enemy mission runners

I’m not a big fan of high security wars, most of the time it turns into station camping, docking games or the dreaded netural remote repair. From time to time, however, we find ourselves in this situation so here’s a little tip to probing enemy mission runners.

Get yourself into a cloaked ship and head over to the system where you have found the enemy mission runner. Find out what station he is using for his agent, then deloy your probes at the station with the smallest scan range you can. Make sure to sit on grid but far enough away that no one is going to decloak you and give away your location.

The minute you see him undock, do a scan and get his signature ID. Now filter your scanner to only show that result. Wait a few seconds for him to warp off to his mission zone then redeploy your probes and go find him. Once you get a 100% hit on him, call your fleet in and see one surprised mission runner.

I believe the signature ID will change each time a ship docks/undocks or jumps system so you may need to repeat this process until you can find him quick enough or he runs a longer mission.

This will teach people to misson run during wars; for extra points use a locator agent to find targets far away from the combat zone who think they are safe!

space twisted sharply around the capsular

Szilardis is putting me to shame, 2 to 1, and I’m the one that enjoys fiction more than him!

Please enjoy part 1 of Imprevine Gast’s latest adventures (written by Szilardis and minor edits from myself):

Space twisted sharply around the capsular, he felt as if his gut was being turned inside out. The small covert ops ship, a Caldari Buzzard-class, sat shimmering in the aftereffects of jumping across lightyears via the Stargate. Impervine Gast mentally checked his ship’s status. All green. Checking his timer, he prepared to activate his cloak as soon as the distortion field from the gate dissipated.

As the last effects of the esoteric laws of physics governing Stargate travel and related sciences began to fade the comm’s blared “Scout, status?” Gast scanned the local system on all frequencies, detecting only one other capsuleer’s signal. Cross checking the electronic signature against the alliance database soon revealed him to he friendly.

“System clear for cyno pilot, sir, jump when ready.”

“Roger, proceed to next system and hold cloak.”

The small frigate aligned towards the next Stargate. Gast held off warp for a moment as the pulsing of a cynosural field blossomed from an expendable Kestrel-class frigate. As he mentally sent the warp to and raise cloak commands, he witnessed the outlines of a Thanatos-class, two Chimera-class, and a Nidhoggur-class carriers form and solidify, accompanied by two of both the Phoenix-class and Moros-class dreadnaughts. Around them a swarm of support ships, and a single Nighthawk-class command ship materialized and aligned towards the next gate.

Gast landed on the gate, his cloaked dropped from the close proximity to another object. Being vulnerable now, he quickly sent a handshake protocol asking the gate’s systems for jump clearance. As control of his ship was transferred to the gate’s systems it was grabbed in a burst of light and instantaneously thrown light years across space.

A few seconds later when he regained his orientation the local com channels were practically buzzing. He collected the ship signatures. Most definitely not friendly.

“Reading 27 ships in system, all enemy pilots. We found them sir. Attempting to scan down capitals…hold…found them. They’re at unregistered coordinates, presumably a safe. Permission to probe?”

“We’ve being tracking these bloody bastards for over two hours, time for them to pay! 20 million to whoever brings me those carrier pilots space-frozen corpses”

no pun intended

I’ve been thinking about large scale high-sec mining ops in systems without stations and how to make them most efficient, this method could also be scaled to work in low/null I believe.

If anyone has any feedback on this idea please let me know as I’d like to refine it [no pun intended ].

Requirements:
> Quiet high-sec system with a high number of belts (no station)
> POS in system with Large Ship Assembly Array (can hold 18.5m m3)
> 2x Orca’s (one with leadership skills & gang link modules, other with cargo optimization)
> Fleet of mining vessels
> 1x Freighter
> Light security (few but effective ships, i.e. HACs/Command/ECM/Logistics)

How it works:
1. Leadership/Gang link Orca sits in the POS giving bonuses to mining fleet in system
2. Other Orca acts as hauler gathering cans and bring them to the Large Ship Assembly Array
3. Mining vessels do their thing clearing belt by belt
4. Security stays with mining fleet
5. At the end of the mining op the freighter moves the ore from Large Ship Assembly Array to NPC station for refining and distribution/sale

Why 2 orcas:
> For a fleet to receive bonuses an Orca can NOT be docked or in warp
> A hauling Orca replaces the need of many haulers thus increasing ROI (return on investment) for the mining op

Payouts:
> All ore mined is pooled then a cut is giving to Alliance/Corporation i.e. 10%
> remaining ore is divided by participants by assigning the ships/roles they played in the op: 1 for stationary orca; 2 for security, hauler orca and non-mining barges; 3 for mining barges; 4 for hulks
> All the points are added up then ore is distributed based on your percentage

Example…
stationary Orca = 1
hauling Orca = 2
security ship A = 2
security ship B = 2
non-mining barge = 2
mining barge A = 3
mining barge B = 3
Hulk A = 4
Hulk B = 4
Hulk C = 4
Total points = 27

So Hulk C would get 4/27 or 14.8% of the ore and so on for each pilot.

