Penny, in colour

Everyone else is doing it, I don't want to appear square. I've played around the with new character creator. It slowed my machine down to a crawl, and took about an hour before I was happy with the result, and that was with surprisingly limited options. Not many options to change how you look beyond cosmetic adjustments, so I am stuck with my nose, but at least a range of haircuts and clothes, along with lighting options, can create enough variation to give an independent look.

I found the animation to be a bit distracting. Every time I tried to turn my avatar around the head turned to look my way, defeating what I was trying to achieve. And trying to take a portrait photograph whilst the avatar shifts and blinks is like working with children or animals. I would think that, when trying to make subtle changes and capture the ideal image that will stay with your immortal capsuleer life, discarding the flash of animation to give a docile model to work with would be best.

Niggles aside, I am pleased with the results. I am also pleased I realised that out of a choice of four possible captured portraits I needed to highlight the one I wanted as my actual portrait before saving. And I am especially pleased that I only had to do go through the process the once, particularly as the client hung when I hit the 'save' button. I eventually forced the client to quit, reloading it with a sigh of relief as my portrait greeted me.

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Tags: eve online, mmorpg, penny ibramovic

Four threes equals four

There's a new ladar site at home. We only just killed a couple! Thankfully, scanning naturally finds me our static wormhole too, and I can ignore the new gas harvesting site and head out to explore further afield. Jumping in to the neighbouring class 3 w-space system sees cans, bubbles, and planets, oh my! There is nothing else on my directional scanner, and checking the system map shows the whole system is visible to d-scan, so I am seeing all there is at the moment. I launch probes and scan this unoccupied C3. Seven anomalies and a couple of dozen signatures are here to be discovered. A particularly chubby signature turns out to be a wormhole, but isn't the K162 I expect to find for such a strong signal, instead being the static connection which leads out to low-sec empire space.

A second wormhole in this C3 is interesting, more so that it is an outbound connection to another class 3 system, giving me more w-space to explore. There are no other wormholes in this first C3, so I jump through to the second. D-scan is clear again, but this time only one planet is in range of my scanner. I bookmark the wormhole and warp off, finding a tower but no ships in the system. Perhaps the occupants will be active later. For now, I can continue scanning. My first hit is a wormhole, which smells like an exit to low-sec. But my senses are off again, finding a K162 coming from high-sec. Maybe I have a cold. The K162 is also sitting at half-mass, indicating plenty of ship movement through it already and that I have probably missed whatever action has occurred. But the system holds sixteen anomalies and a bunch of signatures, so there are still opportunities here.

Hunting down the signatures gets a lucky break, finding three more wormholes sitting almost on top of each other. The first is the static connection, leading out to low-sec empire space. The second and third will keep my exploration continuing, both being outbound wormholes to a C3. It's not often a random outbound connection is found and discovering three today, so far, is quite exciting. A busy constellation leads to a busy Penny, and hopefully some ships to shoot. But before I delve deeper I consider checking the high-sec destination beyond the K162, still looking to buy the heavy missile specialisation skill book. It won't take long to check, so I poke my nose out to find myself in the Minmatar Republic and only four jumps from an academy holding the skill book. A short diversion is all it takes to queue the skill, and I return shortly to w-space.

I pick one of the two outbound connections and jump in to what I designate as C3c. Navigating w-space is generally straightforward, a single inbound and outbound connection in a system being common. Even when an additional connection is found, if it connects two different classes of system then discerning the route remains uncomplicated. But being in a C3 and having connections to two more C3 systems can become confusing when trying to guide others, or follow directions. Making a note of the signature identifier in the bookmark can help, but that is still a clunky method. Adding a unique identifier to each system, and annotating bookmarks to show the links, simplifies navigation in this respect. And so I am in C3c, having jumped in from what is now known as C3b, which connects from C3a, our neighbouring class 3 system. C3c is not terribly interesting, only holding two off-line towers, and I jump out to check the other outbound connection for activity before scanning here.

C3d at least holds an on-line tower, but still I see no ships. With no one home, it's time to scan further. Six anomalies and five signatures are in C3d, and once resolved I find the static connection leads out to low-sec empire space. The exit comes out to the Molden Heath region, which doesn't look convenient for anything but getting shot by roaming gangs, and I return to C3c to scan there. I bookmark the nine anomalies I find and start sifting through the six signatures. The static connection naturally leads out to low-sec space, but a second wormhole catches my attention. Resolving and warping to the connection doesn't give me a warm feeling, despite the red lava glow emanating from the wormhole. The K162 clearly comes from deadly class 6 w-space, although I call up the information screen to confirm this. I quickly check the exit to low-sec, finding it also to be far from anywhere, before having a speculative look in the C6.

