Ratting at NSC: Difference between revisions

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==Why rat at the NSC?==

Hunting and killing pirate NPCs (a.k.a. "rats") at asteroid belts or in combat sites is just one of many ways to earn ISK in EVE.

Since the majority of ISK is gotten through [[Loot#Loot|loot]] drop, and since loot is dropped at random, the reward for ratting is rather irregular. Some days you can be lucky and get hundreds of millions or even billions worth of loot (if you are very lucky), and other days you will only get the standard [[EVE Lexicon#bounty|bounty]] from the rats and the from [[Salvaging|salvage]].   

===Types of ratting at the NSC===

Clearing asteroid belts in a system, and hunting down and completing combat sites.

Combat sites can furthermore be divided up in [[Combat sites#Combat anomalies|combat anomalies]] and [[Combat sites#Cosmic signatures|combat signatures]]. More on these below.     

Advantages of doing combat sites:

* More variety in the PvE.

While [[Abyssal Deadspace|abyssal]] combat sites are also technically combat sites and can be done at the NSC, they have very different rules and are outside the scope of this article.

[[File:5-D belt.jpg|240px|thumb|right|The asteroid belts in system 5-DSFH. Clear them from top to bottom, from bottom to top, or whatever other order you want to.]]

[[File:Ratting guide basic.jpg|240px|thumb|right|Short guide to chaining belts.]]

This also means that the special rats, like Shadow Serpentis ships can't spawn, but it will still give more ISK over time.

Elite versions of the normal rats with the prefix "Shadow" in front of their name. These ships are slightly harder to kill, have a much bigger bounty and drops [[Faction modules#faction|Shadow Serpentis faction modules]]. These can also spawn in combat anomalies.  

If you warp to a belt and see a dreadnought there, you should warp out immediately! These ships are very powerful and need coordination to bring down. <br>

Dreadnoughts and Shadow Serpentis Dreadnoughts are capital pirate ships. These rats hit hard and have a lot of tank, and as such you need a fleet (5+ people) to kill them. Should a dreadnought spawn while you are in a belt, warp off immediately, or face the possibility of it killing your ship.

The dreadnoughts can warp off, so be sure to bring warp disruptors or scramblers.  

NPC hauler spawns are not the same as the NPC mining fleets.   

While these fleets can be killed solo (usually in T3D), they are best undertaken in a small fleet.

==Combat Sites==

{{main|Guide to combat sites}}

[[File:c_ano_sig.jpg|240px|thumb|right|The scanner window, with a combat Anomaly and a combat Signature halfway scanned down.]]

** They usually consists of many parts, and expeditions can escalation into new expeditions in new systems.

At the NSC, there is the possibility of 22 different versions of combat anomalies to spawn. Ranging from Class 4, level 2 sites ([[Serpentis Hidden Den]]), to the Class 10 site ([[Serpentis Sanctum]]).

Serpentis combat anomalies are usually worth your time doing, while the rogue drones combat sites are generally of questionable worth. <br>

Unrated combat sites, DED combat sites and Expeditions are generally more challenging and needs preparations or to be done in a group, but also offers higher rewards. It is important to know that, while higher class of combat anomalies means the site will be harder. The difficulty of Unrated Complexes, DED Complexes or Expeditions does not 100% correlate with Class. CCP haven't been great at balancing these combat sites, so be sure to look them up your first time.   

===Tips===

'''Combat signatures and Expeditions''' are far more varied, and there for harder to give general advice for. They usually consists of a couple of gated deadspace pockets. This means that hostile players cannot warp directly to you, but have to scan you down and take the gates to reach you. This makes you far harder to catch while running, just remember to keep an eye on the intel.   

==How to be safe from other players==

* Be in [[NSC Standing Fleet|fleet]].

* Be in the [[Null-Sec Campus#Communication|intel channel]].

* Be aware of the geopolitical and warfare situation-- if there's a structure under assault in the system or other major combat op, you can easily find yourself a helpless target of opportunity to a war fleet.

* Once you enter a combat site or an asteroid belt, burn away from the warp-in point. The distance a hunter have to travel from the warp-in point to you, can sometimes save you.

===If you get caught anyways===

So you followed the above advice, but got caught anyways? This happens. The most important part is to stay calm.   

* Calmly call out for help on mumble and in fleet chat. Observe good protocol, call "Break, Break" and be prepared with the following information:

* Describe where you are and what ship caught you.  You should give the exact system, or its common short form, and the belt name and number, so help can quickly warp to you.  If you are in fleet they have the benefit of "warp to member" which is one excellent reason to be fleeted at all times.

The NSC is located in [[Serpentis]] space, and the rats you will face while ratting are Serpentis NPCs and sometimes [[Rogue Drones|rogue drones]]. This makes it easy to prepare both the tank of your ship, as well as the type of [[NPC damage types|damage you should deal]].  

These ships are mostly "[[EVE_Lexicon#Drone boat|drone boats]]", that sometimes have secondary weapons as well. The reason for this is the versatility that [[Drones|drones]] brings to PvE. Other popular weapon against Serpentis rats are [[Missiles|missiles]] and [[Turrets#Hybrid turrets|hybrid turrets]]. You want to avoid weapon types like [[Turrets#Energy turrets|Laser turrets]] and [[Turrets#Projectile turrets|projectile turrets]] for PvE at the NSC, their damage type aren't great against the weakness of Serpentis ships.  

As you see, against Serpentis rats, you should deal kinetic damage, and needs to tank both thermal and kinetic damage. Against rogue drones, it can vary a bit more, but you can just stay away from the rogue drone combat sites if you are unsure.