentrate on gunnery, spaceship command and other skill that will help you blow stuff up. Don't completely ignore the learning skills, but don't concentrate on them either.
EDIT: That advise sure went out of date fast! In a couple of weeks there will be no more learning skills :)

4. Aspire to fly interceptors in fleet, not just another DPS boat
It has been said far too many times that one of the biggest mistakes a player can make is to rush too fast into larger ships. The next ship, after perhaps destroyers, that a new PvP player should go for is an interceptor. Inties are absolutely critical to any fleet. They are also one of the most active roles. Whether they are scouting up ahead, or racing to grab a point on an enemy at a belt, or just running with fleet as a tackler, the interceptor is what makes fleet PvP happen. Additionally, flying an interceptor is a great learning experience. All of the skills you learn flying an interceptor will be useful when flying other ships. Every race is blessed with a great fleet interceptor so train for them and fly them. (Note: the fleet interceptors are the ones with a bonus to warp disruption range)

3. Do some solo PvP using T1 Frigates
Start by reading The Altruists blog posting about 'Interceptor Fishing'. As mentioned before this blog posting covers a basic strategy of using a T1 frigate to bait, trap and kill a common T2 frigate. Following this strategy will accomplish several things. Firstly it demonstrates the basic strategy of grabbing someone, pinning them down, wailing on them with all you got, and hoping that your tank will outlast his. This may not be the most sophisticated strategy, but it does work. By flying solo a bunch of times, loosing lots of cheap ships that you can afford to loose, you will learn how to handle yourself in a fight. You will also learn what not to do when you yourself are flying a T2 Interceptor.

2. Join a corp that actually does PvP
I can't stress this enough. If you are not in a corp yet, or worse, in a corp that concentrates on Level 4 missions and wormholes, then leave. There are lots of PvP oriented corps out there that will take relatively new players with the right attitude. If you can't find one the easiest way IMHO is just do some solo PvP in a T1 frigate in NPC 0.0 or in low-sec. The guys who kill you.... talk to them about joining up.


1. Take an Agony Unleashed PVP-Basic course
I may be biased but if this class and the subsequent roam does not rock your world..... EVE may not be the game for you.

New Blog from Fellow Agony Member Discusses 'Interceptor Fishing'

Just wanted to give a shout-out to Azual and his new blog The Altruist . He opens with a really great article about Solo PVP in 0.0, or the art of interceptor fishing. This is definitely worth a read for anyone new to PVP. Interceptor fishing is a common strategy we recommend to new pilots in Agony. In short it is an easy way to reliably kill expensive T2 interceptors with T1 frigates. Take a look ;)

Top 5 Overpowered PVP Items in EVE (that no one ever uses)

You can't start playing EVE without hearing about all of the balance issues. "Nerf the Drake", "Give a 4th bonus to Assault Frigs", "Blasters Suck", etc. You get the impressions that EVE is full of balance issues so only a handful of popular items are ever seen. I have a different take on it. While some items do suck, I can never understand why so many OMFGPWN items are almost never seen. Here is my list of the top 5 seriously overpowered items in EVE, that you almost never see fitted.

5. Target Painters: One of these fitted on one ship in fleet increases the turret tracking for all ships in the fleet more than a scripted tracking computer, plus increases damage for all missiles, plus increases lock time for all ships.

4. Smart-Bombs: Always hits for full damage. Immune to ECM. Does not need to wait for a lock to fire. Hits every single target in range simultaneously. Hits missiles, bombs, drones.

3. Bombs from multiple bombers: One bomber by itself is pretty common, but also pretty useless. The fact is that 7 bombers firing at the same time can destroy most non-cap ships. And like smart-bombs (above) it is an AOE weapon so it hits all of the ships in range at the same time.

2. E-war Drones: The drone bay of a Rupture has can have effectively the same ECM strength as a T2 multi-spec ecm mounted on a blackbird. A large Tracking Disruptor drone has the same disruption capability as an unscripted T2 Tracking disruptor. This effectively turns your drone bay into extra mid-slots.

And the Number 1 overpowered item in EVE that almost nobody uses...

