Archive:Null-Sec Campus

Current Location: EZA-FM

Time: 23/7

Mailing List: NSC.E-UNI

Chat Channel: NSC.E-UNI (standard password applies)

Nullsec Campus Mission Statement

The mission of Nullsec Campus is to establish and maintain a supportive base in NPC Nullsec space, to give students the opportunity to experience living in nullsec, with all of the challenges and glory that comes with it. Nullsec campus will provide the opportunity to learn to survive, make isk, and PvP successfully in null security space.

Nullsec Campus Background and Overview

On September 26th, 2012 23:00 hrs, a handful of brave, perhaps foolhardy Unistas, perceiving that the Uni lacked adequate opportunities to experience Nullsec life, followed a gibbering madman named Tinman Spectacular into the hinterlands of Syndicate, pitched their tents and settled in for the long haul.

For a long while, the Campus was run mostly by a handful of Unistas, with the help of a Jump Freighter alt, and was often enganged in lots of very small gang pvp. Recent times however have bolstered the NSC's numbers to much greater heights, allowing us to perform more unique activies, as well as respond and engage larger targets.

The NSC is a grassroots, student run initiative, which welcomes all Ivy League members who meet our basic requirements to join. We operate in an environment of intense PvP activity, and anyone who wants to join us should be ready and willing to engage in combat with other players on a regular basis.

Non PvP activities, such as ratting, exploration, and planetary interaction are available, and quite lucrative when compared to high and low sec space. Mining is not recommended, and manufacturing is unavailable, however, some NSCers do these activities in the nearby Project Solitude operations area. Events and classes will be coming soon.

You may have been told that nullsec is too difficult or dangerous for new players. The members of Nullsec Campus do not believe this, and welcome very new players in their ranks. If you are very new, it is recommended that you attend or listen to any classes related to PvP as soon as possible, and focus your skill training on core and PvP specific skills. No activities of the Nullsec Campus will be restricted by player age or experience. Just prepare yourself to get exploded frequently, and don't beat yourself up about it when it happens.

What do I need to do to join the NullSec Campus?

You must have acquired the title Freshman or a similar title before joining the campus and participating in our activities. Returning members of the university who posses a Graduate Medal may join the NSC immediately in lieu of waiting for their titles to be refreshed. Graduates should still review the recommendations/classes listed below before arriving in the NSC.

It is strongly recommended that you have either have attended in person or read/listened to the following classes on the uniwiki:

• The Rookie's Guide To Fleet Ops
• Fleets 101
• Fleets 102
• Fleet Terminology
• Bookmarks
• EVE University Rules of Engagement

You must have your overview set up to the E-Uni Standard.

• Overview Setup Tutorial

You MUST read, understand and abide by the Campus Rules and Procedures if you join this event. All E-Uni Rules also apply.

Campus Rules and Procedures:

"Be polite, be professional, have a plan to kill everyone that you meet." General James Mattis, USMC

General

• Members active in the campus must be in the NSC fleet. If there is no fleet advertised, you may form one, and put up an advert so others may join.
• Members active in the campus must be in mumble, at least able to listen. (if you are hearing impaired, let us know)
  • Nullsec Campus mumble is an event chat, so you may join mumble if you are not actively participating in the fleet, however you MUST follow combat comms when active.
• If you are going AFK for more than ~15 minutes you must drop fleet.
• Help your fellow campers learn. This is an on-going educational event. Lesson opportunities override all else.
• Adhere to all EVE-University Rules and SOP.
• Fly what you can afford to lose.

Diplomatic Concerns

• Do not insult, provoke, or smack talk other corporations, alliances, or individual members in local or any other forum. Shoot them, pod them, gank their industrial ships, but be polite about it.
• Do not discuss changes to diplomatic relations with the members of any other corporation or alliance unless you are an EVE University diplomat.
• Honor the agreed-upon terms of all arranged fights with other corporations and alliances, unless the other party chooses to break these terms first.
• All PvP engagements where there are kills or losses, when possible, should be followed by a "good fight" or "gf" in local chat, or some equivalent gesture of good sportsmanship, regardless of who won. The exception to this is engagements with war targets.
• Avoid engaging fleets of mixed neutrals and blues.

