Baiting

Why Baiting?

A good rule of thumb for all warfare is "Only pick fights you know you can win". In Eve, the combination of secure neutral stations and warp drives makes it easy to avoid fights, given enough warning. Baiting is one way of convincing the other guy to commit to a fight.

What is Baiting?

Baiting involves sending out a baitship (or baitfleet), ahead of the main fleet. The role of the baitship is to appear as an easy kill, lure an attacker into combat, and then hold the engagement long enough for the rest of the fleet to arrive. Because local chat displays the presence of all active pilots in-system, the rest of the fleet is usually located in a different system. It's a very brave or foolish pilot who picks a fight with a "lone" ship while a bunch of the victim's corp-mates are somewhere in-system.

Caveat: this article is about baiting legitimate University targets. It is not about hi-sec "griefer" baiting, in which a pilot seeks to trick another into taking an aggressive action, so that the victim can be ganked without CONCORD intervention.

Choosing a Baitship

The most important question to consider is "what does the baitship offer the attacker"? Some attackers are happy with any killmail, regardless of whether it's a shuttle or a T2 battleship. Others are hoping to gank a particularly valuable ship (for the status), or to loot valuable cargo or equipment. A few might just want vengeance.

In each case, the goal of the baitship is to look like an easy kill. Cheaper ships which are known for having a high tank to gank ratio (example: Drake) generally make poor bait, as they are unlikely to be a quick kill. In contrast, a mining ship or freighter - usually quite fragile - that has been fitted to maximise its tank can be quite effective; the attacker doesn't realise quite how many EHP he needs to get through until after he has engaged.

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Setting the Bait

"People looking for killmails are the best target audience" (Azual Skoll, Agony Unleashed).

You've found a low-sec area that might have hostile pilots. You've chosen your baitship. Now you just need a bite.

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Baitship Fitting

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See Also

• [Bait Tactics] thread on E-UNI forums.