EVE New Citizens Q&A

Bookmarks are one of the most important tools that players need to understand and use religiously. Bookmarking a system will improve your survivability immensely and can be divided into several main types:

1. Dock/Undock
2. Insta-Out
3. Perch/Ping
4. Safes

1. Dock/Undock – as the name suggests these are set around stations. The undock one is dropped immediately after undocking and used by PvPers to warp directly to the position they expect their mark to appear. It is feasible to use the Undock one as the Dock one, but the Dock one serves a completely different purpose and can be placed elsewhere. To understand why you need a Dock bookmark you need to understand how station models work with regard to warp-ins. A station is surrounded by a docking ring. Whilst inside the docking ring, the range to the station will show as 0, but visibly the station may appear some distance away. Some stations have bigger docking rings that others. When inside a docking ring you will dock immediately (next tick) when you issue the dock command.

However, when you initiate warp to a station, you actually initiate warp to the edge of the docking ring. The problem is, your ship will land randomly up to 2.5 Kms away from the warp-in point and in 50% of cases that means you will land outside the docking ring. Issuing the docking command in this case (including when you initiate it with the “Warp to and Dock” command) causes your ship to burn in the remaining distance before actually docking. During this period your ship can be locked and fired upon.

Thus it is important to set up a dock bookmark that is 2.5 km or more inside the docking ring. Find the point where the docking ring ends (range to station starts to clock up), then burn back towards the station for 2.5 kms. Use the tactical overview to assist in estimating the distance you need to burn. Then once the bookmark is placed, simply warp to the bookmark instead of the station and you will always land inside the docking ring. It does however, mean that you have to stay at the keyboard and spam the dock button when you land. Edit: With thanks to Sonya Corvinus (below) - Or you can initiate the Autopilot while in warp to the station to autodock on landing. Once a dock bookmark is set up, get in the habit of always using it, not just when you think you may be at risk.

To avoid gankers and station campers when you are war decced, set up a Dock bookmark ideally on all stations, particularly on any station you use regularly and especially the major trade hubs. As mentioned above, the Undock bookmark will usually suffice, so for quickness, always drop a bookmark the first time you undock from a new station and use that as your initial Dock bookmark until you’ve had time to test that it is indeed inside 2.5 Kms.

2. Insta-Out – this is a bookmark set up typically 250 Kms or more directly in front of the undock of a station. When you undock, use the insta-out to get off the undock and away from any potential undock campers/gankers, plus avoid getting bumped. As it is directly in front of you and you are ejected from the station at speed, you will be roughly aligned and at warp speed when you hit the warp to button, thus should warp virtually instantly. Undock with your people and places open and note where the bookmark is. Immediately the grid loads, have the bookmark selected and initiate warp to. Setting up the bookmark can be tricky, but the tactical overview is your friend again, particularly for horizontal and bottom out stations. Ideally you should put these on every station, but they take longer to set up and it isn’t practical. So do the stations that you use regularly and all the major trade hubs. Again, once set up, always use them by default, not just when you think you are at risk.

3. Perch/Ping – These are set up approx. 250 Kms off items of interest, typically gates. Absolutely essential in Null to avoid bubbles and really useful elsewhere. They allow you to warp to a position where you can view the gate without warping directly into a trap. Do not set them up directly in line between the gate and your start point. Always burn off in a random direction not in line with anything. This avoids getting dragged into a drag bubble (in null) and prevents enemies from guiding others to warp from the same start point and catch you as you observe them. Once again they are time consuming to set up and practically you have to prioritise where you do them. Do them in your home system and surrounding systems, every null sec system you enter (if you have the time and are in a fast frigate), plus trade hubs and pipes in low and high sec. Use them – Always in null if a neutral or red is in system; In high and low if flashies (war targets/pirates/criminal flagged) are in system.

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