EVE New Citizens Q&A

so what do you use it for? when i scan, i see that many objects appear that don't show up on the overview, but is it all that useful?

also, some of the objects (like ship wreckage) i can't reach for some reason. there's no right click option to warp to it or anything - how would i go about locating it?

awesome, will do. thx for the links

D scan can be used to assist combat scan probes so that you can scan someone down with scan probes in a manner that makes it nearly impossible for them to see your probes.

D scan allows you to see if someone is trying to probe scan you down.

D scan allows you to see if there are any bubble at or near a gate before you warp on grid and get dragged into it.

D scan allows you to check and see if a site has someone in it before you hit the acceleration gate.

D scan can let you know that someone is warping to you before they land on grid.

D scan can tell you if there are any PoS towers in a wormhole and what moons they are at without warping all over the place or launching combat probes and scanning each one down.



This is just what I can think of off the top of my head.

you can hunt other players with it effectively.

you can also tell when you are being hunted (even in highsec) with its use.

click those links, read up on it as its pretty vital for pvp

Now that the grid size has increased considerably, in theory, it is possible to do it without probes, however, in practice you have to get fairly lucky.

It was always possible to do without probes, the new grid size just makes it much easier. The problem is finding warp-able points with the right offsets.

Provided there are warp-able points with the right offsets, It isn't a matter of luck it's a matter of persistence and hundreds of bookmarks.

The velator vs oracle link in my bio is to a player that used this technique to scan down mission runners before grid sizes were increased. IIRC, that was exactly he scanned down the oracle.

I'll add that it provides incomplete information (not enough to actually warp to the entities on the list) on purpose, so that some playing skill is required to find/catch prey.

And, it's extremely useful if you're being hunted, or about to land into a dangerous area. Because, often times, once the enemy is on-grid with you, the outcome of the fight is predetermined. Combat ship vs. defenseless transport, for example; your only hope is to see them coming (or see the trap they're setting up) from several AU away and bug out / avoid it.

It is the single most useful tool in the game. Learn to use and love it.

You need more than three celestials, as three only defines a plane. Unless you were counting gates. Even with four, the volume defined is a tetrahedron and there is absolutely no guarantee that your target will be within it since things can and do spawn on all sides of celestials.

Basically, it's possible to find a safe between two celestials. Theoretically it's possible to find other sites within the volume defined by warpable objects in the system, but exponentially harder (to the point where it never really happens in practice). While it's a fun idea it just takes too long to pinpoint anything that isn't already afk (at which combat probes would suit you better anyway).

Also this will never be used to find a wormhole because wormholes don't show on dscan. Unless you left a wreck or something there.

Back to the OPs question. When in space I am constantly pressing dscan (wide 360) to raise my awareness of what is in system with me. Once I have a hit (oh look a retriever) I start to narrow my scan to figure out where it is. With a bit of practice and knowledge of ships you can start to make educated guesses of where things will be (the retriever is probably at the ice belt or one of the ore belts) so I start by doing a narrow scan on those. Failing that, I've probably already missed catching him, but I will check station and POS next. All of these are warpable objects in themselves. So while Dscan doesn't provide a warp option, I can just warp to the belt where I know he is, etc.

As others have said, being able to quickly pinpoint targets or threats within seconds of jumping in system is one of the most valuable skills for a scout (or any self respecting pvper) in EVE.