User:Uryence/Gate camps: Difference between revisions

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The exact mechanics and tactics involved in gatecamping depend on whether the camp is in highsec, lowsec, or nullsec. [[Wormhole|Wormholes]] can also be camped using techniques similar to those used for nullsec gates.

Though gate camps are often experienced by newer players as a sudden and unavoidable doom, there are ships, techniques, and intel tools which make contact between a prepared gate camp and a prepared traveller a relatively even contest.

== Purposes ==

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=== Cloaking ===

~~- MWD-~~cloak ~~ship~~

A ship which breaks its gate cloak and then activates a fitted [[Cloaking|cloak]] will appear briefly on the campers' overviews, and then disappear again.

A ship which can warp cloaked, using a Covert Ops cloak, such as a covert ops frigate or a force recon cruiser, can then warp off while cloaked. If in a bubble, such a ship can slowboat to the edge of the bubble, and then warp off. If the ship ''also'' has an Interdiction Nullifier, the pilot should pause to plan and then, as fast as possible:

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# Warp

- ~~decloaking inties & other~~ ships

Matters are more complicated for a ship which cannot warp cloak but has a prototype cloak fitted. Slow ships with a prototype cloak and an MWD can use the [[cloak trick]] to cloak up, pre-align, uncloak and warp off—provided they are not in a bubble. In a bubble, they must then very slowly edge out beyond the bubble without coming within 2500 m of anything else, then break cloak and warp off.

To counter ships which cloak but must then stay on grid before warping off, a camp can use one or more designated "decloaker" ships. These should be fast-moving, fast-locking ships with long tackle ranges; fleet interceptors are ideal. The decloaker should sit at 0 on the gate, with its MWD cycling. When a ship breaks its gate cloak, the decloaker should Approach the target. When the target cloaks, the decloaker should set their own ship's speed to maximum; this drives the decloaker straight towards the cloaked ship's last position. Assigning drones to the decloaker gives it more objects with which to break the target's cloak.

=== Smartbombs ===

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Camping in lowsec is in some ways more challenging than camping in nullsec, because [[Security_status#Sentry_guns|gate guns]] present a danger to small camping ships, and bubbles cannot be used. Campers who have numbers can use small ships such as the Keres backed up by [[logistics]] support to keep them alive under gate gun fire. Campers who do not have many players can use ships such as the [[Gnosis]], which is relatively large and tough but can be fitted to lock fast, and/or smartbombs.

Gate guns lose interest in someone once they warp, even if they warp within the same grid. A lowsec camp often, therefore, "resets" the gate guns after a kill by warping to tactical bookmarks on the grid, and then warping back down to the gate.

=== Nullsec and Pochven ===

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If you want to be sure to avoid gatecamps, ensure your journey is [[Scouting|scouted]] by someone else or by an alt. Outside of high sec, where camps are obscured by general traffic, sensible scouting more-or-less guarantees that you won't unknowingly toss your main ship into a camp. This is the single best method to avoid gatecamp problems.

Remember that "Only fly what you can afford to lose" applies to cargo as well as your ship! If you're about to transport valuable cargo in an unsafe way, stop and consider your options. Perhaps your corp's hauling service or a commercial operation such as PushX or Red Frog can move it for you more safely; perhaps you can break it up into cheaper loads to spread the risk; perhaps you can pick a better ship.

=== Routefinding ===

Many chokepoints in EVE's geography are fairly obvious if you look at a map, and you can forewarn yourself simply by looking at the shape of the gate network. If there is a clear chokepoint people are more likely to camp there than elsewhere. Chokepoints at the entrance to lowsec shortcuts or to nullsec are especially popular camping locations. Similarly, if you plan to take the [[Thera]] entrance hole nearest to Jita, you should immediately ask yourself whether it is likely to be camped.

