GUIDE TO THE SOLO BOMBER BY VALADEYA

To celebrate the sexy 69th battleship solo kill using a bomber class vessel, I decided to post this massive guide to use bomber for soloing. Edit: (It passed the 100th mark recently - Win)

This fit and these tactics have been used, tested, and judged by myself over the last 6 months since the Apocrypha patch. For sake of rules, I will not post link to killboard, but just say you can see all of those kills on battleclinic (among the countless other kills).

Table of ContentsIntroduction................................................................................................................................................3The Fit........................................................................................................................................................3

The Modules..........................................................................................................................................4Alternative module/ships.......................................................................................................................5

Purifier/Nemesis/Manticore.......................................................................................................................5Manticore Fit.........................................................................................................................................6

TACTICS...................................................................................................................................................6Soloing in a Bomber, its possible?........................................................................................................6Kitting a target.......................................................................................................................................7Bombing a target...................................................................................................................................7

Good Targets/Bad Targets..........................................................................................................................8Good Target...........................................................................................................................................8Grey Target............................................................................................................................................8Bad Target..............................................................................................................................................8

FAQ............................................................................................................................................................8Q & A.........................................................................................................................................................9Editors Note..............................................................................................................................................11

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GUIDE TO THE SOLO BOMBER BY VALADEYA

Introduction

In the beginning of the Apocrypha, CCP Chronotris went on a quest to boost the dead horse that was the bomber. They used cruise missiles, were slow, couldn’t warp cloaked, and were made of toilet paper. The only way to use them properly was to fit them with long range cruise missile and launch them from very far away doing little to no damage, except to frigate class ship, because of a well know hidden bonus.

CCP Chronotris in his great benevolence modified the bomber in 4 important aspects:

• He gave them a covert op cloak, allowing them to warp cloaked and remain unseen until they strike• He gave them torpedoes launcher and remove the hidden bonus, changing the preferred target size to

battlecruiser and bigger, but also significantly increased the damage output• He gave them the ability to fit 3 missile launchers along with a bomb launcher• He reduced bomb cost significantly, making it possible to see bomb at decent cost

These change completely changed the way the bomber worked, but still little amount of people realize the full extent of those change, I am sure at least 1 person, even after reading this post, will post the obligatory “Bomber Cannot Solo”.

The Fit

Before explaining tactic, strategy and module choice, let me put the preferred fit I used for the last few month:

Hound:

3 Arbalest Siege Missile Launcher – Caldari navy Bane Torpedoes1 Bomb launcher – Electron Bomb1 Covert Ops Cloaking Device II

1 1MN Coreli C-Type Microwarpdrive1 Small Capacitor Booster II – Cap charge 751 Warp Disruptor II

1 Ballistic Control System II2 Nanofiber Internal Structure II

1 Small Polycarbon Engine housing (large auxiliary thrusters before rig patch)1 Small Bay Loading Accelerator (large size before rig patch)

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The Modules

Let me give you a short explanation on the fit choice, and alternative choice that can be made:

Arbalest Siege Missile Launcher – Racial Torpedoes

When you fly a bomber with bomb launcher, you will quickly realise that massive CPU issues can arise. Arbalest launcher give the best ratio between damage/CPU. Why not T2? Even if they allow the use of T2 Torpedoes, they do so at the expense of the CPU cost of 1 Ballistic Control Unit. Therefore to use rage Torpedoes, you are bound to have a Target Painter, and even then you will have similar damage at best to faction torpedoes. Javelin torpedoes, while giving you incredible delivery range, are next to useless while soloing, your engagement zone being around 20 to 30km from the target.

Bomb Launcher – Non-Racial bomb

With bomb cost being in an acceptable zone, bomb launcher is an incredible toolfor all bomber pilots. They can be used for several purposes that will be explained in next sections. Why non-racial bomb? Racial bomb are basically the worse type of bomb you can use while soloing, simply because your ship itself is stuck to the racial torpedoes in every and all engagement. By using a non-racial bomb, you unlock the damage barrier of your ship by being able to deal effectively 2 damage types.

