Better Scouting

The other day I was scouting in my Helios. I don't remember if I was scanning down a chain or just patrolling an existing one, but I noticed a couple of industrial ships in the open on DSCAN. It was an Iteron V and some sort of rock-chewing ship.

As expected they were at an ore site doing their thing. The Iteron had a flight of T1 hobgoblins out. I don't know if it was out of boredom or if it was supposed to be some sort of deterrent, but either way it was pretty useless.

I wormed my way through the asteroid field toward the two ships to get into warp scrambler range and called for our fleet. While they formed up in another system I continued to relay intel, which was pretty boring: "No movement and they're still shooting rocks."

As the fleet traversed the wormhole I decloaked for a bump and point on the Iteron. The fleet landed and the carebears were issued tickets for the HS Express. I made sure to get on the kills with my point.

So, here's what I learned from that experience. I need to switch out my scrambler for a disruptor. The extra range on a disruptor would've been very useful here and I think is better suited for light/scout tackle.

The second issue I have with my performance during that engagement was sticking around to get on the kill mails like a whore. In most cases it doesn't matter and I don't think it really mattered in this instance, but we are creatures of habit and it's better to do the right thing all the time, not just only "when it matters."

I should've held my point and bumps only as long as it took for the Hictor to arrive and as soon as the bubble went up I should've disengaged and cloaked. The reason I say  this is because as a scout my role is to provide intelligence and support, not charge in with the heavy cavalry when it arrives.

That may be debate-worthy to some people, but if you think of it in terms of roles and then translate those roles to the real world you get something like a recon unit relaying SITREPS, calling fire missions and only when necessary do they engage targets themselves.