Well the dry spell is over. I'm always seeing threads about solo pvp mostly from newer players who can't seem to find a good fight. GF meaning they have at least a 50/50 chance of winning. A lot of advice revolves around cruising systems like Amamke or Old Man Star. My personal favorite is the long roam. More often than not I will go on roams that exceed 40 or 50 jumps. Mainly traveling the pipe between hotspots like Amamke or OMS. I figure the more systems I hit the more likely I will find a fight. And to day it paid off.
Both fights are what I call the classic Pirate or Outlaw fight. Scan down a target in a belt, jump in and start shooting.
GiFoyle (Coercer v Rifter)There are certain ships that I will attack without hesitation the dessie class being one of them. The only thing about these ships that would give me pause is the age of the pilot, especially Thrasher pilots. I figure Thrashers are a bigger threat due their AC/Arty weapons. In that case I'm more concerned that they can match my range, neutralizing one of my advantages. But Coercers are blaster ships. I knew the key to this fight would be maintaining range.
GiFoyle Assessment:1. Not keeping an eye on overview. From my perspective it was a slow tackle from over 10km away. Not sure if he could have gotten away but it was worth a shot.
2. I'm not an expert on the Coercer but it looks like he was setup for PvE which is what he was doing, BUT in lowsec I think it's better to be PvP fit regardless of the activity.
Self-assessment:1. My initial range was to far, over 5km. I was not having a good effect on the target. I attribute this to my high transversal, once I turned off my AB I had a much greater effect on the target.
2. Once he hit armor I thought my SAR + cap management was pretty good. I was never in any real danger during the whole fight.
3. In the end I took his ship and pod. Of course I have to put this in perspective, he was a new pilot with what appeared to be no experience whatsoever.
Jajat (Punisher v Rifter)Arguably two of the best T1 frigs in the game. Jajat is a little older than TN but I didn't know that prior to the fight. T1 frigs are another class of ship that I do not hesitate to engage. When I jump into a system if there are ppl in local I will always hit my scanner (which stays open while I fly) just in case there's a target of opportunity nearby. In this case Jajat was nearby but the first place I checked, a belt, was empty. So I hit the nearest planet. I was lucky to land within about 8km of him and immediately activated my mods and started my approach. I treated him like he had blasters and figured as long as I was over 3km away he'd be into his falloff. It was the right call because he hardly dealt any damage.
Jajat Assessment:1. Don't linger at a planet for any length of time.
2. I can't comment on his fit because I believe it was a standard for a Punisher. I know that it's popular to fit AC's to a Puni but in this case he was fit like an Amarr.
Self-assessment:1. Jajat is an older toon with what appears to be a std Punisher fit so I was very pleased with the outcome.
2. I need to get my dps skills in order, I'm fighting with the bare minimum.
3. I also need to get my nav skills in order as well.
Lessons Learned:1. Always pay attention to local and your overview. Losing situational awareness puts you at disadvantage, seconds of dps could prove to be decisive.
2. My habit of setting up safes near planets really helps when it comes to scanning. Planets are generally in the center of belt clusters. If you are near the center belts are less likely to "bunch" up. I consider belts to be bunched up if my 5 degree scan still shows both belts, in other words I can't isolate a single belt on the scanner because it is to close to another belt.
3. Learning to use the scanner fast and efficiently is an essential pvp skill regardless of what space you are in.
