User:Julian Celador/Tackling Guide
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EVE University offers a class on: |
"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 it impossible for an enemy ship to move allows the fleet to kill it. Once tackled, the opponent can't warp away if he takes too much damage.
What is Tackling and Why is it Important?
- Tackling first and foremost is the job of pinning down a ship so that it cannot escape.
- One of the things that makes PvP so exciting in Eve is the fact that ships are hard to catch. That both helps and hinders us depending on which end of the fight we are on.
- The job of the tackler is to pin down a ship so that the gunslingers can kill it. It may not sound very important and exciting, but it's important to note that battleship fights without tacklers usually end when the side whose shields drop just warps out. Without one side being trapped, it's very rare that a fight is going to end in a ship kill.
- This means that as a tackler, it's you that allows a kill to happen and what you do also results in you being on the kill mail if you want that bit of glory.
- One of the most important jobs of a squadron commander is getting his or her tacklers into play. That is the crucial point to battles, so knowing the role that a tackler plays in fleet operations is important to understanding why victory doesn't happen without them.
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 disabling strength for this module is 1 point.
| Skill Requirements: |
| Navigation II |
| CPU management III |
| Tech1 module: Propulsion Jamming I |
| Tech2 module: Propulsion Jamming II |
Warp Scrambler (Scram)
The warp scrambler works on same basic principles as the warp disruptor. The warp scrambler will also disable the warpcore of the opponent's ship. Warp scramblers also disable microwarp drives (MWD), even when the amount of warp strength in the target ship (boosted by fitting warp core stabilizers) exceeds the strength of the scram. Having 2 or more warp core stabilizers will counter the scram, yet the MWD still won't work.
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 disabling strength of this module is 2 points.
| Skill Requirements: |
| Navigation II |
| CPU management III |
| Tech1 module: Propulsion Jamming I |
| Tech2 module: Propulsion Jamming II |
Note: In Eve University fleets the frigate tacklers generally fit Warp Disruptors. This is 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.
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 at.
The sub-warp speed reduction depends on the version of the module. The tech 1 version causes a 50% speed reduction, the tech 2 version causes a 60% speed reduction. Both modules have a maximum range of 10km.
| Skill Requirements: |
| Navigation II |
| CPU management III |
| Tech1 module: Propulsion Jamming I |
| Tech2 module: Propulsion Jamming IV |
Note: While 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.
Extra Modules for Tackling
- Afterburner
- Microwarpdrive
- Sensor Booster
- Overdrive Injector System
- Nanofiber Internal Structure
- Damage Control
- Medium Shield Extender
Afterburner (AB)
As fitted to military jet fighters, afterburners can be fitted to ships in Eve. The afterburner increases your sub-warp speed by a percentage. The afterburner is used by tacklers to close the range to the target faster, to achieve a lock or to get into orbit range quickly.
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%.
| 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 close the range to the target quicker. A downside of the MWD is that your signature radius increases significantly, by 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. MWDs use more capacitor to run than afterburners and fitting a MWD, whether it's active or not, reduces the total capacity of your capacitor.
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 is a smaller reduction in the capacitor penalty: the tech 1 module reduces your capacitor capacity by 25%, the tech 2 module decreases it by 17%.
| Skill Requirements: |
| Navigation III |
| Afterburner III |
| 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. Every ship has a certain scan resolution, visible in the fitting window, which, together with your target's signature radius, determines the time it takes to lock a target. With a sensor booster you can increase that scan resolution which enables you to decrease the lock-time and so point or scram the target faster.
The tech 1 version of the sensor booster boosts your scan resolution by 25%, while the tech 2 version boosts it by 30%. Sensor Boosters also increase your maximum targeting range, but that's less relevant to tackling. If you put a scan resolution script in the sensor booster, the scan resolution bonus doubles and the bonus to targeting range disappears. So you can get a 50% scan resolution bonus from the tech 1 booster and a 60% from the tech 2 version.
| Skill Requirements: |
| CPU management II |
| Tech 1: Long Range Targeting I |
| Tech 2: Long Range Targeting IV |
Overdrive Injector System
As a tackler, speed is important in order to reach your target quickly. The faster you can get into targeting and warp disruption range, the faster you can tackle the target. The nice thing about 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 you can ignore that penalty.
