User:Breeze one/sandbox

Artillery Thrashers

Gate-camping Artillery Thrashers are the bane of many solo Low Sec and Null Sec pilots. Fitted for insta-locking, and delivering up to 1.5k volleys of damage, a couple of these ships can remove a frigate from the field in seconds. A small fleet of them can remove even Cruisers in the same way It is possible, if generally sub-optimal, to add tank to an Artillery Thrasher and fly this doctrine with Logi support, however the most common and effective way to fly the Thrasher remains as a roaming gate camp – similar to Longbow Cormorants – catching and devastating single ships moving through gates. It’s low effort PvP, but it’s a fun casual fleet because of that, and it can rapidly get more interesting if you can annoy nearby residents sufficiently to provoke a response fleet for a proper fight

Implementation

Like all Destroyers, the Thrasher is designed for pure damage dealing. Bonuses to tracking, damage and range make it a deadly force with Artillery – able to hit for 1.5k volleys up to 30km away

Impressive as that is though, it doesn’t quite match the exceptional ranges of BLAP Talwars or Longbow Cormorants which make them the preferred option for skirmishing with other fleets. What the Thrasher does excel at however, is in having the joint-highest scan resolution of any T1 destroyer, and in delivering its damage in an instantaneous volley of damage. The Talwar’s missiles need time to deliver their volley, and Comorants deliver sustained rather than volley damage. A Thrasher however can simply delete an opponent as soon as it can lock it. And with such a high base scan resolution, combined with modules and rigs designed to maximize this, a Thrasher can lock and fire almost faster than your fingers can move on the keyboard

With these advantages, Gate Camping for individual unsuspecting targets is the name of the game. A full gate camping Thrasher in Low Sec will maximize its scan resolution, and usually not fit a propulsion module. Pre-aligned out, it can lock, tackle and fire within a single server tick. Assuming sufficient numbers to instantly kill an opponent on that first volley, the Thrasher can hit warp and leave the grid on the next server tick - before gate guns even lock them

To do this effectively, pre-cycling modules is essential. Make sure fleet members are familiar with this technique (click an offensive module with no target locked and it will start flashing – once you lock a target, those flashing modules will now activate immediately and automatically as soon as you have a target locked that they can apply to)

Pilots should fly independently on this fleet – waiting for a fleet warp or command will likely get you killed. Thrashers should be pre-aligned and hit warp themselves as soon as they unleash their first volley

If fighting on a gate in Null, or if engaging flashy suspect targets on Low Sec gates, where Gate Guns aren’t a concern, the pre-alignment tactics don’t apply, and the Thrashers can remain on grid and usually deliver several volleys before an opponent has time to react

If you cannot kill an opponent rapidly in a couple of volleys, then you will want to avoid the fight – the Thrashers are extreme glass cannons due to their focus on maximizing scan resolution and damage and as soon as an opponent starts fighting back, it is likely you will rapidly lose ships. For the same reason, engaging a fleet or small gang is inadvisable unless you have overwhelming numbers. This is a true ganking fleet

It is unlikely that you will be allowed to gate camp a single site indefinitely. Eventually, nearby residents will usually form a response fleet, either due to irritation, or hoping for some cheap Thrasher kills. Be aware of this and keep your eyes and scouts watching both sides of the gate for such a threat. If you are close to a home station, then this may be a good chance to re-ship into a more combat efficient fleet to take the fight they bring

If you get chased off a gate and don’t want/cant re-ship to fight them off, then simply re-position your Thrashers to another gate with high traffic (look on Dotlan for systems with high numbers of jumps)

Fleet Composition and Fits

Primary DD Fit

The full insta-locking Thrasher reaches 2k signature strength, letting it insta-lock almost anything – including Interceptors. However this does leave the Thrasher with a tissue paper tank. Depending on the purpose (and location) of the fleet, FC’s may wish to go full insta-locking, or to mix a few insta-lockers with a main fleet of more robust ships which can survive at least one volley of gate guns if a pilot is slow to warp off

Logi

Logistics ships are of little use here – limited tank and terrible resists means you’re almost always going to benefit more from additional DPS than Logistics support

Support Ships

T1 Frigate scouts can be useful to watch for incoming targets on either side of a gate, and watch for possible response fleets, and if gate guns aren’t an issue, then ECM ships can help keep a larger target from firing back while the Thrashers take a few more volleys to finish them off. Otherwise, support ships are minimal