Warfare & Tactics

Hopefully, to benefit newer players .. those, the majority, brighter than myself will have already figured things out, negating the learning requirement I experienced.

And so, one bright morning, about 40 days ago now, fresh from having changed my Corp affiliation to one that is "at war" with another, while remaining blissfully ignorant of it's potential ramifications, I'm sucking on a first cup of coffee as I "auto" fly my 'Phoon' to a multi-jump destination.

LESSON 1: The Corp enemy piloted Vindicator that was camping on the gate I intended to jump through, in high sec space, was on me like a hair on a biscuit. If your Corp is at war with another, you can be attacked anywhere, anytime without intervention from security forces and without any standing hit being suffered by the attacking player. Such enemies will/should display RED in your overview.

LESSON 2: I spent some time pondering about if I'd had some more sucks from that first cup, or had been on my third cup .. maybe my reflexes might have been quicker. Regardless, especially in the above described situation, most players WILL destroy your pod if you tarry in your escape. Your clone, hopefully sufficient to not loose any skills, will NOT have any of the augmentations you've bought. They die with you, in the pod. Mine were only +3, with every possible slot filled. Replacing augmentations is expensive.

And, 24+ hours ago now, as I'm leaving a station in my Drake, flying to a lvl4 mission I intend to run .. just as I'm kicking into warp, and for a brief moment, I see a ship just arriving at the station in my overview. It's color is red, a pilot my Corp is at war with. "Hah!", I thought .. "missed me!!".

LESSON 3: While aware that equipment/capabilities exist allowing a pilot to scan-down another ship, it had never prior, in many many missions I've ran, been done to me. The Paladin (only God, owners and seasoned players even know what a Paladin costs, as "None for Sale" showed in the Market yesterday) arrived into the second room of the mission. My Drake didn't stand a chance. And, as chance would have it, the pilot of the Paladin? Yes, the same who ambushed me at the gate, 40 days prior. You can have "surprise company" anywhere, anytime while running missions. Learn to use your scanners directional capabilities, looking for probe proximity to your location. Adopt a plan to be as evasive as possible .. warping/waiting at multiple locations before entering your mission.

Good Luck.

TL:DR

OP auto-piloted, and ran mission during a war. Got his stuff killed. More at 11.

Mistake #1: Don't auto-pilot. Especially if your corp is at war.
Mistake #2: Don't fly PVE fits if your corp is at war.
Mistake #3: Don't run missions in/around trade or mission hubs if your corp is at war. If there are war targets in your system, undock prepared to fight. And not in PVE fits.

Wars can be fun. Do your homework, and take the fight to them. :) CovOps and locator agents come in handy to track enemy movements.

Better yet: build a PVP fit on your PVE ship they've already seen you flying. A drake would be perfect for this. Get a mission, warp to it, and then wait in ambush. Not saying you would have survived a Paladin landing on you, but then again Marauders aren't exactly stellar at PVP. He came expecting and easy kill and a lolmail, an ambush and a prolonged fight might have given you one hell of a killboard.

Since u r militia, bet 1 candy u were killed by Loren.

Edit. yes, u were.

Yes. My primary motivation for joining the present Corp (I was in Hedion University from joining EVE, almost 7 months) was the revelation that I could avoid Hedion's stiff "cut", taken on every ISK earned.

In the almost 3 months with "SP", in all the flying I've done, it was a rare occurrence and far from my normal haunts that I'd see RED (or even PURPLE, allies) in my HUD. Just so happened that in each of those RED sightings I wasn't in "auto" and I was flying a shuttle or frigate .. and quickly through the gate.

Being "at war" WAS, largely, a non-event. And, I WAS comfortable and complacent.

A formidable killer .. at least in my instance.

O my.. What a loot pinata!

I must start heading up to Tama more often if people are being that stupid about fitting their ship. Or better yet.. you should roam down to Syndicate every now and then. It is much more fun than hiding in a few low sec systems with your booster alt for "solo" pvp, docking up at the first sign of a good fight.


Edit: Still having a problem figuring out how you lost a 100mn tengu in lowsec.. I mean, that's bad son.

At least you didnt rage quit. Welcome to EVE dude, hope you take the fight to them someday and find what really makes EVE special.

if you insist on (missioning/mining/being a mentally disabled individual) during wartime, WATCH LOCAL CHAT. constantly scroll back and forth across the list and watch for the telltale red star. if you see it, notify your corpies and dock. Although this is not foolproof, sometimes neutral scouts can scan you down and bring the hurt on you in seconds...

I couldn't tell you how many people I've killed who could have done that and survived... including a small mining op (orca and 2 hulks)...

edit- also, NEVER autopilot in war. I've seen people booted from corp for such dumbfuggery,