Collecting a Curse
12th September 2010 – 3.44 pmLocal w-space has been mapped and today offers a convenient exit. I am told that a few jumps will get me to a Gallente market hub, which seems like a good excuse to go shopping for another new ship. I board a shuttle and head to empire space, passing through three w-space systems to do so. Two of the w-space systems are occupied but there seems to be no activity, according to my directional scanner, and I reach high-sec without seeing another soul. And I also fail to see any market activity, hardly any ships or modules for sale within the region. Being unfamiliar with Gallente space I have to ask colleagues where this market hub is and am pointed towards Dodixie, only a few jumps away but across a region border.
I know which ship I'm going to buy, but I don't quite know how to fit it competently yet. The Curse recon ship seems quite useful, its focus on neutralising a target's capacitor energy being a serious threat to actively tanked ships, and I am continuing my desire to add more flexibility to my section of the shared hangar. Whilst I could feasibly jump in to a colleague's Curse to bring its utility to a fight there is no guarantee that my skills would ensure all the fitted modules would be brought on-line. I have trained a broad selection of skills to help mitigate problems with piloting unfamiliar ships but I still lack training in guns, and Tech II missiles and drones, which can lead to awkward situations. Having my own Curse at least ensures that I can jump in to it and fly off immediately.
Fitting the Curse isn't too difficult either, really. The bonuses to energy neutralisers and vampires makes installing them an obvious choice to start with. Beyond that, I assume the Amarr ship will be best fitted with an armour tank and try to beef up the armour as best I can within my abilities. In a spare mid slot or two I fit tracking disrupters, which impair the ability of guns to track targets quickly, as the Curse improves the functioning of these modules too.
And then I see the size of the drone bay. The Curse is my first ship which will hold more than one flight of drones, offering the ability to launch more should some be destroyed or to swap from one type of drone to another dependent on the circumstances. I'm not used to this at all. I even take time to buy the drone specialisation skill books to let me use Tech II drones, although I will need to squeeze some training time in at some point to meet the prerequisite of scout drone operation V. Until then, I get two flights of light drones and two flights of medium drones, all basic Tech I models.
Content with my simplistic preliminary configuration I name my ship Curse of Penny and launch it for its maiden voyage, a short trip back to our tower in w-space. But the journey is curtailed when jumping through the wormhole to leave high-sec space lands me a few kilometres from a waiting Loki. I wouldn't say I'm prepared for this but having spent so long living in w-space I am far from flustered. I hold the session change cloak and then wait longer, zooming my external view in to my ship so that I can see how long the cloak remains active. The Loki strategic cruiser keeps circling the wormhole, no doubt waiting for my ship to reveal itself. I quickly dismiss any idea of making a break for the next wormhole, as the Loki would no doubt lock, disrupt, and chew me up before I get close to aligning. As soon as my cloak starts to drop I jump back to w-space, session change over. I may now be polarised but I am relatively safe in high-sec space.
I warp away from the wormhole and keep an eye on the privacy-busting local channel. The Loki pilot doesn't follow me. But I also won't be able to tell when he gets bored and moves away from the wormhole. I wait for a while, doing some chores like taking the plastic off the seats of the Curse and adding a stinky tree to the overview, and a friendly scout turns up and is kind enough to take a look at the wormhole where the Loki was lurking. The strategic cruiser has gone, either bored of waiting or deciding that a Curse pilot may have bigger friends to call on for protection. I warp my new recon ship back to the wormhole and jump through, finding the other side as clear as reported, and I get home without any more drama.
3 Responses to “Collecting a Curse”
I'm sure you've already realised this, but Tracking Disruptors, like all E-War modules, are mid-slot mods. If you have a low-slot mod it's most likely a Tracking Enhancer.
Definitely get T2 drone ASAP! They make a big difference.
My technicians got their hammers out and managed to fit the tracking disruptors in one way or another. [I've corrected my silly mistake, thanks for pointing it out.]
I haven't relied on drones much so far, but it is certainly an aspect of ship fittings that I need to improve to increase my combat options.
Speaking of drones - they represent probably your biggest threat. Both in terms of killing stuff and getting killed by it.
A Gila would be your nightmare.