CZ first experience

[jijik2]

Hi All,

My first experience within a CZ.

Wanted to unlock Juri Ishmaak so getting 50 combat bonds.
Okay, just in my corvette no hull packages and shieldcell banks. Let me look how it goes.
I choose a faction and start my little war.
All going great, WOW this is easy pickings. Some vipers, asps, pythons and the occasional anaconda.
Also some Message came from the opposing faction to join there side?? Strange when i just killed 25 or so . (is cool a mission like that)
I had to re arm my multi cannons so to a station i went without a shield ring lost.
Claimed the bonds 38 of them.
I go back to the CZ and then.....

What is happening, OMG, OMG, had to wake out before my first kill, shields gone and 40 % hull left. Only like anaconda's and pythons all going on me at the same time.
I was thinking i just was unlucky and unaware of my surroundings. I go again.
Go to the edge and watch for an enemy and see one, a nice ASP. And in my fight again i lose track of my surroundings and almost didn't get away. 2 anaconda's and 3 pythons all shooting at little old me.

This was nice, sweating palms and high heart beat. Even after 7weeks in game CZ was new to me and was lot of fun. Even got from 37% expert combat rank to 48% (how did that happen so quickly)

Tonight i go again, then with some shieldcell banks and some hull pakcages !!


PS: i run 2x small class 1 / 2x medium class 2 / 1x large class 3 gimballed efficient beam lasers. And 2x Huge class 4 editovercharged) Multi cannons (1 corrosive, 1 incendiary).
Anyone another nice load out for a corvette??

 

[Siranui]

My first CZ was a week long campaign as part of a CG, played after only a month of playing, in an unengineered Vulture, fighting above an icy planetscape.

Died nine times.

Had a blast.

 

[Ian Skippy]

Ha, yeah, it can get brutal. Little tip; enemies have a 'threat awareness', and your corvette is likely to trigger them. If you are unsure if you want to risk the rebuy, now or later, you can also do them in mch smaller ships. A viper, for example, will be much more fragile obviously but also far less likely to be ganged up on by groups of condas.

 

[Whiterose]

You have a corvette and this is your first trip to a CZ?
The youth of today.

 

[Aashenfox]

Let me be the first second (damn ninjas) of many to say "Wait, WHAT?" You have a corvette but you've never been in a CZ?

re: the rest...your ship loadout 'probably' wasn't the problem. Sure, you SHOULD put your strongest combat loadout on the ship for CZs, that's a given, BUT, I strongly suspect if you don't apply some strategy and simply attack whatever is in front of you, the same thing will happen again.

When you join the zone, don't pick a side straight away, back off to about 5km from the CZ marker and then choose a side. Stand back for a second, observe the battle. You'll see a melee in the middle and a few ships that have got peeled off to the side. Scan a couple of the ones on the edge and choose either to start a proper battle with a strong one, or try to 'steal' kills from the npcs.

DON'T PASS THROUGH THE MELEE in the middle.

How CZ aggro works based on my observations...

If you go to a low CZ you will face small ships, you will be popping these left and right for the first few minutes, but then all of a sudden everything in the CZ will aggro you and you'll be dead in very short order. This is because after you killed so many more ships than your 'allies', you become by far the highest threat in the CZ, so when the next wave spawns, they all want YOU.

This actually makes HIGH CZs easier, as they have larger enemies (that take longer to kill, reducing your number of kills per minute and therefore your perceived 'threat') and also stronger allies (which will make sure you stay low on the aggro table at least for a while). Once you have realised that eerything comes after you, the easiest thing to do is wake out and then turn around and head back in again, aggro will have reset, start again with the fringe mobs and repeat.

 

[anikaiful]

all of a sudden everything in the CZ will aggro you and you'll be dead in very short order. This is because after you killed so many more ships than your 'allies', you become by far the highest threat in the CZ, so when the next wave spawns, they all want YOU.

That's when the real fun starts - mop them all up!

 

[Aashenfox]

That's when the real fun starts - mop them all up!

I don't do big ships, but I appreciate that's an option for a Cutter or Corvette (and even Annie) pilot. I have to reset the encounter when things get really hairy. I have only 6 deaths in my entire game, I play careful.

 

[anikaiful]

I don't do big ships, but I appreciate that's an option for a Cutter or Corvette (and even Annie) pilot. I have to reset the encounter when things get really hairy. I have only 6 deaths in my entire game, I play careful.

