My first kill!
27 Feb 2016Bjoern
So recently I have started getting some more into PvP, I watched a lot of other Cmdr's combat footage, asked them questions on this and that, read up on various combat related stuff, worked on improving my fittings, and purchased a few cheap(ish) ships for getting into combat. As I was quite interested in stealth combat, I fitted my ships accordingly and went to various Haz RES in Hudson space in the hope of finding some unsuspecting Hudsonians to practise my skills on. After some search I did indeed get lucky:
Two days ago I found a Cobra bounty hunting in a site, but once I sneaked up on him he just happened to leave, so I followed him out, but saw that -upon noticing me- he tried to move into an interdiction position. So I decided to help him with that and allowed him to interdict me, but it seems he got more than he had expected and after I pounded him for a while he decided to let it go and made a run for it... Well, I was a bit disappointed not to get a kill, but considering I am a newbie at this, I still considered it a (small) victory: Footage of my first combat
Then the next day while prowling some ring systems again, but not being able to find enemies I decided to practise my FA OFF fighting skills some more (and also get used to my new ship) and did some bounty hunting as well, generally uneventful, but my opponents just made plenty of mistakes. I won't complain, though, it was some easy money: Bounty hunting footage
Finally today I found yet another bounty hunter pledged to Hudson. I watched him a bit then snuck up on him and let loose! He seemed to be caught very off guard, and after a few moments made a run for it, seemingly not really knowing what hit him. I followed him, but decided to stay a bit lower and closer to the rocks, and really, after running some more he must have thought he was clear of whoever attacked him, and turned back to where he (we) came from. Again he didn't seem to notice me lurking below him and once more I managed to sneak into a firing position. But once again, the Cobra's superior speed worked against me, and he got away. I followed him into super cruise, interdicted him once again, but once again he got away, so I decided to let it be. Nonetheless, I counted it as yet another minor victory
Hunting the CobraA short while after that I found a Viper bounty hunting. Once again the pilot seemed very focused on fighting his target, and not aware of that stealthy ALD-pledged Diamondback Scout approaching him. Seems I caught him with his pants down, and at last I managed to get my first kill! His running in a straight line made my task a lot easier, and not shooting back at me kept my repair costs down
To round it off I took down the Federal Gunship he was fighting before (and which he left for me at nearly half hull) and collected it's nice bounty of nearly 100k - thanks for that, Cmdr!
Footage of killing the Viper!Anyway, these experiences -while probably trivial to most of you experienced combat pilots out there- were very exhilarating to me, and in the excitement I made a bunch of mistakes, but I do hope to learn from them and get better soon!
Feedback on how I can improve is of course highly welcome!
Cmdr Bjoern out