EVE New Citizens Q&A

True, but some fleets fail if eveyr single member just picks his target on it's own. FCs help to focus fire on key targets, and if FC dies usually a back-up should be ready to jump in (maybe even a back-up for that back-up if fight is large enough).

In large battles (200 vs 200 sub-caps) randomly firing at the enemy while the enemy takes down certain ships (tackle, logi, etc) will mean you will loose the fight in the end.

Coming from an ex-nullsec resident who said "**** this" and joined lowsec/FW, some of them really are. They are also full of idiots who do not understand why a heterogeneous fleet composition covering all utility roles is good. I cannot count the number of times I've been told to "train something useful" because interceptors, covops, ewar, and later interdictors are apparently all useless.

Schmata, there is a fundamental different between a FC in a small fleet/gang (2-30 people) and a FC for large fleet engagements. The mechanics involved are very different, the fleet setups are very different, and the amount of self-thought and discipline expected in fleet members differs as well.

In a small fleet, the FC is there more for direction and providing some semblance of unity, plus possibly playing the role of scout/tackle/bait, or compensating for lack of experience of fleet members with good orders (i.e. what I do in Rifterlings fleets). Fleet members are largely free to do what they want, independently scouting, trying target acquisition, etc. This semi-"wolfpack" technique works well with small ships that don't necessarily have to stand and fight, and have an easier time engaging on their own terms, or not at all. Small fleets also tend to have more conversation and a friendlier atmosphere.

In a larger fleet, the FC does not scout or tackle or do any of that. That is delegated to specific members. Everyone must follow orders immediately and without questioning them, and speaking up out of turn will get you muted. Going out on your own may give away the whole fleet and get you in trouble. Rather than trusting their individual judgments, the fleet members have to trust the FC to make the right decisions for everyone.

Orders in small fleets are also "looser". Instead of "warp to Planet V moon 3 at 50 km" it's "the target is at Planet V customs office, go get 'im!"

Anyway, this doesn't really answer the OP's question, but I hope it provides some insight into what goes on while FCing.

FW gives us orientation and things to do other than random pirating, plus a very nice income source. It also gives us people to shoot without ruining our sec status (statuses? stati? statopodes?). We're not really in the foreground of FW system conquering, but rather in the background skirmishing over complexes and missions.

Don't tell me you believed I "just happen" to write in the same threads :)

Fleet comanders call targets and order fleets into or out of situations.

You need to be able to have in fight intel: Which ships are present? What are enemy ships hit points at? Are logi reaching them or not? What are Capacitor levels on ships? All of this intel is necessary in a good fleet fight between balanced adversaries.

Being in a cloaked observer ship means you cannot lock on to enemy ships to get read outs on there remaining hit points, you also wont be able to ship scan them for cap levels etc. Ie in a cloaky observer ship you really cant fleet command a fight.

Most fleet comanders dont use Boosting ships and expensive gang links. The fleet higher archy you see in game has jack **** to do with who is actually running the show its all about the distribution of fleet bonuses and a way for fleet mates to stay organized so they can page for reps or add scouts or tacklers to watch list for warp ins.

You yourself could be in a rifter with a bunch of other people the same exp level as you in rifters, and if you fleeted up ordered them around got some kills and ordered them out of a bad situation before it got worse. You would be an FC. No Booster ship required.

the fleet rolls of Scouts and FC,s can be done by almost any one in almost any ship. Most FC would prefer not to be notorious like Shadoo, or some one else because the moment they get in a fleet fight they get called primary target and get smoked before reps land meaning they have to hand over FCing to some one else. Which isnt fun if you like to fc. And dont like loosing ships.

Flying shiny **** in a fleet and being a well know FC sounds like a great recipe to be the first person killed at the begining of a fight, which is counter productive if you actually want to be FCing during that fight.

Listen closely to the types of things Lord Maldaror the narrator says in this video when the fight gets going it will give you a better idea of what a Fleet commanders job is and how Voice coms is probably more important for the job of FC then any ship you could ever fly.

When you've flown your assault ships or that manticore and you still want to keep pvping. Give us a call.
Here's my Karde

Edit: for what it's worth, look at the Tormentor post patch.

And in that video, do you see the FC in a cloaky ship or a booster. No.

RnK is one of the finest examples on how to fight

It really depends on the fleet. Alphabetical target calling certainly happens when you're
- In a very large fleet
- There are lots of targets in the same ship
- That are all at a similar range

For instance if you want to primary their ECM ships you will do so, but then call them usually in alphabetical order. You might do similar with logistics, but bearing in mind you either need to shoot the ones with low transversal or web them heavily, or both. i.e. there's a lot of skill in being in the position to be calling alphabetically.

In small gangs and fighting on the edge (such as the RnK videos) then there's a much higher sense of "every ship counts"

Whichever one you're a part of, the FCs job is never just target calling. Common tasks include:

- Target calling
- Fleet comp
- Fleet movement and positioning
- Finding a fight / baiting an engagement
- RIsk assessment
- Dealing with whiney idiots
- etc

But yes, you pretty much need to know every ship in the game, what it can do, and what it means for your fleet.

If you don't know what an Arazu is, then you might get a surprise when you see one decloak at 50km.

Hmm and here I thought you would have used the line about FCing being easy, no matter.
I assure you the comment was meant sarcastically, and I have never thought the commander was just calling targets.

This however I have lots of experience with.


Against my better judgement however I just can't help myself.
You have said that in a large fleet battle I will be always busy with little time to engage in combat. You said this yes?
This is what I assumed from the start hence my question about being in a cloaked ship as opposed to an expensive ship just sitting in the middle of combat or at its edge not really contributing anything other then FCing.
I have been told however that a cloaked ship is not a good idea and you agree yes?

My next thought was something that would contribute to combat without eating into my concentration to hard. Sitting there and giving buffs has to be better then just sitting there right? However you also say this is a bad idea as it will be prime target and then enemy knows what boosts are given.

However Plentath had this to say about it.
"Viable command ships that are actually command ships, are basically the Damnation. It can get near to one million effective hitpoints (800,000 typical -- if you set it and your fleet up to do it) so calling it a primary target is usually a terrible idea, when you consider you can have destroyed 8 battleships in the same time, and taken upto 10,000 dps (worth a dreadnaught) off the field in the same time."

I wonder what your thoughts are? Is she wrong in saying that calling the Damnation as the primary is usually a terrible idea?

No offense but I doubt that. Eve is much much bigger but the jury is still out on if it is more dynamic. This game and my other MMO have more in common then you might think, however yes I am coming into a new game and I am sure what I don't know could fill a Big Brown Box (err Orca?) However I suspect many of my old skills will transfer just fine because people tend to stay the same even if the games change. Or is this game so lucky that things like betrayal, player burnout, conquest of territory, maintaining non aggression pacts (or whatever this game calls them), maintaining relations with your allies, and understanding the larger political landscape are unimportant? Is this a game where understand your own troops moral and knowing when the spirit of your enemy is braking unimportant? Real leadership skills are not something you que up and train for a month. The true trick is if I can get those skills to apply to Eve. Only time will tell if I am successful and not just arrogant.



So then you disagree with her? Better to have one costly ship sitting in combat hoping he is not fired at as another player is taken off the field to go sit in a POS and be booster? What if the Damnation was not the FC or the booster and just a high tanked lamb meant for the slaughter so that other more important ships could engage longer? It is a bit of a gamble but if the Damnation is going to be shot first a large majority of the time then is this not wise? If the Damnation is not going to be called out first a large chunk of the time why not have it be the FC so you can be rewarded with another Warship on the field of battle?