User:Kataki soikutsu-Incursions 101

Class Information

This chapter contains the standard information of this class pertaining to scheduling and class contents. The General Information should be sufficient to create a proper class topic for scheduling on the Eve University forum. Additional information relevant to the teacher is listed under Notes for the Teacher.

General Information

Illustration link for class description on the Eve University forum: http://xxx.jpg

This class describes how to succeed in Incursions - what they are, how they work, and how you can profit by them.

• Duration: 60-90 minutes [and an additional 60 minutes/hours for the optional practical exercise]
• Location: Docked up safely in a station. [Note the fleet for the practical will form in Aldrat and will then travel to the Incursion site.]

Class contents:

• What are Incursions?
• Incursion Mechanics
• How to join an Incursion Fleet
• Q&A

[* Practical exercise]

Student requirements:

• Mumble registration and access - make sure you have Mumble sorted out and operational well before the class begins. Use this guide for set-up: http://wiki.eveuniversity.org/Mumble
• Access to the Class.E-UNI in-game chat channel

[* A suitable ship for the optional practical exercise. Fits on this site recommended: http://wiki.eveuniversity.org/Vanguard_Incursion_fits]

Additional information: This class is primarily lecture delivered in the Class.E-UNI channel in Mumble, followed by Q&A. [An optional practical exercise follows.]

Notes for the Teacher

Required materials:

• Class.E-UNI chat channel, to receive questions and post relevant links
• Incursion-related resources on the UNIWiki: http://wiki.eveuniversity.org/Category:Incursion

Class Contents

Introduction

Welcome to this class on Incursions!

Over the 60 minutes or so, we shall cover what Incursions are, and how you can participate in them successfully.

(Instructor should then introduce himself or herself - covering relevant experience level and background.)

We have a few ground rules for this class:

• Please put your Mumble settings on "Push to Talk" if you have not already done so.
• Feel free to type any questions in the Class.E-UNI chat channel as we proceed - I will try to answer your questions as they come during the class. [At the end of my lecture, we'll open Mumble for any further questions or general discussion.]
• You should be [docked up safely in a station [in Aldrat if you intend to participate in the practical exercise], or located....]

Everyone ready? OK, then - let's begin....

What are Incursions?

Incursions are a random PvE event in EVE. The Sansha's Nation invades a Constellation for a few days with mysterious goals. We as Capsuleers can slow or even stop an invasion by taking on the Sansha ships while they work. If we do enough damage to the Sansha one of their Motherships becomes vulnerable. And the invasion is stopped when we blow it up...

In game terms Incursions are high level, group PvE content. They are similar to raids in other MMOs. Within any Incursion there are many sites of different sizes ranging from 10 pilot site to the 80 pilot Mothership. In terms of skill, Incursions are really end-game content requiring at least 2-3 months of skilling before a pilot is ready. In general pilots fly Battleships, Tech II Logistic Ships, and Strategic Cruisers for Incursions.

The running of High Security Incursions revolves around finding an Incursion Community you like to run with. These are not Corporations or Alliances in EVE, but chat channels dedicated to forming Incursion fleets. Each channel has its own requirements, specialties, and culture. This course will cover the basic requirements that they all have in common but it is advised that each pilot do their own research when looking at communities to learn their differences.

Low and Null Security Incursions are not run as often due to the risk of PvP inherent in the space. This is not to say they are never run, and in fact Null Sec Alliances like to get ride of them because they are disruptive. It is more the groups that run any particular one tend to be tighter knit and harder to fly with if you are not already part of them.

Incursion Mechanics

When an Incursion spawns in a constellation it drastically changes the space. But it doesn't affect each system in the constellation identically. Nor do all the site behave in the same way. First I will talk about the general effects of an Incursion then get into the details of each site type.

Constellation Mechanics

Unless you happen to be in an Incursion Constellation, the best tool for learning about Incursions is the Journal. So open that now. Navigate to the Incursions>Global Report tab. Here we have a list of all the current Incursion constellations. Incursion Life-cycle:

• There are at most 7 active Incursions at once.
  • 3 High Security
  • 1 Low Security
  • 3 Null Security
• An Incursion has 3 stages:
  • Established - First 2-5 days. The more sites run the longer it lasts.
  • Mobilized - About 2 days.
  • Withdrawing - Last 24 hours.
• Incursions end in one of 2 ways:
  • Withdrawing naturally
  • Killing the Mothership site
• A new Incursion of the same type spawns 24-72 hours after one ends, with an average of 36 hours.

Incursions have 5 constellation wide effects which tend to make the constellation a bad place to be unless you are running the Incursion. Some of these effects vary in magnitude depending on the type of system it is within the Incursion, but they all have the same basic mechanics. (The site types will be covered in a few minutes.)

• CONCORD Bounties reduced to 50% - Don't mission in the constellation
• Belt rats are replaced by Incursion Sansha with no bounties
  • Low & Null only: Incursion Sansha camp the gates with points (Varies by system type)
  • Not the Sansha from missions
  • Omni-tank and deal Omni-Damage. In addition to a high speed and using many forms of EWAR. (ECM, TP, Neut, Web, Scram)
• Cynosural Fields are blocked - Cap Ships cannot jump in. This is why Null Sec alliances clear Incursions from their space.
• Damage & Resistances are reduced
  • Varies with the type of system (5-40%)
  • Is weakened linearly by reducing Sansha Influence (the blue & red bar)
• There is a constellation wide chat channel for forming fleets. (It opens when you enter the constellation.)