Covert ops Cloaking device

Self explanatory – if you use anything else you are doing it wrong

1MN Coreli C-Type Microwarpdrive

The Microwarpdrive is one of the best tools for any solo-pvper. On this setup, I will allow you to outrun large and most medium drones during an engagement. It’s also extremely useful to move to target quickly when needed, and also to be able to escape most bubble camp. Why Coreli C-type? The coreli C-type microwarpdrive is the most cost effective microwarpdrive you can fit on your bomber, or any other T2 frig for several reason. First of all, the capacitor penalty for a microwarpdrive drop from 15-18% to under 10%, this effectively mean more capacitor recharge and more capacitor full capacity. It’s better to have 1 of these fitted than having a T2 with 2 CCC in term of capacitor. Second, the signature radius penalty when using the MWD is dropped from 500% to 433%, just to put you in perspective, you will have a similar radius while mwd using it compared to a T2 with a full set of High grade Halo. You might also want to use a few LG halo and some synth booster for amazing radius. Finally, it’s extremely cheap; you can find one for 8 mil at low price and at 10 mil regular prices easily

Small Capacitor Booster II – Cap booster 75

This item is probably one of the most useful while soloing for multiple reasons. It allow you to be capacitor stable for extremely long period and under extreme stress. Even while under neutralizer, with the rest of the module, a 75 charge will put you back from 0% to the magic 33% range for maximal recharge allowing you to permarun, even while neuted (careful timing needed) for as long as 10 minutes. In a combat situation, this effectively means something with a neutralizer, kill its own capacitor while you remain unaffected. Why Cap 75 charge? It allow the most flexibility in between cap/sec from charge + cap/sec from ship, and a T2 booster will hold 5 charge giving you lot of opportunity for in-between reload.

Warp disruptor II

While soloing, you don’t have a choice but to pack some kind of warp disruption, With overheat it will reach 28.8km and the capacitor booster will allow for permarun for a really long time.

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Ballistic control Unit II

It use lots of CPU just to fit 1 of those but they are well worth it, sadly more than 1 will not fit with rest of setup. The bay loading accelerator is possible to squeeze in for maximal DPS

Nanofiber internal structure II + polycarbon

Two things: To move at great speed, (this setup with some base speed implant + zor hyper will go at 2700m/s), and to have great agility

Alternative modules/ships

Target Painter

Probably the most misunderstood module in the game It important to realize it will only boost a damage output if done to a target with smaller signature radius than torpedoes. This mean they have small to no effect on mwd target, small effect on most battleship (about 50% + of the battleship will already have a huge radius because of shield extender and rigs) This module, will in fact, only boost your damage output toward target you never want to solo in a bomber anyway. So never use on a hound or purifier for solo purpose.

Afterburner/shield extender

A great and legitimate variation of the fit is to switch the microwarpdrive and capacitor booster to a afterburner and shield extender setup. This will allow you to tank small drone for longer, and also, give you the ability to tank most missile easily. It also have big drawback: vulnerability to medium and I can stress out enough, to large drone, as well as vulnerability to neutralizer. Its also reduce speed control of range.

Sensor Dampener

Probably one of the least usefull module for soloing, and arguably decent for fleet, the dampener will rarely reduce range enough to put you out of harm unless you are in a dampener bonused ship … Bomber are not dampener bonused ship so drop them.

Sensor booster

Targeting speed on a bomber is already good, because the covert cloak does not reduce the sensor of a ship, unlike other type of cloak. This is a misconception dating from pre-apocrypha where sensor booster where needed to compensate the cloaking device, and to maximise locking speed. They can arguably be used on javelin Torpedoes setup for high delivery range, but these are niche setup and not good in any ways for soloing.

Other bombers

Purifier fit can be done to be almost identical to the hound, except it’s recommended to use a Gisti B-type 1MN Microwarpdrive and a dread guristas warp disruptor (also really cheap). Depending on skill you main need CPU implant

Nemesis and Manticore are extremely difficult to use solo for two main reasons: the damage type output and slot layout. It will be possible to solo using them (using the 4th mid slot for painter or shield extender) but it will never be as effective as the other two.

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Manticore:

Micro Auxiliary Power Core IBallistic Control System II

Small Shield Extender IIWarp Disruptor IISmall Capacitor Booster IICoreli C-Type 1MN MicroWarpdrive

3 'Arbalest' Siege Missile LauncherCovert Ops Cloaking Device IIBomb Launcher I

2 Small Polycarbon Engine Housing I

TACTICSSoloing in a Bomber, its possible?

It is indeed possible to solo in a bomber; it took me a lot of out-of-the-box thinking to come with what was probably the first solo setup after apocrypha to make its appearance on EVE.

The setup base itself on two main principles- basically two sayings of Sun Tzu:

1. He will win who knows when to fight and when not to fight.2. He will win who, prepared himself, waits to take the enemy unprepared.

