User:Geranai yoda/Tackling
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EVE University offers a class on: |
To tackle, in EVE Online, is the act of pinning down an opponent, preventing it from warping away, so that the fleet can destroy his ship or pod, removing it from the fight.
If you think this doesn't sound exciting, think again! Tackling is the single most critical factor in every pvp kill, because without proper tackling a ship would simply warp away from a fight is going to lose: as a tackler, it's you that allow a kill to happen.
Tackling Basic Steps
Let's see the most important steps of a successful tackling operation.
Before the fight:
- Turn on your Sensor Booster if you have one
- Consider enabling the overheat for your tackling module (Disruptor or Scrambler), this will allow the module to function from further away. Pre-enabling the overheat won't start overheating the module until you activate it, so it's safe to do it
- Consider keeping your tackling module "hot" by pressing the associated button. This will change your pointer into a targeting pointer and the module will automatically be applied to the first thing you target. This might be risky if you target something by mistake, especially in High Security space (Newbro starts trying to warp scramble Dodixie Gate).
When the target is on grid:
- Turn your propulsion mod on
- Start moving towards your target (if you manage, keep a slight angle so it'll be harder for their turrets to track you, but a simple Approach is fine most of the time and lowers the time it takes to reach the target)
- Start locking your target as soon as you are in range for targeting
- If you didn't keep your tackling module "hot", activate it as soon as you are in range
- Call out on Voice Comms that you have point on the target, e.g. Kelduum Revaan has point on primary, or SilentBrick has point on the Drake.
- Continue using your propulsion mod to approach the target.
- Once at about 12 kilometers from the target set to orbit at 6km to 6.5km (this will keep you out of smartbomb range).
- If your MWD is still running, turn it off. Afterburners can keep running.
- If you have a webifier, activate it as soon as you are in range
- Keep orbiting the target to make it harder for his turrets to track you
- If you get targeted, either bounce (warp to a nearby celestial then return) or keep orbiting if you want to die a Hero's death.
As you see, we mentioned quite a number of modules that you need to activate in a specific order. We'll talk about those in more detail, and see what's important and why, but first let's have a quick look to the different sub-roles a tackler might cover.
Different types of tacklers
A fleet might have specialized tacklers that have different roles and fittings for specific purposes.
First Tackle
The First Tackle is, as the name implies, the first ship to land a tackle on the enemy. Their focus is on movement speed, targeting speed and, of course, at least one tackling module, usually a warp disruptor, possibly T2 because it has longer range.
Being the first to the scene also means that the First Tackle is usually the first target of the tackled ship: if fitting allows, some tank is helpful and your weapons will be useful to counter enemy drones.
This role is often filled by an interceptor, but a T1 frigate will work too: Executioner, Condor, Atron and Slasher) are the best choices.
Second Tackle
Second Tackle's role is to grab the ship tackled by First Tackle and slow it down so the heavier ships can join the fun.
In this role you usually still want to have enough speed to reach the target before the First Tackle dies or has to warp off, but you'll also want to fit heavier tackle, including both a warp scrambler and a webber and more tank.
Second Tackle needs to be very careful when engaging battleships: T2 smartbombs have a 6km range and can kill a frigate pretty quickly, so that's a pretty narrow window if you consider that Tech 1 scramblers have only 7.5km range. When flying Second Tackle, set your default "orbit" distance to 6.5km and use this against battleships until you have confirmed that they are not smartbomb fit. Against anything else, closer is usually better because tracking you will be harder.
Second tackle only needs to be cap stable with the scrambler running. 1-2 minutes of MWD is more than enough to reach engagement range or die trying.
Heavy Tackle
In a E-UNI fleet, close range brawler BC and BS should have their own point and/or scram to hold their prey in place. Once these are applied, second tackle can stay on target or go looking for other targets.
Some fast cruisers (like the Stabber) and assault frigates have plenty of tank and enough speed to act as Heavy Tackle if the fleet doctrine requires it.
Gate Tackle
The Gate Tackle is a specialized variation of the First Tackle, with an emphasis on quick lock time. A Gate Tackler should fit at least one sensor booster, and might also receive Remote Sensor Boosting from fleet-mates. Some movement speed is useful in case the target tries to burn out of range, but not all important as it is for first tackle. Tank can also be lighter, as you are operating with the rest of the fleet; your job is simply to get a lock and point as fast as possible so the target cannot warp off, and then the rest of the first tackle locks them down.
Some gates, such as regional gates, are particularly large, and often require two or three gate tacklers to completely cover them. T2 warp disruptors and sensor boosters are the primary skill requirements for a gate tackler.