* This method could also be used in a system with a station by having the stationary orca sit in safe spot while hauler orca makes drops to NPC station.

mr. nrds has gone wild

After doing some thinking and feedback from others I decided to move Ayuno into a different corporation than Yakius. It was a hard choice deciding where to go, I was seriously contemplating Electus Matari but I’m not sure if I’m ready, yet, for that level of full-time role-playing immersion. What can I say, I enjoy a lot of the OOC bs’ing =P 

As mentioned previously my buddy, McAoidh, started a PVE/PVP corp which I ended up signing on with and as an extra bonus I get to be a director! It is pretty close to my previous employer minus the industry and a more open engagement policy.  Yes, that’s right Mr. NRDS has gone wild. I can finally wardec and attack that low-sec POS I’ve been eyeing for my Industrial toon, Yakius. It is a lot quieter at the moment until we start recruiting but that’s ok cause I get to fly with someone who is willing to take risk, is fun and I get along well with. 

Meanwhile, I’ve returned to my industrial roots with Yakius and should be finished training production efficiency 5 tonight. I also have some near perfect BPOs so hopefully by staying in a more industrial focused corp with him I’ll be able to supply Ayuno with ships cheaply and make a small profit on the market. Midnight Elites has also been talking about getting into T2 or capital production. We have a good group of miners able to supply a lot of our mineral needs but this is a big step for me and I’m a little hesitant to drop money on bpo/c’s until we’ve sat down and really looked at how we are going to allocate responsibilities. 

Another wardec’d came our way, this time a 4 man corp. I think it’s an ex-member who continues to grief us, oh well, we like to fight too so bring it. On the alliance front, looks like we are moving a tab bit closer to joining one but this is happening wayyyy to slow for me. I do consider myself a patient person but I like for ideas to move quickly into reality and do multiple things at once; life is fluid and we can’t wait for the perfect moment. Change isn’t scary, change is opportunity.  

Talking about change, I need to pen some more fiction.

even a lady too

I think it was on my second day of playing EVE that I started a corporation, Minmatar Industrial Limited. I must admit I like being a leader but in EVE it can become a job in no time, so now I like to just be a very active and vocal member of a corporation. Anyway…over the next couple of months it grew to about 30 people then starting to shrink as newer players stopped playing. I also was busy with RL and my interest where changing so things grew stagnant. In the end I decided to try Faction Warfare for a little while and since then have been, what some would call, a corp jumper.

Each corp I join I am always loyal and dedicated, but they all seem to be missing what made my first corporation so fun: a great group of people sharing and working towards a common interest in a friendly environment, not worrying about ship lost or isk (for the most part). Looking back things weren’t perfect, I admit, but there seemed to be a meeting of like minded people that has been hard to find in that quantity and quality since. The current corporation I’m with, Midnight Elites, has been pretty awesome (and I would highly recommend them) but there has been some talk from management about moving to another region which doesn’t really fit with what I want to do and little true discussion has taken place on this issue which has caused me a little bit of concern for my long-term planning. About the same time EDGE Alliance has started recruiting which I have suggested we join, again, not much discussion. I’ve been pushing both issues in an attempt to get some closure sometime soon!

Now one of my buddies, from my first corp has started up his own and is trying to join EDGE Alliance. What am I to do, is it time to be a jumper again… Time will tell, depending on the above issues being resolved or not.

I’ve been trying to think about how I would like to play this game that makes it fun for me and I really enjoy flying with a small, active, social and sharing type of corporation somewhere in the 15-30 active member range but part of an alliance for bigger projects or a change of pace. I also prefer leadership that listens to its members but can make decision quickly and enforce some sort of rule of law, whether it be activity level or whatever. I’m not saying mandatory ops all the time but when there is a call to arms people should show up, I notice in Null-Sec they are very strict and Empire is the opposite. I would like something in between as I want more than just solo mission runner, PVPers in a corp – I want some team goals and joint operations.

