Interdictor 101
When to Dictor
This is your Tip of the Day on flying an interdictor. Note, I have a full video and how to fly and fit in my Dictor 101 page.
This isn't totally newbean friendly, but SUPER useful. Think of it as 'crowd control' or 'root' skills in other games.
First and foremost, the interdictor is one of two types of ships that can create a 'bubble' of non-warp space around it. There are 4 interdictors and 4 heavy interdictors.
When we say 'dictor', we mean the sabre, eris, flycatcher, heretic. 'Hictor', aka Heavy Interedictor, is for the Broadsword, Onyx, Devoter, Phobos. The dictor leaves behind a light blueish 'Warp Disruptor Probe' that is 20km radius that lasts for 2 minutes. It has an option for web bubbles as well, or wubbles, but are useless. The Hictor has a red sphere that appears around it as long as it keeps it active that near 25km depending on skills, but can also be scripted that can reach up to 38km disruptor, or 20km scram. But the hictor cannot get reps while this is up, and disappear as soon as they die. These bubbles are only allowed in null sec and wormhole space, and are not allowed in low or high sec. These prevent enemies from warping off, forcing them to fight you instead of just running away.
Flying an interdictor is one of the harder things you can do in eve. You get into it because every single null sec alliance needs them. A well flown one can get everyone a ton of kills. A badly flown one can get you all killed. It requires a lot of focus and skill points, with a skill plan of over 97 days just to get into it and fly it badly. It's around 6 months for mastery 3. Every fleet will have at least 2, and often times up to 8. And most will die regularly. They cost around 100 mil isk and you'll get reimbursed 85 mil, with 5 mil for insurance paid, and 15 mil payout. So you'll lose around 5 million isk every time you fly one if you don't import from jita yourself. But if you survive the fight, you have a great looting platform. :smile:
What do you need to fly a dictor?
- The ship - These require racial destroyer 5. The Jackdaw training you are doing great to get into a flycatcher. The svipul trianing makes it easy to get into a sabre. The Hecate makes it easy to get into an eris, but the eris mandates at least indictor 4, preferably 5. The destroyer skills are easy to train, only rank 2 so fast 5 days. The extra skills, like propulsion jamming V (rank 3), science V (rank 1), and power grid V (rank 1), they're not actually super useful. Power Grid 5 is awesome, prop jamming 5 is useful, science is meh.
- The module - The Interdiction Sphere Launcher is unique to the dictor and is the reason for the weird requirements for the ship.
- You need great navigation skills. Your speed
- You need to be able to use a cloak, just in case. This is mandatory in every null sec group.
- Everything else is very secondary.
- Practice. Practice practice practice. And more practice. You'll do it badly initially, but don't stress, tell your FC you're new, you'll get people helping you.
I talk a lot about this ship class because it is my favorite. Because if you focus on one thing, you'll do a LOT better than if you try to do absolutely everything in eve.
Dictor 101 video circa 2023
Dictor inside Pandemic Horde
While dictoring is maybe one of the longest skill trains out there for a single purpose ship, it is the most useful skill to have in all of eve.
However, it has a unique blend of positioning, manual flying, and some independence of the FC. It's also hard. And bad if you fuck up. But if you 'win', holy crap do you win.
https://www.pandemic-horde.org/forum/index.php?threads/official-horde-interdictor-fits.3311/ has all the official fits that horde recommends, though I have small variations on ammo and the like. Please note that we now have an eris fit there. https://www.pandemic-horde.org/forum/index.php?threads/dictoring-101.1523/post-22965 has one similar to the one I'm using now.
What do you need? For now, have a thrasher or any other destroyer when you attend. In the future, any interdictor. This WAS preferred fit, note specifically the barrage S and the hyperspatial rigs.
Why a dictor - Lesson plan
When to pick an Eris vs Sabre vs Flycatcher
Alternative fits and supplies
What are the rules of bubble
When should I drop a bubble
How do I listen to the FC for these ideas
When should I tackle the enemies
Is it worth dying
When to record yourself
Skill plans
Fleet maneuvers -
Drag bubbling vs Stop bubbling
Defensive bubbles
Delay bubbling
Splitting hostiles
MWD + Cloak trick
Burning back to gate
Perches and their importance
Bookmarking spots near enemy fleets
Bubble Magic
Combat exercises
Dictor 101 Class answers
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.
What happened - https://www.reddit.com/r/Eve/comments/ls7o73/ccpthanks_ship_balancing_done_right_dictors_2020/ CCP retuned all the interdictors!