Some notes on tackling
A Note On Picking Your Target
When there's only one target on the field it's pretty obvious whom you should be tackling. Normally however, there are multiple targets to choose from and you're not the only tackler in your fleet. So whom do you tackle? As described in the Rookie's Guide To Fleet Ops you should pick a target whose character's name starts with the same letter as yours, or as close as possible in the alphabet. Naturally if your fleet/wing/squad commander has given you other orders follow those. But in the absence of specific direction, following this guidance will help ensure that your fleet's points are spread amongst the enemy fairly evenly. Pay attention to calls on Mumble and try to pick a different target if somebody else has already pointed the flashy you were headed for, or if your designated target is too far away or too fast for you to catch.
Weapon and Session Timers
Once you commit a hostile act against another player, you cannot use jump gates (or dock) for 60 seconds. A canny target with sufficient tank can stop aggressing, wait out their Weapon Timer, and then jump through the gate and get away.
To prevent this from happening, most FCs will reserve a small number of tacklers that do not aggress, so that they also can go through the gate and engage any target attempting to flee. Often these tacklers are sent through first, so they can take up position ready to catch a fleeing ship.
In this situation, tank can be important. In the worst case, you might need to hold a hostile ship for the full 60 seconds while your allies' timers expire, plus another 10 or so while they jump and load grid.
Tactical Warps
A ship can warp to any friendly ship that is at least 150km away, so if you are far enough from your fleet, they can use you as a beacon and initiate a warp in your direction. This opens the possibility for another trick for tackle frigates: if you are not actively engaging a pointed target, consider burning directly away from it - in a direction opposite your heavier ships - so that the target ends up between you and your fleet. This way, when you are at at least 150km, the fleet can warp at range to you to land directly on top of the tackled target.
This technique requires some coordination: there's no point in having all the frigates burn away from the target while nobody stays to apply point / web / scram.
Bumping
Bumping is the act of ramming another ship to prevent them from aligning or reapproaching a gate or a station. This is a more advanced technique, requires good timing and can put your ship at risk, but you can try it in extreme cases when for example you have been completely neuted out by a battleship.
Works especially well with increased ship mass and velocity and against ships that are slow to align.
Basic skills for tackling
At the moment of writing this, new pilots start with a decent amount of skill points and can already fly frigates, but there's a few more skills that are required to become a tackler:
Required Skills
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Extra skills for tackling
These skills are not required but they will make your life easier and in turn make you a better tackler. Train them to IV when you can, if you intend on tackling a lot. They all affect any ship you fly, so have benefits even if you fly other things.
Recommended Skills
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Basic Modules Used for Tackling
As we said, the primary role of any tackler is to make sure a target ship doesn't run away. The most important part of this is to prevent the enemy from warping off, which can be accomplished by using a warp disruptor ("point") or a warp scrambler ("scram"). Each of these modules has its advantages and disadvantages, and an effective fleet will have some of both.
Warp Disruptor (Point)
The warp disruptor has more than twice the range of a warp scrambler (20km, or 24km with t2) which allows you to keep more distance from your target. This can increase your survivability against targets with stasis webifiers and energy neutralizers, although orbiting at warp disruptor range (rather than orbiting as close as possible) will make you easier to hit with turrets.
You can also tackle your target faster because you don't need to get within 9 km or even less first.
Warp disruptors require a lot of capacitor to run and can quickly drain your frigate's small capacitor if you keep them turned on. For this reason, warp disruptors are generally used to get the initial tackle and smart tacklers will turn them off once someone else has put a warp scrambler on the target.
Warp disruptors are especially popular on interceptors, which receive bonuses to their range and a reduction to the amount of cap they use.
Required Skills
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The warpcore disabling strength for this module is 1 point, this means that a ship equipping a Warp Core Stabilizer will be able to warp away if only one warp disruptor is applied.
Since the T2 module grants a significant bonus in range, it's highly recommended to skill up Propulsion Jamming to IV to be able to fit and use it.
Warp Scrambler (Scram)
The warp scrambler has a much shorter range than the warp disruptor (between 7.5 and 9km), however it doesn't just prevent the enemy from warping off - it also shuts down their Microwarpdrive (MWD). Since almost all ships larger than frigates will be running a MWD, a warp scrambler will slow them down significantly.
This allows the rest of your fleet to get in range of the target more easily, and prevents them from running away or getting back in range of a stargate. For this reason, having at least some warp scramblers is is essential to any fleet.
Warp scramblers use significantly less capacitor than warp disruptors, and you should be able to keep them running indefinitely.
Using a warp scram will put you within range of stasis webifiers and energy neutralizers which can be a threat to your frigate, however guns will struggle to track you at this range meaning in most cases you will actually be safer in warp scrambler range than outside of it. In most situations, the safest place for a frigate to be is orbiting as close as possible - between 500m and 2500m.
Note: using a warp scrambler puts you quite close to smartbomb range (which is 5km, or 6km if the target is using t2 smartbombs). Be careful when you're engaging a target that is likely to be equipped with smartbombs (i.e. battleships in lowsec). If you suspect that your target might be using smartbombs it's a good idea to set your orbit between 6 and 7.5km, which should put you safely outside of their range.
