So, here I am, just recently fully qualified on everything needed to fit and use a CalAss ck.0, and occasionally using it to just get the feel of it, if you know what I mean.

Finally got the courage to start running it for real, not just when I felt "safe" that the enemy was redlined or otherwise incapacitated. And got one-shot by a shotty scout.

I remember conversations here, and in particular one thread where someone said that if I ran a standard Caldari shield fit I'd be one-shot by shotguns. Well, they're right, of course and I actually pretty much knew that. But it just irks me to use armour. I've got the hang of fitting shield fits that have excellent shield recharge, but of course I couldn't do that if I used armour.

I've been killed by Balac's and Frame's and most of them, if not all, have at least 300HP of armour. Clearly these fits are not using shield regs, and perhaps shield regs are pointless anyway, if you have shields of 600+HP.

So these fits have something approaching 1000HP, 600+ shield and 300+ armour. I've had an attempt to build something like it and managed to get close to 1000HP. If I use reactives, I can get 300+ and some decent repair rate. Ferroscale is even better and doesn't have the speed nerf but also no repair rate increase.

Then there is the issue of damage mods. People have said they use up to four. Presumably, that means they use armour to get a decent tank. I've tried that too, and managed to get about 600HP, half and half shield and armour. I've had people say that armour shouldn't be used on CalAss suits because it weighs them down too much but if they have 1000HP between shield and armour is that really a problem?

I really don't want to use armour on these suits. I find the whole fast recharge shield thing quite elegant. But what am I to do other than dual tank to avoid being one-shot? Or is that even a real problem - perhaps it's normal to get one-shot by a shotty scout occasionally. For me it seems to be getting monotonous. I'd rather find a way to avoid it if I could.

My ck.o assault fit is:

3x shield extenders
2x rechargers
1x regulator
2x reactives
Isukone Arr
Breach smg
M1 grenade
Hives

I have just under 600 shield and just under 400 armour.
Perfect range fit but extremely effective against heavies as for scouts... that's impossible to make a fit just against them as most scouts will come from behind anyway.
Your best option is to be aware of scouts and if you get shotgunned to either switch the suit or get some scans on the go. That's just how this game goes as you well know i don't have to explain that hahha.

An example here is my recent antics with my python... I'll fly in and instantly 4 av are attacking me, I can't do anything. So then I have to bash out the heavy.

On another note shotguns have a 2 shot glitch. So when it looks like 1 shot but they fire 2. That instant kills my heavies.

The only counter is to find a spot that decreases flanking opportunity or to change your reactives to regulators and use a scanner while hoping the don't use alot of damps. Hope this helps

So, here I am, just recently fully qualified on everything needed to fit and use a CalAss ck.0, and occasionally using it to just get the feel of it, if you know what I mean.

Finally got the courage to start running it for real, not just when I felt "safe" that the enemy was redlined or otherwise incapacitated. And got one-shot by a shotty scout.

I remember conversations here, and in particular one thread where someone said that if I ran a standard Caldari shield fit I'd be one-shot by shotguns. Well, they're right, of course and I actually pretty much knew that. But it just irks me to use armour. I've got the hang of fitting shield fits that have excellent shield recharge, but of course I couldn't do that if I used armour.

I've been killed by Balac's and Frame's and most of them, if not all, have at least 300HP of armour. Clearly these fits are not using shield regs, and perhaps shield regs are pointless anyway, if you have shields of 600+HP.

So these fits have something approaching 1000HP, 600+ shield and 300+ armour. I've had an attempt to build something like it and managed to get close to 1000HP. If I use reactives, I can get 300+ and some decent repair rate. Ferroscale is even better and doesn't have the speed nerf but also no repair rate increase.

Then there is the issue of damage mods. People have said they use up to four. Presumably, that means they use armour to get a decent tank. I've tried that too, and managed to get about 600HP, half and half shield and armour. I've had people say that armour shouldn't be used on CalAss suits because it weighs them down too much but if they have 1000HP between shield and armour is that really a problem?