77 here, though 70 or so of those are either a) intentional, b) attention lapses, c) caused by docking computer (2/3rd of the whole rebuy value of all 'deaths' combined is due docking computer wrecking my Cutter, once).

 

[A D]

Did my 50 in a Cobra Mk III. Was fun, but stayed clear of Conda's and Vette's

 

[the100thmonkey]

Do it in a Vulture.

It's much more fun than the heavyweights, and you tend to pick up less aggro. Things pop slower, which serves as a good introduction to module targetting.

 

[jijik2]

You have a corvette and this is your first trip to a CZ?
The youth of today.

Ha, yeah i know. i should be ashamed . My expert combat rank came from fighting interdictions over the last 2 years. Even HazRes i only did like 15 minutes.
But now elite trade and exploration for awhile i need a change of pace. Rebuys don't matter anymore. But i will try a smaller ship too. sounds like fun.

Do it in a Vulture.

It's much more fun than the heavyweights, and you tend to pick up less aggro. Things pop slower, which serves as a good introduction to module targetting.

oh ohhhhh, also something i have never done...... module targetting.
Learning again today thanks

 

[Araviel]

Ha, yeah, it can get brutal. Little tip; enemies have a 'threat awareness', and your corvette is likely to trigger them. If you are unsure if you want to risk the rebuy, now or later, you can also do them in mch smaller ships. A viper, for example, will be much more fragile obviously but also far less likely to be ganged up on by groups of condas.

Yes, take notes on this Jijik2. Big ships are not always better. this is especially true when it comes to combat zones where things can go very ugly very quickly and where speed is an important key to success.

 

[Whiterose]

Ha, yeah i know. i should be ashamed . My expert combat rank came from fighting interdictions over the last 2 years. Even HazRes i only did like 15 minutes.
But now elite trade and exploration for awhile i need a change of pace. Rebuys don't matter anymore. But i will try a smaller ship too. sounds like fun.




oh ohhhhh, also something i have never done...... module targetting.
Learning again today thanks

I use a CZ every time I outfit a new ship, it lets me know what I can and cannot do, as like you 75% of my combat rank comes from interdictions, so I like to know what the ship is capable of. If you can survive a CZ when all around you is red, then you will never fear an interdiction.

 

[uliando]

Back in my day we had cobra mk3 or viper mk3 and you'd had to make it alive out of there and that barely payed for ammo/reapair/fuel and no engineering was present. Ah "good" ol times.

 

[Vardaugas]

The Imperial Courier is the ship for me to go into a CZ with. It's fast, though, small and fun.

 

[CMDR Cosmic Spacehead]

I just roll in to High CZs in any old ship, as long as it's shielded and armed.

I've pretty much mastered the art of survival, so now I just farm. Lol

I need somewhere more challenging to go.

I got a Corvette, and no use for it.

CMDR Cosmic Spacehead

 

[5 Puppis]

If you go to a low CZ you will face small ships, you will be popping these left and right for the first few minutes, but then all of a sudden everything in the CZ will aggro you and you'll be dead in very short order. This is because after you killed so many more ships than your 'allies', you become by far the highest threat in the CZ, so when the next wave spawns, they all want YOU.

I see big ships a lot in the low CZs, possibly even more than in high CZs for some reason. Maybe I just had weird luck. Makes me happy though, I like going big game hunting

Went into a low CZ the other day in my FAS. Only got to pop an Asp Scout before suddenly drawing simultaneous agro from a gunship (+SLF), a Corvette (+SLF), and an Eagle. Barely got out alive. Thrusters ended up taking a beating and started malfunctioning. I couldn't fly straight so I had to boost and turn FA off to drift out of there like an asteroid. Factor in the cost of repairs and PA ammo, I lost money on that venture. Fun though.

 

[5 Puppis]

Yes, take notes on this Jijik2. Big ships are not always better. this is especially true when it comes to combat zones where things can go very ugly very quickly and where speed is an important key to success.

^^ Very true. Unless you really know what you're doing in a CZ, big ship + little speed = big rebuy

 

[Navigare Necesse Est]

You're better off doing it with friends. AI just likes to pile up on the player and you can quickly become surrounded once the green blips vanish. Or engineer. I hear people complaining about it all being too easy now.
Or go Navsites.

 

[GreyAreaUK]

Python works well.

Big enough to pack a decent punch.

Small enough to not be considered an automatic Alpha Threat, and to run away when running away is called for.