Coercer, is it a good solo PVP destroyer

PvP Gameplay Center PvP Ships & Modules
1

I was taking a look at the Coercer Destroyer with a view to using it as a solo PVP ship, probably in low sec or maybe even catching unawares people in WH space (having found those people in a cloaky ship first)

However looking on Zkill it seems that if it is used it seems to be more of a gank format.

I had a look online and found this a variation on this fit (ive only chnaged some rigs) which is pretty nearly maxed out my CPU and PG, but it has neither a web nor a scram/disruptor. so not sure how viable this would be (unless if could kill stuff before the opponent was able to warp out.

What are your thoughts?

312 DPS unheated / 368 Heated
32% Cap Stable
5.6k EHP

[Coercer, Beam]

Small Ancillary Armor Repairer
Extruded Compact Heat Sink
Damage Control II

5MN Y-T8 Compact Microwarpdrive
Small F-RX Compact Capacitor Booster, Navy Cap Booster 400

Small Focused Beam Laser II, Imperial Navy Multifrequency S
Small Focused Beam Laser II, Imperial Navy Multifrequency S
Small Focused Beam Laser II, Imperial Navy Multifrequency S
Small Focused Beam Laser II, Imperial Navy Multifrequency S
Small Focused Beam Laser II, Imperial Navy Multifrequency S
Small Focused Beam Laser II, Imperial Navy Multifrequency S
Small Focused Beam Laser II, Imperial Navy Multifrequency S
Small Focused Beam Laser II, Imperial Navy Multifrequency S

Small Ionic Field Projector I
Small Ancillary Current Router II
Small Polycarbon Engine Housing I

1 Like
2

A common way of fitting a Coercer for combat is the “beam shield Coercer”.
Dual Light Beams, DC2 and Heat Sinks in the low slots, either two medium shield extenders or an afterburner and medium extender. Rigs: Current Router, Collision Accelerator, Cap Control Circuit - though you may want to play with them depending on preferences.
They’ll normally be Compact Extenders, which aren’t the cheapest thing though.

Everything is skill dependant, but with the shield beam I get the same DPS as your fit, better tracking though slightly less range, and a smidge under 8k EHP tank for the AB fit, and 10k EHP for the dual shield.
Which works best depends on the situation - whether you are the attacker or the defender in an engagement.

Cap stability is over rated - player v player combat is very violent and thus short. If you’ve a minute or two of cap, that’ll be more than enough. Buffer tanks are more common than active tanks - one less thing to worry about, one less thing to go wrong and one less capacitor demand on a ship that already has a thing for its capacitor usage.

Generally the Coercer has no tackle or range control beyond, lets be honest, distinctly Amarrian levels of brick-ish movement. Hence a beam fit - you may need to reach out to touch them with god’s light. This is a common issue with the smaller Amarrian ships. However, the Coercer can put out enough DPS that you can normally melt the target before they escape.

Good luck and happy hunting!

3 Likes
3

Somebody told me once that if you’re fitting power or CPU modules or rigs, you’re doing something wrong. That isn’t entirely true. I definitely fit them sometimes. But usually it is when I’m trying to do something the ship wasn’t really intended to do. Maybe it is justified here, I don’t use the Coercer. Just thought it was an interesting point to pass on. A surprising number of times that I’ve contemplated fitting one, I eventually found a better fitting that didn’t require one.

4

Generally that’s a good “rule of thumb” bit of advice. Much like the “always fit a Damage Control module”.

The caveat on that advice is “unless you know why you are breaking that rule” - there may be a good reason for it, but understand what advantage it is giving you over the normal good practice. In this case it is because fitting a Coercer with medium shield extenders gives you a better tank than you can get with the conventional Amarrian armour tank while freeing the low slots for Heat Sinks - a double win for using the rig.

One of the joys of Eve Online: there’s no right way to do anything - there is real flexibility in the approach you can take.

4 Likes
5

Yeah, I buy that.

If you drop the collision accelerator, and you use compact shields, it looks like you no longer need the current router. Maybe you can then put in a couple of shield rigs and break your other rule by dropping the DCU for a third heat sink? Or just use the rigs for something else useful? That collision accelerator doesn’t seem to give you a ton of DPS for effectively taking up 2 rig slots.

6

There are quite a few variants of the shield beam Coercer depending on your skills - at high skills you can put a pair of Medium Shield Extender IIs in by dropping the DC and Heat Sinks to Meta modules. You can put Shield rigs in since you don’t need the engineering rig - a similar DPS, but 12.5k EHP - a tankie meltie beastie.
And a nice example of “not fitting the T2 heat sinks and DC, but fitting ones that work in this case”.

There’s a single MSE2 and MWD version which can be built without an engineering rig - only 8k EHP, but 10% more DPS and 1,700m/s. But these fits are requiring all the fitting related skills at V (which I have) so I don’t tend to recommend such tight fits.

It’s a case of what is the target/situation you are expecting and what are your skills and what are your personal preferences. Eve gives you that flexibility.

The Coercer is an odd Amarrian ship in that it is frequently better fitted with a shield buffer tank, breaking the “Amarrian ships are armor tanked” guidance - and that was the original point out in answer to the question on fittings.

I like the Coercer - it’s a nice pretty Amarrian ship. It also rewards slightly unconventional fits.

1 Like
7

Though not the ship in question, the Curse is another good Amarrian ship, which can fit a better shield tank than an armor tank.
Like you said, there is no right or wrong way to fit a ship, just some combinations work better than others.

1 Like
8

I put the 2 fits that @Terak_Romaller suggested in the 1st reply into PYFA and I get this.

