EVE General Discussion

So for months and months, everything was cool. Mining in Hi-sec was just fine, and suicide ganking was rare (at least in the systems i mined in).

My friends and I decied to move our operation to a different system, just for a change of pace, but noticed quite a bit of suicide ganking going on there, so we moved about 25 jumps away, back to our old neighborhood. Then yesterday, outta nowhere (and completely out of character for the system) my mining gang gets suicide ganked. They only got once of us, but still, kinda lame.

I know it happens, wasn't even all that surprised. What got me was when today, we got hit AGAIN in a different system. Same M.O., though I didn't recognize any of the names from the day before...

This isn't so much a (edited to: complaining) post as it is a question...

Anyone else noticing a rise in suicide ganking lately? Or have I just been unlucky?

My impression was that worrying too much about tanking in hi-sec was pointless... mostly because if someone plans to get you in hi-sec, they'll find a way.

Any suggestions for a good tanked Mack, then?

Exhumer ganks are at a record low.

the correct answer was "a retriever"

i'm sorry baltec1 you don't advance to the next round of answering silly questions in GD, better luck next time :P

You made the mistake of fitting for yield, tanking in highsec is always worthwhile if you're mining. Fit a halfway decent tank and opportunists will move onto an easier target, You don't have to have an uber tank, you just need enough tank to survive until Concord turn up.

With my miners skills your fit gets about 13k EHP, by sacrificing a little yield (about -3m^3/second) you can nearly double that, to about 24k EHP permatank and be cap stable so that your strips keep running.

[Mackinaw, quickly thrown together for a tank ]

Modulated Strip Miner II
Modulated Strip Miner II

Adaptive Invulnerability Field II
Small Shield Extender II
Thermic Dissipation Amplifier II
Survey Scanner I

2x Mining Laser Upgrade I
Damage Control II

2x Medium Core Defense Field Extender I

I threw that together in about 40 seconds in EveHQ, I've listed the EHP numbers that Eve gives above. EveHQ can give figures calculated on specific damage types, in the case of your fit 16k EHP against blasters, my fit 35k EHP against blasters. I've chosen blasters (kin/thermal) as the damage type because the Catalyst is the most common gankmobile for suicide ganking. In a 0.6 system 5 catalysts would be hard pushed to chew through my fit before Concord turns up, 6 might just manage it.

I'm sure you can improve on it, survey scanner is there so that you only pull full loads out of a roid, not pull the last couple of bits at the cost of a full cycle.

Your impression is correct only so far as applying to someone with a particular grudge against you, and a willingness to part with many tens of millions, if not more isk, to achieve that end.

Since that is NOT the case here, No.

Tanking in highsec is all about mitigating the amount of suicide gankers that are going to go after you. Hulks in highsec are suicide, they are built for active tanks, not buffer tanks, and as such, they are incredibly easy to gank. Anyone sees one, they tell their friends, you die. Mackinaws are a good balance, of tank, vs yield. Given that you don't see many hulks in highsec anymore, mostly just null and w-space, Mackinaws make up the majority of exhumers that get ganked in highsec.

If you fly a mack, it better have a decent buffer tank on it. Make sure you have a large tank, before you go for yield. If you have 3 mining laser upgrades in the lows, you don't have enough tank.

Skiffs, are if you want practically noone to even try to gank you. Skiffs still have a decent-ish yield, and their ore-hold is bigger than a hulk still, even if nothing like a mackinaw, but they can get absolutely absurd tanks. To the extent where ganking an afterburner fit full buffer skiff can take in excess of what, 15 destroyers?

The more tank you fit, the less gankers you will appeal to. When I used to gank in the past, I always ship scanned my targets first, not only to select the ones with the more expensive fittings, but also to make sure that they didnt have too much tank for my gang to reasonably take down. Some other people do this to.

TL:DR if you don't fit a tank, you're gonna die. If you do, the bigger the tank, the less likely you'll get ganked.

why would we? you already said it's unprofitable to gank a hulk with 16k+ehp, and you can get that from a max yield fit. what is there to change?

if it's unprofitable to gank that, then you're evidently only ganking me for the lulz, and if lulz is what you want no amount of tank is going to save me is it?

no, a retriever!

Well, at least you agree that there's a problem.

I have a lot of exhumers for you to gank.

- Only exhumers
- Untanked (I promise)
- Not talking about Skiffs (I promise)

Did I mention that those exhumers are not max buffer Skiffs?

Deal?