Warfare & Tactics

Questions for the masses:

What' your favourite was to sustain the isk that PVP requires? (especially for the beginner)

Can PvP ever pay for itself or is it a hobby/passion that you sink money into?

What form of PvP do you prefer? (solo, small gang, blog, etc)

Personally I prefer solo/small gang warfare. I'm just going back into pvp. My last experience saw no profit and long periods of not losing much but not making anything either followed by a month in which I lost enough ships to just about wipe my account and leave me with a bunch of empty hangers. I've rebuilt and hopefully have learned some lessons for this time out. There's lots of blogs and the like out there for "how to PVP" there's isn't much for "what to expect" except you will lose ships. Look foward to the feedback.

PvP is an isk sink for most players.

Assume you go 50/50...or even 75/25. Most pvp worthy ships cost far more than 4x the loot you will get off of them. If you fly only BC and intys, maybe. But for most, no. And its not exactly a productive use of time, either -- a few hours running l4s will give you enough isk to pvp for a week without worrying about isk from piracy itself.

That said, there is a surprising amount of isk out there in terms of contracts and fees. That's more of a corp level, tho.

Good day,

Mystical Might does mission and PVE for isk.

In terms of piracy-based PVP...

October to date resulted in a gain of 357,674,687 ISK from piracy after counting for losses.

Ransom ships when it makes sense; ransom pods always (granted shoot if they refuse to pay).

When I was in Minmatar Faction Warfare, isk came relatively easy from FW missions (both from isk payout as well as LP conversions).

The ISK flow was good; and, you had a level of control of the isk flow. Need more isk, mission more. Need more isk, look at better ways to convert your LP -- what to buy, and what to sell where.

ISK flow in piracy is hit and miss. I.e. October 2011 MTD has been very good, but November could be negative ISK flow for all I know.

Even so, if you watch what you fly (when I moved from FW to piracy, I started flying cheaper ships), how you fly, and be picker about your targets, your efficiency rating should go up -- especially if you do your best to learn from every combat (win or lose).

Thank you.

I have not had to spend any time at all making isk in the last three months. During this time period, I have purchased a few sets of high grade pirate implants, three faction fit T3s, a few faction cruisers (pirate and navy), tons of various BCs, and some frigates off of the isk I made from PVP loot. Looking back on it, I average about 3-4 bil profit from PVP a month (not counting all the mods that I just keep cause I think I might use them at some point.)

There are plenty of players out there who spend all of their time grinding for isk, then for some inexplicable reason put it all on their ships in the form of officer and faction mods. These people tend to think that because their ship costs 5-6 bil, they have an I win button. Sanctum runners drop WAY better loot than any NPC.

If your. EHonor doesn't prevent you from shooting blingy ships in high sec you can make serious bank doing what we do. Sure it's more of a mugging in most instances but you do end up in a lot of small Loltastic skirmishes. Our more experienced pilots make out like bandits you might say.

Just don't lose ships..... do your recon good! And when you do get *^#&* @ , do some shooties in the wh's or wherever. Should be enough to keep on going.

I once snagged a few billion's worth of T2 salvage after a major fleet fight.

*snicker*

You can make a living with piracy. It is difficult but possible. Fly cheaply and be very careful what you can engage. Ransom when possible, because you're likely to get more isk that way than from loot drops. My evil critter has made a net profit from PvP (with about a 10:1 K/D ratio) but flying this way - extra careful, minimizing risk - isn't much fun. It also takes a long time to replace ships and move up ship classes. A T2 fit Rifter is a low cheaper than a T2 Vagabond.

I've made decent money at it. Nothing nearly as reliable or substantial as exploration, which pales in comparison to (gag) highsec incursions, but it can pay.