1. Destroyers: Take the Agony Wolfpack class if you want to know what these can do!

Retired bonus item: Anything that reduces signature radius. A year ago nobody cared about this, but as Armour HAC fleets have shown recently.... this is a critically important characteristic.

Edit: My point is not for these things to be nerfed, but rather the opposite.... go and try fits with these items.

Blake Lotto and How to win a Freki

If there is one ship in Eve that I would desire above all others it would have to be the Freki. 50 were given out to the 2nd place winners of the VII alliance tournament and no more will be produced. In short these ships are pure winsauce. Basically they created sort of a super-Jaguar and combined it with a super-Hyena. The end result is pretty much perfection. Oddly enough, the first place prize, the Mimir, kindof sucks eggs.

Anyways, the point of this post is to mention a lottery that a corp-mate of mine is running with a Freki as the main prize. Here is the main thread for details. I am not sure if there ever will be another chance to win one of these 25 billion ships again.

So while thinking about it, watch this match from AT VIII where circle of two fielded three of these awesome ships to win a second round match.


Edit... Lotto is sold out now. I didn't win :(

Agony Builds a New Outpost

For various reasons Agony has decided to build a new outpost in our SI-I89 system. There were lots of reasons for it but number one had to be the new facilities.

Now a piece of Agony will be forever preserved in New Eden :)

Alliance Tournament 8 Match 2 Commentary - Agony Empire vs Hydra Reloaded

Here is the second alternative audio commentaries. This is a very interesting match where the meta-game rears it's ugly head. All is not as it seems in the Alliance tournament that is for sure. Anyways as before, hit play on the podcast at the same time as you hit play on the video.

Download this episode (right click and save)

Agony

Someone in Agony came across this You-Tube video... Nicely defines the name of the corp that I am in.

Hydra reloaded and providence

So I was sitting in Jita on my trading alt crying about the state of my finances when I noticed someone spamming local with a notice that the HYDRA RELOADED was recruiting any and all. Two things were suspicious. Firstly, Jita local is just a bunch of spam for various scams, WTF is an established alliance like HYDRA doing posting there. Secondly, WTF is an elite PvP alliance like HYDRA doing a mass recruitment drive for. Something was very odd was going on. So I took a closer look at the character expecting to see some sort of transparent scam and this not actually being HYDRA. Surprisingly I could find none. It actually looked like they were mass recruiting

For those who are unaware HYDRA RELOADED was the reincarnation of a much older alliance. The new version of HYDRA RELOADED consists mostly of PvP experts and they placed second in the recent Alliance Tournament (Although they did loose their first match to AGONY*).

Sure enough it looks like HYDRA RELOADED is filling up with recruits, both new corps and individual characters. (*Linky*) I particularly think the Justin Bieber Fan Club and Industries is a strong addition. As of now they have over 1000 pilots. Despite their numbers there are some concerns about the 'quality' of their new members. While I recognize one or two of the names, most are unknown often with a singe pilot.

So what are they going to do with all of them? It looks like they may be planning an invasion of Providence. Personally I have my doubts. Any invasion of Providence will be a long slog and I doubt the small gang PvP specialty corps that make up the core of HYDRA will want to spearhead this. Time will tell. My main concern is that if they do push into providence AGONY will have to blue up with everyone else to repel the invaders. That would not be so good.

*By loose I mean they destroying all our ships but one but then they self-destructed giving us the win and guaranteeing themselves an easy match for the second qualifying round. *Linky*

Failed Gank and then a little 1V1

As I have been doing these 'Ships I fly' articles I noticed I haven't really been flying any cruisers. So I threw together a Rupture and went on a little roam through providence. Unfortunately things were a little quiet. There was a report of a small group of shock and awe (AWE) ratters up towards YQB-22. A sort of hodgepodge fleet assembled to take them on and I joined up. The trick with ratters is to land on them before they notice that you are there. I stayed a couple of jumps out keeping an eye on F-YH5B where there was a large Circle-of-two (CO2) presence. As things started to come together for the gank... an AWE rifter came our way and the gig was up. The ratters pos'ed up and we gave up. Around this time CO2 started to make a move in our direction so there was some tension as one of our slow moving BS almost came upon them. Fortunately our BS got out of system just as CO2 entered so they were none the wiser.