I've been in the C6 before, and only two weeks ago, surprisingly enough. I don't remember the last visit, despite it being recent, but I have listed in my notes the two towers I see on d-scan. I also see forty-two off-line towers, which is now jogging my memory. They are all small and of the same type, and no doubt anchored on each and every moon to prevent any quick installation of a tower by a potential invading force. But I'm not looking to move in, I'm just here to take a look around. I visit both towers to gawk at the big and scary ships, one holding three carriers, three dreadnoughts, and capital industrial ships, but all unpiloted. The second holds ships of similar size but fewer of them, although a Moros dreadnought and Apocalypse battleship are piloted. It looks like they are not doing anything, though, and I am inclined to leave them to it.

I head homewards, not even bothering to launch probes in the rather daunting class 6 system. I check each system for activity as I go, still finding them all sleepy but hoping they'll wake up a little later, and finally getting the destination of our neighbouring C3 system's exit to low-sec space. It appears I got so involved in exploring deeper that I forgot closer to home. It turns out to lead to the Khanid region, and is closer to Aridia than civilisation, but it is good to know all the same. I jump home and make a copy of the nineteen wormhole and thirty-eight anomaly bookmarks I've accumulated, dropping the copies in our shared can for Fin to potentially make use of. Hopefully I can make use of them too, but later. For now, after a good afternoon's exploration, I take a break.

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

Jelica's travels

I've got a request to report to the Hinterlands, which I dutifully ignore to go exploring instead. Adventuring is fun, but I am intrigued as to the changes wreaked to the land about me. The cataclysm—or 'shattering', as I believe it's referred to—has rent great tears in the earth, destroyed settlements, and in some cases revitalised barren landscape. The Scourge has been pushed back in some areas, overrun others. The relations between Horde and Alliance are both stronger from seeing a need to overcome the shattering together and strained by opportunistic boundary shifts. In short, there is a whole world to explore.

Being a low-level character limits my exploration somewhat, but there are still plenty of places to go. Instead of venturing north, along the new path out of Arathi Highlands to the Hinterlands, I head west towards Hillsbrad Foothills. Thoradin's Wall, the border between the two regions, is now Horde-controlled, but there is a convenient break in the wall where I can sneak through, much like how the Scots get in to England. But Hillsbrad is an entirely different region, the old Alliance town of Southshore being overwhelmed by the Horde, and there not appearing to be any Alliance encampment where I can rest.

I head north, along the river, towards Chillwind Camp just inside the Western Plaguelands. The camp remains, and I grab the flight point for future reference, but not yet realising that Western Plaguelands is now fodder for 35th level characters I turn back south for a safe route onwards. Just short of Strongbad Strahnbrad in the Alterac Mountains I wander through the Uplands, to come around the back of Undercity. I am prepared to avoid a good number of mobs on my route, but it looks like when the Defias Brotherhood were removed from Azeroth no one remembered that remnants of their organisation were once here. Uplands now consists of rabbits and the occasional squirrel, making it a scenic but rather dull run down to the coast.

Undercity is just as I remember it, at least from the outside, being an impressive entrance that automatically flags you for PvP should you dare to 'discover' it. Naturally, I turn and run once I have the XP from revealing the previously unknown city on my map, rather worried that a high-level character will stomp me in to oblivion 'for the lols', as the kids say these days. Sticking to the road is probably a bad idea in this case, but the quickest route away from here is the road, bounded on one side by the city itself. Luckily, the only Horde character around, whilst high enough level to squish me and on a mount that could catch me in seconds, appears to be AFK.

The road in to Silverpine Forest looks rather more imposing than Undercity, barricaded from all angles and regularly patrolled by undead guards. I move off the road where I become conveniently invisible to the guards on the other side of the barricade, letting me continue south. Lordaeron has clearly been bolstered by the changes, no longer amenable to wandering adventurers, and keen to keep its borders clear. Pyrewood Village, previous home of the worgen, is deserted, and moving through the Greymane Wall in to Gilneas finds no signs of life at all. My people, all gone, scattered to the winds! The entire zone is empty, most likely because I am entirely out of phase with anything happening here. It's the story of my life.

I am about to complete a loop, heading out of Silverpine Forest to Hillsbrad Foothills, which will only lead me to the horrible Arathi Highlands again. I have explored the area as far as I am comfortable doing currently, my best choice is to use my hearthstone to get home. Home being Stormwind City at the moment. But where to now? I quite fancy taking a look at the Barrens, having heard that is no longer living up to its name. I catch a flight north to flooded Menethil Harbour, where I board a ship to Theramore Isle on the western continent of Kalimdor.

Dustwallow Marsh looks relatively unchanged, although the Alliance have built a handy road cutting through the marsh to connect directly to the Barrens. I only realise this is its ultimate destination after having run the long way around, once the only safe route, but at least I get to see the old scenery again. Fort Triumph shows that the Alliance now has claim on lands in the Barrens, but my call to arms is further north. I pass by the fallen Camp Taurajo—take that, cows!—and am interested to see Mulgore entirely shuttered off by a massive gate. That may make getting to the Darkmoon Faire more difficult.

