Null-sec scanning and ratting

A bookmark to a supposedly inactive wormhole stares at me from our corporate locations folder. I wonder if it is still inactive, or has been opened and has since died of old age. I'll scan the home system anyway, as you can't assume that other wormholes haven't connected in to the system, and there is only one signature to be seen. That makes it straightforward to check, and I cluster my scanning probes tightly around the pin indicating the location of the bookmark. Scanning the bookmark gets a solid hit, which even though I had to scan anyway still saves me some time. I warp to the wormhole and jump through to see what's out there today.

My directional scanner shows me little in the neighbouring class 3 system, but there is only one planet in range and I have plenty more space to explore. Launching probes and blanketing the system finds no ships, though, only thirteen anomalies and eighteen signatures, which is pretty scruffy for an occupied system. My notes put me here before, some six months earlier, when the C3 was unoccupied and I found a static exit to null-sec k-space. With the wealth of signatures I think it's safe to assume that a corporation hasn't since stuck their tower in to a moon to claim the system. A little warping around confirms a lack of occupation, which gives no one to stalk but means I have no compelling reason to resolve the mining sites.

Sifting through the signatures finds two wormholes. The second is chubby enough to be a K162, and it is, but only a K162 coming from null-sec. The link has also been stressed to half-mass, so whatever wanted to come through here has been and gone already. Otherwise, all the C3 holds is rocks, gas, radar sites. The static wormhole is in pristine condition, in contrast to the K162, looking like I'm the first ship to jump through it. It's hardly a squeeze to get through, not that I'm calling the wormhole a liar, and I exit w-space to be somewhere in the Detorid region, alone. That's just how I like my null-sec.

I think I'll rat. And scan. Scan and rat. I can multi-task. The hard part in ratting is finding a rat, and warping to the various rock fields here should find me a battleship to pop, at which point I just need to activate my offensive systems and orbit the rat. With one eye on the local communication channel for pilots entering the system, I can simultaneously move my probes around and resolve what signatures there are to be found. And I'd better scan, because I've managed to warp to the first rock field without bookmarking the wormhole leading back to C3a. Oops.

I find a rat battleship, resolve the wormhole back to w-space, and find one more signature that turns out to be some dull rocks. Now what to do, what to do. My atlas shows that I am in the middle of a simple ring of null-sec systems, so I could continue ratting. Or I could clear an anomaly or two here for pocket iskies. Or I could collapse our static wormhole and start again. I'm leaning towards starting again, particularly as ratting is dull and I cleared a null-sec anomaly only yesterday. But collapsing a wormhole alone is a little time-consuming, and as I have shown that I can rat and scan I think I'll do a lap of that around this null-sec ring, looking for more w-space as I go.

The next system along is also clear of pilots, so I launch probes and warp to an asteroid field. It looks like a good start to my simple evening, as I land near a rat battleship in this first field, but get there only to see him warp off. That's not playing fair. Never mind, I find a colleague of his in a different rock field, as my probes show me two signatures in the system. The signatures are just a radar and gravimetric site, so I ignore them, loot the battleship wreck, and move on. One more hop sees another pilot in the system, so I waive ratting and concentrate on scanning. One signature could be interesting, although the 'unknown' type doesn't guarantee a wormhole outside of w-space and I end up resolving an Angel Military Ops Complex. That sounds boring.

Another hop has me by myself in space again, so I rat and scan. Three battleships, two cruisers, six anomalies, and only one signature. My covert Tengu strategic cruiser copes with the five rats at once, and the signature resolves to be Independence. What's that? Not a wormhole, that's what. I move on. I reach the last circuit in the system, find a rat battleship in the first field, and my probes show me a promising five signatures. They only turn out to be a radar site, a Cartel Prisoner Retention site, another radar site, rocks, and rocks. Dammit, null-sec is boring. But maybe not that boring, as warping to see what the named site is shows it to be a DED 8/10 complex, which from what little I know about DED complexes means I'm going to die pretty quickly. Abort, abort!

Luckily, there is an acceleration gate between me and doom, so I can turn around and head home without facing a lot of angry rats. I am back to the first null-sec system again, where I pop one final rat and return to w-space without having found another wormhole on my circuit of ratting and scanning. But I've been gone a little while and so, with a surprising amount of optimism, launch probes and perform a fresh blanket scan of C3a. Oh, fun! That looks new, so I resolve the signature with the identifier FUN and find a new wormhole, which is spiffy. Even more spiffy, it's a K162 from class 2 w-space. I'm going in.

A quick check of d-scan has an Orca industrial command ship and Hurricane battleship in the system, along with three towers. Two of the towers are straightforward enough to find, being around planets with single moons. One has the Hurricane unpiloted in its force field, the second is empty. A Cheetah covert operations boat blips on d-scan as I locate the third tower, no doubt the scout who opened the wormhole to C3a, which is the only sign of activity as the Orca floats empty in the final tower. With no one obviously around I warp out, launch probes, and blanket the system. Four signatures are worth resolving, I would say, with my probes also showing one anomaly and the two ships I know about.

I'm expecting to resolve three wormholes here, because of the Cheetah, but I don't. A magnetometric and gravimetric site accompany the two static wormholes, and as the second leads to high-sec empire space I don't think I can reasonably expect to ambush the locals hauling anything through the connection. And as it is still just the Orca and Hurricane on d-scan, with no sign of the scout, it looks like it's time to head home and settle down for the night. But that's okay. After the null-sec ratting my security status is now 0·07, so high my nose is almost bleeding, and I got some w-space exploration to end the evening on. It's been a quiet night, but entertaining enough.

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Tags: cheetah, eve online, hurricane, mmorpg, null-sec, orca, penny ibramovic, scanning, tengu, w-space

Ship naming competition results!

