Interdictor 101

Why a dictor - Dictors drop bubbles, which are stationary, non-targetable points in space that prevent you from warping in most ships. They last 2 minutes, and are irreplacable in null sec pvp fights. They shift an entire fight, they can ruin someone's day, and are extremely powerful. They can be booshed off, they can be bombed off, but otherwise, you're flying 20km away.

The old answer: Why a sabre specifically - It used to be the fastest with the most tank. Fast is the most powerful weapon of the dictor as a ship, and can hold a ton of tank to survive. The jackdaw is slow second but tanky, the Heretic is nice for 'on grid' dictoring but all dictors die under fire, and the eris is now legit good. If ccp did balances these, and I reconsidered. Flycatcher can do more damage, Heretic can fit a probe launcher, Eris is fastest. But always sabre is the standard.

Why an eris specifically - Fastest with the most tank. Same details as above.

General fit - Bubble. MWD. Cloak. Tank. That is the most important parts, in order. Scram to stop people burning out, DPS to drive off tackle, hyperspatials to beat people to locations.

Alternative fits and supplies - Can fit a defender launcher for larger fleets, can bring a mobile cyno jammer for killing rorquals, can do all tank (invuln + dc2) for some fights, can use cheap EMP to kill small bubbles. Note, you can fit a co-proc or t1 metas for some of the modules to make it fit, or drop the scram. But get the skills up and this is more cost effective fit.

What are the rules of bubble - Anyone who initiates a warp to a point 500km in line with a bubble stops at the edge of the bubble. Dictor bubbles are 20km, others are different sizes. Once they initiate warp, their landing spot is set. If they warp and a bubble goes up around them, their speed goes to 0. Warp Disrupt Probe's have 1,000 HP, can be removed by stealth bombers easily (1), can be removed by smart bombs (t2 emp - 4 large, 8 medium, or 15 small.)

When should I drop a bubble - When your FC calls for it is the simple answer. The real answer is that experience will tell you. When people are running. When you're within 20km of an enemy fleet that you want to catch. When you can bubble just them and not yourself. When there are caps on the field and you're over 10km away from them. When you're defensive bubbling. When you're able to do the most amount of damage without doing harm.

How do I listen to the FC for these ideas - They'll ask you to initially. Eventually, you'll get into a rythem with them, asking before you do it. You want to do it before they enter warp when they're coming to you, or when warping off.

When should I tackle the enemies - All the time, pal! Well seriously, you need one initial bubble, and then one secondary bubble on their align spot out, and then GET SAFE. Then, when they're running, bubble them again.

Is it worth dying - Most times, no. It's worth dying if there is extreme tidi and they're just cynoing in. Maybe on initial tackle if asked. But it is better to live. Overheating your MWD while in warp to certain death helps. Having a cloak helps.

When to record yourself - Sometimes it is helpful to review footage about how you're doing. Or to hear someone telling you to drink bleach because they had too many interceptors.

Skill plans - 3 months minimum training, but plan for 4. Train to Minmatar destroyer 5. Train Evasive Maneuvering 5, maybe best skill in the entire game. Spaceship command 4. Train astrometrics 3 to use warp disrupt probes. Train Shield Upgrades 4 to have good tank. Train cloaking 1 (get it to 3!) to use a proto type cloak 1. Use t2 guns so you can use barrage, which gives you range on your autocannons (or appropriate weapon systems. Finally, Train Science 5 and power grid management 5 to train the interdictor skill. Train Propulsion Jamming 5 so you can train interdictors 1, to at least interdictor 3 or 4 (lowers your signature). Might need a co-proc to fit sometimes, so those skills. warp drive operation 4 for saving cap. cpu management 5 to fit everything because it's tiiiiight. Shield upgrades 4 to help with fit.

Fleet maneuvers - Things you need to do.

Drag bubbling vs Stop bubbling - Drag bubbles 'drag' you to a spot beyond where they expect. These are nice because they force people to turn around, though that makes getting out of your bubble easier. Stop bubbles 'stop' a fleet from reaching their intended target.

Defensive bubbles - This is a variation of the stop bubble, but dynamic. You put this in between you and the enemy fleets. Or stop a fleet from warping at 0 on you. You pick the range. This takes a lot of skill and practice.

Delay bubbling - Wait for an enemy to feel safe after jumping through a gate. Wait till they enter warp. then hit decloak and bubble. This causes them to come to a complete 100% stop, and then they are easy pickings. Great against cloakies without warp protection.

Splitting hostiles - Decloak and bubble just as they warp off. Or put a bubble up as they're warping to an out gate. becareful you don't catch friendlies with this!

MWD + Cloak trick - Cannot be caught in high/low sec ever again. Align to out gate. Hit Cloak and MWD. DO NOT DOUBLE TAP CLOAK. When MWD cycle ends, decloak, and hit warp. You'll enter warp before the 1 second destiny engine allows them to target and kill you.

Burning back to gate - Interdictors are remarkably survivable. They can burn back to gate with ease, and they need a REALLY fast webbing interceptor along with a decloak.

Perches and their importance - Hang out above or below the battlefield. have a couple during a large fight. Wait for the FC to call for bubbles. Get on the side of the enemy that they're going to be aligning out to. Find a wreck near them, or use the existing bubbles to extend the bubbles yo'ure dropping. Wait for them to appear to be wanting to warping out, then go in. Split them up.

Bookmarking spots near enemy fleets - Book mark wrecks near the enmy fleets. Look for dead bodies near the enemy fleets. Bookmark their pings, bookmark their safes, bookmark you're own pings like 300km off the gates. Book mark drags, bookmark stop bubble locations. Bookmark areas around hostile fortizars, especially if you can bubble them.

Bubble Magic - Bubbles are only effective up to 500km away from your direct landing spot.   If you warp to an object, it only considers the source of the bubble (The probe, the anchored, the hic) within 500km in front or behind the 'thing' you warped to.   You can abuse this mechanic by putting up a spot 500km PAST an a bubble, and you'll breeze through the early bubbles, and land on top of later deeper bubbles. You just need a bubble that touches the edge of a gate, and you can setup a spot 500km past it, and just flew through bubbles. I demonstrate this in the video.

Combat exercises