Occasionally here at TMC we get a killmail that isn’t baffling in the strictest sense. We have all seen blinged out fits that may hurt our wallets to look at, but they are still sound.
This kill is an example of a fit that isn’t bad per se, but it is very very spendy and losing it was disasterous. Coming in at over 49 billion isk, it was a harsh loss, and unfortunately it does not look like it can be recovered from, partly because of expense, and also because many of the modules there are only in limited supply on the market. In fact, this loss was specifically allowed on zkillboard due to the nature of the loss.
Interviewing the pilot, zlobnya negativkina, they had this to say about the incident:
TMC: So, how did you lose the ship? Judging by the damage in the killmail, you’ve been targeted by Sansha several times and survived. A wild disconnect?
ZN: Our Basilisks screwed up. They ignored my broadcast for cap, Sansha neuted me dry and my invuls turned off.
TMC: Why did you spent such an enormous amount of ISK on a subcapital?
ZN: Why not? You can buy two supercarriers with that kind of money, and I don’t consider it to be an enormous amount of money. Besides, it boosts the fleet efficiency.
TMC: How long you’d had this Machariel?
ZN: 6-7 months.
TMC: What were you using to move the fit around?
ZN: Double wrapped courier contracts.
TMC: Has anyone ever tried to gank you?
ZN: Yes, several times, actually. Thanks to my PvP mentors from Sovereign Shadow Syndicate, I’ve managed to avoid dying to gankers.
TMC: What are your plans now?
ZN: If you mean ‘are you going to fit a new ship like that again’ – not gonna happen. I’m going to sell the modules that dropped and fly average fitted ships.
Fly safe!
As you can see, the fatal error here was not the actions of the pilot themselves. Bad communications and even worse luck brought this beautiful ship down.
It would helped immensely if the victim had made doubly certain that his logi pilots were competent and able to effectively give reps during an incursion. I would also have ripped my logi pilots a new asshole for what happened here. Sansha rats are real bastards, especially when you fly around in slow aligning ships, and will neut, scram and web you faster than a Tornado volley in Jita. It also would have helped if the pilot aligned to a safe during this incursion.
Incursion fit ships are like fine-tuned machines, and this fit reflects this with higher than normal resists and an extra damage mod for the loss of both to incursion space penalties. Losses like this are often an example of bad communications between pilots, although from the interview we received, logi is more to blame here.
The lesson here is more for logi pilots. Pay attention to your watchlist, and your fleet comms, and massive losses like this can be avoided. However, this pilot was incredibly competent, and his loss can only be chalked up to dumb luck. I hope he flies safe again.
This article originally appeared on TheMittani.com, written by Vos.