Many chokepoints in EVE's geography are fairly obvious if you look at a map, and you can forewarn yourself simply by looking at the shape of the gate network. If there is a clear chokepoint, then people are more likely to camp there than elsewhere. Chokepoints at the entrance to lowsec shortcuts or to nullsec are especially popular camping locations. Similarly, if you plan to take the [[Thera]] entrance hole nearest to Jita, you should immediately ask yourself whether it is likely to be camped.

Near-up-to-date data can add another useful layer. Dotlan can show you recent figures for ship and pod kills in a system. If you see a chokepoint system with high ship kills, there's a decent chance of a gatecamp there. Manually checking a system on [https://zkillboard.com zKillboard] will give you even more up-to-date information.

The third-party [https://eve-gatecheck.space/eve/ Gatecamp Check] tool can automate some of this intel-gathering work. This tool will scout your route using zKillboard and try to identify any camps along the route, colouring the camped systems in red. If smartbombs, interdictors or HICs are present on the kill reports for the camp it will post a large warning for that system. Since this website pulls from zKillboard, it can be delayed for 15–30 minutes in reporting a new camp. If you are camping and you want to avoid intel detection, this gives you a rough idea of how often you might want to consider shifting position!

=== Ship choices ===

Many ships can break through a small camp if fitted and flown well. A few ships are challenging for even a large, well-set-up camp.

* Shuttles have built-in interdiction nullification and can align in less than 2 seconds with good Navigation skills. They are functionally immune to any gate camp that doesn't use smartbombs, but extremely vulnerable to smartbombs.

* Fleet interceptors can fit interdiction nullifiers, a basic tank, and enough agility modules to align in less than 2 seconds.

* Blockade runners can warp cloaked and fit interdiction nullifiers.

* Deep space transports can fit interdiction nullifiers and micro jump drives. They also get big bonuses to the effects of overheating propulsion modules and tank modules, letting them shrug off lots of damage and flee out of bubbles or crash gate quickly.

* Jump freighters can ignore the gate network and teleport themselves around the galaxy—but they require ISK, SP, and substantial intel and infrastructure support.