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
Fits
A quick break down with relative numbers, with max skills, overheated speed, align time with mwd of and on, long range ammo, and based on the fits below. Dark Blue means best in class, lighter blue second in class, Red worst in class. You can faction any of these, but think of them as ammo.
Sabre v2021 - scram,t1 cloak - 8.8k efhp, 316m sig, 8.37 AU/sec warp, 4.2k m/sec overheated speed, 4 sec align, 5 sec w/prop, 154 dps - 40% kin/therm Shield holes
Sabre Full Tank - scram,t1 cloak - 17.1k efhp, 293m sig, 5.5 AU/sec warp, 3.9k m/sec overheated speed, 4 sec align, 6 sec w/prop, 149 dps - 62% kin/therm Shield holes
Eris v18 tankelec - scram,t2 cloak - 10.5k efhp, 254m sig, 5.5 AU/sec warp, 4.6k m/sec overheated speed, 3 sec align, 5 sec w/prop, 255 dps - 60% em armor hole
Flycatcher v2023-v2 - scram,web,Dual prop,t2 cloak - 12.6k efhp, 290m sig, 6.88 AU/sec warp, 3.7k m/sec overheated speed, 1.25k m/sec AB speed, 4 sec align, 6 sec w/prop, 100 dps - 50% EM Shield hole
Flycatcher full tank - scram,defender,t1 cloak - 29k efhp shield, 328m sig, 5.5 AU/sec warp, 3.4k m/sec overheated speed, 5 sec align, 7 sec w/prop, 230 dps mixed - 58% EM Shield hole
Heretic Full Tank v2024 - scram,web,t1 cloak,defender - 24.4k efhp armor, 263m sig, 5.5 AU/sec warp, 2.8k m/sec overheated speed, 6 sec align, 8 sec w/prop, 83 dps - 64% thermal armor hole
Heretic probing - scram,probes,t2 cloak - 8.9k efhp, 299m sig, 5.5 AU/sec warp, 3.4k m/sec overheated speed, 5 sec align, 7 sec w/prop, 22 dps - 0% EM shield hole
Sabre - The old reliable
This is a fit that has not changed in several years, and is still one of the most capable.
[Sabre, Sabre - Kismeteer-v2021]
Nanofiber Internal Structure II
Nanofiber Internal Structure II
Warp Scrambler II
5MN Y-T8 Compact Microwarpdrive
Medium Shield Extender II
Medium Shield Extender II
Prototype Cloaking Device I
125mm Gatling AutoCannon II
125mm Gatling AutoCannon II
125mm Gatling AutoCannon II
125mm Gatling AutoCannon II
125mm Gatling AutoCannon II
125mm Gatling AutoCannon II
Interdiction Sphere Launcher I
Small Hyperspatial Velocity Optimizer II
Small Hyperspatial Velocity Optimizer II
Stasis Webification Probe x10
Barrage S x2800
Republic Fleet Fusion S x1200
EMP S x1200
Warp Disrupt Probe x33
Nanite Repair Paste x25
Sabre - Full Tank version
And the full tank version for fleets, though I recommend the flycatcher for this 'captive' dictor role better.
[Sabre, Full Tank v2024]
Damage Control II
Nanofiber Internal Structure II
Compact Multispectrum Shield Hardener
Medium F-S9 Regolith Compact Shield Extender
Medium Shield Extender II
5MN Quad LiF Restrained Microwarpdrive
Prototype Cloaking Device I
125mm Gatling AutoCannon II
125mm Gatling AutoCannon II
125mm Gatling AutoCannon II
125mm Gatling AutoCannon II
125mm Gatling AutoCannon II
125mm Gatling AutoCannon II
Interdiction Sphere Launcher I
Small Core Defense Field Extender II
Small Core Defense Field Extender II
Hail S x2000
Barrage S x2000
Warp Disrupt Probe x33
Nanite Repair Paste x50
Eris - The new hotness
This is the one i've been flying the most of, and I'm #1 on zkill with. I have to give up a lot to use blasters, but it's now worth it. Thanks to Thaiax Isu and Tzophiah for working on previous fit with me! Note that this is now my current fit, can see my zkillboard to see previous fits. https://zkillboard.com/character/798282716/losses/ship/22460/
[Eris, Kis-Eris V18 tankele]
Compact Multispectrum Energized Membrane
400mm Rolled Tungsten Compact Plates
400mm Rolled Tungsten Compact Plates
Overdrive Injector System II
Faint Epsilon Scoped Warp Scrambler
5MN Quad LiF Restrained Microwarpdrive
Improved Cloaking Device II
Light Electron Blaster II
Light Electron Blaster II
Light Electron Blaster II
Light Electron Blaster II
Light Electron Blaster II
Light Electron Blaster II
Interdiction Sphere Launcher I
Small Ancillary Current Router II
Small Low Friction Nozzle Joints II
Void S x7680
Null S x7950
Stasis Webification Probe x5
Warp Disrupt Probe x31
Nanite Repair Paste x16
Antimatter Charge S x2400
There is a max eris tank version, but I prefer the single one :D
Flycatcher - The up and coming tanker
This is one i've been trying in fleets, however it's a bit slow and damage is unreliable. Thanks to Tzophiah from horde for workshopping this with me! Note, the horde stock one is really really solid for fleets, this is more for standing fleet.
