Curses! I'm in my Pod - Episode 23

Cloaky Dual Hll Brutix Basics

Last PVP Report – January to August 2016 Review

This is going to be my last PVP report. Why? Because it’s enough… I started this theme in order to analyze my experiences and show other people the stuff I find around the whole EVE Universe, but after 8 month I have more than enough data for a reliable conclusion.

Even more so because I’ve been using almost exclusively the Dual Hull Brutix in 0.0, so this data really shows what that combination is capable of. It was really fun to keep track on my adventures in such an odd way, but I’ve already been in pretty much any possible situation so after all this time, I feel I don’t have anything new to add to my previous monthly analysis.

In this article I’m going to make a review from all the data since January, most probably repeating some conclusions I had already gotten in previous month, talk a bit about my perspective on each Category or more relevant ship types and after today, I’ll shut the hell about it once and for all!! Well… I’ll still post some stories on my adventures, but no more spreadsheets about PVP.

1^st of all, during these 8 month I lost around 130 Brutix. ONE HUNDRED AND THIRTY BRUTIX!!!! Loss Value on killboard was around 15 billion, but considering I insured all my ships, the real lost Isk value was around 10.5 billion. (Quick math: A Brutix costs 120mil + 15mil insurance cost - 55mil insurance payout = 80 mil real Brutix cost). I flew some other stuff, both nothing as relevant

Even though I never addressed it previously, my Isk Ratio Efficiency was a marginally above 80%. Not terrible if you run around alone in a couple of fat brawling BCs I’d say.

Next 4 pages show how many ships I’ve killed, how much isk I’ve destroyed and how many of those ships types showed in my killmails. 

This allows for a great general picture on what I find and choose to engage. I’ll address each particular Category instead and comment on those.

ASSAULT BATTLECRUISERS       

 

These ships are hardly used these days and that is a pity because their damage potential is huge. Usually this class provides great killmails too because people don’t know how to use them properly.

The Sniper Assault Battlecruiser – These can be mostly ignored if they have the backup of a small fleet. The Hull Brutix has enough EHP to take on a few good hits. If the Sniper Assault Battlecruiser shows up alone, it can even be surprised by the use of the Hull Brutix MJD and provide an easy killmail.

The Typical Shield Assault Battlecruiser - A single Typical Shield Assault Battlecruiser is not a problem, as the Hull Brutix has enough EHP to resist damage for some time and can MDJ away from danger easily. Also, by overloading the MWD the Hull Brutix can develop enough momentum to catch an Assault Battlecruiser that comes in close, easily wining if manages to get a scram. In a small gang, the Typical Shield Assault Battlecruiser needs to be primaried, even before small tackle with scrams, or its sheer DPS will make short work of the Hull Brutix really really fast. The Talos is slightly more popular, but all generally all Assault Battlecruisers are to be treated the same way.

The Armor Talos – This one has been made a bit more popular due to the recent video released by the series “Zkill Guide”, but even this variation will melt fairly fast. Even better, this one comes at me and does not need being chased. Due to its increased EHP, using both Hull Brutix in order to take it down fast is strongly advised.

ASSAULT FRIGATES

Assault Frigates are hardly ever seen, mostly because they’ve been surpassed by T3 Destroyers in every way. They can be considered a problem because are usually fitted with scrams, thus preventing the Hull Brutix to MJD away. If they have a long point instead, they can be ignored for a target that actually has a scram. All of them die fast under a single Hull Brutix fire.

The Harpy - This one is usually somewhat more resilient due to increased natural resists, so might take a bit longer to kill than expected.

BATTLESHIPS, FACTION BATTLESHIPS, MARAUDERS

The whole class is a problem, even when facing one solo, as all PVP Battleships are pretty much brawl fit. Their biggest strength lies not in the decent EHP or decent DPS, but in their ability to field Heavy Neuts, hitting where the Hull Brutix is more vulnerable: The lack of Capacitor Injection.

 Not only that, a new powerful web has been made available to the Battleship class, thus making then even better brawlers. Orbiting at close range to avoid their tracking has been made impossible for a Battlecruiser (even for a MWD frigate).

A solo PVP Battleship can still be engaged if it only has 1 Heavy Neut and if the 10 Vespa ECM drones the Dual Hull Brutix carry manage a few lucky good jamms. Even then, the Hull Brutix will be at a severe disadvantage and in need of some luck. Marauders cannot be killed by Dual Hull Brutix due to Bastion mode.

The appearance of a Battleship among a small gang is usually reason enough to prevent me from engaging.