=== Fitting ===

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 The exact mechanics and tactics involved in gatecamping depend on whether the camp is in highsec, lowsec, or nullsec. [[Wormhole|Wormholes]] can also be camped using techniques similar to those used for nullsec gates.
+Though gate camps are often experienced by newer players as a sudden and unavoidable doom, there are ships, techniques, and intel tools which make contact between a prepared gate camp and a prepared traveller a relatively even contest.
 == Purposes ==
@@ Line 43: / Line 45: @@
 === Cloaking ===
-- MWD-cloak ship
+A ship which breaks its gate cloak and then activates a fitted [[Cloaking|cloak]] will appear briefly on the campers' overviews, and then disappear again.
 A ship which can warp cloaked, using a Covert Ops cloak, such as a covert ops frigate or a force recon cruiser, can then warp off while cloaked. If in a bubble, such a ship can slowboat to the edge of the bubble, and then warp off. If the ship ''also'' has an Interdiction Nullifier, the pilot should pause to plan and then, as fast as possible:
@@ Line 52: / Line 54: @@
 # Warp
-- decloaking inties & other ships
+Matters are more complicated for a ship which cannot warp cloak but has a prototype cloak fitted. Slow ships with a prototype cloak and an MWD can use the [[cloak trick]] to cloak up, pre-align, uncloak and warp off—provided they are not in a bubble. In a bubble, they must then very slowly edge out beyond the bubble without coming within 2500 m of anything else, then break cloak and warp off.
+To counter ships which cloak but must then stay on grid before warping off, a camp can use one or more designated "decloaker" ships. These should be fast-moving, fast-locking ships with long tackle ranges; fleet interceptors are ideal. The decloaker should sit at 0 on the gate, with its MWD cycling. When a ship breaks its gate cloak, the decloaker should Approach the target. When the target cloaks, the decloaker should set their own ship's speed to maximum; this drives the decloaker straight towards the cloaked ship's last position. Assigning drones to the decloaker gives it more objects with which to break the target's cloak.
 === Smartbombs ===
@@ Line 71: / Line 75: @@
 Camping in lowsec is in some ways more challenging than camping in nullsec, because [[Security_status#Sentry_guns|gate guns]] present a danger to small camping ships, and bubbles cannot be used. Campers who have numbers can use small ships such as the Keres backed up by [[logistics]] support to keep them alive under gate gun fire. Campers who do not have many players can use ships such as the [[Gnosis]], which is relatively large and tough but can be fitted to lock fast, and/or smartbombs.
+Gate guns lose interest in someone once they warp, even if they warp within the same grid. A lowsec camp often, therefore, "resets" the gate guns after a kill by warping to tactical bookmarks on the grid, and then warping back down to the gate.
 === Nullsec and Pochven  ===
@@ Line 85: / Line 91: @@
 If you want to be sure to avoid gatecamps, ensure your journey is [[Scouting|scouted]] by someone else or by an alt. Outside of high sec, where camps are obscured by general traffic, sensible scouting more-or-less guarantees that you won't unknowingly toss your main ship into a camp. This is the single best method to avoid gatecamp problems.
+Remember that "Only fly what you can afford to lose" applies to cargo as well as your ship! If you're about to transport valuable cargo in an unsafe way, stop and consider your options. Perhaps your corp's hauling service or a commercial operation such as PushX or Red Frog can move it for you more safely; perhaps you can break it up into cheaper loads to spread the risk; perhaps you can pick a better ship.
 === Routefinding ===
-Many chokepoints in EVE's geography are fairly obvious if you look at a map, and you can forewarn yourself simply by looking at the shape of the gate network. If there is a clear chokepoint people are more likely to camp there than elsewhere. Chokepoints at the entrance to lowsec shortcuts or to nullsec are especially popular camping locations. Similarly, if you plan to take the [[Thera]] entrance hole nearest to Jita, you should immediately ask yourself whether it is likely to be camped.
+Many chokepoints in EVE's geography are fairly obvious if you look at a map, and you can forewarn yourself simply by looking at the shape of the gate network. If there is a clear chokepoint, then people are more likely to camp there than elsewhere. Chokepoints at the entrance to lowsec shortcuts or to nullsec are especially popular camping locations. Similarly, if you plan to take the [[Thera]] entrance hole nearest to Jita, you should immediately ask yourself whether it is likely to be camped.
 Near-up-to-date data can add another useful layer. Dotlan can show you recent figures for ship and pod kills in a system. If you see a chokepoint system with high ship kills, there's a decent chance of a gatecamp there. Manually checking a system on [https://zkillboard.com zKillboard] will give you even more up-to-date information.
 The third-party [https://eve-gatecheck.space/eve/ Gatecamp Check] tool can automate some of this intel-gathering work. This tool will scout your route using zKillboard and try to identify any camps along the route, colouring the camped systems in red. If smartbombs, interdictors or HICs are present on the kill reports for the camp it will post a large warning for that system. Since this website pulls from zKillboard, it can be delayed for 15–30 minutes in reporting a new camp. If you are camping and you want to avoid intel detection, this gives you a rough idea of how often you might want to consider shifting position!
+=== Ship choices ===
+Many ships can break through a small camp if fitted and flown well. A few ships are challenging for even a large, well-set-up camp.
+* Shuttles have built-in interdiction nullification and can align in less than 2 seconds with good Navigation skills. They are functionally immune to any gate camp that doesn't use smartbombs, but extremely vulnerable to smartbombs.
+* Fleet interceptors can fit interdiction nullifiers, a basic tank, and enough agility modules to align in less than 2 seconds.
+* Blockade runners can warp cloaked and fit interdiction nullifiers.
+* Deep space transports can fit interdiction nullifiers and micro jump drives. They also get big bonuses to the effects of overheating propulsion modules and tank modules, letting them shrug off lots of damage and flee out of bubbles or crash gate quickly.
+* Jump freighters can ignore the gate network and teleport themselves around the galaxy—but they require ISK, SP, and substantial intel and infrastructure support.
 === Fitting ===