The sub-warp speed increase of 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 speed (and a 20% cargohold penalty).
| Skill Requirements: |
| Mechanics I |
| Tech 1: Hull Upgrades I |
| Tech 2: Hull Upgrades II |
Nanofiber Internal Structure (Nano)
This is another module that increases your speed. Unlike the overdrive injector, however, it also 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. 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%.
| Skill Requirements: |
| Mechanics I |
| Tech 1: Hull Upgrades I |
| Tech 2: Hull Upgrades II |
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.
| Skill Requirements: |
| Tech 1: Hull Upgrades I |
| Tech 2: Hull Upgrades IV |
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!
| Skill Requirements: |
| Tech 1: Shield Upgrades I |
| Tech 2: Shield Upgrades IV |
| Additional Requirement: Capacitor Management II (to fit a Micro Auxiliary Power Core) |
Extra skills for tackling
None of these skills are actually essential - you can still be a great tackler without them - but they will make your life easier and mean 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.
- Spaceship Command - increases your agility by 2% per level
- Evasive Maneuvering - increases your agility by 5% per level
- Navigation - increases your speed by 5% per level
- Acceleration Control - increases the speed boost from a MWD or AB by 5% per level
- High Speed Maneuvering - 5% reduction in capacitor required by MWD per level
- Warp Drive Operation - reduces the capacitor required to enter warp by 10% per level, meaning you can warp further in one go
- Signature Analysis - improves targeting speed by 5% per level.
Tackling Practical
Now for the tackling bit. This is in fact fairly easy.
Preparation
- Turn Sensor Booster on (if you are in a gatecamp, this should be on already).
The Fight
- Move towards the target while turning AB/MWD on.
- Once in locking range, lock the target.
- Once in Warp Disruptor range (less than 20/24km), turn the Warp Disruptor on.
- Call out on Mumble that you have point on the target, e.g. 'Kelduum Revaan has point on primary', or 'SilentBrick has point on the Drake'.
- Continue using AB/MWD 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 running, turn it off. Afterburners can keep running. (As explained above.)
- Turn on your Stasis Webifier (you should be within 10km by now).
- Now keep orbiting the target. 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'.
Hot Modules
If your overview is setup properly, then keeping your Sensor Booster and Warp Disruptor hot is a good option for getting point on the target that much faster. Having your overview setup right significantly reduces the chances of you accidentally targeting a friendly or worse, neutral target, which would then result in Concord retaliation. If you choose to do this make sure your auto targeting is off, as the hot modules will immediately activate on the next targeted entity.
Weapons on a Tackler
As you can see, we haven't put any weapons in this guide. The reason is simple: as a tackler in a Uni fleet, tackling is your priority. The amount of damage that you might add is tiny compared to specialised damage-dealing ships, and while every little bit helps, it should be very low on your list of concerns. Fit all the other modules that you need first, and if you have some powergrid and CPU left fit whatever weapons you have room for. If you're fitting a MWD 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. Do not compromise your mid or low slot modules just to give you the CPU or powergrid to fit better weapons.
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 capacitor warfare here.
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.
Additional Information
See also Tackling 101 and The way of the tackler and Newbie Tackling Guide.
This article is intended to give an overview about ship setups for T1 tackling frigates. There are many ways to fit a tackler and ideally there should be a good mix of various setups within a fleet.
The first section will explain certain modules and how they are useful for tacklers.
In the second section you'll find some examples for specific setups and informations about how to use them.
In a fleet situation, there are three key tackle frigate roles:
First Tackle
First tackle needs Microwarpdrive, long point (warp disruptor, preferably tech 2), and speed. Squeeze in some tank if you have slots free. Your job is to be first on the scene with tackle and point the bad guys so that they can't warp away. This will also make you their primary target, and your MWD sig bloom will make sig / speed tanking harder. Any guns or rockets you can squeeze on are for anti-drone work; damage dealing is not your job.
This role is often filled by an interceptor, but a skilled pilot can do it in a T1 frig or assault frigate. Of the T1 frigs, the attack frigates (Executioner, Condor, Atron and Slasher) are the best choices.
Second Tackle
In a fleet situation, this is "everyone else". 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.
To fly second tackle, you will need Microwarpdrive, web, and scram. The rest should be given over to tank. Speed mods aren't really necessary, since you should be fast enough to catch anything worth tackling anyway. Once two or three second tacklers have the ship, it is basically dead in the water and the heavier ships can either catch up or tac-warp to the tacklers.
