EVE New Citizens Q&A

1. I just usually double-click in a suitable direction (away from any other ships) to drop the gate cloak.

2. After dropping the gate cloak, you need to turn on your covops cloak.

3. Yes, although it is very hard for someone to do. They are more likely to get an idea of where you are and then try to uncloak you by getting within 2500m of your location.

4. Warp core stabilizers make it harder for you to be pointed. The downsides of fitting those modules are quite nasty so research them first.

5. Yes.

The brief moment you're visible is very brief, but an organized gate camp will try the following:

- Fast-locking ships to target-lock you - this is hard.

- Interceptors to MWD for the position where you were visible, with drones in tow. This may be easier, especially if you're not prepared. A MWD interceptor can do 4 km/s easy, which means even if they were on the other side of the gate from where you appeared, they can still get to your approximate position within a few seconds. Your ship will not be able to move out of the way and be 2.5 km away that fast.

If they ctrl-triple-click you in the overview as you appear briefly, their ship will try to lock you and approach you on MWD. You then disappear but they just set full speed to continue towards the exact spot where you were. You're then coasting away under cov-ops cloak, but they + drones will likely uncloak you.

To counter this, you can try to double-click (to move) + MWD + cloak, giving your ship a higher initial burst of speed, so you can get 2.5 km away faster. They can guess the direction you went to, but this is harder than the initial overview clicking.

Anyway, this degree of organization is somewhat rare; most of the time you'll be fine just double-clicking to move and then cloaking up. Just watch for interceptors and/or frigates loitering on the gate + bigger ships also loitering (for DPS).

Nanofiber Structures decrease align time in exchange for armour and are easy to fit. The downside to War Core Stabilizers only affects target range and signature resolution: so non-combat ships can fit them with impunity.

In high or low sec there isn't really much danger for a Covert Ops ships with a Covert Ops cloak. You do NOT need to worry about fast moving interceptors trying to burn out to your position to decloak you. This is because you can go to warp while cloaked and you should be hitting align, cloak, warp in rapid succession. You will go to warp within about 4 seconds and even if something fast gets close enough, it will still take a server tick for the cloak to drop and then they've still got to target you. It's possible but you've got to be really unlucky to be caught and if you're that unlucky there is nothing you can do anyway.

The Microwarpdrive / Cloak trick is not valid for Covert Ops cloaks, but is erronous stated in these type of threads. That is for a Prototype Cloaking device where you have to drop cloak at the end to actually go to warp.

Do not use your MWD with Covert Op cloaks, that will actually slow you going to warp and give your enemy more time to decloak you.

The exception is null when caught in a bubble, then you can't go to warp straight away, you need to burn out of the bubble first, so insert "MWD" AFTER cloak, (you have a one second window to activate other modules after hitting cloak) then get a speed boost for one cycle. But you still don't have to decloak to hit warp at the end.

A handy trick when covopsing around and... uh oh... large gate camp! With bubbles!

1. Double click somewhere in space.
2. Recloak.
3. Watch all the ships and drones converge in that direction.
4. Move into the other direction.

You may still get caught and decloaked, but it saved my ship a few times. Good luck, the game opens up a lot with covops training.

This is incredibly bad advice.

Going from gate cloak to covert cloak takes a second. People see you in that period and head for the spot you decloaked, they don't have time to see what direction you are starting to head for. They do not calculate where you would get to in the time it takes them to reach that spot and adjust their course accordingly.

They burn straight for the place they saw you at! Fact! If you then mess around changing course a second time after going to the covert cloak you are going to linger in the same spot everyone is burning to. Your chances of being decloaked is increased by such a stupid action.

You will on occasion appear next to a drone so I will agree having nanofibers, navigation implants, rigs and skill 5 will help with a Blockade Runner's already excellent align time. Hitting F1 at the perfect moment will take a bit of practice, but if you hit it too early you will get an error message and you can tap it again. Just make sure you don't hit it a second time if it does activate since you are vulnerable during the cooldown time.

Edit: A bigger threat I believe will be from undocking from low sec stations that you don't have instadocks for. I have holed up and switched to another character on a few occasions to out wait station campers which for me is fortunately not a big deal.