How can I avoid being slingshotted when kiting?

Question

I'm experimenting with a kiting Condor with tracking disruptors, and it works rather well against many frigates and even destroyers when I can avoid making stupid mistakes. Any turret ship with just afterburners has no chance of course, but some of the faster combat frigates with MWD can give me considerable trouble.

In a recent fight a Rifter managed to catch me and kill me. The Rifter is a bit slower than the Condor, but not much. So with some overheating it has a pretty good chance of performing a slingshot maneuver and catching me while I try to kite it.

What can I do to prevent that? How do I tell that my opponent is trying to slingshot and how can I maneuver to avoid being caught and scrammed?

Answer 1

Slingshotting is a very good way to catch a faster target, you use their own speed against them.

However, slingshotting generally relies on the idea that most people use orbits and keep-ats to guide their flight, and thus is most often defeated by good manual piloting.

One thing to keep in mind is if they are burning straight away from you, but not at a celestial, chances is they wont be warping out yet, so it isn't the worst thing in the world to let your point fall off. As always make sure you are moving at an angle from the person at all times, and keep altering the angle! The more predictable you are, the easier you are to slingshot.

It is also good to get in a ship that needs to slingshot, and try it a few times, or read a guide on it to fully understand the mentality of your enemy. Here are some guides:

Slingshot: http://eveopportunist.blogspot.com/2011/04/art-of-slingshot-art-of-part-3.html

Counter-Slingshot: http://eveopportunist.blogspot.com/2011/05/art-of-defeating-slingshot-art-of-part.html