PvP

• Rules of Engagement are Not Blue Shoot It (NBSI). Should students roam into lowsec systems, the rule is Not Red Don't Shoot, or NRDS (more or less). Refer to the Uni Rules of Engagement for specific details. Students are encouraged to aggressively seek out fights with neutral parties.
• A group of pilots venturing further than the local systems, will move to a unique fleet mumble channel. Wormhole fleets apply no matter the “jumps”. It is recommended to form a complete new fleet when roaming.
• Any event that results in a killmail or lossmail will have a comment on the killboard as well as have an AAR written about it on the forum.
  • 1v1 arranged fights do not need an AAR. Please note the arrangement on the killboard comment
• Suggested PvP loot distribution is donation to the campus. Fleet Agreement on loot distribution overrides this.
  • An exception to this rule is during wartime, war-target loot belongs to the ILN.

PvE

• PvE loot is property of the group who agree to rat or run sites together.

Comms

• Campus communications are by default “OPEN COMMS”.
• When first entering the campus mumble, please wait at least a full minute before speaking, unless it is very urgent
• Campus may move to “Open Command” or "Closed Comms" if there is a threat in the immediate location or if a local QRF has formed.
• Groups of students operating in the local systems may remain in the main campus mumble.
• Whomever is baiting or calls out for assistance from the fleet is the "FC" of that engagement if one has not been determined in advance.
• Operations outside the "local area" as defined above must move to a separate ILN Fleet mumble channel. Moving to a separate fleet from the campus is recommended but not required.
• We operate on a "built for purpose" foundation. If you are hunting someone in particular, or are operating a constant operation hunting targets, join a separate mumble channel (or fleet as a whole) until you accomplish your goal or disband the initiative. This helps organize our fleet and keep comms clear for those who need it.

What can I do in the campus?

• Kill rats
• Exploration (sites and wormholes)
  • Scanning & Probing
  • Exploring and Exploiting Wormholes
  • Recognizing a Good Wormhole
• PvP roams, skirmishes with locals
  • UniBombers
  • Baiting
  • Scanning Down the Opponent
• Null-sec PI
  • PI
  • Hauling
• Missions for the Quafe Company
• Hang out in Mumble

Who Runs Nullsec Campus

Due to the recent influx of Unistas, the NSC has gained it's very own official leadership core.

• NSC Coordinator: Timdogg Ambramotte
• NSC Liasons: Abetorix Lincoln, Blake Dex, Zakna Syl, Ratharn Drakonis
• NSC Hangar Officer: Seluna Cressen
• NSC Logistics: Karcus Tavayen

What Ships to Bring

You may bring any ship that you don't mind losing, providing that it is allowed under WSOP. Here are some useful categories of ships you may want to consider bringing:

• Fast tackler - Great for making bookmarks and for PvP, especially for newbros
• Ewar boats - Moar ewar from all racial categories is a great asset for the campus
• Battlecruiser/Battleship - useful for ratting, PVE sites, and yes, PvP
• Scanning ship - Covops frigates and their T1 equivalents

On your first trip to the campus, it is recommended that you bring a fast, cheap frigate, both for ease of navigation through dangerous space, and to allow you to quickly make bookmarks as you travel. It is fairly easy to bring in additional ships later, please refer to the NSC forum for our Jump Freighter program. Expect to lose lots of ships.

At this time it is not recommended that you bring mining ships or industrials, with the exception of cloaky blockade runners. As the campus becomes more established, mining nullsec ores may become a more reasonable proposition, but at the current time we still have too much hostile activity in our home system for mining to be practical.

Be aware that the Ship Replacement Program does still apply, with all the normal rules and regulations, BUT hull replacement functions out of Aldrat, and replacement hulls will not be distributed on-site. Partial Reimbursements function as normal.

How to Get to the Campus

There are several routes, depending on where you are coming from. Before departing, it is recommended that you join the chat channel "NSC.E-Uni", as well as check the fleet finder for the standing NSC fleet.

From Aldrat

• Set your autopilot destination for EZA-FM.
• Be aware that the default autopilot route from Aldrat will take you into Syndicate through Orvolle. Orvolle is the only highsec entrance into Syndicate, and by virtue of this fact, the Orvolle gate in PF-346 as well as the gates in the systems that make up that pipe tend to be heavily camped. You may want to consider adding Orvolle to your 'Systems to Avoid' list and entering Syndicate from Verge Vendor at Reblier. This route also sees gatecamps from time to time, but it is closer to the NSC's home base, so assistance may more easily be provided by campers.
• Join the NSC fleet and Mumble channel. Ask for intel on the route. Be aware that the gates may be bubbled with mobile warp disruptors, and that every neutral in Local is probably actively trying to find and kill you. See the advice below on "Traveling Safely".
• On arrival in EZA-FM, choose either station to call your home (the University's office/hanger is located in EZA-FM IV - Moon 16 - Thukker Mix Factory, a.k.a. "bottom station").