Frustrated with the lack of action I switched to a Rifter and challenged another Rifter from Ushra'Khan to a 1v1. I brought my usual shield tank rifter but I fit it with an AB instead of a MWD. Interestingly my opponent also went shield tank and he tried to kite me using barrage. A little bit of overloading the AB and I was back to PB range where he melted once his shields were through. He never made it past the 1/2 way on mine. Barrage just doesn't have the same DPS as RF fusion. My main surprise was his shield tank. I assumed (as UK mostly armour fits their rifters) that he would be armour tanked so I was using RF Fusion. If he had noticed that I am almost always in a shield tank (I had fought him before) and used EMP then I would have likely come out on the short end of the stick.

Anyways, that was my evening. I am going to try and get the Rupture in a few more fights before I write the 'Ships I Fly' article for it.

Great July 3 Class Roam

As many of my readers may know Agony Unleashed runs the PvP university. These are basically courses in PvP that we teach most weeks for a small fee in isk. We claim that the purpose of these classes is to provide education in PvP to New Eden. In reality Rells (the founder of Agony) came up with these classes so we could have a big fleet of T1 frigates go around and kill everything. As a result each class has a lecture part and then a roam component where we do just that.

This last run was quite epic. I joined up near the end after a 60 minute long battle with over 40 kills was over (note that the killboard does not handle the class well due to multiple corps.... everything in red is in fact a kill for us). Nevertheless I joined up in a Jaguar and helped out on several nice ganks against superior fleets. Unfortunately the Agony ticker does make me primary a little faster then the classmates but I managed to warp in and out of the battle a couple of times allowing my shield to recharge. (Tip: When in fleet taking serious damage don't die if you can help it ... try and get away so you can come back again) All in all it was a lot of fun and recommend these classes to any new (and old) pilot.

Feedback Thread

Agony Recruitment Opening :)

Now that the tournament is over and we have a few things sorted out Agony Unleashed (of which I am a member) is open for recruitment. So if you are interested in joining now is a great time...

What we offer:
* T2 ships at, or slightly below market value.
* Sovereignty in space filled mostly with hostiles.
* Small fleets, often headed by a bonkers South African engaging larger fleets belonging to our neighbors.
* Lots of enemies (almost no friendlies).
* Ratting in Providence (see earlier point about space filled with hostiles).
* Easy access to high-sec (only one major static gate camp with carrier support camping us in).
* Lots of great personalities in corp suffering from P.T.S.D. and /or alcoholism.

What we are looking for:
* Experienced PvP pilots who want to give up all the perks of being in a large alliance.
* Young pilots willing to not suck.

So if you think this sounds awesome (and it is) apply away.

Ships I fly - The Stilleto

Unlike the Rifter or the Jaguar, the Stiletto has one main purpose.... to hold a point on an enemy ship until help arrives, and stay alive doing it. It is a job that the Stiletto does beautifully. Fast, agile, maneuverable, it can quickly get within range of it's bonused point of an enemy ship and prevent it from warping. Thanks to the bonus to the microwarp drive signature radius, it does not suffer nearly as much signature bloom as other ships when using a microwarp. This means that it can't be easily tracked or damaged with missiles. A bonus to the range of it's point allows it to tackle even battleships while staying out of range of a long range neut.

What is most impressive about the Stiletto in particular is the extra mid-slot. Different pilots will fit different modules there. Another point, a scram, a tracking disruptor, a sensor damper, a target painter, ECCM or even a medium shield extender can all be put there and contribute to the fight.

An interceptor is also a great ship to join an existing fleet with. If you log in and see a fleet 6 jumps out it may be quite dangerous to fly a heavy ship out there. However, an interceptor can navigate through 0.0 quickly and safely. And it is always welcome on a fleet.

Personally I highly recommend a Stiletto (or other interceptor) as a new pilots first introduction into T2 ships. It is reasonably cheap and requires relatively light skills to use. It also is a very important ship in a fleet. Most fleets use interceptors as scouts as well as tackle so the interceptor is a very busy and important role requiring attention and constant communication with the FC.

