Introduction
This article is intended to beginners who wonder where they can expect to be engaged in PvP against their desire. We will try to consider the major types of hazards when traveling solo through the universe of Eve. Active PVP and various types roaming are not considered here. But it often happens that you just need to fly from point A to point B. Classically, the level of security in a system depends on its Security Status. Systems with 1.0 .. 0.5 inclusive - are highsec, 0.4 .. 0.1 - are lowsec, and 0.0 are null-sec or "zeros", among which wormhole systems are also ranked. Therefore, we divide our short safety instructions in three parts.
* Flights in high-sec
High-sec systems (Imperial territories) are protected by Concord 24 hours a day. Any player, attacking you will not escape punishment (Concord response time depends on the security status of the system). There are several exceptions to this rule:
The attacker is in a corporation (or Alliance), which declared war on you. In this case, no rules in this section apply to you. At war you have the right to kill, wherever and whenever you want.
The player has killrights on (the right to kill) you. I.e., you have wronged him say in low-sec - popped up his ship, and the player has the right to revenge on you within a month.
You have stolen something from a player (taken anything from a yellow container). The player has the right to punish the thief.
You shot at a player for any reason. This is the rule of aggression - after the shot (you have the right to shoot at him as he has stolen something from you, etc.) you give him the right to shoot back for 15 minutes, even he was wrong initially.
Your SS (Security Status) (SS depends on the system) or factional standings (less than -5) is too low. In the first case, you will be pursued by Concord, in the second - by factional militia.
The above was a small set of exceptions, which describes all the mechanisms of punishable aggression between two solo players. If a player (or both) is in a fleet, then another rule - "distribution" of aggression will also apply.
If something is stolen from a player in a fleet, the right to punish the thief is given to every pilot in the fleet.
If a player in your fleet is shot at for any reason - you have the right to repair him (repair the shield, armor, etc.). But in doing so you give the right to the other side to shoot at you, too.
Thus being in a fleet can make life more difficult both for your fleet-mates as well as for the enemies. ALSO! Accepting invitation into fleet from a pilot, you give him the opportunity to warp you to a set distance. It is fraught with an unprofitable for you fight. You can shoot at a pilot in the fleet, but only if he is part of your corporation, otherwise it is regarded as aggression.
Anti-missile defense
Many of us, having a keen eye and and clear mind, have cleverly noticed that the best defense against missiles is to kill the rocketeer. This is certainly true, but there is more to it than that - specially for anti-missile defense, there are rockets called Defenders in the game, ruled by the skill of the same name.
Defender Rockets are fired from Rocket/Standard/Assault launchers and automatically attack any missiles flying towards your ship. Defenders are quite effective against cruise, heavy and standard missiles at a distance of 20 km or more. Against torpedoes, however, not that they are not useful, but to take down 1 torpedo three pieces of Defender Missiles are needed - so they will just not have time to shoot torpedoes down. The same thing about short distances - at short distances defenders also will not have time to protect you.
The procedure for using Defenders is a simple - they are loaded into the launcher and then, when in the space there are torpedoes flying in to your eve ship, the launcher is activated. That's it. Until there is someone to defend from or until there Defender missiles on board, the launcher will be shooting the flying up rockets. What is important here are the following 2 things - you need to recharge the launcher on time, and make sure that it does not stop. If there are no threats in the space, the defender will not turn on, but if it's been on and for some periond of time there are no threats, it will deactivate.
A pretty good idea is to use rocket launchers as launchers for Defenders. Although they must be constantly recharged, the density of anti-missile fire they will create will be pretty good thanks to the rate of fire of such launchers. Another popular option is to use the Assault launcher for Defender Missiles - the rate of fire will be a bit worse, but the efficiency is impressive.
It's worth saying that relying heavily on Defenders is not really the best choise - it is often easier to put one more launcher for combat ammo and kill the enemy faster.
For all types of missiles, but Rockets & Torpedoes, there is also FoF ammunition.
They differ from regular missiles by double reduced injuries, and by not requiring the capturing of the target. The main value of such weapons manifests itself in situations where it is impossible or there is no time to lock the target. For example, when your ship is jammed.