Site Mechanics

All the sites, except for the smallest, have the same basic mechanics. In each system there are a new beacons to warp to. When you land at the beacon there will be an acceleration gate leading into the site. Your fleet then warps in, kills the NPCs, and gets paid. Sometimes there is another objective which can be inferred from the information in your Journal>Incursions>Encounters tab. The payouts depend on your fleet size and the site type. Looking in your Journal>Incursions>Encounters>Vanguard>Nation Commander Outpost, you will see that the per pilot payout is 15mil ISK times a ratio. This ratio can be inferred from the graph on the page.

There is also an LP payout. This is not payed immediately. Instead it goes into a pool in the Journal>Incursions>Loyalty Point Log. (Also seen in the Journal>Incursions>Global Report.) These are not paid out until the mothership for the Incursion is killed. If the Incursion withdraws naturally no LP is payed out. This LP is also not normal LP. It is CONCORD LP. You can either spend it at CONCORD LP stores, which have even numbered Hardwirings and Capital Ship module BPCs, or it can be converted to other stores LP. Open the LP store of the station you are in. There is a Convert LP button in the top right corner of that window. If you have CONCORD LP you can use that to convert it to that station's LP. Note that this is a one way conversion so don't do it until you know what you want to buy. Also the LP is converted at a reduced rate.

• Empire: .8:1
• ORE & Sisters of EVE: .4:1
• Pirate: No Conversion

It is possible for two or more fleets to both be in the site trying to get the payout. In this case only the fleet that does the most damage will be paid. For competitions it is important to understand both your fleet and the other fleet so you know how to win if you have a chance. If there is no chance of winning, say the other fleet is through half the site, there is no reason to jump into them. Most people D-Scan the gate to see if it is taken and to gain the info from the NPC wrecks if they should contest.

There are 5 types of Incursion sites. Each system in a Constellation will have only one of these site types. And there will be at least one system in each Constellation of each site type. The layouts can be found on EVE Survival. http://eve-survival.org/wikka.php?wakka=IncursionConstelationLayout

• Scout (1-5)
  • Can be soloed in a well tanked cruiser
  • Top 5 DD get paid regardless of fleet
• Vanguard (7-11)
  • At least 3 systems in each constellation with Vanguard sites
• Assault (15-20)
• Headquarters (30-40)
• Mothership (50-80)
  • Found in the HQ system and ends the Incursion.

How to join an Incursion fleet

Incursion Communities

The first thing to do is find a few Incursion communities and look at them. This comes even before building a ship as each group has slightly different fitting requirements and there is no reason to fully fit out a ship only to be told that you have to change. Granted most of the communities that people start in are fairly flexible on fits if you meet the minimum requirements but many advanced groups have strict fits that you cannot deviate from. What follows is a partial list of Incursion chat channels to explore when you start Incursions:

• Incursions.e-uni (Unistas, Alts, & Alumni only)
• The Valhalla Project (Public Shield HQ)
• Warp To Me Incursions (Public Shield HQ)
• The Ditanian Fleet (Public Armor HQ)
• Din-Flotten (German Public Shield HQ)
• ISN Secondary (Shiny Shield)
• ICU Public (Shiny Shield Competition)
• Born Ara (Armor)
• LV6 (Public Shield)
• The Incursion Guild
• DKY Public (Shield VG)
• Road-kill (Shield VG)
• U.o.R Inca (Training Shield)
• SWA Incursions (Training Shield)
• CID Secondary (Shield)
• Incursion Addicts (Shield)
• Hunter's Brotherhood (Shield)
• Allied Incursions (Shield)
• Mumbl incursions (Shield)
• Gip inc (Russian Shield)

If I missed any please tell me and I will add them with a brief tag on what to expect. (Location with a big list: https://forums.eveonline.com/default.aspx?g=posts&t=206859&find=unread)

Incursion Settings

After you join all the chat channels the next thing to do is read their MOTD. This will give you information about what fits they use, where they are flying, and how to set up your overview. It is expected that pilots have correct settings so that the FC knows everyone sees the same thing. I will cover some of the common things, but each group will have slight variations that should be covered before you fly.

• Mumble (UNI) or Teamspeak (Public)
• No Auto-Lockback
• Broadcast Buttons & Hotkeys
  • Needs: Shields/Armor - when taking damage
  • In Position - when no longer red boxed
  • Needs: Capacitor - for HQ fleets
• Drones to Passive
• Fleet Window set to Hierarchy
• Shield/Armor Alarms

UNI Checklist: http://wiki.eveuniversity.org/Incursions_checklist#Setup-guides

Fitting for Incursions

After all the previous prep it is time to start thinking about what ship to fly. The best thing to do is look at the ships in the MOTD for the group you want to fly with but there are some general places to find fits and general principles all fits follow that I will talk about.

First are two common locations to get fits from besides Mailing Lists.

• http://wiki.eveuniversity.org/Vanguard_Incursion_fits (UNI Basic Doctrine)
• http://incursions.nexsoft.de/ (Classic, but dated)

The most important thing for Incursions is a proper tank. This usually means minimum resists of 70% for your tank type and a sufficiently large buffer for the sites you are doing. This is because the Sansha do Omni-Damage and have a large damage output.

• Vanguard: 10k Shield HP, 12k Armor
• Assault: 12-14k Shield HP, 14k+ Armor
• Headquarter: 14k Shield HP 16k Armor

• Vanguard:
  • Orbits <20km (except Mara)
  • Spawns <70km
  • Lots of frigates (Sensor Booster needed)
  • Federation Navy Stasis Webifier
  • >10min of Capacitor
• Assaults:
  • Snipers needs 150km lock and damage range
  • Battlecruiser and smaller hulls needed for the NCN (Command Ships do not count!)
• Headquarters:
  • All Ships need propulsion modules
    • Battleships usually run MWD
    • Logi & T3s can use ABs
  • Sniper range is 120km
  • Large drones are needed for the tower bashes