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PI in lowsec: where's the instruction manual?
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Haffsol
#1 - 2012-05-10 16:29:23 UTC
Prolly PI isn't the most boring thing to do in your life, I always try to remind of those poor guys ice-mining when I think what I'm doing is boring. But planning PI is way more complicated than any other indy thing I tried so far and the time you need to see if the results go according to your planning could be of weeks if not months (not to mention the isk 'wasted' in case they are not)

So I need some advice and I'll shoot my questions:

1- the POCO thing: how do I set up one and how much will it cost? How's reinforcement working on poco's? Can I dismantle them if I want to move one to a different planet? Also, do I need standings to anchor them? Ok, prolly you got I know nothing on the subject. Sorry for that P

2- the abundance of resources: how could I guess just by scanning if I'll have all the commodities to keep the chain going? Is it generally better to find more planets with higher supplies for a single resource or less planets having an 'average amount' of resources?

3- ship to use. I've read about people using a 'well tanked' itty5 and other saying blockade runners and deep space transport are a must. I'm thinking about going to check my production on a 24/48 hrs base, but it could be of an entire week sometime. Will a BR hold the weekly production?

4- everything I'm not aware of. Yes please, gimme your knowledge NAO!!!
Pinstar Colton
Sweet Asteroid Acres
#2 - 2012-05-10 17:10:17 UTC  |  Edited by: Pinstar Colton
1. You need a Gantry which is available for ~70 mil
You also need 8 parts of four different P4 products to finish the construction. Each P4 product is in the ballpark of 800k -1.3mil each. The whole thing will run you about 100mil. Not a small investment but not out of the reach of an established player either.

You don't need any standings to set them up, but a planet can only have one customs office at a time. If it already has one, you'll have to blow it up. You can blow up an interbus office no problem. You can also find some planets that have no customs offices. Anchoring I is enough skill to anchor the gantry. Once you anchor the gantry, you need to put the P4 materials into the 'upgrade hangar' and hit 'upgrade'. This takes 30 seconds and turns the gantry into a proper POCO.


2. I would say that the presence and accessibility of other planets within the same system is a bigger factor than individual resources. If a system has all the planets needed for, say, POS fuel production... that would be a more desireable location than a system with 9 barrens...even if you find one of those barrens with some epic levels of Noble metals.

3. The gantry is very bulky and will need an industrial to transport it along with the P4 materials. I would actually recommend using the MWD cloak trick rather than trying to tank. You can also use an alt or corpmate in a very cheap ship to scout the route to see if there are any camps.

4. Setting up a POCO just for yourself generally isn't worth it. However, if you have a bunch of people using the planet (either corp mates or even neutrals) the tax income can make it profitable...provided someone doesn't decide to blow it up.

In the cat-and-mouse game that is low sec, there is no shame in learning to be a better mouse.

Haffsol
#3 - 2012-05-10 19:36:23 UTC
those are already some good advices and opening some new routes to my planning as well. Just a question in the meanwile: you said I could find planets with no Interbus CO. How would I launch res in space in this case (and how to send my things to planet)? Also I still didn't get if storage facilities are needed or is it better if I manage all my routes to/from the launchpad.
Pinstar Colton
Sweet Asteroid Acres
#4 - 2012-05-10 19:42:32 UTC
Without a customs office you cannot send things down to the planet. You are limited to using your command center to launch products into orbit. Very inefficient.

I personally use my launchpad as the main linking hub for all my installations. The only time this becomes inadvisable is if you are working with VERY high volumes of certain materials. If that is the case, use of storage facilities is recommended.

In the cat-and-mouse game that is low sec, there is no shame in learning to be a better mouse.

Haffsol
#5 - 2012-05-10 22:14:16 UTC
it looks like I underestimated the POCO affair. I've been roaming in different lowsec pockets in different regions and I saw very few systems having still some Interbus CO alive, where very few means something way below the 10% and I'd say closer to 1% than 5% too.
Now the question is if to try to get some "free planets" and use the interbus CO untill someone will blow it up forcing me to move, install my own POCO's on the free planets I've found or join some corp (or be sat blue to them if possible) and use their POCO's.

Not to mention a DUST storm is coming
Pinstar Colton
Sweet Asteroid Acres
#6 - 2012-05-11 12:08:52 UTC
It is hardly worth using interbus offices, that 17% tax rate will eat your profits alive. If you want to colonize a planet that currently has an interbus office, you are better off blowing up that office and installing your own before starting your PI there.

Scout around each system right clicking each planet until you see a few that don't have the customs office listed in the drop down menu.

If you are lucky enough to come across some other player's POCOs with a reasonable tax rate, by all means use those.

Joining a corp that has them would also open up more POCOs to you, as corps generally charge reasonable tax rates to their own members while keeping high taxes (or outright denying access) to non-members.

In the cat-and-mouse game that is low sec, there is no shame in learning to be a better mouse.

Andre Vauban
Federal Defense Union
Gallente Federation
#7 - 2012-05-17 16:30:20 UTC  |  Edited by: Andre Vauban
Haffsol wrote:
Prolly PI isn't the most boring thing to do in your life, I always try to remind of those poor guys ice-mining when I think what I'm doing is boring. But planning PI is way more complicated than any other indy thing I tried so far and the time you need to see if the results go according to your planning could be of weeks if not months (not to mention the isk 'wasted' in case they are not)

So I need some advice and I'll shoot my questions:

1- the POCO thing: how do I set up one and how much will it cost? How's reinforcement working on poco's? Can I dismantle them if I want to move one to a different planet? Also, do I need standings to anchor them? Ok, prolly you got I know nothing on the subject. Sorry for that P

2- the abundance of resources: how could I guess just by scanning if I'll have all the commodities to keep the chain going? Is it generally better to find more planets with higher supplies for a single resource or less planets having an 'average amount' of resources?

3- ship to use. I've read about people using a 'well tanked' itty5 and other saying blockade runners and deep space transport are a must. I'm thinking about going to check my production on a 24/48 hrs base, but it could be of an entire week sometime. Will a BR hold the weekly production?

4- everything I'm not aware of. Yes please, gimme your knowledge NAO!!!


1. Don't worry about setting up your own lowsec POCO. Unless you have a 50+ man pvp corp behind you, it won't last long at all. Just fly around lowsec and look around. There are PLENTY of POCOs with very reasonable tax rates. Nobody advertises, but they are there.

2. I personally prefer using as many planets in the same system as possible (preferably with a station). This makes collection SO much easier. Yes, it is less efficient but it saves so much time I think it is worth it.

3. My personal preference is do all your PI in systems with a station. Then use a totally unfit industrial to ferry PI between the station and POCOs. The only time you are vulnerable is while at the POCO. If you use a transport ship or cloaky industrial, you cannot cloak on top of the POCO anyway. If somebody shows up, ninja all the PI back into the POCO. At WORST you will lost like 500k - 1M on the industrial. Once your material is in the station, then use your transport ship or MWD/cloak trick industrial to move it from there (transport ship preferred).

4. Just go read some other threads. I gave you enough in #3 :)

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