From Oerse

• Set your autopilot destination for EZA-FM.
• Join the NSC fleet and Mumble channel. Ask for intel on the route.
• Enjoy your 7 jumps, and pity those poor Unistas coming from Aldrat. Beware of bubbles and assume every neutral you see in nullsec is trying to kill you.
• Pick a station to call your home (the University's office/hanger is located in EZA-FM IV - Moon 16 - Thukker Mix Factory, a.k.a. "bottom station").

Taking the Pod Express

This method will cost you a new medical clone, but it's safer and faster than traveling.

• Jump into a clean clone (you will lose your implants) and dock in any station with medical/cloning facilities.
• Make sure your clone is up to date.
• Right click your ship and select Leave ship.
• Open the Medical window from the station interface and click Change Station at the bottom.
• A list of available stations will pop up, select EZA-FM. (this list only shows stations where EUNI has an office as well as your starting NPC corp)
• Undock, right click your pod and select Self Destruct, you should see a 2 minutes countdown.
• Once the countdown is over, you'll wake up in EZA, upgrade your clone first! and welcome to the NSC.

How to Get Ships/Supplies

Karcus Tavayen provides an at-cost Jump Freighter service between Jita IV - Moon 4 - Caldari Navy Assembly Plant and EZA-FM IV - Moon 16 - Thukker Mix Factory. The 30 million ISK fee covers the price of his fuel. This is a round trip, so loot or other goods one wishes to return to Jita may also be transported.

Instructions:

1. All contracted goods must be located in Jita IV - Moon 4 - Caldari Navy Assembly Plant or EZA-FM IV - Moon 16 - Thukker Mix Factory, with the total volume in a contract being less than 350,000 m^3.
2. No assembled containers will be transported.
3. No assembled ships will be transported.
4. Set up a private courier contract for Karcus Tavayen . Unless previously arrangements have been made, all contracts must be issues by your E-Uni character, not an alt.
   • Set the "Ship To" location (either Jita IV - Moon 4 - Caldari Navy Assembly Plant and EZA-FM IV - Moon 16 - Thukker Mix Factory)
   • Set the "Reward" to 30m ISK (This covers the fuel costs, and gives you a full hold to work with).
   • Leave the "Collateral" at zero.
   • Set the "Expiration" to 3 days.
   • Set the "Days to Complete" to 3.

(See this forum thread for Karcus' original offer - Thanks, Karcus!)

It is highly recommended that Unistas share shipping costs, as it can be challenging to fill an entire Jump Freighter hold. Please use the NullSec Campus Forum and NSC.E-UNI mailing list to coordinate with your fellow students.

Alternatively, if for some reason Karcus Tavayen becomes unavailable, one may contract delivery with Black Frog Logistics. This is pretty expensive for an individual, but not bad if several of students contribute. As above, if you are interested in organizing a Black Frog run, use the NullSec Campus Forum and NSC.E-UNI mailing list to coordinate with your fellow students.

Surviving in Nullsec

General Advice

There is a steep learning curve for new players moving into the NSC due to the nearly constant presence of hostile activity. Syndicate is, first and foremost, a PvP environment, so people will be trying to kill you nearly every time you undock. Even the NPC rats can be more formidable opponents than you might expect. You will lose ships, maybe a lot of ships. The advice in this section should help you to minimize your losses.

Your Overview

If you haven't set up your overview, you must do so before going out to camp. If your overview is not properly set up, you might find yourself engaging inappropriate targets, taking fire from ships that don't even show up, or other equally disastrous outcomes. Pay special attention to the Pod Saver tab and learn how to use it. See the Overview Guide for information about how to configure your overview.

Local Chat

Local chat shows you all the pilots in your current system. It's a good idea to separate this window from your other chat windows and make it as tall as possible, so that you can see as many other pilots in local as possible. When you enter a system, you should check the names you see for anyone who you know causes trouble. You should also double-click their names and view their corp/alliance. Do several of them share a corp or alliance? If so, engaging them could mean an incoming gank for you. As you spend more time in the campus, you'll begin to recognize the names of players, corporations, and alliances and can roughly estimate how much trouble you might find in a given system.