BLACK OPS

If you run around for long enough, you’re bound to get hotdropped by a whole gang and die. The only counter is not being there! Black Ops gangs are not very usual, so hardly a big problem.

On the other hand, the Dual Hull Brutix should be able to take a single Black Ops (if a single Black Ops is crazy to engage alone), depending on how many Heavy Neuts it has, pretty much like a normal T1 Battleship.

CARRIER, SUPERCARRIERS

Oh Carriers… These have been rebalanced recently, so everyone wants to use their “new” toy, thus being brought to many many engagements. Quite honestly, a Carrier would destroy a Hull Brutix before the rebalance as easily as after, but popularity spiked nevertheless. Their proliferation is also a side effect of reduced jump ranges and jump fatigue all capital pilots are subjected, so people resorting to Carriers can fly them with almost full impunity, making them really popular.

Fortunately most people are not good at setting up decent traps, and bring the Carrier while I can still avoid the fight. Needless to say that once one lands on grid I don’t stick around for too long, as they can project huge damage a few thousand kilometers away…

Occasionally you also get hotdropped, but this happens only very rarely.

I’ve not killed any Carrier or Supercarrier with my Dual Hull Brutix, but hey… hope is the last one to die!

COMBAT BATTLECRUISERS, FACTION BATTLECRUISERS

Combat Battlecruisers have also recently been rebalanced, but unlike other ships, their popularity did not spiked overnight, but instead got used more and more over time. My guess is that people like to use them as a midpoint between a T1 Cruiser and a HAC.

Snipping Combat Battlecruisers – These are more popular as fleet doctrines for noob friend alliances and will be seen mostly in large fleets. They are rarely brought to small gang warfare, but if they are, they can be surprised with the use of the MDJ, but will have more tank than an Assault Battlecruiser.

Brawling Combat Battlecruisers – In a small gang environment, all Combat Battlecruisers are to be expected to be brawl fit and to have a scram. It’s of little matter if they are Armor, Shield, Hull Tanked or Active Self Repair fit. The procedure is to get both Hull Brutix onto the primary Combat Battlecruiser and kill it as fast as possible. They will all go down pretty much in an equivalent way as a single Combat Battlecruiser cannot withstand the Dual Hull Brutix for long, no matter how is fitted.

Faction Battlecruisers are nothing more than Combat Battlecruisers with steroids are should be assumed to be brawl fit for the most part, but they can be engaged as any other Brawling Combat Battlecruisers. Exception is the Brutix Navy Issue as follows.

The Hull Tanked Brutix Navy Issue – This nasty faceoff will have an insane amount of EHP, even compared to other Factions Battlecruisers, with great damage application. The Dual Hull Brutix can take on a single Brutix Navy Issue (10 Vespa ECM drones will be really handy to mitigate damage), but if this ship shows up among a small gang, I’ll avoid the engagement as it’s impossible to kill it fast enough with any sort of backup nearby.

COMMAND BATTLECRUISERS   

These are hardly seen as people rarely use them… Exception is the Sleipnir as it’s still very popular.

The Dual Hull Brutix can take on a single Command Battlecruiser, but finding one of these alone and with no backup is extremely rare.

The appearance of a Command Battlecruiser in a small gang is reason enough to prevent me from taking on the engagement.

COMMAND DESTROYERS 

          

Command Destroyers have been a somewhat recent addition to the game and are not as popular as I expected. They have an incredible tactical advantage by teleporting foes, but players generally don’t how to explore that to the fullest (thankfully for me).

During 8 month I hardly been teleported against my will more than 2 or 3 times, but they can prove to be troublesome. Usually I dislike facing them, especially while I’m still accessing the situation in order to decide if I should take on a fight or not. Being teleported or forced off field to avoid being teleported, before I made my assessment on the upcoming fight is really really annoying.

Command Destroyers will die to a Hull Brutix, but as they are quite resilient, it will take some time to kill, so using both Brutix is advisable, but not indispensable.

I’m glad I don’t face this ship class more often, as an impending unwanted teleport would increase by tenfold the variables needed to assess in a fight, and it’s already hard enough without one of those buggers next to me.

ECM FRIGATES, ECM CRUISERS

ECM ships are not as common as I initially expected, making my life as an “Alone Player” considerably easier. Usually these ships are relegated to alts, so mostly deployed against me if some player has several toons available.

The Griffin and Kitsune are somewhat easy to kill if I manage to set my drones on them, or if they simply miss a crucial jamm cycle while I’m close. For this reason, the Dual Hull Brutix can engage if a hostile gang has low DPS and is only supported by a squishy ECM frigate.

