Is ECM for PvP a good idea?

(Diego Qinbrutaro) #1

Hi!
I started playing EVE online recently, and I became interested in factional warfare- racking up victory points, exchanging for ISK, and buying goodies with those, repeat, etc.
But, while taking down AI in the capture points is quite easy, I have yet to become efficient at defending myself from players from the opposing factions. Through victory points, I was able to purchase a Caldari Navy Griffin, being interested in its ECM and jamming capabilities, but just a few days later, ECM was nerfed. I stopped playing for a while but I want to get back to it, is there any way ECM is a good idea for pvp?
And if not, what would be recommended for pvp? what kind of ship or fitting? (I’m a new player so my fitting capabilities don’t go past tier I equipment or caldari navy equipment)

Thanks!

(Maekchu) #2

It’s a good idea for PvP, just not for solo PvP after the nerfs.

So if you solo PvP, then it’s best to find some other ship to fly.

(Solonius Rex) #3

ECM drones, can be effective, as they are unable to target your ship, and have to target drones. They are cheap too.

Otherwise, ecm is dead for solo pvp in terms of modules. Completely useless and I wish they buffed ecm more, but yeah. Dont ecm with modules if you’re solo

(DrysonBennington) #4

ECM warfare is support for the main DPS of the gunships. You might get lucky in taking down a ship but you will lose your ECM ship more times than not. Fly with a fleet and let the FC call the target too be ECM’d.

(Xuxe Xu) #5

“Some capsuleers claim that ECM is ‘dishonorable’ and ‘unfair.’ Jam them first. Kill them last.” -Jirai ‘Fatal’ Laitanen

(Nora Maldoran) #6

A lot of pilots have a set of ECM-300 drones as a last chance to escape tackle and disengage. Often leaving the drones behind in the process. Since they are very cheap, that’s a small price for nearly all ships.

But as others have stated: In a 1v1 setup ECM is not very usefull anymore. The fact that the jammed target can still lock the source of the ECM now makes it dangerous to fly these ships outside of fleets.
On top of that, ECM-Modules take up midslots you would normally use to tank your ship or for other pvp-orientated modules. You then have the option to fit for an armor-tank, but this slows you down and makes you easier to catch.

Some situtations where ECM can still be useful:

  • When fightig Triglavian ships. Since they ramp up their damage over time a successful jam with drones can reduce their damage outpute quite a bit.
  • In fleets engaging Carriers/Super Carriers: Capital ships are extremely hard to jam, but carriers rely on their fighters alone to deal damage. So Jamming those removes their ability to shoot back nearly completely.
  • In fleets fighting against logistics that use a cap-chain. If you can jam one of their logistic pilots, the captransfer between the ships will be interrupted and they will be forced to “work around” it. Depending on the quality and numbers of the logistic pilots, they usually manage to do this. It still takes away attenttion from the fight.