Ever since the first EVE Online pilot figured out a fit for their ship that allowed them to lock a target within a single server tick, doing so has been a staple of gate camping. A significant number of ships can be configured to not only lock and catch their target before escape can feasibly occur, but also to do enough damage in one or two cycles of their guns to destroy their prey immediately. Gates, Station Undocks and even Wormholes are the prime hunting ground. For years, the sight of a Cynabal, Loki and recently, Svipls camping these locations have been a source of dread when you load grid. Especially to those with subpar internet connections, who are at a disadvantage due to the mechanics of server ticks. Even with a good connection, your odds are dicey unless you either have a cloak, can align in less than one tic or simply have the tank to burn back to the gate before destruction.
Many gate campers employ alts or their fleet members to scout out incoming targets and threats. The fitting required to lock instantly, point and destroy a target usually sacrifices most if not all defensive modules. Therefore, they rely on their extra eyes to keep them safe and give them the warning needed to either GTFO or be ready to bring the hammer down on incoming prey. Typically, instalockers sit right on the gate or wormhole to minimize the potential for a target to load grid too far away to be pointed or hit with weapons. However, station campers often set up on a bookmarked spot that puts the undock right at their optimal weapon range.
In either case, the instalocker’s greatest vulnerability is that they have to remain motionless at a static location. If a forewarned enemy manages to sneak past the instalocker’s scouts, they can set up a nasty ambush to kill the camper, typically using bait to engage the minute long weapons timer and preventing the camper from jumping or docking. In null sec, the trap is often sprung with an interdictor bubble to keep the campers from warping off.
That is, they use to be able to. Now a new doctrine has entered the field. Please welcome the Instalocking Carrier, colorfully referred to as “Stage 4 Cancer” by several of this author’s corp mates.
The video below demonstrates the technique.
As you can see, not only does the Nidhoggur have an astounding fast ability to lock, point and destroy his targets, he can do so from a distance of over 2ooo kilometers from his targets and the gate he’s camping. It can do this thanks to the new module “Networked Sensor Array” that carriers were given to replace the Triage module they lost to the Force Auxiliaries in Citadel. NSA’s massively boost both lock time and range of carriers and supercarriers. The penalties are: unable to dock, unable to tether and functionally unable to use ewar of any kind. However, since the timer is only a minute or less, you just align the carrier out to a safe, POS or sufficiently far enough station and warp off at the first sign of trouble. With proper scouting in place, the carrier is tough to surprise or trap. Even a hot drop using a cloaked cyno ship would be hard to pull off, as the carrier only warps off if something decloaks near it. Not to mention the painful task of slowboating a cloaked ship 2000 kilometers before the carrier decides to relocate or senses danger.
There is one bright spot. While the carrier itself can instantly lock it’s target, the fighters still have to lock the target separately. This means that even a very fast pilot still takes about 2-3 server ticks to begin applying DPS and Warp Disruption. However, as the video above shows, that is still well within the needed time to engage and destroy a frigate before it can warp or burn back to the gate. And the carrier’s instant lock can prevent a slow pilot or one with a bad server tick from cloaking, allowing the fighters to finish their job.
Additionally, the carrier also has to sacrifice most of its defensive fitting options just like any other instalocker. Here is a sample fitting provided by one of this author’s corp mates.
However, even with these drawbacks, it would seem that the instalocking carrier doctrine is currently a very strong one. As of this writing, no hard counters have been discovered. You can chase the camp away, but catching it and killing it are unlikely at best.
So, if you are roaming or traveling through low/null security space and you load grid with a carrier 1000+ kilometers off… good luck. And may Bob have mercy on your pod.
