Nailed It!

This is Nailed It, my cruiser.  The name might seem a little odd, but to me at least, the Rupture has always resembled a nailgun.

She's an artillery boat with some missiles and drones to help out when things get too close.  Ruptures tend to be armor tanked, but my fit is rather unconventional.  I've put a shield buffer tank and an afterburner in the mid slots and tracking-enhancing modules in the low slots.

There are six Warrior I light scout drones in the drone bay.  I currently have the skills to use four of them, and I'm looking to get up to Drones V as soon as possible.

The artillery is effective out to at least 49 kilometers, which is my maximum targeting range at the moment.  I'm looking to improve my targeting range so I can be able to hit my enemies even further away.  The missiles can hit out to around 17-18 kilometers, and my drones' command range is currently 35 kilometers.

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Nailed It! [Rupture, PvE]

High Slots:

650mm Medium Gallium Cannon I [EMP M]
650mm Medium Gallium Cannon I [EMP M]
650mm Medium Gallium Cannon I [EMP M]
650mm Medium Gallium Cannon I [EMP M]
Light Missile Launcher I [Nova Light Missile]
Light Missile Launcher I [Nova Light Missile]

Medium Slots:

Adaptive Invulnerability Field I
Experimental 10MN Afterburner I
Large Azeotropic Ward Salubrity I

Low Slots:

Gyrostabilizer I

Gyrostabilizer I

Gyrostabilizer I

Tracking Enhancer I

Tracking Enhancer I

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I recently went through a mission called Pirate Intrusion that gave me a few lessons on how to properly use this fit.  I warped into the mission, which began rather oddly.  Instead of all of the ships immediately appearing on my overview and beginning to target me, it was several seconds before the first group appeared, then about a second until the next group, and then another second for the final group.  Each group that appeared was progressively closer to me, so the first one to show up was furthest away.

At first, I didn't realize this.  I immediately began targeting the farthest group as soon as I saw them, but I was smart enough to unlock them and engage the closer threat when it appeared.  I realized that if the first and second groups (2 frigates and 2 destroyers) managed to get under my guns, they could cause some problems for me, so I made sure to take them out before going for the more dangerous but further away Chief Watchman cruiser.  My artillery made short work of the two destroyers, and my drones and missiles easily took care of the frigates.  After that, the rest of the pocket was a cakewalk.

I waited a bit for my shield to recharge, then warped into the second pocket.  I noticed that there were three destroyers and a cruiser in the group that appeared first, which was again the farthest out at 70 kilometers. I switched on the afterburner and headed towards them as fast as my ship would go.

Stupidly, I paid no real attention when three destroyers and a frigate appeared about 20 kilometers out, despite the fact that it posed a greater threat at a closer range than the ones I had taken out at the beginning of the last pocket.  I targeted two of the destroyers and launched drones and missiles against them, but I didn't bother using my guns - I was too fixated on destroying the three destroyers and the cruiser that were at this point still sixty kilometers out.

My secondary weaponry had managed to take out one of the destroyers when Group 2, composed of two Tech II frigates and two Tech I frigates, began engaging me from about ten kilometers.  By this point, I was already beginning to fire on the cruiser with my artillery.

The combined damage from the two remaining destroyers and five frigates quickly began to build up.  To compound the problem, my drones had gotten spread out over a few different targets, and were no longer doing very much to eliminate any of the incoming damage.  My missile launchers were shooting at one of the Tech II frigates, but it had a reasonably good armor tank on it and I was having trouble getting through the armor.  I knew I was in trouble, so I decided I would knock out the cruiser, warp to a station, and come back to try again.

By the time I killed the cruiser, the enemy ships were halfway into my armor and I was too worried about getting out alive to recall my drones.  It cost about 350 thousand ISK to repair the ship, and I lost two of the drones while I was gone.

So, what did I learn from this?

• I am not invulnerable against small frigates and destroyers, and I cannot ignore them.
• The biggest target is not necessarily the most dangerous target.
• Drones have an annoying tendency when left to their own devices to disperse across multiple targets.  I must manage them to maintain effectiveness.
• The combined damage of missiles and drones is not enough to fend off more than a few frigates.  I should group missiles and drones on a target unless I know it is extremely fragile.