The competition to name my new Loki is over. I first want to say that you are all much better at thinking of ship names than I am. That doesn't make you all winners, though. Ha ha, no! In particular, if Rob ever starts playing EVE Online I will devote time to hunting him down, podding him, and creating a monument with all of his corpses for suggesting the name MCFC whatever. Actually, let me send him a buddy programme invitation. I'll be right back.

On to proper ship names. TGL3's 'SP Loss inbound' is probably quite apt, but I think tempting fate a little too much. Similarly, Kename Fin's suggestions of 'Lusitania', 'Titanic', and 'U571' may well be appropriate ship names for me, but as none of them were made in a comment reply to the post they can't be considered. It also means I won't be accused of favouritism. Well, not for them, anyway.

I have to give kudos to Cyndre for 'Slain by Elf', which pimps my Dungeons and Dragons gaming blog, and would no doubt cause many capsuleers to twitch in minirage about being podded by seemingly an ex-World of Warcraft player. And I was tempted to use 'Я не знаю, что я делаю' from Jhared Skyfire, if only I had any idea how to copy the name across. Ooh, bad luck, Jhared.

Suggesting 'Penny's Sandwich' is nicely shameless from Petra Grubel, showing off that she reads my journal, but a Penny sandwich sounds dirty and not something I would willingly get in to. Both 'Pengu's Revenge' and 'Pointy Thing' are also neat references to my writing, thanks Faedes, just falling short of the cut but definitely worth a mention.

But I can't keep telling you you're all losers. At some point I have to give the ISK away to some lucky punter. And so, because of the pun that combines the type of award I won that spawned this competition and the hopefully deadly firepower of the Loki, I shall be giving 100 million ISK to BugBot and naming my new ship 'PewPewlitzer'.

Congratulations, BugBot! Also, congratulations me! I know that the winner doesn't play EVE Online, which gives me a fabulous excuse to hold on to my iskies whilst maintaining the pretence of generosity. But, of course, that is not fair, and as I have been given a whole host of ship names that are far better than my own attempts I would be remiss not to use them.

Future ships of mine will be called 'Minor Threat', 'Shall We Tango', 'You'll Thank Me Later', and 'Used to be Hip', and they shall each bear the implicit subtitle 'Starry Dynamo in the Machinery of Night' until such a time as the character limit allows that as an actual ship name. For these excellent suggestions, Mac McCrankey, Spudzeebee, Euthen Arran, and Rowan Madeus will all receive 25 million ISK with my thanks. Zoso will get a tiramisu.

And many thanks to everyone for entering the competition and offering some great ship names. I wish I could give you all the 100 million ISK prize, but only because that would make me obscenely rich. But if I find I lose several ships in a row and need some inspiration, which is pretty likely, maybe a few more people will wake up to an unexpectedly blinking wallet.

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Tags: eve online, mmorpg

Finishing on a positive

It doesn't look like we'll have any visitors today. We're once again down to having a single signature in the home w-space system, which will be the static wormhole. At least, I hope it will be the static wormhole, or I can't be a visitor to anyone else either. Naturally, the concerns I pretend to have in order to instil a faux sense of drama in an otherwise mundane introduction are unfounded. I resolve the signature as being the static wormhole, warp to it, and jump through to our neighbouring class 3 system.

My directional scanner is clear from the K162 in C3a, only the lonely outermost planet being in range, letting me launch probes and get them and me hidden. As I arrange my probes for a blanket scan I warp the 36 AU that takes me to the heart of the system, where the other four planets are. D-scan shows me two towers and five Drakes, the battlecruisers sequentially named, and nothing else of particular interest. Adjusting d-scan's settings sees no Sleeper wrecks, so it's no surprise to locate the towers to find the five ships empty and nestled together inside one of the force fields.

No one's home, so to keep myself entertained I start sifting through the thirteen signatures. An enthusiastic start sees me bookmark a gravimetric site for a possible later ambush, and discard a radar site as unlikely to be visited. Then a general lassitude overcomes me and I'm back to ignoring any signature that isn't a wormhole, which thankfully still gives me two results to resolve. One wormhole being weaker than a K162 but stronger than a null-sec link makes me optimistic about having found an outbound connection to more w-space, but it turns out to be merely the static exit to high-sec empire space. And, just to squeeze lemon juice in my eye, the other wormhole is a K162 from null-sec.

Seeing where the connection to high-sec leads, I exit w-space to appear in the Essence region, and four hops from Dodixie. I think I still have a stealth bomber to collect from there, so maybe I should go and collect it. Maybe later, I'll scan first and look for trouble. I'm not going to find it in high-sec, as there are no extra signatures beyond the K162 I came through, but I still have a null-sec system to explore. I warp across C3a and out to null-sec, to be in a system in Feythabolis, and by myself. Hot diggity, I'm gonna rat!

I'm going to rat and scan, in fact. I can do both at once. I launch probes and bounce through the rock fields as I resolve the one extra signature, which turns out to be more rocks. Hilarious, space, thanks for that. But at least I find a rat battleship in the fifth or sixth asteroid belt, which I pop, along with his frigate companions, for a gain in security status. Actually, as the system stays quiet and there are a mutant handful of anomalies here, I think I'll bring a Drake back and spend some time idly making pocket iskies and recovering more security status.

C3a remains unchanged, home looks untouched, so I swap my scouting Tengu strategic cruiser for what is almost a ratting Drake. I adapt the fitting to what I think will withstand Angel rats better and return to null-sec, where I pick an anomaly at random and start shooting. And before you know it I'm back at the wormhole, figuratively licking my passive shield recharge rate. Maybe that anomaly is a little tough for my solo suboptimal Drake. I pick a different anomaly at random, warp in, and start shooting. Okay, this one's better, with fewer ships and far less incoming damage.