Required Skills
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The warpcore disabling strength of this module is 2 points, so even a ship fitted with one Warp Core Stabilizer won't be able to warp away if scrambled.
Note: in Eve University fleets the frigate tacklers generally fit Warp Disruptors because, when you are camping a gate, the warp disruptor's range can cover the entire uncloak area around the gate. The longer range of disruptors also helps frigate tacklers to stay out of smartbomb range.
Warp Scrambler vs Warp Disruptor comparison
| Warp scrambler T1 | Warp disruptor T1 | |
|---|---|---|
| Range | 7.5 km | 20 km |
| Deactivates MWD | Yes | No |
| Capacitor usage per second | 0.9 | 4.8 |
| CPU requirement | 30 | 40 |
| PG requirement | 1 | 1 |
Extra Modules Used for Tackling
While the basic function of the tackler is accomplished with warp disruptors and scramblers, there's a lot more to be said about how to fit a tackling ship.
As a start, there's at least another class of modules that can directly help the tackler, stasis webifiers: those help slow down the target ship even more, making it easier for the fleet to catch on and keep optimal range.
Another critical factor for a tackler is speed, so we need to talk about propulsion and propulsion upgrades like overdrive and nanofibers.
Especially useful for gate camping, the sensor booster can be useful in many ways since it can increase the targeting range and the signature resolution of your ship.
Then we'll move on to examine how to "tank" your tackler to make it survive incoming fire.
We'll examine what weapon options make the most sense for ships that have tackling as their primary function.
We'll take into consideration some of the E-War modules that can be used effectively as a tackler.
And last, but not least, we'll give some info about drones on tackling ships.
Stasis Webifier (Web)
Stasis webifiers are great for tacklers as they significantly decrease the sub-warp speed of a target ship.
These modules have a range only slightly longer than that of a warp scrambler, so it's a good idea to fit a web if you already have a scrambler, since you will be operating well inside web range anyway.
If you're fitting a warp disruptor, the decision is slightly less clear cut: you first need to decide whether you plan to fly inside stasis webifier range, because that increases your transversal velocity and makes you harder to hit with turrets. If you decide to fly in web range, it makes a lot of sense to fit one. On the other hand you usually want to stay outside of web and neutralizers range since they can be extremely effective against small, fast targets like a tackling ship: by slowing you down with a web, an enemy can hit you easier with turrets and by neutralizing your capacitor they'll be able to shut down your tackling modules and MWD, making you a good target but most importantly dropping the tackle on them!
Required Skills
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Note: when tackling someone, always use a warp disruptor or scrambler before the stasis webifier. Reducing the top speed of a ship with a web will make it easier for the target to warp away because they can then more quickly reach the 75% of top speed needed for initiating warp. So point first, then web.
Afterburner (AB) or Microwarpdrive (MWD)
At first glance you might think that microwarpdrives and afterburners perform the same function, since they both increase your speed, and since the MWD increases your speed more it must be the better choice.
Like many things in EVE, it isn't quite that simple: to summarise, an MWD will let you get into range quickly, but you will be more at risk once you get there. With an AB you will take longer to get into range, but will take less damage once you do.
| Technical overview (based on minimum skills) | |||||||||||||||||||||
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While afterburners are great for duels (where both ships probably have a scrambler fitted, so the MWD would be useless), in fleets the tackler's primary task is to quickly reach the target and put a point on it, so it is recommended that tackler frigates fit an MWD in order to close range more quickly and to help them catch up with fast moving targets.
However, flying with an MWD is less forgiving than using an AB since things will happen more quickly - you will need to be more aware of the range to your target and whether your MWD is currently turned on or off. If you're trying PVP for the first time, an AB might be an easier choice, at the tradeoff of being less effective.
It is possible to fit both an AB and a MWD to your ship (known as 'dual propulsion' or 'dual prop') if you have enough midslots as well as the CPU and PG to do so - this is popular on some T2 and faction ships, but is difficult to do on most T1 frigates and is not recommended for new players.
Note: T2 interceptors (and to a lesser extent t2 assault frigates) receive bonuses to MWDs which reduce the signature radius penalty which they provide. As a result, they take much less damage then running MWDs during combat. Long-ranged 'fleet' interceptors in particular will often keep their MWDs on for the whole duration of a fight.
Microwarpdrive (MWD)
The microwarpdrive is capable of giving a significant speed boost to your sub-warp speed, and in that regard is a direct upgrade compared to an afterburner, but suffers from a series of serious drawbacks. The most important one is that while the MWD is activated it will increase your signature radius by up to 500%; this will make you much easier to hit and you will take a lot more damage from cruiser sized and bigger weapons. This will massively increase your chances of dying.
Also, the MWD uses a lot of capacitor and you will most likely not be able to run it for an extended period of time. For these reasons, an MWD is used only to get into range of your target and is usually turned off once you are in range to tackle your target. Once that has happened you will only be able to orbit your target at the regular speed of your ship.
