T1 Assault Frigates

All AFs can do T1s, but should they?

Hawk

Vengeance

Jaguar

Duo & Trio - more powah!

On this page you can find Assault Frigates fits for T1 Abyssal Deadspace. They were designed with following goals in mind:

Can beat Calm Abyss without issues
Cost around 60M-70M ISK
Do not use Damage Control or Assault Damage Control
They are able to run higher tiers in fleet with small refit

Each section contains:

Notes: Short notes from person who was testing the fit. There are similarities between fits, as they are all brawly with webs, but if there's anything specific, it will be included.
Fit itself - the fit will import to game witout issues, but when copying to text editor it will have extra linebreaks. Thanks Google. All fits contain recommended ammo, Nanite Repair Paste and correct Abyssal filaments - at least they should. Take proper consumables, you should know what you need.
Youtube link - with video(s) showing runs with specific fit. Do not treat them as definitive guide, but use them to see how others fly specific ship.

General remark: I did tests with rather good skills. You definitely do not need perfect toon, but be reasonable - If you have Assault Frigates at 1, and you just dicovered Abyss - you might have some difficult time ;)

Last update: 01.12.2024, no intention of further expanding unless something changes.

Are these fits good?

"It Depends".

General Strategy:

All fits presented here fly very similar - they utilize high DPS weapon variant and Stasis Webifier to hold enemy in preferred engagement range.

Requirements:

All fits should have at least 140-150 DPS with your short range - high DPS T2 ammo (Hail, Void, Rage)
All fits should have around 100 EHP/s for Electricals and about 80 EHP/s for Darks

How to fly:

Use your short range - high DPS ammo all the time
Close orbit + web will allow you to shoot stuff
Devoted Knight and Cynabal - they will web and neut you. Your goal is to get into 500m orbit with AB and Web on - they will not be able to hit you.
Tessera (drone BC) - they have absurd tracking, and will hit you if you come closer than 10km (a bit less in Darks). Load your long range ammo, orbit at distance, watch your EHP

If there will be any specific advice for specific fit, it will be included in that fit's section.

Dark fits

Below fits are designed to run Dark weather. They use rockets, which means they are not affected by weather penalty (reduced turret range), and additional speed helps mitigate damage. They are very safe to run, but run times are extended due to lack of resistance penalty in Dark weather.

General advice:

Hawks are locked into Kinetic DPS, but Vengeance and Jaguar can use all types of rockets. Fits have Inferno Rockets, as they are good enough, but you can run with different rockets and switch depending on enemy resists
Hawks can run Exotic weather. It will be more dangerous due to lower speed and no penalty to turrets, but it will also be faster as enemies get reduced Kinetic resists
If you orbit very closely (500m) you will mitigate most of damage, except Tesserra - they have very good tracking.
Your default ammo is Rage, use Navy or Javelin against Tessera (or when you need range, you'll figure it out, I trust you)
Order of ships from the best to the worst: Hawk -> Vengenace -> Jaguar

Hawk

Hawky Hawk, works very well. The best Dark ship here, and has the biggest potential for successful runs in higher Tiers in fleets.

"Triple hawks!" - Ternimus Tyrantblade

[Hawk, Abyssal Hawk T1]

Ballistic Control System II

Small Shield Booster II

Republic Fleet Small Cap Battery

1MN Monopropellant Enduring Afterburner

Compact Multispectrum Shield Hardener

Fleeting Compact Stasis Webifier

Rocket Launcher II

Small Capacitor Control Circuit II

Small EM Shield Reinforcer II

Scourge Rage Rocket x5000

Caldari Navy Scourge Rocket x2000

Scourge Javelin Rocket x1000

Nanite Repair Paste x20

Calm Dark Filament x3

Best Missile T1 runner
Use Rage rockets all the time, unless Tessera and you need more range. That's valid for all missile fits. I do have enough SP to use Rages all the time, but it might be different for you :)
Unused High Slot, due to lacking resources. And not needing anything really.

