So after my previous story about Okkamon, I quickly began looking elsewhere for stories to bring you about life on the edge (PvP) around New Eden. After reaching out to a few contacts I was offered to go on a ride-a-long with a pilot in I N F A M O U S. This is my first experience on a small gang through 0.0 space and I encourage any new player to read carefully as I have included many pointers through this for you.
On coms the fleet commander is counting down every few minutes to the start of the roam. 05:30 we are heading out. Pilots are settling into their ships, checking ammo and nanite stocks. Nanite paste is critical to carry in ample supply on long roams. This allows you to constantly overheat your guns when it matters most. Be careful not to burn out modules on a roam through enemy space unless you are carrying a mobile depot with spare modules. Combat boosters are also handy to carry when on small gang roams as they can provide massive boosts to your ship’s capabilities effectively creating a force multiplier when the fleet is using them as a whole. With the recent news of legalizing combat boosters expect this to become the norm within solo and small gang fights. Everyone already knows they have committed a few hours to tonight’s roam through Providence. I quickly realized I am among experienced players just noting the difference in voice communication. No one is scrambling for last minute things. Everyone was ready to go five minutes ago. The order to undock was given. Shortly after exiting the station the fleet commander warped the fleet to a jump bridge followed by a short speech.
FC “We have no logi so I expect everyone to know their ships and fly well. We will be shotgunning systems of interest. Tacklers will jump through, call destinations, split up, and X up in fleet when you have something. Command destroyer head to station and prepare to jump off anything landing. Good hunting. Take the jump bridge”
We had a distance to go before hitting our first system of interest. The fleet commander warped us as a group to each system until we reached 3D-CQU. Once here we all jumped into the system and everyone warped to a different site within the system. This is done via the probe scanner (Alt+P by default) and each pilot would call out the name of the site before warping to maximize site coverage. This site ID is typically something like VVN-906. Quickly someone put an X in fleet chat and announced he had tackled a Procurer. The call was made for everyone to warp. Comprised of mostly T3 destroyers our fleet landed and tackled the 2nd Procurer on field and making quick work of them. Our Sabre then “bubbled” to prevent the pod from escaping. This is the common term used when a fleet commander wants a interdictor class destroyer such as a Sabre to launch an interdiction sphere preventing any ships caught within from warping away with a few exceptions. Both pods were destroyed causing a 250M ISK loss. It was now 06:11 in game.
Next we caught a Kronos in K1I1-J. As the fleet landed the Kronos went into bastion mode. We got in close and began to overheat our weapons per the FC’s call to break the tank on it. Suddenly a smart bomb went off like a blue supernova cascading over our fleet. Next followed the calls in coms to pull back to 9,000 meters and ensure we stay out of the smart bomb range. We continued to pound the Kronos and his tank was breaking slowly. Always be prepared for an FC to call changes in range as the fight unfolds. The FC is usually paying attention to far more than you are so follow the calls and if you die in a ball of fire do it quietly. A Simple -1 (ship Type) in fleet chat is all that is needed. This ensures coms stay clear for the FC to continue to provide instructions to the fleet and shows what is being lost and how fast to the FC. Simple things like this save the FC tons of time and allows them to make better decisions. In roams you should never fly something you can’t afford to lose. Most of the time people don’t plan on flying back home. While you read all that the Kronos is still taking a beating from our T3 Destroyer fleet, itching ever so closer to structure. The Kronos erupts in a bright flash signaling the end of the 1.3B ISK battleship followed quickly by the pod. Yet another clone awakes somewhere in the universe.
The streak of kills continued throughout Providence and the time dragged on. Repeatedly pilots were asked if they wanted to keep on going or go home. Every time they wanted to keep it up. The gang was getting great kills and everyone was giving their best except for one guy who leroyed himself into a POS causing him to get “blapped” instantly right before the Kronos fight. Lightning did strike him twice apparently. A few jumps later we cross jumped another roaming fleet. As they were half our number they didn’t want a fight, however one of their pilots was straggling behind and was caught in a bubble by our Sabre. Finally at 8:01 the fleet was ordered to “free burn” home. This simply means head home at your own place, but make sure to call out if you spot anything or get attacked. So finally 3 hours and 3.4b in kills later I had arrived safely home. This is a small look into an everyday roam, what to expect, the etiquette required, and the fun to be had. With EvE the possibilities are endless, and all you have to do is make a choice. Who will you fight for? What cause will you take up? What empire will you forge? Who will become the hunted? The answer to all these question is within you capsuleer as your destiny continues to unfold.
I was told the pilot David Cee passed 10,000 kills in a Sabre on this roam and thought we should have some kind of tradition for this accomplishment. I am sure there are many others out there passing this number, however it does feel like quite an accomplishment to have this many in one type of ship. When asked about the accomplishment David Cee stated “Hey, I’m looking forward to 20,000.” Let me know what you guys think about having something special in game to denote 10,000 kills with a single ship type in the comments below.
I look forward to the next article covering faction warfare tips for new players. This is a great place to learn the ropes until you are ready for something bigger!
-Sunbeam Diesel
