Überceptors

Combat in New Eden is a ruthless and unforgiving matter. Two forces of equal capability clashing together narrows the room for error down to a hair's breadth. This is especially true for fast-paced dogfights; two small and nimble ships going head to head. Lose track of your opponent for a split second and you will lose the fight. The briefest moment of uncertainty will be followed by almost certain defeat. Let your instincts take over and act or be forced to react. However, at this point you may as well select a celestial for warping out your pod very soon.

The whole engagement might not even last longer than a minute, but it can be the most exhausting minute a capsuleer has ever experienced. And the most exhilarating, too.

One particular brand of pilots crave exactly these kind of duels. And one particular brand of ships excels in this role above all; a special breed of speedy toe-on-toe glass-cannons that few (if any) pilots in their right mind would field into a brawl, being separated by merely a few kilometres from their foe. Überceptors.

The line between interceptors and Überceptors is rather blurry. The whole field isn't even strictly confined within the ship category labeled "interceptor". But due to their hefty price tags, most faction frigates prefer to stay beyond the "event horizon" (i.e. the range of stasis webifiers) anyway. The Rifter might even appear to come close to the ranks of Überceptors, but I see this as a misconception, which is caused by poor piloting on the receiving end.

Those interceptors that have what it takes to become an Überceptor - thusly suited for fighting within the range of stasis webifiers - are the Crusader, the Claw and the Taranis. In that order, their flavours range from "slight mental instability" to "utter lunacy".

Crusaders and Claws can choose between getting right into their opponent's face or keeping at least a bit of distance. The Crusader even has an actual chance to effectively fight back once the gap has been closed or opened against its pilot's will (which he or she better anticipated in time). The Claw has to choose and stick to the plan with all its might - doing absolutely no damage for ten seconds while swapping ammo? Again, time to pick a celestial. More often than not, both the Crusader and Claw furthermore have somewhat of an armour tank.

Überception in its what I believe purest form comes in form of the Taranis. The Taranis takes this already intense gig to its absolute extreme: get close, get there fast and let them have it. And hope your hull holds together while you're trying to cling to a target on GTFO-mode.

There are fittings that bring the Taranis closer to a more flexible package, more similar to Crusaders and Claws. But they are missing out on the joy of sheer gank and delightfully archaic hull tanking; an exceptionally raw and savage way to fight another ship. By the time your opponent wonders why his damage has seemingly come to a halt after evaporating your shields and armour, you are three volleys away from popping him.

If your Überceptor looks close to the picture below, you have reached the pinnacle of dogfighting in New Eden (with regards to Ebrey):

As frantic as fighting in an Überceptor appears, you will eventually get more used to it. The pace will always be fast, room for error will always be tiny. But at some point, you won't have as much of an urge to panic when entering structure. At first, winning a Taranis vs. Taranis fight with half of your hull destroyed will feel like a close call - yet in fact, you almost dominated that guy.

Whatever you do: please don't die to a Rifter. Feel free to kill as many as possible though (with regards to Tsubutai).