Wormholes

Will be setting up an Astra, running PvE and PI - solo. Have toons with good WH skills from previous stint with a corp. But was looking for some risk management such as Mercs to protect the Astra post anchoring 15 mins window. Was also thinking of standby support if loot pinata jokers and eviction attempts are made later on. Got some good feedback from one Merc corp - seems reliable albeit expensive (1b monthly for "standby" protection). But maybe that's the standard.

I'm wondering if you have experience in similar circumstances, is it a viable strategy for a solo corp with a few toons? What are the expected costs and are there reliable merc corps (with WH experience) worth considering for the job?

Thanks!

I've never been called cute before, Jack Milton. I knew Eve was special, but this proves it beyond a doubt.
And thanks for the advice. Interesting model.

If anyone knows of a reliable merc corp, I'd still be interested to know.

Solid advice. Thanks.

For me WH goes beyond running PvE for ISK. I like planning the logistics, doing some PI, hunting, I even like the isolation; and the thrill of some risk and managing it - but not stupid risk. I lived in a C4 with a 4 people corp for 6 months before taking a 2 years break from Eve. Loved it.

Reading yours and Jack Miton's post what I hear is that solo life in a C3 could be a fool's errand?

Hard to argue your point. I can only think of one subjective benefit: unique content. By that I mean, a unique WH solo experience.
I'm already having fun researching it all, skilling my toons, dropping a Helios into a fine C3 I found, and of course, this thread is part of it. Your feedback is part of this content. Thank you.

That and not having to worry about scheduling corp nights

ps - Is living out of an Orca viable?

As others have said, it doesn't really make sense to have mercs on 'standby' in a wormhole. By the time they get there, it will probably be over.

That said, it does make sense to hire protection for the on-lining period. A good wormhole corp will have experience controlling a wormhole during the 24 hours that you want to cover, and know how to fight off any visitors you might get during that period.

It might cost more that it's worth, though. You might try contacting my corp leadership; the Tuskers are a wormhole pvp corp rather than mercenaries, so I can't guarantee that they'll be interested. But we have the experience, and the manpower to do what you are looking for, and we won't break an agreement with you. Could be worth checking out.

I will do it. Thanks for your this advice.

ps. I enjoy reading your blog.

Cheers.

You'll know I went the POS route, then. Quick and easy to set up, and way too boring for anyone to attack while onlining.

That said, I'll probably go for a citadel at some point. I think already being established in the system will make that much easier to do solo.

Yeah. This is a risk alright. Thanks for the advice.

I lived solo in a C3 wormhole for a while without having had any previous wormhole experience. I started with a medium POS and learned things as I went. Once I figured out how to effectively roll wormholes, I started bashing customs offices which then gave me the confidence to lay down a citadel solo. I kept the hole isolated for that 24 hours so it was a complete non-event. There's always a chance that the wrong corp could stumble into your hole, but if you're smart about when you anchor, you can reduce those odds to the minimum. Without any actual data to back it up, I intuitively rate my odds of being able to anchor successfully solo at about 80% if I'm vigilant about closing connections. That's good enough for me to take a shot. And if it gets blown up, I can make that isk back in a week.

There's a lot of fear mongering out there about the dangers of running solo in a wormhole, but I found it fairly easy and rewarding. I lost a few ships early on, but I got a lot smarter as I went. Sure, you can find a wormhole corp or hire mercs for help, but the most rewarding aspect for me was the challenge of doing it alone. It's not a fool's errand.

A citadel is definitely worth the effort, but I'd still start with a POS initially. Even if it was just a small one without defenses to park your Orca for ship swaps and other times when you need to be uncloaked. In fact, you could even park your ships at a safe and leave it offline (or pack it up) when you're logged out, so the fuel costs would be minimal. That keeps your exposure low and your safety factor high when you're actually running daily wormhole operations. And best of all, you wouldn't have to jump through the hoops of setting up POS defenses (which is a major pain).

The very first thing you do every day is scan, so log into your scanning alt, warp to your dead stick, bring it online and then warp off to a safe to do your scans and other housekeeping. By the time you're done, the POS will be online. Then log into your Orca, warp to your POS shield, bring out your site runner or wormhole roller and run your ops. When you're done, pack it all up, offline your POS, warp off to your safe and log out. Doing it that way is actually safer than being in a citadel - just not as convenient and you can't pack as much stuff. Of course packing everything into an Orca requires that you use a T3 cruiser (or smaller) for running sites and a Higgs rigged cruiser for rolling holes. You obviously can't pack battleships away like that. But that's how many wormhole day trippers commonly do business.

Plus it helps to have a base of operations when you're anchoring your citadel. I frequently used 3 different ships on one account when isolating the hole - a scanning ship, plus a Higgs Raven and Higgs Omen for rolling. Swapping those out quickly is easier at a POS.