Scouting: Difference between revisions

Scouts are the eyes and ears of a fleet. Without them, fleets would both easily get surprised by enemy forces, as well as have a tough time hunting down good fights.

Some ships are better (or even essential) for certain types of scouting, but for a basic fleet scout all that is needed is:

* The ability to use a few tools that are linked in this article.

Since scouting is a fleet role, it is also important for prospective scouts to familiarize themselves with fleet operations beforehand. Read the [[The_Rookie's_Guide_To_Fleet_Ops | Rookie's Guide to Fleet Ops]] to get started.

There are two basic scout objectives: Route Security and Hunting. Route security means ensuring the fleet's planned travel route is free of hostile forces that should be avoided, as well as preventing anyone from surprising the fleet. Hunting means finding good fights for the fleet. All scouts provide route security, all the time, on every operation. If the fleet is looking for a fight, scouts are also responsible for hunting down a good fight for the fleet.

With those two objectives in mind, the following are the most common scout roles.

The most basic scout roles are 'picket' and '+1'. The ‘Hero Tackle’ role can be added on to these roles as well.  

Picketing is the easiest scout job; some players do even not consider it scouting it is so simple. The picket's job is normally to sit at a gate and report the specific types of ships coming into the system he is assigned to. For example, incursion fleets use pickets to warn them of war targets.  

If you are a picket, and your only job is to watch for war targets, you can do this docked up safe in a station by carefully watching local. However, sitting 200km+ off a gate while cloaked is the best option since it allows you to report specific details on the ships coming through your picket.

The objective of the +1 is to move one jump ahead of his fleet to provide intelligence to his Fleet Commander (FC). If the fleet is simply traveling to a destination, then the scout's job is route security (i.e., warning the FC of war targets, gate camps, and any other possible danger). In low-sec or null-sec space, individual ships may ask for a +1 to guide them into or out of dangerous areas.

When jumping into a new system, keep cloak and immediately check three things. First, check the grid on your overview for ships that might pose a threat to the fleet. Second, check local for war targets, flashy targets, criminals, etc. Finally, check D-Scan for ships sitting off grid. Report anything that might be a threat to the FC. If the objective is to find good fights and there are other pilots in local, then the +1 will check out mission sites and asteroid belts with D-Scan to see if there are appropriate targets available.  

Why move one jump ahead? If a fleet jumps into a system, it spikes local and everyone in the system will know a fleet has come in. That puts everyone on alert. A scout moving in alone does not alarm anyone significantly in a system. The fleet does not move into the system until either the scout finds a good fight, or the FC determines that there is nothing interesting and decides to move on.

Why not just roam? Why exactly one and only one system ahead? Even when looking for good fights, scouts are always performing a fleet safety role. A scout one system ahead prevents the fleet from being surprised. If you are two or more systems ahead and there is no +1, then another fleet can move in behind the scout and surprise the fleet when it jumps in.