Interceptors

Interceptors (often called "inties" or "'ceptors") are a class of Tech 2 frigate. They are Eve's fastest ships, and they have attributes and bonuses which make them supremely effective tacklers, or dangerous high-speed damage-dealers. Inties are often one of the first classes of T2 ships that pilots train, and they're often helpful in Eve University's fleets.

This page won't make you a good interceptor pilot -- only practice can do that -- but it does cover a lot of information that's useful for new interceptor pilots.

Terminology note: "Point" and "Long Point" usually mean a Warp Disruptor, while "Scram" (and sometimes "Short Point") refers to a Warp Scrambler.

Overview

There are two types of interceptor: interceptors designed purely for tackling ("tackle" or "fleet" inties), and interceptors designed for combat ("gank", "damage", "damage-dealing" or "combat" inties). Each of the four races has one interceptor of each type. For simplicity's sake this guide will refer to the two types as fleet and combat interceptors, but different players will use different terminology. Due to Eve University's general "Combined Arms" large fleet style, fleet inties are more useful in a normal E-Uni fleet.

All interceptors, of both kinds, share certain characteristics:

• They all have an "80% reduction in Propulsion Jamming systems activation cost" role bonus, letting inty pilots permanently run warp disruptors/scramblers and webifires much more easily.
• They all have a "15% reduction in MicroWarpdrive signature radius penalty" for each level their pilot has in the Spaceship Command Interceptors skill, dramatically reducing the signature bloom effect caused by having a MWD on.
  • Most ships have to use MWDs in short bursts only, because the bloom makes them much more vulnerable to large guns and missiles. This crucial bonus lets interceptors run their MWDs permanently but still keep (relatively) small sig radii.
• They all have very high base velocities.
• They all have very high base scan resolution, letting them lock on to targets rapidly.

Fleet Inties

Fleet inties are so called because they are a great help to a fleet (especially in high- and lowsec where bubbles can't be used to pin the enemy down) but, being more or less pure tacklers, they aren't so good solo.

• Fleet inties are tied with the covops frigates for Eve's fastest base warp speed in Eve, 13.5 AU/s
• Their defining feature is a 5% bonus to warp scrambler and warp disruptor range per level in the Interceptor skill

Fleet inties move fast, catch people quickly and can hold a point on someone while orbiting them at high speed and beyond 20km range -- for example, with Interceptor trained to level IV the range of a T2 disruptor on a fleet inty will be over 28km (and over 34km if you overheat). The rest of the fleet inty's bonuses, tied to the racial frigate skill (which will have been trained to 5), are weapon- or tank-related.

The four races' fleet inties, together with their racial frigate skill bonuses, are:

• The Amarr Malediction: 5% bonuses to rocket damage and armor resistances per level
• The Caldari Raptor: 5% bonus to hybrid damage and 10% bonus to hybrid range per level
• The Gallente Ares: 5% bonus to hybrid damage and 7.5% bonus to hybrid tracking per level
• The Minmatar Stiletto: 5% bonus to projectile damage and 7.5% bonus to projectile tracking per level; notable for being the only inty with 4 midslots

All four of these are useful, though the Stiletto's fourth midslot gives it a bit of an edge.

Combat Inties

The combat interceptors are better suited to actual fighting. They are popular solo ships, usually going toe-to-toe with other frigates, and are occasionally used in all-interceptor gangs. They are often the best counter to fleet inties.

• Combat inties have more combat-orientated slot layouts, usually more lowslots at the expense of midslots
• Combat inties have more powergrid than the fleet inties, making it easier to fit weapons
• Combat inties have an extra combat-related bonus tied to the Interceptors skill, instead of the fleet inties' tackling range bonus

The four combat inties, together with their racial frigate skill bonuses, are:

• The Amarr Crusader: 10% less laser cap use, 5% bonus to laser damage, 7.5% bonus to laser tracking per level
• The Caldari Crow: 10% bonus to kinetic missile damage, 10% bonus to missile speed per level
• The Gallente Taranis: 10% bonus to hybrid damage, 7.5% bonus to hybrid tracking per level
• The Minmatar Claw: 10% bonus to projectile damage, 7.5% bonus to projectile tracking per level

The Taranis's hefty damage bonus -- applied to the already face-meltingly high DPS potential of blasters -- has made it a very popular dogfighter. The other three all have their proponents, however, and they're all deadly in the right hands.