Your Directional Scanner

Next to local chat and Mumble, D-Scan is your best source of information about who can blow you up. It's a complicated tool that has its own guide and classes. D-Scan is basically used to identify ships around yours. It can be used to roughly pinpoint where other ships are, as well, by narrowing down the angle at which you scan. While local tells you what players are nearby, D-Scan as telling you what ships are nearby. You should leave the D-Scan window open at all times and scan often to not be taken by surprise. Some notes about D-Scan:

• Not all ships on D-Scan are being piloted. If an empty ship is located inside a POS shield, it will show up on D-Scan.
• Cloaked ships do not appear on D-Scan.
• If you notice "Sisters Combat Scanner Probes" or "Combat Scanner Probes" on D-Scan, someone is trying to scan down ships. Be very cautious if you notice these probes on D-Scan. If the player using them finds your ship, he can warp an entire fleet on top of you. Ask in Mumble if the probes are one of yours, and if they're not, it's a good idea to get out. At the very least, align to something and be ready to warp out at a moment's notice and pay close attention to your overview.

Bookmarks

Your first few hours in nullsec should be spent making as many bookmarks as you can stand. See the bookmarks page for information about bookmarks. The following is a rough checklist for bookmarks you want to make:

• Two or more unaligned safe spots
• An instant undock from each station (at least the ones you use often)
• Tacticals off of stations and gates Warp Tactical Around A Station
• Tacticals off of asteroid belts if you plan on ratting

Making bookmarks for each system you're in often is a good idea.

Travelling Safely

There are many hazards to navigation in Nullsec that you will not encounter in high or low security space. You will find these things both in our home system and while travelling. Most of the time you can still move about in relative safety, but you will need to learn to travel according to a new set of rules if you want to lose less ships. These are a few things that you need to be aware of, and strategies for surviving them.

Holding Cloak

As you jump into system, "HOLD YOUR CLOAK." (i.e. Don't touch anything). Check you D-Scan, and see who is around, and then if everything looks ok, you can warp to your next location.

If there is anyone on grid:

1. "HOLD YOUR CLOAK." You have 60 seconds of cloak, which is an eternity in this situation.
2. BREATHE
3. If you are on mumble (you should be on mumble), calmly say BREAK - BREAK Ship Type X on grid at [xxx] gate in [xxx] system. Please warp to [your name]. Bonus points if you can list a) number of targets, b) what they are flying (frigate, BC, BS is good enough), c) confirm what enemy ships could have been in the gate behind you.
4. Then x up in fleet (you should be in fleet.) So fleetmates can warp to you quickly.
5. You have a decision. Fight or Flee. If you fight, then fight. If you flee, you can warp away (unless pointed) or you can burn to the gate. Make a decision what you are going to do before uncloaking.
6. Overheat guns if you are going to fight. Overheat your prop mod. and shields if you are going to burn to the gate. Hopefully, the cavalry will arrive to the rescue.

Mobile Warp Disruptors

Commonly referred to as "bubbles", these devices prevent ships from entering warp within their area of effect. They come in a variety of sizes, and are usually anchored in line between two gates, or other celestials which somebody might want to warp to directly. They can be used defensively, to slow down hostile ships warping to where you might be doing PvE activities, in order to allow you an extra moment to escape. More often, however, they are used offensively, to pull ships out of warp and ambush them. Quite often you will find one or more bubbles near stargates while you are travelling. Should you get caught in a bubble, the best thing to do is to move your ship out of it as quickly as possible. To do this, double click in space and turn on your microwarpdrive. Once you exit the bubble, you can either burn to the gate or warp away to safety if you choose.

The best way to deal with bubbles, is to avoid getting caught in them in the first place. If you have already made bookmarks in the system you are entering, the best way to pass through without getting caught is to first warp to an unaligned safe spot immediately after jumping into the system, then from there warp to an observation bookmark off the gate you wish to use. After checking what is there, you can then warp to the gate at zero and jump. Using this method in a frigate you will avoid all but the most clever bubble camps.

If you are in a new system where you do not have bookmarks, the best way to get around the bubbles is to warp first to a celestial, preferably one which is far from being inline with the gates you are moving between. A quick check of the solar system map, by hitting the F10 key, can give you a view of the alignments of different celestials. Then warp from there to your gate at zero. It is worth mentioning that when warping to celestials to evade hostile ships, you should avoid warping to zero or to 100km, as these are the most commonly used ranges, and therefore the easiest places for them to catch you.