A little further north and I see why I am in what is now called Southern Barrens. The Horde apparently got fed up with the constant raids on Crossroads and detonated a goblin nuclear device to deter further incursions, a huge rift in the middle of the region now splitting it in to northern and southern territories. Wandering east brings me to a flight point with a quest, which I accept, sending me to flying over the rift for an excellent view of the destruction. Expecting to return to my starting position to report on my flying survey I am a little disappointed to find I am simply dropped at Northwatch Hold and expected to continue my adventures there.

As it turns out, I merely came to the region from the wrong direction. I was expected to catch a boat to elfland and work my way south, encountering creatures and players of my own ability, and not to wander through the rather more dangerous Dustwallow Marsh. Had I approached from Stonetalon Mountains my contact would have greeted me along the road and offered some quests to continue to push me in the right direction, culminating in the free gryphon flight to Northwatch Hold. But I didn't really want to run all the way down through the broken elven landscape.

My desire to explore freely thwarts the attempt to tell a linear story. It's not much of an issue here, as the quest to send me to Northwatch Hold was available to me none the less, but gated content and assuming a strictly linear progression can feel quite restrictive to explorers like me. But at least I've found new scenery and new content, and I am keen to experience it, much more so than the same tired quests I was disappointed to find in Arathi Highlands. Let's see what the Alliance is up to in the Barrens.

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Tags: azeroth, cataclysm, jelica, mmorpg, warlock, world of warcraft

Exploration continues later

The wormhole opened by our earlier interlopers has collapsed, giving me a new one to open. I resolve the connection and jump through, still a little disappointed that the earlier possibility of deeper exploration is now gone, most likely replaced with a single class 3 w-space system to explore before reaching an exit to k-space. At least the likelihood is that the exit will lead to low-sec empire space, which may give me a decent route to an academy system where I can buy the heavy missile specialisation skill book. Or maybe there will even be miners to hunt in the C3, the mining drones on my directional scanner grabbing my attention.

There may be mining drones in the system, but the only ships I can see are an Imicus frigate and a shuttle. I've seen a Badger hauler mine before, but not a shuttle, making it more likely that the drones are part of a trap. That won't stop me looking for them, though, but only after I've found the two towers that are also visible on d-scan. Locating the towers is easy, and also lets me find the ships, both of them nestled inside the shields of one of the towers, and it also helps confirm that the mining drones are floating in empty space.

I warp away from the tower and launch combat scanning probes, easily letting me find the drones. Warping to their position finds them alone, not even any asteroids for company, the poor mites no doubt lonely and unfulfilled. I scoop them in to my hold, not that bringing them back with me will let the mining drones realise their raison d'être, but perhaps Fin will put them to use. Rescue mission complete, I continue scanning, finding only three anomalies and three signatures, the latter comprising two ladar sites and the static wormhole, which indeed leads out to low-sec empire space.

Jumping out to low-sec puts me in the Kor-Azor region, which almost sounds civilised, but I don't appear to be close to any system I recognise. Indeed, I am sixteen jumps from Kor-Azor Prime, which is a mighty long way for being in the same region. I grab my atlas and check my relative position to see that I am in the farthest corner of the region, and in a dead end to boot. I either have a fair bit of travel ahead of me or I go without the new skill book for another day. It can wait. I jump back in to w-space, and head home to get some sleep.

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Tags: eve online, imicus, mmorpg, penny ibramovic, scanning, w-space

Exploration ends early

I almost feel violated. Today's scanning shows no immediate green dots that indicate anomalies in the system, every single one of the dozen or so having disappeared. A fairly hefty fleet must have passed through our home system and annihilated the easily found Sleeper sites, all but robbing us of our local profit. It's good that glorious leader Fin and I cleared three anomalies last night, or I might be a trifle upset. But, to be honest, it really doesn't matter. The anomalies will respawn with time, and we tend to make most of our profit from Sleepers external to our system, often from systems occupied by other corporations. Such is life in w-space. I only wish there were roaming gangs of miners, so that the gravimetric and ladar sites were cleared as well, as those cosmic signatures get in the way of finding wormholes far more than anomalies do. Still, empty w-space is boring w-space, so it is preferable to have some signatures stick around.

I find the home system's static wormhole, today having the signature identity of CLU, making me wonder if Flynn is perhaps battling the MCP nearby, and jump through to our neighbouring class 3 w-space system. The C3 should be familiar to me, having been here only a month ago, and checking my notes reveals my earlier visit saw me popping a catalyst, no doubt salvaging. That doesn't really narrow down the incident, as I pick on salvagers fairly often, but going back through my journal finds a happy coincidence. I generally keep w-space system numbers out of my journal, mostly because a string of numbers is not terribly interesting, particularly if you cannot purposely head there yourself, but writing about finding a system with sixty-two anomalies incidentally has an image holding the system number. And that's where I find myself today.