Another downside is that, as we said, a warp scrambler can shut down the MWD.
And last, but not least, fitting a MWD, whether it's active or not, reduces the total capacity of your capacitor (by 25% for the T1 module and 17% for the T2).
Required Skills
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Afterburner (AB)
Contrary to what happens with a MWD, an AB does not increase your signature radius at all and it needs far less capacitor, meaning you can keep it activated even while you're orbiting your target. Since you're able to travel more quickly without increasing your signature radius, an AB will decrease the chances for your enemy's turrets to hit you as well as reducing the amount of damage you receive from missiles. While an AB is not as useful for chasing targets or getting into range, it does help you survive once you get there.
The Tech 1 module boosts your speed by 112.5% (thus it doubles your speed plus another 12.5%). The Tech 2 version boosts your speed by 135%.
Required Skills
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Propulsion Upgrades
Since a first tackler's focus is about reaching his target quickly, many fits for tackling frigates or interceptors include one or more modules to increase the ship sub-warp speed even more.
Overdrive Injector System
Overdrive Injectors increase your ship's sub-warp speed at the expense of cargohold space. As a tackler you do not use your cargohold, so you can ignore the penalty.
The nice thing about these modules is that they don't require powergrid or CPU.
The tech 1 overdrive injector system is 10.4% (with a cargohold penalty of 15%), and the tech 2 module gives a 12.5% increase to maximum speed and a 20% cargohold penalty.
Required Skills
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Nanofiber Internal Structure (Nano)
This is another module that increases your speed. Unlike the overdrive injector, however, it also makes your ship more agile, allowing you to reach your maximum speed quicker and helping you keep a closer orbit at a higher speed making you harder to track, and thus harder to kill.
Like overdrives, nanos don't require any powergrid or CPU. The inertia decrease will help you with the closer orbit.
The downside of this module is that you get a lower amount of structure hit points (HP). In a way this doesn't matter, because, generally speaking, tackling frigates tend to die when they're hit regardless of their structure HP.
This module works well fitted together with one or more overdrive injector systems. This makes you faster and still allows you to keep that speed in a tight orbit.
The sub-warp speed increase from the tech 1 module is 7.84%, with a 13.1% inertia reduction. Your structure HP will be reduced by 15%. The tech 2 module increases sub-warp speed by 9.4%, cuts inertia by 15.8%, and reduces structure HP by 20%.
Required Skills
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Sensor Boosters and Signal Amplifiers
To be effective as a tackler you first need to get a lock on the target you want to tackle. The lock time is determined by you ship's Scan Resolution (visible in the fitting window) and your target's Signature Radius.
Sensor Boosters and Signal Amplifiers increase your ship's Scan Resolution and Targeting Range. While the Signal Amplifier is a Low Slot, passive module that grants a minor increase in those stats, the Sensor Booster is an active mid slot module and can be scripted to boost only one of those stats, doubling the bonus to that stat, but nullifying the bonus to the other: for example, the tech 1 version of the sensor booster provides a 25% bonus to scan resolution and targeting range, but if you put a Scan Resolution script in it, you'll a get 50% bonus to scan resolution and no bonus to targeting range and viceversa with a Targeting Range script.
Required Skills
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A sensor booster makes sense if you're fitting a warp disruptor, however it should not take precedence over tanking modules such as shield extenders.
As we said, sensor boosters can increase either your targeting range, your locking speed or both. While most frigates can already lock further than maximum warp disruptor range (20-24km), the additional targeting range from a sensor booster can come in useful by allowing you to start locking a target while you're still approaching them, so you'll be able to instantly apply your disruptor as soon as you are in range instead of waiting for the targeting. Another case you could want more range for is when you are overheating your warp disruptor. The additional scan resolution will let you lock targets faster, although your frigate will already lock pretty quickly and will come handy in particular when trying to catch targets coming through a stargate.
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Tanking Your Tackler
After your tackle and propulsion module, the most important thing to fit on your tackler is tank - it's no use catching a target if they can simply kill you and escape.
No matter what else you do, you should almost always fit a #Damage Control in one of your low slots. This module can massively increase your effective hitpoints and has almost no drawback (it uses quite a lot of CPU, but that's it) - there is very little excuse not to use one.
After that, you have two options - you can either fit a shield tank or an armour tank.
A shield tank is usually the best choice for a tackler since it doesn't slow your ship down, but you'll need at least three mid slots to fit a shield tank: one for your MWD or AB, one for your scrambler or disruptor and one for your tank module.
An ideal shield tank for a tackler frigate is a single Medium Shield Extender since it gives way more HP than a small shield extender, and it is possible to fit one on most frigates. If you have problems fitting it, you can fit a Micro Auxiliary Power Core in the low slots to provide the necessary powergrid.
