The final part to the series covers the most recent prize ships from ATXIII, the Imp and the Fiend, as well as some speculation upon the use of the upcoming ATXIV prizes, the Caedes and Rabisu. As with the last piece I’ll go over the basic statistics but let someone who actually knows what they’re talking about to give some insight. This week we have BrainStraw, member of Wilderness, Exodus., one of the splinter groups from the Hydra/Warlords/Camel split, that will talk a bit on the ATXIII ships.

It is probably fair to say he is the most experienced Imp pilot in New Eden and I’m super happy he agreed to lend his thoughts on this sexy ship. We are yet to have a tournament in which the Imp or Fiend could be legally fielded and the Caedes and Rabisu are yet to even exist on Singularity, so naturally there have been no tournament sightings of them.

ATXIII 2015 – Imp & Fiend – Won by Warlords of the Deep, Second place The Camel Empire

ATXIII 2015 – Imp & Fiend – Won by Pandemic Legion, Second place Exodus. – Prices: Imp 130B, Fiend 150B

Imp

Interceptors bonuses (per skill level):

15% reduction in Microwarpdrive signature radius penalty

5% bonus to Warp Scrambler and Warp Disruptor optimal range

15% reduction in Microwarpdrive signature radius penalty 5% bonus to Warp Scrambler and Warp Disruptor optimal range Caldari Frigate bonuses (per skill level):

20% bonus to Afterburner velocity bonus

20% bonus to Afterburner velocity bonus Amarr Frigate bonuses (per skill level):

7.5% bonus to Small Energy Turret tracking speed

7.5% bonus to Small Energy Turret tracking speed Role Bonus:

250% bonus to Small Energy Turret damage

80% reduction in Propulsion Jamming systems activation cost

Immune to Interdiction Sphere Launcher, Warp Disruption Field Generator and Mobile Small, Medium and Large Warp Disruptor

The Imp is a sexy little ship, an iteration on the Succubus model with a cooler back end. Similarly to the Whiptails given its fragility you’re unlikely to see it flown in the tournament as Interceptors have a very high mortality rate in the arena, not to mention that the core functionality of what interceptors do in the AT changes little between a Stilletto and one of these. This is Brain’s favourite ship, so I’ll let him do most of the talking on this one.

Next to the Keres, the Imp has become one of my most favorite ships to fly. This ship is basically a Succubus that does twice the damage and goes twice as fast. The main bonus to look at on the Imp is its bonus it gets to Afterburner speed. When combined with High Grade Snakes and links, which you should always use with AT ships, as well as an A-type Afterburner the Imp can reach a top speed of 5.5km/s cold and 7.7km/s heated which makes it excellent at grabbing tackle on enemy ships. Now while this is a good thing, it can also end very badly if you are not careful. Ramming the enemy is a very easy thing to achieve and you will die if you do not fly appropriately.

That’s also one of the reasons why the Imp is not very popular. It doesn’t have a lazy-mode and it requires effort Unlike the Chremoas, this ship doesn’t have the ability to fit a Covert Ops cloak which means that when you are out in space you need to constantly be moving since the first reaction people have to seeing any AT ship is to be as cancer as possible using max recons, probes, etc.

As far as I know I am the only pilot in EVE to fly the Imp in nullsec solo/small gang and engage in real combat so I have a good amount of knowledge on the mechanics, stats, fitting and engageability of the ship. You are safe to engage everything aside from ships that have bonused webs or neuts, including RLML ships of which you can signature tank a whole reload. Having an afterburner on this ship allows you to dictate range which is a key factor when flying AT ships because it allows you to have the ability to GTFO if needed.

While it doesn’t get a bonus to weapon range, the typical fit for an Imp uses beam lasers with Auroras which using the tracking bonus of the hull allows you to sit at 35km and still do 235 DPS with near perfect tracking.

I’m only going to touch briefly on the fitting aspect because there really isn’t much to it. Your low slots should be fitted with one Nanofiber and three Heat Sink for max DPS. As far as the mids go, your obvious three should be a deadspace afterburner, Republic Fleet long point and a Thukker Medium Shield Extender to get the least damaging side-effect to your signature radius. For the fourth slot it all depends on what you prefer. Most people will automatically say go for the scram to take advantage of the bonus it gets to point range but I personally use a Federation Navy Stasis Webifier.

