Tackling

Tackling

"The art of immobilizing the opponent in a way that said ship is unable to move"

Tackling is one of the most important roles in fleet warfare. Making the opponent's ship unable to move allows the fleet to kill it. Once tackled, the opponent can't warp away if he takes too much damage. Before the tackling explanation comes, first an explanation of the modules used with tackling.

The 3 basic modules used for tackling

• Warp Disruptor
• Warp Scrambler
• Stasis Webifier

Warp Disruptor (Point)

The warp disruptor does what its name says, it makes the opponent's ship unable to warp away. Once you get a lock on the opponent you can hit the button for the warp disruptor and it will disrupt the warpcore of the opponent's ship.

The basic range of the warp disruptor is 20km for a tech 1 module and 24km for a tech 2 module. The warpcore disable strength for this module is 1 point.

Skill Requirements:

Navigation II

Electronics III

Tech1 module: Propulsion Jamming I

Tech2 module: Propulsion Jamming II

Warp Scrambler (Scram)

The warp scrambler has the same basic principles as the warp disruptor. The warp scrambler will also disable the warpcore of the opponent's ship. As addition to this, the warp scrambler also disables any use of a microwarp drive (MWD)

The basic range for a warp scrambler is significantly lower then that of a warp disruptor. For a tech 1 module the range is 7.5km and for a tech 2 module the range is 9km. The warpcore disable strength of this module is 2 points.

Skill Requirements:

Navigation II

Electronics III

Tech1 module: Propulsion Jamming I

Tech2 module: Propulsion Jamming II

Note: In Eve University fleets the frigate tacklers generally fit Warp Disruptors. This because if in a gate camp with a warp disruptor you can cover the entire uncloak range around the gate.

Stasis webifier (Web)

The stasis webifier is different from the warp disruptor and the warp scrambler. The stasis webifier focuses on decreasing the sub-warp speed of a ship. The sub-warp speed is the speed that you normally fly around with.

The sub-warp speed reduction depends on the version of the module. The tech 1 version has a speed reduction of 50%, the tech 2 version has a speed reduction of 60%. Both modules have a maximum range of 10km.

Skill Requirements:

Navigation II

Electronics III

Tech1 module: Propulsion Jamming I

Tech2 module: Propulsion Jamming IV

Note: While tackling someone always use a warp disruptor or warp scrambler 'before' a stasis webifier. Reducing the top speed of a ship with a web will make it easier for the target to warp away due to reaching the 75% of top speed needed for initiating warp faster.So first point then web.

Extra modules for Tackling

• Afterburner
• Microwarpdrive
• Sensor Booster
• Overdrive Injector System
• Nanofiber Internal Structure

Afterburner (AB)

Just as on present day jet fighters, in space you can also have an afterburner. The afterburner increases your sub-warp speed a certain amount. The afterburner is used for tackling to get to the target faster if he's not in your range yet, or to get closer to him to get into orbit range.

The tech 1 module gives a speedboost of 112.5% (so doubles your speed and adds another 12.5%) the tech 2 version gives a speedboost of 135%

Skill Requirements:

Navigation I

Tech 1: Afterburner I

Tech 2: Afterburner IV

Microwarpdrive (MWD)

The microwarpdrive is a small warpdrive capable of giving a significant speed boost to your sub-warp speed. It's an upgraded version of the afterburner. Just like the AB, the MWD is used to get closer to the target in a smaller amount of time. A downside of the MWD is that your signature radius increases significantly. It increases with 500%. Therefore, you will be much easier to hit while running the MWD. While in a tech 1 frigate, Only use the MWD for getting closer to the target. Once you've reached orbit distance, turn it off.

Both tech 1 and tech 2 modules give a 500% speedboost to the sub-warp speed of your ship. The advantage of the tech 2 module over the tech 1 module is less reduction in the capacitor penalty. The tech 1 module give a decrease of 25% to your maximum capacitor, The tech 2 module decreases the capacitor by 17%

Skill Requirements:

Navigation IV

Afterburner IV

Tech 1: High Speed Maneuvering I

Tech 2: High Speed Maneuvering IV

Sensor Booster + Scan Resolution Script

To be effective as a tackler you first need to get a lock on the target you want to tackle. Basically you have a certain scan resolution which determins your lock time. With a sensor booster you can increase that scan resolution which enables you to decrease the locktime and so point or scram the target faster.

The tech 1 version of the sensor booster gives an increase of 25%, the tech 2 version gives a basic increase of 30% to scan resolution. If you put a scan resolution script in the sensor booster the scan resolution bonus doubles. So 50% for the tech 1 version and 60% for the tech 2 version.

Skill Requirements:

Electronics II

Tech 1: Long Range Targeting I

Tech 2: Long Range Targeting IV

Overdrive Injector System

As a tackler, speed is the most important thing. The faster you can get within targeting and warp disruption range, the faster you can tackle the target. The nice point of the overdrive injector systems is that they don't require powergrid or CPU. The downside of the overdrive injector system is that your cargohold m³ will decrease. As a tackler you do not use your cargohold, so the penalty does not matter.

The sub-warp speed increase of a tech 1 module is: 10.4% and cargo decrease of 15%, the tech 2 module gives 12.5% increase to sub-warp speed and cargo decrease of 20%.

Skill Requirements:

Mechanic I

Tech 1: Hull Upgrades I

Tech 2: Hull Upgrades II

Nanofiber Internal Structure (Nano)

This is also a module that is used to increase your speed. In addition, it makes your ship more agile. Using this module will help you keep a closer orbit at a higher speed making you harder to track, and thus, harder to kill. The same as 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 in general. if you get hit, you die anyway.

This module can be nicely used in combination 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 of the tech 1 module is 7.84% and the inertia is decreased by 13.1%. Next to that your structure HP will be decreased with 15%. The tech 2 module gives a sub-warp speed increase of 9.4% a inertia decrease of 15.8 and a structure HP decrease of 20%.

Skill Requirements:

Mechanic I

Tech 1: Hull Upgrades I

Tech 2: Hull Upgrades II

Tackling Practical

Now for the tackling bit... This in fact is fairly easy.

The target is in range of the Warp Disruptor (less than 20/24km)

• Turn Sensor Booster on (if you are in a gatecamp, this should be on already).
• Lock target.
• Turn the warp disruptor on.
• Move towards the target while turning AB/MWD on.
• 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 running, turn it off. Afterburner can keep running. (reason is explained in the above section)
• Turn on your Stasis Webifier (you should be within 10km by now).
• Now keep orbiting the target and if you get targeted... either warp out or keep orbiting if you want to die a "Hero's" death.[b]

If the target is out of range of the Warp Disruptor (greater than 20/24km)

• Turn Sensor Booster on (if you are in a gatecamp, this should be on already).
• Move towards the target while turning AB/MWD on.
• Once in locking range, lock the target.
• Once locked and in warp disruptor range, turn the warp disruptor on.
• 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 running, turn it off. Afterburner can keep running. (reason is explained in the above section)
• Turn on your Stasis Webifier (you should be within 10km by now).
• Now keep orbiting the target and if you get targeted... either warp out or keep orbiting if you want to die a "Hero's" death.

Weapons on a Tackler

As you can see we haven't put any weapons in this list. The reason being is that a tackler in a Uni fleet, as it's name suggests, exists for tackling. If you have some Powergrid / CPU left, you can put in either Missile Launchers or Projectile weapons in the highslots. This due to those weapon systems not using any capacitor. Capacitor on a tackler is needed to keep the warp disruptor and the stasis webifier running. Don't waste cap on anything else.