Aside from the shield extender, you usually want to fit shield resistance rigs, such as a Small Anti-EM Screen Reinforcer and a Small Anti-Thermal Screen Reinforcer - these are very cheap compared to other rigs, and will further increase the toughness of your ship.
Fitting a shield tank will increase your signature radius slightly (making you a little easier to hit), however this is vastly outweighed by the increase to HP that it provides.
If you can't fit a shield tank, an armour tank is also a possibility. Fitting an armour plate will slow you down, however the extra HP it provides can make a big difference particularly if you're also fit armour resistance modules (such as an Adaptive Nano Plating).
A 200mm Reinforced Steel Plate is usually the best choice - smaller plates do not provide enough HP to be worth it, while larger plates will slow you down too much. Armour rigs are generally not recommended on a tackler since they will slow you down too much - speed or agility rigs are usually a better choice. An armour tank is best used on close range tacklers with warp scramblers and/or stasis webifiers, since these are less reliant on speed for survival.
Most of the time, you will want a buffer tank (HP and resistance modules) rather than an active tank (armour repairers and shield boosters) for your tackler. This is because a small armour repairer or small shield booster generally does not repair quickly enough to counteract the amount of damage you're likely to take if you're getting shot at by another player - you will generally survive for longer with a buffer tank instead. That said, some armour tanking tacklers may choose to fit a small armour repairer instead of a plate since doing so does not slow you down, and can still be helpful if you're only taking a small amount of damage.
In addition to your actual hitpoints, the high speed of your tackler frigate should help reduce the amount of damage that you take. It generally does not reduce it enough to prevent damage entirely - even on a specialised t2 interceptor - however combined with a few tanking modules it should keep you alive for longer. If you have any low slots or rig slots left over after fitting your tank, it's a good idea to fill them with modules which enhance your speed (such as Overdrive Injectors or Small Auxiliary Thruster rigs).
Damage Control
The damage control increases your shield, armour and hull resistances, making you much tougher and harder to kill. A very much recommended module for any tackler, this will keep you alive a lot longer than without one, and has no drawbacks. It will also make you much more resistant to smartbombs and drones, two major threats to tacklers.
The tech 1 module increases shield, armour and hull resistances by 7.5%, 10% and 50% respectively; the tech 2 module increases them by 12.5%, 15% and 60% respectively.
Required Skills
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Medium Shield Extender
A medium shield extender is a great way to significantly increase the hitpoints of your tackler without slowing you down. While high speed will reduce the damage that you take, it will only reduce it - fitting modules to increase your HP will keep you alive and able to tackle for much longer.
While a small shield extender will be easier to fit, a medium extender provides far more HP and is generally preferred. You may need to use a Micro Auxiliary Power Core in order to provide the powergrid to fit one. A t1 medium shield extender gives you an additional 750 base shield hitpoints (most frigates have between 350 and 500 shield hitpoints to begin with, so that's a huge difference). A t2 medium shield extender increases your base shield hitpoints by a huge 1050 HP!
Required Skills
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Weapons on a Tackler
As a tackler, tackling is your priority: the amount of damage that you might add to the fight, so weapons are low on your list of concerns. Fit all the other modules that you need for tackling first, and if you have some powergrid and CPU left fit whatever weapons you have room for.
If you're fitting a MWD and/or a warp disruptor (both of which use a lot of capacitor to run), it's a good idea to fit projectile and missile weapons since these do not require capacitor to fire, even if your ship is not bonused for them.
Do not compromise your mid or low slot modules just to give you the CPU or powergrid to fit better weapons.
As for the choice between long and short range weapons, always favor the short range ones: they fit easier and make more sense. If your ship is designed to be used at short range (warp scrambler/stasis webifier) fitting long range weapons makes very little sense. If your ship is designed to be used at long range you'll be using the short range weapons to fight off drones that are attacking you as well as enemy ships that managed to get too close to you.
An additional option for high slots on a tackler is a small nosferatu (aka nos or vampire) - this module will drain capacitor from your target and give it to you, which will help keep your modules running. Most small nosferatus require you to be at quite close range (5500m to 6000m), so they may not be practical if you don't want to fight within stasis webifier range of your target. Despite this, a small nosferatu can prove worthwhile since it reduces the chance of you running out of capacitor and your target escaping. As with other high slot modules, you should avoid compromising your mid and low slot modules just to get one to fit. You can read more on the topic in the Capacitor Warfare Guide.
E-war
Using a spare midslot for a random e-war module will multiply the value of your ship for the fleet. Especially in a big fleet, there are usually a lot of tacklers and one more or less warp scrambler or webifier doesn't make much of a difference. A tracking disruptor or sensor dampener on the other hand can significantly disrupt your enemies' ability to fight back, even though the tackler frigate does not receive a bonus to those modules. An e-war module can also increase the survivability of a tackler when trying to keep a target tackled for a while until fleet members caught up/warped in, as well as helping out any other tacklers in your fleet. Tracking disruptors are great for this though they are effective only against turret based ships.
