Guide: Armor Hurricane

Original post here: https://aidenmourn.wordpress.com/2011/09/19/rock-you-like-a-hurricane/

NOTE: Post-Retribution expansion and the changes made to Battlecruisers, including fitting ability and slot layout, this guide is currently no longer completely relevant. Still, its a very awesome guide (if I do say so myself), and totally worth reading anyways. A new updated guide is coming soon ™.

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I realize in writing this that I actually don’t fly the Hurricane all that much any more, favoring instead more nimble cruisers like the Cynabal for my ganking needs. Other ships have also been made famous and noteworthy by those flying them, such as Paul Clavet’s Tengu or Danjor2′s Fleet Issue Typhoon. However, for the up-and-coming ninja, or even the old pro in need of a solid battlecruiser-sized fist of bricks with which to slug bears in the face with, you need look no further than the undisputed king of pain.

As a small history lesson, the Hurricane really came into ninja favor with the introduction of the Orca. Past gank ships of choice were Battleships, primarily torp Ravens or neut Geddons, but the drawback of instantaneous ship-swapping in the midst of battle was that Battleships were too large for the Orca’s ship maintenance bay. Battlecruisers, however, were fair game, and with room to spare. Plus, they’re about 1/4th the cost of a BS, while accomplishing the same end goal. Some people used Harbies or Drakes, but at the end of the day, the almost unfairly bonused Hurricane won out: 5% bonus to projectile rate of fire AND damage per level? Yes please.

Its worth mentioning that with the latest Orca nerf and the new inability to swap ships out of the Orca while under fire, the strategies involved with ganking shooty mission bears have changed slightly. I’ll let you figure out the “how-to” in terms of changing/refiting/swaping ships during a combat situation with a bear (hint: it starts with “E” and ends in “CM”…), but for the purposes of this guide, I’ll be concentrating on the ship itself and how to fly it. So, without further ado, I present to you

 

“Rape, Kill, Pillage, & Burn”:
Aiden Mourn’s Guide to the Armor Gank-Cane

Tank:

More than anything, people love to tout the word “versatility” when talking about Canes, and yes, you can definitely shield or armor tank one, and yes, I’ve done both. The faster shield-tanked, nano-fit Cane definitely has its purposes, but for mission runner ganking, I’m firmly in the “armor all the way” camp. With 2 EANM II’s, 2 Medium Trimark rigs, a DC II and a 1600mm tungsten plate, you’re rolling with 63,000 EHP with all level 5s, and thats before any leadership/gang bonuses if you’re in the right kind of fleet. It should go without saying that if you’re an armor tanker, get those armor resist skills up to at least 4 as quickly as possible. This is sort of a no-brainer, but I’ve come across even seasoned players who never even knew they existed.

I should also take this time to mention that, yes, faction gear like Navy EANMs will get you a bigger EHP, but they’ll also cost more than your ship. Feel free to interchange T2 for faction goodies at your discretion, but again, the purpose of this guide is for both seasoned and fresh new players.

Gank:

So, now that you’ve got your Fort Knox of a BC tank, its time for the fun stuff: the pew pew. Now unless you’ve got fitting implants plugged in (I tend not to due to them being a slot-6 implant, a space I normally have a ‘Noble’ ZET implant plugged in to for armor repping bonuses for another ship), your only real option here are 220mm Vulcan Autocannon II’s. With the PG-3 implant and advanced weapons upgrades 5, you can probably squeeze on some 425mm AC’s for a higher damage output, but it will come with a much lower tracking ability. Stick with 220′s, and you won’t be disappointed; six of these bonused guns quickly starts to feel like eight, especially with the right skills and implants (we’ll get to those later).

In your lows, you’ve now got 2 extra slots after fitting your armor tank, and I highly endorse fitting these with 2 gyrostabilizer II’s. Your third rig slot should filled with a medium projectile burst aerator, which gives a higher rate of fire. For drones, go with Warrior II’s as the the best for taking out enemy drones. With Republic Fleet EMP M and with all level 5 skills, this is going to pump out a whopping 554 DPS with a 1085 volley. Ouch.

Juicy Extras:

Now for the key to make this whole thing work. Most mission runners are active tanked, which is to say they run modules such as armor hardeners or shield boosters that require being turned on and continuously run at the expense of capacitor in order to protect the ship and give it the tank it requires to get through a mission. These fits also tend to hover at just barely cap stable. So, how to deal with those pesky hardeners and perma-boosters? As the wise and metaphorically-minded Solomar Espersei is fond of saying, “Neuts are the straw that stir the mission-running ganking drink”, and he’s entirely correct.