The C3 hasn't changed much, remaining unoccupied, but now it has a mere nine anomalies, much reduced since a month ago. It looks like the C3 has been more active since the last time I was here. Scanning still finds twenty signatures but, like I point out above, that's mostly because there aren't many inter-system miner raiding parties. So it is that I ignore plenty of rocks and gas before I am able to resolve a wormhole, which surprisingly is about 6 AU from any celestial body. I warp to it, expecting to find the system's static exit to null-sec k-space, but instead end up floating a few kilometres from an outbound connection to a class 4 w-space system. That's interesting. And as I don't care for the exit to null-sec, it not helping me with getting my still-needed skill books, I stop scanning and jump through to deeper w-space.

A check of my directional scanner on the other side of the wormhole finds no activity, but there is only one planet in range. That's good, as it lets me launch probes and move them out of the system, ready to explore and hopefully hunt. Or I could check my notes, which show that I have been here before, when the system was unoccupied. A lot can change in the nine months since my last visit, but it hasn't. There is still no occupation and currently no activity in the system, so I start to scan. I get a wormhole on my first hit, which is neat, but I briefly check for additional connections before moving on, a second wormhole making itself known to my probes soon enough. I visit both connections, finding one to be a K162 from a class 5 system, the other the static link to another C4.

Unfortunately, both wormholes are reaching the end of their natural lifetimes, effectively halting my exploration for now. But that's okay. The K162 may disappear and be lost, but the static connection will be reborn, giving me a fresh wormhole in to deeper w-space when it does. I only have to wait a little while to continue today's unexpected w-space spelunking, so I return home to take a break, optimistic about later adventure. That is, until I reach the K162 side of our own static wormhole, when I see that it too is reaching the end of its natural lifetime. Our connection to this C3 will die before long, severing the connection to the possibilities of further exploration. At least it gives me a good approximation of when the raiders passed through our system earlier, and it shows that they must have found and opened the connection to the C3.

It makes me wonder if the raiders swept through our C4 anomalies and continued in to the C3, where their eyes lit up seeing the sixty-odd anomalies waiting for them. Their fleet must have been impressively powerful just to clear all of our anomalies, so it is possible they blew through many of the C3's too. Whether they did or not, any of the connections I must use to explore are ageing to the point of collapse, and I must curb my activity for now. I jump home, warp back to our tower, and take a break.

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

From a tower to Sleepers

Silly Penny. The heavy missile skill training to level V has completed, but apparently I don't have the specialisation book to hand. I was only out in empire space buying skill books yesterday! I thought I already had the book, though, having stocked up a while back on missile specialisations I was aiming for. But apparently not. At least wanting the book gives me an excuse to scan for today's exit, not that I really need an excuse. I launch probes, resolve our static wormhole, and jump in to our neighbouring class 3 w-space system.

Nothing has changed in this C3 in the seven weeks since I was last here, it remaining unoccupied and inactive. There is an off-line tower visible on my directional scanner, which jibes with my notes, until I realise that the one in my notes is around a planet out of range of d-scan. I warp off to find the off-line tower still there, making there two abandoned towers here now, which is an interesting change, this C3 apparently having a high attrition rate. But as I'm not planning to move in it doesn't really matter, and I scan for the exit to low-sec.

I am happy to be looking for low-sec empire space today. Whilst it may not guarantee a convenient exit it still gives better odds than an exit to null-sec k-space would. And scanning should be quick, only seven signatures to resolve or discard, along with thirteen anomalies. The signatures turn out to be a magnetometric, radar, gravimetric, and two ladar sites, along with the wormhole home and the static connection out to low-sec empire space. Sadly, the wormhole leads to the Aridia region, deep in low-sec and far from any academy selling skill books. I turn around and head home, having to wait at least one more day to fit Tech II heavy missile launchers.

Glorious leader Fin turns up and we look at our options. There are anomalies to shoot, at home and in the C3, but neither of us are wanting for iskies at the moment. We can still shoot something, though, as the abandoned tower remains in our home system, making us look messy. We can at least give it a poke and see if we have the firepower to take the tower down. I can even pilot an Amarr battleship, albeit at a basic level, but climbing in to one shows that my laser skills are limited to cruiser-size weapons, making the battleship little more than an expensive and cramped hauler with my pod in it. My best choice is my more expensive and ammunition-hungry Widow black ops ship. Fin, however, has prepared for this day and can not only pilot the battleship but also fire its guns.

We board our ships and warp to the abandoned tower to begin shooting. I have packed my cargo hold with torpedoes, although I quickly realise that running out of spare ammunition is only half the problem, as my launchers also need to be reloaded regularly. Having to pay attention and restart firing, or see our combined damage drop significantly, gets a little tedious, but at least it keeps my attention, letting me hit d-scan to check that we aren't about to be ambushed. And once we're in a steady rhythm we get a puppet out in another battleship to add to our firepower. But still it doesn't feel enough.

