Blog Banter #32: Your Ship is out of Control

"A quick view of the Eve Online forums can always find someone complaining about being suicide ganked, whining about some scam they fell for or other such tears. With the Goons' Ice Interdiction claiming a vast amount of mining ships there were calls for an "opt out of PvP" option. 


Should this happen? Should people be able to opt-out of PvP in Eve Online. Should CONCORD prevent crime rather than just handing out justice after the event? Or do the hi-sec population already have too much protection from the scum and villainy that inhabits the game?"




Over the past two years I have written extensively regarding PvP in Eve, the challenges that new players face, the perils of Null, Low and Hi sec space, and offered solutions from both sides of the fence. A few months ago I even wrote the entire opening Chapter on what could potentially become a paradigm shift in the new player experience - The Sanctuary Training Program. ( Essentially Newb systems would become Sanctuary systems, plus other incredibly intelligent stuff )


I've even spent a good portion of time debating a way to make consensual PvP actually work within the framework of Eve with The Thunderdome concepts, HERE and HERE and even HERE.


Despite all of those attempts and more, the truth remains the truth. Player Versus Player combat remains the cornerstone of the Eve experience. And it should remain the cornerstone of the Eve experience for all of eternity, in my mind it is sacrosanct. Almost Holy.


Having said that, let's move on to the real issue at hand. Fundamental changes are needed to the underpinnings of that experience. In order to make the universal experience of Player Versus Player combat more fair, more even and more predictable for all of our players.


True Sec status needs to be implemented universally across the board in all systems. 


That Sec Status, per individual system, needs to be used to generate Global Criminal Countdowns. Aggression timers need to be eliminated, as they serve little purpose other than confusion. GCC needs to be based on the True Sec status of the system in which it was initiated. Period. The lower the Sec Status the lower the GCC timer. Predictable, fair and even-handed.


As a consequence of this system of True Sec based GCC, True Hi-Sec becomes virtually impossible to engage in ganking. War Decs would continue, and they really are a side issue like Faction Warfare. But "ganking", while not 100% eliminated, would become very, very rare. And here's why. Anyone with a negative sec status that enters a Hi-Sec system with a high enough True Sec rating - would be destroyed at the gate. Boom. Anything other than a Pod gets blowed up real good. 


This does not eliminate ganking in Hi-Sec. In fact it would keep it the same in systems with TS status hovering above low-sec for example. It would only make it increasingly difficult the further up the TS rating you went. And virtually impossible in say .9 systems. I'm certainly not against ganking, heck I've done it myself more than a few times.


It makes perfect sense. Why does CONCORD tolerate criminals in Hi-Sec anyway? They say they don't, god knows I get enough warnings, but they never do anything about it. They should. 


In order to "gank" someone in Hi-Sec the attacking party would have to manage their Sec Status, pick systems on the borderline of True Sec Hi Sec, and hunt only when those two things matched up. Conversely, the rewards for those mining, missioning, or otherwise using those systems would go up correspondingly based on lower True Sec ratings. Higher risk means higher rewards for everyone - both hunter and hunted.


This doesn't change anything about Eve that we all love, it works within the already established frameworks, and ensures an almost safe haven for anyone willing to spend their lives in highly rated Hi Sec systems. The reward for living a life like that would be small, to encourage them to move along, but for new players especially it would give them a fighting chance to get started off on the right foot. Not 100% safe, but very close.


I don't think we need special mods, special ships, or special anything to achieve what we all want to achieve. A viable, vibrant, dangerous universe with a few places that are safer than others.


So let's do this. Like next week, k?


For more opinions on this exciting topic, visit FREEBOOTED!

A Fight in Parts

I was out messing around in my Wolf yesterday, generally feeling like I wasn't going to find anything to kill. Or even fight. My small circle roam took me into my old home of Lisb, so I grabbed my "other" ship, parked myself on the station and started writing and working.


This was a habit I picked up when I was in Lucifer's Hammer. It isn't Station Camping, instead I call it "Work Camping". It allows me to work and also keep an eye on local, eventually something will or won't happen. To be honest, it rarely works. When I'm doing this, if anything does undock, I usually let it go. Several smaller ships and a Thorax undocked, but I didn't engage. Why waste the GCC? I was waiting for better fights, but they didn't happen.


On my way back to Hev in the Wolf, the Demon Suli announced he might have a target in Jov. I docked up and jumped into one of my Arty Canes and undocked. Sure enough, it wasn't long before he called point and a few of us kilt the hapless Myrmidon. I didn't know it, but this was the beginning of what would end up being a 16 kill night.


I re-docked in Hev and started thinking about the next ship I would take out. When you have almost 60 ships fitted up, that process can take longer than you might think. I noticed the chatter was picking up on Comms, so I started listening a bit closer. I missed the beginning bits, so I'm not sure how this all came to be known. Either way, Intel isn't something I'd be sharing here anyway, suffice to say we discovered a few Battleships were camping a hi-sec gate up in Parts.


We managed to put together a decent little gang. Marc Scaurus brought his Harbinger, which he said he h`dn't flown in a fight yet, and Anzwi and I brought our Drakes. The Devil Suli was already on his way in a Stilleto. It is important that I repeat that. A Harbi, 2 Drakes and a Stilleto. That's it. If you know anything about the space between Hev and Parts you know we had to travel thru Hi-Sec to get there, so nothing bigger than a BC would probably work. The only worry at this point was if the targets would still be there when we arrived.


They were. Not only that, but their ranks had grown. A Harbinger, Tempest, Raven, Dominix, Megathron, Myrmidon and an Armageddon were hanging out in a pounce off the Hi-Sec gate. There was another Cane in local, but we couldn't be sure if he was with them or not. We played a little GCC timer game with them at first, we had some to burn. This also allowed us a chance to slightly re-fit our ships. I can't reveal exactly what we did to our Drakes, but we replaced one mid-slot mod with another one. If your smart, you'll already know what I'm talking about.


