Whaling

Aka How to use Kikis and bombers to kill big targets!

This will go over the mechanics of using kikis and bombers to kill things like dreads and caps and supers.  These require a good fleet to run, but the mechanics are all the same.

Whaling - We use these fleets to go into hostile space, find big stuff, kill it, and head home. Use often use Drifter holes.

Bombing fleets - These are waves of bombers, with Focused Void Bombs (FVB) that neut out and destroy large ships like carriers, dreads, and super carriers. They take Black ops ship bridges, which reach very far, and must ONLY be joined by a bomber, unfortunately.

Kiki fleets - These fleets can accomidate normal ships as well, but they do massive damage along with amazing neut pressure on these same capital ships.

What ship and when - Bombing fleets are one of the few fleets that NBIs cannot bring an NBI ship to. This requires very specific ships that fit a Covert Ops Cloak. We recommend people fly bombers for these fleets. These types of fleets focus on killing very very big things and not dying.

Why leaving on time is important - If you leave with a full sized fleet on time, things will generally die. If people are slow to respond, you will not get the DPS you need on field. Earlier today, we have a Nyx that we would have killed if people had formed a little faster. The response times can be slower as well by a fast form. It is a great idea to show up for these fleets ASAP. So, make sure you have the following:

* Your ship, fit

* Your ammo and bombs loaded (Focused Void Bombs, 2 or 4 in the launcher, 2 in cargo) NO DAMAGE BOMBS

* Have the base level damage drugs for slightly better damage

* Insured. :D

The fits - https://www.pandemic-horde.org/forum/index.php?threads/torpedo-bombers.3312/ 

What a successful Focused Void Bombing run looks like - We use something called Focused Void Bombing aka FVB. These bombs cause 15k GJ of energy get neuted out of a ship. This is equivalent to a 15 seconds of a single heavy Neutralizer from a Bhaalgorn. However, these bombs require very precise firing as they are very very small. If you bring an off type bomb, like a concussion, you can kill friendlies or all our FVB on field. This is extremely bad. So only bring the bomb type the FC needs. If you brought the wrong type, offline your launcher.

The importance of covert ops 4 at the very least - 15% Torpedo damage per level is tied to your covert ops skill. The damage bombs is all tied to the covert ops skill. Having this to level 4 is very very important.

Cloaking while warping - Stay cloaked! By staying cloaked, you can avoid being killed, you can avoid being seen, you can stay safe. You always want to be cloaked!

Extreme Battlecomms - Don't talk about neutrals or hostiles on field early on comms. Just say silent. The FCs are talking among themselves in a hurry and you can step on their communications. This is extremely important because how quickly whaling fleets operate. We work with a variety of entities to kill hostile caps.:smile:

Navigating driter holes - Drifter holes are caused by 'Jove Observatory' being in system. They cause 'Unidentified Wormholes' spawn randomly, and they show up on your overview. These holes are linked through 5 unique holes, usually pointed out by their individual starting letter of CBRSV. The hole name will appear to indicate which one it is. You will always land 80km off it, unless you warp at range opposite it. You can have hostiles spawn outside the hole as well. If you get Battleship drifters, you need to get off the hole or cloak, they can one shot almost any small ship. If you get cruisers, you can sometimes burn through them. Once you get inside the drifter holes, there will be 60 some unique signatures leading to all parts of space. This is very easy way to navigate the entire galaxy, once you're inside. It is hard to roll drifter holes but not impossible.

Don't jump wormholes early - IF you jump holes early, you can spook the target. Whats worse is that you might 'polarize' yourself. Each side of a wormhole only allows you to jump once every five minutes. If someone goes in a hole early, and then jumps back out, they are stuck there for 5 minutes and might miss out on kills. So always be very clear if you're taking a hole or not.

Don't use your MWD on holes - The holes have a certain 'mass' that can pass through them. Drifter holes are only 'Large Ship' holes, so they have smaller mass than 'Very Large Ship' holes. It's important to keep your propulsion mod off, as it takes your 1.5 mil kg ship to 2 mil kg. That's just extra wasted mass.