This is basically achieved because of 2 things:

1. With your covert op cloaking device, with good directionall skill, and with knowledge of the area, you can quickly determine if a potential target is worth it. There is also knowledge acquired during the fight that might make you bail out.

2. Taking an unprepared enemy is also one of the other important point while using a bomber, the covert cloak help , but its mainly because your target will underestimate you and your ship that you will be able to take them unprepared.

(A decent number of my target convoed me, and bassicly said, they knew I was there, they knew what I was flying, but continued their business because they thought their ship could easily tank me and drive me off)

Basically in eve any ship can solo, but this ship will be able to do it quite well because of its covert cloak, high dps output, and its speed/evasiveness.

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General Tactic, to KITE it and to BOMB it

Kitting a target

A tactic mostly done against battleship, (see next section on how to choose target), kitting main point is to kill your target quickly, while its impossible for it to respond effectively to aggression.

Done step by step

*Get at around 25 to 30km from target*Align toward target*Uncloak*Launch bomb*Set orbit to 20km*Launch torpedoes,*After bomb explode*Start mwding*Keep shooting until target is dead

When do you need to warp out:

*The target launches small drones (Warrior II will hurt you, A LOT)*Target launches Garde II (even worse)*The target uses some weird setup with frigate/cruiser weaponry that hit you for a lot of damage*The damage from its battleship weaponry hurt you for too much damage (you can “tank” up to like 10 cruise

missile volley against most Raven for exemple)*A lot of people show up (IT’S A TRAP)

Bombing a target

A tactic mainly used to instapop unsuspecting mwding frigate size and destroyer size ship. There is mainly two ways to do it, but the principle stays the same.

Done step by step – an orbiting target

*Your objective is to find a good position with the following:*Once you launch a bomb, the point where the bomb will explode intersect with the target orbit*In the same precise direction as the launch of the bomb, there is a celestial to “align to”*Depending on your target speed and orbit size, count the amount of time for it to do a full radius. *Then find the location the target will be at 11-13 second before it intersects with your bomb launch direction and then find the location he will be at 16 seconds before he intersects with your bomb

*At the 16 sec mark start aligning full speed toward the celestial*At the 11-13 mark and in a really short time (should take under 0.3 sec):*Uncloak*Launch bomb*Warp out

Done step by step – a non-moving target

The strategy is basically to use yourself as the bait for the trap. It's mainly done the following way:*Find a spot about 70km from your target in such a way that when you are align to your target, you are also aligning a celestial behind it*When ready, align full speed toward target, *Uncloak*Once the target reacts and starts to burn for you at full speed with bloodshot eyes. *Wait until it hits around 65 to 60*Launch bomb*Warp out

The target inertia will most probably make it drive with mwd in the blast radius of the bomb and instapop it.

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What is and what isn’t a good target

Deciding “what is and what isn’t a good target” can be one of the most crucial part in the use of a bomber. Its something that is not only decided before engaging but also during the engagement. Its also depend on what kind of engagement you are planning and how well you are positioned. It take a lot of experience to maximise kill vs. loss and it’s a process that will make you a better bomber pilot and allow you to get out of thought situation.

But here is a start list to give you an idea, in 3 zone, the good, grey and bad zone:

Good target:

Rare are the target that you can right of the bat say that you will win, but with good Intel:

*Battleship without extra drone bay using full large or medium drone*Mwding frigate and destroyer size target you want to bomb*Hauler and other industrial ship *(be careful with hulk and small drone)

Grey zone target:

*All battleship basically enter this area (except maybe Dominix), before you know what kind of drone they use, if any, they are all good target. It’s also noted that some setup can tank you for long time and its always good to have an escape plan before hand.*Battlecruiser / Cruiser also enter this zone (except for Harbinger and Drake and some Amarr Cruiser) where depending on their drone and weaponry they can be good target .

Bad Target

*Most Drake and if not all Drake land in this category (some might go into grey zone… But better not even try at beginning)*Most Frigates with Afterburners*Most HAC and RECONS but sometimes you can come across an easy Recon or HAC kill (extremely rare)*Command ship (they will tank you … easily)*Harbinger (heavy pulse laser of the instapop bomber)*Dominix (cause they have 5km3 of drone bay …. If you really want to go for it , make sure it doesn’t have Garde drone or small drone beforehand … or if you cannot, that you are always align to warp out during the whole engagement)

FAQ:

Does bomb require the target to be lock?

No, bombs are launch without targeting, directly in direction in which your ship is facing. They will travel 30km then explode

Does bomb can kill a regular frigate without mwd on?