The enemy was grouped up together ( tsk tsk, spread out people! lol ) and Suli went in first to find a good spot. Since they didn't have tackle he could fly around at will and get us a great warp-in. Which is what he did, being awesome and all has its perks. Now a word about tactics. 3 BCs and a Ceptor against 5 BSs and 2 BCs, despite the numeric odds of a 4-7 fight, we were certainly outclassed in some ways from the start. More than likely the Domi had neuts, maybe some of the others as well. And we had limited points. So coordinating distance, range and points would be crucial. All in all we did a good job of it, things got a tad confusing at times and we lost two of the enemy ships because of it. But that happens.


This is the battle report. We had the Raven into structure before he managed to get away from us, someone had switched point and someone else forgot to pick it up. None of us know how that happened, but I have my own suspicions. I think it was my own fault. At one point the Domi neuted my Drake down to zero while I was pulling range. I think I may have lost point on the Raven at that moment. Fog of war, I don't remember losing point, but I might have.


With no losses and a nice amount of kills we waited out our GCC and decided to head back towards Hev. Reports of another gang in the Aeschee area prompted us. On the way back a Myrmidon jumped into us and died. Yeah for Webs on a Drake!


The gang running around Aeschee turned out to be a mixed Shadow Cartel gang, with some other elements thrown into the mix. Mostly those other elements included former Burn Away members the Corporation for Noble Sentiments and my friend and fellow Blogger Nashh Kadavr and his Corporation. This was starting to look fun.


We put the call out for more pilots, this time we couldn't engage about 18 ships with just the four of us. Again we played the GCC timer game and waited it out while our gang formed up around us. In the end we managed to just about equal their numbers in BCs at least, they still had the edge with a Talos.*


The fight plan wasn't all that different from before really, although this time we started out split up into three groups. We decided to engage and primary the Talos first. Upon landing the field was a mess, ships and drones everywhere. When ever I land in amongst something like that my first inclination is to properly orient myself, I can't tell you how many times I go burning off in the wrong direction and get myself kilt. The Talos runs, can't blame him, but the rest stay and fight it out. God bless 'em.


This is the battle report. We slugged it out and it was a good fight all the way around. They stayed on the field, even when it was obviously going the wrong way. So well done. We ended up 10-1 in favor, although I think our loss actually happened before the real fight started. But I can't be sure.


My killboard shows 16 kills yesterday, although I think there is a pod or two missing. Either way, it was a great start to what I hope is a more regular return to Eve. The last two months have been tough, between RL pressures and stress and my other outside commitments, finding time to play the game I love has been tough.


Good way to kick back into it. And sorry for blowing you up yet again Nashh. lol.


Nashh wrote his version of events HERE.
And Marc "Binger" Scauras wrote his version HERE.
Check 'em out!


*Early Battle Reports indicated ships that were not actually on the field. This post has been edited to reflect the actual situation.

Pod Gods Get All The Chicks

In my darkest hours I feel that I will never get the hang of this Eve thing. I study, I practice, I read, learn, talk, discuss and write about Eve and yet - after three years - I still don't really feel like I'm any gosh darn good at it. There are moments of course, moments when I feel like a God.


But during the last three plus years I've had the distinct pleasure of meeting and flying with  about a half-dozen players for whom Eve makes total sense. This "sense" has nothing to do with knowledge, ability, rhyme or reason, it has everything to do with... what exactly?


Let me try and explain the person I'm talking about first and maybe, just maybe, by doing that we can help to explain this "sense" thing. There are 'elite' pilots in Eve, well-respected pilots in Eve, well-known, regarded, feared, pilots in Eve. But this thing I'm talking about doesn't have anything to do with that. Perspective isn't a part of it. Especially outside perspective.


I call them Pod Gods for the sake of this post. And I think it is an apt term. So I'll stick with it for now.


I can undock and travel solo thru eight or nine systems and find nothing to fight let alone kill. A Pod God gets two solo kills in my home system. I get bushwacked by two Canes and a Caracal and explode, the Pod God manages to escape. I land on the belt 145k away from the Naga, the Pod God lands right on top of him. Coming back from a roam in my Drake I come out of a Gate into 40 fast-locking FW ships, the Pod God comes out into a small gang of Frigates and kills three of them. I could go on and on.


Are you starting to think of pilots you know?


When I was younger I played a lot of Basketball. I loved basketball. And I was very good at it. I worked hard, practiced and really loved playing the game. But there was this one kid that never practiced, didn't care one way or the other really, and yet he could hit shots like there was no tomorrow. One after another, with little or no effort. He was on my team and I loved that guy like a brother with a different mother, but secretly - I wanted him to fail. And suddenly Rixx reveals a bit much about himself on the blog. Back to our story.


This "sense" has nothing to do with Killboard stats and everything to do with something that can't be measured. You either have IT or you don't have IT. The same phenomenon is true in all walks of life. In all facets of your life there are always people that have IT and those that don't. The falling into shit and coming up smelling like roses people. The ones that always win the office pool. The guy whose rich Uncle left him everything. The ones that roll easy and life pushes forward with a gentle breeze.


This phenomenon in Eve reveals itself in the Pod Gods. Pilots for whom Eve comes as natural as a stroll in the park. Things just work out for them. They just happen to find the missioning Carrier, just happen to land right on top of the ratter, just narrowly escape the War Dec gate campers, warp off before the reds land, are in the POS when dog poo hits the fan, and every other way in this game that one thing works out better for someone else.


Being around a Pod God comes with a dark side though. IT doesn't always translate to YOU. And YOU can become rather prickish about it can't you? All that happenstance piled onto the shoulders of that other guy really rubs you the wrong way doesn't it? Why him? Tell me, in secret back rooms of your mind, you want him to fail don't you?


I don't. I'm not a third grader playing basketball for the first time any more. I'm an adult now and I'll continue to play the game the way I want to play it. I may never have IT the way other players have IT. Not all the time. But there are days, moments, when I do. When I can feel the Pod God blood flowing, and I live for those days.


That kid in third grade? Came down to the last play of the game in front of a big home crowd, he cut the ball away from the other team and took it to the basket. No one on him. Easy lay-up. And he missed. Guess who got the rebound and made the winning shot?


Yeah, that was me.