[Flycatcher, Kis-flycatcher v2023-2]
Nanofiber Internal Structure II
Warp Scrambler II
5MN Quad LiF Restrained Microwarpdrive
Medium Azeotropic Restrained Shield Extender
1MN Monopropellant Enduring Afterburner
Enduring Multispectrum Shield Hardener
'Arbalest' Rocket Launcher I
'Arbalest' Rocket Launcher I
'Arbalest' Rocket Launcher I
'Arbalest' Rocket Launcher I
'Arbalest' Rocket Launcher I
'Arbalest' Rocket Launcher I
Improved Cloaking Device II
Interdiction Sphere Launcher I
Small EM Shield Reinforcer II
Small Hyperspatial Velocity Optimizer II
Caldari Navy Mjolnir Rocket x270
Warp Disrupt Probe x33
Stasis Webification Probe x1
Nanite Repair Paste x25
Caldari Navy Scourge Rocket x1350
Flycatcher - Max tank
This is designed to be a 'captive' dictor, it sits near the FC and bubbles when they say.
[Flycatcher, [HORDE 2023] Flycatcher]
Damage Control II
5MN Quad LiF Restrained Microwarpdrive
Multispectrum Shield Hardener II
Medium Shield Extender II
Warp Scrambler II
Medium Shield Extender II
Defender Launcher I
Prototype Cloaking Device I
'Arbalest' Rocket Launcher I
[Empty High slot]
125mm Light 'Scout' Autocannon I
125mm Light 'Scout' Autocannon I
Interdiction Sphere Launcher I
Small EM Shield Reinforcer II
Small Core Defense Field Extender II
Republic Fleet Phased Plasma S x1000
Caldari Navy Scourge Rocket x1000
Republic Fleet EMP S x1000
Stasis Webification Probe x15
Defender Missile I x100
Republic Fleet Fusion S x1000
Warp Disrupt Probe x40
Nanite Repair Paste x50
Heretic - Max Armor tank!
This is designed to stay alive in armor fleets and kill things.
[Heretic, Heretic, Full Tank v2024]
Damage Control II
400mm Steel Plates II
Multispectrum Coating II
5MN Y-T8 Compact Microwarpdrive
Warp Scrambler II
X5 Enduring Stasis Webifier
Interdiction Sphere Launcher I
Arbalest Compact Light Missile Launcher
Arbalest Compact Light Missile Launcher
Arbalest Compact Light Missile Launcher
Arbalest Compact Light Missile Launcher
Arbalest Compact Light Missile Launcher
Defender Launcher I
Prototype Cloaking Device I
Small Trimark Armor Pump II
Small Trimark Armor Pump II
Caldari Navy Scourge Light Missile x600
Caldari Navy Inferno Light Missile x600
Stasis Webification Probe x25
Defender Missile I x30
Caldari Navy Nova Light Missile x600
Warp Disrupt Probe x33
Caldari Navy Mjolnir Light Missile x1200
Nanite Repair Paste x50
Heretic - Probing and surviving
This is a probing Heretic, note it has a scram, but could get more tank.
[Heretic, new probing heretic]
Co-Processor II
Co-Processor II
Co-Processor II
Initiated Compact Warp Scrambler
Medium F-S9 Regolith Compact Shield Extender
5MN Y-T8 Compact Microwarpdrive
Expanded Probe Launcher II
'Arbalest' Rocket Launcher I
Improved Cloaking Device II
[Empty High slot]
[Empty High slot]
[Empty High slot]
[Empty High slot]
Interdiction Sphere Launcher I
Small Processor Overclocking Unit II
Small Core Defense Field Extender II
Caldari Navy Mjolnir Rocket x360
Warp Disrupt Probe x30
Nanite Repair Paste x25
Sisters Combat Scanner Probe x16
OLD version of Dictor 101 video circa 2021
Note, this is pre-nerf, and all dictors are good now. Watch the other one!