[this is a post I wrote on our corp forums after someone asked something about solo/small scale PVP, because he was a fleet-kinda-guy himself]
Small scale PVP is a lot harder because you’ve got to make your own decisions in combat, you can’t rely on a FC to tell you what to do. And even though small skirmish fleets can still have an FC, you still need to use your own flight skills and decision-making-abilities to make it through.
There’s basically 3 types of engagements in EVE PVP.
1. Ganks, one or two targets, easily outgunned and outtanked (often PvE targets?)
2. Gangs, be it small or big.
3. Blobs.
Point 1 and 3 speak for themselves. Point 1 is warp in and kill, solo or not. Point 3, blobs, you generally don’t want to fight this, with a few exceptions if you’re elite n shit, make pick off a few targets and GTFO before they get you (tis fun I tell you!). Fighting other smallish gangs is where it is at. And with the current state or EVE, you’ll still be outnumbered easily. So if you’re outgunned, you gotta outwit them: meta-gaming. That MWD will get you in or out a lot faster, but an AB will keep you going when you’re being scrammed by that Frig. What if you fit both? Jump in a Slave set or Snake set to exploit your ships strengths.
YAY OR NAY!
Again, in small scale PVP you’ve got to make your own decisions, and you need to base those decisions on your EVE knowledge. You’ve played EVE long enough to know what ship does what, and how efficient they can be, and what their weakness is. But you’ve got to apply that knowledge literally in a smaller scale.
In a fleet fight, a bounce of Zealots can rip through a Rapier in seconds, but when there’s only 3 of you, or maybe solo, a Rapier can cause some danger.
If an enemy gang had either a Falcon or a Blackbird with them, which would you rather fight? Maybe the Blackbird because it’s got a terrible tank, and relative low ECM strength bonus. Or the Falcon, because it’s got no ECM range bonus so you could kite the battle? Are you agile and fast enough to kite a battle? Or do you have an ECCM and go in balls deep? Maybe set drones on it while you’re being jammed.
Solo PVP and small scale PVP is about making instant decisions. Know what you are capable of, and what not, and know what your enemy is capable of and what exactly not.
INTERNET SPACESHIPS!
Personally I’ve always preferred buffer fits, and nano/shield to be more specific. I’ve done most my EVE carreer as a lowsec PVPer, and I believe this is where you can really exploit the small scale meta gaming to a full extent. That means 500m fits on a 200m shiphull, 4b pods and T3 boost alts, yes, but it pays off if you know how to use these tools.
Again, preferable fits are buffer, and relative easy to fit. Rule of thumb is gank n tank. Get as much damage out of your ship while keeping a stable amount of EHP. But buffer and active tank both got their up’s and downs.
Buffer is nice but you’ve got to kill your enemy before they kill you, but you can generally focus more on DPS, especially when shield tanks.
Active tanking can be very efficient if you pick your targets correctly, but once they out-DPS your tank you’ll be done very soon. The only thing with active tanking is that you’re rather limited to certain ships with a specific tank bonus, ie Myrmidon or Cyclone, as cheap examples. (anyone did Marauder PVP yet?)
“PRIMARY IS … AS SOON AS HE DECLOAKS …” (actual Mr Digs EXE FC quote)
Hard to say anything sensible about this. Many people have writing excellent guide lines when to primary what when, and which above others. But in a small scale you’ve got to take advantage of what’s there. Yeah you could go for that Keres that’s got you pointed and kiting you at 30km, but you could also melt the Caracal being scram range right next to you. Make wipe out a couple of squishy Destroyers first before taking on the BC. Or if you can gather enough DPS, you might want to take out the 3-months old BS pilot first before taking on the Navy Cruiser flying around it?
LOLZ OMG PWND FAILZ LOLS
The best small scale skirmish PVP happen when you’re flying in your gang of bros and you don’t even need to tell each other what to do, because you all act on our own towards the same thing. You ask “we gonna take this fight?”. If the answer is Yes, and the fight happens and hopefully win without the need of coordinating anything, because you know what your wingmen are flying, and you know their capabilities, and they know yours.
And frankly, sometimes you just gotta take some risks. Last week I flew my solo Afterburner Vagabond into 3 AFs at zero, knowing well they could really hurt me, only to find out a 4th warped in, and a Falcon decloaked! I killed 1 AF before all the others ran away with the Falcon in deep armor.
And I’ve used this example countless times, but my best wingman was Kubiq, and him and me would take on 2 v 12 without voice comms, we’d just type primaries in chat, nothing more, and get out with 10 kills. I knew exactly what he was doing, and he knew exactly what I was doing. We knew what we could, and more importantly, what we could not.
We would fly two Curses with a 48km point range and 40km neut range taking on everything from small to big. And later on we’d fly Machariels against literally everything.
