How to find Incursions
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Incursions.E-UNI mailing list
Normally there will always be a recon mail in the Incursions.E-UNI mailing list with information about the current constellation we're in.
The recon mails will have all the information you'll need. It will list the staging system, the various vanguard and assault sites as well as the headquarter system. Most of the time it will also have additional information about distance to our home system, closest tradehubs and general travel information and warnings.
How to find Incursions
Open up your Journal (either from your shortcut or the Neocom) and go to the Incursions tab and then click the Global Report. There you will see all current incursions that are active in EVE, which can be sorted by security for convenience.
You can also find the incursions by opening up your Star Map (F10), click the Star map if it isn't already in map-mode, go to the Star Map tab and under Stars select Incursions. The incursions will then show up on the map. Staging systems will show up in yellow and other systems in orange.
As of March 12th 2014 you can also get information about incursions from dotlan.
Constellation layouts
While the incursions will spawn in a random constellation, the systems of a given constellation will always have the same type of sites. Some systems are also taken out of the "incursion rotation", such as major trade hubs and starter systems.
See constellation layouts for more information on what systems will have vanguard, assault or headquarter sites, without having to visit the constellation first.
Choosing which constellation to go to
Sometimes we have several Incursions active at the same time and we have to choose which one to go to. Here are a few things to consider:
- Favour going to Aldrat or Hek.
- Constellations within Amarr regions.
- Proximity to major trade hubs like Jita and Amarr.
When given the choice we should strive to go to Incursions close to home. This allows new people to come fly with us, who normally might be put off by the 30+ jump trek. It also puts us near reinforcements from Operation: Fortress. People who know how to PvP would also be much closer to their stockpile of PvP-ships if they needed to reship to deal with war targets.
Since Amarr hold sovereignty in the majority of high security space, odds are higher that Incursions spawn in Amarr space than anywhere else. So if you have the choice between between two fairly similar constellations, it makes sense to pick the one closer to the main Amarr region. This usually means we won't have to move too far the next time we move.
If we can avoid the major trade hubs, that's a plus too, as those constellations get a lot more attention from gankers and griefers. Major trade hubs are also favourite hunting grounds for many so called "high security warriors" corporations and alliances that declare war on us. This is more of an issue during war than it is during peace, as the threat from gankers and griefers is minimal unless you're flying very expensively fitted ships (far beyond what most fly in our community).
Of course, sometimes we don't have a choice and will be forced to pick a less than ideal system. But try to keep these things in mind when you decide where to go.
Finding an ideal staging system
The actual staging system of a constellation isn't necessarily the best system to stage out of, in fact it usually isn't. When you look for a good staging system there are a few things to consider.
- Availability of repair facilities.
- Availability of medical facilities.
- Being a convenient location.
- Easy to Picket during wars.
So for a really good staging system, try finding a system that has the type of sites you want to run, has a station with repair facilities (and preferably medical) and has jump gates leading directly to the other systems of interest.
Updating the mailing list
Whenever we move to a new constellation, someone has to send out a mail to the Incursions.E-UNI mailing list. This is done so that people know where to go when they log in or when they feel like doing incursions after having done something else.
And as the note says in the beginning of this second, this is a communal effort, it's not something only a select few will do. Just make sure you take the time to make a proper mail with the right information; Look at previous mails for an appropriate format. Even if you don't have a template to use you can click on the forward button on an old mail and change the system names and links, that way you won't have to retype all the additional information.
Longevity
Incursions can theoretically last up to seven and a half days, and go through three different stages; Established, Mobilized and Withdrawing.
| Stage | Explanation |
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| Incursion established (up to 4 1/2 days) |
Whenever an incursion spawns, this will be the first stage. Sansha Kuvakei's forces are trying to take control of the systems. While beating down the influence seems to increase the chance of a this stage lasting longer, the exact mechanics are unknown. |
| Incursion mobilized (2 days) |
The incursion has been around for a bit and Sansha Kuvakei's forces are either getting ready to finish off the incursion or they are losing too much ground and prepare to withdraw from the constellation. |
| Incursion withdrawing (1 day) |
The incursion is ending, either due to Sansha Kuvakei's forces overrunning the constellation or because the incursion community managed to keep them at bay. This stage means the end of the incursion within a day, one way or another. |
Number of Incursions and respawns
There can be up to seven incursions up at any given time, three in highsec and four in low- and nullsec. The incursions will all spawn new incursions in the same type of security space as the one they are replacing. This means that whenever a highsec incursion is despawned, either by Sansha withdrawing or when someone finishes the mothership site, a new highsec incursion will soon spawn in its place.
A new incursion will spawn a day and a half up to two days later with documented times as short as 30 hours and as long as 48 hours. With the Hyperion Expansion on August 26th 2014 the time for a new incursion to spawn will be reduced to between 12 and 36 hours.