If your overview is set up correctly to E-Uni standards, mobile warp disruptors will appear on it, and therefore can also be detected using d-scan.

Bombs

Lots of people cruise around in nullsec in stealth bombers, either alone or in groups. These nifty little ships can equip bomb launchers. Bombs are quite deadly, especially in groups. The nice thing about them, from a defensive standpoint, is that they are slow and appear on your overview. The wrong thing to do, if you see a bomb on your overview, would be to turn on your microwarpdrive and try to burn out of the area of effect. The damage from the bomb scales up with the increased signature radius you get from using your MWD. Usually, when travelling, the right course of action is to pick a celestial and spam the warp button. Most tanked frigates will survive a single bomb, provided they don't use their MWD, but in a travel situation the safest course of action is to warp away.

Interdictors

Interdictors are Tech2 destroyers capable of fitting an Interdiction Sphere Launcher. This allows it to rapidly deploy a warp disruption bubble with a 20km radius. Often these are used in gatecamps. When a ship jumps into the gatecamp, the interdictor pilot throws up a bubble, which will probably trap you and prevent you from warping away. This can be an unnerving experience. The important thing is to not panic. The dictor bubble will not decloak you. Quickly make a plan to escape. Usually the best way is to align to a celestial, hit your MWD, and spam the warp button, so you enter warp as soon as possible after exiting the bubble.

Learn to recognize these names: Sabre, Heretic, Eris, and Flycatcher, and to be aware of what they do.

Similar to an inderdictor but rather than deploying a bubble with an Interdiction Sphere Launcher, a Heavy Interdictor can generate a warp disruption field with a 20km radius around itself. Tactics for escaping HICs while travelling are the same as for light interdictors.

HICs : Devoter, Onyx, Phobos, Broadsword

Moar Bookmarks

When you are travelling, especially in a fast frigate, and you find youself alone in a system, take the time to make bookmarks. At the minimum, you should make an unaligned safe spot, one on-grid tactical and one off-grid tactical for the gates you plan to use. These can make your next trip much safer.

Ratting/PVE

Ratting can be one of the most lucrative activities in nullsec. Many of the common belt rats are worth over a million isk in bounties alone, and routinely drop another million in loot. It can also be dangerous, if you aren't careful. The vast majority of PvP losses the NSC has experienced so far have occurred when campers were ambushed while ratting. Again, a few basic strategies can reduce the odds that this will happen to you.

If you are ratting:

• Watch local and d-scan. Remember, everybody here is trying to kill you.
• If a neutral is in local, but not d-scan, assume he is in a cloaked ship, which will probably de-cloak right next to you if you are in a belt or an anomaly, then proceed to tackle you, jam you with ECM, and kill you. He probably has friends in the next system, too, ready to jump in and blob you.
• Talk to your fellow campers. If they are in the adjacent systems, share intel about neutrals passing through. If campers are in the same system, be aware of what everybody is flying. If you get ambushed in a belt, explain what is happening in a calm tone, what kind of ships are attacking you, how many, and where you are. Put an "x" in fleet chat so your fleetmates can easily warp to you. Consider that if the enemy has superior forces to what the NSC can bring, the wisest course of action may not be for everybody to warp in and get themselves killed. You should tell us what we are up against and let us decide for ourselves whether to intervene.
• Rat while aligned to a safe spot, so you can immediately warp away when somebody arrives to spoil your fun.
• Never warp into a belt at zero, and burn away while killing your rats, so that somebody warping into the belt in a non-cloaked ship will need to burn to you to get point, giving you more time to escape.
• Equip a prototype cloak to your ratting ship. When hostiles are hunting you, warp to a safe spot, cloak up, and go get yourself a drink while you wait for them to get bored and leave, then resume your business.
• When possible, rat in exploration sites, rather than belts. There is more isk to be made, and anybody looking for you would need to use probes, which you can see on d-scan, giving you some warning when it is time to bug out.
• When all else fails, don't forget the pod saver tab on your overview.

Interesting Links

• Interdiction 101 syllabus contains detailed information on the use of Mobile Warp Disruptors, Interdictors, and HICs.
• The Altruist's Syndicate Article A regional travel guide from gentleman pirate Azual Skoll.