Two medium energy neutralizers on a Cane will essentially turn off most mission runner active tanks in about a minute, leaving them completely at your mercy. The T2 versions are unnecessary, as they take more to fit and neutralize the same as the best named T1 counterparts, the “50w infectious power system malfunction” medium neuts. And remember to ALWAYS stagger your neuts for best results.

For the rest of your setup, go with a Warp Disruptor II and an X5 prototype web in the mids for tackle, and a medium capacitor booster II with cap booster 800′s to run as needed to keep both those neuts going.

Your final setup should like this:

[Hurricane, Armor Gank]
Energized Adaptive Nano Membrane II
Energized Adaptive Nano Membrane II
1600mm Reinforced Rolled Tungsten Plates I
Damage Control II
Gyrostabilizer II
Gyrostabilizer II

10MN Afterburner II
Medium Capacitor Booster II, Cap Booster 800
Warp Disruptor II
X5 Prototype I Engine Enervator

220mm Vulcan AutoCannon II, Republic Fleet EMP M
220mm Vulcan AutoCannon II, Republic Fleet EMP M
220mm Vulcan AutoCannon II, Republic Fleet EMP M
220mm Vulcan AutoCannon II, Republic Fleet EMP M
220mm Vulcan AutoCannon II, Republic Fleet EMP M
220mm Vulcan AutoCannon II, Republic Fleet EMP M
50W Infectious Power System Malfunction
50W Infectious Power System Malfunction

Medium Trimark Armor Pump I
Medium Trimark Armor Pump I
Medium Projectile Burst Aerator I

 

“Where’s The Parking Break?”

So, how do you now fly this death-mobile? With the amount of armor and plating you’re carrying, the whole idea is to get up close and pound the mission runner into oblivion. You aren’t going to be fast, so get close and stay there. Most mission ships are fit for at least some range, with gigantic battleship sized guns that come with gigantic battleship-sized tracking, so the whole idea here is to get in under their guns and deliver kidney punch after kidney punch until they crumble. Use your web and Warrior II’s to deal with their drones, stagger your neuts, orbit as close as you can with the AB running (500m-1000m), and let your guns do the talking. If you do all of this correctly, you will essentially be bringing  an Abrams tank to a knife fight.

 

For Science!

The above fitting is setup as an almost all tech 2 fit, and obviously, you should strive to fit yours likewise. However, if the t2 variant is out of your reach skill-wise, go with the best named t1 version that you feel you can afford. This will obviously have an impact on the stats I gave, but it’ll still pack a pretty solid punch.

Gunnery-wise, you should strive to get yourself t2 mediums as soon as you can if you don’t already. The best-named t1 variants will of course suffice until then, but fast track yourself to getting them, as they’ll make a world of difference. Also, if you’re going to be flying autocannon ships, it goes without saying that you should work on those gunnery support skills as well. Get them all to level 4, and then take the time to inch your way to level 5s.

I also mentioned before that implants make a huge difference, and the following definitely will. Keep in mind that these vary greatly in price, so plug in what you can comfortably afford. Of course, getting podded in high-sec is pretty hard to pull off (unless you like afk-podding through Sivala), but keeping a less pricey war-time clone is a good idea.

• Hardwiring – Eifyr and Co. ‘Gunslinger’ CX: This one comes in 3 varieties, the CX-0, CX-1, and CX-2, which grant a 1%, 3%, and 5% bonus (respectively) to all turret damage.
• Hardwiring – Eifyr and Co. ‘Gunslinger’ MX: Also in three levels; the MX-0, MX-1, and MX-2 which again grant a 1, 3, and 5% bonus to medium turret damage. This is stackable with the CX implant, so rolling with both the CX-2 and MX-2 for instance, is going to give you an extra 10% to your medium turret damage output.
• Hardwiring – Inherent Implants ‘Noble’ ZET50 – 500 – 5000:  grant, again, a 1, 3, and 5% bonus to armor hitpoints.

In addition, the Zainou ‘Deadeye” series of implants give bonuses to turret optimal falloff; recommended but not totally necessary for a up-close and personal brawler like this one.

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Again, the Cane really is a versatile ship, but the setup above is honestly the setup to use for the fine art of whomping carebears. Want some more proof? TEARS pilots have used pretty much this exact setup to gank 2000 mission bears, which is double the number of almost any other ship used in the alliance. 2000 sad carebears can’t be wrong, now can they?

So congratulations, with this ship you have now become Shiva, Destroyer of Worlds, and you are now ready to sally forth and conquer. As always, comments and critiques are welcome, and feel free to give me a shout with any questions about fit or technique.

o7,

-Aiden