Most T1 frigates that are used for tackling do not provide any bonus to a specific type of e-war. However, e-war modules such as tracking disruptors and remote sensor dampeners are still incredibly effective on any ship, even one with no bonuses to them. ECM jammer modules are the only exception to this rule, and are not recommended on a ship which does not have ECM bonuses (such as the griffin or blackbird).
E-war modules usually consume a lot of capacitor, so you'll need to manage your cap wisely, prioritizing keeping your tackle on and eventually pulsing or shutting down the E-war modules if it comes to it.
Drones
Some T1 frigates can use at least 1 small drone and you should utilize that, even if it wont make much difference individually. Not using the drone bay pretty much equals not using a slot on your ship. A simple combat drone like a hobgoblin or a warrior is fine, if you trained up your drone skills you could maybe use an e-war drone. Anything is fine really, as long as you use it.
The Setups
Below you will find several different tackler setups for all races. All these setups can be flown with only some very basic skills. Note that some of the fits below have empty high slots due to not having the powergrid to fill them with starting skills. By training up your skills you will not only improve the performance of your ship but also free up CPU, powergrid, and capacitor which might allow you to fit bigger and/or additional weapons or begin upgrading your modules to T2.
All these fits use nothing but vanilla T1 (meta 0) items. If you are an EVE University member you can get all these modules and ships for free from the corporation hangar, though you might want to consider upgrading some modules to higher meta versions if you can afford it. Meta 1 and 2 items are usually fairly cheap and offer improved performance while requiring less CPU and/or PG to fit.
You should copy any fit you want to use to EFT (or similar) and see if your skills allow you to fit more/bigger weapons or make any other adjustments like upgrading to higher meta levels as you see fit.
The fits below are generally separated into two categories: Long ranged tacklers with warp disruptors, and close ranged 'scram' tacklers with warp scramblers.
Long Ranged Tacklers
The perfect ships for this role are the t1 'attack' frigates - the Slasher, Condor, Atron and Executioner. These ships are very fast and have good capacitor regeneration, but most importantly they get a 80% reduction to the cap use of tackle modules. Warp disruptors usually require a lot of capacitor to run, and a regular frigate cannot keep one running for very long at all without running out of capacitor - especially if it's running a microwarpdrive too! The fast attack frigates don't have this problem, and can keep their warp disruptors running for much longer. They are however naturally very fragile, and it's important to fit a decent tank.
The job of a long ranged tackler is to grab targets quickly, while the close ranged tacklers are still trying to get into range. Since you don't have a warp scrambler or stasis webifier you can orbit outside of web range if you want to, however you will often take less damage just orbiting as close to the target as you can!
All setups below will work with either a microwarpdrive or an afterburner. However, remember that running a MWD will drain your capacitor quickly as well as making you easier to hit. If you're using a MWD, it's a good idea to turn it off once you get close enough! Speed is very important to long range tacklers, allowing you to chase down targets and helping to keep you alive. Because of that, it's a much better idea to shield tank them than armour tank them!
Slasher, Fast Tackle
125mm Gatling AutoCannon I, EMP S
125mm Gatling AutoCannon I, EMP S
125mm Gatling AutoCannon I, EMP S
J5 Enduring Warp Disruptor
Alumel-Wired Enduring Sensor Booster
Medium Shield Extender I
5MN Cold-Gas Enduring Microwarpdrive
Damage Control I
Micro Auxiliary Power Core I
Small Anti-EM Screen Reinforcer I
Small Anti-Thermal Screen Reinforcer I
Small Anti-Kinetic Screen Reinforcer I
EMP S x1201
Targeting Range Script x1
Scan Resolution Script x1
- The slasher is an excellent tackler thanks to its natural high speed, low signature radius, and four mid slots allowing it to fit both a shield extender and a sensor booster. Since it's autocannons don't use capacitor, it also has more cap spare to run your tackle modules.
Condor, Fast Tackle
'Limos' Rocket Launcher I, Scourge Rocket
'Limos' Rocket Launcher I, Scourge Rocket
'Limos' Rocket Launcher I, Scourge Rocket
Initiated Compact Warp Disruptor
Alumel-Wired Enduring Sensor Booster
Medium Shield Extender I
5MN Cold-Gas Enduring Microwarpdrive
Damage Control I
Micro Auxiliary Power Core I
Small Anti-EM Screen Reinforcer I
Small Anti-Thermal Screen Reinforcer I
Small Anti-Kinetic Screen Reinforcer I
Scourge Rocket x601
Targeting Range Script x1
Scan Resolution Script x1
- Like the Slasher, the Condor gets an excellent 4 mid slots and has weapons which don't use any capacitor. It's a little slow compared to the other tacklers, and you might not be able to fit all three rocket launchers until your skills are a little more developed, however it is also the hardest tackler frigate to jam with ECM and has good shield HP.