The Blackbird can also be killed with some ease by the Dual Hull Brutix, mostly because players never put any decent tank on it and if it fails to jamm one of the two Hull Brutix, it will die.

On the other hand, the Falcon and the Rook are pretty much invulnerable to the Hull Brutix, because these ships have superior natural resistances and are usually fitted with a decent tank, so they will manage a jamm before the Dual Hull Brutix can kill them. These ships have the bad habit of making a surprise entry, due to Cloak/D-Scan Invisibility, so are hard to assess before taking a fight. If I do suspect that a T2 ECM cruiser is about to be used I’ll avoid the fight.

FACTION CRUISERS

Faction Cruisers are extremely popular, and probably the ship class I find the most besides Interceptors. Fortunately, the Hull Brutix can take on any Faction Cruiser. They tend to be fairly easy to kill if caught and are usually expensive ships, often faction fitted, providing a great isk/kill ratio if you care about it. Most times is advisable to use both Hull Brutix to kill them faster, but not indispensable. Even though they have lots of peculiar characteristics, there are basically two types of Faction Cruisers.

Kitting Faction Cruisers – If the Hull Brutix manages to get a scram on one of those (hostile pilots often make mistakes), it will kill it. If the Hull Brutix is unable to catch the Kitting Faction Cruiser, just burn back to gate to jump out or use the MJD to get into safety.

Brawling Faction Cruisers – These ships, even if fitted for brawl action, are still very squishy and will generally die to the Hull Brutix, but unlike their kitting kind, one does not needs to chase them.

Neut Stratios – The only Faction Cruiser that needs an extra precaution is the Neut Stratios, as it will deplete the Hull Brutix capacitor fast. In order to engage this Stratios variation, both Brutix are indispensable. Once a scram has been achieved with the 1^st Brutix, the 2^nd needs to be nearby to also apply the secondary scram and DPS, before the 1^st one gets completely capped out.

T1 FRIGATES, FACTION FRIGATES, T1 DESTROYERS, T2 ELECTRONIC FRIGATES

There is a lot of variety concerning all these frigates/destroyers, but while engaging with a Hull Brutix only 1 factor really matters.

“Is that ship scramming me?”

If it is, then it needs to die, and all of these will die fairly well and fast to a Hull Brutix. It’s advisable to load Antimatter ammo due to increased tracking and taking some Improved Drop Drug to maximize tracking against small targets. Bear in mind that ECM Frigates are a separate class in my book, as described above.

The Sentinel – The only frigate that requires a bit more concern is the Sentinel, as it has the ability to neut the Hull Brutix over some time. While its appearance is not enough to make me avoid the fight, I’ll need to make sure that I can kill it fast or that I can deagress and jump out once I get neuted.

HEAVY ASSAULT CRUISERS

HACs… I hate HACs… They surpass a Battlecruiser in pretty much every way (Speed, Resistances, Sig Radius, sometimes even DPS and Raw EHP) and are also fairly popular in fleets or small engagements. A HAC is the perfect counter for the Hull Brutix (unlike a Faction Cruiser even though many people seem to think that way) and all of them are dangerous, even the less popular ones.

While the appearance of a HAC is not enough to make me avoid an engagement, it will make me a lot less confident in winning and I need to assess properly what kind of HAC it is before engaging.

Long story short: I need both Hull Brutix to shoot the same HAC in order to win. Even then, I need to make sure the HAC does not have much backup, because even under fire from the two Hull Brutix it will take considerable time to go down.

In a small gang environment, I’ll avoid engaging if a Brawling HAC is present. If a kitting HAC is there, I might engage focusing on killing some other high value isk target (like a Faction Cruiser if present) and then bail by MJDing away or by deploying ECM drones. All HACs can be killed, except for the following one:

The Afterburner Large Faction Capacitor Battery Dual Rep Deimos – This Deimos variation is IMPERVIOUS to the two Hull Brutix, even under the strain of 2 Medium Neutralizers. I suspect the equivalent Afterburning Vagabond variation to also be impervious to both Hull Brutix, but haven’t engaged any so far.

Did I already say I hate HACs?

HEAVY INTERDICTORS

HICs have been rebalanced recently and their popularity spiked overnight, making my life as an alone PVPer harder. Huge amount of EHP and a the ability to Scram up to 30km, rendering my MJD worthless and even managing to lock me out of my own damage application.