Certainly, shooting a tower is going to be slow. Shooting one with three battleships is going to take quite a while. And although we're making progress we are also fighting the pulsar in our system, increasing the capacity of the tower's shield and, by extension, its recharge rate. We may be able to chip away at the shields given enough time, but we may not be able to push past the peak recharge point in our current configuration, needing at least one more pilot to make a proper attempt. We abandon our attempt early, so as not to waste too many torpedoes for no result, and decide that perhaps shooting Sleepers for iskies would be a better use of our time.

Rather than heading through to plunder the C3's anomalies we collapse our static wormhole to isolate ourselves. We probably ought to have done that before shooting the tower, really, but better late than never. The Sleepers we'll engage will be those at home, more than a dozen anomalies cluttering our system providing ample opportunity to profit. Battleships are swapped for strategic cruisers and we glide through three frontier barracks anomalies without any trouble, and once more enjoy the ease of salvaging that the Noctis provides. Almost three hundred million ISK of loot is returned to our tower, making the evening relatively productive in the end.

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

Clearing anomalies pays for fuel

Scanning at home finds two new anomalies have spawned. The sheer number of signatures accumulating locally is almost as if we're not house-proud. And, just to prove it, I resolve the nicely conspicuous static wormhole and ignore everything here to explore our neighbouring class 3 w-space system. Our system may have Sleepers breeding like royalty, but at least we don't have an off-line tower cluttering up the place, like this C3¹. The system is otherwise empty, letting me scan casually, finding only one gravimetric site, two ladar sites, and four anomalies. Okay, this system is much tidier than our own, but that's because raiders like me keep coming in and pillaging the profit. In fact, after resolving the static wormhole, and determining the exit to low-sec being only one hop from high-sec but too far from any civilised system, and realising that this C3 holds a damage-boosting magnetar phenomenon, I think raiding the system of its four anomalies is actually a good idea.

I swap the scanning boat for my Tengu strategic cruiser, refitted with heavy missiles for solo combat, expecting to blast through the anomalies in the C3 much more quickly than usual. And combat is pretty smooth, particularly after I decide to adapt to the much-increased range of the heavy missiles, compared to my normal use of heavy assault missiles. Rather than moving to the Sleepers and trying to keep up a high transversal velocity to mitigate damage, I orbit the cosmic signature of the anomaly. I am able to keep a suitable transversal velocity against the Argos guns, and shoot the Sleepers whilst they close the range with my Tengu. It works out quite well. It even ensures that salvaging in my Noctis will be easy, as I can use the same reference point to warp in to that I am using to orbit, keeping all the wrecks in mutual range of the reference.

All four anomalies are cleared, and I swap to the Noctis and sweep up the wrecks in almost no time, thanks to the salvager's excellent bonuses to tractor beam range and speed. I bring home a pretty good haul of loot, totting it up to be worth a little under two hundred million iskies. Feeling flush, I think about taking a trip out to empire space to pick up a few skill books, although I don't feel like taking a long trip to market to sell the small amount of loot I accumulate today. I still take the Crane out, though, the transport ship letting me bring some fuel in for the tower, should it prove convenient. I check the status of the tower and which fuels will deplete in the shortest time, which is still over a couple of weeks away. If I can bring some more in now it will prevent another mild panic in trying to find a decent exit closer to the time of depletion.

I fit the Crane with expanded cargoholds, stuff in two giant secure containers, and head out. I am close enough to an academy system to buy the books that will let me train for potentially a second strategic cruiser, and the prices for fuel seem low enough to consider buying. The two I'm planning to get are available within only a handful of jumps too, which is the main concern. A bit of maths lets me buy amounts of each fuel that will last for similar times, whilst filling up my hold, as each fuel is used at a different rate and can have different volumes per unit. I collect the fuel, return home safely, and resupply the tower. My maths is good, as both restocked fuels increase on-line times to remain equally available. That wasn't so hard, particularly when not under pressure to keep the force field active. In fact, it was so easy I think I'll head out again, and resupply the next lowest fuel supplies. More maths lets me haul equal cycles' worth of two more fuels home again, and now we have a good forty days before having to worry about the tower going off-line, which lets me rest easily.

1. Yes we do.
Return to post.

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

Another one bites the dust

I have a wormhole to find. I pop and pod a Catalyst destroyer salvaging an anomaly before seeing a newly arrived Drake warp out of one of the local towers, and I have no idea where he went. I make the one wormhole-jump home to swap in to my Buzzard covert operations boat before returning through the K162 in our system to the class 2 w-space system connecting in to us. If I can find the second static wormhole in this system I may be able to cause a bit more trouble for the occupants. I cannot hide my ship from any active directional scanner in this small system, but my assault not ten minutes ago has probably made hiding pointless. I launch probes in the open and begin scanning.

