Safe operations in the null sec. Scout, cyno, courier

This guide is not intended to be a comprehensive coverage of topic about safe flying in low and null sec, rather, on a very small piece of this. The question will be exclusively about the cases when you need to move pilot from point A to point B. For example, you have ship for him in the destination point, or you just want to travel to the end of the EVE universe and back, to see the famous gates through which our ancestors came to this world (i was there - nothing interesting). I personally use this technique to deliver cyno to distant system, and to send there the pilots for ships delivered by carrier. And of course for scouts.

How to safely fly in null sec on the big hulking ships, that cost several billion, so that they were not dismantled for spare parts I'll tell another time

Scouting

If you aren’t true PvP gamer, just humble PvE… and want to fly over low/null sec on big, slow, expensive ship (darnit... why we can't do 10/10 plexes on a cheap and small ones?) – you need scout. He’ll fly ahead on the white horse something small and cheap and look around the corner. Of course, you must play in two or more windows for this.

When I was newby i used shuttles for this purposes. But then found a better option.

Why I don’t like shuttles?

The main reason: if you get into a gate camp - you're dead. No options. It’s not so bad when you fly around your home system and without implants. But if you want to fly for 15-20 jumps? It turns out a huge waste of time - slave can not fly further without scout. But when you have flown there again, how do you know that the gate camp are no more? You jump in… and if they are still there – you’re dead again. And if along the way several of these systems? What to do?

Sansha on the Horizon

Well, here I got to the fifth level missions. Specially 2 days I run missions from the second level to the fourth, standings were growing, and finally fifth ...

The job description

Sansha forces recently start an offensive into new territories. So far we have been able to hold them back, but every day it's harder. Recently, we found a new base Sansha on our side of the border. Now we have no free way to deal with this problem. I want you to figure it out. Destroy the station and all the ships of Sansha, which will protect it.

Task

Destroy the outpost Sansha and all enemy ships guarding it.

Reward

After completing this task, you will receive the following awards:
83488 LP (!) Eighty! Three! THOUSANDS!

And isks a bit, to support the pants: 3.7KK + more 3.6KK bonus, if you have finished in time.

On the fourth level missions such is not even close. But the complexity of... full shit

What you need to know about POS kill

Best of all, if your corporation has active players with different time online. At any time, should be a person who, at least can get a message about the attack and will be able to call for help. If not - you will enter and find the POS in reinforced mode. All that you can do now is to collect his associates for defense. Call your corporation, call your alliance, friends, volunteers ... anyone. You need to ward off enemies and restore POS shield. While the shield is not restored up to the level of 50% and above - you will not be able to get absolutely nothing from hangar, from lab, reactors, etc.

Update: you still can use modules that don’t use CPU. So, you can get ships from ship maintenance array.

This means that if you're not sure that you can promptly detect the attack or to organize a defense, it should be borne in mind the following:

• Use industrial ships for for valuable stuff. You can’t get stuffs from hangar because it use CPU, but if you keep it in ships, it helps you a lot.
• Protection of alliance or large corporation - some guarantee that you can download the materials for the week ahead and go offline. Otherwise - refine and produce in small batches, with the materials for a day or so.

Naturally, than bigger POS, than more it has guns, scramblers, jammers etc., the less attractive target it is and there are less enemies, who can aggress it. Of course a large fleet of dreadnoughts and carriers will destroy any "death star". But it'll take a time.

• It is necessary to collect all at one time
• They need to think about support, scouts and escape routes

In general, it is the whole military operation with questionable benefit. And they have other worries enough.

If the POS was killed, but for some reason they did not finish structures, you still can't get anything from the lab / hangars, etc. While there are not a control tower near - they are locked. They can not be removed from the anchor and pick up, you can not access to their content.

In this case, you  can't install new tower, anchored structures prevent this. So in order to install a new POS you will have to destroy them yourself. Perhaps they was left just for this. Even pilot of industrial ship can run POS in empty place. To run POS in place with structures - you need a fleet of battleships, which will shoot it some hours. Or Dred / Carrier

The factional war

The network has quite a popular guide on "how newby can make PLEX on the factional wars". Guide is quite old, and therefore the question arises - how much it is  actual. Well, I do have doubts about its feasibility. But I'll try and I will periodically throw up different little thoughts on this.