Mothership sighted
The mothership site can occur as early as within the first established stage, assuming the incursion runners fight down the influence and starts running headquarter sites. Once the mothership has been sighted, the incursion can be defeated by destroying the mothership.
Community drama
Sometimes it's a tactical decision in order to spawn a new incursion for the weekend. Other times they just try to beat the crowd and do it just before it enters the withdrawing stage. Sadly, sometimes they finish the mothership site several days in advance for various personal reasons, often contributed to petty things like hurt egos and lost competitions.
Dotlan statistics
With the introduction of incursion data on the CREST endpoint, dotlan introduced a new section on their site dedicated to tracking incursion data in March 2014. This site is very useful to keep track of spawns and to quickly get a feel for when the next one might spawn.
Moving between Incursions
Incursions are nomadic in nature, with focus lasting less than a week per constellation, forcing the incursion community to constantly move in order to continue taking part of the content.
In order to facilitate moving more than one ship at a time, people often utilize the Orca as well as their racial freighter of choice. The Orca excel at moving several smaller ships, like logistics and strategic cruisers, while still having good maneuverability and an excellent buffer whereas freighters have a much larger hold and are the only ones who can move a rigged battleship in highsec. See training up an Orca alt for more information about training up for and using the Orca.
Given the profitability of suicide ganking and how hard it is to actually use the extra cargo of a freighter, it is usually much better to travel fit your battleship and fly it yourself, than carry it around in a freighter. Especially if you have a faction battleship or costly ships. Flying a ship yourself as opposed to hauling a ship inside another ship, means the ship itself as well as the rigs lose their value, as they are destroyed when they suicide gank you. This drastically reduce the value of ganking you. Also remember that if you're carrying an expensive defensive module, fit it.
Since moving is the most dangerous part of incursioning, try to avoid moving your incursion ship as much as possible. For example, if you need to go elsewhere it is best if you leave your incursion ship in the system and simply use a shuttle or a rookie ship to fly back or forth (or interceptors if you like). That way you only put a very cheap ship on the line, instead of your more expensive incursion ship.
Wartime logistics
You should never move your ship to an incursion constellation alone when your corporation or alliance is at war. The only exception would be if you have a scout (alt or someone helping you) and you know how to travel-fit with stabs, microwarpdrive and cloak.
War targets relish catching slow and expensive ships fit for PvE. Even if there are no war targets logged on, they could be waiting offline with their main characters, while keeping an eye on you with their alts.
Use an alt to move your ship(s)
Not everyone will have alts to do this (or have the appropriate skills on their alt), but the fastest and safest way is always to fly the ship yourself on an alt. Naturally this doesn't work with your uni main, nor does it work if your alt is at war as well.
The main benefit of moving the ship by itself, is that the cost of the hull and the rigs become somewhat irrelevant. If you were to haul a pirate faction battleship in a freighter the hull cost and rigs would be potential loot, but if you fly it the ship and rigs would be destroyed and thus not potential loot for suicide gankers. Also remember that if you're bringing a deadspace hardener or other defensive modules with you, keep it fitted on your ship instead of moving it in your cargo hold where it does no good.
See valet alt for a quick overview on the skills needed.
Travel fleets
If the last incursion you were in just disappeared and you all need to move, the simplest thing to do is to take the whole fleet, including everyone else who wants to come with you to the next constellation and move as a fleet. Strength in numbers.
Keep your incursion-fits, including logistics and work on your aligns and fleet warps on the way, keeping one fleet member a jump ahead acting as a scout (and possibly someone a jump behind as well to cover the rear). Unless the war targets amass in considerable numbers, they pose no threat to your fleet as long as you keep the fleet together, warping together, never leaving anyone behind. Only one person needs to have PvP-experience for this to work, the rest just have to keep their wits and follow orders.
Freighter services
There are several options to have your ship freighted to the new constellation. You have Red Frog as well as people within the community offering to haul ships with their alts.
Since most pirate faction battleships break the gankable limit with the hull itself, it's mainly for regular tech one battleships. Depending on how fast the courier contract can be fulfilled this might be a less than desirable option, as you might lose valuable game time waiting for your ship to arrive.
The microwarpdrive and cloak trick
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The microwarpdrive and cloak trick does not mean you should travel alone, you should still have someone scouting ahead for you to avoid gatecamps. The cloak is just to reduce the chance of getting caught, it doesn't ensure that you'll make it. A proper gatecamp will catch you, especially if you're in a battleship or something with a high signature. |
Using a microwarpdrive and an improved cloaking device is an additional layer of safety you could use. See Seamus Donohue's video on how to do this.
Make sure you practice this in a less expensive ship, like a frigate, before you attempt to do this on a battleship. Getting the timing right is everything with this trick, if someone locks you up before you cloak up you'll be unable to cloak. Preventing you from cloaking usually gives them all the time in the world to catch up and point you, keeping you in place, which means you're dead.
