Ratting at NSC: Difference between revisions

| [[File:Icon timer capsuleer.png|50px]] This page is about ratting at the NSC and not about ratting in general. Plenty of what is written here differs in other parts of New Eden.

{{NullSec Campus links}}Killing pirate NPCs, or [[ratting]] as it is also called, is a way to earn ISK in New Eden. At the [[NSC]] it is mainly done in [[Asteroids and ore|asteroid belts]] or in [[combat sites]]. While you face off against NPCs in the same manner as in missions, it is not considered the same; see [[Syndicate Mission Running]] for for more information about running missions at the NSC.

== Why rat at the NSC? ==

Since the majority of ISK is gotten through [[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]].

Still, this is a easy way to earn ISK, and the requirements for doing basic ratting can be very low.

Ratting can also be a source of minerals for small-scale industry. Large meta modules, such as those dropped by NPC battleships, can be reprocessed for decent quantities of minerals which may be hard to obtain in nullsec. For many modules, the reprocessed value is higher than the buy value of the module.

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

At the NSC there there are mainly two types of ratting:

* Generally easier

* Done in the same system, not so much traveling around

* Generally better ISK per [[EVE Lexicon#Tick|tick]]

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 this article's scope.

Belt ratting is the act of going from asteroid belt to asteroid belt, killing the pirate NPC ships that are found there, and then going on to the next asteroid belt and doing the same there. This is done to collect the bounty on the ships, as well as trying to get rare spawns and rare loot.

At the NSC, [http://evemaps.dotlan.net/map/Syndicate/5-DSFH#sec 5-DSFH] is the best system to belt-rat in in true-sec terms. 5-D is also deep in the NSC pocket, and, as such, is slightly safer to be in if you pay attention to intel channels.

A complicating factor, however, is the game's bounty mechanic...

Bounty payouts in a system are affected by the Dynamic Bounty System. Player deaths in a system increase that system's Bounty Risk Modifier, which acts as a multiplier on the base bounty rate for NPC kills in that system. NPC kills slowly cause that modifier to fall. Over time, the modifier will drift towards a equilibrium rate.

At NSC, [https://evemaps.dotlan.net/map/Syndicate/PC9-AY PC9-AY] typically has the highest Bounty Risk Modifier, due to it being the entrance to the NSC pocket, and (therefore) the site of most PvP engagements. Other systems in the pocket tend to hover around the equilibrium rate, or slightly lower. This means that the basic bounty payment for a rat will probably be higher in PC9, though the chances of rare and valuable rats are higher in 5-D. Pilots can weigh up consistently higher basic payments against a higher chance of good spawns.

==== Belt Counts ====

The pirate faction encountered at the NSC is the [[Serpentis]]. They commonly deal Thermal and Kinetic damage, and have lower resists against Kinetic and Thermal damage. Expect to face sensor damping from Serpentis Guardian-type cruisers and battlecruisers. This can reduce your targeting distance drastically: depending on your sensor skills a group all damping can get you to 5,000m or less. Some Serpentis rats, usually frigates, also scram. Kill these first to ensure you can move to safety if hostiles enter the system.

You can expect to find battlecruisers as the most common enemy in most systems, with battleships being quite common as well, and destroyers used to "fill in" groups with battleships. Each system will have a few static group spawn types that are the most common, and you will rapidly learn which groups you can expect to see.

Rare spawns will sometimes be their own kind of spawn group, but can also occur when an elite spawn replaces a normal ship in a typical group (see below; or, for example, a Shadow Serpentis battleship replacing one of the two high admirals in a group of two high admirals and two destroyers). Elite spawns may widen their bag of tricks beyond damping to webbing, warp scramming, and other EWAR types.

Belt ratting is safest done in cruiser hulls, which can avoid damage from the battleship rats using their relatively small size and speed, but can also muster enough DPS. The commonest T1 cruiser used for ratting at NSC is the [[Vexor]], and the campus often has some ratting Vexors fitted out for new characters available on affordable contracts.