384 Minutes

Action

I was involved in a WH operation in mid-November and was flying a Nestor for the first time. I had a RR/Cap buddy and all went well, the buddy was decent and we managed to avoid taking too much fire whilst keeping our friends alive with RR.

The fight was enjoyable but after it was over I really wanted to get out and back to high sec after downtime. 

So I log and then login again after DT and exit via the connection we have to a WH that has a high sec static except the wormhole closes as I pass through, and I didn't notice. I warp off to the high sec I know exists only to find it has disappeared. Ah, urm... bugger.

Perhaps I need to log again and wait 15 minutes as sometimes the HS WH's don't spawn unless the HS has been loaded. 

I login again, the WH is dead. It's a goner too.

Hmm.

Options

Well I had ignored the standing rule of WH's to always have a depot and a probe launcher with core probes in the cargo hold (I later found I did have these.... back in Jita where I bought the ship). So I can't get out, do I suicide?

I can't do that, it's a 1.7b ship and another 300m in implants. If I have to I'll have to do it, the ISK means little I just don't want to do it in a ship I've flown once. So I decide to logout but post in Local before I do in case someone is here. 

Nope. All quiet just the Sleepers and me.

So I log off.

Wavey Timey Wimey

Over the next two weeks I login daily and sit, cloaked, watching d-scan and saying hello in local.

For two weeks nothing, nadda, zip, bugger all. I see ships pass by but no-one answers me back.

Salvation?

It's been two weeks and two days (384 minutes) since I was stuck, by my own stupidity, in this WH. I really was getting close to suicide but I saw an interceptor on d-scan and quickly said hello.

And I got a reply!

The pilot was understanding in my predicament and offered to give me an out via the HS in system, he was using it himself. I really didn't care at this point if it was going to be a trap or he was really helping so I joined his fleet and warped to him.

To land on the K162 WH to high sec.

So, Altair Taff, I thank you for saving my ass from suicide in an unknown WH system and I've rewarded your good samaratian act with 250m ISK as a thank you.

So 384 minutes after he was stuck my WH character was able to return to inhabited space and finally get to use the toilet :)

Citadels - First View

Both Trinket's Friend and Bex have posted in their, respective, blogs about the coming of Citadels and how large they will be based on the following image:

I've been involved in the manufacture of two stations so far in EVE Online:

• one, was periphery, when I was in Providence and I provided some materials for that but did not participate in he actual setup or assembly.
• the second was as a favour to a friend in a (renting) null sec alliance who needed a lot of PI and minerals but did not want it to be known they were buying them (I also helped move about 11m m3 from high sec to null sec via my JF's)

I'm not sure which station I helped with for the second one, alas my friend left the game just after the jump changes, and I never found out what the station was.

Show Me The Money

Both TF and Bex talk about the cost, after all if you want one you've got to have the bank roll for it because if it's anything like a station or other structure it will need minerals, PI products and perhaps a few other things to make.

The image above shows the purported size of a medium citadel compared to an Avatar titan. very impressive in terms of size but we still don't know how CCP are going to deal with the logistical needs or costs to assemble one.

TF has, logically, inferred that a POCO could be considered a "medium sized" structure and setting up one of these costs around 100m ISK. A POCO needs four PI types and a gantry to assemble and these come out at around that cost.

Now it's ridiculous to imagine that this would be the cost of a citadel, it's too little for this structure, a more reasonable cost base would be in the low billions. Personally I think between 1.5 and 3 billion is what it may cost. I see either a large amount of minerals or perhaps a new "framework" object (like the POCO gantry) that you create, move into place then fill with extra materials (in the same way you construct stations) then after a period of time your station is complete.

Between 1.5 and 3 billion ISK for a medium structure seems reasonable to me.

Time-wise, it will take at least a couple of weeks to make one. Unless you're a major null sec alliance who hordes and has large stockpiles of materials, in which case you'll be able to assemble as soon as you can move it.