La la la, I'm being a bit blasé about ratting in null-sec, but it does seem rather less dangerous than in w-space. Every thirty seconds or so, I make sure my ship's shields are okay and that it's still spewing missiles, update my target selection, and ensure that the local communication channel remains empty, then get back to reading some papers. This is much simpler than continually mashing the directional scanner for perhaps a chance of seeing someone maybe sneaking up on you. But I suppose that's why this also seems rather tedious and unengaging by comparison.

I clear the anomaly and consider trying a second, but decide against spending more time mostly ignoring what I'm doing, even before I warp in to a cluster of ships bigger than that in the first anomaly which chased me away. It's not exactly a thrilling adventure. Mind you, I can't say I haven't achieved anything tonight, as my security status is positive again! Oh yeah. Well, if you consider 0·00 to be positive, which I think I ought to at this point. Nope, wait. Concord update their ratings again and now my security status is 0·03. Positive! That's good enough for me, so I head home through an unchanged class 3 system to get some sleep, tonight as an honest and legitimate member of society.

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Tags: drake, eve online, mmorpg, null-sec, penny ibramovic, scanning, tengu, w-space

Chasing transports

A bookmark to an unvisited wormhole welcomes my appearance, and rocks, more rocks, and gas do not. But a new signature in the home system may compensate for the missing sites. Two new signatures, in fact, as the bookmarked wormhole has apparently been visited and died of old age already. I feel I've missed something. The two signatures are both wormholes, one naturally being our static connection to class 3 w-space, the other a K162 coming from class 5 w-space. Both wormholes are healthy, so I jump through the K162 to see who's waiting for me.

No one is on the wormhole in C5a, and there is nothing but a planet and moons to be seen on my directional scanner. I warp across to the far side of the system, passing a tower and Tempest battleship, Probe frigate, and Hoarder hauler as I do. I drop out of warp out of d-scan range of the tower, so launch probes, throw them out of the system, and turn around to locate the tower. The travel back to the inner system gives me time to perform a blanket scan, which shows me just the three ships d-scan has detected, along with ten signatures and seven anomalies. I find the tower easily enough to see all three ships float unattended, which makes me think it's worth a poke at the signatures here.

Gravimetric, radar and ladar sites. It's all rather mundane. As there's no route backwards it's forwards I go, although I manage to enter warp just as a Crane transport ship flies in to the tower. I can't stop myself now, but instead of jumping home I return to the tower tout de suite. I'm not quite sure why, beyond a basic desire to know what's happening, because I am in the wrong ship to catch a cloaky transport and the Crane's presumably just come back from whatever trip he made to empire space. He's probably not going to go out again. I'll leave the pilot to snooze and see what's happening on the other side of the constellation.

I jump home, warp across to the static wormhole, and enter our neighbouring class 3 system. There's little to see on d-scan, but as this wormhole is clearly in use I warp away to launch probes, before exploring the system. My records put me here seventeen months ago, when I bomb a Badger hauler collecting gas and then also bomb a Drake battlecruiser sitting on a connection to low-sec empire space, but my notes are out of date now. The tower that was here then should be in d-scan range, but it looks like new settlers have moved in, with four ships appearing under my combat probes. Warping across the system finds a Thanatos and Chimera carrier, Iteron hauler, and shuttle all unpiloted inside a tower's force field, which is a little uninspiring.

Instead of watching a boring tower I loiter by our K162 as I scan, which pays off when I see the Crane again, as it blasts past me presumably on its way to low-sec. I don't try to catch it, merely gauge its vector and start scanning for the wormhole it must be using. And although the transport, if he's even a half-decent pilot, will have seen my probes, he probably also thinks he's safe in the Crane against a scout. He'd be right, too, but once I resolve the wormhole he went to I return home and swap my Tengu for a Manticore. The strategic cruiser is a very capable ship, but the stealth bomber has no sensor recalibration delay on decloaking, is faster and more agile, and can lock a target more quickly. Maybe the Crane won't expect this.

I head back to C3a and inspect the wormhole I found, which turns out to be the static exit to low-sec. Now I could wait in w-space, but sitting on the wormhole in low-sec is probably better in this case. The populated local communication channel will give me positive identification of the pilot, as well as advance warning of his approach, and being low-sec I can still engage on either side of the wormhole without Concord intervention, although my almost-recovering security status will complain strongly if I have to give chase this way. The only complication would be if the C5 pilot can identify me from our corporation, after scouting our home system.

And so I wait. The low-sec system isn't quite Bant in the Genesis region, but certainly Bantish and not well-travelled. A new contact from the C5 corporation appears in the system, and he's not coming from a stargate. The wormhole flares moments before a Viator transport decloaks and warps towards the stargate to Korridi. It's a fair old distance to the gate, which gives me intelligence on the kind of timings I'll be working with, as I'm hoping to jump back to w-space and hold my session change cloak for a less-obvious ambush. Even so, it's quite a few jumps to any market hub, and I imagine I've still got a wait ahead of me.

And it's the Viator I see again first, not the Crane, but it's all the same to me. I hold on the wormhole as I estimate when the Viator is entering warp, and jump to C3a whilst I hope the transport is still more than a few seconds away from seeing the wormhole. In C3a I hold my cloak and wait for the wormhole to flare. Now I get ready. As I expected, the Viator sees nothing untoward happening and points his ship towards the next wormhole almost immediately. As he probably didn't expect, my stealth bomber decloaks and tries to stop him doing so. Blockade runner transports are nippy buggers, though, and he evades my clutches. Never mind, I set myself up here so I could give chase all the way back to the C5.