323 DPS unheated / 380 Heated
54% Cap Stable
9.37k EHP

Went for Azeotropic rather than F-S9 due to the expense, I tried the F-S9 in PYFA and they came out as the same EHP.

Also becuase I had plent of cap I removed the Small Capacitor Control Circuit I and replaced with a Small Energy Metastasis Adjuster I to improve tracking. Cap was 42% with that change. Slow as hell at 319 m/s

[Coercer, Terak Romaller Forum Suggestion 1]

Extruded Compact Heat Sink
Extruded Compact Heat Sink
Damage Control II

Medium Azeotropic Restrained Shield Extender
Medium Azeotropic Restrained Shield Extender

Dual Light Beam Laser II, Imperial Navy Multifrequency S
Dual Light Beam Laser II, Imperial Navy Multifrequency S
Dual Light Beam Laser II, Imperial Navy Multifrequency S
Dual Light Beam Laser II, Imperial Navy Multifrequency S
Dual Light Beam Laser II, Imperial Navy Multifrequency S
Dual Light Beam Laser II, Imperial Navy Multifrequency S
Dual Light Beam Laser II, Imperial Navy Multifrequency S
Dual Light Beam Laser II, Imperial Navy Multifrequency S

Small Energy Collision Accelerator I
Small Capacitor Control Circuit I
Small Ancillary Current Router I

The AB fit puts my EHP to 7.6k but ups my speed to 694 m/s, Cap is at 17 mins which is plenty. I was also able to put on Heat Sink II for new damage of 339 UH / 399 H

[Coercer, Terak Romaller Forum Suggestion 2]

Heat Sink II
Heat Sink II
Damage Control II

1MN Afterburner II
Medium Azeotropic Restrained Shield Extender

Dual Light Beam Laser II, Imperial Navy Multifrequency S
Dual Light Beam Laser II, Imperial Navy Multifrequency S
Dual Light Beam Laser II, Imperial Navy Multifrequency S
Dual Light Beam Laser II, Imperial Navy Multifrequency S
Dual Light Beam Laser II, Imperial Navy Multifrequency S
Dual Light Beam Laser II, Imperial Navy Multifrequency S
Dual Light Beam Laser II, Imperial Navy Multifrequency S
Dual Light Beam Laser II, Imperial Navy Multifrequency S

Small Energy Collision Accelerator I
Small Energy Metastasis Adjuster I
Small Ancillary Current Router I

I think that ill try both of these fits to see how they are. They are cheap enough Approx 13.2m for the 1st fit and 15.8m for 2nd at current prices.

EDIT: out of interest i took a look in eve to compare the Medium Azeotropic Restrained Shield Extender and the Medium F-S9 Regolith Compact Shield Extender there are 3 differences

CPU - 28tf / 26tf
Sig Radius Modifier - 3m / 7m
PG - 28mw / 26mw

So shield hitpoint bonus is the same

1 Like
9

Only 2 mid slots makes it unable to control the distance and properly pin your target, and therefore not very good for solo pvp. If you are looking for a good Amarr ship for this purpose that would be Retribution or Navy Slicer.

1 Like
10

Short answer is “no”.

It has nothing that a solo pvp ship needs except for decent damage.

11

Lasers are for miners. You’re not a miner are you?

12

neysayers

13

1 Like
14

two mid-slots are a problem. you might get lucky fitting a mwd and scrambler and just ram into ships, and hope you can kill them before they web you and pull out of range.

15

Some ships don’t have webs. OR scrams. I know, weird, huh.

But that brings up the thought: are ships with a limited set of one slot type meant for fleet ops where they focus what they DO have and depend on their fleet varied composition to fill in the blanks? DPS and tank is a good thing.

16

I don’t see a problem. Only a puzzle which can be solved but requires some more thought.

17

Two mid-slots always leaves me with a nagging feeling, like I’m missing an arm or something.

18

Prop with a web and hope your adversary doesn’t ‘chicken out’.

19

The coercer is not very good for solo pvp? Have you actually flown it? It is insanely good for pvp. It can ■■■■ out cruiser level dps. Dual light pulse, mwd/mse, locus rigs and dps rig, heat sinks and dc2. Can go mwd/scram and armor plate fit too if u really need tackle, but the range/dps on that shield fit is op and targets die fast.

i fly the coercer daily for solo pvp. Best destroyer in the hangar for pvp. Great for punching up.

2 Likes
20

[Coercer, coercer]

Extruded Compact Heat Sink
Extruded Compact Heat Sink
IFFA Compact Damage Control

X5 Enduring Stasis Webifier
X5 Enduring Stasis Webifier

Small Focused Pulse Laser II
Small Focused Pulse Laser II
Small Focused Pulse Laser II
Small Focused Pulse Laser II
Small Focused Pulse Laser II
Small Focused Pulse Laser II
Small Focused Pulse Laser II
Small Focused Pulse Laser II

Small Energy Locus Coordinator I
Small Energy Locus Coordinator I
Small Energy Locus Coordinator I

This is for FW plexes. You sit at 0 and obliterate anything that comes through. You get 515 dps heated with conflag + dual webs (even more with drugs) which mean you will apply it perfectly. Most frigates don’t even have time to realize they are not pointed and warp out. You get 26km falloff with Scorch which means you can make kiters flee, unless it’s a Garmur. Just avoid Garmurs. Most active fits won’t ever have time to cycle rep once. Also with T1 rigs and meta low slots it’s dirt cheap (10m isk).

edit : I made a mistake, it’s supposed to be compact webs. Otherwise you are short on CPU.

2 Likes