Encounter Surveillance System

Every sovereign nullsec solar system has an Encounter Surveillance System or ESS. The ESS stockpiles a portion of the bounties awarded in that system, and then slowly pays them out to the pilots who earned them—if, that is, no one else steals the money first.

The ESS field

Mechanics

The ESS is available as a beacon which anyone can warp to. At the beacon there is a deadspace gate, which is restricted to hulls of cruiser, battlecruiser, and battleship size only. The gate leads to the physical ESS itself, which is surrounded by a 150km-diameter field that disables

• cloaks
• microwarpdrives
• micro jump drives
• warp drives
• cynos, and
• filaments.

As a result, the fastest method of leaving an ESS is the use of an afterburner to burn the 75km radius from the ESS to the field's edge, and afterburners do not propel ships to anything like the speed provided by MWDs. To enter an ESS usually therefore constitutes a significant commitment to holding the field, as all quick methods of leaving are disabled.

Much as in a faction warfare complex, anyone warping into the ESS from the deadspace gate will arrive at the same point in space, with none of the control over arrival distance available in a normal 'warp to' command.

PvP implications

The ESS space presents a significantly different set of mechanics to normal known-space PvP situations.

The fact that anyone entering the ESS field arrives at the same point gives an advantage in initial positioning to anyone who is already in the ESS space.

The ESS space restricts mobility, and an afterburner is the only useful way to increase a ship's speed near an ESS. This gives an advantage either in combat or in escaping to ships fitted with either an afterburner, or both an afterburner and a MWD ("dualprop").

Since no one in the ESS space can warp or use an MWD, ships designed only for combat in ESS fields do not need to fit warp disruptors or warp scramblers. Ships fitted in this way cannot, however, take advantage of any juicy targets of opportunity found during travel.

Battleships are the largest hulls which can enter an ESS field, and while within an ESS field battleship pilots do not have to worry about being dropped by capital ships.

ESS banks

Each ESS is divided between a small and easily compromised 'Main Bank' and a much larger and much more secure 'Reserve Bank'. Note that, counterintuitively, it is the Main Bank which is the smaller of the two.

Main Bank

The Main Bank is accessed by sitting within 10km of the ESS and selecting the 'Link' button which appears over the ESS. This initiates a countdown of usually around five minutes, which is visible to all pilots in the solar system concerned. During the countdown the pilot accessing the Main Bank must remain within 10km of the ESS; travelling further away will end the countdown, which must then be restarted from the beginning.

If the countdown reaches zero and the pilot accessing the ESS has not either left or been removed by enemy action, the accessing pilot then receives tags in their cargohold which can be exchanged for the value of the Main Bank's contents at any CONCORD station. Since the ISK concerned was stored up to be disbursed to pilots who had been ratting in the system, the pilot has effectively stolen part of their income.

Sovereign nullsec corporations usually therefore respond quickly to attempts on their main banks, if they know about them.

Reserve Bank

The much larger Reserve Bank can be accessed using special keys which are themselves expensive and difficult to acquire. When these are used the money in the Reserve Bank is paid out over time at a rate that spools up and then drops down.

Unlocking a Reserve Bank sends an alert to everyone in the region concerned, not just in the immediate solar system.

The time spent paying out is set by the looters, and by setting a higher time they can collect more of the money alongside more risk.

Agency information

The Agency window includes, in its Exploration tab, a section which displays ESS bank amounts, which can be filtered by proximity (2, 5, or 10 jumps) or by specific map region, and by the amount stored up.

Clicking on a particular ESS in this interface will also let you see a measure of whether there is a long or a short time left before the ESS pays out, which helps pilots judge whether they can travel to an ESS in time to raid it.

Robbing banks

Though it is risky, and though it is not especially profitable in ISK-per-hour compared to some more reliable moneymaking schemes, bank robbery can bring in money, has a low start-up cost, and is a good way to learn about moving through hostile nullsec territory.

Since the notification when the Main Bank is compromised is only solar-system-wide, it is possible for a single player to sneak into quiet nullsec territory and empty out a Main Bank, or indeed several Main Banks.

To avoid passing through well-guarded entry-points to nullsec in known space, players can use filaments or wormholes to enter and exit nullsec. Anyone entering hostile sovereign nullsec space should use an expendable clone.

A good, cheap starting ship for this activity is a Stabber fitted with a buffer shield tank, no guns, speed modules, warp speed rigs, and an oversized afterburner, which gives it near-unbeatable speed for making a quick getaway within the ESS field. A probe launcher lets the pilot do basic probing for wormholes, while a prototype cloak is useful for waiting out timers, waiting while probing, and hiding from enemies. The Stabber insures well and can be blown up with little financial loss.

A PvP-fitted gang can also use the ESS system to try to provoke a fight in enemy territory, with the prospect of an ISK payout if the enemy won't engage.