I warp behind the speedy Viator and catch up with him on our K162. We both jump to my home system, where I try to catch him again, and again watch as he warps clear. This time, despite following at my best speed, I reach the K162 to C5a only in time to see him jump, and don't even see his ship cloak when I follow in to the class 5 system. I call his bluff and loiter on the wormhole, thinking he's not as fast as he seems and is sneakily holding his session change cloak in the hopes that I'll jump out or warp away. But it looks like he really is as fast as he seems, as after a minute or so I decide to cloak and check the tower, where the Viator comfortably sits safe and sound.

That's probably my fun for the, oop, he's off again. The Viator wastes no time in making a second trip, clearly not fussed about my puny stealth bomber interception attempts. I don't blame him. But as the Viator heads to low-sec my glorious leader turns up to even the odds. We can't stop the transport now, but maybe we can on his way back. I loiter in C3a on the exit wormhole, not thinking it's worth showing my face in local low-sec now, as Fin prepares a Flycatcher interdictor and plants it on our static connection. We wait again—well, I wait again, Fin waits for the first time this evening—and soon enough the wormhole flares. It's the Viator. I leave him alone, simply alerting Fin and following behind the transport to our K162.

The Viator jumps, and so do I. We are both greeted by Fin's Flycatcher and a launched interdiction sphere, providing a short-lived warp bubble, and this gives the Viator pause for thought. The transport makes a run for it, but back out to low-sec and not to his home system. He flees through the wormhole, evading my clutches again in C3a, getting back to where warp bubbles cannot be used, and disappears out of the system. Fin and I reset our positions, with me scouting ahead and Fin sat on a wormhole, but this time we move one system across in the constellation, just to defy expectations that little bit more. I don't think we'll see any other ships come our, oop, the wormhole flares and a new contact appears. This one's in a bare pod.

The pod warps towards the K162 to C5a as, in a show of extremely good if unintended timing, Fin jumps in to the home system from the C5. I update d-scan, not having given chase, as catching a pod is harder than catching a transport, and watch as the pod becomes a corpse. 'He did... nothing', says Fin. Well, he died. That's something, right? Maybe he was a deer that froze in the headlights of a bubble-launching death-machine. Who knows? Now I'm really not expecting any other pilots to head our way, after this serendipitous kill. But if they do, Fin anchors a a drag bubble that will drop short anyone warping directly between the two wormholes in our system. We wait and hope for another pilot to try to get home, but no one comes.

I scout C3a and it looks empty, but w-space with cloaky ships would, and checking low-sec has the Crane pilot in the system but nowhere to be seen. Again, you have to expect that of cloaky ships. I've seen him, he's seen me. I think it's time to call it a night. We've had a good chase, spooked a Viator good and proper, and got a random pod kill. I'd say it's been another successful evening in w-space.

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Tags: chimera, crane, eve online, flycatcher, hoarder, iteron, low-sec, manticore, mmorpg, penny ibramovic, probe, scanning, tempest, tengu, thanatos, viator, w-space

Null-sec incursion

I appear in the home w-space system to see Fin's already here. Asking what's happening gets me a sitrep from my glorious leader. 'Nothing.' Okay then. Pressing for a little more information reveals there are four signatures in our system and none of them are incoming connections. So what's the plan? 'We could mine, harvest gas, or explore.' Explore it is! I take the easy route, warping to our static wormhole and jumping to our neighbouring class 3 system, where my directional scanner also tells me nothing.

The clear d-scan has me launching probes, performing a blanket scan of the system, and warping to the only planet out of range to see what's there. Nothing again. I'm sensing a motif to tonight's adventure. Although there are no obvious ships and no occupation, some core probes are somewhere in the system, but they disappear pretty soon after spotting them and no scout shows himself. I suppose it's my turn to scan then, and I bookmark the seven anomalies and sift through a bunch of signatures. Who's counting? Not me.

I resolve mostly gas, some rocks, and find a K162 from class 4 w-space before the static connection to null-sec k-space appears under my probes. I keep scanning the C3 as Fin reconnoitres the C4, where she sees a Thanatos and Archon carrier, Rorqual capital industrial ship, and Orca industrial command ship. Yeah, I bet they're all piloted and active, but in space no one can detect your sarcasm. As Fin locates the tower I exit w-space to null-sec, having found nothing else of interest when scanning, to appear in the... Oasa region? Is this a recent extension to New Eden? I don't recognise it.

Okay, I've been to Oasa before, once apparently, and I don't think I'll come back. Being alone in the system has me warping around the rock belts looking for rats to pop, but finding drones has me skittering back to w-space. If I am not gaining security status then I'm not ratting, and all I can find when scanning is a bigger rock field. All is dull, making it collapsing-our-wormhole o'clock. Two Orcas make quick work of over-stressing our static connection, and it's gone without fuss or complication. Let's start again.

Resolving our new wormhole and jumping through puts us in a system remarkably similar to the C3 we just isolated ourselves from. There's a warp bubble on d-scan and nothing else, and warping to the one planet out of range doesn't find any occupation or activity. A blanket scan has me bookmarking four anomalies and sweeping across seven signatures, resulting in only the single wormhole being resolved this time, which has the same null-sec smell as the previous one. There is a magnetometric site hiding amongst the rocks and gas, though, so we could shoot some Sleepers for profit whilst in this tiny constellation.

We could shoot Sleepers, if not for the wolf rayet phenomenon that has just registered with me. Being w-space veterans both, Fin and I obviously know exactly the wolf rayet effects on ship systems, and we don't have to look it up at all. Nopers, not us. And the increased armour resistances will boost the Sleepers, reduced shield resistances weaken our Tengu strategic cruisers, and reduced signature radius lessen our missile damage. The wolf rayet here seems to be a good deal for the Sleepers and rather not in our favour at all, so maybe we won't try to make some iskies.