Gang Tactics: Part Four - Track & Kill

Gang Tactics is a new on-going series in which we explore the fine art of death dealing in small gang warfare.  This series is not intended as a technical exploration, but as a guide to the fundamental basics involved in small gang warfare in New Eden. And hopefully, one that is enjoyable and educational.


Part One: The Basics
Part Two: DPS
Part Three: Travel


This series is intended to encourage pilots to fly in small gangs, to remove the mystery from combat in Eve and help the new, experienced and veteran pilots better understand the fundamentals involved in organizing, traveling and fighting in a small gang. As such, I have strived to remove all of the usual technospeak from the series. For example, instead of calling certain ships "Force Multipliers" I called them "Tippers". Because they tip the scale of most fights. In my experience, this makes it much easier to learn and understand the concepts involved. If you are looking for more detailed, technospeak articles, the internet is full of them. This series is not one of those.


So we've covered the basics of forming your small gang, getting the proper mix of DPS and getting out of your system to find targets. We even covered a simple ratting ship take-down and the tactics you need to successfully kill your target. As I mentioned in the last post however, you will rarely encounter a solo ratter at a belt. Typically your potential targets are going to be a tad harder to find. So this post is going to be focused on finding those targets and successfully putting them in their pods.


Potential targets tend to be in the following areas: Docked, in a POS, on station, at a Celestial, in warp, in an Anomaly or in a Mission, or at a Gate. So let's take these one at a time and see how we can not only find them, but more importantly, what ships we might need to add to the mix in order to do so successfully. For each of these examples we'll assume a single target in a "clean" system, just to avoid exponential complications.


Docked: So this person is in local but is docked up in station. You could just move along to the next system, but let's pretend you are real killers and want to destroy him. There are actually some tactics that you can try to tease the docker out into space. If you are following the previous discussed tactics in previous chapters you only have one person in local. Assuming your scout doesn't have GCC ( if you are in low-sec and your scout does have GCC, simply have him leave local and send someone in who doesn't. If you happen to be in Null, well then, it doesn't matter. )  If there are multiple stations in local, have your scout dock and undock to find the station our ship spinner is in. Once you find him, stay docked for a couple of minutes. Open the Guests tab and watch, you'd be surprised how often the ship spinner will undock once he sees someone else in station with him. Spend those minutes looking at his info and use what you learn to help determine if this guy is worth the effort. If he happens to be a killer pilot you can sometimes use his own ego against him, remember he has no idea what you are flying or that you have other ships waiting in the next system. Don't waste a lot of time here, he could just as easily be AFK.
The last ditch effort is leave system, wait a few minutes, then have your mates jump in and see if he is on D-Scan. Sometimes they'll undock once system local is clear and you can catch him in-between your gang.


In a POS: This one is more tricky. Usually I don't bother with POS babies much, since the POS could be defended with nasty stuffs like guns, or ECM, or something. Especially in Low-Sec, POSes are typically carebear safe houses, so the odds of tricking them out are almost nill. Your D-Scan will tell you the status of the POS, what defenses it might have, etc. If you decide to make a try, send your tasty bait ship ( which depends on what ship they have, send the ship that the enemy would consider an easy target.) If the POS has guns and you don't have a ship that can take punishment, then don't bother. The idea isn't to fight on the POS, the idea is to draw the enemy out and have him follow you somewhere safe. Remember, unlike an enemy in a station, his d-scanner still works. Show him a tasty kill and see if he takes the bait.


On a Station: Now the enemy is in space. But they are on station. This one simple situation deserves an entire post all its own, but I'll try to summarize the tactics involved here. Some things to keep in mind if you are in Low-Sec. Station guns hit out to 150. Station guns hurt, especially small ships. If the enemy is positive or neutral standing, then attacking him on station will result in you getting GCC and the station will shoot you. If the enemy is negative standing, then you can shoot at will. In Null these rules do not apply and anyone is fair game on station. 


First example: he is in a Drake on the undock and he is negative standing. Your scout should stay off the station, since he will be mostly useless in this fight, but can stand by the catch the Drake if he decides to warp off. Have one ship jump in and warp to station at Drake range, which is usually about 70-80, so warp in at about 50. When you land align out to a celestial, something close and easy to see. ( When align-baiting never pick a celestial in a cluster, since it will be hard for the target to see exactly where you went. Always try to pick one that sits alone in the sky.) Start shooting the target. He will either dock, shoot back or warp off. If he docks he was gonna do that no matter what you did. If he warps off watch where he goes and send your scout there to catch him. If he starts shooting you don't panic yet, there are still two options in this scenario. He is sitting still shooting you or he is coming towards you and shooting you. Stay aligned! If he is sitting still, have your mates jump in and warp to station at zero and engage. They need to kill him fast if he stops aggro, which he probably will once local jumps. You can warp off and return to help. If he is chasing you, so much the better. Wait until he gets a bit further from the station and then have your mates jump in and warp to station at the enemies range. Don't forget to get points, especially Webs if you have them, since he can still warp away. Webs will cut his speed down and keep him from returning to station.


Second example: he is in a Drake but he has positive standings. Since you do not have Logistics in your small gang this scenario is much like the first one, except you do not want to fight at the station. You still warp in the same as above, align out to an easy celestial (You can have your Scout do this) and then warp off. The idea is to get him to follow the easy kill, point him, and then have everyone jump in to kill him.


There are an infinite variety of scenarios involved in fighting on station, but what I've just given you is the fundamental ingredients involved in all of those scenarios. If you understand the basics involved, you can address any and all scenarios you will face using those basic principals. No matter how many ships are involved.


Celestials: We already covered this in the last post and the tactics are the same with a ship in a belt, planet, custom office, etc. 


In Warp: If you enemy is already in Warp, or warped away from you, finding him involves watching where he went and using your d-scan tactics to find him. If he warped to any of the above locations, then simply use those tactics to engage him. If he warped to a Gate you should also. As the Scout you should jump ahead of him if you can ( to determine who might be in local over there, but also the get point on him when he jumps) and have your mates jump in and also warp to the gate.