Possible but highly unlikely, the main factor in damage calculation being the signature radius

What about POS and jump bridge?It is possible to engage certain kind of target depending on the pos gear, to do so , the main part is to be able to blink your cloak each 15 sec for a few seconds so the locking timer reinitialize. A POS best weaponry will at best lock you in 25 seconds (vary depending on implant and fitting) but it will do so only if you don’t microwarpdrive. Bomb will not work against ships and people inside a force field but it will be possible to deploy them on stuff outside force field for damage dealing.

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What about gang work, is this fit possible to use in gang?

It’s possible to use this fit for gang work, especially if you plan on a bomber heavy gang, because this fit provide points and speed to tackle, as well as damage.

What about the MSE/MWD combo?

Its a possble combo that need fitting mods to fit in, while i didnt test it myself, I heard quite a few people use it, the only problem you will run in is :

you will lack capacitor quite quickly and the mwd+sig radius boost from the extender will mean you will have a big radius, but i will defenatly test it someday.

HAVE FUN

Valadeya,

in a hound near your home

Q & A

Grimpak: Let me point out one more time that the MWD+MSE combo are for gang footwork mostly.I also must ask if the diminute cargo size of the hound compared with the purifier is a hindrance. purifier could stack up 1000torps and 2 bombs in it, but the hound can only carry 1 bomb with the same amount of torps.

Valadeya uthanaras: Well about the hound:the lesser cargo for bomb is largely compensated by the better speed, agility and overall resist (lovely paper shield resist). It can be a pain If you plan to do extremly long run, but you dont necessarly always need a bomb during each fight, its just a huge added bonus. Also, if the target is already out of shield, for say a megathron, a EM bomb would probably have done less damage than going straight with explo torp at the beginning.The best is to have a small frigate alt with a huge bay and also some remote rep if you want to do run in deap enemy space, but this would be required for both.overall hound and purifier both have their advantage, purifier having the fact that wyou will find 3 raven pilo for 1 other ship

Izzybella : Not to diminish your accomplishments, but I looked at your killboard and all the BS/BC you killed have all been pve fits, at least on the first several pages. I would be interested to know how this setup/tactics would work against a ship set up properly for pvp. I would love for this to work on proper pvp BS's, because I love the bomber.

Valadeya uthanaras: the main problem isnt that its difficult to do it, its just extremly rare to see a pvp battleship flown solo in 0.0 agaisnt proper pvp bs, flow solo, well it really depend what their fitting and drone is, I mean , the blaster-slaved neutron mega with a set of ogre II would be a easy kill , but, a set of light drone would ruin the day ^^but mainly, as long as the target dont have small drone, it my have whatever (exept maybe frigate size gun and medium pulse) and stil be a viable target. this way I killed a few pvp mega with blaster an ogre but one was using bouncer II , it was hell to keep the bouncer from having good shot at me and the mega being in web range (he had a long point) but it was managable so it always depend on what the fit and what the drone the battleship have .... but you are more likely to find pve battleship

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Deva Blackfire: Val uses 2x nanofiber in place of fitting mods. Really not that much difference. He "tanks" with speed+agility i "tank" with MSE. Except for 2x fitting mod or 2x nanofiber (and obvious MSE instead of injector needed for keeping MWD running) the rest is fairly similiar. Same dps output, speeds are more-less same (im at around 2km/s on hound he is at around 2,3-2,4). Plus im not saying "use this". Its just an option.

Valadeya uthanaras:Just wanted to confirm that I agree with deva on the fitting part, both are doable, both are good, its just a question of preference, do you want for built in tank (and a good one at that) a cost of less agility and speed, or prefer more speed and agility, at cost of built in tank.

the main thing I like tought is the cap booster, the purpose is not really to be cap stable, but more to have cap for entire fight without problem, even under neutralizer. most target wont pack a neutralizer, it just that it happen, and this ensure survival

I said drake in red zone, mainly because As I said there, they are treaky target, if you start with bomber, ignore them, beleive me, until you know how to fly the thing and handle narrow situation its best, in my opinion. I killed drake myself, but maybe 5% of all those i encountered were possible to kill in a puriifer/hound, even with correct bomb type

Kahega Amielden: As a bomber pilot, I do not endorse this product and/or service.Aside from indies, your guide relies on the idea that the battleships you're fighting against a solo battleship with no light drones. How often are you going to actually run into a situation like this?

