Anatomy of Incursions: Difference between revisions

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This article is not intended to be a step-by-step manual on how to lead an incursion fleet, but rather an article bringing up all the various aspects of running a site. To make sure you are aware of all the choices you'll need to be making and how they are influenced by what site you're doing, how your fleet members have fitted their ships, the skills they have and to what level of autonomy you can rely on them to perform without specific orders.

= Commanding a fleet =

Firstly, simply remember that EVE is a game where {{co|wheat|''"It depends!"''}} is the single most important thing to remember. Don't blindly follow set tactics or kill-orders you've read here or somewhere else. Put things into perspective and ''adjust to what's happening'': different site mechanics, the spawning of enemies, as well as your current fleet composition. This is a good example of where the ''"why"'' (reasoning and ability to put things into context) is more important than the ''"how"'' or ''"what"'' (rigid kill-order lists etc.). This is because knowing the ''"why"'' allows you to tackle anything the game throws at you, whereas only knowing the ''"how"'' or ''"what"'' will catch you off-guard whenever something out of order happens.

! Type of web

! Effectiveness of the web

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| rowspan="2" style="text-align: center;" | '''[[Vindicator]]'''<small>&nbsp;<ref>Other [[Serpentis]] ships have '''bonuses to web strength''' (+10% per level up to +50% stronger). The same goes for the [[Daredevil]], the [[Vigilant]], the [[Vehement]] and the [[Vanquisher]], but they are not commonly seen in incursions.</ref></small><br>{{co|grey|(bonused hull)}}

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<small><references/></small>

As you can see, a single bonused web from a [[Vindicator]] is worth more than four normal webs and it's simply impossible to reach the effect of two bonused webs with normal webs due to [[stacking penalties]].

|- style="background-color: var(--background-color-warning-subtle);"

! colspan="2" | Modules and drones

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| rowspan="2" | [[image:icon_shield_transporter_i.png|40px|Large Remote Shield Boosters]]

| Large Remote Shield Booster II

</div>

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| Large S95a Remote Shield Booster

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| rowspan="9" | [[image:icon_drone_bandwidth.png|40px|Shield Maintenance Bots]]

| 5 x Heavy Shield Maintenance Bot II

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| 5 x Heavy Shield Maintenance Bot I

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| 4 x Heavy Shield Maintenance Bot II<small>&nbsp;<ref>Standard setup for a [[Vindicator]] in the [[EVE University Incursion Community]] is to use 5 light damage drones 4 heavy shield maintenance bots.</ref></small>

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| 4 x Heavy Shield Maintenance Bot I

|-

| 5 x Medium Shield Maintenance Bot II

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| 4 x Medium + 1 x Light Shield Maintenance Bot II<small>&nbsp;<ref>Standard setup for a [[Scimitar]] in the [[EVE University Incursion Community]] is to use 4 medium and 1 light shield maintenance bot and they get a bonus to drone repair amount.</ref></small>

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| 5 x Medium Shield Maintenance Bot I

|-

| 5 x Light Shield Maintenance Bot II<small>&nbsp;<ref>Standard setup for a [[Basilisk]] in the [[EVE University Incursion Community]] is to use 5 light shield maintenance bot and they get a bonus to drone repair amount.</ref></small>

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| 5 x Light Shield Maintenance Bot I

|}

<small>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Legend: &nbsp;<font class="ee4">&#9608;</font> Base repair amount &nbsp;<font class="ee3">&#9608;</font> Ship bonuses &nbsp;<font class="ee2">&#9608;</font> Shield Command Burst bonus

| style="vertical-align: top;" | [[File:Icon shield command burst.png|24px|link=]] {{co|grey|Shield Command Burst II}} (Shield Extension Charges)<br>[[File:Icon information command burst.png|24px|link=]] {{co|grey|Information Command Burst II}} (Sensor Optimization Charges)<br>[[image:icon_implant_hardwiring.png|24px|link=]] {{co|grey|Caldari Navy Command Mindlink}}

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Below are some practical effects of having a maxed booster with the appropriate mindlink implant:

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<small><references/></small>

{{quote

|''The whole is greater than the sum of its parts.''

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[[image:weird_math.png|thumb|When it comes to boosts in EVE: 1 + 1 = 3]]

These bonuses might not seem that impressive if you're looking at them one by one, but they are very powerful when combined.

Give people enough commands to know what to do and hit the ground running when they land on grid, but avoid overdoing it. No need to add commands for the entire wave right away, get people started, then amend target calls with secondary or tertiary targets once people have started shooting. The key is to give them enough targets to fill up their pre-locks, so they have secondary targets locked already when the primary goes down.

