StevieTopSiders

The Fit

The Taranis, in my opinion, should only be flown with a select few fits: the rail fit and the blaster fit. I only fly the blaster fit, so that's what I'll discuss.

[Taranis, Blaster Taranis]
Damage Control II
Magnetic Field Stabilizer II
Micro Auxiliary Power Core I

Limited 1MN MicroWarpdrive I
Experimental 1MN Afterburner I
J5b Phased Prototype Warp Scrambler I

Light Neutron Blaster II, Antimatter Charge S
Light Neutron Blaster II, Antimatter Charge S
Salvager I /OFFLINE
Light Neutron Blaster II, Antimatter Charge S

Small Hybrid Burst Aerator I
Small Hybrid Collision Accelerator I


Warrior II x2

Rationale

• Damage Control II- The Taranis has most of its hp in hull. Thus, it behooves you to stretch that hp as far as you can by applying resists to it via the DCU.

• Magnetic Field Stabilizer II- Because you have a paper-thin hull tank, it is important that you kill your enemies quickly. Thus, rock this MagStab.

• Micro Auxiliary Power Core I- You're running dual-prop and "large" frigate guns. You need the PG to make it fit.

• MWD and AB- The way to engage and survive an engagement is through speed. Dual-prop offers two flavors that will be discussed later.

• Warp Scrambler- Depending on your fitting skills, you can fit different meta levels. I prefer cheap, because you will want to be orbiting within 5k meters anyway, and the range you gain by upgrading isn't really worth it.

• Light Neutron Blaster II- These are for shooting things. They'll track pretty much anything with the tracking bonus your hull gets.

• Salvager I- This is to absorb heat damage, and if you're Tar really intense about salvage, you can salvage afterwards.

• Small Hybrid Rigs- These are for extra damage.

• Warrior II- Damage drones are for augmenting your damage.

What to Load

I always bring Null and CNAM. Void can be helpful, but you're only going to keep in Void range if you're orbitting a larger target who is not moving and unable to shoot you.

Implants

There are some good and cheap implants you can use to greatly improve you're Taranis flying experience:

• Small Hybrid 3% damage bonus (Slot 6)
• 3% Hull HP bonus
• 1% Turret damage bonus

Pimping

If you're spacerich and want to make your Taranis more shiny, upgrade mods in this order:

• Faction/Deadspace MWD
• Factoin/Deadspace AB

That's about all the "functional pimp" you can throw on there. If you literally shit money and love having expensive lossmails, a Faction Magnetic Field Stabilizer or a Faction Scram might be to your liking.

Links

If you're one of those "solo" PvP'ers who actually does "solo" with like three accounts, then the Skirmish links are gonna be your best bet. The increased speed and reduced sig will make you even harder to catch.

What to Engage

As a frigate, your engagement options are somewhat limited. As a low-sig, super-fast frigate, your engagement options are somewhat expanded.

Attack

• T1 Frigs- Your DPS and hull-tank will see you through almost any engagement. Spiral in, orbit at 3k with Null, turn on AB (and overheat it if you're taking lots of damage).
• Other Interceptors- Again, you have craxy DPS for a frigate, and you should be able to own any other interceptor.
• Faction Frigs- Chrss and I have found success against faction frigates. For these monsters, though, overheat everything and pray.
• Sniping Assault Frigs- Usually Jags and Wolves. Be careful with your approach (as they can alpha you quickly), but once you land a scram, you're golden.
• Zealot- If you were to find a Zealot not on a gate, pat yourself on the back for the free kill. As Zealots have no drones, you just have to spiral in, get in a close orbit, and tear away at their armor.
• Tier 3 BC's- Excepting the Talos, tier 3 BC's are easy to spiral in on and own (as most are sniper fit). Just watch out for friends.

Run

• Assault Frigs- These things are slightly OP. Many of them have enough mid-slots for a web, fucking you up greatly. Enyos and Ishkurs are very dangerous, as their hybrid tracking will make mincemeat of you.
• Destroyers- I find that destroyers often have good enough tracking to take you down before you can melt their paper-thin tank, but it's pretty situational. If you start out really close, go for it. Overheat that AB.
• Cruisers- Most Cruisers have room for webs and can fuck you up with their drones. I was once killed by a troll Bellicose who fit dual-webs and neuts. I would've broken his tank, but he slowed me and took away my damage before I could behead him.
• Large Ships with Drones- Warrior II's are your enemies. If you find a ratting Armageddon or somesuch and can pick of its drones, go for the kill, but otherwise, stay away.
• Recons- These ships are designed to fuck you up. Run away.

How To Engage

The Spiral

The key to any engagement is getting into your damage range without taking damage yourself.

To spiral, spin the screen so that the enemy is in the dead center. Double click slightly to the left of him. After a short period of time, spin the screen so that the enemy is again in the middle. Double click to his left.
Repeat this process until you are within 5km. Now, you have two choices: transition your spiral into a manual orbit or spin into your computer-generated "Orbit at ____km".

I usually use the computer's orbit, unless the enemy I'm against is of the especially high-tracking variety. For Null, I set my orbit to 3,750 m and overheat my AB. For CNAM, I set my orbit to 1,750 m. If I'm webbed, I will overheat to maintain a more normal speed.

Unwebbed, though, I prefer to keep the AB cool so that I don't fly out of range and lose damage.

The Orbit

The orbit is pretty simple. Make sure you don't get caught up on any environmental objects and do not let yourself stop.

The main thing your working on now is applying DPS to the enemy ship. If it is another frigate, overheat, because you'll kill him before your guns get much damage. If the enemy is a larger ship, don't overheat, as it may take a while to kill him.

If you happen to be fighting a larger ship with a sizable drone bay, proceed to target and pop its drones. These are gonna be the one thing able to push you out of the fight if you're under the enemies guns.

The GTFO

Once you've killed your target (or realize that you can't win), it's time to go. If you are scrammed, you will want to overheat your AB and burn away at an angle to maximize transversal and get out of scram range. If you are only under pressure from a long point, overheat that MWD and burn off at an angle. Once you're out of point range (maintaining transversal the whole time), warp to a celestial that requires you to do the minimum amount of stopping and aligning.