We’ll see what this week brings. Hopefully, another buddy from my first corp, Szilardis, will make the move from his current corp and maybe a few others if they become active again – that’s you Eo if you are reading this! I have some plans for our hulks and production.

In the meantime I’m enjoying Midnight Elites, good helpful people there and even a lady too (as of writing this we now have 2) =0 Thanks Havok for telling me about them after I left null-sec; joining them has been an entertaining time. From mining ops to low-sec roams with a HAC kill and no losses and a successful wardec and POS defence. If you’re looking for a diverse group to join in Minmatar space this is the place to be!

eminent domain

There are such high expectations for dominion in null-sec, but really will it change much in real terms of how null-sec is played.

It seems to me that most alliances only care about killboard statistics and holding vast amount of space for prestige, is this patch going to suddenly change that usage… ummm, not really. Ok, sure they get more plex’s for isk. Sovereignty could become more expensive but really depends on much much high-end moon value drops, however, if it cost too much to hold large swamps of space just hold the choke points and you still control the region.

More asteroids and wormholes aren’t really going to help bring industrialist out since, again, most alliances don’t care about industry; it seems to be looked down upon. Plus, it’s pretty hard except for well organized large groups to make money safely out in null-sec. I think unless holding sovereignty allows you to set a security level and hire NPCs to be like concord (weaker though) most aren’t going to risk it (unless they are deep within alliance territory).

I feel that if they really want to get people out to null-sec offer more action: Missions (ignore for now that missions really need to be more dynamic and interactive)!

There are a few things that I’m really looking forward to and that will in my opinion be more important then the other changes they are making: that is rebalancing ships and projectile weapons, which seem very underpowered and under-effective. And UI changes (I really wish they did a patch just for UI improvements, oh how that would be nice), the fleet finder is going to be a really nice feature especially for large corps/alliances and a proper mail system, seriously, about time… It will be even better when NEW EDEN is online and we can use eve mail outside of the eve client and their forum tie-ins.

/end rant.

set course for orbit

Enjoy today’s fiction by guest writer, and buddy, Szilardis!

Holmun Truft was not a happy man. In fact, the four, fast Gallente Atron-class interceptor frigates that had been pursuing him and pounding away at the shields on his Caldari Merlin were ruining his day. Long since having gone cap dead, he was staying barely alive by alternating his superior tech 2 shield booster and afterburner. The afterburner he had fit on a lucky chance, due to the fact he had been investigating a deadspace complex inhabited by Guristas worked regardless of the Gallente ships’ non-stop warp jamming.

He instinctively reached and toggled his set of missile launchers and…nothing happened. The hopper was empty and had been for a while now. Damn, Holmun was running out of options. The Gallente Navy had noticed his outlaw ass enter the wrong system and dispatched 2 squadrons of three frigates each. His first fight, before the second squadron warped in had resulted in a short but brutal firefight that drained his shields and took him into low armor, although destroying two of the ships.

Now in a low orbit around the fifth planet in this backwater colony system, he considered his options and came up with only one viable chose; in atmosphere flight. He turned the (relatively) bulky frigate and angled towards the planet, punching his afterburner, turning his shield booster off yet again in hopes of having some small energy reserve.

As he entered the atmosphere his shield started to glow a hot, cherry red, and his Merlin started to buck, he watched his shields start to take damage on he readout and quickly killed his afterburner. Looking at his rearview scopes, he noticed the four Atrons wobble indecisively, then pursue, doubtless on the encouragement of command. The readouts informed him that their microwarp drives had been shut down.

The shaking grew more violent, buffting his frigate from side to side. His shields took another hit, but were still around 45%. Unfortunately, without his afterburner running, the Atrons were catching up again. He didn’t want to open up with his railguns in atmosphere, because he had no idea how it would affect them, and he would rather not waste the ammo.

Now only about 1200 meters remained between him and the surface. Beneath him deep wide canyons wound their way through the jungle, and off to his right, about 15 miles away, a river widened into a vast, verdant, delta before emptying into the ocean. A thriving port city with a distinct Gallente feel to it’s architecture towered over the plains; a few small skyscrapers towered over the others. A plan began to form.

He angled over toward the city, and let his afterburner run one cycle to keep him ahead of the Atrons just long enough to reach the city. He wAs now a mere 150 meters above the ground, a little more than twice the length of the axis of his spacecraft. The first pair of skyscrapers were approaching, and he lined up carefully. The ship’s computer measured the distance at just under eighty meters. He brought his turrets to bear, one on the base of each building. As the Gallente frigates tried to follow he fired a salvo at the skyscrapers’ bases. As the buildings started to collapse inward, the first Atron made it through. Unfortunately for it, Holmun now knew how his railguns worked in atmosphere. A volley tore through the small vessels shields and into armor, and a second sent the burning debris tumbling down into the city, where it carved through a block of warehouses.

