Baiting: Difference between revisions

A good rule of thumb for all warfare is "Only pick fights you know you can win".  In Eve, the combination of secure neutral stations and warp drives makes it easy to avoid fights, given enough warning.  Baiting is one way of convincing the other guy to commit to a fight.

Baiting does not have to be a group activity - you can also bait as a way of generating solo PVP. This involves making yourself look like an easy target (a ratter, miner, or oblivious traveller) while actually fitting for combat. This is particularly effective if you use a larger ship such as a cruiser or battlecruiser to bait smaller ships such as assault frigates and interceptors, where fitting webs and neutralizers can tip the balance in your favour.

'''Caveat''': this article is about baiting legitimate University targets. It is not about hi-sec "griefer" baiting, in which a pilot seeks to trick another into taking an aggressive action, so that the victim can be ganked without CONCORD intervention.

The most important question to consider is "what does the baitship offer the attacker"?  Some attackers are happy with any killmail, regardless of whether it's a shuttle or a T2 battleship.  Others are hoping to gank a particularly valuable ship (for the status), or to loot valuable cargo or equipment.  A few might just want vengeance.

Another important attribute of good bait is that it shouldn't look like bait - a [[drake]] or a [[maller]] (both very common bait ships due to their high effective HP) are actually poor bait ships for this reason. A [[raven]] on the other hand is a believable choice - it's an attractive target, is easy to catch, and could believably be taken for a mission runner who strayed into lowsec by accident.

Your bait ship must be able to do two thing:

With that in mind you want plenty of tank, as well as a warp scrambler or disruptor at a very minimum. [[Armour Tanking|Armour tank]] ships are particularly good as bait, since you can use their extra mid slots to fit extra warp disruptors and webs to tackle multiple targets and prevent them from escaping.

{{Color box|color=DarkGreen|border=LightGreen|"People looking for killmails are the '''best''' target audience."}}

The location you bait the enemy at is also very important if you need to make a quick getaway, if you/your FC decide that the enemy fleet is too strong for your fleet to take on. Slowboating to a stargate from 15km, or getting into a gatecamp can be very convincing, but can be a certain deathtrap if backup does not arrive soon. On the flip side, baiting on zero at a stargate, or station is very safe, but it is much less convincing to an enemy fleet. This is why your should always try to dscan the enemy fleet first, or get eyes (a scout) on it, before you bait.

You found a juicy enemy fleet that is ripe for your to destroy, and they just took your bait!

* Don't panic. While it may seem the enemy fleet will totally kill you, your fleet will arrive soon.

* Get your podsaver tab ready, as your death will be most likely inevitable.

[[Timers]]: Details about aggression timers, which are fundamental to baiting.

* [http://forum.eveuniversity.org/viewtopic.php?f=44&t=38662 Bait Tactics] - thread on E-UNI forums.

* [http://www.evealtruist.com/2011/01/intelligence-and-counter-intelligence.html Intelligence & Counter-Intelligence] - Azual Skoll on manipulating intel picking fights.  Heck, read the entire blog!