While it is possible to note two things.

The first - the factional wars is a huge number of PVP playes, who pvp from morning to evening. In nulls compared to low sec regions of faction wars - just so quiet grace, there are empty systems in which people show up not every day, to shoot a little to red crosses.

The only plus point compared to nulls - there aren't mobiles. The truth is - this has no sense, because they do not really even need. In the sense that you can certainly push bunch of warp stabs into frigate  and fly almost calm. But if you make agent run, then you can forget about warp stabs. And banal mission becomes like a circus with horses - you have to fly through several systems of continuous fighting.

Scout help you a lot, he  flies in front of a white horse on the frigate with warp stabs, jump to gates first  and puts the bookmarks. But scout can only detect an ambush, disperse foes who are camping the gate he can not do.

By the way, this is the first difference of the above-mentioned guidelines i’ve already found. Scouts on the shuttle - this is kind os suicide. Much better suited appropriate frigate. I use minmatar ones: Slasher, Vigil, Probe

• It has 2-3 low slots in which you can fit warp stabs. This is reason why any frigate preferable than the shuttle. Even rookie ship
• Frigate can be fitted with cloack device . It isn't a stealth bomber, you can't sneak up on enemies, but you can safely throw it anywhere, turn on the cloack and not worry that he will be killed.
• Frigate can be modified with rigs Small Hyperspatial Velocity Optimizer I. As a result of warp speed to increase up to 10 AU/s and more, depends of your skills. Not bad when you have to go around the crowd of agents.
• MWD - a very necessary thing for making bookmarks on station undock and near gates. At least, it's much faster. If you need to fly 150 km, what is preferable - frigate with microwarp drive flies at 3 km/s, and the shuttle only 0.6. Is there a difference?

The second point is:

How to convert LP to isks?

In guide as a basis for the calculation is taken conversion rate 1 LP = 2000 isk. But most of goods in LP-shop, when you properly calculate it, will be unrealistic expensive. To put it simply for the money they are not wanted.

Example

Tempest Fleet Issue is about 360KK in Jita, and we are offered a BPC for 250.000 LP + 20KK isk. About implants I even don't want to say anything, prices have fallen and it is just a garbage . The same applies to the guns and missile launchers.

Of course, you can find goods for which the convert ratio is 2000:1 and even more. At least in theory. In practice, when you sell a lot of expensive factional modules, there aren't enought byers and prices crumble. And, someone has to sit in Jita and correct price constantly. It takes a lot more time than you might expect.

Gas harvesting for boosters

Gas harvesters can only be installed in the turret slot, and therefore specialized mining barges are not suitable for them. Until recently, gas production is carried out by a variety of BC, like Hurricane. To fit the maximum, 5 harvesters, required different tricks to increase the CPU.

It was somewhat illogical - well, why combat ships does gas harvesting, and why specialized mining barge unable to do this? But, in general, are all used. In this regard, EVE developers are trying to make the game more logical, but they not too strive. This is not chess, where the horse goes only by one manner, there you can throw it to the head of your opponent.

However, with the advent of the mining frigate Venture everything finally fell into place. Its rate of harvesting is comparable to previous method. When you have all the necessary skills his two harvester extract per unit of time as much gas as 5 of the traditional BC. No additional crutches is necessary. A volume of 5.000 m3 cargohold is brilliant. Previously, it was necessary to have the industrial ship to drag the extracted gas. It is no longer necessary.

Fit

In low sec there are no rats in gas sites. But there are PvP players. So I recommend fit:

• one extra warp stab in low slot
• in middle and shield extenders and shield hardener
• cloacking device and 2 gas harvesters in high slots
• rigs for agility

Shield booster isn’t useful, if fight happens, it will be too quick.

Fit for nulls is different, it is determined that you need to protect yourselves from the NPC and cloud blows. Otherwise, you simply will not live till meeting with the PvP players. So, this fit is more for PvE.