The railgun volleys had been well aimed at the inward face of the tower. The buildings fell towards each other, dropping tons of debris ahead of them. The second and third Gallente ships flying close together were bombarded with hundreds of tons of steel and concrete. The debris overloaded the ships’ shields, smashed their armor and punctured the hull, venting fire, both ships were thrown to the ground and burred under the rubble.

The single remaining ship had no hope of puncturing his shields before going down, and knew it. It turned to flee, but too late. The capsuleer engaged his afterburner and brought the full power of his railguns to bear on the ship. A few shots punctured the shields. A few more bit into the armor peeling plates of metal from the hull and blasting it out from the ship towards the city. A final barrage sent the interceptor, now over the outskirts of the city, plummeting down in a ball of fir and shrapnel.

Aligning to orbit, Truft set course for orbit, resolving to always check route sovereignty before hand.

-END-

it’s official

The corporation I belong to – Midnight Elites – received a war declaration 2 days ago from a 1 man corporation – The Pond, which now sits at 2 members. I’m not really sure what they were thinking; do they randomly find “industrial” corporations with their HQs located in Rens and decide “hey they might make an easy target.” In any case this puts a slight damper on mission running and mining for the next little while.

Last night one of our guys in a Rifter got smashed, not too sure what happened, but we plan a counter-attack and hopefully will get some kills against them. We aren’t sitting this one out station docked. You guys messed with the wrong industrialist! I’ll be FCing the hunt to find these high-sec lame-o’s tonight. We’ve been watching/research them to see trends in ship types and encounters, hopefully this intel will help in putting together a fleet to take them down with minimal losses to us.

Admittedly I’m still fairly new/inexperienced in PVP but it’s kinda lame for experienced (years of in-game time) pilots to grief in high-sec. Honestly, the minute we start fighting back it will turn into a station camping game. Oh, how fun. If The Pond wants to see some action they should really get into null-sec: bubbles, less stations and all that.

The timing of this whole event seems ironic, as we are all itching for a fight after a recent long-standing member ran off with a bunch of our corporate assets. Thank you for providing us with a target or two =)

that ain’t half bad

Recently, I volunteered to be an Fleet Commander (FC) for the first official PVP roam of the corporation I’m currently a member of – Midnight Elites. It has been while since I last FC’d and even then it was only a half dozen times, mostly with small groups of three to ten capsuleers; so I must admit it’s a little exciting and scary.

 

If you’re like me and want to be a leader and a public speaker but get nervous when speaking in front of groups you’ll know how I feel. It’s like giving a presentation at work or school all eyes are on you… Do I know what I am doing, do I know the material, do I have a outline of the training plan, can I tell these people want to do, are they going to listen or be interested, what happens if I let them down… How do I get over this my, dear, reader may be asking… Well, I realise I will probably never be a great FC as PVP isn’t my primary focus, I don’t really follow all the mechanics of the game and am not that bossy. But by just stepping up and doing it, I’ve already done a half-decent job and “that ain’t half bad.”

 

For those of you who may be facing similar situations – maybe you’re CEO’s of small corporations or flying with a few buddies and want to step it up a level – here is a beginners guide for Fleet Commanders that I’ve created from my own experiences and readings. I hope that you find it useful and helps make your job a little bit easier and your next fleet operation a little more successful.

 

If you have any feedback to improve this guide please let me know in the comment section!

 

Beginners Fleet Commander’s Guide

 

Pilots

> Clone is up to date; use jump clone without implants if possible

> Ship is insured (for T1; T2 optional)

>> if the operation “poster” has specified a ship type/loadout

>> check with the Fleet Commander (FC) when fleeting up if there is a ship type/loadout you are or should bring

 

Ship and Roles

> Fit your ship to take advantage of its bonuses, if you want to fly a different style switch to the proper ship.

> Use your optimal range and try to fit modules that operate at about the same range.

> Focus on your role, for example, if you are a tackler any DPS after your primary function (web, scram, etc) is a bonus to the fleet.

 

Basics

> Trust your FC and your members to play their roles

> Do not AFK without notifying the FC. Do not make your fleet wait for you.

> Do not worry about killmails during combat or at any time when your fleet is exposed (such as at gates).

> Have a printout of the area you are operating in.

