I am fond of the Vexor. It’s a good cheap drone boat with a lot of potential for fun. These days, if I’m soloing in dangerous areas or if I’m joining a fleet and they allow cruisers, the first ship I will reach for is a Vexor.
Recently, I was fitting out a Vexor in EFT when I remembered that I had been podded in one a long time ago. In fact, it was the first time I had been podded. I actually remember that fight.
I was going into lo-sec to do a mission early in my EVE life when I was ambushed by a Broadsword. I wasted precious seconds trying to warp out while I was warp disrupted. I finally decided to target my assailant and unleash my drones, but it was too late. My reflexes were so slow that I couldn’t even get my pod to safety. Below is the killmail from that death.
2008.09.28 01:49:00
Victim: Fah
Corp: Ethos Heavy Industries
Alliance: NONE
Faction: NONE
Destroyed: Vexor
System: Egghelende
Security: 0.4
Damage Taken: 5812
Involved parties:
Name: Cesmirani (laid the final blow)
Security: -10.0
Corp: Eternal Perseverance
Alliance: NONE
Faction: NONE
Ship: Broadsword
Weapon: 220mm Vulcan AutoCannon II
Damage Done: 5812
Destroyed items:
Medium Neutron Saturation Injector I
Reactor Control Unit I
Nanoelectrical Co-Processor I
250mm Railgun I
100mm Reinforced Titanium Plates I
Antimatter Charge M, Qty: 78
250mm Carbide Railgun I, Qty: 2
Tungsten Charge M, Qty: 2081 (Cargo)
Small Tractor Beam I
Ogre I (Drone Bay)
Hammerhead I (Drone Bay)
Antimatter Charge M, Qty: 2118 (Cargo)
Dropped items:
Uranium Charge M, Qty: 1857 (Cargo)
Antimatter Charge M, Qty: 39
Salvager I
10MN Afterburner I
What an awful fit. Did I really fit a Vexor like that? No wonder I had problems with the level 2 missions. At the time, I didn’t know about EFT or EVEMon, or the wealth of information at BattleClinic or on the forums.
These days, I probably wouldn’t use a Vexor for missions. I’d probably choose an Ishkur for lower level missions. For PvP however, I might fit a vexor like this:
[Vexor, PvP]
1600mm Reinforced Rolled Tungsten Plates I
Damage Control II
Energized Adaptive Nano Membrane II
Energized Adaptive Nano Membrane II
Warp Scrambler II
Fleeting Propulsion Inhibitor I
10MN MicroWarpdrive I
Small Energy Neutralizer I
Light Neutron Blaster II, Void S
Light Neutron Blaster II, Void S
Light Neutron Blaster II, Void S
Light Neutron Blaster II, Void S
Hybrid Collision Accelerator I
Hybrid Burst Aerator I
[empty rig slot]
Hammerhead II x5
Warrior II x5
Hobgoblin II x5
I’ll swap out the small neut for a medium neut when I have have the skills. This plate fit can’t handle medium guns, which is probably ok as most of my damage comes from drones anyway.
The reason I wrote post was because of my shock at how awful my fits and tactics were when I first started playing EVE, I would basically just slap whatever fit on a hull without thinking about effectiveness too much. I would then go out and mash keys until either the enemy was dead or I was dead.
It is possible that many or even most new players go through this process. Is it a problem? Maybe not. When I was in my early twenties, I was reckless and ignorant. I look back and shake my head at some of the stupid crap I did. Since EVE is a bit like a life simulation, maybe we can expect the same type of progression.