There are two anomalies in the system—well, one now—and two signatures, which must be the two static wormholes the C2 inevitably holds. There is nothing else to find in this sparse system, and as I already know the location of one of the wormholes—it connects to our home system and it's how I got here, after all—it is but a simple task to resolve the second. I find what turns out to be an exit to high-sec empire space and realise I have little else to do. I shan't wait for the possibility of a new clone returning home, as camping a connection to high-sec is unrewarding at the best of times, instead heading back home and onwards through our own static connection to take my first look at our neighbouring class 3 system for today.

A tower and no ships awaits in the C3, with one more planet out of d-scan range. Checking that planet finds three more towers and an Orca industrial command ship. Two of the towers are minor silo configurations, the third rather more substantial and holding the piloted Orca. The Orca is even active, for suitably low levels of activity, but enough to make me dash home to swap the Buzzard for my Manticore stealth bomber. I am not sure why I've done this, though, as I realise I have nothing scanned in this system, meaning the best I can hope for is the Orca being particularly foolhardy, perhaps collecting planet goo by himself. But the pilot simply anchors a new hangar and swaps in to a Mammoth hauler, apparently content to sit there and just enjoy being Matari, the weirdo. I'm going home.

I make a quick check of the class 2 system before getting some rest, noting the appearance of a Viator transport ship and this system's own Mammoth, both at a tower here, judging by a sweep of d-scan. I locate the Mammoth, piloted and as active as the one in the C3, and then the Viator, pretty much in the same state. But taking one last look at the Mammoth is unsuccessful, as it has warped off. The pilot's not jumped out of the system, as the ship is still on d-scan, and I find him on a hunch. I sweep a tight d-scan beam over the customs offices in the system, seeing the Mammoth coincident with one of them. He's collecting planet goo, which makes him vulnerable!

I warp to the customs office but drop a little too short to be effective in my stealth bomber, and the Mammoth warps away before I can close the distance. That's okay, I can simply find the next office he visits and catch him there. Except he doesn't continue but heads back to his tower instead. Damn, I just missed my window of opportunity, but I suppose it is expecting a lot to get two separate kills in the same w-space system in one evening. Oh, I speak too soon, as he's off again. I returned to the tower with him and was close enough to view his vector of departure, and it looks like he's warping to the customs office of the nearest planet. Sensing that I may well get my second kill after all, I punch my Manticore in to warp, aiming to get close and personal with the Mammoth rather than standing off at bombing range.

I reach the customs office to see the Mammoth already there, but my perky little bomber's engines outstrip the hauler's for efficiency, if not capacity, and I am out of warp and trying to lock on to the target whilst the warp signature still creates significant interference. A frustrating few seconds pass, probably for both of us, until I get a positive lock, at which point all my my systems go hot. The Mammoth's drives are disrupted and torpedoes rain down on it, although it only takes a few shots to rip the hauler apart.

I am a split-second late in locking the pod, watching it instead warp away safely, and I follow it back to the tower after stripping the wreck of any surviving modules and destroying the mangled remains of the Mammoth. The pilot sits in his pod at the tower, perhaps pondering his next movement. I know mine, which is to head home and rest, quitting whilst I'm ahead. Seeing an Arazu recon ship appear briefly on d-scan as I'm leaving the C2 reinforces my idea that I'm making the right decision. It's been another good evening in w-space.

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Tags: arazu, buzzard, eve online, mammoth, manticore, mmorpg, orca, penny ibramovic, pvp, viator, w-space

Aiming quick and low

I have a new scanning routine. I know that I really need to switch to combat scanning probes when hunting, negating the need to warp to a mining site, and potentially getting spotted should I get decloaked on a rock or cloud, but I much prefer the simplicity of core scanning probes for general exploration. And there is a way to use the right probes for the task. In the home system I launch core probes and scan as normal, as I am only looking for new sites and the static wormhole. But, once probes are launched, I reload my probe launcher with combat probes. When I resolve the static connection I can recall the core probes to my hold and jump in to the next system with combat probes primed to launch should there be a target to hunt. If the system doesn't hold a target I have the time to reload with core probes, for simpler scanning, and I can repeat the process for each system I encounter.

Today looks to be a good day to have my new operation procedure, as scanning the home system resolves a K162 wormhole from a class 2 w-space system. I sense activity on the other side, and jumping through finds it. My directional scanner shows me three towers, a Proteus strategic cruiser, Manticore stealth bomber, and Badger hauler, but also some Sleeper wrecks. Someone is active, and I'm betting it's the Proteus. Unfortunately, there is no room in this compact system to launch probes without being spotted, but fortunately the Proteus is probably only in an anomaly, which can be found with a passive scan. I start the scan and refine my d-scan search, noting that the Proteus is running by himself. The number of wrecks visible suggests he is not salvaging as he shoots, so if I find the anomaly I may be able to catch whichever pilot clears up behind him.