Heavy Missiles
Heavy missiles or heavies, are designed to shoot at cruisers and others of their ilk. They inflict pretty good damage at pretty good distances, but against frigates and other small targets their effectiveness is slightly decreased. The most evil heavy missiles users are the Caldari cruiser "Caracal" and the Caldari again HAC "Cerberus" (T2 Caracal). Heavy missiles are most optimal for a showdown among cruisers, although the same Caracal in capable hands can even kill NPC battleships. Typically, for a war against frigates it is better to fit assault launchers, on the Caracal as well.
To be able to shoot with Heavy missiles a Heavy Missile Launcher is needed. And the skill - Heavy Missiles.
Cruise Missiles
Cruise missiles - are a privilege of battleships. Have the greatest among all the missiles range, excellently kick other battleships, a little worse when used against battlecrusers, even worse against cruisers, and are a pretty bad choice against frigates. Cruise Missiles have a slightly better rate of fire than torpedos, and are quite versatile. Do the job fairly well against NPCs.
The launcher for this type of missiles is - the Cruise Missile Launcher, this module can be exclusively fitted on battleships. By the requirements for fitting is better then a torpedo launcher. The absolute king of cruise missiles and torpedoes is the Raven (Caldari). For cruise missiles the skill Cruise Missiles is needed.
Torpedoes
Torpedoes are the most powerful type of missiles in the game. The drawback of the high damage is fairly the low speed and relatively short range of torpedoes. However, in combats among battleships torpedoes are absolutely indispensable. Unfortunately, they are so-so against cruisers, and against frigates even more so-so.
Torpedoes require a Siege Missile Launcher, the skill Torpedoes is responsible for them.
Exactly the same as with guns, rockets are clearly divided into different classes. However, in contrast to the former, the difference between the types of missiles is much clearer. If for the guns, dealing damage is only a matter of hitting with a large projectile at an enemy, then for the missiles, the type of the ammo shot at the enemy plays a significant role.
For each type of missile there are respective skills, which adds a certain percentage (usually 5%) to the damage per level.
There are the following types of missiles and launchers in Eve Online:
Rockets, missiles or small, but with fairly high damage.
Rocket - are the smallest type of missiles. Despite the fact that rockets may seem unimportant to newcomers to the world of EVE, they, nevertheless, cause very significant damage due to their very high rate of fire. Rocket are extremely low range, have a very high rate of fire and good value of damage per second (DPS). However, to use them pilots must clearly understand their actions, which somewhat reduces their usefulness for beginners. Rockets beat well any targets.
Launcher for rockets - Rocket Launcher. This unit can hold quite few ammunition, but it has a decent rate of fire and extremely modest fitting requirements. Rocket lanchers are often used to threw out Defenders.
The skill for rockets is "Rockets".
Standard Missiles
Standards, or light missiles - are simple and unpretentious. Intended primarily for frigates or protection against frigates. Nevertheless, have a good range (with the skills), not bad damage and are a good choice for beginners. Suitable for attacking any type of ships.
Particularly strong at the emission of standard missiles is the frigate Kestrel.
There are 2 launchers for standard missiles - Standard Missile Launcher & Assault Missile Launcher. The first device is intended for frigates, the second - for cruisers and larger ships. The Assault Launcher can take far more missiles and its firing rate is slightly higher. Assault launchers are often used for Defender missiles.
The skill for standards is named "Standard missiles".
Each missile (munition, please note, not the launcher) has the following characteristics:
Max Velocity - maximum speed of the rocket. The skill Missile Projection is responsible for its value (+10% per level).
Flight Time - time during which the rocket is capable to fly. Affected by the skill Missile Bombardment. If we multiply the value of this skill with the value of the previous skill (Missile Projection), then we miraculously get the maximum range for this type of missiles.
Explosion Radius & Explosion Velocity - these two parameters, despite the fact that they are pretty stupid, are responsible for how well the rocket hit small targets. I.e. the higher is Explosion Velocity - the stronger balst will get some Interceptor. The reason here is simple - the damage from missiles depends on the Signature Radius (size) of the target. The skill Guided Missile Precision can positively influence upon the amount of damage dealt to target in dependance on their size. By the way, we want to warn frigate pilots - if you use A MWD (MicroWarp Drive), then your signature is slightly less than that of a battlship. And the amount of damage caused by rockets can become an unpleasant surprise for you.
XXX Damage - damage inflicted by a missile. The letters XXX here stand for the type of damage dealt. Each type of missile strikes a certain type of damage, however, more on that later. The skill Warhead Upgrades affect the damage by rockets (+2% per level), as well skills for each type of missile.