Speculation

Details on citadels are still vapour, we don't know anything about:

• handling loot/destroyed structures
• how defence weapons will be controlled/configured to work
• system indexes and influence of any structure on them
• vulnerability windows/protection
• whether structures will function/be deployable in wormhole space and, if so, how that will exert influence on WH system
• ship docking/mooring
• taxes/fees/(any) fuel use requirements

and a host of other questions I and others will have. We are starting to see information forthcoming but so far its just from the art department. Hopefully a devblog or further "leaks" will come soon and allow players to start understanding this major new game mechanic.

And he died with a smile on his face...

We had a fight last night.

When I say "we" I mean PROLAPSE. and some allies in support of a group who were having their C4 Pulsar attacked by some Russians.

It was not pretty, it was not a victory and I lost two ships. But I absolutely had a lot of fun and I hate losing ships (who doesn't) but instead of rage quitting and getting angry I'm happy.

Since I started PvP has not been a major concern for me, sure I'll come join a fleet and try to blow stuff up but it's never been a primary EVE activity for me. I've always been happier and gotten more satisfaction from industry than I have PvP.

Batphone Abuse

Aside from comrades from Haywire, promised reinforcements and friendlies never materialised. The owners of the hole we were helping with had said that they'd be on field with us with several battleships and some logi, but these never appeared. Apparently (as TF says in his post) a Falcon, Bomber and Hurricane did come to the fight but these were very poor choices against the assembled foes let alone five Marauders in bastion mode.

The batphone is an important feature of EVE Online but, much like the story of the boy who cried wolf, you abuse it the towns people will eventually ignore you and you'll be left to be eaten by the ravenous wolves of New Eden.

Times Change

I loved this fight. 

I was dual boxing but my "battle station" gives me the ability to do this without needing to ALT-TAB or otherwise manage windows.

Neither Bex nor Trinkets Friend have written much about the details of the fight and I can't really add to it. I was focused on what I was doing not with the whole battlefield. I certainly made mistakes flying both the Scimitar and the Curse but in hindsight I know about them now so I'm better informed the next time I'm in a fight.

Trolling with POCOs

I've never really had much interaction with POCOs or other structures aside from POS'es. I know my way around a POS, most of the permissions (and pain associated with that) and how to do most POS related things.

I learnt something new today thanks to Trinkets Friend.

Have a read of the story, it explains much of the background and more importantly the hilarious trolling to that has gone on. Sure the eve-mails have flown but I've never, ever, heard of using POCOs as a method to troll someone.

Genius.

Confessor vs. Sleepers

Background

A competition was held, in-game, that would determine the release order of each of the racial T3 Tactical Destroyers. Just before EVE Vegas 2014 a devblog was released where capsuleers were asked to donate Sleeper loot to secret research projects. The research projects turned out to be contest where the order, that the new Tactical Destroyers, would be determined by the amount of donated Sleeper loot.

At EVE Vegas it was revealed that the Amarr won and the Confessor would be released as part of the Rhea expansion in December 2014.

The Ship

The Confessor appears to be a radical new design for the Amarr, its different but retains the patterns and appearance people expect of Amarrian ships.

Slot layout is VERY Amarrian, 7 high (6 turrets), 3 mids and 5 lows, showing that is supposed to be an an armour ship.

Like the original Tech 3 cruisers, Tech 3 tactical destroyers add a new mechanic that is unique to the hull. Instead of being modular design with sub-systems the destroyers have three different modes (Speed, Sniper and Defensive) of operation, that can be changed 'on the fly' (but with a 10 second cool down).

These modes certainly make the Confessor a very flexible ship and a somewhat unpredictable foe in space.

If you want more information on the ship and its fittings please check out the linked article above.

Heavy Hitter

The Confessor is a great little ship, light on tank but not as much as you'd think considering its size. I've seen many fits, a lot theory-crafted but some actually used and very dangerous.