Valadeya uthanaras: So far happened 69th time for battleship to myself, and a lot to my corpmate too ...And even with small drone, its still possible to gank target EVEN before they have you locked, i just dont recommand it to newer user. Small drone may seem like a no brainer to a pvper, but its not so much for a pve person. When you solo, you have 20x more chance of finding a solo pve battleship than a pvp one (had like 3 of those so far, and those were mega .. with a set of ogre II and relying on heavy neut to kill small target)

shyla stylez: Nice guide Vala....and just confirming, you are a major pain out in fountain :-) A couple of quick questions on bombs. I've read somewhere that a bomb can be killed by a smartbomb. Have you ever seen this done & is there a trick to the timing?

Valadeya uthanaras: It is possible but very hard, because of the timing and the blast radius of the bomb. To my knowledge , you would need at least 2 smartbomb hitting it in a 0.5 sec window (they travel 3k/s) if on the landing point, and a 2 sec window when you smarties during the bomb travel ( aka just after to up to 6 sec after launch)The only other problem is the smartbomb damage type, if you use smartbomb of the same damage type of the bomb..... you can forget about destroying it

adriaans: how would using the bomb to pop the drones work? (assuming the target has them somewhere they can be bombed) (ps. /me has never flied bombers although this seems like fun to try)

Valadeya uthanaras: its possible, but unlikly to pop drone with a single bomb ( need some specific circomstance to happen), and it will rarely to never affect small drone because of their extremly low sig radius. Its possible to pop a few drone, but I wouldnt recommand to start any fight on the assumption that the "initial bomb" will pop drone out of the way, so if the drone you see are drone you are unlikly to be able to handle, for say a set of warrior II in space, I would be double carefull before engaging, and would do so in a pattern that would maximize the damage output of my ship and minimize my sig, so I can kill said target before he can even lock me (its possible )

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Bass Player: Hello guys,i have a question for Vala; playing in EFT, i saw like with T2 launchers and T2 torpedoes i may do better DPS and Volley without losing too much speed. Without considering the "wallet" problem (T2 are more expensive ok), its better to ideally mount T2 torpedoes or not? and why?

Valadeya uthanaras: Like Deva explained, explained in the guide, and mainly to confirm, T2 Launcher are a waste for SOLO bomber, mainly because you could always fit an other ballitic control at the cost of a set of T2 Launcher (assuming you are talking about adding a CPU). And that BCU will largely out-dps the T2 launcher.

Its indeed done at the loss of a bit of speed doing it in a :CPUBCUNANOfashion in the low, but speed and agility!!! is the "TANK" on the bomber I propose, and it will allow you to dictate all engagement, except maybe versus interceptor.

The main problem with T2 launcher is that EFT damage from Rage torpedoes is TOTALLY impossible to acheive without multiple painter and webs. To the obvious person that is either trolling, or never actually tried to solo in a bomber, here a link: killboard

To simplify the scrolling here an average of the "impossible soloing" I have done with my setup with a point:

SOLO71 Battleship20+ Battlecruiser20+ Cruiser5+ HAC/RECONS50+ Frigate class T220+ Exhumer/Barge30+ Hauler/transport

And with the destruction of billions in cargo and shipsLosing in total 15 bomber for a loltastic total of .... 500 mils tops

So even before you may start to consider droping the possibility that soling in a bomber cannot be done because you done know how to do it, plz do yourself a favor, and read the guide and try it

A 24km Point on a gang bomber also mean you can be a awesome tackler, And beleive it or not ... it work extremly well.

Valadeya uthanaras:Because a lot of people asked for this info via Eve-Mail, I tought it would be best if I also posted this in the thread:Rig choice: Bay loading vs warhead Catalyst ?

As I responded in all cases, the choice between those 2 types of rig can be slightly azardous:The first one increasing the ROF by 10%, give a better dps increase ( 11.1% dps) than the 10% you get from a damage rig (10% dps), but the later increase the alpha strike, witch can be cruicial in some situation, but, with the built in boost to damage of the ship, that mean a really high alpha, you can stick to bay loading for more dps, unless your covert op skill is fairly low (3 or less) where the added alpha would help more.

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Editors' Note:

I am not a PVP'er. I am what most call a carebear, I decided I wanted to fly a PVP stealth bomber and went out looking for more information. I found this great guide by Valadeya and thought it should be PDF'ed. All of the content is by her. I have taken the liberty of cleaning up the punctuation, spelling and in rare cases the grammar, but only for ease of readability. I've also added images which I liberally stole from numerous sources. The Q&A section is just a cherry picked selection of what was on the forum thread this guide was posted on. Thanks – Lance Freedom

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