Needlejack Filaments: Fleets to Yeet With

Needlejack Filaments are awesome. It’s like having a static nullsec wormhole in your back pocket with a selection of whether you want a fight or (maybe) not. CCP introduced these back during Christmas 2019 as a way to spice things up and get people roaming about nullsec for content rather than vegetating on an asteroid with a bag of Doritos.

The fits described in this article were created before the resistance nerf in April 2020. Post-patch revised fits will be marked with a ++ at the start of each fitting name although screenshots will not always be updated.

They work by launching you into nullsec with either 5, 15, or 25 people, depending on the Needjack Filament that you use. The ‘Noise’ filaments will send you to a relatively random place in nullsec, and the ‘Signal’ filaments will send you into what is theoretically an active area. They will give you a 15-minute timer and cannot be activated again until your PvP timer expires.

A note for future readers: If you’re still stuck for ideas then have a browse of the theorycrafting archives. Most of my fits are good for small groups

Now, you can take whatever you want (battleship and below) through these filaments. You can take a 100MN Cyclone fleet with logi, or you can take a single Virtuoso. It’s up to you. What I’m proposing today, however, is a selection of fun and sometimes weird fits for you to yeet into null together with your friends. They are cheap but effective ships that you can afford to whelp without resorting to the kitchen sink trash that your corp members dreamt up.

Yeet To discard an item at a high velocity

Alex finishes his soda and proceeds to yeet his empty can into a trash bin

Alex (while throwing the can): “YEET!” Urban Dictionary

Speedy Shield Hecates

To start with, we have one of my favourites. The shield Hecate. That might seem sacrilegious for a race of armour and hull tankers, but stick with me. By going with a light shield tank, you can keep all those lows for silly amounts of damage; 845 DPS to be exact. There’s also the option of swapping one of those mag stabs to a Damage Control II for a hefty bump in tank. Doing so will increase the tanky version of this fit (without a web) to 14.3k EHP in defence mode. Not bad!

Now you might be saying “but I saw Xtra Squishy run a hull version and it had two webs and lots of damage.” That, my friend, is where the second part of this fit comes in. Small Hyperspatial Velocity II’s. They increase the warp speed to 6.85AU/s with an instawarp in propulsion mode. With that kind of speed, you can cross 20 jumps in less than 10 minutes. With a combat probe launcher and insane amounts of damage, I couldn’t ask for a better throwaway hunting ship.

You could combine them with frigate logi too but I advise against it. That ultra-fast warp speed and instawarp are honestly what keeps you alive. Stay away from the blop and blap expensive stuff when they present themselves. Either that or just turbo dunk some poor ratters.

Shield Hecate: Webby [Hecate, Speedymemes Web] Magnetic Field Stabilizer II Magnetic Field Stabilizer II Magnetic Field Stabilizer II Micro Auxiliary Power Core II 5MN Quad LiF Restrained Microwarpdrive Fleeting Compact Stasis Webifier Faint Epsilon Scoped Warp Scrambler Caldari Navy Medium Shield Extender Light Neutron Blaster II Light Neutron Blaster II Light Neutron Blaster II Light Neutron Blaster II Light Neutron Blaster II Expanded Probe Launcher I Small Hyperspatial Velocity Optimizer II Small Hyperspatial Velocity Optimizer II Small Core Defense Field Extender II Null S x5000 Void S x5000 Federation Navy Antimatter Charge S x2400 Nanite Repair Paste x111 Core Scanner Probe I x16 Sisters Combat Scanner Probe x8 Shield Hecate: Tanky [Hecate, Speedymemes Tank] Magnetic Field Stabilizer II Magnetic Field Stabilizer II Magnetic Field Stabilizer II Micro Auxiliary Power Core II 5MN Y-T8 Compact Microwarpdrive Adaptive Invulnerability Field II Faint Epsilon Scoped Warp Scrambler Caldari Navy Medium Shield Extender Light Neutron Blaster II Light Neutron Blaster II Light Neutron Blaster II Light Neutron Blaster II Light Neutron Blaster II Expanded Probe Launcher I Small Hyperspatial Velocity Optimizer II Small Hyperspatial Velocity Optimizer II Small Processor Overclocking Unit I Null S x5000 Void S x5000 Federation Navy Antimatter Charge S x2400 Nanite Repair Paste x111 Core Scanner Probe I x16 Sisters Combat Scanner Probe x8

Assault Frigate Wolfpack

Alternatively: Fit Kitchen: Combat Interceptors

I can think of a particular wormhole corp that wouldn’t be too happy with me with how I treat the Enyo. I mean hell, it’s a blaster ship and I left the web off. I’m a monster, truly. I just think it’s a bit sad to see such a cap-reliant ship get brushed into irrelevance when a small neut looks at it the wrong way. Fortunately, you can make up for that in a gang by bringing along a Vengeance or two. Scrams will often do the job though unless you’re up against something overpropped or Phantasm/Nightmare.

