Tackle The Most Important Fleet Role

I can't count the number of fleets I've been a part of, both in my own alliance and in other peoples alliances that lacked good tackle.

When people Theory Craft Fleet Doctrines they usually focus on DPS, survivability, tricks, and heavy tanking while ignoring the most important role which is Tackle.

If you can't Tackle the Target you probably won't be able to kill it.

When I FC, I prefer to fly an Interceptor. This allows me to Scout and Tackle targets. However, due the nature of being a Tackler there is a chance you will be killed very early in the fight. That makes it a bad job for a FC.

Still, being able to see everything with my own eyes helps me to make better decisions and maneuver the fleet much more skillfully.

The reason I hesitate to delegate this task is because I feel it is so important and it also happens to be something I do extraordinary well. Our fleet gets more kills when I tackle.

The results of this a evident when I look at the killboard and compare fleets where I am in a Interceptor vs when I am fulfilling some other role... We always get more kills when I fly the interceptor.

For this reason I try very hard to push pilots into the Tackle Role and teach them how to be a good tackler, because I know how important it is.

Yet, as I said above most fleets don't have an Interceptor. Instead they bring 10 DPS ships, 3 Logi, Links, and on a good day a Lachesis or Bubbler.

I think the reason for this is that EVE players don't see the value of the tackler. They consider tacklers throw away ammo to be suicided in hopes of a kill.

After all it's just a Frigate, why should you fly a Frigate when everyone else is in cool T3 Cruisers or HACs?

This is my guess as to why so few people want to fly tackle.

It is my hope to make a Tackling Guide at some point, but until then I would like to give you something to encourage you to work on becoming an Expert Tackler.

As a Tackler you are both an Offensive and Defensive Weapon.

Offense:

  • Scouting and getting initial tackle on a Target (Ratter, Miner, etc)
  • Forcing a fight by tying down a ship in the enemy fleet and making them choose whether to stay and fight or abandon their buddy
  • Providing a warp in for the rest of the fleet in the case of a Sniper fleet or other highly mobile fleet
  • Moving quickly through enemy space in Interceptor fleets to confuse intel
  • Getting a "Drive by" Scram on a target that is moving too fast for the fleet to catch
  • Separating enemy fleets by tackling a Logi or some other important ship when they warp away

Defense:

  • Protecting your fleet from a chasing fleet or tackler by hanging behind and tackling their chasing ships. Example: Long ago we had a Battleship fleet that was dropped by a much bigger group, we successfully disengaged then started racing home. The enemy sent multiple cruisers to chase so I hung back and tackled them on each gate for a short time to slow them down.
  • Providing on grid warp ins
  • Scramming a hostile interceptor to prevent it from tackling something in your fleet
  • Rolling Safe spots for a fleet / Also in a sniping fleet to provide non-stop one line warps

As you see the Tackler Interceptor is a hugely important ship, and beyond a few small exceptions, no fleet should ever be without one.

About the author

In 2010 Abbadon21 was the first person to create Narrated Instructional PVP videos for EVE Online. This started a new era of EVE Online and opened up high level "PRO" PVP to everyone. Abbadon21 is also the Founder of EVEProGuides.com, which is EVE Online's oldest and most trusted source for high quality PRO Guides.