Warfare & Tactics

I do believe themittani.com has recently written a series of guides on carriers, you should definitely check them out

It's nice to see that after tons of worn-out "don't undock if you don't want to lose it " crap, you've got pretty much all the good advise there is. Carriers are indeed great for moving your pvp ships around, just listen to the guys here. If you have to jump through hostile nullsec without docking rights, you can do the self-destruct cyno sequence, fit your carrier with cloak, istabs, and cap recharge, and find an empty system for that (it's safe but a lot of know-how is necessary if you do that).

The salvage module hint is correct, but not completely. A salvager I can indeed show the 5km range, but the station models aren't that exact and carrier model has some volume, too. So leave some room there. Plus, the salvager range doesn't show you whether the carrier will appear within docking range.

Nowadays, even if you cyno too close and get a bump off the station, in most cases you still get to dock, because you can spam dock and get docked within 4-5 seconds from cynoing in (before your carrier flies too far). I myself am not very worried about bumping off the station so I'm a bit too careless about the cyno location. I sometimes do get station bump, but I've always been able to dock.

... yes a backup cyno lol I do hope you own a carrier as well. I offer you my back-up cyno services. First cyno is free of charge.

Some really excellent advice in this thread. Much of it I knew already, but there were still many things I hadn't considered and some very creative ideas here as well, which is why I thought I would post in the first place. So thank you.

Regarding the cyno Falcon, I never really planned to use it that much any, but reminding me of the dangers is appreciated. Perhaps if I need to rep it I can carry around a logi in my carrier and I won't be risking so much. The other option I considered would be to delay on docking my carrier so that i can rep the falcon without being right at the station undock point ie lined up perfectly for a bump. Of course, loitering about undocked is bad for drawing attention. The point about not aggressing with the falcon if i plan to rep it is well taken though.

self destructing the cyno ship is an idea i hadn't thought of. I will definitely use this if i have to cyno into a system where I can't dock, but of course I won't do this with anyone else in local.

I've been using a cloak but I realize this is kind of pointless if I'm just going station to station, it'll hinder my ability to defend myself if I do get bumped and tackled. I can't go wrong with smartbombs and heavy neutralizers, right?

The article was a good read. I definitely need to pick up a few boosters. I doubt getting a dedicated clone with LG slaves is a great investment for my purposes.

Thanks again.

Cyno Falcon is not a good idea. Just have your alt reship to a noobship when you make the cyno. I think that you'll get the point after losing many enough Falcons and/or carriers.



I fit neuts but tbh, neither is of much use if you fail the undocking. You can fire SBs when you're already 5km off the station, but few tackle will die to sb:s (t2 large is only like 6k range). Heavy neuts are of more use, although using either gives you aggression that denies docking.

If you need to use those, you're already bumped out of the dock range (by either station bump or hostile bump) and traveling at speed away from the station. So you can't dock, and you try to get align and warp to whatever station seems easiest. Heavy neuts CAN get that tackler shut down if they're not bumping you so you can align and warp away or try to get back to the station. But if you cynoed in too far away and try to slowboat to station, you don't want neuts or sbs because you want to dock. As I don't do this regularly I can't say what really works, though.

TL;DR: If your cyno failed in a system with hostiles, you're probably screwed regardless of your fit.

You think there is a market for me take my freighter to fill down there? lol

The way not to lose your carrier is to have between a dozen and three dozen friends also in carriers all fit for a colossal remote-repair circle-jerk. The Pantheon is still one of the most well-established carrier doctrines in the game.

Failing that, staying docked is an (almost) utterly foolproof way to avoid losing your carrier.

Not losing your carrier is, of course, never guaranteed. Anything you fly in eve you can lose and probably will at some point. Some tips you might consider for safety:

1. Never jump to a beacon in null sec.
2. If you are going to violate rule number one then at least have eyes there so that you know you are not jumping into an an enemy gang
3. If you are going to violate rule number one do not under any circumstances jump if there is a neutral in local. Assume that he is cloaked with a cyno and sitting next to the beacon. Because he will be.
4. Dont agress anything in null sec or low sec with your carrier or rep anything that is agressed. Assume your enemy has friends sitting on a titan in range of you or is fit with a cyno and has friends in super caps ready to land on you. He probably does.
5. I personally fit a cloak on my carrier at all times while traveling. If i get bumped off station or if the cyno dies while I am jumping i can cloak when i get there and align to station while cloaked. A cloak will save your life more often than you might believe.
6. Use jump planner when planning your jump routes. Always select station systems to jump to. Look at how busy these systems are before jumping to them. Jump planner has all these details.
7. Dont ever play station games with your cap. Assuming that you can tank everything just because you only have a few guys in local shooting you has cost so many idiots their capitals in this game. Always assume the enemy has a cyno fit and friends ready to jump in on that cyno.

This is a simple image guide from 2011 for using Jump Freighters:

http://i.imgur.com/sHkC0.jpg

Jumping around with a carrier is in many ways the same.

The guide contains a link to a 'jump planner'. Disatro which has posted above mentioned the need for one. The jump planer is a vital tool in any cap pilots tool box. I recommend Dotlan like suggested in the linked guide.

Generally I don't use recon cynos when moving assets around. Instead I store disposable cyno frigs (kestrels mainly) along the main cyno routes. Normally I bring a few along + LO in one of my carriers, in case one of the cyno alts need restocking.

Regarding kick out stations (which you should look out for): http://failheap-challenge.com/showthread.php?7216-Kickout-stations

Regarding your fit: If you are only ever going to jump to stations you don't really need ccc rigs due to the stations recharging the cap for you. Trimarks etc. might even be of better use. Also, save the isk on the faction EANM and just fit t2. If you are only going to transport ships, you shouldn't be needing the increased resists. Generally in those situations, if you get caught in a bad place the faction eanms won't be what saves you. A cyno in the high slot most likely is your only savior. Thus minimize the potential cost of the loss in case you somehow get unlucky or screw up.

E: make sure to add the session change icon, so you can keep an eye on, when you can redock/are vulnerable etc.

I bought my first carrier 2 days ago (with barely the skills to sit in it) as I wanted it for hauling.

I spent hours practising cynos on different stations, getting my poor alt blown up.
Then I spent a few hours jumping around just for the sake of it. And it was kinda exciting, and not the least; I had some fun doing it.

You dont have to have all skills at max, or be super-pro at everything Eve to move a carrier around.
Yes I will lose my carrier, and it will be my fault when it happens, and it will be annoyingly expensive - but hey, I've flown a carrier, and learned a little what to do, and alot of what not to do in one. That basically sumns up my whole eve experience.

Do what you think is fun.