Anomalies and Missions: Both of these are easier if you have a Prober along with your gang, either in the main gang or as an alt of someone. If you do not have a Prober along Missions are going to be off-limits to you, there really is no other way to find a Missioner imbedded in a Mission. However, anomalies are a different story. You can find someone running an Anomaly without a Prober and here is how.


In addition to your directional scanner, you also have a System Scanner. The system scanner takes about 25 seconds to scan the system and show you the various anomalies in the system. Your target is at one of these, but which one? It is tricky and time consuming, but it can be done. Wrecks are the key, wrecks and drones. Your d-scanner will pull this information for you. I find the quickest way is the following, double-click the anomaly and wait until your ship aligns, then stop its warp. Now your ship is pointed in the direction of that anomaly, now run the d-scan at maximum and see if any wrecks or drones appear. Continue doing this until you get a hit on wrecks, drones or the enemy ship. There is also the option of simply warping to each one, or guessing and warping, or having your mates jump in and everyone picks one to warp to. ( We used to call that a Belt Blitz in Null, when you have as many ships as belts, everyone jumps in and warps to a different belt.)


If you do have a Prober along, then use him. He is also the only real way to find enemy ships hiding in a safe spot.


At a Gate: Gate tactics are so complicated they really do deserve their own post. So the next post in this series will be focused on fighting and killing on Gates in both low and null sec space.  Once we've covered the basics of gate fighting we'll start teaching tactics for fighting other small gangs and eventually larger enemy fleets.


Eve is a complex and ever changing universe and the advice and information given here is intended as an overview to small gang tactics in that universe. I encourage you to seek out more detailed information, advice and strategy from your fellow Corp and Alliance mates, on the forums, or from other Bloggers. Feel free to ask me specific questions in the comments and I will do my best to answer them or point you in the right direction.

Gang Tactics: Part Three - Travel

Gang Tactics is a new on-going series in which we explore the fine art of death dealing in small gang warfare.  This series is not intended as a technical exploration, but as more of a guide to the fundamental basics involved in small gang warfare in New Eden. And hopefully, one that is enjoyable and educational.

Part One: The Basics

Part Two: DPS

Now that we've covered the basics of small gang formation and the various types of damage your small gang should be doing, it is time to head out of your home system and find some good fights. Which is the whole purpose of getting your friends together in space in the first place.

For the sake of the post let us give you some ships. You have a Taranis, 2 Hurricanes, a Drake, and that other ship that always shows up. ( It doesn't matter what it is, someone always brings it. For the sake of argument let's call it a Caracal.) This is a good small gang, five ships ready to rumble. You have the bases covered, tackle with the Ranis ( not the fastest tackle, but a strong choice for survivability ), solid DPS with 2 Arty fit Canes and the Drake.  Even the Caracal doesn't break our formation rules, since he'll be firing from the same range bubble as the other three. The Caracal also helps us get good fights. Cause it is excellent bait.

In this set-up we don't have a typical tipping ship, a Falcon, or Curse, or something else that will tip the battle in our favor. Which is ok, with the Drake along, it will fill that role for us. Remember, the tipping ship doesn't always have to be the usual, usual. In fact, this set-up will get you more good fights than bringing along a Falcon or Curse will anyway. If you happen to be in Null space a good tipping ship is the Sabre, for example.

Speaking of Null space for a moment. In this series so far I've been talking about space as a generic all-encompassing entity. I'm going to continue doing that for awhile. While we are learning the basics, the type of space is less important than how you think. 

So basic gang protocol. Send your Ranis pilot ahead of the main gang. Tackle is also going to serve as Scout until contact with potential targets is obtained. Your gang will be traveling in three pieces from system to system. The first piece is the Scout/Tackle, who will be staying one jump ahead of you. The second piece is the DPS, the Canes/Drake, which will travel together. The last piece is the Caracal, which you will have one (ish) jump behind you as a following Scout.  Why? If you do get into a fight, the Caracal should be the last ship on the field. So, in the meantime, he should be watching your flank. Enemies come from behind just as often as they come from in front. And if someone is following you, it would be nice to know about it.

Each pilot in this small gang needs to understand their role and what is expected of them. The Scout will be reporting conditions in the system he jumps into, based on that information the DPS will be deciding the course of action they will be following. Small gang movement is a constantly evolving and fluid organism, the smarter each piece is, the more likely you will achieve Op Success. And bring everyone home alive.

The Ranis pilot reports one potential target in system. The D-Scan reveals nothing from the Gate and the Scout warps off to a point further towards the center of the system. In warp he detects a Cane. At this point we can assume several things, the Cane is in a belt ratting, the Cane is on a Station, the Cane is running a Plex/Mission, or the Cane is in a POS. But he is alone in system, so potentially he could also be bait. A good Scout would already have linked the pilot's name in fleet chat. Why? The targets Show Info can tell you a lot about him, how old is he? What Corp/Alliance does he belong to? Is he negative or positive standing? Is he in a NPC Corp? All of these factors add up to Intelligence about your enemy, and even while your Scout is still in warp, you are learning things about him.

This guy is about seven month old and in a three person Corp. He is also, believe it or not, actually ratting in a belt. Your DPS is at zero on the other side of the Gate, you already told your Caracal pilot to get on the Gate. The Ranis is now Tackle and already in warp to the belt. Sure enough, he lands, gets point and starts holding. The DPS jumps and warps to the Tackle at their point range. The Ranis pilot is already screaming about entering structure when the boys land and start hammering the Cane. The Ranis warps off if he can. The Caracal pilot notices that local has spiked by two. As the enemy Cane explodes, a Tempest and a Curse land amid your gang...

Eve is cool huh?  You might think the arrival of his buddies is bad news, but it isn't. In that case you'd still win the fight. You might lose one of the Canes and maybe the Caracal, but you could take the Tempest and the Curse. How? Well you are smart remember? The poor Cane ratting alone was dead the moment the Ranis got point on him, as a smart FC you knew this. So while you were killing him you already had your gang aligning to the Sun. Smart man. So now your options are run away or stand and fight. The Curse/Pest won't get point fast enough, so you could run. But you shouldn't because the enemy made a huge mistake that plays right into your hands. They landed right on top of you when they warped in to save their buddy. Already the Pest is at a disadvantage, because he is well inside his damage bubble with those big guns. The Curse is tough, but fortunately you have three non-Amarr DPS ships with you. Get points on both ships, primary the Curse and then torture the poor Pest until he explodes. If the Ranis can come back, have him focus on killing their drones. (If he was smart and has a Web fitted.)