I'd love to share one particular fit that I'm familiar with that is excellent as a station undock killer but I promised the pilot I would not because the potency of the fit is something that, so far, everyone has underestimated. Perhaps after the release of all the T3 Tactical Destroyers I will be able to share that.

Most fits are built around a passive tank (no plate) and a couple of damage mods to increase the dps from the Small Focused Pulse lasers that will be fitted. A decent pilot will easily get around 400 dps from the ship but there is one environment where a well skilled pilot can get over 1000 dps.

Wolf Rayet

Of all the wormholes in EVE Online those that have the Wolf Rayet have the most impact on small weapon armour ships. Shield ships need not stay, they will suffer badly from the effects this wormhole will have:

Affected Stat	Wormhole class
	1	2	3	4	5	6
Armor Resist	+10%	+18%	+22%	+27%	+34%	+50%
Shield Resist	-10%	-18%	-22%	-27%	-34%	-50%
Small Weapon Damage	+25%	+44%	+55%	+68%	+85%	+100%
Signature Size	-10%	-19%	-27%	-34%	-41%	-50%

C1 through C3's are profitable, now more so, but lets look at C4 and C5's because they offer the most "bang for your buck".

The Fit

The fit spec was simple, cheap where possible but designed to maximise damage and try to use the speed of the ship to limit the incoming dps. Of course being a wormhole ship we must have a probe launcher fitted, that was the only requirement I had for a module that must be present.

[Confessor, Confessor]

Coreli C-Type Small Armor Repairer
Energized Adaptive Nano Membrane II
True Sansha Adaptive Nano Plating
Heat Sink II
Heat Sink II

Cap Recharger II
Cap Recharger II
Coreli C-Type 1MN Afterburner

Expanded Probe Launcher II, Sisters Core Scanner Probe
Small Focused Beam Laser II, Gleam S
Small Focused Beam Laser II, Gleam S
Small Focused Beam Laser II, Gleam S
Small Focused Beam Laser II, Gleam S
Small Focused Beam Laser II, Gleam S
Small Focused Beam Laser II, Gleam S

Small Energy Metastasis Adjuster II
Small Energy Metastasis Adjuster II
Small Capacitor Control Circuit I

Aurora S x6

Sisters Combat Scanner Probe x8

Yes, beam lasers over pulse, we don't want to be close to the Sleepers. We want to be able to kite at least 15/20km from them whilst maintaining a good speed so as to limit the effectiveness of their fire. 

Tanking modules occupy three of the five low slots, we've got two resist modules and a deadspace repairer. The wormhole effects are going to significantly improve our resistances so lets make them as high as possible before the bonus. The final two low slots we'll use for heat sinks and thanks to the Energy Metastasis Adjuster rigs we get the benefit of an extra one or two heat sinks but without using the low slots.

We're far from cap stable, especially with the repair module running, so we use cap rechargers to help maximise the time we can remain on field. We aren't designed for PvP so no need for point, our tracking from the guns is enough to be able to kill frigates as is without the need for a web.

Conclusion

This ship, in the W-R setup, is a beast and can easily complete sites here without support. Two chew through the sites like a Drake (pre-nerf) did or the Ishtar does now ratting in anoms.

The whole fit does require a bit of ISK to setup and run but its not overly expensive compared to other more dedicated fits for these sites. You could add more ISK but we use the ISK for modules where they will do the most good. You could shiny more modules but then the ISK-Loss ratio weighs more to the loss should you lose it to a ambush or the sleepers.

This is a great PvE ship for sleepers but its also a fantastic PvP ship. The new Minmatar Tactical Destroyer will certainly add a new element to the game but since release the Confessor has curved a great niche in New Eden.

Sneaky Bastard

I bought a Lachesis last week, just after Proteus was deployed, and I fitted it out according to feedback and what I thought was the best fit. Subsequently a discussion on the Sudden Buggery facebook page corrected my fitting and I realised what a piece of turd it was. I was 75% correct in but the remaining 25% that I came up with was about as useful as a chocolate teapot.

