Manual piloting

See also: Advanced Piloting Techniques

Manual piloting is the act of manoeuvring a ship without using commands relative to another object, like orbit, keep at range, approach, etc. It is achieved by double left clicking on empty space. Your ship will then orient itself and move in that direction. Your perspective, and thus where you're clicking is affected by the position of your camera, so if you require precision, zoom out as far as you can. A simple example of manual piloting is when your ship is stuck on a collidable structures. If you can't align to warp because you're too close to the structure, you have to double click away from it to increase distance. Manual piloting includes using keyboard arrow keys to change direction or changing your ships speed by clicking on the speedometer at the bottom of the ship control panel.

How to Manually Pilot

There are a few options for manually piloting a ship. It's also a good idea to turn on the Tactical Overlay so you can see the blue arrow to better visualize the direction of your ship's movement.

1. Double left-click in space | This will align your ship to that vector in space. If tactical overlay is turned on, you will see the arrow appear pointing from your ship in that direction, and a circle will appear in distant space where you clicked.
2. First Person Camera Mode | While in first person camera mode, you can use the arrow keys to bump the direction of your ship, and you can also double left-click from this view as well to set direction.
3. Hitting the Q Button | Hitting Q will open a circular dial which you can use to set a precise vector and distance to move. This technique requires 2 additional left-clicks to set the vector.
   1. After hitting Q, an arrow will appear from your ship and follow your mouse.
   2. Move your mouse to the desired distance and adjust the horizontal vector, and then left-click to lock it.
   3. Then, the arrow will be free to move vertically and you can adjust your vertical vector. Once satisfied, left-click again and your ship will begin to move in that direction.
   4. Note: unlike the other 2 techniques above, your ship will not move in that direction forever, and instead will stop when it reaches the distance you selected. But, if you want to keep moving in that direction after setting a vector, you can move the camera behind your ship and click ahead in space, or go to First Person Camera mode and double click straight ahead.

Slingshot Maneuver

Used for: breaking target's orbit

Relies on: agility

Fly in a straight line until target is heading in the same direction as you are eg. if target is orbiting clockwise from top view, this would be directly to your left (9 o'clock)

Do a 180 degree turn by turning camera to see the front of your ship and double clicking behind you (6 o'clock)

EVE Opportunist Slingshot link

EVE Opportunist Anti-Slingshot link

High tech depiction

It should be noted that during step 4 you can either escape from the villain's point range, OR try and burn straight at him once he has reached the zenith of his orbit, and then attempt to land tackle.

Spiral Maneuver

Used for: closing distance to target while keeping some transversal velocity (not applicable to incoming missile fire)

Relies on: max speed

Move camera so target is in center in front of you (12 o'clock). Double-click halfway between center and edge of screen. Continue to double-click as you get closer. Note: the further away from the center you double-click, the more transversal you'll have; however, it will take longer to reach the target.

Counter: one way to counter a spiral is move to where the spiraler is going. If the spiraler is headed x/y (where y is towards you and x is perpendicular), then also move x to cancel transversal. ie. it's easier to shoot a moving car if you're going beside it at the same speed instead of turning your gun to follow it

The Altruist Tracking and Spiral link

Kiting

Used for: keeping target at range

Relies on: max speed

Move camera so target is in center behind you (6 o'clock). Double-click in that direction so you move away from target.

Counter: One way to counter kiting is to further increase distance. If you're chasing, turn around and have the target chase you (the target would like to keep within optimum range). When this happens turn back towards the target at full speed (an ab/mwd would help here). The target still needs time to turn around and accelerate. Hopefully, you can get within your range while this happens.

Old, but still relevant link

Pre-aligning Acceleration Gate

Used for: instant activation of acceleration gate

Relies on: camera zoom/speed control

Unlike stations, stargates or celestials, you can't align to an acceleration gate's destination. Zoom out and line up the camera so the acceleration gate is straight on your sights (the large end of the acceleration gate should be directly behind the small end). Double-click along this direction (you can't double-click the gate itself) so your ship is pointing to where you'd accelerate to.

Alternative: activate the acceleration gate and cancel warp (ctrl + space by default) before your speed reaches 75%. Then quickly click on the right of your speed indicator to enable full/75% speed.

In either case, set your speed above 75%.

Bumping

Used for: prevent target from aligning

Relies on: mass, speed, ab/mwd, timing, range

Approach target. Activate afterburner/microwarp drive. Bump. Note: microwarp drive bumps more than afterburner. Ideally, you want to have enough range to reach maximum speed and not run out of cap for your ab/mwd

Yelling "RAMMING SPEED!" is acceptable during non-combat situations. Ask your fleet if you're unsure.

Skills

Agility:

Evasive Maneuvering: 5% bonus to agility per level

Spaceship Command: 2% bonus to agility per level

Advanced Spaceship Command: 5% bonus to agility per level (only applicable to ships requiring skill)

Max Speed:

Navigation: 5% faster sub-warp speed per level

Modules

Agility:

Inertial Stabilizer (passive low-slot) (penalty: increases signature radius) (low pg/cpu use)

Max Speed:

Afterburner (active med-slot) (penalty: increases ship mass/agility when active) (med/high pg/cpu use)

Microwarp Drive (active med-slot) (penalty: increases ship mass/agility when active and reduces capacitor capacity) (high pg/cpu use)

Overdrive Injector (passive low-slot) (penalty: reduces cargo capacity) (low pg/cpu use)

Both:

Nanofiber Structure (passive low-slot) (penalty: reduces structure hp) (low pg/cpu use)

Rigs

Agility:

Low Friction Nozzle Joints (penalty: reduces armor hp)

Max Speed:

Auxiliary Thruster (penalty: reduces armor hp)

Both:

Polycarbon Engine Housing (penalty: reduces armor hp)

Big Slow ship MWD 10 second warp

see Bonus pro-tip side note of the Cloak Trick.

MWD Cloak Trick

see Cloak trick

See Also

• Advanced Piloting Techniques