I really don't want to use armour on these suits. I find the whole fast recharge shield thing quite elegant. But what am I to do other than dual tank to avoid being one-shot? Or is that even a real problem - perhaps it's normal to get one-shot by a shotty scout occasionally. For me it seems to be getting monotonous. I'd rather find a way to avoid it if I could.

So, here I am, just recently fully qualified on everything needed to fit and use a CalAss ck.0, and occasionally using it to just get the feel of it, if you know what I mean.

Finally got the courage to start running it for real, not just when I felt "safe" that the enemy was redlined or otherwise incapacitated. And got one-shot by a shotty scout.

I remember conversations here, and in particular one thread where someone said that if I ran a standard Caldari shield fit I'd be one-shot by shotguns. Well, they're right, of course and I actually pretty much knew that. But it just irks me to use armour. I've got the hang of fitting shield fits that have excellent shield recharge, but of course I couldn't do that if I used armour.

I've been killed by Balac's and Frame's and most of them, if not all, have at least 300HP of armour. Clearly these fits are not using shield regs, and perhaps shield regs are pointless anyway, if you have shields of 600+HP.

So these fits have something approaching 1000HP, 600+ shield and 300+ armour. I've had an attempt to build something like it and managed to get close to 1000HP. If I use reactives, I can get 300+ and some decent repair rate. Ferroscale is even better and doesn't have the speed nerf but also no repair rate increase.

Then there is the issue of damage mods. People have said they use up to four. Presumably, that means they use armour to get a decent tank. I've tried that too, and managed to get about 600HP, half and half shield and armour. I've had people say that armour shouldn't be used on CalAss suits because it weighs them down too much but if they have 1000HP between shield and armour is that really a problem?

I really don't want to use armour on these suits. I find the whole fast recharge shield thing quite elegant. But what am I to do other than dual tank to avoid being one-shot? Or is that even a real problem - perhaps it's normal to get one-shot by a shotty scout occasionally. For me it seems to be getting monotonous. I'd rather find a way to avoid it if I could.

What can I say?

Caldari isn't meant for close quarters.

Stick to a rail.

What can I say?

Caldari isn't meant for close quarters.

Stick to a rail.

Caldari medium frame ck.0 ftw:
Isukone arr
Breach SMG
Core nades
X3 hive
Creodron flux active scanner
2x Complex Shield Extenders
Krin's modified dam mod
Complex modified dam mod
Enhanced armor rep
2x Complex Ferroscale Plates

A scout sneaking up on you is CQC, but it's also unexpected, and if I know Alena from seeing her on the battlefield she probably wasn't in CQC.

I can see where you are getting to, but before I respecced out CalAss, I used all shields no armor...
I think my fit was
All Shield extenders then all regulators...
with a Bolt Pistol and an ARR. I survived pretty well in all my encounters. Once I got the hang of surviving with shields (Hit and run and using range to my advanatage) I then would slowly switch them out with maybe 1 or 2 damage mods or maybe put on a kincat or two on... Also, A CalAss with 3 Myos is amazing... especially if you put on a Cardio Reg for more jumps... I think my best with that fit is 25/2?

A scout sneaking up on you is CQC, but it's also unexpected, and if I know Alena from seeing her on the battlefield she probably wasn't in CQC.

I'll tell you my reasoning for behind my fit---->

I don't mean to sound like a teacher but calAss is not made for CQC... Unless... You built it for CQC

2 types of CQC fits work... High recharge (i call these 'burst n bait' builds) or high sHP builds (3+ extends... )

Personally, when i see armor tanked CalAss, i think it's a build that's trying to get all ranges "okay" and avoid awkward surprises w/ pure eHP. For some, it's their cal Special fit. My ranged fits have 1 reactive or rep by default. 2 regs are a must imho. But if I armor tank... I can stand up to a few but... Over time, I'll fail.

