EVE New Citizens Q&A

So I get the basics of orbiting and angular velocity and their importance, but the following scenario has me sort of stumped ...

Let's say you have two ships--let's say two frigates--that engage in combat and both pilots put their ships into orbit around the other. One ship is set to orbit at 5 kilometers, the other is set to orbit at 10 kilometers.

My question is, what factors determine which ship achieves and maintains the desired orbit distance?

Is there anything the player in the slower, less agile ship can do in terms of piloting to counter the other ship's innate advantage?

If you are talking about pvp then most pvp pilots don't use the orbit button. Or at least not until they have already reached the orbit. You definitely want to spiral in. Hitting orbit will have your ship turn directly into the enemy's guns and give them max damage the whole way in until you achieve range.

The ship doesn't actually orbit in a circle. Rather it turns in one direction, then turns, then turns, then turns, ad nausauem. Every time the ship turns, it drops in velocity. Also, the orbit button always orbits in the same direction. A clever pilot can manually adjust so that you turn into their guns, which is why pvp pilots might use orbit, but they won't depend on it. Also, the opponent can time his shots for when you drop in velocity.

In general, there are different way to keep the opponent in your preferred orbit. Ships will web, or even double web to keep other ships locked under 10k. Neuts are also used in short range to disable the enemy's propulsion and other mods. Another option that can be used alongside the webs is a warp scrambler which shuts down the target's MWD. Ships that prefer to fight beyond web range will use a long point and be fitted for speed and low momentum.

But in general, once you achieve your preferred orbit, then it is no longer simply a matter of speed, but the application of ew or tackle modules.

Just because you click the orbit button does not mean your ship will orbit it only means that it will attempt to orbit. If you use the automated orbit mechanics in game for PvP another more experienced PvPer will use his knowledge of how the automated orbit mechanics work against you to make your ship do what he wants it to do and not what you want it to do.

The links listed here already will get you headed in a good direction as far as finding more information on this.

I just had to jump in here and clarify that hitting orbit at optimal and then F1 won't get you very far in PvP. You are going to need to learn how to manually pilot your ship.

Just came across this looking to help another pilot

http://wiki.eveuniversity.org/Advanced_Piloting_Techniques