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Warfare & Tactics

 
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Combat Probes
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Rakk Andedare
The Iron Asylum
#1 - 2011-12-23 16:53:52 UTC
So, I have been messing around with combat probes. I am trying to use them to locate spawned mission sites. What should I be looking for that would indicate at a "hit" on the probes as being a mission location? I know "ships" would signify a location, however, as there are many ships in a system and they are continually moving around i have been unsuccessful in using them as a marker. Is there something else that I should be looking for? Are there any tricks to this?

Thanks.
Princess Bride
SharkNado
#2 - 2011-12-23 17:21:52 UTC
Get faster.

Ships are the only thing combat probes are gonna find in mission sites.

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FloppieTheBanjoClown
Arcana Imperii Ltd.
#3 - 2011-12-23 17:32:15 UTC
You can also locate drones. A good way to identify whether you're down to a mission site is a lone ship with five drones.

Founding member of the Belligerent Undesirables movement.
Marduk Nibiru
Chaos Delivery Systems
#4 - 2011-12-23 17:36:04 UTC  |  Edited by: Marduk Nibiru
Well, assuming you're trying to salvage their mission you want to look for lvl 4's. So you're looking for T3 cruisers or BS. Some people do L4 in BC, like myself, but most go straight for the big ships and mission in them.

So that will narrow your problem down a little bit.

Second, find a system that doesn't have a lot of people in it. Of course, most combat lvl 4 systems are crowded, or at least were before the changes... Still though, local with 10 is easier to scan in than local with 50.

Next, you need to work like a scout. This means you use a combination of probes and your DS. You can point your ship in various directions if you want, to find out where about this person is, but that still leaves much room in the system they could be in. You want to be able to drop your probes, place them, scan, and get 100% the first try. So you need to be using distance as well. Get it fairly well figured out where they are with the DS before you even launch one probe.

Also, check your SS from time to time. Sometimes that ship you're looking for can be in an anomaly.

Really, it's just like scouting. You're hunting for your prey the same way. The only difference is that instead of 50 guys waiting with hearts pounding hoping to get one shot on the guy before he pops, you're coming in with a salvager.

Practice, practice. Good luck. If you get good at it you'll be flying scout forever.

Edit: one more tip. If you're already scanning in cloak then you can warp somewhere > 14 AU away from the guy before dropping your probes. Then he doesn't even get a chance to see them on DS before they're on him.
Rakk Andedare
The Iron Asylum
#5 - 2011-12-23 18:30:01 UTC
Marduk Nibiru wrote:


Next, you need to work like a scout. This means you use a combination of probes and your DS. You can point your ship in various directions if you want, to find out where about this person is, but that still leaves much room in the system they could be in. You want to be able to drop your probes, place them, scan, and get 100% the first try. So you need to be using distance as well. Get it fairly well figured out where they are with the DS before you even launch one probe.



So to get to 100% on the first shot, when i get an idea on the d-scan, should I drop probes at 0.5AU radius near the distance the d-scan indicated?
Marduk Nibiru
Chaos Delivery Systems
#6 - 2011-12-23 19:17:49 UTC
Rakk Andedare wrote:
Marduk Nibiru wrote:


Next, you need to work like a scout. This means you use a combination of probes and your DS. You can point your ship in various directions if you want, to find out where about this person is, but that still leaves much room in the system they could be in. You want to be able to drop your probes, place them, scan, and get 100% the first try. So you need to be using distance as well. Get it fairly well figured out where they are with the DS before you even launch one probe.



So to get to 100% on the first shot, when i get an idea on the d-scan, should I drop probes at 0.5AU radius near the distance the d-scan indicated?


Pretty much. With good skills you might not need to go that narrow, especially for big ships, but yeah, you go small immediately. Try at 1-2 AU, maybe 4, first and if you can't get it there at least you're really close and can quickly reform. If you find they regularly get away again go narrower. It's fairly tough to get in to .5 right off the bat though and I only need to zoom in that far for frigs.
Rakk Andedare
The Iron Asylum
#7 - 2011-12-23 19:32:17 UTC
Cool, thanks everyone for you advice. I'll start practicing more
Elindreal
Planetary Interactors
#8 - 2011-12-25 14:55:23 UTC
what marduk said.
another trick is also to drop probes in a formation and move them waaaaay off grid so they don't appear on dscan

that way you can immediately move them onto where you are, in formation and at the correct scan radius immediately once you're ready for a scan, and then move them away again just as quickly.
Sentry 10
Escape Velocity
#9 - 2011-12-25 23:02:07 UTC
Rakk Andedare
The Iron Asylum
#10 - 2011-12-27 16:22:09 UTC
Thanks!
Xearal
Dead's Prostitutes
The Initiative.
#11 - 2011-12-27 16:35:41 UTC
Elindreal wrote:
what marduk said.
another trick is also to drop probes in a formation and move them waaaaay off grid so they don't appear on dscan

that way you can immediately move them onto where you are, in formation and at the correct scan radius immediately once you're ready for a scan, and then move them away again just as quickly.


THIS!

I came up with this tactic myself on my own ( yay me ), when I first employed combat probes against a war target who was playing station games and had a couple of nearby safe spots around the station. ( they like sniping too )

I was ongrid, 300km off the station and cloaked, then when I saw him 100km off the station, i moved in my probes in, hit scan, warped to 10, and as I entered warp, I moved my probes away and hit 'scan' again to actually move them.

Then I sat there, trailing after him and called in my fleet to jump on top of him and pew pew.

Does railgun ammunition come in Hollow Point?
Othran
Route One
#12 - 2011-12-27 18:02:30 UTC
Yeah I'm another who sets the probes up WAY off the ecliptic.

Launch probes then move them all at least 64AU up/down. Your probes are unlikely to be visible to anyone in most systems. Then you arrange them, drop them onto target area and scan. Pull them back off the ecliptic when not in use.

All you need to watch is the time the probes have been out.

Its a lot more interesting doing this if you get a fight at the end of it. I don't mean a gank either Roll