Skills

Necessary Skills

Training to fly the Interceptor hull will probably take the most amount of time, particularly Evasive Maneuvering 5 and Racial Frigate 5.

• Spaceship Command Interceptors Level 1 is required to fly interceptors, although having at least level 4 is recommended for the interceptor skill bonuses.

Most of these modules are relatively quick to train for. T2 modules give a significant advantage over T1 and so are recommended in most cases.

• [[Skills:Electronics Propulsion Jamming]] Level 2 is necessary for Tech 2 points, and level 4 allows T2 webs.
• [[Skills:Electronics High Speed Maneuvering]] Level 3 for T2 MWDs.
• [[Skills:Mechanic Hull Upgrades]] Level 2 is required for T2 Nanofibre Internal Structures and Overdrive Injectors.
• Science Thermodynamics Allows overheating of modules: very useful in tight situations to give an extra boost of speed or point range.

Support Skills

• Navigation Navigation 5% bonus to sub-warp speed per level.
• Navigation Acceleration Control 5% bonus to afterburner and MWD speed per level.
• [[Skills:Mechanic Astronautics Rigging]] for navigation rigs.
• [[Skills:Mechanic Electronic Superiority Rigging]] for rigs that improve targeting speed and range.

T2 small weapon skills will be useful for combat inties, as they allow much more range control and damage.

Fitting

As for most support ships, the basic rule for fitting interceptors is: fit for your role, then for tank, and then use what's left for damage. For a fleet interceptor, that means that a T2 point and MWD, a speed tank (possibly with a DCU2 for buffer) and some short-range weapons to take care of drones. Combat inties should focus more on their weapons and tank first, maybe fitting a small repper or plate depending on the enemy, and often swap the point for a scram.

When deciding on midslots and rigs, thought should be given to the inty's purpose. For example, you might want to fit sensor boosters and targeting speed rigs in order to catch fast ships and pods; speed and webifier(s) to lock down fast enemy ships over a longer fight; or damage and tank in order to fight toe-to-toe with other fast frigates. Much of this decision will depend on personal preference and playstyle, so experimentation is generally encouraged: although there are plenty of fellow corpmates and alumni who have been there, tried that, and are more than willing to give an opinion on your latest idea.

High slots

Weapons are generally small turrets with high tracking. Fleet interceptors will mainly want to be shooting drones, and possibly use a rocket launcher firing defenders to mitigate incoming missile damage. Combat inties will focus more on their weapons, ideally firing Scorch/Barrage/Null etc in order to dictate range better.

Mid slots

Almost all inties will fit an MWD first. Fleet inties will generally fit disruptors in order to get tackle earlier and make most of their bonus range, while combat inties fit scrams in order to counter other ships' MWDs better. Fleet inties should not fit scrams unless they really know what they are doing: unless the inty pilot is very good at controlling range, using a scram means getting too close to enemy scram range. If a fleet inty gets scrammed, it will most likely explode a few seconds later. When fitting a disruptor, make sure you have the targeting range to use all of your overheated point range. A signal amplifier or Small Ionic Field Projector rig will help here.

After prop and point has been fitted, the rest of the midslots are generally dependent on the number of midslots available, the friendly and enemy fleet composition, and the pilot's personal preference. Common choices include stasis webifiers, sensor boosters, medium shield extenders, afterburners, or even some form of EWAR.

