Rifter - Guide

Skills

Yes, you will need certain skills to make this setup work. Fortunately nothing level 5 (although you'd be better off with level 5 of course). Also, some overlooked skills that you may or may not have trained. Note that anything with a + means I think it should be higher, it will make things nicer for you. However, it's not necessary. ++ means you may not be the sharpest tool in the shed if you don't increase the levels as much as you can =)

First, all you obviously need all the spaceship command skills to fly the Rifter. I'd also suggest putting more than you need into it as every level higher you're adding 5 percent speed and turret damage.

Navigation should be level 4 (but you probably don't need it at level 4, you'll just go slower)
Afterburner level 4
Acceleration Control level 2+ (this adds speed)
Fuel Conservation level 2+ (really 3 if you don't want to use cap recharger or need lvl5 skills)
Engineering level 4
Energy Sytems Operation level 4+
Energy Management level 3+
Energy Grid Upgrades level 2+ (if you need cap recharger)
Science level 1
Targeting level 1
Electronics level 2+
Weapon Upgrades level 2+
Gunnery level 2++
Motion Prediction level 2++
Small Projectile Turret level 1++
Missle Launcher Operation level 2++
Standard Missles level 1++
Propulsion Jamming level 1 (if you want to scramble people)
Shield Operation level 1+ (if you don't want to use auto target or scrambler and use small shield booster instead)

Also note other skills listed under the Gunnery category wouldn't be a bad idea to have. ie. things like sharpshooter, motion prediction, and surgical strike. These all will increase your damage range and accuracy for your weapons.

Fitting

HI SLOTS
(1x) Nosferatu
(alternatively a small projectile turret if fighting NPCs) (2x) Standard Missle Launcher Bay (rocket launchers also are great. if your rocket skills and missle launcher skills are trained high enough the math adds up and rockets will do more damage over time than light missles! Just a shorter range which shouldn't be a problem if you're scrambling and using a nosferatu anyway.)
(1x) 125mm or 150mm Gatling AutoCannon

MED SLOTS
(1x) 10MN Afterburner II (yes, the cruiser module)
(1x) Warp Scrambler (named ones better of course for range)

LOW SLOTS
(2x) Micro Auxiliary Power Core

Note: You are now flying a frigate worth roughly 2 million ISK. ---Now over 3mil due to recent price changes in 10mn A/B II's.

Alternatively if your skills aren't high enough and you find yourself unable to run the afterburner indefinately then you can put a cap recharger into the medium slot. OR if you don't care to scramble someone, you can ditch the auto targeting system and warp scrambler and put in a shield booster or extender or anything else you feel necessary. Like I always say, there's a use for everything. The setup above would be best suited for PVP. Against NPCs a scrambler won't help you at all and an auto targeting system isn't really worthwihle. Also note, in this ship you will fear two things, 1. Webifiers 2. Drones. You can stay out of range from webifiers and use a weaker scrambler, but you probably won't ever find a way around drones. If you do, PLEASE let me know.

Fitting for NPC Combat

If you don't want to go to 0.0

HI SLOTS
(2x) Standard Missle Launcher Bay (rockets can also work if you're in a 5km orbit)
(2x) 125mm or 150mm Gatling AutoCannon (if you have a high enough motion prediction you can even use the 200mm cannon for even more damage)

MED SLOTS
If you find yourself running low on capacitor you can take off taht warp scrambler and use a capacitor recharger as you have no need to scramble npcs. Or you can use anything else you may find useful. A shield booster may not be a wise idea though =)

LOW SLOTS
(2x) Micro Auxiliary Power Core
You'll still need these no way around it unforunately unless you use a tech1 a/b and have engineering lvl5 and have high navigation and acceleraion control skills. THEN you can put a gryostabilizer or tracking enhancer in the extra low slot. I would probably keep the tech2 A/B though for more speed. You never want to go below 1800m/s in a 5km orbit.

Tactics

Orbit at 5km and leave your afterburner on. NPCs shouldn't hit you that often and when they do it will be for very little. Like .9 and such. Sometimes when you're going up to your orbit from a distance you're still going straight and this is when you may get hit for a little bit. I've seen wrecking hits of 30 or more. Don't be alarmed. Once you're in your orbit you shouldn't be getting hit. If you find yourself to be getting hit more than you like, find that named afterburner or train up acceleration control, navigation, evasive maneuvering even for agility to make a tighter orbit faster.

If you find yourself not hitting anyting, train up motion prediction. Remember it's no good to do twice as much damage if you only hit every other time. You really want to be landing as many hits as you can and of course for as much damage as you can. Usually you'll use a 150mm unless your motion prediction is really low, then use a 125mm and if it's really high, use a 200mm. You will hit with the 200mm every now and then if you can hit with the 150mm most likely. However, you won't be hitting as much.

If you're in 0.0, you may not want to orbit at 5km. You can be webbed and scrambled. Then you die. This is where a Kestrel can beat a Rifter. They are specifically designed to do this. So if you see a Kestrel, DO NOT orbit within it's scramble/web range. So stay outside 10km. Your light missles will still hit, but your turrets will not. You'll probably be at a 15km orbit. This also presents the option of the Kestrel running unless you put a warp disruptor on your rifter. Note that the warp disruptor will require higher skills as it uses more capacitor. I'd highly doubt the kestrel would have a warp core stabilizer so this should counter most Kestrels.

If you like this guide and killed anything that made you a considerable profit and would like to further thank me. Please feel free to donate ISK to YAMAN because I'm poor =) Also, if you find any information to be incorrect regarding skills needed or if I left something out let me know ASAP. Furthermore, if you have another setup that you think is noteworthy or better please contact me right away and I will add an addendum to this and pay you for it!
(Come on, I'm udating my guides here and no one can give me any new info! lol)
Thank you!! Happy hunting.