== Stay calm ==

People who get nervous or worked up tend to miss details or end up with butterfingers doing what they shouldn't be doing. This is true for everyone and the fleet commander sets the tone for most of this. Don't make rash, split-second decisions. Instead, take that extra second or two and consider your options, in the end that will serve you better. It is important to make a decision that you believe is best for the safety and well being of the fleet, don't worry about maybes or what-ifs, use the information available to you to act and give commands to the best of your abilities that you think will keep the fleet safe. The longer you wait, the higher the chance someone will panic and do something stupid, potentially risking the entire fleet.

| A sturdy cruiser with minor medium range damage capabilities.

|}

It is usually safer to commit the entire fleet to taking care of jammers, one by one in order, to minimize the time any of your fleet members are jammed. Sometimes it is necessary due to repairs, like in [[Override Transfer Array]]s when the logistics tower isn't hacked. Other times, like in assault sites where you have more people in your fleet, you can send the dronebunny alone to take care of the Niarjas, while the rest of the fleet focuses on the larger Arnons. If you do decide to split your fleet's damage like that and have only a single person like the dronebunny go after one of the jammers, be prepared to change plans if he or she ends up being jammed. A common strategy is to have secondary "dronebunny", without any assisted drones, that will target the jamming ships but only engage them if the primary dronebunny is jammed.

| A sturdy torpedo battleship with high damage but poor damage application (also warp disrupts and target paints).

|}

Both the Niarja and the Orkashu Myelen shouldn't live long enough to get within range of neuting you because they are also target jammers. But it is important to know that if you can't remove them quickly enough, they will start neuting in addition to jamming, which is bad.

| A sturdy cruiser with medium range and excellent damage application.

|}

The following would apply to sniper targets:

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<small><references/></small>

How much damage a certain ship puts out in comparison to their resists and buffer as well as how easy they are to hit, is what matters if your goal is to reduce the incoming damage as fast as possible. Ships with a high amount of damage but weak tanks are commonly referred to as ''"glass cannons"''' in EVE and for minimum effort you remove a lot of damage from the grid by focusing on them first.

| A sturdy battleship with medium range damage capabilities (also warp disrupts and neuts).

|}

The Schmaeels and Renyns have a webbing range of 15km while the others frigates have a standard range of 10km. The Outuni has a webbing range of 20km but is often killed long before that due to its longer neut range.

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<small><references/></small>

It is important to take your fleet composition into consideration when a logistics pilot disconnects or they all get jammed and you're left with no remote repairs. Most fleets with a proper setup including remote capacitor transmitters (formerly energy transfers), remote shield boosters (formerly shield transporters), shield maintenance bots and calm pilots can usually remove enough damage from the field to hold down the fort until the logistics pilot reconnects. Starting to align can in fact be a bad choice in some circumstances (since it reduces your tracking), so take a second to get confirmation on warp disrupts (who's warp disrupted and by whom) while making a judgement call if you can handle the incoming damage or not. If you do start aligning, remind the logistics to turn their afterburners off so they don't run out of range and keep an eye on the fleet if you end up staying aligned for longer periods of time.

== Utilizing drones ==

Drones can be a tremendous asset on the field, with a damage potential anywhere from 500 up to 900+ dps from light combat drones alone in vanguards. But you need to use them wisely or end up wasting their potential.

==== [[image:icon_bounty.png|32px|Drone target]] Drone targets ====

In a less skilled fleet consisting of regular tech one ships the frigates present a noticeable problem. To remedy the problem we utilize the dronebunny to effectively handle the fast, small signature, tight orbiting frigates. Drones can even dispose of unwebbed frigates, although they should always be complemented with a web or two to speed things up.

== Overheating defensive modules and remote shield boosters ==

Overheating a '''Multispectrum Shield Hardener II''' module will increase its efficiency by 20% allowing you to push your resists up by a few percent, easily giving you a 10% reduction to incoming damage. An overheated '''Large Remote Shield Booster II''' module will lower the duration of the module by 15% giving them more than 17% more effective repairs. The combined effect of the two will usually buy you enough time to resolve the situation and get things under control again.  This can be an even more effective strategy when a capsuleer is using a [[Strategic Cruiser]] as they are bonused to reduce module heat damage taken, with high enough skills you can overheat a module for prolonged periods without causing too much damage.

= Advanced tactics =

Whatever you decide to do, remember to do it in a controlled manner. Don't throw caution to the wind just because you have another fleet at the gate.

[[Category:Incursions]]