That is probably the most straight-forward scenario of small gang fighting that you could ask for in Eve. It is always pretty rare. Things are rarely that simple. There are usually multiple people around, ships behind you, ships coming and going, and the Cane was more than likely a Tengu running a mission. And you didn't bring a Prober, did you?  

In the next post we will learn more about getting good fights, baiting, probing, and staying away from blobs. We'll also start adding more complications, and eventually get to the point where our small gang can kill enemy fleets that actually out-number ours. Cool huh?

Any questions, feel free to ask in the comments.

Part Four: Track & Kill

Gang Tactics: Part One - The Basics

Gang Tactics is a new on-going series in which we explore the fine art of death dealing in small gang warfare.  This series is not intended as a technical exploration, but as more of a guide to the fundamental basics involved in small gang warfare in New Eden. And hopefully, one that is enjoyable and educational.


Small Gang warfare is, in my humble opinion, one of the most enjoyable aspects of playing Eve. Hanging out with your Corp mates, friends, and blowing up enemy ships. It can be very rewarding no matter your skill points or experience level. New players and veterans alike can quickly form up to go on a roam, form a defense, or plunge into the unknown.


So let's start with the basics. What I like to call Catch, Hold and Destroy. This is the basic fundamental tenant of any small gang and you only need three ships to get started.  For lesson one we'll start with just these three ships. The great thing about small gang tactics is the expandability of each lesson, once you master the fundamentals, adding more ships becomes easier and easier.


Catch:  What good is the hunt unless you can catch your prey?  This role is easily filled by a Frigate or Interceptor. The perfect catch ship for your small three man gang depends on where you are, in low sec, null sec or wherever. But there are basic considerations that should be addressed and those mostly concern speed - both in velocity and in locking. A good catch ship has velocity on its side - it is very fast. But it also needs to be able to lock the enemy quickly before he can escape. Two points in the mids are preferred, a long point disruptor to catch the enemy from a distance, and either a Scram or Web to hold him down once you get closer.


Rifters, Crows, Taranis, Ares, Lachesis, Arazu - there are many, many ships that can fill this role depending on your own skill level and where you are in space.


Hold:  Once the enemy is caught, living thru the fight is critical. If you catch him and then explode, this does no one any good. You might think it odd that this is a separate category, once the enemy is caught shouldn't we skip right to Destroy?  That is asking a lot from your Catch ship isn't it?  The role of the Heavy Tackler is something we'll discuss later on, but for now expecting your Catch ship to survive past the tackle is asking for it to achieve more than its role allows.


This is a role that needs to be considered. What is the next ship to arrive on the scene?  Typically this role is filled by Cruisers/Battlecruisers.  For example the Thrasher or the Rupture is a good ship for this role. They can deal damage from a tank that should be able to survive long enough to see the enemy explode. The Drake or Hurricane also fill this role exceptionally well for the more advanced pilot.


Destroy:  The Destroy role can be filled by the Hold ships, you could have a Catch ship and two Canes for example. But it would be wrong to not consider the Destroy ship its own category, because "destroy" can take on many different meanings.  For example, the role of the Destroy ship could be filled by a Falcon or Curse. In that example the destroy ship arrives on the scene last and is the tipping point of the battle. Let's say your Catch ship has tackled a Dominix in a belt. He is holding him down, but his cap is drained and he won't last long. The Cane arrives and starts delivering the DPS, but not fast enough against the tank of the Domi. The Catch ship warps off and now it is the Cane Vs. Domi. The Cane, if he can stay out of neut range and destroy the Domi's drones, might eventually win. But he might not. This is when the Destroy ship arrives. Certainly another Drake or Cane would help tip the balance, but the arrival of a Falcon or Curse (or other role player) would do the job as well.


The CHD is a thought-process that helps you determine the basic make-up of your Small Gang. If you have three Canes available, applying CHD would make you think that at least one of those Canes should probably have a Sensor Booster in his mids, for faster locking speed. It might also make you canvas your pilots regarding the types of points they have, to make sure you have the bases covered. At the very least the SeBo Cane should have a long point.


So it isn't always about the types of ships, but more about the roles each of those ships will be playing in your three man gang.  This is the basic underlying logic behind ALL gangs and fleets in New Eden. From three to three-hundred, once you start thinking CHD the rest becomes only a matter of scalability.


So, now that we've mastered the basics, let's add one more ship:


Hunt:  While you are forming up another Corp mate logs on and wants to join your gang. You already have your CHD bases covered, you have a Taranis, an Arty Nano Cane and a young player in a Blaster Harpy.  So what role do you still need to fill?  You need a Hunter.  Now the Hunter/Scout role is one that can be filled by a lot of different ships and depends on the skill level of the individual pilot. It could be as basic as yet another Frigate or as complex as a cloaking T3 Cruiser.  The perfect Hunter for your small gang would be a cloaking ship with Probes. But beggars can't be choosers and your Corp mate can't fly T3 yet, but he does have a Buzzard. And he'd like to learn to Probe better.  How better to learn than on the field of battle?


Now we're talking. Our small gang is starting to be pretty awesome.  With just FOUR ships your gang can take on just about anything New Eden has to offer, by being smart and picking your targets carefully, you should be able to kill just about any one or two man gangs you happen upon. And brawl with anything your own size. No matter your skill level.


So good three man or four man gang set-ups:
1x Frigate (long point, scram or web, maybe Sensor Boosted or Nano fit for speed)
1x Cruiser (DPS but good solid tank)
1x Cruiser 2 (DPS, with surprise - like a sensor damper, or ECM, or EC Drones, etc.)


