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Should I always be orbiting at 500 in a rifter? (PvP)

My standard orbit on a rifter with a 400mm plate is at 3000. This is because I noticed that I was able, with 3000 as my orbit range, to maintain a circular orbit. In other words, my speed was consistent (and pretty high up) and my angular velocity was consistent (and pretty high up).

I've noticed that if I orbit at 500, I go into a looping orbit which means my speed races up and down (as does my angular velocity) as I struggle to make the turns involved.

However, in a brief discussion on the merits of various frigs, someone told me the other day that I should always be orbiting at 500 with a rifter as "nothing will ever hit me"

Is this a generally true statement (obviously, high tracking being disregarded)? Should I be setting my default orbit distance to 500?

I love this site btw.

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3 answers

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canhasgank [ Moderator ]

As you have observed already there is a distinct difference between a near circular orbit and a severely elliptical one. Although you will have a higher transversal at 500m most of the time than you will at 3000m I would still go for the more circular orbit. The reason is that at the points in the elliptical orbit where you're turning sharply you are loosing almost all of your transversal. This means the hostile can get a lucky shot in and possibly kill you if he has high alpha. Remember to fit ammo that has an optimal as close to your orbit range as possible as well, so you can actually hit your target. This is not an absolute rule, though. Sometimes a 500m orbit may be the better option.

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bucky o'hair

The secret to PVPing in Matari ships, is not to fight in your optimal, but to fight outside your opponents optimal.The falloff bonus Matari ships enjoy enable you to do this.

Example, your oponent is laser fit with optimal of 5000, then orbit his butt at 6500 (numbers used as example only and do not equal actual numbers)

This way, they are missing you, or only hitting for min damage, while you still hit at 75-80% of your damage.

This is not a hard and fast rule, like everything in EVE there are exceptions.

Bucky

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liverpooler
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That works when your ship is “bigger” than the other players. If your ship is smaller than the other one, it pays to stay “under” the opponent’s guns – unless the opponent is blaster fit.

canhasgank
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This is very situational… The close you are orbiting your target the more angular velocity you will have so against larger targets with turrets you may be better off orbiting closer than their optimal.

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  • 2

aragaer [ Editor ]

Actually because of transversal speed optimal range doesn't give you best chance to hit. EFT graphs show that if you are orbiting at pretty high speed, you want to be at optimal + half of falloff range for most damage.

As for orbiting - it is better to orbit manually, as some people are trained enough to break your transversal if you are orbiting automatically.

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upsideyourhead [ Editor ]

Some of the other responses in here are valid. I would just add that speed tanking is frequently about transverse velocity, so minimizing your distance to the target can be a good idea. This will not maximize your absolute velocity, however, which determines missile damage. So, depending on what you are fighting the best orbit distance is frequently not 500m, but somewhere a bit farther out. You can work it all out ahead of time, of course, but in the end experimentation and practice are the key.

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