PvP Breaking wings with a melee FDL

This is part 2 of my two part "melee" FDL plasma ramming guide. The first video a couple months ago introduced the build and tactics vs. single opponents; this conclusion features 1v2, 1v3, and 1v4/2v4 fights where I'm outnumbered by experienced PVPers from Nomads, R$M, 13th Legion, and more.

 
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massive respect for fighting in outnumbered situations versus such opponents...

also the slow video sequences are very smart here and give good information.
plasma ram is a dank manoever...

every thried combine it with corossive effect ;)
 
Good job with wings, surely that bulid of yours works wonders vs any kind of PA users, especially if they fail to evade in time for upcoming ram, becasue if they wanna hit ya, they need fly towards ya ;)


But still, almost all of cmdrs you fought (and killed) in these "melee" vids are all PA users ...That makes me wonder about those who are very evasive or generally long range, might be bit an issue for handle, no? Kinda would like to see how you handle non-PA opponents with this bulid.
 
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Good job with wings, surely that bulid of yours works wonders vs any kind of PA users, especially if they fail to evade in time for upcoming ram, becasue if they wanna hit ya, they need fly towards ya ;)


But still, almost all of cmdrs you fought (and killed) in these "melee" vids are all PA users ...That makes me wonder about those who are very evasive or generally long range, might be bit an issue for handle, no? Kinda would like to see how you handle non-PA opponents with this bulid.

I took his melee build and changed the weps to MC / packhounds / lasers. I still ram with it when the opportunity presents itself, but I'm not locked into close range exclusively. Its fun to blind my opponent with the PH flames and then they dont see the ram coming.
 
That makes me wonder about those who are very evasive or generally long range, might be bit an issue for handle, no? Kinda would like to see how you handle non-PA opponents with this bulid.

It definitely helps my opponents when they figure out what's up and are good at anticipating the rams. One of the SDC guys Eent Tredison won a 1v1 a while back by baiting & waiting for my rams then hitting the brakes and going into reverse at the right times. Also helped that he was a crack shot with his own PAs and rails and took advantage of my failed rams and recovery and would consistently hit me after my close approaches. And I say "won" even though I had spotted him half my shields at the beginning because I wouldn't have adapted to his tactics fast enough anyway even though the end result might have been closer. I have different tactics in mind now for these situations.
 
I took his melee build and changed the weps to MC / packhounds / lasers. I still ram with it when the opportunity presents itself, but I'm not locked into close range exclusively. Its fun to blind my opponent with the PH flames and then they dont see the ram coming.

That does sound fun, though I would constantly worry about running into my own packhounds :)
 
It definitely helps my opponents when they figure out what's up and are good at anticipating the rams. One of the SDC guys Eent Tredison won a 1v1 a while back by baiting & waiting for my rams then hitting the brakes and going into reverse at the right times. Also helped that he was a crack shot with his own PAs and rails and took advantage of my failed rams and recovery and would consistently hit me after my close approaches. And I say "won" even though I had spotted him half my shields at the beginning because I wouldn't have adapted to his tactics fast enough anyway even though the end result might have been closer. I have different tactics in mind now for these situations.

Yup, thats good example of meta bulid how to handle ramming of yours, since its main power lies within its suprise factor.

Still, vs wings, it should be bit easier for ya to get rams connect than in 1v1 like that, since many Cmdrs tends to not being enough caution becasue they are with wing, even if they would be aware what You after. Defenitly helps also that most of them, are at FAOFF almost of all times, thats preety much leaves them wide open into ram, long as they try to blindly follow thier own aim reticle.

For 1v1... hmm I guess one of tactics for ya would be trying force an opponent to follow ya by using bit of reverski with bit of evasive flying or let them hit you once or twice during passes, try pretend like youre just after "good PA shots" instead of ram itself, then at right moment, use ram and only then, rather than blindly going for ram right from start... Going all time for ram is quite characteristc and can be used againt rammer and eent noticed that and used into hes advantage in your case, but again 50% of shields was also huge handicap for him.

Even if they are well skilled, suprise factor can still work in such situtation. I think its key moment when opponent is encouraged by thier two or three succesfull hits, and starts doing more of what your want wich is follow thier aim reticle and thier ship velocity into your ship. Also its worth to point out, that clever usage of ram like that, puts additional pressure on opponets, as they have to extra caution each time during passes, that can lead into leaving themselfs into PA volleys.


As long as you use the 500m threshold, that's not a problem. I'll time my boost with the PH flash.

Yep, Packs works best upclose like that, as they dont "scatter" and they fly towards taget without "drunk" effect and long as missiles aint need fly more than 2 seconds from moment of fire, they maintain ship speed as well.
 
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Interesting, I challenge you. You in?

Sure, any time. Add me in game ("Starmony") and we'll fight. I'm usually at CGs if they're combat related and online at least a couple nights each week (GMT -8). If you're UK and weeknights are inconvenient, I'm also frequently on for at least a while on many Sundays during the day.
 
That was awesome to watch, you land more rams than most could achieve.
One thing though, you rammed quite often without pips.
Was this on purpose for the vid?

ps. if you 1v1 Crimson K' can you guys post a clip? pls,pls,pls?
 
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One thing though, you rammed quite often without pips. Was this on purpose for the vid?

Most of this video featured action after my shields had dropped; in this phase of the fight, I don't put any pips into SYS unless I need to use chaff. My prismatic shields take a whopping 12 minutes to come back online without disabling boosters, so I don't even try to raise them again. I'll still ram while shieldless though if I think it'll secure the kill.

To contrast, the part 1 video (below) were all 1v1s and I never lost shields, so normal pip management was in play and I made sure to put all pips in SYS anytime I got close to my target. It also helped that these particular fights all happened the same weekend that I had lots of time to play, so I was amply "warmed up" and enjoyed the benefits of better-than-normal pip management and timing. This high alpha damage plasma ramming style is very dependent on getting the timing/rhythm of shots just right and it really punishes me when I'm not feeling it.

 
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Hey what a great clip thanks for putting that together.
I often fly a very similar build in a very similar way.
I just love ramming as an offensive counter. Im running about 2500/2300 high resist pris.
Lately I changed the loadout a bit and have had lots of laughs with it since.
I put two oc force canons for jousting but found them to be a real advantage to my ramming effectiveness.
The force effect on the alpha ram quite often forces the target laterally into a stall .
As like you I boost early into the initial approach this stall is regularlary perfect cycle timing for a second boost ram.
This was happening so often , but usually inside the 6sec reload time I changed to rapid fire on the c4 so the second ram is canons and plasma to.

Anyway, love your work.
 
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