Second Kill!

I was roaming a bit through lowsec, trying to get a grip on a certain pipeline I've been watching. I wanted to see what type of traffic goes through there during my playtime. I casually went from system to system, using my newly acquired map technique to guage what type of threat I might encounter along the way. It was pretty dead as it was getting kind of late (around 12:00 at night my time). With no prospective targets to engage I made my way back towards Hek.

Once again, nothing on my way back. I traversed through maybe 6-7 lowsec systems, all pretty much devoid of life. My hopes draining I started feeling a little frustrated that I couldn't find anything. As I entered my last system before Hek, Otou, I hit my 360 degree Dscan button (which I am happy to report is instinct now when I'm entering a system) and low and behold I spot an unfamiliar Thrasher.

My first ever kill being a Thrasher I decided to try my luck with this pilot. I was surprised how efficient I was tracking this guy down. It took me 20-30 seconds to narrow down which asteroid belt the Thrasher was hiding in. Like my first target this pilot was ratting where he shouldn't have. I quickly hit my afterburner and started the 40km trek towards my target. I had a feeling he might try to get away but surprisingly he didn't move. I burned in on him and set up my warp scrambler, followed by my Damage Control module. Establishing a tight orbit I let go my Scout cannons and watched his shield widdle down. This pilot was quicker to engage me than the last Thrasher pilot I encountered.

As he hit half armour I was still at about half shield. I knew I was winning the battle. As my shield slowly dropped I deduced that I had to set up my Armour Repairer. Things like this didn't come so easy to me before, I feel like I'm starting to react to situations a lot faster than when I first started pirating.

A couple of seconds later his ship popped and I was left sitting in the belt victorious! I quickly warped away as the rat he was attacking turned his attention to me. I told the pilot in local that he could pick his stuff up if he so wished. I was just happy to get the kill. This time I remembered my timers and patiently waited in one of my many Otou safespots till it was time to head back to Hek.

Link to Killmail


Another new player. I'm going to have to start engaging more experienced pilots but at the moment I'm fully comfortable hunting down people around my own skill level.

I'm feeling a lot more confident in my piloting skills. I'm beginning to understand that I have to pick my battles with a small frigate like the Rifter. I used to engage anything and everything which would usually leave me both at a huge disadvantage as well as fully disappointed when I eventually went 'pop'. Now, after studying up about the Rifter's strengths and weaknesses I feel a lot more prepared to assess what I need to do and when.

A small tip for people just starting out. Don't be intimidated by lowsec. Grab a cheap ship, maybe a shuttle or something to that degree and just fly out to lowsec and see what's happening. Eventually you'll get very comfortable just being around that type of environment.

I know when I started out I was a bit scared to make a move past Otou, but now that I know the traffic and what to expect I don't sweat moving through a large string of lowsec systems. Be sure to use the map technique I posted below (kudos to the original uploader), it's really helped me out a lot.

Here is the fit I used for this second kill:

3x 150mm Light 'Scout' Autocannon I

1x Stasis Webifier I
1x 1mn Afterburner I
1x Warp Scrambler I

1x Damage Control II
1x Armour Repairer II
1x 200mm Rolled Tungsten Plate I

1x Small Projectile Collision Accelerator I
1x Small Semiconductor Memory Cell I (this was by accident)