Of course, as Fin points out, if we could refit the subsystems of strategic cruisers in w-space, we could adapt our Legions to be Sleeper boats and quite effective in the wolf rayet class 3 system. But CCP hates us and so it's not an option, not without spending billions of ISK on alternative ship builds for niche situations like this. Okay, so if we're not getting in to Sleeper combat we may as well open the static wormhole and see what's in null-sec instead. 'Let's hope it's not crawling with Russians or Goons', says Fin. Or drones. 'Yeah. One drone region is my limit.'

Exiting w-space puts us in a system in the Outer Ring region, one which coincidentally is under the control of Sansha's Nation with an incursion in progress. And, curiously enough, it's just me and Fin in the system. At least that lets me ignore the incursion and look for rats, until I find out that Sansha's Nation truly have taken over the system, infesting the rock fields instead of the normal rats. And Sansha's Nation are nasty buggers. My systems are jammed and my capacitor sucked dry by what are normally pretty benign rats, and I feel lucky that my warp drives are not being disrupted, as I manage to putter out of the asteroid belt on 40% shields.

Okay, no ratting either. Let's scan. Four extra signatures appear under my probes, which resolve to be a magnetometric site, an N944 wormhole that would only take us to low-sec empire-space, an X702 outbound connection to class 3 w-space that is peculiarly a really sickly green in colour—tainted with incursion colours, I assume—and a gravimetric site. More w-space is good, but a C3 holding a tower and no visible ships, with only one planet out of d-scan range, doesn't look promising.

It's time to call it a night. We can't get lucky all the time. I locate the tower in C3b for my records and start heading home as a Hound blips on d-scan. That's almost interesting, but as the stealth bomber doesn't appear at the tower I doubt we can flush him out. I certainly don't have the patience for it at this late hour, anyway. We make our way home and settle down for the night.

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Tags: archon, eve online, hound, mmorpg, null-sec, orca, penny ibramovic, rorqual, scanning, tengu, thanatos, w-space

Destroying the destroyer

The hauler's gone one way, the combat ship the other, and the scouts have all gone home. I still don't think there's anything we can do in our local w-space constellation. At least, not without expecting a nasty surprise at some point. So, as is the case when I run out of w-space, I'll press on to k-space and see what I can find there. I've uncovered a static connection to high-sec empire space in our neighbouring class 3 system, but one that's reaching the end of its natural lifetime. It's possible the class 5 w-space inhabitants connecting in to our home system today have sent their hauler through the link to high-sec, but it's also possible that there's more to find in this C3. I have my probes out, so I'll take a look.

Another wormhole is an good result, and although the K162 from low-sec doesn't give me any more w-space to explore I wasn't expecting to find such a connection here. Besides, I've discarded the constellation as dead, what with our C5 pals apparently having been everywhere first. But the low-sec system may hold more wormholes, and it's those I'm interested in finding, because they're less likely to have been found and desecrated. Jumping to low-sec puts me in a system in Sinq Laison with one other pilot, who isn't affiliated with the C5 corporation. I ignore him and launch probes to scan, resolving the three extra signatures to be a boring dirty site, and two more wormholes. One is a K162 from more class 3 w-space, the other a nifty K162 from class 1 w-space. I'll check the C1 for activity first.

My directional scanner is clear when entering C1a, and I warp away to launch probes safely. A blanket scan of the system shows me ships and drones along with signatures and anomalies, which sounds good to me. Exploring the system locates a tower with six ships floating unpiloted inside its force field, which would be a dull result except for the Cormorant destroyer and drones that are elsewhere. It looks like I have a target, although I'm not quite sure what it's doing. The destroyer is not in an anomaly, and neither is it with the drones. That's not going to stop me finding it, but having it warp in to the tower moments after narrowing down its position to a five-degree d-scan beam will.

Well, technically I've found the Cormorant, I suppose, but not in a position where I can do anything to it. But that's okay too, because it warps out again a couple of minutes later, its vector taking it to the same position as before. I can only think it is harvesting gas or, as Fin suggests, who's floating near me in a stealth bomber, mining rocks. That would give us a soft target to pop, if I can resolve the site it's in without my probes being spotted first. I get the destroyer back in a five-degree d-scan beam and start to determine its range. And continue to determine its range, right out to almost the limit of d-scan. The Cormorant is over 14 AU distant from the tower, which will make accurate positioning of probes using d-scan almost impossible.

I've failed to follow one of my own guidelines when hunting using d-scan, where you should get close to your target before refining his position. Because I couldn't see the Cormorant from the wormhole and could from the tower I assumed he would be in a site situated near this planet, but it seems I was wrong. I have to get closer. I warp to the inner system to a planet which must be the closest to where the Cormorant is presumably gassing, and find him again. This time I get his position with an estimated range of 1·5 AU, which is much better, as my azimuth error will be minimal. I arrange my probes around where I judge the Cormorant to be and get ready to scan.

Fin's joined me in my new position and is keen to ambush the destroyer, so I hit 'scan' and let my probes do their work. Perfect! The target ship appears as a green icon dead centre of my minimum-range probe cluster, giving me a solid 100% hit on both him and the ladar site. I chose a tighter arrangement of probes than normal partly because the ship is a smaller hull than my usual targets, and also because I needed to resolve the ship and not the site for the hunt to be successful. Resolving a ladar or gravimetric site but not the ship would have us warping to be anywhere up to a hundred kilometres from the target, and we don't want to waste precious seconds bouncing out and in to get to where a better scan could take us directly. But now's not the time to admire my scanning skill, as we have a destroyer to destroy.