• Damage Control
• Shield Extender + Shield Booster + EM Shield Hardener
• cloacking device and 2 gas harvesters in high slots
• 3 Anti-Thermal shirld rigs

Harvesting

Gas harvesting is nervous job. It is mined mainly in low and null secs, there are constellations where the most frequent gas clouds. About null sec gases and their constellations I will tell separately, low sec constellations:

• The Forge: Mivora
• Lonetrek: Umamon
• Placid: Amevync
• Solitude: Elerelle
• Aridia: Fabai
• Derelik: Joas
• Heimatar: Hed
• Molden Heath: Tartatven

It also comes in other constellations, in nulss and in the empire, but in much smaller amounts. You can fly through systems for a long time and won't find anything. So if you do this on a serious basis, it will have to go to mentioned above.

Good news – only few of the players do gas harvesting. So you have a weak competition. And it's not asteroid belts, where PvP players can just to click and go to visit you. They will have to run the probes, scan you ... Accordingly, at this stage regular scan checking will give you a chance.

The bad news – it is low sec, there are lots of PvP players. Gate camps, tacklers on station undock. By the way, despite the decent amount of cargohold, it is still not enough. Appetite comes with eating :) You need to fly somewhere and unload mined. It is best, of course, if you have own POS - no one has caught you on the undocking. But it is expensive, troublesome and even the question of how local residents would reacted on it : maybe someone for no good reason, according to this system of their own, and you - an unwelcome guest. In addition you will have to go to neighboring systems, gas clouds are not that big and fast running out.

The best alternative - transport on twink char. Dug up, thrown into the container out, twink had logged in, collected, and disappeared again we go mein. Similarly, we proceed with the scout - in fact most of the time he has nothing to do.

Example

I came across a Pipe Nebula, there are three clouds with Vermillion Mykoserocin, 1.000 units each.

Production cycle of T2-harvesters is 30 seconds, they extract 20 m3. With the 100% bonus it is 40 m3. Two harvester - 80 m3, 160 m3 of gas per minute. 3,000 units, the volume of 10 m3 each, a total of 30,000 / 160 = 187.5 minutes, a little more than three hours by one miner. In reality, all four - it takes time to travel. The cost of ~ 7,000 per unit, for a total of 4 hours 21KK = 5KK on the miner per hour. So of course it is better to use three or four windows.

Thrice was hiding from the probes, but it was a false alarm - probably looking for WH. I almost got caught by Machariel on undocking. Locale and scan are full of enemies, but no one has arrived to me.

Then I was scaned. For the fourth time, I was too lazy and did not hide. Immediately Nemesis has arrived and tried to kill me. Although it's weird - stealth bomber could fly cloacked and I would not see him before he flew up and burst out with all guns. So i was lucky twice. Apparently he was lazy  too.

Sansha on the Horizon. Part 2

Part 1 is here.

It turned out it's not particularly difficult. Although it is troublesome. However, I was lucky - whether a day laborer, whether by themselves, these systems are not popular in factional wars, but no one didn't bother me, not kept watch near the dock.

I did it on Raven, solo, without second damager or logist. Raven was Navy Issue, with t2 fit, except missile launchers and rigs. I just haven’t enough skills for it. So launxhers was Arbalest, rigs t1. I’ve used passive shield tank (resists and shield extenders) and shield booster. Missiles was factional Caldai, with EM damage. In low slots was Ballistic Control System II and 2 Power Diagnostic System II – they give bonus for shield,capacitor, and recharge rate of both.

The neutralizers simply kill me. It's very difficult to kill them - I've sawed one with three rewarps, then spat and focused on the goals of the mission.

During the time while other NPC gnaws me the shield - neutralizers suck capacitor to zero. And this time isn't so much - not enough to kill a battleship. When shield has gone - warp out, dock (the most dangerous moment) and over again. If I heat modules, the one battleship was killed in a single pass. 4 BC were killed in a single pass in any case.

Loot are worthless, salvage also is not worth it spent on its collecting time. 380K and 1.5KK respectively.