Also, note that the effects of all these skills upon damage your ship will do is normally not displayed in the information on rockets. If you need to look the modified values for your missiles (after having trained the skills), fit the equipment and ammo, and see in Fitting menu the value of missiles and launchers, installed on the ship. All data from there takes into account the bonuses from skill and from the ship.
The amount of caused damage depends on the type of missiles and the size and speed of the target. I.e. light missiles will hit anyh targets almost equally, but torpedoes may be doing very little damage to the rapid frigates. The skill Target Navigation Prediction will help you hit quick targets better.
Ther is also a module that has a positive effect on the missiles - it is called Ballistic Control Unit, and increases damage and Rate Of Fire. It beneficially influences upon any any type of missiles.
Missiles in EVE are the third fundamental type of weapons, in addition to guns and drones. Minmatars are attracted by guns, Amarrians burn bad words on enemy ships with lasers, Gallenteans are invigorate by drones and hybrids, and God told the Caldari to use rockets. Although he has probably told the Minmatars the same, too.
Missiles (please note that here the whole class is referred to as "missiles") compare favorably to the guns by that they are much faster to be learned. Also, rockets are extremely useful in combats against NPCs (computer opponents) and for running missions. Both of these factors contribute pretty much to the popularity of rockets among novice players and among mission runners.
There are two main differences of missiles from guns. The first is that missiles always hit. Second is that it takes some time for missiles to fly and reach the target. The first property implies that the damage from rockets is stable, and is never critical. That is, if the first missile hit the shield of your ship and caused 500 points of damage, then all the others that will be hitting you later will deal just as much damage as the first one. The advantage from this is the fact that injuries do not depend on the distance. The disadvantage, strangely enough, is exactly the same, because if the lasers hit much harder from a close distance then from apart, the rockets hit exactly the same from everywhere.
Yes, in addition to the above, there is a missile defense system (MDS).
The use of rockers depends on skills from the group "Missiles".
However, enough with the introduction. We'll return to the hero for the day - the rockects - in our next posts.
The first part of the name clearly hints at the considerable intelligence of the munition, and the second - that it is nonrecoverable. And we should mantion that the name suggests the abouve-mentioned in vain - one cannot expect a smartbomb to be very intellectual in the way it acts. Because to convince the smartbomb to explode seems to me a rather intricate task. And also, it isn't exposable, either.
Simply put, smartbombs are the most blunt weapon in the game, and blatantly reusable. All that makes this blasphemous thing - is blazing damage of a certain type around your ship, spoiling everything within reach. The radius of action depends on the caliber and quality of the smartbombs, although even for the most prominent representatives of the family, this radius is quite small.
However, smartbombs also have useful features - first, it does not need to lock the target to blow up, and second (and third, at the same time) - it really inflicts damage to EVERYTHING within the range. This useful quality makes smartbombs a very pleasant weapon for killing enemy's drones, your own drones, co-allies' drones, the ones that-are-on-their-own, as well as for killing small ships and damaging others' property, and for the subsequent death from the Concord :).
Due to the latter point, by the way, for the application of smartbombs in the systems with 0.5 and higher security status, considerable caution is extremely desirable.
You also have to remember about smartbombs when you fly a frigate or use a horde of drones - somebody clever enough can easily take some smartbombs, which will kill almost any frigate instantly, and will even pod-kill you. Drones die quickly from a smart bomb, as well.
A good bonus to smartbombs is also the fact that they can inflict damage of any kind and, in the case of several smartbombs, the pilot can freely change the damage he deals.
Nevertheless, smartbombs as a weapon are quite specific, require fairly much of powergrid and CPU, and fitting them without a clear understanding that you're going to definitely use them is not recommended.
Responsible for the use of smartbombs is a single skill in the Engineering group named Energy Pulse Weapons.
Laser weapons. Occurs mainly on Amarrian ships.
Advantages
* Lasers do not consume ammo. Instead, they are charged with reusable lenses.
* Instantly recharge
* Have a high Rate of Fire
* Have the highest Optimal Range
* Very quick change of lenses that allows you to quickly select the best lens for shooting in a certain situation.
