After much thought I have finally decided on the direction I have wanted to go. Basically after a bit of research I think that the best fit for me will be The Black Rabbit Academy. They seem to share the same ideals that I do and seem to be a generally likable group. My choice made I decided to make an impression before I applied. What better way to make an impression I think, than to shoot up a Black Rabbit.
My decision made, I thought on the ships available to me. I can currently fly any T1 frigate. So I thought on which one of these T1 frigates I would use. The only small weapon that I can fit T2 is Railguns/Blasters. That limited me to Gallente and Caldari frigates. Which is an advantage because I have level 5 in both of those types of frigates. Now, I have always quite enjoyed flying the Incursus. It is a versatile ship and it is frequently underestimated. Now to fit it out.
I thought of what I wanted. Good damage, decent tank, and some speed. For my weapons I chose blasters. Then I threw on a plate, DC and a mag stab. Finally I put on my standard tackle: Web and scram. Finally I put on an afterburner. I chose an afterburner because it is a common consensus that afterburners are better in low sec because there aren't any bubbles. I threw on some ammo, fitted a drone and I'm ready. Set course for a low sec area I believe that the Black Rabbits inhabit and flew on down.
Reaching my patrol area I set out on my hunt. Making some safes I perused the ships in my area. I played a bit of hide and seek with a Vagabond with a probing alt flying around. Eventually he got bored and went away. As soon as the Vagabond left I saw a new name appear in local, Otto Jarvis. The name looked familiar to me. After the fight I would realize where I had seen it before. I hit my D-scan and noted that he was in a Harpy Assault frigate. I'm fairly familiar with the Harpy. I know how I would fit it and I figured I would probably get chewed up and spit out. That didn't matter to me though. What counted for me was the struggle, the excitement of engaging another in battle.
I warped to an ice field that had no rats in it and waited. Sure enough a harpy warps in at 50km. Engage Afterburners and head towards him at an angle. Lock target and get ready to web and scram when he comes into range. Then I see him turn, zooming around me on MWD. His disruptor activates and I see him start pounding me at range. I try cutting his orbit to get into range, figuring if I can grab him with my web and scram He's done. My blasters should finish him in short order. I watch my shields evaporate, my armor slowly eaten through. Still thinking I can grab him I try flying directly away so I can pull a reversal on him. Unfortunately my platted frigate has nowhere near the agility of even an unwieldy assault ship. Down into structure I start to realize I'm done for. I realized too late that I wasn't going to make it... too slow to get my pod into warp I notice he has a disruptor on me and a convo invitation has popped up.
Knowing that the Black Rabbits honor their ransoms I immediately ask "How much for the pod?" The response comes back "30 mil for a 2008 char. You have 30 seconds." Frantically I right click on him and can't find the stupid give money for a few seconds. "20 seconds." I find the stupid Give money and click it and quickly put in 30,000,000 isk and hit send. Otto removes his disruptor and I warp off to a random planet, then bounce to the nearest station, dock up and catch my breath.
After docking up I got to talking to Otto. He congratulated me on my piloting (which I didn't think I had done that well considering I was looking at a pod). We got to talking about his setup. It does very little EFT damage, but it excels at what matters. What really matters in solo PVP, or any PVP for that matter that doesn't involve just a slug match is the ability to dictate range. This doesn't necessarily mean that you have to have a long range fit. It could mean that you have a short range fit. However, if you do have a short range fit, it is very important that you can get to your optimal range for fighting and keep yourself there. You can have the most awesome setup imaginable. A huge tank and extreme DPS, but if you can't get your DPS into the range to effectively apply it, you aren't going to come out with a kill. In fact, with my experience being quite telling. You most likely won't survive. This, I believe is the real reason that Minmatar ships are one of the perennial favorites for PVP. They are generally the fastest ships out there, and can apply their damage instantly and across a varied range.
So, next time, before you start a new fit, ask yourself what you are hunting, and what you will do to ensure that you are within your optimal fighting envelope.
On a side note, I am finding that solo fighting, while not the most safe way to PVP, forces you to learn from every little mistake. There is no one to blame for your failure except for yourself. Even a blob that kills you on a gate can teach you many things.