I will be refitting, as soon as I can get to high sec to inject a new skillbook (to use Medium Tech II Rails) and get some replacement modules. Until then I am in my "fit" Lachesis.

Setting the Scene

So on Friday evening I found myself logged in and listening on Comms. I saw that someone was at the Altar of Bob performing a sacrifice of a corpse (or two) and then a new name spoke in local. It appears we had a visitor and one that was stuck in our wormhole.

Succlebutt was that he was in a Crow and had been here for a couple of days as he had gotten stuck without a probe launcher or a bookmark to get back out. He had offered ISK for someone to help him, either with a probe launcher or a bookmark out.

Strangely no-one had taken him up on his offer.

White Knight

I'm a friendly type, so I'll help him. So I warped to the sun and dropped a can, containing exit bookmarks, letting him know in local that I had done so. 

I remained on grid in my Lachesis as he would not see that on d-scan and a few seconds later I saw a crow appear 100km from my position. He cloaked and I remained still then asked in Local if he was still there and seeing my ship.

He confirmed he was and uncloaked, I then said that I would logout so he knew I was not trying to deceive him. I then logged out.

Of course it is.

From the Wings

Whilst this is all going on I'm also speaking to corp mate Miskoranda who is in a cloaky smartbombing Proteus fit that has been named the Dick Virus. This is a superb ship for killing explorers or lightly tanked vessels and it was the perfect choice for this kill.

Miskoranda moved the cloaky within 10km of the can I had dropped and waited, before I logged I comfirmed he was in position and ready. He was, I logged.

It only took a few seconds after my screen closed before this:

Kill: John Elgrund (Crow)

Kill: John Elgrund (Pod)

Sometimes I shake my own head at how sneaky I can be, pretending to be a friend and saviour to someone and then letting this happen. Then that microsecond passes and I'm fine again.

This is what you get when you invade my home. Yarrrr!

A Week In Short

Lore

I really have to thank the EVE subreddit for making me get into the EVE Lore more. A couple of the recent threads about "Catherine's Star" have been fascinating and piqued my interest in what the story I'm involved in is.

I found it funny reading Templar One and reading more about the history of the Amarr that I actually find myself dispising them. Even funnier considering that all my characters are Amarrian and I've ben known to refer to friends who are Caldari as "Caldari scum"... and they're supposed to be our allies!

I don't think I'll go full RP, I'd probably find it a little too weird, but I have enjoyed reading about about the history of the Pirate Factions, the major races and where Sleepers fit in. I'm pretty sure I've only scratched the surface so I have a lot more reading to do.

With Christmas approaching I know I'll be visiting various family so I'll load up the iPad with reading material to keep be entertained.

Ticking Along

Not much to report with my industrial juggernaut. Towers are ticking over, wares are shipped to Jita for redistrubtion, at a nice profit, and unfortunately I've found myself not logging in most days with my null sec characters.

My high sec ones are doing well, nearly three quarters of a million LP for one store from L4 missions. As boring and repetiative as they are I do find time to do a few in a row and the odd Storyline does mean I get some nice loot.

I've had three Shipyard Theft storylines in a row so far, with each one giving me a different Leadership Implant.

New Opportunity

One of my characters will be, very shortly, leaving my holding corporation and striking out on his own. I've identified a new home for him and hopefully I'll be able to join up and see if I can live in a wormhole once more.

I'm sure I can, just got a few skills to update before I do join...

Rhea Approaches

With the release of the Rhea expansion in a weeks time I've been getting ready to make a few Bowhead for myself and friends. I've had to invest in Capital Part BPO's and that's cost few billion ISK but at least I can research and use them for other jobs later.

I'm interested in the new T3 Destroyer although I don't think its going to be cheap to start with, regardless at some point I'll get one or at least try to build one. An interesting premise the Confessor is, with the three modes. Although I really think it will lack in the DPS department with only 5 low slots.