Low slots

Most inties will fit at least a couple of Overdrive Injector System IIs or Nanofibre Internal Structure IIs for speed. Generally, a mix of raw speed and agility is recommended. Agility is useful to be able to warp faster, orbit more accurately and change direction quicker (to minimise the time when angular velocity is low). Fleet interceptors will generally fit all lowslots for speed, or swap one speed module for a DCU2, but if a fourth lowslot is available then a Signal Amplifier II or a fitting module like an MAPC might be used.

Combat inties will use more of their lowslots for damage and tank. Tank can include DCU2, adaptive nano plating, an armor repper, or a small armor plate. If possible, tank should be matched to the expected enemy fleet composition, including engagement duration and estimated incoming damage. Low DPS spread over a few small encounters (say frigate fights) is ideal for a repper, but a plate is more suited to larger fleets over a longer period.

Rigs

Rig to taste. Rigs can be used to boost targeting, damage, speed, and tank (particularly in filling explosive holes against Warrior drones). Pilots should be careful fitting speed rigs, though, as they are roughly half as effective as lowslot modules and will be subject to hefty stacking penalties if many lowslots have been used for speed. See Morty's in-depth comparison for more details.

Flying Interceptors

Generally, inty pilots want to keep speed and angular velocity high as these are the main form of tank.

Fleet Interceptors

Fleet interceptors are generally flown as a special tackler, often staying a couple of jumps ahead or behind the main fleet to hold enemies in place until the fleet arrives, or providing warpin points during a battle. Inties should approach targets at an angle to maximize traversal while spiraling in. Once in place, the inty should orbit at around 15-25km in order to stay out of web/scram/neut range while keeping angular velocity up. Battleships can fit large neuts that can reach out to 25.2km, so these should be kept at a distance, while faster cruisers should be orbited at a smaller range so they don't escape. Orbit speed should be around 4-5km/s, so if the target launches drones, they will generally end up getting kited by the inty and be fairly easy to track and pick off. Note that, depending on skills and ships, the range at which the inty orbits will not necessarily be what the pilot has set in the UI. Pilots should check their actual orbit distances so they know what to choose in order to orbit at the correct range.

Fleet interceptors should generally avoid faster targets like frigates and speedfit cruisers: these have a good chance of breaking the inty's orbit and applying a scram or web. Some enemies, like the Privateers, specialize in kiting and picking off smaller tacklers and running before the fleet arrives: these should just be avoided unless a warpin for the whole fleet can be generated.

In some circumstances, such as a planned long gatecamp, ships will be asked to fit remote sensor boosters to assist inties in grabbing targets quickly. This will generally be up to the fleet commander to organize, although you should know how many boosters can be assigned to you and still be useful.

Combat Interceptors

A combat interceptor's job is to establish dominance of the frigates on the battlefield, including the enemy's tackle/interceptors, by counter-tackling and killing them. Combat interceptors are also better at tackling MWD-fit cruisers and battlecruisers than fleet interceptors - they have a scram to shut off the MWD so the fleet can catch up; and a bit more tank so that they can survive while the fleet finishes it off. Combat interceptors fly like assault frigates in many ways. They will often have their own important targets independent of the fleet's primary.

Ships and Fitting

This section will list some generic fits for different interceptors. As above, these can be modified depending on personal preference. Some discussion of these fits, and variations, is available at glepp's class thread.

Malediction

[Malediction, fleet]
Overdrive Injector System II
Damage Control II
Nanofiber Internal Structure II

Catalyzed Cold-Gas I Arcjet Thrusters
Warp Disruptor II
F-90 Positional Sensor Subroutines, Scan Resolution

[empty high slot]
Rocket Launcher I, Defender I
Rocket Launcher I, Defender I
Rocket Launcher I, Defender I

Polycarbon Engine Housing I
Small Ionic Field Projector I

Raptor

[Raptor, Fast locking]
Nanofiber Internal Structure II
Capacitor Power Relay II
Nanofiber Internal Structure II

Phased Monopropellant I Hydrazine Boosters
Sensor Booster II
Warp Disruptor II

TE-2100 Standard Missile Bay, Caldari Navy Bloodclaw Light Missile
TE-2100 Standard Missile Bay, Caldari Navy Bloodclaw Light Missile
[empty high slot]
[empty high slot]

Small Targeting System Subcontroller I
Small Targeting System Subcontroller I

Notes: This fit is pretty fragile, can't really tank anything with decent guns. Good for gatecamps or other fleets where quick locking is important and other tackle will be available soon.

