Warfare & Tactics

There's those empty slots on my account and i ask myself: what about actually trying PvP with a PvP alt?

I do have some questions, so, let's start... please be clear, i don't know anything on PvP.

1: Is solo PvP sustainable? Can I expect to win more than i lose once i learn the trade?

2: E-war, cloaking, are they useful for solo PvP? Or is better to invest skills and slots purely on damage/tanking?

3: Race, if you should start from scratch, what race would you use for solo PvP? (Because of: active/passive tank, armor/shield tank, racial weaponry, racial ships, et cetera)

4: Ship size, what's a sensible top size for solo PvP? Frigate, destroyer, cruiser, BC, strategic cruiser...?

5: are there teaching resources and/or corps for learning solo PvP?

6: Red vs Blue, is it useful in order to learn PvP?

7: FW, is it useful in order to learn PvP?

im terribad at PVP but occasionally I fly with friends in gangs, and occasionally semi-solo (alts for scouting.)

In that context to answer your questions,

0) get out there in frigs as you skill your alt. immersion = best teacher.

1) if you choose your fights well, you will come out ahead. Flying blind (no scout) makes it more likely to run into trouble. But sometimes flying into a camp is a good thing if they're already busy fighting someone else. be patient.. be opportunitist.

2) cloaking is nice or at least a cloaky scout. ecm drones, a must for GTFOing.

3) minnie and gallente

4) frigs, cruisers are a great start. most fun I have is in a thorax.

5) eve is easy (Garmon's site), youtube has lots of videos as well.


6/7 never tried. Best of luck. again,

0) get out there in frigs, lol. and have fun.

You will get many more actual fights per hour where your actions effect the battle by joining rvb than you will from just moving into null sec.

Look at the fits of good solo pvpers on their killboard. Genos is a good corp to check. Ask yourself why are they flying that fit. What ranges are they aiming for etc.

Also check out this podcast:
https://forums.eveonline.com/default.aspx?g=posts&t=42133&find=unread

follow me into wromhole and i teach u the art of solo pvp.

1: At the start you will die alot until you learn your ship, what you can engange and how to, but it´s possible.

2: There is a couple of E-War ships used for solo pvp like arbitrator, pilgrim.

3: I would pick Gallente, mainly because I like the ships more like the Taranis or thorax but all races can solo pvp.

4: Use what you can afford.

5: there is video guides if you look around abit.

6: no idea.

7: Last time I was in FW, it was only fleets with some solo pilots trying to kill mission runners.

Or MWD back to the gate...

Fly to Arnon, go to asteroid belt, take cans. Repeat for three months.

>>6: Red vs Blue, is it useful in order to learn PvP?

It's enough to learn the basics but try to avoid picking up bad habits from RvB. And I don't think RVB is reflective of other combat environments such as lowsec or nullsec .

>>7: FW, is it useful in order to learn PvP?

Yes and no. Contrary to what most people believe, FW is no not noob friendly. Definitely join a corp as Cromwell suggested as it will help your growth and understanding of FW and lowsec pvp. Everyday, I see someone ask in militia chat if there are fleets occuring and whatnot. Sadly, most of them don't understand that joining a corp will help them advance in FW. Sometimes it's blobby. Sometimes it has has 1v1s and small gangs.


Btw- I find it odd that people make pvp to be either solo or in gangs. Why not choose a happy medium such as a 2-man gang? You learn from each other and increase your rate of survival while increasing the number of targets you can engage with.

I'm a PvP-noob so that's the perspective I'll respond from.

1: Is solo PvP sustainable? Can I expect to win more than i lose once i learn the trade?

Solo PvP can be a hekuvalot of fun, even for a noob. As for win-loss, well that will depend on your skills, adaptability, and the type of PvP you go play in.

As for sustainable, if you're talking about isk I doubt it. You *can* get some income from PvP but I doubt many ppl get enough to make-up for their ammo and ship losses. I just live off my w-space savings and plan to go back to sleeper-shooting when my wallet again starts looking a bit thin.

2: E-war, cloaking, are they useful for solo PvP? Or is better to invest skills and slots purely on damage/tanking?

You hardly kills anyone without damage, so that's a must. You don't survive long enough to kill some targets without tanking, so that's kinda desirable also. Ewar is a capability multiplier and can be used to reduce the incoming damage or / and increase the DPS that you deliver to your opponents, so it's kinda real helpful too.

Like everything in eve all those skillbook decisions are a compromise and a bit of a balancing act.

I use cloaking and ewarr extensively in my PvP efforts, but I am using a stealth bomber in w-space and trying to kill drakes and tengu among the easy target haulers and salvagers.

3: Race, if you should start from scratch, what race would you use for solo PvP? (Because of: active/passive tank, armor/shield tank, racial weaponry, racial ships, et cetera)

Pick the style you like and run with that. Once the skills start coming together you will probably find yourself cross training anyway, if only to get access to a particular ship. For example my skills are best by far for minmatar ships with projectile weapons, altho I am currently enjoying torping and bombing in a caldari SB immensely, and am training amarr cruiser V so I can soon fly the pilgrim.

Having said that I do like the minmatar approach ... good DPS and fast ships, without an awful lot of thick defence outside of that speed. A difficulty with Minmatar, however, is that you often need to have a fair bit of cross-training (missiles and drones) to get the best out of those great ships.

4: Ship size, what's a sensible top size for solo PvP? Frigate, destroyer, cruiser, BC, strategic cruiser...?

Whatever gets your rocks off, altho frigates generally cost less to lose ... and lose them you will. Frigates are also way easier to train for and get decent skills for.

5: are there teaching resources and/or corps for learning solo PvP?

Lots. Google will steer you towards a heap of guides and blogs ... some of them are very good.

Red v Blue is a hisec corp / alliance setup dedicated to PvP. The fighting style is a bit contrived, and often different to what you will see elsewhere, but it's a great place to cheaply learn the basics and the pros and cons of various ships.

Eve Uni, a great training facility.

Agony Unleashed, runs (still, I think) very good PvP courses for a fee.

Getting in with a noob-friendly PvP oriented corp would also be a great way to learn the ropes ... solo, small gang, and larger gang depending on what they do.

6: Red vs Blue, is it useful in order to learn PvP?

It is useful and it is fun. It's a great way to learn the basics so you can build on them later as you branch out into different PvP areas.

7: FW, is it useful in order to learn PvP?

I have never done any FW stuff.

1. Yes it is, but it's not reasonable to expect it to be until you are very experienced.

2. All are useful in certain circumstances. Ewar is more geared toward gangs and fleets but ECM drones can be very powerful in some cases of solo PVP.

3. Mimmatar is best overall for solo

4. Frigate and Battlecruisers depending on preference.

5. My site is very helpful for learning. Go to category "video guides" to see a bunch of free videos.

6. Yes, it's steady PVP and good practice on execution. (fun too)

7. I've never been able to get much from FW, but I also haven't tried very hard too.

Good luck