I warp the two of us to the Cormorant's position in the ladar site. Fin's Manticore has no sensor recalibration delay on decloaking and much quicker locking time than my relatively sluggish Tengu strategic cruiser, so my glorious leader has point, which she relishes. I get in to the site to see the more agile bomber already targeting the Cormorant, and then throwing torpedoes its way as I am still locking on. It's a simple matter for our two ships to pop the poor destroyer, and Fin's bomber latches on to the pod too, which we crack open to add a new frozen corpse to our collection. We scoop, loot, and shoot, and cloak and leave the pocket. There wasn't much to grab, but a successful hunt is reward in itself.

I reconnoitre the tower before leaving this C1, seeing an unsurprising lack of change amongst the empty ships, and Fin and I jump back to low-sec. There is stil the C3 K162 to explore beyond here, and although the system is occupied, and a Drake battlecruiser and Tengu strategic cruiser are sitting inside the tower, they are empty and no one is home. It's time to go home. We've had a pretty good evening, particularly when we thought we'd be stuck cloaked and watching ships for the night. I'm glad we pressed on and explored further, as it gave us a hunt that resulted in a podding.

Posted in Gaming | Comments Off on Destroying the destroyer
Tags: cormorant, drake, eve online, manticore, mmorpg, penny ibramovic, pvp, scanning, tengu, w-space

A little low on options

Fin's here, as is a K162 from class 5 w-space. My glorious leader updates me on what's happened so far. A Loki strategic cruiser came and went, and a Cheetah covert operations boat scanned our home system. As far as she could tell the cov-ops didn't pass through our static wormhole, so there is a good chance that a fleet will come from the C5 and start popping Sleepers, which hopefully will give us a salvager to shoot. But that hope is thwarted when I have to reboot my unresponsive ship, and shortly after I return, having been visible on the wormhole and then on directional scanner for a minute or so, the Cheetah jumps from our system back to the C5. I don't think a fleet will wander in to a system where a known Tengu strategic cruiser is covertly operating.

Never mind, as our static wormhole is open and may offer adventure, although presumably the C5 pilots know this too. Before I can jump to the C3, though, a new contact jumps from the C5. An Anathema cov-ops appears and warps across to our static wormhole, maybe intending to scan the C3 finally. I'm sitting on the connection and see the Anathema decloak and jump. As our chances of catching anyone from the C5 unawares are now almost non-existent this seems like a good opportunity. I follow the Anathema in to C3, decloak, and watch as the cov-ops cloaks before my targeting systems can lock on to the tiny ship. I can't say I'm surprised by that result, and now our hand is well and truly tipped.

I move away from the wormhole and cloak too, and give d-scan a look. A tower is visible, as is a Bestower hauler, and I find them together and without a pilot in sight. So with the system scouted I return to the wormhole to watch for more movements, as Fin pokes her nose in to C5a. With any luck, the pilots think I'm the only active capsuleer in the constellation and aren't expecting anyone to come their way. Sure enough, no one is waiting on the wormhole in the class 5 system, but a Proteus strategic cruiser, Deimos and Zealot heavy assault ship, and Cheetah are all on d-scan. Fin comes home again right away, which is a prudent move.

So now what do we do? There are no probes yet in C3a, although the Anathema's likely still here, and there are certainly pilots behind us in C5a. We can't collapse either wormhole safely, so the best we can do is sit and watch, which isn't a good option in itself. The C5 corporation has scouts out, bringing a Cheetah in to our home system and having the Anathema in the C3, although the latter returns past me and then Fin to the C5, apparently without having scanned the C3. Maybe I wasn't paying enough attention. With the scout of this system, though, I can launch probes and scan. But maybe not without being seen, as now the Deimos comes from the C5, across our system, and in to the C3 to sit on the K162 with me.

Fin doesn't understand what the pilots are doing, and neither do I. It seems that the Deimos is trying to flush me out, as he launches drones and orbits the wormhole, but that's an exercise in futility. I did the maths once, about finding cloaked ships in the volume of space around a wormhole, and the odds are very much in the cloaked ship's favour. Maybe the pilots are expecting me to return home, at which point they can catch me. But when do I ever get caught jumping through a wormhole? Almost never! Even so, and with the Deimos not getting any closer to me than ten kilometres, I back off a bit, because I can, and decide to scan.

Hullo, there's a pod on d-scan now. I place it at the tower, which means the Deimos is not here to escort a colleague home, and I warp across to watch him. I can still see the HAC on d-scan, and nothing much will change there. Then again, unless the local pod pilot is a complete fool, the presence of the HAC and its drones will probably stop this pod from doing much more than scouting himself. And just as I think nothing will happen, a Mammoth is coming my way, so says Fin with exclamation marks. It stinks of bait, but maybe this is what the Deimos is protecting. The Mammoth jumps in to C3a and warps away before I've even made it back from the tower to the wormhole, so that was no bait. I think I'd better find the connections here so I can track its return.

I don't want my probes to appear on d-scan to the Deimos. Even if he knows I'm here I would rather he didn't know what I was up to. There is one signature out of d-scan range of the K162, and it resolves to a wormhole, but because it's an ageing static exit to high-sec empire space I doubt I could catch the Mammoth on its return. Still, with the magnetar phenomenon in the system, a bit of luck, and a cocky hauler, I may get a kill. But probably not. And as the Deimos recalls his drones and returns to his C5 home, suggesting the hauler is out of w-space for the night, the chance of a kill drops even further. Fin was just concocting a strategy to engage the HAC as well, which could have been fun. Ah well, it looks like it's going to be a quiet night.

Posted in Gaming | Comments Off on A little low on options
Tags: anathema, bestower, cheetah, deimos, eve online, loki, mammoth, mmorpg, penny ibramovic, proteus, scanning, tengu, w-space, zealot

What's in my hangar

There are still a few days left before my ship-naming competition ends, and there are loads of great suggestions already. I'm thrilled that I'll have a ship with a good name! In case you think this is just a way to get some attention, let's take a look in my w-space hangar and see what my current ships are called.