Ares

[Ares, Imperfect skillz]
Signal Amplifier II
Capacitor Power Relay II
Overdrive Injector System II
Damage Control II  

1MN MicroWarpdrive II
Warp Disruptor II
Sensor Booster II, Scan Resolution

75mm Gatling Rail II, Caldari Navy Iridium Charge S
75mm Gatling Rail II, Caldari Navy Iridium Charge S
OE-5200 Rocket Launcher, Defender I

Small Polycarbon Engine Housing I
Small Polycarbon Engine Housing I

Notes: (glepp) This is the fit I've been flying until i got my cap skills up. The Cap power relay ensures cap stability, and the SB+Sig amp allows me to catch cloakies quite often. Some will laugh at the defender missiles, but they are very useful when holding Drakes and the likes.

Stiletto

[Stiletto, Cookie Cutter]
Overdrive Injector System II
Nanofiber Internal Structure II
Damage Control II

Catalyzed Cold-Gas I Arcjet Thrusters
Sensor Booster II, Scan Resolution
Warp Disruptor II
Warp Scrambler II

200mm AutoCannon II, EMP S
200mm AutoCannon II, EMP S
Rocket Launcher II, Defender I

Small Polycarbon Engine Housing I
Small Ionic Field Projector I

Notes: A standard Stiletto fit. The scrambler can be swapped for something else if running ahead or behind the main fleet; possibly a cap booster to deal with neuts.

Crusader

[Crusader, fleet]
Tracking Enhancer II
Damage Control II
Overdrive Injector System II
Overdrive Injector System II

1MN MicroWarpdrive II
Warp Disruptor II

Dual Light Pulse Laser II, Scorch S
Dual Light Pulse Laser II, Scorch S
Dual Light Pulse Laser II, Scorch S
Dual Light Pulse Laser II, Scorch S

Small Energy Locus Coordinator I
Small Energy Locus Coordinator I

Crow

[Crow, Generic Crow]
Overdrive Injector System II
Nanofiber Internal Structure II
Damage Control II

1MN MicroWarpdrive II
Cap Recharger II
Warp Disruptor II

Standard Missile Launcher II
Standard Missile Launcher II
Standard Missile Launcher II
Empty

Small Anti-Explosive Screen Reinforcer I
Small Bay Loading Accelerator I 

Taranis

[Taranis, MWD Boom]
Damage Control II
Adaptive Nano Plating II
Magnetic Field Stabilizer II  

1MN MicroWarpdrive II
Warp Scrambler II
Stasis Webifier II

Light Ion Blaster II, Caldari Navy Antimatter Charge S
Light Ion Blaster II, Caldari Navy Antimatter Charge S
Light Ion Blaster II, Caldari Navy Antimatter Charge S
[empty high slot]

Small Hybrid Collision Accelerator I
Small Hybrid Burst Aerator I

Hobgoblin II x2

Claw

[Claw, lone ranger]
Pseudoelectron Containment Field I
400mm Reinforced Rolled Tungsten Plates I
Adaptive Nano Plating II
Micro Auxiliary Power Core I

Catalyzed Cold-Gas I Arcjet Thrusters
J5b Phased Prototype Warp Scrambler I 

150mm Light AutoCannon II
150mm Light AutoCannon II
150mm Light AutoCannon II
5W Infectious Power System Malfunction

Small Projectile Burst Aerator I
Small Projectile Collision Accelerator I

Notes: This fit is a bit brawlier than the other interceptor fits here, but the Claw is suited to it. It doesn't have the falloff bonus to be able to stay at range with autocannon, and artillery fits have trouble dealing with drones. This fit is generally suited to solo and small gang work. The main thing is to choose your targets carefully, ie ships without both a scram and a web. One strategy is to engage at point range: depending on the ship, if they have a point they're unlikely to have a scram and web too. Close in and kill drones at a 5k orbit, then get as close as possible and let the autocannon tear into the ship.