Aside from that I'm not really doing much market speculation or investment. Rhea is going to be my quiet-ish expansion.

A New Wormhole Tear Extractor

It was just a line in the release notes but with the release of Phoebe came the adding of null sec data and relic sites to low class wormholes (C1 thru C3).It doesn't seem like much of a change but its actually rather an excellent one as many high sec pilots won't venture into null sec but will enter wormholes to run sites.

Aside from the oddness of this behaviour this obviously shows that the day-raider pilot certainly exists and by adding the Data and Relic sites to low class wormholes should see an increase in the loot that comes from them.

Thus was born a new variation of the Wormhole Tear Extractor.

Hypothesis

From this its possible to come up with a hypothesis:

The adding of Data and relic sites to low class wormholes will see an increase in nano'd, warp core stabbed covert ops frigates who are fit to find and complete these sites as quickly as possible.

To a wormhole dweller this means one glorious thing: More Targets.

Catch Me If You Can

However catching them will be difficult as you'd have to allow at least seven seconds, more likely ten, during which time they could easily align and warp out. The delay is caused by deactivating a covert ops cloak and then the time to actually lock a target and activate any warp disruption module(s).

Theorycraft

In a deep dark wormhole somewhere my friend Bex and his cohorts decided to come up with a solution. Bex summed up the task ahead so succinctly:

So what can I produce that is able to efficiently scan out a site, arrive on location cloaked and prosecute the little thieving bastards with impunity.

Much theorycrafting was then performed and eventually the following fit was produced:

[Night Fever, Proteus]

Large 'Vehemence' Shockwave Charge

Large 'Vehemence' Shockwave Charge

Large 'Vehemence' Shockwave Charge

Large 'Vehemence' Shockwave Charge

Large 'Vehemence' Shockwave Charge

Covert Ops Cloaking Device II

Expanded Probe Launcher II, Sisters Core Scanner Probe

Experimental 10MN Microwarpdrive I

Warp Scrambler II

Medium Capacitor Booster II, Navy Cap Booster 800

Reactor Control Unit II

Reactor Control Unit II

Reactor Control Unit II

Reactor Control Unit II

Reactor Control Unit II

Medium Ancillary Current Router I

Medium Ancillary Current Router II

Medium Ancillary Current Router II

Proteus Defensive - Adaptive Augmenter

Proteus Electronics - Emergent Locus Analyzer

Proteus Offensive - Covert Reconfiguration

Proteus Propulsion - Interdiction Nullifer

Proteus Engineering - Power Core Multiplier

Not pretty but the fit has one purpose and you're certainly not going to be tackling anything larger than a Destroyer/Frigate sized hull in this because there is no tank outside of the base the T3 hull gets and all the rigs and low slots are used to provide the Power needed to fit and run the smart bombs.

Testing

It didn't take long for the first test to occur and that was rather successful.

A site was scanned down, with a perch bookmark generated that made all the loot containers warp-able and then it was just a waiting game.

Eventually the fly entered the web and as soon as they moved to a container the ship warped to the container and the smart bombs activated. 

Kill: Atherios Lincestor (Helios)

Kill: Atherios Lincestor (Capsule)

Covert Ops ships don't have much tank, especially configured for ninja missioning like the was. 

The test was a resounding success but as with any prototype further refinement could be made. So it was back to the fitting tool but at least the basic ship premise had been verified and now a new weapon could be bought into the fight against "the little thieving bastards" that visit wormholes daily.

I've not seen or been provided any details of changes to the fit above, as of yet, but I know that additional variations have been produced for all T3 hull except the Tengu. I guess its only a matter of time before we see, and hear, of smart bombing T3's protecting wormhole Relic and Data sites.