The reasoning for this is that 90% of the time in combat you will be using Aurora for max range but the downside to this crystal is the fact that it gets a tracking penalty. Now while the bonus on the ship helps counteract this, this ship goes so fast that it is very easy to out tracking yourself. Most people you run into will usually click approach on you with MWD on. Having the web allows you to slow them down and hit for max damage with Auroras since, having their MWD still on, their signature is still bloomed but going at a much slower speed as well. Using this method, you can avoid the issue of tracking that comes with using the Auroras on the Imp.

I personally love this ship and in my opinion it is the safest ship to roam nullsec with. With the inherent bubble immunity from being an Interceptor and with the nano it gets a sub 2s align time you are basically uncatchable as long as you are paying attention. Here’s a reference for combat capability.

The first kill performed with the Imp on TQ was done by Casper24, then of Genos Occidere in Warlords of the Deep, my collaborator for the third part of this series. Since then it has been used by various small gang and AT ship enthusiasts of the usual suspects: Pandemic Legion, Warlords, Verge of Collapse, VOLTA, Wilderness and so on. Thus far however there is only one recorded Imp loss on zKillboard, when turbocrazy1989 of Born to Ghostride in NullSechnaya Sholupen lost his in Messoya lowsec to what appears to be a group of smartbombing Machariels.

Probability of an Imp sighting this year: 2 out of 5.

Fiend

Heavy Interdiction Cruisers bonuses (per skill level):

5% bonus to Warp Disruption Field Generator scramble range

5% bonus to Warp Disruption Field Generator scramble range Caldari Cruiser bonuses (per skill level):

20% bonus to Afterburner velocity bonus

20% bonus to Afterburner velocity bonus Amarr Cruiser bonuses (per skill level):

7.5% bonus to Medium Energy Turret tracking speed

7.5% bonus to Medium Energy Turret tracking speed Role Bonus:

250% bonus to Medium Energy Turret damage

20% bonus to all shield resistances

Can fit Warp Disruption Field Generator

Unaffected by Warp Disruption Field Generator mass & speed effects

The Fiend is a Phantasm with a 37.5km scram, an extra high, an extra mid and a massive amount of shield EHP. If that doesn’t tickle your pickle then something is very, very wrong with you. Furthermore, the Phantasm gets 4.5 effective turrets whereas the Fiend gets 7.5 and can thus blast out an extraordinary amount of DPS while still tanking like a champ. The bonus of being unaffected by the speed penalty for the Warp Disruption Field Generator borders on pornographic.

One of the inherent weaknesses of the HIC in a tournament setting is that if it is using its point it cannot receive remote assistance, thus if you want reps you have to cycle that painfully slow module off. This means that when you kill a normal HIC during this period it becomes a 13 point waste when you compare it with the efficiency of other ships you could fill your team with instead.

With its massive buffer, DPS and potential for local tank, the Fiend does a wonderful job of overcoming this weakness.

I have actually never personally flown the Fiend, but I know for a fact that it is one of the most OP ships in the game now due to the inherent bonus that allows it focused point 40km scrams. I have done tons of theorycrafting in pyfa for the ship and this thing is an absolute beast. You can fit Heavy Beams, 2 faction focused scrams and still fit a 4 mid slot tank, which is in my opinion ridiculous.

The Fiend with a deadspace Large Shield Booster, 2 invulns and an officer EM ward can tank 1400 DPS cold with links and still dish out 600 DPS at 30km. It also has the ability to be completely self sufficient and screen for itself while going 2.8km/s with an Afterburner.

Your engagement profile isn’t as big as the Imp, due to the fact that this thing can’t sig tank as well, plus it doesn’t go nearly as fast. Webbing ships will get you killed but on the other hand, neutralizer bonused ships such as the Curse aren’t as scary because you have a cap booster and you can use the focused points to scram it away from you and pull some range.

