With the changes CCP has made to Stealth Bombers (Torpedos and Covert Ops Cloaks) and to Bombs (made them vastly cheaper) they are beginning to see a lot of use. Unfortunately (or fortunately for me since I can kill them) a lot of people fail at using them (examples 1, 2 and 3), therefore I feel obliged to repost this little guide.
A couple of points to begin with
- They have a 30km flight time and a 15km explosion radius.
- Your intended targets should really be frigate, destroyer or cruiser class hulls (unless flying in large numbers). Anything above that will have the tank to deal with you.
- Bombs deal different damage types – Concussion/kinetic, Shrapnel/explosive, Scorch/thermal and Electron/EM
- Bombs have a 99.5 resistance to the type of damage they do
- Eg. concussion bombs deal kinetic damage and have 99.5 resistance to kinetic damage BUT NO OTHER DAMAGE TYPE
- What does this mean? If multiple Stealth Bombers fire bombs of different damage types at the same time, they will blow each other up.
- Eg. A Hound fires a Shrapnel then a Manticore fires a Concussion bomb at the same target. The Shrapnel bomb will detonate first and blow up the Concussion bomb, meaning it will do 0 damage.
- Bombs are affected by sig radius’s. The smaller the ship the less damage a bomb will do (remember this changes with the fittings being used and what modules are active, MWD etc)
- You do not need to target your intended victim to fire a bomb. A bomb will fly in the direction you ship is pointing for 30km and then explode. They are a launch and forget weapon.
- Unlike missiles you can warp and they will still do damage.
And personally my golden rule is: Fly in groups not solo. Bombs don’t do that much damage; most ships will survive one hit from a bomb (eg my Rifter can). Therefore fly in groups of Stealth Bombs and shoot bombs together to get the maximum amount of kills you can.
And my silver rule: People are stupid. While some ships you cannot normally take on you still can because sometimes people will fail to fit a ship or not be paying attention etc. So if you see something you want to take on just for the hell of it who am I to argue. I have done this before and will again (like this Myrmidon kill). You never know you may get lucky.
Fitting
The objective of these fittings is to A) ensure you get of grid after your bomb has been launched and B) survive any damage that happens to be put on to you before you warp out. Modules that help you with survivability are shield extender modules and rigs while GTFO modules are items such as inertia stabs, nanofibres and Low Friction Nozzle Joint rigs. The modules with ** next to them should always be fitted (fitting from General Deathry).
High Slots
- **Covert Ops Cloaking Device
- **Bomb Launcher
- Expanded Probe Launcher
- Small Remote Armor Repair System
- Small Remote Hull Repair System
Medium Slots
- **1mn Microwarpdrive
- Small Shield Extender x2
Low Slots
- **Inertia Stabilizers
- Co-Processor
- Damage Control Unit
Rig Slot
- Small Low Friction Nozzle Joints x2
Preparation is everything
Preparation is everything. If you set up a bombing run properly to begin with you are less likely to die and get the kill you want.
- Scout your target.
- When you identify a possible target see what ships they have. Remember point 2 above; don’t waste your time on things you can’t kill. (Remember my silver rule)
- Are there interceptors there? These ships can kill you easily. They will cover the distance between you and them in no time so always keep this in mind, you may want to pass them over if they have a large amount of Interceptors waiting.
- Is there a bubble? Can you get a bubble there? Most of your intended targets will be able to warp out when they see a bomb being launched. Therefore you really need a bubble there to ensure they don’t escape.
- Getting into position
- After you fire a bomb you want to get out alive. At 30km you are just out of point range for most ships, but a ship with good speed (Interceptors) can travel the 6km gap between you and their point range in a little over a second and locking you doesn’t take much longer.
- All the Stealth Bombers have a base align time of around 8 seconds. Again this will vary with skills and fittings.
- So the objective when setting up you bombing run is to be roughly aligned with a celestial as you fly towards your target to fire the bomb. As soon as you fire your bomb initiate warp to the celestial that is closest to the direction you are flying in. This will lower you align time as you will already be at max speed and just have to turn your ship that little bit to warp.
- If you are in a system that you camp often or roam into often setup bookmarks near all the gate, stations, POS or whatever it is you like to camp that are around 35km from them and will allow you to roughly align to a celestial when you fly towards your target.
- Fire your bomb
- The key part here is point and click = dead.
- Make sure you have the celestial you are going to warp to selected in your overview and have your mouse hovering over the warp icon
- Turn off your cloak using the relevant F# key.
- Fire your bomb with using your F# key
- Hit your warp button as soon as your bomb is gone.
If all has gone well your bomb will detonate on target, you will get some kills and most importantly have gotten out alive.
