I was genuinely excited for this vessel. Granted, it resembles a TV antennae more than a space faring destroyer, but how do you not get excited by a fast, shield tanked missile boat? Well, you make it not fast, that's how.
I should preface this post by saying I haven't flown it in anger yet, at least not on Tranquility. When I was looking for stuff to kill on Singularity however, its lack of pace was glaringly obvious. Anyone I was getting the better of was able to simply fly beyond my point range and warp away. The Garmur I did manage to kill wasn't pointed for the last three salvos I fired at him, so he's only got himself to blame for that.
So clearly the long point, light missile variant is only going to be useful in a small gang environment where you have other fleet members laying the hard tackle. That's fine, it's how I prefer to fight anyway, but it means as a solo vessel you need to commit and commit hard.
The Hawkbill - Take the double ancillary shield boosting tank of a Hawk and add the dual web range control of a Hookbill.
Ballistic Control System II
Ballistic Control System II
5MN Cold-Gas Enduring Microwarpdrive
Medium Ancillary Shield Booster
Medium Ancillary Shield Booster
J5 Prototype Warp Disruptor I
Fleeting Propulsion Inhibitor I
Fleeting Propulsion Inhibitor I
Rocket Launcher II
Rocket Launcher II
Rocket Launcher II
Rocket Launcher II
Rocket Launcher II
Small Energy Neutralizer II
Small Processor Overclocking Unit I
Small Anti-EM Screen Reinforcer II
Small Anti-EM Screen Reinforcer II
Maximum DPS is 327 at under 9 km's and if you're being kited you can still hit out to 25 km's for 218 DPS with Javelins in Sharpshooter mode. In that scenario, the 2.5 second reload time to switch ammo seems less gimmicky and possibly useful. Ideally however, you are locking onto your target with both webs and maintaining range at around 8 km's. Long point means they'll be blowing their signature radius up to try and get close enough to you, allowing your rockets to hit for full damage. In the instance that you're scrammed by an AB Frigate or Destroyer, you're really going to have to manage your boosters well to get off reloads and use your twin webs to get to your ideal range.
It's far from perfect, I know. I'd really prefer to have an Afterburner on there but it's just so damn slow without the MWD that I can't justify it. If you try this fit with success, let me know about it.
Small gang scenarios I see a much brighter future for the Jackdaw. With the fitting requirement of shield extenders changing as they have, the Large Shield Extender Svipul is once again, a very viable and tough tackler. Take a few of these and a handful of kiting Jackdaws through a Q003 connection to NullSec, and you're going to have some fun. For such an engagement, we came up with the following.
Dual Damp Kitey-Fag
Ballistic Control System II
Overdrive Injector System II
5MN Y-T8 Compact Microwarpdrive
Medium Ancillary Shield Booster
Medium F-S9 Regolith Compact Shield Extender
Warp Disruptor II
Phased Muon Sensor Disruptor I
Phased Muon Sensor Disruptor I
Light Missile Launcher II
Light Missile Launcher II
Light Missile Launcher II
Light Missile Launcher II
Light Missile Launcher II
Expanded Probe Launcher [Offline]
Small Ancillary Current Router II
Small Auxiliary Thrusters II
Small Anti-EM Screen Reinforcer II
Kiting at the edge of point range, you travel at around 2.5K m/s, up to 3.5K over heated, all the while delivering around 220 DPS and Sensor Damps scripted to your situation. It's not super fast, but it's respectable, at least. And those ships fast enough to catch you will have to get very close with the amount of eWar you're putting on the field. A Garmur struggles to lock beyond 40 km's as it is, two sensor damps will make life very awkward for the Garmur pilot, forcing him to engage at a range he doesn't want to or disengage altogether.