Fin, however, has grander plans. 'Maybe we can neutralise the Proteus', she suggests, actively thinking about the bigger target, whereas my instincts were to wait for something softer. I like her style. My scan has finished and there is only one anomaly returned, luckily the one the Proteus sits in. I warp in, don't bump off any structure, and bookmark a couple of wrecks, but noting that nothing is close enough to the strategic cruiser to let us ambush it quickly and effectively. I relay this information as Fin considers ships choice. I discard the Onyx heavy interdictor early, knowing that its main utility is in capturing pods and, with just the two of us, we need to concentrate on the Proteus kill first and foremost. A Pilgrim recon ship may be a good choice, but we are still uncertain as to what other ship would make a good pairing.

It makes little odds, as the Proteus warps out of the anomaly. I have moved my Buzzard covert operations boat away too, to check the rest of the system passively for other anomalies. The pilot may not be content to complete one anomaly if there are more to do, and I indeed find a second one. But maybe the pilot wants to guarantee his profit, as he doesn't warp onwards to more combat. I urge Fin in to a stealth bomber and to come to the system quickly, in case a Noctis salvager appears, before remembering that I impetuously jumped in to this system without sharing the bookmark back at the tower. I didn't think there'd be quite an immediate opportunity for action. I rush homewards myself, swapping ships and copying bookmarks for Fin to follow, barely stopping as I warp back to the wormhole coming from the C2.

A punch of d-scan sees the Proteus gone and a Cormorant destroyer in its place, not a Noctis but no doubt a salvaging vessel. I warp in to the anomaly, using a bookmark I made of one of the wrecks, dropping thirty kilometres short to see the Cormorant busily salvaging. I am only six kilometres from a wreck, my lack of caution almost causing my discovery, but I am also thirty kilometres from the Cormorant itself. I manoeuvre around the wreck and close on the destroyer, getting closer so that I can activate a warp disruptor on him soon after the bomb launch. I align my Manticore, decloak, and launch!

The bomb glides towards the Cormorant gracefully, as I burst in to a flurry of activity. I lock the target, start a careful burn towards him, and prepare my weapon systems. I wait for the bomb to detonate, ravaging the Cormorant's shields, and fire my siege launchers, burning harder towards the salvager and getting my warp disruptor engaged, preventing him from fleeing. Only a couple of volleys of torpedoes are needed after the bomb's explosion, and the destroyer is destroyed. My Manticore's active sensor booster even makes my targeting systems fast enough to lock the pilot's ejected pod, which I point and shoot too.

All too quickly I am left looking at a wreck and a corpse, amidst broken Sleeper ships, just as Fin enters the system. Damn, it was just too opportune, and too fast. Speed is often essential, and I had to go on ahead at least to reconnoitre. And when the Cormorant was in the middle of my sights I had to shoot, particularly with two other ships in the system that may or may not be piloted. I had to take the shot, I'm sorry Fin. But she doesn't seem to mind too much, actually believing my first reaction of 'all done' to mean that the salvager had finished and warped off, not that I had popped and podded him. It was a bit of a blur.

I scoop the corpse, and loot and shoot the wreck, trace analysis revealing nine melted nanoribbons—the most valuable Sleeper salvage—not surviving the initial explosion. Never mind, I don't really do this for the iskies. Still in my stealth bomber I finally get around to fully checking the system, finding the Manticore and Badger seen earlier both unpiloted in different towers. A Heron frigate now joins the Manticore in one of the towers, reshipping to a Drake battlecruiser, warping out, and exiting the system. I think it's time I scanned the system properly myself, and head home with Fin to get back in to my Buzzard.

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Tags: badger, buzzard, cormorant, drake, eve online, heron, manticore, mmorpg, penny ibramovic, proteus, pvp, scanning, w-space

Dig, death knight, dig

One archaeological dig and I lose two years' worth of rested XP. I'm sure that can't be right. I wake up my dormant death knight not so much to make myself even busier but to kick-start my Cataclysm professions. Getting my warrior in to Hyjal and adventuring, after sorting out her dual-talent builds, makes me more confident that I can pick up where I left off, despite all the changes. But I realise that her jewelcrafting and enchanting essentially relies on my death knight's mining to feed them. Rather than have her stall, I thought I may as well have Gnomesblight active too.

I also was thinking that my death knight would be the better choice to explore archaeology more fully. Jelica, my new worgen warlock, picked up the skill, but catching gryphons to points spread out over the continent is a little tedious, particularly when they are essentially the budget airline of Azeroth, stopping a long stagecoach ride from your actual destination. Gnomesblight has her own bird, and now that flight is available in the old lands I can go point-to-point as the crow flies, which will be much quicker. Being ignored by the mobs, being fifty levels below me instead of five, is just a bonus.