So there you have it. Some obscure references, lazy choices, and just plain uninspiring ship names. I really do need your help. And I'm willing to pay. Head over to the competition post and add a comment with your suggestion of what to name my Loki covert scanning strategic cruiser, and be in with a chance of winning 100 million ISK!

Posted in Gaming | 7 Comments »
Tags: eve online, mmorpg, penny ibramovic

Cloaking devices work better when active

We've made some iskies, now we can look to destroy some. Our static wormhole has been scanned and resolved but kept unvisited, so that we could rake in the profit from some local Sleepers, and with the profit made it's time to explore. Jumping in to our neighbouring class 3 w-space system has a promising start to blowing up innocent industrialists, with an Iteron hauler visible on my directional scanner, along with a Heron frigate, shuttle, and tower. Locating the tower is straightforward enough, as d-scan shows it to be around a planet with only one moon, and I warp in that direction. Unfortunately, there are no pilots to go with the ships, so my hope that the Iteron would collect planet goo will go unrealised for now.

I warp away from signs of occupation to launch probes, where I see signs of old occupation. A dead True Sansha tower sits on the edge of the system, which is an expensive toy to lose, but there's not much we can do about it any more than the locals can. Scanning finds ten anomalies and thirteen signatures, which turn out to be mostly gas. In fact, I get a bit of a thrill when I find a gravimetric site amongst the many ladar sites, but it's the second wormhole that is more interesting. It means we aren't coming back here to shoot more Sleepers for a start, but I prefer exploration anyway.

The two wormholes are a static exit to low-sec empire space and a K162 from class 2 w-space. I like the looks of that K162, so jump through to see what lies beyond. Targets, that's what! Out of range of any tower, d-scan shows me a Retriever and Covetor mining barge, two Hulk exhumers, a Badger hauler, and four cans presumably being stuffed with ore as the Badger tries to empty them. The additional presence of muscle, in the form of a Naga battlecruiser, is a little worrying, but it's probably nothing Fin and I can't handle. My main concern is what other pilots are here and available to protect the mining operation. If it's just the Naga we should be fine. If it's more we could fly in to trouble.

As a second Covetor appears on d-scan, I warp away from the wormhole, hoping to find somewhere to launch probes without being seen, as well as looking for a local tower. I find two towers, in fact, with four more ships split between them. A Noctis salvager and Iteron hauler are piloted at one tower, the second hauler indicating just how much ore is being mined, and a Helios covert operations boat and Harbinger battlecruiser are piloted at the second, where the Badger presumably from the gravimetric site warps to as I reconnoitre it. That's a fair few pilots. But we have some potent ships at our command, and the element of surprise. That is, if I can scan the site without being noticed, and I still don't have probes launched.

I cross to the far side of the system in the hopes of simultaneously dropping off d-scan of the towers and the mining operation, but can't manage both. I will either be in range of the tower or the operation, wherever I sit in the system, so I choose the tower. The odds are the miners and escort will be watching d-scan avidly, whereas the few pilots at the tower may be twiddling their thumbs or dozing off. And it looks like I'm right. I get my probes launched and sent far out of the system, and return to the inner system to see the mining operation still in full swing. All I have to do now is scan their position quickly and quietly.

Using the system map, I start swinging d-scan around until I get a good bearing on the ships, at which point I... well, I would reduce d-scan's bearing to narrow down their location, but what I actually see is the ships warping away from the site. The Naga is first to leave—a noble reaction from an apparent escort—followed by the haulers, then the mining barges, and finally the exhumers. I don't quite understand what's happened, as my probes are certainly not visible on d-scan, and the delay in their leaving means they didn't see me launch them. Ah, but my inactive cloak has my Tengu show up quite obviously, and the appearance of an unknown strategic cruiser was bound to spook the miners.

Holy crap, I have no idea how my cloak deactivated. I burn away from my probes as I launch them precisely so that I don't get tangled up and can cloak immediately afterwards. But however it happened, the hunt is off. Damn it, that's embarrassing. A Drake battlecruiser now sits on d-scan, presumably in the gravimetric site, as does a pod. Actually, the pod is fifty kilometres from me, which makes me think that they got a good look at my Tengu when I was clearly visible, but he may just be bouncing around the planets checking each one in turn. He doesn't find me, as I have thankfully managed to get my cloaking device working now. And as the jet-cans are still in the site, and I have probes launched, I may as well get some more hunting practice.

I get a bearing and range on the cans, and move my probes in to position for a scan. My first attempt only bags me 99·63% on the site itself, but I get a solid 100% scan on the two Scorpion battleships and Tengu now sitting there. Thanks, chaps! You're in the site for no good reason, and I couldn't have done it without you. I get a single scan hit on the site, letting me recall my probes with them having been visible for as short a time as possible, and I warp in to take a look. The three combat ships have left by the time I get there, but three jet-cans remain. It looks like the locals will be collecting their ore, regardless of who has wandered in to their system.

Maybe it's good that I scanned, and scanned well, if it means haulers are coming and going from the mining site still. Mind you, if the haulers get combat escorts with each trip then there's not much I can do. Fin, on the other hand, can throw a spanner in the works. I may have unintentionally scuppered her plan to drop a heavy interdictor on the miners but she has brought a stealth bomber this way, which is the perfect ship to surprise a flimsy hauler. Fin enters the system and warps to the rather convenient position in the mining site I find myself in, where we sit and wait. Well, where Fin sits and waits. I should probably reconnoitre the towers.

