The Cult of T2

"Better to have a fight and lost than to not have fought at all".

My experiments with the T1/meta fit destroyers have gone well.  I've managed to bag a few kills while outnumbered with them, fleeted up with a couple buddies and had a blast not thinking much about the odds, simply being content with having an engagement and potentially bagging a couple kills in the process.

The impression I get from from other pilots has been generally "T2 guns or GTFO".  CCPs general balancing revolves around "linear increase in power for exponential cost" and T2 is a prime example of it:  it's a roughly 50% increase in raw DPS and T2 ammo flexibility (which may not even be a factor) for sometimes well over 100x the cost of T1/meta weapons.

My rationale for T1 fits are simple:

1). I'm not thinking much about taking an engagement where my ship is destroyed.  For 3-4m a pop and 0.5m back from insurance I can happily take many potential engagements where I would've hesitated with a 10m fit.

2). I feel that when fighting solo I tend to lose from simply bringing a rock to fight paper, in which case I lose almost without exception and T2 wouldn't have made a difference.  In which case all I'm doing is throwing isk away.  Other losses occur from simply being outnumbered by backup, in which case again the likelihood of the extra DPS from T2 guns allowing me to kill more than one, or even getting a kill at all, are slim and not worth throwing isk at.

3). Fleet fights almost always result in loss, moreso in a high DPS environment. Better to lose a 3m ship and not think twice about grabbing another to was out again.  If my fleet outcomps the other, then T2 wouldn't have mattered much either.

4). Stockpiling is cheap.  One JF can hold ~60 thrashers plus fitting and ammo.  It can either be a 180m or 600m load.  Figure 50m for transportation costs and I can have 3 times as much fun with T1 fits over T2.

Now, it's one thing to do it for shits and giggles on my own.  When I was in militia driving off combat plexers where they had a clear numbers advantage was something I hesitated with when it was T2 fit ships and their associated costs.  With 3m thrashers that I can happily throw at plexers, through sheer attrition I can drive them off which is fulfilling the objective of keeping my system my own.