Vengeance

[Vengeance, Abyssal Vengeance T1]

Small Armor Repairer II

Ballistic Control System II

Small Armor Repairer II

1MN Monopropellant Enduring Afterburner

X5 Enduring Stasis Webifier

Republic Fleet Small Cap Battery

Rocket Launcher II

200mm AutoCannon II

Small Thermal Armor Reinforcer II

Small Capacitor Control Circuit II

Caldari Navy Inferno Rocket x2000

Hail S x1000

Inferno Rage Rocket x5000

Nanite Repair Paste x20

Worse than Hawk, but still can run T1s.
Use Rage rockets all the time, unless Tessera and you need more range.
I used Autocannon with Hail for all enemies I could orbit closely - it adds extra 30 DPS, but if it makes it too tight to fit, you can freely skip it.

Jaguar

[Jaguar, Abyssal Jaguar T1]

Ballistic Control System II

Co-Processor II

Multispectrum Shield Hardener II

Small Shield Booster II

Republic Fleet Small Cap Battery

Fleeting Compact Stasis Webifier

1MN Monopropellant Enduring Afterburner

Rocket Launcher II

200mm AutoCannon II

Small Capacitor Control Circuit II

Caldari Navy Hornet x4

Inferno Rage Rocket x5000

Hail S x2000

Caldari Navy Inferno Rocket x2000

Nanite Repair Paste x20

Calm Dark Filament x3

Weaker brother of Hawk and Vengeance. Lowest DPS of all missile ships, but still can crack T1s

Electrical fits

Below fits are designed to run Electrical weather. All of them use short range turrets and each fit relies on Electrical weather bonus to capacitor recharge time. In other weathers they will be very cap-unstable.

General advice:

All ships have T2 ammo in fit - taking additional ammo (Faction Antimatter, Faction EMP S, Faction Multifrequency) might be useful, but for simplicity fits were tested without them.
No other weather is possible without major refitting to solve capacitor issues
If you orbit very closely (500m) you will mitigate most of damage, except Tesserra - they have very good tracking.
Ships are in rough preference order. Keep in mind that range above 10km is required, which favours Retribution and Wolf, but other fits are also feasible.

Retribution

[Retribution, Abyssal Retri T1]

Small Armor Repairer II

Heat Sink II

Multispectrum Coating II

Heat Sink II

Small Armor Repairer II

X5 Enduring Stasis Webifier

1MN Monopropellant Enduring Afterburner

Small Focused Pulse Laser II

[Empty High slot]

Small Auxiliary Nano Pump I

Small Energy Collision Accelerator II

Conflagration S x4

Scorch S x4

Nanite Repair Paste x20

Calm Electrical Filament x3

Awesome firepower, sufficient tank for T1s - it will have no issues, and due to DPS should offer fastest clear times
Start room with Scorch - because you can start shooting sooner
Get close and switch to Conflagration as soon as possible - reloads are free, and you want as much "Conflag time" as possible
- Mind your Tesseras
Switch back to Scorch when range is needed (killing cache or some small distant frigates
Against small enemies you can generally go towards biocache/gate, and shoot enemies on the way

Update: I currently don't have good answer to repeating question of "How to beat triple Hunters?" - I haven't flown this ship in some time, so... I can't help you :) I will record it if the time allows, but in the meantime:

Make sure your Armor skills are very good
Try to kill Hunter(s) from distance - Scorch is your friend

I also swapped Reppers to T2 - they fit, are cheaper, work better.

Wolf

Haha, Rifter+ ! Fun to fly, I like it.

[Wolf, Abyssal Wolf T1]

Republic Fleet Small Armor Repairer

Gyrostabilizer II

Multispectrum Energized Membrane II

Counterbalanced Compact Gyrostabilizer

Republic Fleet Small Armor Repairer

X5 Enduring Stasis Webifier

1MN Monopropellant Enduring Afterburner

200mm AutoCannon II

Small Capacitor Control Circuit II

Small Nanobot Accelerator II

Hail S x10000

EMP S x4000

Barrage S x4000

Nanite Repair Paste x20

Calm Electrical Filament x3

Strategy as usual - remember to take Barrage S for Tessera, it's missing from Tracker.
If you have Repair Systems at V it will not be cap stable - pulse your second repper as needed, or replace Nanobot Accelerator rig with Auxiliary Nano Pump rig

Harpy

[Harpy, Abyssal Harpy T1]

Magnetic Field Stabilizer II

Power Diagnostic System II

1MN Monopropellant Enduring Afterburner

Caldari Navy Small Shield Booster

Fleeting Compact Stasis Webifier

Multispectrum Shield Hardener II

Light Neutron Blaster II

Small EM Shield Reinforcer II

Small Core Defense Operational Solidifier II

Void S x5000

Null S x5000

Nanite Repair Paste x20

Calm Electrical Filament x3

What? Harpy? With Blasters? Yeah, looks weird, but trust me - it works :) It's not perfect, it's not even very good - but sufficient, if you really like Hybrids.