There's not too much happening. It looks like most of the pilots have gone off-line, leaving the Harbinger and haulers at the towers, and the Harbinger may not be part of the operation. But the Drake seen earlier is now back in the gravimetric site and hovering around one of the cans. It seems a good bet that the next hauler will warp to that can, to be protected by the Drake from my nasty Tengu. What they won't expect is a bomb to be launched their way. Fin warps her Manticore in to a good position for an ambush, as I call an Iteron warping away from the tower. This should be good.

Yes, this should be good! I want to see it happen, not sit at the tower. I warp back to the gravimetric site myself, although at the safe spot far from any action, to be an observer. But the situation doesn't always work as we plan, and Fin is dismayed to see the Iteron land at the two cans far from the Drake, and far from her. Whether this was miscommunication between the locals or a bluff we can't say, but it has prevented Fin taking her shot. It may not stop me, though. My decision to warp back to watch the carnage may be to our benefit, as long as there are no cloaky surprises waiting for me.

I warp in to the jet-can the Iteron is crawling towards, the hauler having chomped the first, and decloak when close. I'm far enough from the Drake for it not to be a direct threat, and close enough to the Iteron to scare the crap out of its pilot. Or, rather, to blow the pilot out of the Iteron. I lock on, disrupt its warp drives, and start shooting. The hauler, optimised for cargo space, takes little encouragement to disintegrate, and neither does the ejected pod to warp back to the tower. I'm still quite agitated about the possibility of being counter-ambushed, what with all the ships recently seen flying around, and am happy to warp back to my safe spot in the site, rather than looting and shooting the wreck. I'd only find expanded cargoholds and ore anyway.

Well, that was fun! A single Iteron wreck is not quite the carnage of multiple mining barges and corpses, but disrupting the operation and still managing to pop a hauler is a fair result. It's a cheap kill, but a satisfying one. I don't think there's much more we can do, particularly when another look at the towers sees a Proteus strategic cruiser get prepared and warped towards the gravimetric site, disappearing before it gets there, no doubt cloaked. It's time to go home. We leave the system behind us, seeing no ships loitering on either side of the wormhole, and reflect on the hunt. Decloaking was unfortunate, but scanning the site anyway worked to our advantage. The stealth bomber was an excellent choice of ship, it was just a shame that the Iteron didn't warp to the guarded can. Finally, it can be good to see what's coming, but there are advantages in having options at the pointy end of the action too. Despite the hiccups, it's been a fun evening.

Posted in Gaming | 4 Comments »
Tags: badger, covetor, drake, eve online, harbinger, helios, heron, hulk, iteron, manticore, mmorpg, naga, noctis, penny ibramovic, proteus, pvp, retriever, scanning, scorpion, tengu, w-space

Raking in the Sleeper ISK

A bookmark to an unopened wormhole awaits me today, as I cloak on the edge of our home w-space system. What else waits for me remains to be seen. As much as I'd like to jump ahead and look for targets to stalk I've spent enough time in w-space to know that circumstances can change at any moment. It may not matter for my plan to roam cloaked through the constellation, but it would be good to know if there are any new connections opened in to the system before I go on my way.

I launch probes and blanket the home system, revealing two signatures I can't account for. They're not exciting or troublesome, though, just a pair of new sites holding rocks and gas, which should mean the unopened wormhole remains that way. But not for much longer, as my scanning gives me the green light to explore. However, before I get my ship pointed towards the wormhole my glorious leader makes a reappearance. Wicked Fin tempts me to mine some rocks, which I am able to resist despite her silver tongue, but our isolated system presents us with another good opportunity to make some iskies from the indigenous population.

Our static wormhole remains unvisited and unopened. We swap covert Tengu strategic cruisers for rather more overt ones, bristling with missile launchers and ballistic control systems, and warp off to engage Sleepers in what should be relatively safe conditions. We've done this only recently, so get in to a decent groove in the first site. Even so, a well-practiced act can still go awry. Almost at the end of the first anomaly, Fin takes an unscheduled break, leaving me alone with a pair of Sleeper battleships.

I wouldn't normally worry about being alone in w-space, but in this case the modules that are repairing my Tengu's shields, and ultimately keeping me intact, are on Fin's ship. With her gone, I am relying solely on the shields' passive recharge rate to keep them healthy, which is pretty minimal. Well, I say that, but there are tricks that can mitigate damage, which can be equivalent to repairing a greater amount of damage in some situations. For a start, the first battleship is almost destroyed, so I chip away at its hull until it explodes, which drops the damage I'm taking by half. That's not really mitigating damage as much as directly removing the threat.

But by now holding a tight orbit around the remaining battleship I can reduce its gun damage to almost nothing, as it can't track me too well at this range, and its missile damage to manageable levels, as my speed is kept high. It's not long before Fin returns, warping in to rejoin me in the anomaly. What shield damage I've taken is repaired and the final battleship, taking double the number of hits now, pops to clear the first site. Onwards!

The second site holds no surprises for us, but the third moves us back in to the bloom of doom. So much blueness, it burns! And it looks to be burning Fin's shields as well, which is troublesome, her white turning to red with little my remote shield repair module can do about it. Ah, I see the problem. Our speed is low, my reheat isn't on, so we are taking full damage from this nasty second wave of Sleepers. Thanks, bloom of doom, for obscuring the activation light. I get the reheat working and—zoom—we're away.

Three anomalies are cleared, we're still alive, and d-scan remains clear. All looks good to salvage. We break out the Noctes and start sweeping loot in to our holds, although I'm not quite expecting the haul of salvage that we recovered last time. Sure enough, it doesn't look like we're getting it either, as I bring back a paltry handful of the expensive melted nanoribbons in my hold. Fin, however, hits the jackpot, and our combined loot is exactly what we salvaged from our previous outing. Safely bringing home four hundred million ISK in profit from three sites is an excellent result for the evening.

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Tags: eve online, mmorpg, noctis, penny ibramovic, scanning, sleepers, tengu, w-space