Before I get to do any of that I need to get my bearings. Gnomesblight is in Dalaran, naturally the place to stay in Northrend, but now the portals are gone and I need a new home. Stormwind is the obvious choice, for being open, central, and a city. I can also catch a ship there from Borean Tundra, which is a short flight away. My first surprise is that I have only the basic death knight flying mount, no others. Indeed, I have the death knight's horse, the flying mount, and the black bear as a reward from killing all of the Horde's leaders, and no other mounts. Sapphire, my warrior, has a veritable menagerie of ground and flying mounts, from all of the factions' basic mounts, to those gained by reputation, and even a heroic dungeon reward. Sapphire aspired to reputation, Gnomesblight did PvP.

Having only one flying mount doesn't really matter, I can still fly. But seeing the crazy gear inflation occurring again with Cataclysm shows that at least Sapphire's reputation building has more tangible benefits, all the mounts and pets remaining with her, whereas Gnomesblight's epic PvP gear will be replaced within a handful of quest completions. Never mind, it's the journey that's important, not the destination, and I certainly enjoyed my battles in Wintergrasp.

Heading down to the coast to catch the ship I take a quick look at my death knight talent options. I notice that the blood talents are now defined as the tanking option, whereas I considered frost to be so before, and frost is now specifically a damage role. Because I could tank and deal damage as a frosty death knight I didn't bother with dual talent builds with Gnomesblight, and I think I'll stick with frost and be happy with my damage build. Sapphire can learn to tank again, and if I get in to the heart of the action I can consider getting a second build for Gnomesblight. And even now I will leave my talent choices for later. I am only planning to take a look around, not commit to anything.

The boat ride ends in Stormwind and I am thrown off my boney bird. Oh, of course, I can't yet fly in Azeroth, I need to throw more gold down the training drain to do that. My first visit is, well, actually, it's to see innkeeper Allison, not wanting to forget to set my hearthstone here and be stuck with returning to Dalaran. Then I go to the flight trainer. With my new flying access to everywhere I can soar above Stormwind—which really is much more impressive than I had imagined it would be—and visit more trainers. I get blacksmith training and mining training, to let me gather and craft the new ores unearthed, quite happy to be reminded that I actually managed to get both skills to their maximum levels before I went on sabbatical.

Another skill I have, but didn't think I needed to train, is runeforging, a death knight skill that lets us forge runes on our weapons to give specific bonuses. I see that my current weapon, a titansteel mace, has the rune of the fallen crusader, but apparently I need a runeforging skill level of 300 for it to be active. Opening up the runeforging pane shows that I only have 1/300 skill, making me worry that I will have to needlessly reforge my weapon 299 times. I also remember that I have a death gate spell, letting me return to the Ebon Hold, the only place where I can reforge my weapon. Now that I have my hearthstone set to Stormwind City, and haven't used it to get here, I quickly open up a gate and wander over to a runeforge. One quick forging later and I have skill 300/300 in runeforging. I suppose changes to the runes' powers necessitated my having to reforge the weapon for the power to be effective, but it was a little unclear from the interface.

Back in Stormwind City I seek out the archaeology trainer. Archaeology is the new skill and, like I mention, I have dabbled briefly. Armed with a flying death knight, I now hope to explore it more fully, although time is brief tonight. Opening up my map shows the regions with dig sites, and it is easy for me to zoom across to them and drop down directly in to the area. It still takes a little while to travel, but I can stop to admire the scenery, particularly in areas hit by cataclysmic changes, and I don't need to run the last two miles. As with Jelica, I activate the surveying equipment, but unlike with Jelica I don't have to guess how to use it, if only because Jelica put in the work for me.

The survey tool points in the direction of the artefact, with a light signifying how close you are to it. Red means you're distant, yellow indicates you're getting closer, and green has you standing almost on top of it. Running off in the direction the tool points and surveying again narrows down the location of the artefact until you dig it up, at which point you can collect it. This can be repeated a few times in each dig site before having to move on to another, and with a flying mount at my disposal I can move swiftly to the next region. I haven't quite got enough artefacts yet to 'solve' whatever it is that can be solved, but I imagine something shiny results. But, for the moment, I am happy flying around and digging up fossils and troll artefacts.

And, somehow, after the first dig the rewarded XP—which is quite generous for a bit of digging—uses up my entire alotment of rested XP. Maybe that's a bug with some characters, maybe it's a bug with archaeology, or a combination of the two. It's unfortunate, and a little disappointing, but hardly a problem. I ought to sort out my frosty talents and rediscover my optimum spell rotation, getting back in to combat, but I am not about to rush headlong in to it now. As such, I have no doubt the rested XP will creep its way back to maximum before I know it, and probably stay there until I reach the new level cap. I have enjoyed the death knight class since its introduction, and I particularly liked the versatility of the class in PvP, being a great mixture of physical and spell damage. Needing to mine ore has encouraged me to get Gnomesblight active again, and now that she is I think I'd like to immerse myself in her world once more. I just hope I have time to juggle all my hats.

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Tags: archaeology, azeroth, cataclysm, gnomesblight, mmorpg, professions, world of warcraft