Atron, Fast Tackle
Regulated Light Electron Phase Cannon I, Iron Charge S
Regulated Light Electron Phase Cannon I, Iron Charge S
Regulated Light Electron Phase Cannon I, Iron Charge S
J5 Enduring Warp Disruptor
Medium Shield Extender I
5MN Cold-Gas Enduring Microwarpdrive
Damage Control I
Micro Auxiliary Power Core I
Overdrive Injector System I
Small Anti-EM Screen Reinforcer I
Small Anti-Thermal Screen Reinforcer I
Small Anti-Kinetic Screen Reinforcer I
Iron Charge S x1201
- The Atron is naturally tough thanks to its high structure HP, and while it doesn't have a fourth mid slot for a sensor booster, the third low slot makes it very fast. While most Gallente ships armour tank, a shield tank is usually a much better idea on a tackler frigate because of the extra speed and agility it provides.
Executioner, Fast Tackle
125mm Gatling AutoCannon I, EMP S
125mm Gatling AutoCannon I, EMP S
125mm Gatling AutoCannon I, EMP S
J5 Enduring Warp Disruptor
Medium Shield Extender I
5MN Cold-Gas Enduring Microwarpdrive
Damage Control I
Overdrive Injector System I
Overdrive Injector System I
Small Anti-EM Screen Reinforcer I
Small Anti-Thermal Screen Reinforcer I
Small Anti-Kinetic Screen Reinforcer I
EMP S x1201
- Like the Atron, the Executioner's third low slot allows it to travel very quickly. In fact, the Executioner has enough powergrid that even with starting skills you won't need to use a Micro Auxiliary Power Core to fit it, although you leave your high slots empty or fit autocannons instead of pulse lasers (like in this case). While shield tanking an Amarr ship may seem a little odd, the extra speed makes a big difference for a tackler.
Close Ranged 'Scram' Tacklers
While the attack frigates are fast, they are also quite fragile. Because of that, many people prefer to use the t1 'combat' frigates for their close range tacklers - the Rifter, Merlin, Incursus, Punisher and Tormentor.
The job of a scram tackler is to get in close and hold a target until it dies. This means carrying a warp scrambler and plenty of tank to help you stay alive. If you have a spare mid slot a stasis webifier is a natural fit. Despite what you might think, being in close usually much safer than orbiting at range, because it makes you harder to hit. Often the best plan for a scram tackler is to orbit as close to their target as possible.
The fits below work with either microwarpdrives or afterburners. Remember that you'll take more damage with a MWD running, so only use it to get into range and then turn it off. Like long ranged tacklers, the most effective tank for a scram tackler is usually a shield tank for extra speed. However since they don't rely on speed quite so much as their long range counterparts, an armour tank can also work well.
Tormentor, Scram Tackler
Gatling Pulse Laser I, Multifrequency S
Gatling Pulse Laser I, Multifrequency S
Gatling Pulse Laser I, Multifrequency S
J5b Enduring Warp Scrambler
Medium Shield Extender I
5MN Cold-Gas Enduring Microwarpdrive
Damage Control I
Overdrive Injector System I
Overdrive Injector System I
Nanofiber Internal Structure I
Small Anti-EM Screen Reinforcer I
Small Anti-Thermal Screen Reinforcer I
Small Anti-Kinetic Screen Reinforcer I
Warrior I x2
Multifrequency S x1
- The Tormentor is an excellent tackler frigate due to its three mid slots and very easy fitting requirements. While most Amarr ships armour tank, the tackle Tormentor works very well as a shield tanker, allowing it to use its low slots to enhance its speed. Thanks to the tormentor's strong powergrid, it doesn't even need a micro auxiliary power core in order to fit a shield extender! Perfect! It also has room for two drones - don't forget to use them. You might need to leave a turret off until your skills are more developed.
Punisher, Scram Tackle
Dual Light Pulse Laser I, Multifrequency S
Dual Light Pulse Laser I, Multifrequency S
Dual Light Pulse Laser I, Multifrequency S
Small Knave Scoped Energy Nosferatu
J5b Enduring Warp Scrambler
5MN Cold-Gas Enduring Microwarpdrive
Damage Control I
200mm Rolled Tungsten Compact Plates
Adaptive Nano Plating I
Type-D Restrained Overdrive Injector
Type-D Restrained Nanofiber Structure
Multifrequency S x1
- With two mid slots the Punisher is generally less effective as a tackler than the Tormentor, although its armour HP bonus can make it quite tough. Since it only has two mid slots the Punisher has to armour tank, which does leave it quite slow.
- Thanks to the Punisher's strong powergrid it's quite easy to fit a small nosferatu, which should come in very useful for keeping your capacitor flowing once you're in range. If you don't fit a nosferatu it might be a good idea to fit projectile turrets or simply be careful running your guns, since unlike the Tormentor the Punisher does not get a bonus to cap use for its turrets.
