How to Fit a Stealth Bomber

Lately I've been flying my Stealth Bomber quite a lot. Stealth Bombers can be very powerful ships, but they can also be frustrating ships to fly. You have the potential to unload a large amount of damage on a target, but in return you are paper-thin.

I thought today I might explain a few ways of fitting Stealth Bombers and explain how these fittings can be used. So here is a short guide to Stealth Bomber fitting.

1. Firstly fit a Covert Ops Cloaking Device II. This cloak is built specifically for your ship and you wouldn't be 'stealth' without it. Be warned that the Stealth Bomber has a larger recloaking timer than its Covert Ops cousin, so you may need to be a bit more careful about uncloaking.

2. Fit a Bomb Launcher I. Bombs are like untargeted missiles that, when fired, shoot the direction your ship is facing for 10 seconds, covering 30km before exploding. The explosion has a radius of 15km and anything in that radius will take damage depending on how large the signature radius of the ship is. Bombs are very unlikely to blow up any type of ship in one hit, but they can put a severe dent in a ships defences, or multiple bombers can be used to devastating affect. Bombs are a key part of being a Stealth Bomber but bear in mind they can only be used in Nullsec and wormhole space.

To launch a bomb at a target, find a position around 33km from them. Begin to approach them cloaked. When they are 30km away, de-cloak and launch the bomb. Then, either warp away or attempt to finish off the target with Torpedo missiles. Be careful not to stray into the explosion radius of your own bomb. The safest way to launch a bomb is for the target to be exactly between yourself and a warpable celestial object. This way you can launch a bomb and immediately enter into warp to avoid being tackled.

3. Fit 3 Siege Missile Launchers. Be warned that since Stealth Bombers have no tank to speak of, you must be very careful about choosing when to engage. Siege Missile Launchers can fire Torpedos, which do large amounts of damage to big, slow ships but may have difficulty hitting smaller, faster targets.

4. Fit a propulsion module. This can be either a MicroWarpdrive or an Afterburner. Generally a MicroWarpdrive will be a better choice, although there are some occasions when an Afterburner may come in handy. To give just one example, a Stealth Bomber can speed tank Medium POS Guns by perma-running an Afterburner. Whichever module you choose, it will be very handy to escape gate-camps or close distance with a target.

5. Fit utility Mid slots. The remaining mid slots on your Stealth Bomber can be fit with a range of modules. Most common is the Target Painter. The Target Painter boosts the Signature Radius of your target, making it a larger target for your torpedos, which, as a result, will hit for more damage.

Another option is to fit a Warp Disruptor. The Warp Disruptor will allow you to pin down the target, while you finish it off with your Torpedos. The range of the Warp Disruptor allows you to orbit from at least 20km away from the target, keeping you out of range of most Stasis Webifiers and Warp Scramblers.

The last general option for mid slots is to fit Capacitor modules. This could be a Capacitor Recharger to increase your cap stability or perhaps a Capacitor Booster to be able to run a MicroWarpdrive and Warp Disruptor for a little bit longer.

It is theoretically possible to fit some form of shield tank in the mid slots but in my opinion it is inadvisable. Any fight where a Stealth Bomber is taking enough damage to require a tank is definitely the wrong fight for a Stealth Bomber to be involved in. A Stealth Bombers job is either to pick off weak targets, or to get the job done so quickly that no retaliation is possible.

6. One option with the low slots is to fit for speed and agility. The best contender for this is the Nanofiber Internal Structure which gives a healthy mix of both. This will enable you to get yourself in good positions quicker and, if needed, escape faster.

You can also boost your damage output by using a Ballistic Control System. Note that this will only increase Torpedo damage, it will have no effect on Bomb damage.

It may also be necessary to use a Co-Processor in the lows to boost the CPU available, especially if you are using Tech II Siege Missile Launchers.

Lastly, it is also possible to fit a tank in the low slots, but again, I feel that this is just as inadvisible as it is for shield tanking.

7. Rigging is not especially important on Stealth Bombers. Feel free to cut the cost by avoiding them entirely. If you do want to use them, speed and agility rigs such as the Small Polycarbon Engine Housing I will be the most useful. If you wish to boost damage further you can also use missile rigs.

8. Grab some ammo. Each race has a bonus to a specific damage type, so make sure you take advantage of this. For example, my Minmatar Hound has a bonus to explosive damage, so I often use Bane Torpedos and Shrapnel Bombs. Be aware that bombs will explode other bombs if they are not the same type. So if you are flying with other Stealth Bombers, be sure to coordinate Bomb types before you fly.

Those are my key tips for fitting. Feel free to play around with them and see what you can come up with. The best test, of course is to fly them. If you have any different ideas on how to fit then please comment, I would really appreciate any good advice!