A cool bonus that I actually never see people talk about is the fact that this ship isn’t affected by the mass penalty when using a bubble. This means that you can permanently run a 26km sphere of screen if you want to and still go 2.8km/s while kiting. If you are thinking about flying this ship with the good fit, I hope your cap/module management skills are excellent, because this ship requires lots of paying attention to everything going on.

The first kill made with a Fiend was done by our old AT ship aficionado, Bluemelon, then in Genos Occidere, murderizing an innocent Venture in the name of the glorious Amamake fashion police. Regarding the other kills, i know that there are several people in PL who enjoy whoring their Fiends onto supercapitals kills that the hunters find for us on a regular basis.

Two Fiends have been lost thus far, the first by Judas II of Dark-Rising in Decayed Orbit, who was hunted by #REKKINGCREW on a brief holiday from hunting supercapitals. The second was lost by one of the most well-known, respected and talented solo PvPers of modern EVE Online, big miker, who had this to say about the loss.

Probability of Fiend sighting this year: 3 out of 5

ATXIV 2016 – Caedes & Raibisu

FUCKING. CORPSE. BAYS. The dream is real. CCP Fozzie hitting it out the part with raw style points.

Caedes

Amarr Frigate bonuses (per skill level):

20% bonus to Energy Nosferatu and Energy Neutralizer drain amount

25% bonus to Small Energy Turret falloff range

20% bonus to Energy Nosferatu and Energy Neutralizer drain amount 25% bonus to Small Energy Turret falloff range Minmatar Frigate bonuses (per skill level):

20% bonus to Stasis Webifier range

20% reduction in Cloaking Devices CPU requirement

20% bonus to Stasis Webifier range 20% reduction in Cloaking Devices CPU requirement Covert Ops bonuses (per skill level):

10% bonus to Corte and Combat Scanner Probe strength

25% bonus to Energy Nosferatu and Energy Neutralizer falloff range

10% bonus to Corte and Combat Scanner Probe strength 25% bonus to Energy Nosferatu and Energy Neutralizer falloff range Role bonus:

400% bonus to Small Energy Turret damage

10+ bonus to Relic and Data Analyzer virus strength

Can fit Covert Ops Cloaking Device and Covert Cynosural Field Generator

Cloak reactivation delay reduced to 5 seconds

No targeting delay after Cloaking Device deactivation

Energy Nosferatu fitted to this ship will drain targeted ship’s capacitor regardless of your own capacitor level.

At a first glance, the answer is yes. The Caedes can both neut and do significant damage at the same time, something the Cruor can struggle with. With the extra low over the Cruor it is likely able to fit a reasonable tank, possibly with a Micro Auxiliary Power Core to cover any powergrid issues. The falloff neut bonus in the AT is okay as it takes a T2 neut from 5+2.5km to 5+5.625km, however should a solo PvPer decide to pimp one out with some Corpii A-Types you’re looking at going from 9+4.5km to 9+10.125km.

TL;DR you’re neuting very well at 15km range which is pretty handy as your Scorch-loaded Small Focused Pulse Laser is shooting at 11+6.975, before any modules that increase that range. Alternatively, and to be honest this is the way you should do this, fit a Beam and use the neuts and webs to have near-impenetrable range control.

Next is a quote from TikkTokk Tokkzikk, a noted and skilled AT ship pilot.

The Caedes is a fearsome little beast. With its amazing control it’ll easily take on any frigate and most ships in general in a 1v1 but will be less comfortable in 1v3+ situations due to its lack of speed and tank. This is where the Chremoas, its closest competitor, shines. While the Caedes is superior for duels, the Chremoas doesn’t break a sweat taking on most frigates in the game either. The Chremoas is however far better at fighting against fleets thanks to its superior speed for sig tanking and positioning. Even though the Chremoas is overall a better ship, the Caedes should not be underestimated

This ship is shaping up to be a hot little thing, but a somewhat crippling blow is that it only has 3 mids. Any solo PvPer will tell you that mids are the most valuable resource to a ship and 3 is not enough. It’s not at 2 like some ships which render them almost unusable, but this ship would benefit from the fourth.

I suppose that you could argue that by using inifini-NOSes you remove the need for cap injection but AT ships are supposed to be dreamboats and I think the Caedes deserves a 4th mid, even if it has to lose a low to compensate.