Merlin, Scram Tackler
75mm Gatling Rail I, Antimatter Charge S
75mm Gatling Rail I, Antimatter Charge S
75mm Gatling Rail I, Antimatter Charge S
J5b Enduring Warp Scrambler
X5 Enduring Stasis Webifier
Medium Shield Extender I
5MN Cold-Gas Enduring Microwarpdrive
Damage Control I
Micro Auxiliary Power Core I
Type-D Restrained Overdrive Injector
Small Anti-EM Screen Reinforcer I
Small Anti-Thermal Screen Reinforcer I
Small Anti-Kinetic Screen Reinforcer I
Antimatter Charge S x1201
- Thanks to its shield resistance bonus, the Merlin is one of the best close range tackler frigs around. With a medium shield extender this Merlin fit is very tough, while it also has plenty of mid slots for tackle or electronic warfare.
- This fit has plenty of CPU spare so you can easily swap that stasis webifier for a tracking disruptor or other ewar module if you prefer, allowing you to cause even more pain for your target.
- If you have reasonably good fitting skills and want to do some more damage, you might be able to squeeze some blasters on there instead of the 75mm rails.
Incursus, Scram Tackler
75mm Gatling Rail I, Antimatter Charge S
75mm Gatling Rail I, Antimatter Charge S
75mm Gatling Rail I, Antimatter Charge S
J5b Enduring Warp Scrambler
Medium Shield Extender I
5MN Cold-Gas Enduring Microwarpdrive
Damage Control I
Type-D Restrained Overdrive Injector
Type-D Restrained Overdrive Injector
Nanofiber Internal Structure I
Small Anti-EM Screen Reinforcer I
Small Anti-Thermal Screen Reinforcer I
Small Anti-Kinetic Screen Reinforcer I
Warrior I x1
Antimatter Charge S x1201
- The Incursus is a great tackler thanks to its three mid slots and good speed. Despite having a bonus to armour repairers, a tackler Incursus works very well with a shield tank. Like the Tormentor, it has plenty of powergrid allowing you to fit a medium shield extender without needing a micro auxiliary power core to do so. With its four low slots giving it excellent speed, this is arguably one of the best tackler fits around.
- This ship has a reasonable amount of cpu left, meaning you can fit a warp disruptor if you prefer. If you have decent fitting skills, this ship is a natural with blasters.
Incursus, Scram Tackler Armour
Limited Light Ion Blaster I, Antimatter Charge S
Limited Light Ion Blaster I, Antimatter Charge S
Limited Light Ion Blaster I, Antimatter Charge S
J5b Enduring Warp Scrambler
X5 Enduring Stasis Webifier
5MN Cold-Gas Enduring Microwarpdrive
Damage Control I
200mm Steel Plates I
Adaptive Nano Plating I
Type-D Restrained Overdrive Injector
Warrior I x1
Antimatter Charge S x1101
- Thanks to its large number of low slots, the Incursus also makes a good armour tanker. This takes less powergrid than the shield tanked version, letting you fit blasters more easily for some close range damage as well as freeing up a mid slot for another tackle or ewar mod.
- The armour Incursus is slower and more fragile than the shield tanked version, and since armour rigs are more expensive than shield rigs you might not want to rig it. If you have the choice, the shield Incursus is a better setup for tackling.
Rifter, Scram Tackler
150mm Light Gallium Machine Gun, Phased Plasma S
150mm Light Gallium Machine Gun, Phased Plasma S
150mm Light Gallium Machine Gun, Phased Plasma S
J5b Enduring Warp Scrambler
Medium Shield Extender I
5MN Cold-Gas Enduring Microwarpdrive
Damage Control I
Micro Auxiliary Power Core I
Type-D Restrained Overdrive Injector
Small Anti-EM Screen Reinforcer I
Small Anti-Thermal Screen Reinforcer I
Small Anti-Kinetic Screen Reinforcer I
Phased Plasma S x900
- With a good mix of speed and HP, this is an excellent tackler setup. Unfortunately the Rifter doesn't have as much powergrid as the Incursus or Tormentor, forcing it to use a micro auxiliary power core in order to fit a shield extender. Thankfully its excellent base speed makes up for this lost low slot.
- If you have good skills, a useful addition to this setup is to fit a nosferatu in its spare high slot.
Final words
The setups posted above should be considered suggestions. Though they all work as intended, none of them is perfect, since there are no perfect setups for any ship. In order to find a good setup for you, you have to know what you want to achieve. Do you want to be a high speed chaser? Do you want to keep your target tackled as long as possible? Do you want to slow your target down as much as possible? Maybe something else or all of the above?
You can use any combination of tackling modules, speed modules, tank modules and e-war modules you want as long as you have the 3 things every tackler should have: a speed module (AB or MWD), a tackling module (warp disruptor or scrambler) and a damage control. Anything beyond that is up to you!
Additional Information
See also Tackling 101 See also Newbie Tackling Guide
Original Articles