> Know where you are (check system names as you enter, overtime).

> Know the systems, how many gates (names), stations and belts.

> Don’t make fleet changes (invites, squad/wing commanders, etc) without warning the gang.

 

Overview

> Optimize your overview settings to the role you are playing.

> Have multiple overview tabs and profiles ready for switching between multiple purposes (warp to points; drones on/off)

 

Communications

> turn off mail (personal) blinking to reduce lag in the event of ship destruction

> activate eve or 3rd party voice service

>> check sound levels

>> cover policy:

- keep comms clear

- reduce background noise

- voice should be used for items of importance to the fleet

- text chat should be used for general chat

- only FC, Scout, or request/action events (scram/web: points) should be reported on voice

- announce jams and other EWAR events as well as incoming intel such as cyan fields

- Keep communication simple. Use succinct sentences, for example. “In <system> : There are <amount of> hostiles and <amount of> neutrals at <system> gate.”

- Repeat orders, sometimes they will be missed or misunderstood. You may need to type them in text chat in certain situations or designate someone to do this.

 

Fleet Protocols

> At the operation start time be ready in rendezvous system with the proper ship and prerequisites completed

> Always form a fleet and assign an FC even when in small groups.

> Assign a backup FC incase the primary gets destroyed or client dropped.

> Assign Fleet positions (squad commander, scout, etc), and boosters.

> Setup squads according to ship roles or corp/alliance memberships

> When feasible, set fleet to “free move”

> FCs should know what ships are in their fleet; members should know what others are flying

> Learn which ships in your fleet will be the primary targets, be ready to support them (i.e. remote repair)

 

Flying

> When told to align, align; do not warp.

> Stay with the fleet, those who fly off, usually get picked off.

> All fleet members should warp together unless told otherwise.

> Do not jump gates, dock or undock until told to do so.

> Hold cloak until given orders

> Verify your warp-to range.

> NEVER warp to 0 at a friendly scout unless told to explicitly!.

> Do not engage unless told to by the FC.

> Focus fire on Primary targets unless told to do otherwise.

> When possible, be aligned to a way clear of the fight.

> Ensure redundant tackle. After that, spread tackle AND announce which targets you have tackled.

> Warping out, hesitating to engage when ordered, or operating outside your optimal range can get your whole fleet killed.

 

Loot, cash, mula, iskies

> Collect loot only when the field is clear and the situation is under friendly control.

> FC or designated pilot is responsible for handling fair loot division.

> Report what you loot, be honest with your fleet members. You got this loot due to their help.

> Everybody in the fleet deserves a share.

> Take care of those who lost ships.

 

When shit hits the fan

> Unless the FC has said otherwise when your ship starts to enter structure hang in as long as possible and if you can warp away before being destroyed.

> If a retreat order is given, pull out. Ensure as many people get clear as possible.

> Try to get survivors to a safe spot.

> Once everyone is clear decide whether to wait, run as a group, or disband on the spot.

> Don’t sacrifice remaining ships when you realise a flight is lost.

> Before counterattacking regroup and reorganize.

helm to one-oh-eight

I could feel the storm coming, those purply-orange clouds creeping their way lazily across the ocean and up the cliff towards our settlement. In the distance a thump as something hits the ground and another slowly working their way towards me. The panic starts to set in, my knuckles turn white as my grip tightens…

“Captain coded message for you from the corporation… Captain?” The comm-officer’s voice drags me back to reality. Even after all these years, and so far from home I still can’t let go. As I wipe the sweat from my chest, I order the computer to decode the message using bio-metric identification.

“She’s finished decoding Captain, it’s for your eyes only; transferring to your neo-com now.” The comm-officer whispers as he turns towards me with questioning eyes. “There’ll be none of that on my ship, officer, put it on the main screen!”

A shape beings to materialize on the screen. As it comes into focus the company’s watermark displays prominently in an overlay.

“Ayuno, due to your knowledge and experience you are hereby promoted to the rank of Commander. You are to take the Arch-Angel and rendezvous with the fleet at our corporate offices on Illinfrik VII – Moon 12 – Pator Tech School, 0430 EVE STANDARD TIME on 06.11.111.

At that time you will take command, and perform fleet exercises to your discretion. This message has been disseminate to the other captains and I will be attending to evaluate your performance.”

This is it, I say to myself, back into the cloud. “Helm to one-oh-eight, engineering prepare FTL for warp”

“HELM TO ONE-OH-EIGHT, COMMANDER” booms the officer. Commander, eh. I like the sounds of that.