I also worry that in tournament play it may be outshone by the older Malice which is much more survivable thanks to its hull resist bonus and stronger range bonuses to its neuts, helping to mitigate incoming damage by being more resistant to being tackled. Neuts and webs can sometimes fill the same role as if your opponent lacks cap they cannot use a prop mod, making neuts in some scenarios stronger than webs for slowing a target down. Especially in the case of small neuts that cycle so quickly, cap injection makes very little difference.

One feature that is easy to overlook is that is has much less scan resolution than the Cruor, which is very impactful, for example, if you’re fighting in a FW PLEX as you/your opponent are warping in.

Probability of Caedes sighting in the next-year ATXV: 3 out of 5.

Rabisu

Amarr Cruiser bonuses (per skill level):

35% bonus to Energy Nosferatu optimal range and falloff

20% bonus to Energy Nosferatu drain amount

35% bonus to Energy Nosferatu optimal range and falloff 20% bonus to Energy Nosferatu drain amount Minmatar Cruiser bonuses (per skill level):

20% bonus to Logistic Drone transfer amount

20% reduction in Cloaking Devices CPU requirement

20% bonus to Logistic Drone transfer amount 20% reduction in Cloaking Devices CPU requirement Logistics Cruisers bonuses (per skill level):

20% bonus to Remote Armour Repairer optimal and falloff

15% reduction in Remote Armour Repairer activation cost

2% reduction in Remote Armour Repairer cycle time

20% bonus to Remote Armour Repairer optimal and falloff 15% reduction in Remote Armour Repairer activation cost 2% reduction in Remote Armour Repairer cycle time Role bonus:

80% reduction in Remote Armour Repairer powergrid requirements

100% bonus to Remote Armour Repairer optimal and falloff

Can fit Covert Ops Cloaking Device and Covert Cynosural Field Generator

Energy Nosferatu fitted to this ship will drain targeted ship’s capacitor regardless of your own capacitor level.

At long last, the “armour Etana”.

First, let’s touch briefly on Logistics in the Alliance Tournament. Disregarding the new Logistics Frigates for a moment, currently if you wish to stop your opponent bringing an armour team you can ban Oneiros/Guardian and effectively cancel out a big chunk of setups you might not wish to face. For shield teams, banning Scimitar/Basilisk could achieve the same unless your opponent had the wallet and the balls to drop an Etana. Armour comps now gain this strength.

Of the several tactics to negate your opponent’s logistics with the most obvious being explodifying it, using energy neutralizers, small neuts especially, are extraordinarily effective. This will not really work or at least be far less effective against the Rabisu as it can NOS you right back, potentially even capping out any tackle applied to it. If you’re rolling it with Battleships, or even a Command ship like an Eos/Damnation, you can throw a cheeky NOS onto your core who are less affected by a cycle or two to cap yourself up a little if you’re struggling.

Why would you be struggling for cap? Because three mids. On AT logistics, in the mids there are three types of modules that are almost universally mandatory: propulsion, cap injection and Sensor Boosters for resistance to ECM (maybe to a lesser extent Sensor Dampeners). You can devote one module to each, but as with the Caedes, three is useable but not ideal.

I lied, this AT discussion was not brief, but I do have one more point to make.

The Rabisu has ~10% better base scan resolution that the Oneiros or Guardian, which combined with the decreased cycle team means that you have a surprisingly better chance of saving the first target when facing an Artillery team as made famous by HYDRA RELOADED in ATXII. The cycle time bonus is actually extraordinarily strong as it is a great boon to following fast-swapping targets, possibly managing to land those end-of-cycle reps fast enough on your support wing. And all that’s before we consider its effect to the raw rep output it can lay down.

Probability of Rabisu sighting in the 2017 ATXV: 4 out of 5.

Thus we have come to the end of my series on the frigate/cruiser pairs of Alliance Tournament prize ships. I hope that you have enjoyed reading and learning about them as I have in writing about them and discussing them with the true experts. Next up will be my ATXIV team summaries.

I have a week to do 64. *gulps*

What’s your favourite AT ship? Did I miss anything cool out? I would love to hear your input on these gorgeous things at my twitter: @CallMeApoth