Anyway, I'll get to the point. calAss is not made for CQC... But you can build a BEAST of a CQC calAss... As long as cover is nearby, it'll be super effective. W/ cover nearby, burst builds are king. Get shot, hide. You have exceptional recovery! 100+ sHP/s is a goal.... Especially if my delay is around 1.2 seconds... less than 1 depleted. I rather that over tanked builds because I can bounce between fights w/ ease, rather than have my first one easy, but be weaker the further down the line I go. In the case of the obviously better CQC shotty... I just need you to stop shooting once... Waste time jumping or something.. I could get back 200+ sHP. I don't get that chance w/ hp builds... I won't have the "burst of sHP"


The thing is... My fit has low eHP... Imagine a 450 sHP ck.0 in the open field... Not really a good idea lol.. I better be staying indoors or around a ton of objects.. I gotta sacrifice something no?

So choose... Reach my max HP quicker, but have low eHP; or have high max HP, but recover slowly. I chose high recovery.

My fit:

Ishu ARR
Kaal Magsex
Whatever grenade.

2 enhanced energizers
1 comp recharger
2 comp extends

3 comp regs

462 sHP (i think, I'm not near mi ps3... And well.. I use my C/1 fit more) @ 130+ sHP/s

194 aHP.

2/3 shot by a shotgun.... But if i can get away for just enough time for recharge, ill be able to take more shots. Bait tank cause low eHP... You think you got me as soon as you come around the corner, but I'll be near max sHP again.

Each build is specific to your cause... TBH, i think you were just caught w/ the wrong fit in the wrong place at the wrong time.

I wouldn't say that.

Harpies (Caldari Assault Frigates) in EVE are nasty little ships and if I recall correctly people were using massed Blaster Harpies to do massive DPS at close range.

i have been running a proximity scanner on my cal assault, very helpfull.
its surprising how many scouts i catch over 27db.
and even if i dont scan them i know when they are around me and i can put my back to the wall.

Yep. I know that, and I largely try to stay at range of my targets. The problem I have is with shotty scouts (same as fast frigates in EvE) that get inside my range either unseen or before I can take them out and one-shot me.

There's very little I can do about these other than to try to take them down running backwards - they're always faster than me anyway, running backwards even more so. I can't let them get within shotgun range, which is surprisingly quite decent, or I'm gone.

I've had a lot of success with this tactic, but also some failure - if I don't see them in time, they're within range and take me out with one shot. It's funny though to see some try to hit me from outside their range firing shot after shot at me instead of sprinting to within range, all the while I'm pumping MAGSEC charges into them.

Even funnier is knifers who actually try to knife me from outside even shotgun range....

Buy balac ck.0 and get the best of both worlds

Mine has 144.14 shield rep per sec with 632 shield

20.25 armor rep with 359 armor

Don't need regulation because it's a balac ck.0

I like running AR/SMG combo so I got a balac gar and Cala
Core locus, k2 nano, 100% needle.

*breach shotty to the head*

I've taken out 700 armor amarr assaults with one allotek breach Shotty. Goodbye balac

You would have to get close to my head first

This is one of the most effective fits in the game:

Cal Assault
2x enhanced shield energizers
3x complex shield extenders
2x complex shield regulators
1x complex kinetic catalyser
Ishikone assault rail rifle
TY-5 breach scrambler pistol
core locus grenades
creodron flux active scanner

It will stuggle against anti shield weapons up close (AR, ScR, SG). It will get two shot by shotguns. Lasers are an issue as well.

The kincat is the key. It allows you to control engagments in your favour. Preferably at range, but the combo of fast regen and speed allows for good hit and run when needed. Switch to the pistol vs shield targets. If you go up against another Cal assault with a rail rifle at close range, your scrambler pistol will annihilate them. As a relatively rare weapon, you don't have to worry much about them doing the same to you.