A HIC is probably the subcap ship that takes longer to kill for the Hull Brutix, even more than a Battleship, so killing one near a gate before it deagresses and jumps out or before backup arrives is almost impossible for the two Hull Brutix.

Unlike the HAC (that can be found flying around solo or with little backup) the HIC is a support ship, meaning it’s never found alone and always has heavy backup. If it has no nearby backup to be seen, then it’s a cyno hotdropper, not making things any easier…

I struggled a lot to engage gangs where a HIC was present, focusing on killing some other juicy squishier target an then disengaging, either by deagressing or resorting to ECM drones. Even though this tactic is possible, it’s hard to achieve without losing one of the two Brutix due to the heavy backup HICs tend to have.

Lately I’ve just avoided engagements where a HIC is present. Oddly enough, I saw their usage drop in my most recent travels. People usually hate flying support ships (logi and ECM in a small gang environment are mostly relegated to alts) so people might be avoiding using HICs has they have little DPS… Can’t say for sure.

INTERCEPTORS AND INTERDICTORS       

These classes of ships are extremely popular, and it’s hard to find a gang in Null Sec without one of them. In fact, the reason I use a couple of BC with an MJD instead of a HAC or Faction Cruiser, is, among other, the popularity of interceptors and how easily 2 of them can pin down a Deimos on each side of a gate until backup arrives.

Long Point Interceptors - The Hull Brutix can ignore them. They will not apply any DPS and the MJD can be used to bail out with no issues. Some attention needs to be taken in order to make sure the Hull Brutix is aligned to a celestial before hitting the MJD. Using the MJD while not being properly aligned can cause for the Hull Brutix to be caught 100km away from the original location, before it has a chance to warp out. It’s not funny when that happens…

Scram Interceptors – These need to be killed fast, in order to make sure the MJD can be used to bail. These ships die really fast, but can be a problem is heavy backup is close by and if I’m jumping gates to make a distance between a set of ships and their respective backup.

Long Point and Scram Interceptors – These are really troublesome in the hands of a pilot that actually knows how to fly an interceptor. A flyby can be made in order to hit the Hull Brutix with one well-placed Scram cycle and prevent the MJD from activating, while keeping a long point on the Hull Brutix, all of this while being able to also avoid incoming damage. Stilletos, Maledictions and Raptors are the Interceptors more likely to have both Long Point and Scram. 

Interdictors make great kills for the Hull Brutix as they are 99% Scram fit and willingly come close into the Brutix Scram range. An Interdictor will die easily to a solo Hull Brutix, and while their bubbles can drag the Hull Brutix off its path (the usual basic rules of null sec travel must be attended) the MJD can allow the Hull Brutix to escape warp disruption bubbles, considering the Sabre itself (or any other ship) is not scramming it.

RECONS AND STEALTH BOMBERS

Stealth Bombers can usually be ignored by people flying around in Frigates and Cruisers, as their speed and small Sig Radius will mitigate most of their damage. That is NOT the case for the Hull Brutix. In fact, a Stealth Bomber decloaking nearby and applying DPS onto the Hull Brutix is a major threat and needs to be dispatched quickly, pretty much in a similar way to an Assault Battlecruiser. Fortunately Stealth Bombers are very vulnerable to drones and, unlike Interceptors, lack the speed to speed tank light drones, so the proper procedure against this class is to send out light drones at them as fast as possible and hope they warp off or even die.

Recons are usually bad news due to their D-Scan Immunity or Cloak, but usually have low DPS and lack the EHP of a HIC. Even with their ability to surprise foes, Recons lack the factor to extremely unbalance a fight like an ECM or Logi ship.

Long Point Recons – As most ships with long points, these can be ignored for the most part as will have low dps and will probably keep themselves outside the Hull Brutix Scram range.

Scram Recons – These are a problem, as it usually means an extra Scrambling ship with a surprise effect. The Scram Recon itself won’t win the fight, but might prove too hard to kill if enough backup is in the field.

There is an exception to what I said above. The next 2 recons will extremely unbalance a fight against the Dual Hull Brutix:

The Curse and the Pilgrim – Both ships are particularly popular and dangerous due to their Neuts and the ability to cap out a Hull Brutix REALLY fast. Fortunately, these 2 Recons can also be found roaming solo or with little backup, due to their decent ability to kill a wide range of targets alone or with little help from other. The procedure to engage these Recons is similar as dealing with the Neut Stratios. Get a scram with the 1^st Brutix, bring in the 2^nd Brutix fast before the 1^st one runs out of cap, deploy ECM drones and hope for the best. In a small gang environment, these cap hungry ships need to be primary, even before small tackle with scrams. Both Hull Brutix are indispensable while dealing with a Curse or Pilgrim.