Second tackle needs to be very careful when engaging battleships. Tech 2 smartbombs have a 6km range; if you get inside 6km, expect to activate a new med clone. A tech 2 warp scrambler has a 7.5km effective 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, with your MWD off.
Second tackle only needs to be cap stable with your just your scrambler running. 1-2 minutes of MWD is more than enough to reach engagement range or die trying.
Heavy Tackle
In a 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.
Gate Tackle
The third tackle frig role is not "third tackle", but "gate tackle". Gate tackle is a specialised form of first tackle, where the emphasis is not on speed but on lock time. Gate tackle should fit at least one Sensor Booster, and might also receive Remote Sensor Boosting from fleet-mates. Some 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.
Key skills
The following skills can make or break a tackle frigate pilot:
- Propulsion Jamming II: this is required for tech 2 warp scrammers and warp disruptors - the extra range makes a huge difference. Level IV is required for tech 2 webs.
- High Speed Maneuvering I: required for a meta microwarpdrive (or a T1 variant, but the meta2 variant is much better and very cheap)
- Thermodynamics (requires Power Grid Management IV, Energy Management III, Science IV): overheat your points for extra range, and MWD for extra speed. If you're a first line tackle and your long point is not overheated (at least until you have snared the bad guys), you're doing it wrong.
For gate tackle, add:
- Long Range Targeting I, IV: required for tech 1 / tech 2 sensor boosters
- Signature Analysis: improves lock times
Afterburners?
You might notice that none of these fits feature afterburners. Afterburners are great for duelling, where the extra speed in close can be the difference between life and death. In a fleet situation, the tackle frigate's job is not to get in close and deal damage, it is to catch and stop bad guys so the heavier ships can deal damage. For the "catch" bit, MWD is much better. Leave the afterburners for the destroyer pilots or solo engagements.
Tackle Frig Tactics
Tac Warps
A ships can initiate warp to any friendly ship that is at least 150km away. Once you are 150km away from the main fleet, they can initiate warp using you as a reference point. Note, however, that they do not have to warp to you. The shortest distance that a ship can warp is a mere 50km, by warping to 100km from a beacon 150km away.
This leads to 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 - until you are at least 150km from the main fleet. This allows those ships to "warp at range" to you, and hopefully land directly on top of the tackled target. This requires some co-ordination; it's no point everyone burning away and no-one staying to apply point / web / scram.
Gate Timers
Once you commit a hostile act, you cannot use jump gates (or dock) for 60 seconds. A canny target with sufficient tank can stop aggressing, wait out their timer, and then jump through the gate and get away. To prevent this 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 sixty seconds while your allies' timers expire, plus another 10 or so while they jump and load grid.
More On Tackling
- Way of the Tackler by Azual Skoll
- Tackling 101
The modules
Warp scrambler or warp disruptor?
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 or a warp scrambler. Each of these modules has its advantages and disadvantages, and an effective fleet will have some of both.
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 take 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 specialised t2 interceptors, which receive bonuses to their range and a reduction to the amount of cap they use.
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.
| Technical overview (based on minimum skills) | ||||||||||||||||||
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Afterburner (AB) or Microwarpdrive (MWD)?
At first glance you might think that both of these modules perform the same function - both ABs and MWDs 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.
A MWD has a couple 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 should be 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. Also keep in mind that you will not be able to use the MWD at all when someone is using a warp scrambler (not a warp disruptor) against you, since these disable MWDs.
An AB on the other hand 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.
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.
In most cases, 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.
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.
| Technical overview (based on minimum skills) | |||||||||||||||||||||
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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.
You'll sometimes see people fitting their tackling frigates with all speed modules and no tank. The most common place that you'll see these is on killboards, killed in droves by whatever they were trying to tackle. While speed is important, your tackle frigate should already be fast enough to catch most ships in the game (especially if you're using a MWD) and enhancing that further is not your main priority.
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, providing you have enough mid slots to fit one (you will need at least three - one for your MWD or AB, one for your scrambler or disruptor, and one for your tank). This is because a shield tank does not slow you down, which lets you get in range of your target more quickly. An ideal shield tank for a tackler frigate is a single Medium Shield Extender (this gives much more HP than a small shield extender, and it is possible to fit one on most frigates - you will probably also need to fit a Micro Auxiliary Power Core to provide the necessary powergrid). You may also want to fit shield resistance rigs, such as a Small Anti-EM 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).
