Hull Brutixes
Hull Brutixes
  |
The Brutix can easily be designed to fit within the general T1 battlecruiser meta of long range weapons and heavy tank, by fitting rails and an armor tank. While a solid enough option in this format it is also relatively unexceptional, with a shorter range than a Ferox, and a lighter tank than a Harbinger, but suffering most of the downsides of both doctrines
A more interesting fitting however can play into the Brutix’s unique strengths, retaining the railguns, but fitting a hull tank, and using one of its many utility midslots for a Micro Jump Drive. This results in a very effective quick response doctrine, which can scale very well at all fleet sizes |
Implementation
This doctrine looks to a few unique features of the Brutix. For a start, like all Gallente ships, it is capable of hull tanking very well. It carries high base structure HP, and sufficient low slots and fitting space to take full advantage of this using hull tanking modules and rigs
For those unfamiliar with hull tanking, its main advantage is that its only drawback is a reduction in cargo space. It doesn’t slow your ship down, or increase its signature radius in the way armor or shield tanks do. A substantial tank, with a strong and balanced resist profile, can therefore be achieved on a very fast, and hard to hit ship. The main downside is that hull tanks struggle to benefit from Logistics support. While hull repair modules exist, no ships are bonused for them, making them massively inefficient compared to other repair modules
So, while a Hull Brutix may be a solid ship, with no logistics support you can expect to die fairly soon after you get primaried correct? Well, yes, but perhaps not. The Brutix benefits from a substantial number of mid slots. While two are dedicated to the standard MWD and Cap Booster, the others are flexible. One of these can be dedicated to a Micro Jump Drive module, which will propel your ship 100km in the direction you face – unless you are scrammed. As close range scram tackle is relatively rare in long range Null combat (and should be quickly killed if its being used), a Brutix which is primaried can simply MJD out of range (and out of bubbles), then warp back to the fleet to rejoin the attack once the opponent has switched attention to someone else
Well piloted and skilled, a Hull Brutix carries a high damage output out to mid-range (60-70km), great speed at 1.3km/s, a HUGE 80k+ EHP tank with no resist holes, and is able to disengage and re-engage at will when primaried due to the MJD. This makes for a very powerful, and flexible doctrine which can be pulled together at short notice without needing Logistics support – making it ideal as a Quick Response Fleet (QRF) for home defense or engagements a short distance from friendly space
For roaming fleets, the Hull Brutix is slightly less appealing – with no logistics support, even with the MJD tactics, any decent fleet fight will leave a large portion of your fleet with heavy armor and hull damage that cannot be repaired between fights. If you are roaming far from friendly citadels or stations for repairs, then multiple fights per roam becomes difficult to manage
The doctrine works fairly well in Low Sec as well as Null Sec, with accessible repair facilities throughout Low Sec arguably making it a more appropriate location for a roaming fleet. However it should also be noted that the use of scrams for tackle (negating your MJD tactics) are more prevalent in Low Sec, as are smaller ships which your rail guns may struggle to apply to
Fleet members need to be aware of the MJD mechanics, and that they should align away from the enemy fleet before jumping (so as not to jump directly into the opponent)
Fleet Composition and Fits
Primary DD Fit
The fitting is fairly forgiving on skills, due to the low fitting requirements of hull tanks. The Tracking Computer should be scripted as appropriate for the range at which the fleet is fighting, however optimal range scripts are your default to reach the max range. You're not cap stable with the MWD, so use it sparingly
Command Bursts can be fitted, however armor tank bursts are relatively ineffective due to the hull tank. The most useful are the Skirmish boosts – to increase speed and reduice signature radius, however they are not considered essential at all
Logi
This fleet does not fly with Logi, as there is no efficient way to perform Hull logistics support
Support Ships
The focus here is on having the mainline ships be self-sufficient, so as to let the fleet work as a flexible QRF which can scale with as many members as are available. There are no “essential” support ships for this doctrine – however Interceptors and Interdictors for tackle are always useful for Null Sec