There is a really great article in Ten Ton Hammer - Flying the Stiletto Interceptor

[Stiletto, Standard Fleet Ceptor]
Damage Control II
Nanofiber Internal Structure II
Overdrive Injector System II

Catalyzed Cold-Gas I Arcjet Thrusters
Warp Disruptor II
Sensor Booster II
[empty med slot] <- EXTRA MID SLOT

125mm Light 'Scout' Autocannon I, EMP S
[empty high slot]
125mm Light 'Scout' Autocannon I, EMP S

Small Auxiliary Thrusters I
Small Auxiliary Thrusters I

Things you should know about 0.0 - Part 1

As a denizen of 0.0 I occasionally come across some noobs having going on a cruise to find out what it is like. Sometimes they are alone, other times they are in groups. I highly encourage this but it does usually end badly. Often they don't understand what happened and why they ended up dieing. This is the first part of a series of articles about things you should know.

1. You are being watched:

You may not realize it but you presence is being detected as you jump through systems. Unless the system is empty (just you in local) mains and alts of the local alliances are watching you and tracking your movements. It is possible that they don't care at that particular point to intercept you, but they are aware of you and there probably is already a response fleet heading your way. Remember that most players have out of corp alts scattered around, so don't feel reassured if all you see are some 2 week old characters in local.

2. They will hunt you down

It may seem pointless but unless the locals have absolutely nothing better to do they will hunt you down and engage you. This is EvE, this is why they play the game. Whether it is because they assume you are an alt of an enemy or just for sport their first reaction will be to destroy you. There are some exceptions of course. Some alliances have a NRDS (Not Red Don't Shoot) policy. However they are the minority, and there are others occupying the same space who are not as gentle.

3. When they engage you they will ensure that they will win.

While everyone says they are looking for a fair fight, you will find that there are no fair fights. When they engage you they will be sure that they have enough to take you, probably easily. See point 1 about them tracking you and knowing your fleet composition, age, past killboard stats, likely loadouts etc.

Hello World

Welcome to my new Eve blog. Let me introduce myself. My name is Toterra (in eve not in real life) and I am a 18 month old capsuleer. Currently I am flying with Agony Unleashed and I have been with them for about a year.

Like many players Eve is my first MMO. I had been considering joining an MMO for several years but never really made the jump. I forget what it was exactly that drew me to Eve, but once I started researching it I was hooked. I quickly created a trial account and started a Gallente character. After using him for a week I discovered that I had erred in my original by giving my character a lot of charisma thinking that this would be a great skill. So I rolled a new Minmattar character and called him Toterra. The main reason for choosing Minmattar was the Rifter, which I had been told was the best T1 frigate and so I wanted to fly it.

Anyways after a week of doing empire missions, I moved to low-sec space since the missions there were more lucrative. Flying in lowsec knowing that at any moment I could be pounced on and get some real PvP was certainly more thrilling then the hi-sec missions which were already getting boring. Sadly there was not really any PvP for me. I was never probed out and succesfully dodged the gate camps. Exciting but certainly not the instant death I had been warned about.

Soon I had grinded my standings high enough to join the Minattar Millitia and started joining up in fleets. This was a lot of fun where every night I X'd up in the milliatia channel and added my rifter or thrasher to the blob. I was in awe of the FCs knowledge and ability to win fights. After a friendly fire incident I lost standings and ended up joining a small corp living in the low-sec parts of Metropolis.

Metropolis was a lot of fun. We were really bad (best player was less than a year old and rather clueless) but we had a couple of fights and spent a bunch of time effectively 'living' in space.

After the CEO went mysteriously AFG I bailed on the corp and decided to join a small 0.0 corp living in Curse. This was a huge step up and it was fun to be in fights similar to those I experienced in FW, but with more organization.

One of my goals since FW was to do the Agony PVP basic course. Finally I managed to get a spot in a class and learned more in 6 hours then I had in the previous 4 months. Thinking that this was the place for me I put in an app and joined up with them.

One year later I am a decent FC, I can kill a Taranis in my Rifter, and entire alliances cower in fear when I pop into local. Ok, maybe not the last one so much but it has been a good run.