So the benefit of this fleet as you can see is partially in its variety. Going for a mixed bag of specifically fitted assault frigates makes you more capable while making your fleet appear to be a ragtag bunch of ships. The Vengeance brings a web, and nicely balanced resists (274DPS + 12.7k EHP). The Enyo is a cap-reliant turbo max DPS facemelter (439 DPS + 13k EHP). The Wolf is very balanced and is the fastest of the three (311 DPS + 12.5k EHP).

Don’t forget that assault frigates also benefit from an Assault Damage Control. While this won’t necessarily win the fight for you, it almost sets a minimum time to kill each of your fleet ships. Rather than being blapped instantly, your ships will tank minimum about 15 seconds against a big fleet. With just five of you that can easily buy minutes; enough time to burn down a blingy ship or two, especially lightly tanked Kikimoras without logi.

My top tip would be to watch out for heavy tanking brawlers such as Marauders and the Deimos. They will typically apply quite well to you while shrugging off your damage. The trap is that you get committed. Once you lose two people you might be tempted to keep trying, but by that point, it’s already too late and they are likely tanking the lower DPS easily. If you stay until someone else dies then a fourth person will be tackled. That’s how you lose four ships when really you could have just left in the first place.

Wolf [Wolf, Klámstrákur] Corpii A-Type Explosive Plating Corpii A-Type Kinetic Plating Assault Damage Control II Counterbalanced Compact Gyrostabilizer Small Ancillary Armor Repairer 5MN Quad LiF Restrained Microwarpdrive Warp Scrambler II Small Energy Nosferatu II 200mm AutoCannon II 200mm AutoCannon II 200mm AutoCannon II 200mm AutoCannon II Small Trimark Armor Pump I Small Projectile Burst Aerator II Barrage S x4000 Hail S x4480 Nanite Repair Paste x88 Republic Fleet EMP S x1200 Republic Fleet Fusion S x1200 Republic Fleet Phased Plasma S x1200 Enyo [Enyo, Engin Miskunn] Assault Damage Control II Small Ancillary Armor Repairer Centii A-Type Explosive Plating Magnetic Field Stabilizer II 5MN Quad LiF Restrained Microwarpdrive Small Capacitor Booster II Faint Epsilon Scoped Warp Scrambler Light Ion Blaster II Light Ion Blaster II Light Ion Blaster II Light Ion Blaster II Rocket Launcher II Small Hybrid Burst Aerator II Small Transverse Bulkhead II Hobgoblin II x1 Null S x4000 Void S x4480 Nova Rage Rocket x700 Navy Cap Booster 400 x10 Federation Navy Antimatter Charge S x2850 Nanite Repair Paste x88 Caldari Navy Nova Rocket x700 Vengeance [Vengeance, Spillingardans] Assault Damage Control II Crosslink Compact Ballistic Control System Adaptive Nano Plating II Small Ancillary Armor Repairer 5MN Quad LiF Restrained Microwarpdrive Fleeting Compact Stasis Webifier Warp Scrambler II 125mm Gatling AutoCannon II Rocket Launcher II Rocket Launcher II Rocket Launcher II Rocket Launcher II Small Bay Loading Accelerator II Small Polycarbon Engine Housing I Hail S x2200 Inferno Javelin Rocket x1000 Mjolnir Rage Rocket x3000 Nova Rage Rocket x3200 Scourge Javelin Rocket x1000 Nanite Repair Paste x88 Caldari Navy Inferno Rocket x1000

The Sentry Stratios

Ok, stay with me here. This is a weird one. It’s not the typical null whelpfleet, it’s more of a thing for the guys who like gatecamping just SO much. By setting up Gardes on a stargate then anchoring a cheap medium bubble a little way off you can set up an ultra cancerous near instalock camp. The secret here is that you burn your Stratios fleet up to 140km away from the gate and become nigh-untouchable.

Being a cloaky camp, this also becomes very easy to shift about in nullsec without any fear of someone catching even just one of you. They’re also less than 230m ISK so that just barely fills the quota of “being a cheap fleet”. Be sure to also bring a set of spare drones+mobile depot just in case a massive fleet comes through and blaps them.

Another tip is to bind a hotkey to reconnect to drones. You will need to do this once you uncloak and while you turn on all four scripts and spam lock. You can reconnect to drones once per minute so be aware of that when you think there might be a new target coming up soon. I recommend playing EVE-themed Pictionary and drawing ships while you camp. That’s the Foxholers way.

