Not a one punch man

I really like visiting c4 class wormholes. They are rarely inhabited by big corporations, they are too strong for average t3 or a t1 battleship, but easy enough for a faction battleship or a Marauder. Of course they can be quite empty too, but all you need is patience. It's been a couple of days since I've settled in a new c4.  When I came to this system, locals were just finishing with their last anomaly.

I have no idea what ship created those wrecks, but I can't wait to find out. It won't be today as there's nothing left to shoot, but sooner or later I will see it. Will it be a Rattlesnake, a fleet of t1 spider tanked Dominixes or, I dare to dream, a Marauder? Dreams do come true, don't let anyone tell you otherwise.

Just look at that Paladin. My mouth is already watering. I will grab it so hard... I shake my head. This might not be as easy. System is small and covered by d-scan, but thankfully, my Domi fleet was already logged in. I aligned them to the site and wait for a good moment to jump on my prey. I don't rush in to avoid bunch of sleepers shooting me, but at the same time, I don't want to wait too long. I don't like that mobile depot very much. Bad things can come of it and since it will take some time for my fleet to arrive, he can fit warp core stabilizers and warp away. But what choice do I have? Not like I can pass on this opportunity. You don't see everyday a Paladin doing anomaly right in front of you. Once few sleeper cruisers are left on the field, I go in.

The Marauder keeps his bastion module on and doesn't try to bail. Once my fleet lands I get down to business. I set my faction heavy drones on him and he in turn cycles his smartbombs. That's exactly the reason I carry faction drones. They have much more tank than your average t2 drone. Him cycling those smartbombs will help me to cap him out and get this over with quickly.

The Paladin tanks like a beast. He comes to realization that cap will be an issue and stops cycling his smartbombs and stands still. I keep the pressure and pray that my heavy neuts with drones will do enough damage to break him. After all, I have upgraded to three drone damage amplifiers. Minutes were passing by. As soon as I get to structure, his armor goes back to full in just two cycles. That's a one tough nut to crack. I know I would prevail in the long term, but the problem is, I don't have that time. I know he is not alone in the system and I see ships being swapped on d-scan. Soon I have a company.

Not the most scary saving fleet, but still annoying. Jamming frigates jam my Proteus, which lets Stork pull range before I could focus fire on him. Dominixes don't get jammed that often, thanks to my ECCM, but it does happen occasionally. Jammed Domi, means one less heavy neutralizer. I get really close, really close, but not quite there yet. They start focusing my drones, but I just throw more and more at them. I get Paladin to half structure, but with all those extra ships it's getting tougher and tougher.

Now I have a kiting Ishtar on the field too. I am running out of drones and it's slowly becoming clear I won't be able to break this Paladin's tank. I really don't want to give my target up, but I have to be realistic. With every minute passing by, fight is going to my disadvantage. I align my ships and try to focus on that kiting Ishtar, which is almost three times as fast as my brick tanked Proteus thanks to black hole effects. One good thing about these effects is that while the speed increases also does the inertia, which makes even kiting ships turn like a brick. I set my Proteus on intercept course and successfully get in range. Once I land a scram with webifier, I send my angry Ogres after him. They are thirsty for blood and I will be damned if I leave this fight empty handed. Ishtar pops.

A 350 mil kill. That will have to do. Once Ishtar is dead I notice jamming frigates are also off the field, but Paladin, surprisingly, is still here. I don't know why he hasn't warped out yet as I totally was ignoring him while chasing the Ishtar. I decide to continue the fight with the Marauder, while keeping a close eye on the d-scan. I align my ships and get ready for the warp out on the moments notice. Suddenly an Iteron Mark V lands on grid. I tackle and kill him, but his cargo is empty. A transport ship warping to a fight? Must be for a reason and that reason probably is cap boosters as the Marauder must have two X-Large armor repair modules fitted together with heavy capacitor boosters. No other explanation I can give. I then spot a Rattlesnake and a shield logi on scan. This is it, if I stay any longer, I will be the one getting ganked and killed. I warp out and GF was exchanged in local.

Based on timestamps between screenshots, fight took 15 minutes. 10 of those minutes 3 batttleships were applying pressure of 3 heavy neuts and around 2100 worth of dps constantly, but the Marauder kept tanking. I realize my mistake was ignoring the mobile depot. God knows what kind of modules did he refit during the fight, but I would be lying if I did not get annoyed by this. I really thought that after upgrading dps the days, when I met a ship that can last this long against my fleet, were over.

I know there are good explanations on why this failed. Like having a cloak fitted and only having 1 heavy neut on each Dominix, like not flying shield tanked ships with crazy dps and so on. In truth, I've theory crafted through many setups and I couldn't think of anything to give me same utility and bang for the same buck. Sure I could probably use something like Armageddon and two Dominixes and probably would have won in this case. Problem with many pvp setups is that they are very cap booster reliant. I would need to restock cap boosters after each fight, which does not suit me well. Furthermore, without similar remote repair ability, I would not be able to take on small and medium fleets or even a fight in a site full of sleepers.

But I can't let this stand. If I can't kill a properly piloted Marauder with 4 accounts then what the hell I am doing? I know you can't win every engagement, but when you meet your challenge it's either adapt, improve or be destined to repeat the same situation. So what should I do? Well, I have already worked out an upgrade plan, but I have yet to test it. Meanwhile, if you have a suggestion, feel free to share!