Hello, everyone.
Lately I've been involved in several discussions about newbies, combat being "forced upon us", OP AI, etc. etc. Last night, I followed the example of some of my friends and cleared my main account save (Bye, Cutter, see you next year)
I was on my third mission when I got interdicted for the first time, so I thought "Why the hell not", hit F9 and tell them a few things about fighting, see how the police works in high-sec systems and so on. I have to say I was lucky with my first two missions and it allowed me to D-rate my Sidey - Everything, PP, Thrusters, FSD, life support, sensors and shields are "D", plus I had enough money to buy a 1B power distributor and a beam laser and the seeker missiles. So it's not a stock Sidewinder, but it is still a pretty much "Day 1 build".
So. I will try to describe what happens in the video you'll see down below and give people who struggle some useful tips.
Most important one is - Don't panic! I clearly remember how I reacted when I was starting with this game. Your heart goes at 150, your hands start sweating, you're being hit and trashed around left, right and center. This is not something that can be taught, you just have to experience enough combat to be able to keep cool. Still, try not to panic... too much.
Now this was actually my first fight in a Sidey after maybe a year, so I am a bit all over the place myself, plus as he interdicted me very close to the star, I occasionally run into some heat problems, but there are several universal things you need to know.
Right after the interdiction, I've made a mistake. I didn't expect him to start shooting right away, but he was hounding me through three systems, already, and I was always able to jump right before he interdicted me, before, so I guess he was starting to be a little bit peevish about it.
So I didn't put four pips in the shields in the beginning and it almost cost me my shields. Well, never mind.
First thing you should do, after submitting is to shift into reverse to close the distance, turn around and boost past him. That will allow you some breathing room and at this point, if you want to Brave-Sir-Robin it, you just continue in the straight line, pop some chaff and start charging your FSD. I didn't.
When ever you're being hit, put all pips into shields. Always. 4 pips in SYS capacitor will more than double your shields and no agility or speed can be more important.
Every time you're head to head with the enemy, pop the chaff. Time its usage for moments you're not able to avoid fire for several seconds. While it's active, land a few shots and try to boost past the enemy before the effect runs out. Mister Cobra, here, did quite a decent job by flying backwards, not allowing me to close the distance between us quickly, despite my boosting, so the chaff and 4 pips in shields are essential.
Another thing, while facing the enemy head to head, employ your lateral thrusters and always move to the side from their perspective, forcing them to either yaw after you or roll and pitch, both costing them their accuracy. (I am doing this throughout the whole encounter, here, but it's not easily noticable) When your chaff runs out and you're still in front of them, try some barrel-rolling (roll+lateral thrusters). It further confuses their tracking. It works miracles against MCs and Cannons, but even lasers will miss, now and then, which can help you keeping your shields up.
Once you get past them and you are both turning, put your pips into engines and weapons to recharge their capacitors.
Now you can continue with this "back and forth" tactics for the whole duration of the fight. Head to head, shoot them while the chaff is active, barrel roll and boost past them, turn. Rinse and repeat.
It will take from 20 seconds to a minute for the police to show up. Now here, I've made my second mistake that almost cost me my shields, because I got careless when I saw the cops coming and got too close to the enemy with my ENG capacitor empty, which prevented me from boosting into safety. Fortunately, cops didn't waste time and helped me right away, stripping the last ring of enemy's shield and half their hull, so then I just finished him with missiles. The police generally saved me another three minutes of fighting and five or six missiles.
TL;DR:
Put 4 pips into SYS and pop chaff when you're being hit.
Move sideways away from their fire arc and barrel-roll.
Boost past them and recharge your WEP and ENG to be ready for another round.
If you're outgunned, wait for police to show up. (Operate in high-sec systems, until in a decent ship)
Alternatively:
Back into them, turn around and boost past them.
Run like hell.