There are probably better options than Harpy, think twice before taking it

Ishkur

[Ishkur, Abyssal Ishkur T1]

Federation Navy Small Armor Repairer

Magnetic Field Stabilizer II

Federation Navy Small Armor Repairer

1MN Monopropellant Enduring Afterburner

Small Cap Battery II

X5 Enduring Stasis Webifier

Tracking Computer II

Light Neutron Blaster II

Small Nanobot Accelerator II

Small Capacitor Control Circuit II

Imperial Navy Acolyte x10

Void S x8000

Null S x5000

Nanite Repair Paste x20

Optimal Range Script x1

Calm Electrical Filament x3

Due to lack of bonuses to Hybrid weapons, tracking computer with range script is required
Will struggle with range (Tesserra!), but having drones helps a bit
Together with Enyo these are the least optimal ships for Abyss

Enyo

[Enyo, Abyssal Enyo T1]

Republic Fleet Small Armor Repairer

Magnetic Field Stabilizer II

Republic Fleet Small Armor Repairer

1MN Monopropellant Enduring Afterburner

Fleeting Compact Stasis Webifier

Tracking Computer II

Light Neutron Blaster II

Small Capacitor Control Circuit II

Small Explosive Armor Reinforcer I

Void S x8000

Nanite Repair Paste x20

Null S x4000

Optimal Range Script x1

Calm Electrical Filament x3

As Ishkur, needs tracking computer to get range
Impressive paper DPS, but requires chasing targets
Feels a bit squishy, but with decent piloting will not have big issues. Swapping one DPS mod for Multispectrum Membrane is also good option.

Duo & Trio - more powah!

Basics - refit and skills

Before starting T2 run, there is one ship modification that should be done:

Replace one of your DPS modules with Assault Damage Control - you can use EFFA (compact) if you don't have skills for T2 (or if it doesn't fit)

This gives you 8 seconds of awesome resists - which is your only chance to do something when your tank starts breaking. Use it to avoid heavy damage - for example when approaching bigger ship. When ADC is activated, it will (basically) prevent all damage that you take, but since it doesn't affect your reps, it will not make you regain Shield or Armor HP faster. It has 2 minute recharge - preferably you should wait for it to recharge before entering new room.

There are also few skills that should be picked up before starting T2 runs:

Basic familiarity with T2 spawns - they are different that T1s, and at least one pilot needs to be able to call priorities
Spiralling in - all pilots need to be able to perform spiral in by themselves
Cap management - neut pressure in T2 is bigger than T1. Nothing scary, but it's better to run reps when you need to run reps, than to stay at 30% capacitor level all the time

Viable combinations

Missile ships

While all missile ships are capable of running T1, T2 Abyss requires at least one pilot to fly Hawk, due to it's rocket range bonus. Preferred combination is 3x Hawk, but Hawk + Vengeance with very good in-game skills was also very successful. To sum it up:

3x Hawk is the best option
1x Hawk + 2x other missile ships is a good combination
1x Hawk + 1x Vengeance or Jaguar will work, but will be more difficult and will require better piloting

Off color Hawks

Two Hawks will succesfully run T2 Exotic Abyss. It will be more dangerous due to worse incoming damage mitigation, but run times will be better due to resist penalty to enemies.

Tips & Tricks

Fly-by - when faced with room full of Tessellas, the best way to deal with them is 'fly-by' manouver - do not engage them directly, but approach Bio-cache. They deal decent DPS and have good tracking, but their range (especially in Darks) is very limited - by going straight to the cache you will pass them (you can usually kill one or two during that) and then they will get out of range. It allows the person that got aggroed to have more comfort, and other pilot(s) to shoot Tessellas.
Call out ADC activation - other pilots need to know when your tank breaks, they might try to save you.
In frigate Abyss only main cache has it's loot tripled - it's not worth your time to go for side loot, it's better to do one more run
Some spawns will be hard, and will require proper use of ADC. Since it lasts only 8 seconds, you need to have a plan what to do before you activate it.

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