+ Tipper = Electronic Frigate, Neut fitted Cruiser, Falcon, Curse, Blaster Thorax, anything that can specifically fill a role that tips the battle to your favor.


For more experienced pilots a good fleet comp could be:
1x Interceptor (Fast speed and lock, long point or Scram depending on how fast)
1x Battlecruiser (DPS and tank)
1x Falcon
(This is a nasty three man gang set-up. Make sure your BC is nano fit or at the very least is carrying EC Drones. In case he gets caught the Falcon is his escape clause.)


The role of the Falcon can be played by many ships, including an additional BC class or even Cruiser. The Falcon choice right now is the obvious one, but choosing something that isn't obvious (or a Falcon!) will probably get you more good fights.


Next time we'll cover small gang DPS, making the most of various types of DPS delivery in a small gang setting.


Fly safe.


Part Two: DPS
Part Three: Travel
Part Four: Track & Kill

On Going Solo: A Year Later

About a year ago I wrote a post called "Going Solo" in which I responded to comments on another post called "Newbie Mistakes", in which I had argued that Newbs/Noobs shouldn't be flying solo.  Follow all that?


Don't worry, while it is an interesting post for a pilot that had spent the majority of his time in zero space up to the writing of it, it simply manages to be the springboard for today's post.


Towards the end of last year things started to unravel in Eve for me and the idea of restarting my own personal efforts towards being a better PvP pilot were born. This was a personal journey that I had been on since day one, when at two weeks old I flew into Providence to live.  And while being a part of fleets, gate camps, wars, POS bashes and long-distance roams was fun - it is more of a group effort. Before that time last year the majority of my kills were in gangs/fleets of 5 or more pilots.


Since then however, the majority of my kills have been in gangs of less than five pilots. Small gang PvP continues to be my favorite and probably always will. While flying solo is awesome, nothing beats a few pilots working together.


But back to that personal journey thing. One result of all this history is that I suck at flying solo. I'm good at large gangs and small gangs, but when it comes to solo, I suck. The other day Swearte came down to fight me in his Taranis, I was flying my Malediction. He was blaster fit and I was Rocket fit, given my speed advantage I should have won. But I bumped my prop mod during the initial dance and it de-activated, allowing him to close range on me. Stupid mistake and I paid the price. It was an excellent fight and he deserved to win, no sour grapes here. Just sayin'. That kind of thing happens to me all the time.


Not that I'm horrible or anything. Since November I've been in (not counting pods) 138 solo fights, of which I have won 108. So I've been winning 78% of the solo fights I get into, which isn't that bad. Of those 108 kills there are about a dozen that are really good fights, so my odds on the good fights hasn't been as stellar as I would like. More like 40/60 would be my guess.


I want to get better. For personal satisfaction alone really, I need to continue to get better.


For some reason I get sloppy when it comes down to one versus one and I don't know why. I'm not sloppy when I'm flying in a small gang, or FC'ing a group of pilots, or doing anything else in Eve. There is a mental block inside my head that only I can overcome.


And the only way to do that is to get back on the horse, as often as possible. Work thru it and get past it.  And maybe I won't, maybe, just maybe I'm not meant to be a great solo pilot. That is certainly possible. But I will continue to try until that becomes apparent. So far, I don't believe that to be the case. 


Onward and upward.

A Hunting We Will Go

My Father started taking me hunting with him when I was five years old. Cray old coot. I have four boys myself now and I can't imagine taking any of them into the woods with me when they were five. But he did.


We weren't crazy obsessed hunters. We were casual, have-fun, serious, respect nature hunters who often went with our cousins and Uncles - who were crazy obsessed hunters.


It was miserable. Cold. Wet. Tiring. And incredible. My Father and I spent some great times together in those trips, hours and hours and hours of saying nothing, sitting in wet grass, peeing on trees, eating ham and potato soup, and watching my cousins drink beer. And then go back out into the woods with weapons.  An attitude, with them and in the general population, that would eventually destroy the fun for us. We were shot at a few times by drunken hunters and once, I was actually shot by a hunter. (I wasn't seriously injured, it was rabbit shot and went thru a pretty thick thicket and I happened to be seriously bundled against the cold.)


I think of those days when I think of low sec and the Pirate life I've chosen. Because they share many of the same aspects. Eve is a hard universe and within that universe there is no harder life than that of a pirate. ( Don't even try to argue that point. Total respect to those that live in Wormholes, which is close, but the isk tips the scale.) I'm not complaining, in fact I suspect most pirates revel in it. Much as we did at 3 am in the morning when it was below zero and my snoot froze in my nose.


There are much easier ways to make a living and certainly many easier ways to participate in PvP within Eve. But the hardship isn't the story. The sec status, lack of isk making, general contempt of the lifestyle, the tears, the ransoms, the skull-duggery, those are not the story. Just like in those hunting days, the killing of an animal ( which you will be happy to know, my Father and I sucked at that part.) isn't the story. The true story is the time spent together, the bonding, the camaraderie, and most importantly the HUNT.


The hunt. The hunt is what is missing from the gate campers, the station campers, the snipers, the bubble waiters, and all the other forms of lazy combat that Eve seems to promote. Oh sure, there are times when we all have to do it, or when we have no other choice. I relate it to one crazy Uncle of mine, who never went with us on our trips because he would drive into the woods and shine a very bright light into a Deer's face. He had one of those large lights on the side of his truck, you've seen them. That is lazy hunting. And it ain't hunting at all.


My favorite times in Eve have been on the hunt. Alone or with my friends. Ultimately it is the search for those moments that drives me to log in, to put up with the hardships of Pirating, the problems with logistics, the sec status, the lack of isk making, the whining about low sec, it is the possibility of the hunt. Superior skill against a worthy opponent. Beating a human being on the other side of the virtual divide. It isn't about conquering a computer, or an AI string of code, but about the most dangerous prey in the world, another person.


The hunt is what brings me back to Eve. It isn't easy. It may even be dying out, but it is still out there, waiting, haunting, mocking, and despite the challenges, the blobs, the camps and the lag, I'll keep looking for it.


Cause I am the hunter.