Vs scouts using shotguns, all the usual ways of combatting them work. Again, the kincat is a massive help to you. Your general mobility makes you a much less likely and more difficult target for scouts. Stay in a group, keep and eye on your flanks, cover your teamates, listen for sounds of scout attacks. If a scout with a shotgun manages to get within good shotgun range, decloaked, without being spotted, yes you will be dead. However, not only should this be rare, but you can rest assured that they will die a lot trying this, even if they succeed, whilst you can repawn and merrilly continue making a significant contribution to your team.

If you expect never to die, you are playing the wrong game. If you find yourself in a battle where you get killed over and over by a shotgun scout, change to something with more speed or more armour and a good short range weapon. Counter play. You will now be more vulnerable to rail rifles.

By the way, the scanner is there to scan the enemy team, not their scouts. Unless you are a Gal logi with a focussed scanner, trying to scan scouts is pointless and unnecessary.

Buy balac ck.0 and get the best of both worlds

Mine has 144.14 shield rep per sec with 632 shield

20.25 armor rep with 359 armor

Don't need regulation because it's a balac ck.0

I like running AR/SMG combo so I got a balac gar and Cala
Core locus, k2 nano, 100% needle.

Really not a hard task.... At 400+ armor, 9.09 sprint speed, and 23.25 reps per second, the galass is a monster. Add 2 Krins and complex precision and I can see all but scouts and 1-2 shot all but the tankiest heavies, 1 headshot for almost also suits too.

Pair that with a thukker grenade and smg and you don't even have to get too close, 1k+ damage in about 3 seconds is more than enough. And as the last resort, you have your trusty sidearm to wreck.

But Doz has Myos... so by the time you get close he'll be in the air...

-_____-

As long as there's no MD or PLC, I'll be fine.

You really are full of yourself aren't you.

.... Yeah...... I'm full of my heart, guts, lungs, blood, bones, etc, etc, QUAFE, etc, etc.



I really am full of my self.

I did wonder about the Balac. I only have three of them and I don't know where they came from. Battlefield salvage is my guess. Where can I buy them? They don't seem to be in the market.

you can find them in player trade chats or friends. Suit is pretty rare so use the 3 you have with caution. They range from 5-10 mill each.

I normally run hacker/uplink scout, av suit or logi.

I have been successfuly trying out new roles since the shutdown announcement.

But I am having trouble with the cal assault as well-- glad its not just me.

Hopefully some of the loadouts in this thread will help

Suscribed

I wanted to see if there was any point to this thread but its just a bunch of armoured caldari with shotguns?....

Just run dual kincats,cardiac reg,4extenders and a recharger thingy. Reloading a shotgun is around the amount of time it takes for sheild charge to begin.

Move fast,jump from cover to cover. That measly chunk of armour isn't enough to do anything vs other shotguns. You'll still be a two shot regardless. One for the sheild,one for what's left of it and the armour.

It all boils down to situational awareness(which I presumably can't spell)

The best advise would be the following l-
-stick to your role and weapon range, rails and snipers, calass
-use your suit to its advantages, stack extenders, rechargers, and regulators only
-you are better fully specialized Gordon ask than to have a bit of everything
-play to your advantage, fight from long range, don't get close, plasma and lasers will melt you
-avoid your disadvantages, stay near something be that could help you invade you are challenged to your weaknesses
-remember, your enemy also has weaknesses, challenge the to theirs

Example using myself- galass

Advantages- fast, armor tanked, high rep, high damage at cqc
Disadvantages- low stamina, weak at long ranges, slow total regen

I usually fight by running to the enemy to get in range, taking as much cover as possible and using my speed to surprise. I try to avoid open areas because they set me up to die.

My weaknesses are your advantages and my strengths are your weakness

No one race is invincible.

The best fool proof counter to shotguns and cloaked scouts in general is spacial awareness. Always be on the watch for enemies trying to flank you. If you and a group of teammates are moving forward on an objective and no one is guarding the rear. Be at the back of the group and constantly check your six and flank.

This is the best way to counter scouts, no equipment or weapon can match the power of your spacial awareness.