Conclusion

The fit is solid, if a little light on tank however the use is not as a brawler but as a surprise and designed to go after lightly or no-tanked frigates/destroyers. As I've been writing this I have been sent this kill mail:

Kill: Eryx Vanguard (Astero)

which prompted this 'feedback' in Local:

Eryx Vanguard > ps - douche bag move
Apex Bex > bahahaha

Alas Vanguard's pod was able to escape thanks to being ejected just outside Smart Bomb range but regardless the effectiveness of the ship and fit has been proven and I'm sure there will be plenty more killmails to come.

Lost In Space

Wormholes are dangerous places, think 19th Century Wild West and you'll be in the ballpark for what it can be like. There are some things you do in wormholes and lots that you don't.

Up there in the top 5 rules of things you do would be:

Fit a probe launcher and carry combat AND core probes

A friend learned the hard way about this a week ago but he also found out that not every wormhole dweller is a merciless killer.

Setting the Scene

Our story starts in null sec where a new appearance in local piqued the interest of those in system. A lone Armageddon was spotted on d-scan but he had not come though either of the gates in the system. He disappeared and reappeared a couple more times before two more joined him in a Slasher and Phoenix respectively.

Caldari "Brick", the Phoenox Dreadnought

It was obvious that they were visiting via the wormhole that had appeared in system so a small welcoming committee was assembled and warped to the wormhole. 

Holding his cloak he sees the Phoenix jump through and align to a celestial when the Slasher uncloaks and webs the Phoenix to speed up its entry to warp speed. The Phoenix warps off and this is where Kiatae makes a critical mistake, as he admits.

Instead of moving to a point around 50km off of the wormhole in alignment with the celestial he remains on the wormhole whilst a friend, in another interdictor, warps at 50km to the same celestial as the Phoenix. The celestial turns out to be a POCO in the null sec system and on landing the Pheonix is 50km off him so he burns at him but isn't able to get in bubble range before the Pheonix warps back to the wormhole.

He warped to the wormhole and beat the Phoenix to it but launching a bubble with the dreadnought in warp would not do anything so he jumps through into wormhole space.

The Land of Bob

After the transition he saw the pheonix jump into the wormhole with the slasher and then he heard one of the most troublesome noises in EVE (wait, EVE has sound!). He heard the noise of the wormhole collapsing and it disappeared from the grid.

Like the EVE Online Forums, can contain Scum and Villainy

Kiatae was now stuck with hostile forces nearby.

For the next hour he warped around the system avoiding the pursing fleet comprised of cruisers, battlecruisers and assigned fighters. He managed to kill a Slasher and a Crow with a Stilleto taken to 3% structure before he had to bug out when the pursing gang landed 20km from him.

Options

Eventually the pursuit stopped and he was able to safe up. it was then he took stock of his situation and realised he had no way to get out of this system. He had only two options available to him:

1. Self-destruct his ship and pod
2. Ask for help in Local/EVE Online Forums

Option 1 was not an option, he didn't mind losing the ship but his implants were not something he wanted to lose. Option 2 was trickier, with hostiles in the same system he didn't trust them to help him.

So he posted to the EVE Online forums where he got more people chuckling and pointing out his mistakes than any real help.

Salvation

It must have been the two kills that meant that Bob looked upon Kiatae's predicament and decided that he would let salvation come, not in the form of death, but in the form of a roaming gang of YARRR and CO. 

Kiatae asked in local for assistance and YARRR and CO obliged by giving him a wormhole exit to low sec that he used. Kiatae, grateful after being stuck in the wormhole for 3 days, offered up 200m ISK as a thank you.

He then made it out to low sec and, slowly, made his way home after his adventure in wormhole space.

Karma

It appears that Karma struck the residents of J124942 for their attempts to kill Kiatae as on the 30th September they lost a small mining operation (2 retrievers, a Miasmos and all capsules) to a roaming gang of Grand Sky Wizards.

Bob was not impressed J124942 residents, not impressed at all and he reigned vengeance upon you...