Applying damage on targerts - Once you get on field, you want to apply max DPS on your target. This involves fitting racially appropriate ammo where possible (Hound uses explosive, etc), making sure you're using Rage if you have t2 and can handle the shortened range, make sure you are taking drugs, and firing at the correct target. Note that you are there to do damage so make sure you're flying the correct fits.

Why points and scrams on big ships is importance - We can stop a super from warping as long as we have enough disruptors ang scrams. A supercarrier gets +5 WCS per level, so you need at least 25 warp disruptors (or 13 scramblers) to stop them from warping. So when the FC is telling you to hurry and get a scram on it, it's important. It's easier if there is a single dictor on field, though. Paints help against smaller targets as well.

Focused Void Bombs (FVBs) and why 30km is a magic number. - Focused Void Bombs is fired by your bomb launcher and comes out the very front of your ship. It must be fired 30km away from a target and be a perfect hit as it's only 1m across. Burn out to 34km, and then align towards the target. However, you must have the missile in the air when you are 30km away. So it can sometimes be challenging of when knowing when to fire. If your ping is good, you can fire it just as you hit 30km. If your ping is bad, you might have to fire at mid 31km away. If you are trying to do MWD bombing, it can be VERY challenging, so don't do it. But take your time, get your bomb on target, get the neuts happening. If you have a T2 launcher and great skills, you can refire every 60 seconds!

Staying safe after - Now, get cloaked. Warp to a safe. Have an escape tab. :smile:

Getting home safely - Wait for the FC's call. Sometimes we will have a blops that will teleport you home. You warp to the Blops and hit 'l' to indicate you are landed. If the Blops gets decloaked, get safe again. NEVER use your MWD when using a blops.

Ships are ammo - We SRP these fleets, if you die, then you die. It's not a big deal. The cost of these ships is nothing compared to the amount of damage they can cause. a fully fit bomber is like 60 mil or so with ammo. Ammo can get expensive but it's VERY worth it.

Kikis are different - Kikis are very different. NBI ships are welcome on those fleets, and can check the fits thread below. You basically want good drugs, you want great skills, and you want to follow FC instructions to the letter. When you mess up, you can solo very quickly because you only have an AB. However, they tank like a mofo, have bonuses to neuts, and can go very fast with an AB.

https://www.pandemic-horde.org/forum/index.php?threads/horde-kikimora-doctrine.2593/

Know your ranges on the kiki - You want to learn your ammo. This ammo is instant to change, but you have a spool up time. So you want to stay spooling up and get the damage higher and higher. When you change targets, your damage drops way off. Note, a FVB takes about as long to cool down as it takes to fully spool on a target!

Keep anchored and only aggress when FC calls for it - If you aggress on the wrong side of gate, you can run into problems. Remember that wormholes don't care about aggression, so you are often okay to aggress near them. But when the FC is saying to lose aggro, listen, because you might be taking a gate. and a solo kiki is a dead kiki. :D

What to do next:

* Practice firing Focused Void Bombs

* Get Covert Ops 5 up

* Go on whaling fleets

* Get lots of great kills.

* Join the NaCl sig (aka salt sig) and show up early to get great kills!

Whaling/Bombing 101:

What ship and when

Why leaving on time is important

The fits

https://www.pandemic-horde.org/forum/index.php?threads/torpedo-bombers.3312/ 

[HORDE] 2021 Torp Purifier

[HORDE] 2021 Torp Manticore

[HORDE] 2021 Torp Hound

[HORDE] 2021 Torp Nemesis

The importance of covert ops 4 at the very least

Cloaking while warping

Extreme Battlecomms

Navigating driter holes

Don't jump wormholes early

Don't use your MWD on holes

Applying damage on targerts

Why points and scrams on big ships is importance

Focused Void Bombs (FVBs) and why 30km is a magic number.

Staying safe after

Getting home safely

Ships are ammo

Kikis are different

https://www.pandemic-horde.org/forum/index.php?threads/horde-kikimora-doctrine.2593/ 

Kiki T2: Ricardomoras

Kiki T1: Ricardomoras

Know your ranges on the kiki

Keep anchored and only aggress when FC calls for it