T1 CRUISERS

This class is very popular used mostly by new players, but some veterans like using them too. Nevertheless, only 2 or 3 types (Caracal and Vexor mainly) are used in a small gang environment. All these ships are inferior in all remarks to the Hull Brutix and will be nothing more than an easy snack if caught, no matter how they’re fitted.

T1 Cruisers are considered disposable by most people, so its pilots will be eager to engage providing pleasant fights, even if not isk efficient. Several T1 Cruisers teaming up together will bring a Hull Brutix down, so they should not be fully underestimated.

People running around in a T1 Cruiser are usually saying “Hey, I want to exchange some ammo, but don’t really want any major consequence to my wallet, so… let’s do it!”. Quite a change from the usual mentality found in “normal” combat circumstances.

T1 LOGISTICS, T2 LOGISTICS

Logistics ships are really NOT that common in small gang environment. I can’t recall finding a T1 or T2 frigate logistics and T1 or T2 Logistic Cruisers are even rarer than ECM ships. I cannot really understand why, as Logistics ships are more reliable than ECM in my opinion. I guess people just want to fly DPS ships, and that suits me fine as more Logistics ships would make my life considerably tougher.

If a T1 or T2 Logistic Cruiser is present in a gang, I’ll avoid the engagement completely as I know I won’t have a chance of killing anything worth my time. Even the logistic ship itself will be hard to catch, and if a gang is using Logistics they will probably have more than 1…

T3 CRUISERS, T3 DESTROYERS

T3 Cruisers are usually too hard to kill for two Hull Brutix. They will have lots of backup, as people aren’t usually brave/stupid enough to bring such and expensive ship alone, or are heavily faction fitted, easily withstanding the two Hull Brutix. In a small gang environment, I will not engage if a T3 Cruiser is present. There is kind of T3 Cruiser not too harsh to kill, but nowadays is harder and harder to find it.

The Cap Injection dependent T3 Cruiser – T3 Cruisers can be molded in order achieve great capacitor recharge and be capable to run expensive faction armor/shield repair mods, even under Neut pressure. After the recent Capacitor Batteries rebalance, cap stable T3 Cruisers have proliferated making it almost impossible to die to two Hull Brutix. Nevertheless, a lonely “Old School” T3 Cruiser dependent on cap charges will struggle under 2 Medium Neuts and 1000 DPS combined from both Brutix. Vespa ECM drones will help mitigate incoming damage. Unfortunately, this variation is very very rare to find alone.

T3 Destroyers have rolled over any ship smaller than them, obliterating the use of T2 and Faction Frigates. Long Point T3 Destroyers can be ignored, as pretty much any ship that relies on a Long Point, but Scram T3 Destroyers need to be primaried in a small gang environment.

Scram T3 Destroyers – All of those are to be dealt in a similar way, but Antimatter ammo and Drop Booster Drugs are needed to maximize tracking. All T3 Destroyers are very resilient and will take considerable time to die. In a small gang environment, using the 2^nd Hull Brutix to double web and maximize DPS onto the same T3 Destroyer is indispensable.

T3 Destroyers can often be found roaming solo as they are near perfect solo ships. Their pilots also tend to be overconfident and will happily come into scram range of the Hull Brutix, thinking it will be an easy kill, only realizing too late they made a mistake, thus proving easy killmails. There is one variation a bit nastier than the usual Scram T3 Destroyer:

The 10mn AB Scram Svipul/Confessor – These variations are slightly more annoying, mostly because they are harder to track with guns, are fitted with Cap Injection mitigating the influence of the Medium Neutralizer and can disengage with more ease. While the Hull Brutix does not needs to be worried about its own survival against this solo ship, bringing the 2^nd Hull Brutix does gets handy, because a 2^nd web, a 2^nd neut and DPS from a different angle will help a lot pinning and bringing down those little buggers, preventing them from disengaging.

OK, and from now on, no more PVP statistics, just old fashioned stories. Might even make an episode if I find a way of clearing the static from my new PC’s microphone… We shall see.

Thanks for accompanying me in this 8 month endeavor and I hope you guys like to undock and go out there as much as I do!

PS: A yes… I forgot to mention (in this article at least) that my Hull Brutix have cloaks! Some people like to make a big fuss about it, so hey, make me a favor: Go out there and use your election unorthodox ship!