I've heard of a few people talking dual prop fits for the Jackdaw and it sounds great in principle, but even in propulsion mode you're making less than 800 m/s with the Afterburner. Even a stealth bomber is out pacing you. Sure, you've got a nice tiny signature radius, but what good is that if you're always chasing your target, never being able to maintain transversal velocity? You're just going to be smashed in the nose for perfect damage time and again. GG Dual prop.
Having just completed level 5 training of the Jackdaw at the time of writing this article, I'm looking forward to field testing the dual damp kitey-fag Jackdaw tomorrow. Tears, kill mails or both to follow.
The Hawkbill - Take the double ancillary shield boosting tank of a Hawk and add the dual web range control of a Hookbill.
Ballistic Control System II
Ballistic Control System II
5MN Cold-Gas Enduring Microwarpdrive
Medium Ancillary Shield Booster
Medium Ancillary Shield Booster
Fleeting Propulsion Inhibitor I
Fleeting Propulsion Inhibitor I
Rocket Launcher II
Rocket Launcher II
Rocket Launcher II
Rocket Launcher II
Rocket Launcher II
Small Energy Neutralizer II
Small Processor Overclocking Unit I
Small Anti-EM Screen Reinforcer II
Small Anti-EM Screen Reinforcer II
Maximum DPS is 327 at under 9 km's and if you're being kited you can still hit out to 25 km's for 218 DPS with Javelins in Sharpshooter mode. In that scenario, the 2.5 second reload time to switch ammo seems less gimmicky and possibly useful. Ideally however, you are locking onto your target with both webs and maintaining range at around 8 km's. Long point means they'll be blowing their signature radius up to try and get close enough to you, allowing your rockets to hit for full damage. In the instance that you're scrammed by an AB Frigate or Destroyer, you're really going to have to manage your boosters well to get off reloads and use your twin webs to get to your ideal range.
It's far from perfect, I know. I'd really prefer to have an Afterburner on there but it's just so damn slow without the MWD that I can't justify it. If you try this fit with success, let me know about it.
Small gang scenarios I see a much brighter future for the Jackdaw. With the fitting requirement of shield extenders changing as they have, the Large Shield Extender Svipul is once again, a very viable and tough tackler. Take a few of these and a handful of kiting Jackdaws through a Q003 connection to NullSec, and you're going to have some fun. For such an engagement, we came up with the following.
Dual Damp Kitey-Fag
Ballistic Control System II
Overdrive Injector System II
5MN Y-T8 Compact Microwarpdrive
Medium Ancillary Shield Booster
Medium F-S9 Regolith Compact Shield Extender
Warp Disruptor II
Phased Muon Sensor Disruptor I
Phased Muon Sensor Disruptor I
Light Missile Launcher IILight Missile Launcher II
Light Missile Launcher II
Light Missile Launcher II
Light Missile Launcher II
Expanded Probe Launcher [Offline]
Small Ancillary Current Router II
Small Auxiliary Thrusters II
Small Anti-EM Screen Reinforcer II
Kiting at the edge of point range, you travel at around 2.5K m/s, up to 3.5K over heated, all the while delivering around 220 DPS and Sensor Damps scripted to your situation. It's not super fast, but it's respectable, at least. And those ships fast enough to catch you will have to get very close with the amount of eWar you're putting on the field. A Garmur struggles to lock beyond 40 km's as it is, two sensor damps will make life very awkward for the Garmur pilot, forcing him to engage at a range he doesn't want to or disengage altogether.
I've heard of a few people talking dual prop fits for the Jackdaw and it sounds great in principle, but even in propulsion mode you're making less than 800 m/s with the Afterburner. Even a stealth bomber is out pacing you. Sure, you've got a nice tiny signature radius, but what good is that if you're always chasing your target, never being able to maintain transversal velocity? You're just going to be smashed in the nose for perfect damage time and again. GG Dual prop.
Having just completed level 5 training of the Jackdaw at the time of writing this article, I'm looking forward to field testing the dual damp kitey-fag Jackdaw tomorrow. Tears, kill mails or both to follow.