[video=youtube;3DzsSrT9EHs]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3DzsSrT9EHs[/video]
Fly safe, commanders. And give them hell.
o7
Lately I've been involved in several discussions about newbies, combat being "forced upon us", OP AI, etc. etc. Last night, I followed the example of some of my friends and cleared my main account save (Bye, Cutter, see you next year)
I was on my third mission when I got interdicted for the first time, so I thought "Why the hell not", hit F9 and tell them a few things about fighting, see how the police works in high-sec systems and so on. I have to say I was lucky with my first two missions and it allowed me to D-rate my Sidey - Everything, PP, Thrusters, FSD, life support, sensors and shields are "D", plus I had enough money to buy a 1B power distributor and a beam laser and the seeker missiles. So it's not a stock Sidewinder, but it is still a pretty much "Day 1 build".
So. I will try to describe what happens in the video you'll see down below and give people who struggle some useful tips.
Most important one is - Don't panic! I clearly remember how I reacted when I was starting with this game. Your heart goes at 150, your hands start sweating, you're being hit and trashed around left, right and center. This is not something that can be taught, you just have to experience enough combat to be able to keep cool. Still, try not to panic... too much.
Now this was actually my first fight in a Sidey after maybe a year, so I am a bit all over the place myself, plus as he interdicted me very close to the star, I occasionally run into some heat problems, but there are several universal things you need to know.
Right after the interdiction, I've made a mistake. I didn't expect him to start shooting right away, but he was hounding me through three systems, already, and I was always able to jump right before he interdicted me, before, so I guess he was starting to be a little bit peevish about it.
So I didn't put four pips in the shields in the beginning and it almost cost me my shields. Well, never mind.
First thing you should do, after submitting is to shift into reverse to close the distance, turn around and boost past him. That will allow you some breathing room and at this point, if you want to Brave-Sir-Robin it, you just continue in the straight line, pop some chaff and start charging your FSD. I didn't.
When ever you're being hit, put all pips into shields. Always. 4 pips in SYS capacitor will more than double your shields and no agility or speed can be more important.
Every time you're head to head with the enemy, pop the chaff. Time its usage for moments you're not able to avoid fire for several seconds. While it's active, land a few shots and try to boost past the enemy before the effect runs out. Mister Cobra, here, did quite a decent job by flying backwards, not allowing me to close the distance between us quickly, despite my boosting, so the chaff and 4 pips in shields are essential.
Another thing, while facing the enemy head to head, employ your lateral thrusters and always move to the side from their perspective, forcing them to either yaw after you or roll and pitch, both costing them their accuracy. (I am doing this throughout the whole encounter, here, but it's not easily noticable) When your chaff runs out and you're still in front of them, try some barrel-rolling (roll+lateral thrusters). It further confuses their tracking. It works miracles against MCs and Cannons, but even lasers will miss, now and then, which can help you keeping your shields up.
Once you get past them and you are both turning, put your pips into engines and weapons to recharge their capacitors.
Now you can continue with this "back and forth" tactics for the whole duration of the fight. Head to head, shoot them while the chaff is active, barrel roll and boost past them, turn. Rinse and repeat.
It will take from 20 seconds to a minute for the police to show up. Now here, I've made my second mistake that almost cost me my shields, because I got careless when I saw the cops coming and got too close to the enemy with my ENG capacitor empty, which prevented me from boosting into safety. Fortunately, cops didn't waste time and helped me right away, stripping the last ring of enemy's shield and half their hull, so then I just finished him with missiles. The police generally saved me another three minutes of fighting and five or six missiles.
TL;DR:
Put 4 pips into SYS and pop chaff when you're being hit.
Move sideways away from their fire arc and barrel-roll.
Boost past them and recharge your WEP and ENG to be ready for another round.
If you're outgunned, wait for police to show up. (Operate in high-sec systems, until in a decent ship)
Alternatively:
Back into them, turn around and boost past them.
Run like hell.
[video=youtube;3DzsSrT9EHs]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3DzsSrT9EHs[/video]
Fly safe, commanders. And give them hell.
o7
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