The reason is: This page was first written for a much older version of the game and its meta, and could do with a rewrite. Some sections may need modernising.
- This guide is provided as a tutorial resource on how to save your pod, or capsule, when you're likely to lose your ship in PvP. Simply going through this will help you understand, but nothing beats practice.
Sooner or later in PvP you will lose your ship and find yourself in your pod. From that moment you are in danger of being "podded": your capsule is destroyed and you wake up in a new clone, losing any implants you had plugged in.
How dangerous that moment is depends on where you are:
- Highsec: capsules are very hard to lock, so unless you panic or don't react, you should be able to warp off almost every time.
- Lowsec: smartbombs and fast-locking ships make it harder, but with knowledge, practice and confidence you should still save your pod most of the time.
- Nullsec and wormhole space: warp disruption bubbles can stop your pod from warping at all. Expect to lose your pod more often here.
When you lose your ship to NPCs, most of them will ignore your pod; the danger comes from hostile capsuleers nearby. A few NPCs are the exception (see below).
This guide focuses on the basics of saving your pod.
NPCs that kill pods
Most NPCs (belt rats, mission and anomaly rats, Sleepers, faction navies) destroy your ship and then leave your pod alone. Some do not:
- Triglavian and EDENCOM forces, found in Pochven and in the systems left over from the Triglavian Invasion, will pod you if they are hostile to you. Whether they are hostile depends on your standings with them: helping one side lowers your standing with the other.
- Drifters in Triglavian-controlled space such as Pochven will also kill pods.
In these areas, treat an NPC loss like a PvP loss: get your pod moving the moment your ship dies, and don't fly implants you aren't prepared to lose.
Being Prepared
In order to successfully save your pod you first need to be prepared. If you're not prepared, no amount of information will help you the moment you find yourself in your pod.
Warp-out Overview Preset
You need an overview tab that only shows safe places to warp to. The default overview you get when you first enter the game does not have one.
- The EVE University Standard Overview profile has a preset for this called "Warpout". You should familiarize yourself with the Standard Overview profile on our Overview Guide.
A good warp-out preset shows celestials such as planets and leaves out anything that could get you killed. Stargates and stations are where hostiles are most likely to be waiting or to follow you, and you will usually have a weapons timer that stops you from jumping or docking anyway.
Clone Preparation
When you know you're going into a PvP situation, be in a clone that you're prepared to lose. Many pilots keep a clean clone, with no implants at all or only cheap combat hardwirings, in the station they fly PvP from. Experienced pilots may choose to risk more expensive implants, but should do so knowingly.
- If you're unfamiliar with jump clones, read our Jump clones article.
- EVE University will reimburse you for the NPC seeded cost (1 million ISK) for the needed Infomorph Psychology skillbook.
Plan ahead and make sure you have a clean clone available in the station(s) you operate from for PvP fleets and ops.
Practice and Practical Training
Nothing beats practical training to help new pilots experience ending up in their capsules and successfully saving their pods.
Corpmates can shoot each other without legal or security status consequences. If the instructor and trainee(s) are not in the same corporation, the instructor can use a duel challenge instead; the trainee accepts it when they are ready to start the exercise.
- The instructor and trainee should meet at a prearranged bookmark, both for safety and so random pilots don't interrupt. If hostiles may be around, get others to act as pickets and give early warning.
- All pilots involved will need to be in the same Discord voice channel.
- The trainee flies a corvette (rookie ship) with nothing extra fitted, so there's no ISK loss or killboard entry to worry about.
- The instructor flies a frigate or destroyer with T1 weapons and non-faction ammo or crystals, and a warp scrambler or warp disruptor. Webifiers are optional.
- The instructor explains to the trainee(s) what will happen and makes sure they have their Warpout tab ready.
- The instructor engages with weapons and point, bringing the trainee into structure slowly enough to talk them through it.
- The instructor tells the trainee when to switch to their Warpout tab and when to start spamming warp on the selected planet.
- Once the trainee is in their pod, the instructor tries to lock and point it. Trainees should never be podded. Please exercise caution.
- As confidence grows, speed things up so the trainee feels how quickly a real loss happens.
Instructors and trainees should make sure any ISK losses are taken care of (there shouldn't be any, but you never know).
Using your Warp-out tab
Your Warpout tab is invaluable. Switch to it as soon as your ship is tackled and you know you can't escape. Pick a planet and start spamming the Warp to 0 m button. Once you land, do not stop: keep moving, as you are probably being chased. Don't forget to switch back to your normal overview tab to check for hostiles, as the Warpout preset does not show ships.
When to use
Switch to your Warpout tab when:
- The FC tells you to be ready to save your pod, calls "scatter", or just says to get out.
- You're being "yellow-boxed" (you see yellow reticles on your overview around the icon of a ship targeting you) and you're in no position to take fire.
- You're in danger of being destroyed, or know you're about to be.
- Your ship gets destroyed. You may be too late at this point.
How to use
In any of these cases, do the following:
- Click on your Warpout tab. Load the preset into this tab before you undock.
- Choose a random planet and click on it.
- In the Selected Item window, start spamming the Warp to 0 m button (just keep clicking it). Don't over-click, though: if you queue up too many commands, the server has to work through them and your warp can actually be delayed.
- If you're not warp scrambled, you will warp to the planet. Either meet up with the fleet again or dock at a safe station, and listen for instructions from your FC. If you have no instructions when you come out of warp, do NOT sit at the planet and wait, as this can get you killed. Keep warping between planets at 30 to 70 km range, or make midsafe bookmarks between planets and warp to those instead. Once your weapons timer has expired you can look to dock up. Only take a stargate if the FC orders you to, or if there are no stations in the system.
- If you ARE warp scrambled, you're not going anywhere yet, but keep spamming the Warp to 0 m button. When your ship is destroyed and you appear in your pod, the warp command carries over and your pod warps out almost instantly, saving both your clone and any implants you're carrying. Done correctly, you should almost never lose your pod outside bubbles.
- Switch back to your PvP or PvP travel tab before you drop out of warp, so you can see any enemies waiting on the other side.
Effects of server ticks and lag
When your ship is destroyed, you go through a session change from ship to pod. This can cause lag. If you're already spamming the Warp to 0 m button BEFORE this happens, your pod will usually warp out despite the lag, unless you "over-spammed" and built up a chain of commands before you died. In rare cases of extreme lag you may still fail to warp. The session change timer lasts 10 seconds and prevents you from docking or jumping through a stargate for that time.
You can reduce client delay by turning off the "Blink" notifications for mail and notifications in the NeoCom. Otherwise your client may wait for the insurance mail to arrive, and that delay can be all the enemy needs to lock you.
Tactical considerations
We warp to planets because there is usually nothing dangerous at them. Enemies tend to wait at stargates and stations, and player structures, including POSes, often sit near moons. POSes can be armed with weapon batteries that will engage you, and they may also kill your pod.[Verify] However, enemy capsuleers will sometimes chase pilots they see warping out to planets, so never sit still after you land. As explained above, keep warping between planets at 30 to 70 km range until you get new orders. If your ship was destroyed, you may want to dock up and get a new ship; let your FC know that you are docking to do this.
Remember that if you've engaged the enemy with an offensive module, you will have a weapons timer, which stops you from docking or jumping through a gate for 60 seconds after your last offensive action. Once it expires you can dock or jump. Hover over the weapons timer icon to see the time remaining.