Cooking with PvP

When I first started playing Eve I wanted the answers, how do you do this? How does that work? What is the best fit for this ship? How? Why? Where? When?!!! 


And while Eve is full of answers, there is no right answer. Only wrong ones.


Harrigan said it in his comment on the last post about the Nano Gang recipe, PvP in Eve is not baking... it is cooking.  If you've never had the opportunity to cook for yourself or for loved ones I highly recommend it. There are so many life lessons involved in cooking food for others, that it is an experience not to be missed. I can honestly say, I can't imagine living life without it.  I don't get to cook as much these days as I used to, but I still enjoy it when I can.


Sure there are recipes in cooking, guides, do's and don'ts. But the real joy of cooking comes from trial and error, guess-work, intuition, creativity and pure fun at your craft. ( Like life itself, creepy huh? )  Cooking, like PvP in Eve, is full of answers. But there are no right ones, only wrong ones.


I've been fiddling with my own recipe lately. I've spent some time going back thru my fits and twiddling, tweaking and making changes. This is something that I do all the time. The recipe changes, the flavor, the aroma, the desired mix of ingredients changes. And while the ingredients haven't changed in a long time, the mix, the level, the amount, the heat, the stove itself is constantly changing.  


For example. I've been tweaking my Rifter fit while avoiding flying the ship at all during the last few weeks. Mostly I just needed a break from it, to take some time to enjoy some other food. A constant diet of even the best steak can get old fast. And not that the Rifter is steak, it is more like a Hot Dog. I enjoy a good hot dog. But I also enjoy it many ways and with many toppings. The Rifter is like that. I took it out last night and eventually found a 1v1 with someone.  We sparred, but neither of us was able to deal the killing blow quickly enough. Sadly the other guy managed to get outside my scram range and he ran off.


So I warped back to my station and took the damn scram off in exchange for a long-point. Next time, someone like him won't be able to just warp off on me!  I'm sure I'll regret that decision, which is why I have multiple fits up and running. That's just one of many. Tweaking the recipe. Adapting.


There are no perfect fits in Eve, only wrong ones. And you'll only know you have the wrong one when you need it the most. There was nothing wrong with my Rifter fit, except that it failed me in that specific situation. They will all do that to you eventually.


But only if you cook. Listen to the Masters, learn your craft and then be brave enough to do it your way. You will find success. And the results will be yummy I bet.

The Nano Gang

The perfect Nano Gang consists of several important components:


> Loki - giving bonuses, point range, scan res, etc., sitting cloaked somewhere in system.


> Tackle Drakes - 34k point with bonuses (Pilots need Low Grade Snakes to make it work) Typically Long Point, 2 Webs, very little tank because you won't need it.


> Scimitars - And this is why. With Scimi and Loki Bonuses, you should never be caught, never in range, and faster than anything else on the field that could be a threat.


> Optional - An Arazu is always a great choice as scout. In a pinch the Loki can do it, since it is always good to have bonuses in the system you are going into.


That is the foundation composition for the perfect Nano gang. The great thing about it is scalability, it can work with a minimum of six ships (although it works best with at least eight) and up and up.  In my opinion the perfect gang size would be, 1 Loki, 6 Drakes, 3 Scimi, 1 Arazu. But that can be more or less.


Drakes sit 30k from the enemy, remember they have 34k points, and hammer away with missile spam. They are fast enough (with Nano in the lows and Loki bonus) that nothing on the field can catch them. Except for small stuff and that's what the webs are for. (Anything small that tries will be doomed) Scimis sit 30k away from the Drakes and serve as the Drake tank.


For those that can't fit the Tackle Drake (and it does take excellent skills and low grade snakes to fit properly) the Tank Drake is the next best option. You lose a web and some agility and some range, but it's better than nothing. For those that can't fly either Drake, the Artie Cane is the next best choice. It doesn't need the snakes, but you're losing DPS and EHP.  The Harbi would be the last BC option in this set-up as it doesn't come close to the range, etc., of the other two. In fact, you'd be better off using a Zealot instead.


It is nice having a couple of Artie Canes along if possible and have them focus entirely on Alpha striking small tackle from range. They work great for that purpose.


And no, I am not giving away fits. Or any other specific details on how this all works. There are probably plenty of other sources out there, but for us in Lucifer's Hammer and Burn Away, we've been working on this for a very long time. In fact we sorta became notorious for it for awhile there. Our Alliance name comes from this gang doctrine for goodness sake! LOL. But we don't run these like we used to, like anything they've sorta fallen out of fashion. But that doesn't mean it isn't still a valid fleet doctrine.


And honestly it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure it all out.  The keys are the Loki (and really the Loki is the only real choice here, I've seen people do it with the others to mixed results.) the Tackle Drake and having the Logi along. Without Logi this turns into a Nano Strike Gang, which is different in many ways. But that's still something I'd rather keep to myself for awhile.


Can't give away all my secrets now can I?

3 Doors Down

I was fitting ships, checking old fits (sometimes a ship sits so long in the hanger... but that's another post!), and generally putzing around in the neighborhood. I always imagine Rixx with his sleeves rolled up, grease stains, working on his ships, tinkering in the garage.


I had made a slight change to my Devoter fit and wanted to see what difference it made, so I undocked in it.  I already had some nice kills under my belt for the day and I was waiting around with a few Alliance mates for more people to show up so we could go on a roam.


But sometimes, Eve has other plans. Lo and behold what do I spy with my eye on d-scan? Could that be a Machariel? Along with a Drake, a Domi, a Basilisk, and a Eagle (wtf?! An Eagle? lol).  Man that sure sounds like a level 5 gang to me. ( I only say that because I was told that later, honestly I have no clue what a level five gang is or isn't. To me it looked like a bunch of shit that needed to die.)  And the cherry on top? The gang just happened to be Douchies, a former Burn Away corporation that had left to join Shadow Cartel.  Nothing personal here, but it did make the following a bit sweeter.


We started organizing immediately. Once I got the ball rolling I made a phone call to some good buddies of mine that I hoped would already be out and about. Not only that but they were nearby. In cases like this it is important not to rush, despite the urgency of the situation and your desire to hurry, things have to be done correctly. We merged fleets, comms, Rixx got bumped to FC for a bit so we could work the probes on our end. And we dropped probes.