Countering Interceptors

Various modules and tactics can be used to kill interceptors or drive them away. When in a ship with speeds similar to the inty then some piloting techniques or maneuvers can be used to break the inty's orbit and bring them into web or scram range. Cruisers and destroyers fit for tracking and killing frigates can also be effective. While most guns will have tracking problems against inties, missile systems can still be effective even though the inty's speed and small sig radius will mitigate much of the damage. Missiles can slowly eat through an inty's buffer if they don't have any repair or recharge ability on their armor or shields.

Drones

Drones are a common defence against all small ships, interceptors included. The Minmatar Warrior II light drones are the nimblest and fastest drones, often matching interceptor speeds, and so are the most common choice.

However, interceptors go so very fast that even Warriors are likely to still spend time fruitlessly chasing them around. Furthermore, it is sometimes possible to tank an interceptor against drones: a Stiletto with a medium shield extender and one or two explosive shield resist rigs can soak up a lot of fire from Warriors (which do explosive damage), for example.

Fleet inty pilots can also fit weapons specifically to shoot drones. The smallest, fastest-tracking turrets, combined with the tracking bonuses that several fleet inties get, perform quite well against drones.

Ships with large dronebays and bonuses to drone hitpoints and damage, like the Arbitrator and Vexor have much more problematic drones (and if you do manage to kill them, they probably have more).

Counter-Tackle

Webs (especially two at once) to directly cut an inty's speed or a warp scrambler to shut down its MWD are both excellent ways to slow down an inty and make it vulnerable. The problem is of course that webs and scrams have short ranges, and good inty pilots stay beyond web/scram range at all times.

Apart from other inties, there are a few ships that are particularly effective at webbing. The Minmatar Huginn and Rapier recon ships both have bonuses to web range. They can push a normal T2 web out to 40km range before heat (overheating the web and/or fitting a faction web can produce considerably longer ranges). Both ships are consequently very dangerous to interceptors, and a good countermeasure.

A few other, rarer ships also have web bonuses but these are mostly to strength rather than range, so an inty that stays away from the range of normal webs shouldn't be troubled by them. Note, however, that the Blood Raider Bhaalgorn battleship has a web range bonus which can push the optimal of a T2 web out to 20km before heat.

The Gallente recons, the Lachesis and Arazu have bonuses to warp scrambler and warp disruptor range. They are most commonly fitted with disruptors, to point the enemy from a long way away, but they can be fitted with warp scramblers. This is less of a threat than the Minmatar recons' webs, but their bonuses can still put a T2 scram's range out to 18km before heat, so they should be treated with a bit of care.

Energy Neutralizers

A few cycles from a medium energy neutralizer or just one cycle from a large neut can remove all of an interceptor's capacitor, shutting down its MWD and point and leaving it dead in the water.

Medium neuts have similar ranges to scrams and webs, and so are not dangerous to a competent inty pilot unless they're mounted on a ship which has range bonuses for them. The Amarr combat recon, the Curse, does have such a range bonus, and it can neut at nearly 40km if the pilot has good skills. (Being based on the Arbitrator hull, it also has drone bonuses, making it a nightmare target for an interceptor to tackle!)

T2 large neuts have 25km range. Fleet inties must therefore maintain a very careful orbit, further than 25km but near enough to be within warp disruptor range, when pointing a battleship which they know or suspect has one or more energy neutralisers fitted. Neuts are particularly common on the Dominix, the Scorpion, in solo/small gang fits for the Typhoon and Tempest, and on the previously mentioned Bhaalgorn (which has bonuses to neut strength, though not to their range).

Further Reading

Tackling 201: Fleet Interceptors by glepp.