Sentry Stratios

[Stratios, Sentry Stratios Cancer] Drone Damage Amplifier II Drone Damage Amplifier II Drone Damage Amplifier II Co-Processor II Omnidirectional Tracking Enhancer II Sensor Booster II Sensor Booster II Sensor Booster II Omnidirectional Tracking Link II 50MN Y-T8 Compact Microwarpdrive Covert Ops Cloaking Device II Drone Link Augmentor I Drone Link Augmentor I Drone Link Augmentor I Drone Link Augmentor I Medium Targeting Systems Stabilizer II Medium Targeting Systems Stabilizer II Medium Ionic Field Projector I Garde II x4 Hornet EC-300 x5 Infiltrator II x5 Ogre II x4 Warden II x4 Warrior II x5 Nanite Repair Paste x100 Sisters Combat Scanner Probe x8 Sisters Core Scanner Probe x8 ECCM Script x3 Scan Resolution Script x3 Targeting Range Script x3 Optimal Range Script x1 Tracking Speed Script x1 Mobile Medium Warp Disruptor I x2 Medium Ancillary Armor Repairer x1 Expanded Probe Launcher I x1

Any T1 Cruiser!

This should be an obvious one and it doesn’t take me to point out a ton of potential fits out there. Nevertheless, I have a few options here for you. They are the kind of ships to put five or six people into just to see what happens.

The first fit is the standard-ish kiting Stabber. They will either apply 350’ish DPS from 30km with Barrage, or burn tanks with 600 DPS Hail at close range. Modules have intentionally been changed to meta to make things incredibly cheap. A set of ten only costs about 200m ISK. The real benefit of using a Stabber fleet is that nobody expects them to actually be good. That’s the theme I like to try and focus on in roams. Looking weak will get you more fights than looking like the biggest baddest gang out there.

Another option would be the Scythe Fleet Issue. Not everyone knows how well it works with an afterburner and how fast it can be on an MWD. This thing behaves like a budget Phantasm while actually being tankier due to that tiny sig and massive ancillary shield tank. Expending all charges brings it to around 54k EHP with a decent amount of DPS. The real joy of this ship is in that surprising amount of survivability by orbiting with that afterburner. it feels good to dodge bullets.

It might be worth bringing something else to support your cruisers, too. A Keres would be excellent, but so would something like an instalock interceptor. I’m a big fan of the Ares fit below. It relies entirely on speed and the Damage Control to survive. You can also swap those Overdrives out for restrained inertial stabilisers to reach the magical 2s instawarp point. With a long point, long scram, and 1687mm scan res this little frigate catches almost anything.

Cheap Stabber [Stabber, Cheap Beeps] Gyrostabilizer II Counterbalanced Compact Gyrostabilizer Tracking Enhancer II Fourier Compact Tracking Enhancer Large F-S9 Regolith Compact Shield Extender Large F-S9 Regolith Compact Shield Extender Faint Scoped Warp Disruptor 50MN Y-T8 Compact Microwarpdrive 220mm Vulcan AutoCannon II 220mm Vulcan AutoCannon II 220mm Vulcan AutoCannon II 220mm Vulcan AutoCannon II Rapid Light Missile Launcher II Rapid Light Missile Launcher II Medium Core Defense Field Extender I Medium Anti-EM Screen Reinforcer I Medium Polycarbon Engine Housing I Warrior II x5 Barrage M x3500 Hail M x1800 Nova Fury Light Missile x500 Caldari Navy Mjolnir Light Missile x500 Caldari Navy Nova Light Missile x500 Nanite Repair Paste x20 Republic Fleet EMP M x1300 Republic Fleet Phased Plasma M x640 XLASB Scythe Fleet Issue [Scythe Fleet Issue, XLASB Dual Prop] Damage Control II Nanofiber Internal Structure II Nanofiber Internal Structure II Counterbalanced Compact Gyrostabilizer Gyrostabilizer II X-Large Ancillary Shield Booster Adaptive Invulnerability Field II 10MN Afterburner II 50MN Y-T8 Compact Microwarpdrive Warp Scrambler II Dual 180mm AutoCannon II Dual 180mm AutoCannon II Dual 180mm AutoCannon II Dual 180mm AutoCannon II Small Energy Neutralizer II Medium Ancillary Current Router I Medium Anti-EM Screen Reinforcer II Medium Anti-Thermal Screen Reinforcer II Warrior II x5 Standard Blue Pill Booster Agency 'Hardshell' TB5 Dose II Navy Cap Booster 400 x9 Republic Fleet Phased Plasma M x800 Instalock Ares [Ares, Tackle Ares] Signal Amplifier II Damage Control II Overdrive Injector System II Overdrive Injector System II Warp Disruptor II 5MN Quad LiF Restrained Microwarpdrive Warp Scrambler II 125mm Prototype Gauss Gun 125mm Prototype Gauss Gun 125mm Prototype Gauss Gun Small Targeting System Subcontroller II Small Polycarbon Engine Housing II Federation Navy Antimatter Charge S x1980 Nanite Repair Paste x50

Otherwise, that’s all for now. You can take anything you like out into null and keep jumping around, but I would urge you to take ships that you perhaps aren’t used to flying. If there’s a fit here that you have never tried before then get in one and see what you think. Enjoy 😀

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