* Good damage
Shortcomings
* Highly consuming the energy of the ship
* Deal only 2 types of damage: EM and Thermal
Lasers are of two types. Pulse Lasers for melee and Beam Lasers for long range combat.
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Hybrid weapons. Are usually istalled on Gallente ships, and somtimes on Caldari ships. Are charged with hybrid ammunition.
Advantages
* Lower power consumption than the lasers
* Cause highest damage in a close range
* Are charged with hybrid ammunition that allows you to choose the most appropriate damage.
Disadvantages.
* The lowest optimal range of all types of weapons
* Dependent on the ship's enegry
* Long recharge.
Hybrids are divided into 2 types: Blasters for short range, for Railguns - for long range.
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Firearms (projectile) weapons. Weapons of the Minmatars. Use projectile ammo to fire.
Advantages.
* Do not consume the energy of the ship
* The highest "Faloff"
* Good Optimal Range
* Of all the types of turret guns, projctiles are most flexible in terms of damage dealt. Can shoot any type of damage.
Disadvantages.
* Like hybrid weapons, recharge in a fairly long time.
* Artillery guns have very poor tracking, which negates all attempts to hit a fast moving target.
Projectile turrets are divided into 2 types: autocannons for close combat, and artillery for long.
Arrr, pirrrates! Our brothers from the Minmatar people in some of their raids in search of material for their ships found an abandoned artillery museum named after Henry Morgan, and have re-thought many of the stuff they found. The result was some amazing things such as 1400mm guns. Since there were found no nuclei in the museum or maybe because they were too round for the Minmatar brain to invent them, Minmatars deftly adapted to equip their guns with Projectile Ammo. And that turned out, we must say, pretty well.
Projectiles need the least amount of capacitor from all the three types of turrets available in Eve, and are also most flexible in the sense of damage inflicted. Can they do EM, and Explosive, Kinetic, and Thermal. Which extremely pleases the Minmatars and upsets a lot their enemies.
Projectiles have a totally luxurious Falloff (the best in the game) and a very good Optimal Range.
* Projectile turrets are divided into two types - Artillery and Auto-cannons.
Artillery has a very good optimal range, great Falloff and a very powerful damage. The price for it is their slower Rate of Fire and somewhat lethargic Tracking. Nevertheless, it is artillery which is the choice of a heap of snipers. One shot from the Tempest from a 1400mm gun in a long-range configuration usually smashes any T1 frigate into peices from a very respectable distance. A fun occupation.
Autocannons are very similar to blasters and cheerfully bite enemies at a close range. The considerable speed of Minmatar ships greatly helps to the process of destroying the infidels, and some Vagabond generally is a nightmare for the enemy.
Damage modifiers for projectile turrets are Gyro Stabilizers and their descendants.
We purposely do not describe every kind of guns in more detail - describing every existent instance of guns is quite unreasonable, as there too many of them in the game. Look up the info about any guns you are interested in and you'll find information; the same goes for ammunition and lenses.
And finally, we'd like to note the Variations tab in the info about objects - there are listed rare, factional and T2 versions of the object. Take a look at them, too, and envy.
Now it's the turn to speak about Hybrid turrets, or simply - hybrids.
Bonuses for hybrids are basically available for Gallentean ships, and a little for Caldari.
* Hybrids are divided into and Blasters, they consume Hybrid Ammo and consume the capacitor when firing as well. Especially blasters. Hybrid guns usually inflict Kinetic + Thermal damage, although there may be some other options.
Railguns aka rails, - are a long-range sub-species of hybrids. Have a pretty good Rate of Fire and an impressive Optimal Range. Unfortunately, they also consume the capacitor pretty much, although not so much as lasers. Their Tracking with an increase in the gun caliber becomes so-so, but Oprimal Range increases instead. Optimal Range of hybrid turrets very strongly varies depending on the used type of patrons (from -50% to +60%). And the highest drawback of railguns is probably that they recharge in a long time and you won't be able to quickly change the type of ammo to adopt to combat situiation.
Blasters are designed solely for close combat. A very close battle. However, they are one of the most powerful weapons in Eve Online, in terms of damage per unit of time. In other words, if your ship is orbited by a Gallentean who's started firing furiously - that's a bad sign. To the pod. However, given that the blasters rather cheerfully devour the capacitor, the capsule in the end of the combat may be not yours =)
Damage modifiers for hybrids are Magnetic Stabilisers.
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