21 Sept 2011

What makes a good fight?

The killmail is the token prize once the dust of combat settles; the trophy, the deal breaker, the ornament, the bragging rights. But what makes a good fight?

Generally speaking this could be a difficult question to answer, everybody has posted up the obligatory gfgf in local after a battle, each and every one of you has a different opinion on what is a good fight. When posting up the gf in local we don't always mean it in its true form, but to myself and many others it is the obligatory gentlemen's nod, the handshake after the fight. For example every single time I run into one of those annoying as hell insta-locking camps, if I have the chance before I am podded, I will offer up a gf in local. I definitely don't mean it in this instance, in fact what I am actually thinking is far more sinister but I enjoy the fact that your lame camp has not fazed me in any way, not made me angry, I will simply take the punishment of being -10 and go about my business somewhere else, acknowledging the 'effort' put into the 'fight' against me.

This isn't to say I don't fight back of course, I will always go guns blazing with the thermodynamics whacked up to 11 when it's a Thrasher camp I can't escape from, sometimes you can take one of them down with you. Which partly defeats the object of their fantasies somewhat, if only a little.


Speaking on a personal level, a good fight for me is when the odds are stacked against me and I am outnumbered in the manner that I will get a good fight but not so much that I'm blobbed into oblivion. Getting the balance right can be very rewarding. There are not many better feelings in combat than when you are on your own in an assault frigate or interceptor and there is a fight happening with three or four hostile frigates, all hell bent on screwing you over. Carefully managing range, target selection, overheating, angle of attack, capacitor and everything else whilst the damage is incoming can be an exhilarating experience. These fights really do get the heart thumping for me.

A recent engagement that springs to mind happened in Hagilur a few nights ago, sitting in an asteroid belt in my Wolf class Assault Frigate admiring the sun glistening off the rocks I was tackled by an Incursus. With other ships on scan it was obvious something else was going to come on in and start dancing along the barrels of my autocannons. In good time a Punisher and Rifter were on top of me. This was good, just what the doctor ordered, if you could bottle the adrenaline from these types of fights I think you could become a rich man. Not knowing if the other larger ships on scan were about to enter the field or if anything cloaky was about to announce itself really does keep you on the edge, especially as your armor starts disappearing into the blackness of space.


I also enjoy the more risky engagements, in particular I like to test the limits of the Rifter, whether that be in small gangs or whilst flying solo. Last night I was out flying in tandem with corpmate Kaeda Maxwell. I followed a Wolf to a plex and announced tackle, fully expecting a good fight and perhaps the Wolf to at the very least take one of us if not both of us down. The Wolf was hitting me heavy but I was able to rep up the damage with some mad bursts on the repper, the end result was the death of the Wolf and Kaeda announcing that she had only just got off a few volleys in the end after landing outside of an ideal range. Never underestimate the Rifter is the lesson learned here.


Another avenue that always engineers a good fight (well, unless broken, obviously) is the arranged 1v1. This particular engagement was an assault frigate duel that ended in my favour, I've had plenty that I have lost, plenty have been won, this one is the most recent I can remember and I remember it being a close fight, always the best type.

If I have a ship to hand and know that you're good for your word and I'm not doing something else I will always be up for a 1v1. Especially if you are in Metropolis or Heimatar where I have a ship stash that really needs burning I must admit. My corp members will also oblige to give you a good fight if you so wish, just ask nicely as some of them can bite.


It seems that the above ethics towards good fights run deep right through the Black Rebel Rifter Club. Sure, there will be times when we gank people, times when someone brings an ecm boat or other foul deed but the majority of the fights I see spring up on the killboard look like good honest fights to me. Not to put down the above kills, I like kills like that as much as any, we're all cutthroats after all.

Some that have caught the eye recently include some rather well known eve names. This fight and this one spring to mind, as well as this one. Zodiac Black is a young Rebel pilot who is ruthless when at the control of his Rifter, this Crow kill rewarding him with a nice pay packet from the loot.

It is also nice to see a few Dramiels showing up on the killboard too, whether it be one of ours scoring a kill or somebody else's that we have blown out of the sky. We're not really that fussy and neither were Saftsuze and Darkstar and Gul'Gotha when scoring these Dram notches to their kill count.


So in summary, the good fights are there for the taking, it is just how you apply your mindset towards pvp that shapes what good fights you engineer. You won't learn that much by being a cog in a machine of 50 others, so broaden your horizons a little bit and catch the solo/small gang bug. It might just be the best decision you ever made!





MB.

6 comments:

  1. I read your blog I've read your extensive guide (TY for sharing) and beleive me I've tried but I keep failing: I'm missing something Is it a looonnngg road or I'm not suited ?
    BTW should I have a 2nd account ?
    Advise pls

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  2. In my experience the amount of satisfaction you get from a kill is proportional to the amount of effort you expended in getting it.

    I recently got a Wolf from a pretty old Electus Matari char in my Malediction, I was pumped about for the next day or so :D

    So I much agree that fights where you go against the odds are always the best ones. I always find kills in gangs I was FC'ing at the time more satisfying as well as the cost me more effort and it feels like you fulfilled your obligation to the gang (get them kills).

    On the other side of the fence I was in a gate camping alliance for about 2 weeks and kills rarely felt less satisfying (so I left). It's also why null sec sov warfare hold no attraction to me, how fun can it really be to be one in several hundred pilots in a fleet? Your personal choices (if you have any?) and actions would have almost no impact on the outcome any way, I just don't see how that's gratifying in any way (unless you'd be the FC ofc).

    There's exceptions though I do enjoy the RvB, FHC & Agony Class Roams which tend to be fairly large groups, but that's not because of the kills. That's because of the lovely fun on comms and the fact that the Agony roams sometimes have awesome surprises and good medium sized gang fights (and some are really boring that happens too...)

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  3. A good fight is an even one, fought for fun, without logontraps, cyno hotdrops, (if in hisec) neutral repping alts, booster alts, or killmails.

    The killmail has ruined EVE PvP.

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  4. When (If) I have the time I'd love to come out and 1v1 with you or any of your corpmates. Getting my head handed to me is not a downer to my day. Finding someone who understands thrill of battle, the juice of challenge, is worth the risk of defeat.

    As to Fleet Battles, two of my best memories was while I was in Insurgency and once during the early days of FW.

    With the Insurgency battle we were about 100 jumping into a waiting camp of 350. We kept our cool, followed direction as possible but reacted intelligently when orders could not be followed, and we littered the field with their wrecks.

    During FW, we were in a frigate/destroyer heavy gang when we got jumped at a gate by an Archon and three (3) Abaddons. As I order to engaged I spammed FW channel for more back up. That day we claimed the Archon and a Phobos (that joined in).

    Don't remember the people I flew with or killed but I remember those battles!

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  5. hi kaeda!

    i agree , gf's are ofund when face with even or not so good odds for you ^^

    i remember a fight where it was me in a venge, 2 corpmates in arbi and maller against 4 pirate AFs (hawk , harpy , wolf , and jag) in a medium plex in the aset cluster , they couldn't kill my tank , but they nearly managed. they all died ofc ;)

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  6. A good fight is fighting outnumbered with short odds of success and coming out on top. Only outmatched fights are truly good fights.

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