
Fast ‘n’ Dirty Ship Guides: Republic Fleet Firetail
After a very fun week of finding fights in my Republic Fleet Firetail, I came to the realization that this ship is INCREDIBLY underrated. The fits you will see here are using a mix of dual webs and dual prop; artillery and autocannon guns respectively. The ship itself is going for a whopping 10 million ISK in Jita and fully fit will run around 20 million ISK. The first thing you will notice as you venture out in your trusty rusty Firetail is that you completely control the range of any engagement that happens within webbing range. Using two webs and a scrambler will allow you to very easily keep a target stuck seven kilometers away. That is, if you don’t make piloting errors. (spoiler alert, I do.) The one drawback is its inability to catch up to a fast kiting ship, so plan your engagements accordingly.
The second variation is the dual prop setup; which is used to counter those pesky kiters our dual web ship can’t reliablly chase down and tackle. An overheated MWD cycle will allow you to get into range of a scram and web and lock your target down. I also find that this fit will keep you alive longer in nullsec as there are bubbles and interdictors waiting to catch you unawares.
Long story short: Fight the fight you want to fight and on your terms. Use dual webs to counter short range brawlers and dual prop to pin down those nimble kiters. Try to avoid Garmurs and Svipuls, I have had bad experiences with both.