Hunting Rook

Combat Recon's are the Ship of the Week at the moment. At least I think they are, I've seen lots of them on station undocks but for some reason my d-scan is always clear of them... The Combat Recon's are great and especially so in wormholes where Local is empty and d-scan is King. 

I've always liked the Rook and whilst it has its detractors it is a solid ship that perhaps has an edge over some of the others so lets see if we can come up with a fit that could be used to kill site runners in C1 and C2 wormholes.

The Ship

The Rook is Caldari by origin so it will be shield fit, armour is just not viable with only three low slots. Seven mid slots gives us a nice option for tank/ewar and the five highs mean we can get some decent dps (which will be supplemented by a full flight of drones).

The ship had a graphical make over in the Rhea expansion and now really looks good (pretty even) but not only does it look good it now has teeth thanks to the changes to its characteristics:

Caldari Cruiser bonuses (per skill level):
7.5% bonus to kinetic Light Missile, Heavy Missile and Heavy Assault Missile damage
10% reduction in ECM Target Jammer activation cost 

Recon Ships bonus (per skill level):
30% bonus to ECM Target Jammer strength
10% bonus to Heavy Missile and Heavy Assault Missile velocity 

Role Bonus
Cannot be detected by directional scanners

The Role Bonus cannot be understated as this will allow us to sneak up on site runners before we prevent their escape and then use one of the listed missile types to turn them into a wreck.

With decent Tech 2 shield resistances (before modules/skills) of 0%/50%/62.5%/70% (EM/THE/KIN/EXP) the only worry is that EM hole but we can plug that either with a specific Field or rig.

Our Target

The purpose of this fit is to kill site ratters in C1 and C2 wormholes. Typically these will be cruiser/battle-cruiser class with the possibility of a battleship in the C2. 

Drone based ships are common for wormhole site runners so we'll assume that often than not we will be facing a drone ship. That means facing thermal/kinetic damage, which the Rook has strong resists too by default. Score!

Contrary to logic, these guys may help kill your target.

The Rook has a ship bonus to ECM so we really should bring at least one ECM module as it'll be effective against not just other ships but their drones too.

Fitting

Here is our first fitting for the Rook:

[Rook, Solo WH Hunter]
Damage Control II
Ballistic Control System II
Ballistic Control System II

Experimental 10MN Microwarpdrive I
Large Ancillary Shield Booster, Navy Cap Booster 150
Large Ancillary Shield Booster, Navy Cap Booster 150
Adaptive Invulnerability Field II
Warp Scrambler II
ECM - Multispectral Jammer II
ECM - Multispectral Jammer II 

Rapid Light Missile Launcher II, Scourge Fury Light Missile
Rapid Light Missile Launcher II, Scourge Fury Light Missile
Rapid Light Missile Launcher II, Scourge Fury Light Missile
Rapid Light Missile Launcher II, Scourge Fury Light Missile
Rapid Light Missile Launcher II, Scourge Fury Light Missile 

Medium Anti-EM Screen Reinforcer II
Medium Particle Dispersion Augmentor II 

Hobgoblin II x5

The Rapid Light Missiles and Drones give you around 475 dps, more than enough to kill most ships (and remember you'll most likely be getting help from any Sleepers that are still alive).  The Warp Scrambler is there to prevent ships escaping via MWD or a MJD.

Tank is great, you have overheated tank of around 465 meaning that even if sleepers join in the tackle ship and shoot you, you'll be able to tank them and continue killing your target.

Usage

This ship is designed for a singular purpose, that of killing site runners in low class WH's (C1/C2). Your targets should be battle-cruiser and smaller ships (ideally ones that use drones as their primary weapon), on paper you could take on a battleship but I would not recommend it.

The short range of the Warp Scrambler is going to dicate how you fight, you're orbit close at between 5000 and 7500 metres using your ECM to either jam the target or their drones (Sleepers too if they shift fire to you). The RLML will do serious damage but have a long reload time so you must make sure you deploy your drones to keep the target under pressure.

You will take damage but by pulsing one shield boosters when you hit 75% shields (and swapping to the other if you run out of charges) you will be able to absorb significant punishment and, ideally, be the last ship standing.