Devoter, Cane, Drake and Stabber is what we had in system. Certainly they had seen us on their own d-scan and thought nothing of it. We warped in to the acceleration gate and jumped thru. Into a room full of wrecks. Another acceleration gate, burn and jump. Another room full of wrecks. The further we go in the longer it takes for back-up to arrive. Another gate, burn and jump. Right smack dab on top of 'em!


I yell GO, point Mach, point Eagle on comms! My Drake (piloted by Qanzark) Cane (piloted by Torrinar) and Stabber ( piloted by Gordon Rush ladies) also get points. Woooo! This is insane, rats everywhere, explosions, missiles, smoke, crazy pointy rocks and ships flying around every which way! Our job is to hold on, keep points long enough for the back-up to arrive.


I really like the Devoter in many ways. Two infinite points, damn awesome tank (right at 100k ehp with high resists), but it is slow and like almost all Amarr ships it has cap issues. Right off the bat I'm not only getting hammered, but I'm also having cap issues. Everything I don't need is turned off, I'm even cycling my hardener! But I can't keep up with the Mach, the Domi is making that impossible, even with full cap the Mach could outrun me without webs on him. My Alliance buddies are hanging tough, but they won't last long, I'm at half-armor when I finally get some cap back to start the repper!


And like some golden WW2 dive out of the sun fighters, the Tuskers arrive. I had kept point on the Eagle and it died quickly, the Basi shortly afterwards and the Domi in short order. The Mach had run off, but we also caught the Drake. We kept the Drake alive to keep aggro from the mission rats so we could loot the field. We were also hoping the just arrived Tempest and Ishtar enemy back-up would try to save him, but they didn't. Once we secured the loot we killed the Drake.  (Battle Report)


When we got back to station to drop off the loot everyone docked up. I stayed out to see what might happen, when one of their Canes arrived and red boxed me. Huh. Obvious bait is obvious? So I docked and we decided that those of us in Artie Canes (I switched) would undock, lock him up and then Alpha Strike! Then gtfo before his back-up arrived. Believe it or not it worked like a charm, he was actually still there. But not for long. He didn't actually have any back-up because no one came. I don't know what he was thinking. (Oddly, when I undocked my Cane refused to turn and just kept going in a straight line. lol, fortunately that issue didn't end up meaning anything)


Thanks to Suli for answering my call and for my good friends in The Tuskers for coming to help. And to my Alliance mates that hung tough on that Mach as long as they could. Heroes, all of ya!  Much appreciated and I hope you all enjoyed the fight as much as I did.

Blob: What it is and isn't

There are few words that invoke the anger, hatred, fear, loathing and general wtfs in local than the word: Blob.  Nice blob. I've wuz blobbed. Blobbing and being blobbed are two sides of a combat coin that at once provide the best and worst of Eve.


But, what exactly IS a Blob?


I've been in fleets numbering from 2 to 2,000*, and for the most part not a single one of those were blobs. However, that depends on your perspective doesn't it? Over the weekend I was in a fleet that numbered around 50, not huge and not small. While we were waiting on a gate, a lone Hurricane jumped thru and we all opened fire and killed him in a matter of seconds. Now, to that poor Cane pilot, our fleet was certainly a huge blob of death. But it wasn't a blob.


Over the years I've come to certain conclusions regarding the word, function and results of blobs in Eve. And mostly they come down to one fact of life - no one likes to die without hope. That Hurricane pilot in the story above? No matter how skilled, talented, well fit, trained or officer blinged his Cane was - he didn't stand a chance. Zip. Zilch. Zero.


I don't care who you are, no one likes to die like that. We spend a lot of time, effort and in-game resources to prepare ourselves for the worst. And then, well sometimes the worst happens. We pick the wrong gate, the wrong undock, the wrong whatever and kla-blooie!! All gone. 


That hurts.


But, again, not always a blob. So, what is a blob anyway?


I've developed a definition that I'm sure no one will like, but I'll share it with you anyway.


Blob: The deliberate and purposeful accumulation of sufficient resources to render your opponents resources meaningless in a direct confrontation.


"Deliberate and purposeful" speaks to the thought process of the blobber. In the Cane example, we were on the gate because there were large enemy fleets in the next system. We were not there to destroy the Cane, it just got in the way. However, had I found a Cane ratting in the belt and assembled a like force to kill him, that would be a blob.


"Render your opponents resources meaningless" means this definition works no matter what your enemy is flying, or how many they have. If it's an Archon ratting in a mission, or 10 BCs in system, or a single Rifter, you decide to bring enough ships along that it won't matter what they have. You'll win no matter what happens. The blob eliminates or reduces the possibility of defeat.


But Rixx, isn't your definition the actual purpose of combat? 


It is indeed. The fact is there are only 2 kinds of blobs in Eve, the one your in and the one that finds you. And neither of those is wrong, bad or otherwise worthy of hatred. Even if I have 2 ships in a gang and some poor schmuck is unlucky enough to be flying something stoopid in a belt and we kill him, is that a blob? To him it is. To us, a good kill.


Perspective. Goodness knows I've been blobbed many, many times. And I still get angry about it. Because it sucks. It stinks to be caught and have no way out, no chance to escape the overwhelming display of firepower. And I will never get over it.


But it happens. I might even make some snide comment in local about it, and I certainly will never offer a gf, but really that is all for show. Inside I know it could have easily been the other way around and I'd be posting a new killmail.






So what have we learned about the blob? Nothing really. This is all just my opinion. And in my humble opinion there are no blobs, only people with less friends than other people. People with worse luck that day. People without intel channels. People that shouldn't be flying that there. And people that should learn the proper ways to avoid being blobbed in the first place.


HTFU. No wiser words.




*NOTE: Several people have brought to my attention that no fleet in Eve can have 2,000 members. Of course this is technically correct. No single fleet can, but I was counting combined fleet efforts on single battles. I have seen those numbers several times, as I'm sure many of you have.