Stasis webifier
Stasis webifiers are great modules as they significantly decrease the speed of a target ship. Stasis webifiers are fairly short ranged, with a range only slightly longer than a warp scrambler. This makes fitting a stasis webifier a good decision if you're already fitting a warp scrambler, since you will be operating well inside webifier 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; despite the fact that you have a long ranged warp disruptor, you will generally be harder to hit if you orbit as close as possible, and you may want to fly inside web range anyway. If you do, fitting a stasis web makes a lot of sense. On the other hand you may want to stay outside of stasis webifier range, either because you're flying a t2 interceptor which will be running its MWD all the time, or because you want to avoid your target's webs and energy neutralizers. If this is the case, there's not much point fitting a stasis webifier yourself since you're unlikely to be in range to use it and you're better off using that mid slot for a different module (for example a sensor booster to help you lock faster, or a tracking disruptor to protect your fleetmates from your opponent's turrets).
| Technical overview (based on minimum skills) | ||||||||||||
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Sensor boosters
Sensor boosters increase the scan resolution of your ship and thus allow you to lock a target faster and/or the increase the locking range of your ship. A sensor booster makes sense if you're fitting a warp disruptor (aka a 'long point'), however it should not take precedence over tanking modules such as shield extenders.
Sensor boosters can increase either your targeting range or your locking speed (or both) depending on which script you load them with. 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, and before you get into warp disruptor range. This means you can turn on your warp disruptor as soon as you get into range, instead of having to wait while you lock them first. The additional scan resolution will let you lock targets faster, although your frigate will already lock pretty quickly. This is mainly useful when trying to catch targets coming through a stargate.
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Long range or short range weapons?
In most cases you should fit short range weapons to your tackler for a couple of reasons. Obviously 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 still should consider to use short range weapons to fight off drones that are attacking you as well as enemy ships that managed to get too close to you.
The problem with fitting short range weapons to a long range tackler is the temptation to get within weapon range on your primary target so you can apply some damage to it. Quite often you might get away with this, but eventually you'll end up getting yourself killed for doing that because you got within range of smartbombs, stasis webifieres and other modules that ruin your day. So make sure to use the modules and weapons as they are intended to be used.
Long range weapons really only make sense if for whatever reason you need to be able to hit your target from a distance. Maybe you're fitted for long range tackling while you're in a small gang and the fleet needs as much DPS as possible or maybe you're in a frigate only fleet. In a regular EVE University fleet the damage from a T1 tackling frigate is usually very small and should not be your priority; Your main concern should be to tackle the target and stay alive. Of course with a large number of tacklers all those small amounts do add up, so there's no reason to not use the highslots if you got some CPU and PG to spare.
Note: For a lot of frigates it makes sense to use projectile turrets (autocannons or maybe artilleries) even though the ship might not give any bonus for them. Projectile weapons do not use any capacitor and ACs also require very little CPU and PG. Hybrids and lasers only make sense if your ship grants a reasonable bonus to damage, range or maybe tracking.
T1 or T2?
Using T2 modules will improve your performance, however they require somewhat better skills and are a lot more expensive and for some modules it might not be worth it on a T1 frigate. As an EVE University member you are allowed to fit T2 modules to your frigates as you see fit, but should not fit anything that you're not willing to lose.
Keep in mind that there are so called named versions of all modules as well (meta 1 to meta 4) which offer more performance than vanilla T1 and are easier to fit as well. The higher meta versions can be very expensive (sometimes even more than the T2 versions), but meta 1 and meta 2 modules are usually very cheap.
Note: A T2 warp disruptor offers 4 km more range than any T1 version and requires only 1 additional level of propulsion jamming, so it's very useful and in fact recommended for long range tacklers if you can afford it. T2 damage controls are also significantly better than their t1 counterparts, particularly because meta 3 and 4 damage controls tend to be very expensive.
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).
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!
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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.
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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, 3 things should be fitted to any tackler though: 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 and Tackling Guide
See also external link: http://www.evealtruist.com/2012/08/newbie-tackling-guide.html
