Alpha Birds
Alpha Birds
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Much like the Hyperkittens, Alpha Birds are a cheap skirmishing frigate doctrine, used as an introduction for FC’s into skirmish tactics. They use Light Missiles to avoid any complications which would arise from turret tracking considerations, and also benefit substantially from a huge range (up to 60km with good skills), and high volley damage which, in numbers, can be enough to volley smaller targets off the field similar to BLAP Talwars |
Implementation
The strengths of the Alpha Bird are its excellent speed, excellent range, and its utility mid slot (discussed more in the fitting section below)
The paper thin tank of Alpha Birds means more than ever that taking any damage at all is fairly disastrous for the fleet. Alpha Birds therefore work best at long range (even outside of Warp Disrupter range) where they can volley opponents. As a skirmish doctrine, the optimal situation is where you can anchor up on your FC, pull range from a fleet which is chasing you, or a fight which is already occurring, and circle round at 40-50km, picking off soft targets with your LML volleys
Against smaller gangs, you may close range to apply your warp disrupters to hold something on grid, however this is likely only once/if you have established grid supremacy
The low sustained DPS (and high volley damage) means that numbers are important to make Alpha Birds work. A high skill player can deal around 1k volley damage, however with Uni pilots, the expectation should be set closer to 600-700. 10 Alpha birds can therefore take out most T1 frigates in a single volley. 20 can instantly kill T2 Frigates, Destroyers etc
Light Missile skirmish doctrines such as this are a staple of the game right the way from Kestrels, to Talwars, to Caracals, and the Alpha Birds are a cheap and simple introduction to this essential part of EVE Online fleets. However some FCs may wish to skip directly to Talwars due to their slightly higher tank and volley damage, for only a marginal increase in SP and ISK cost. Alpha Birds however get the advantage of relative unfamiliarity, compared to the very widely known Talwar doctrine, and are more frequently underestimated
Other LML or RLML ships are the worst enemy of the Alpha Bird, as they can match your range, and apply damage regardless of your speed and tracking. Brawling ships are your natural prey, as they will be largely unable to apply to your ships at range. It should also be noted that the excellent speed of the Alpha Bird allows you to outrun most drones should your opponent deploy them
Fleet Composition and Fits
The basic Alpha Bird is a very simple fit. The only layer of complexity sits with the utility mid-slot. A wide selection of EWAR can, and should, be spread across the fleet in this slot. Damps, and Tracking Disrupters will help limit your opponent’s ability to apply damage to you, while Target Painters will maximize your damage application on a target
As you rely almost entirely on not getting hit in this doctrine, the preference is for the defensive EWAR modules such as Damps
Use Faction Missiles (even if you have T2 skills) due to the range bonus they provide
Support Ships
The ability to spread EWAR through your mainline ships reduces the need for dedicated EWAR ships, however their bonused modules can still be very useful additions. In particular, ECM such as the Griffin, can be very useful, as this is the one EWAR module which is inefficient when fitted on the Alpha Bird (due to the need to have a range of racial jammers)
