Solo PvP

Fighting in a fleet is a lot of fun, and it is, in many ways, the classic EVE experience. However fighting solo, or in a small group of 2 or 3 people can be just as fun, much easier to get set up, and importantly, is one of the best ways to develop your all-round PvP skills. Skills such as scouting, target calling and overall FC’ing are all very transferable from solo or small groups, right up to huge fleets. In EVE, many of the best FCs started out in solo or small gang situations, and many of them still roam solo when not leading fleets.

Security Status disclaimer

In Low and High Security space, taking hostile action against a pilot not flagged as a criminal, a war target or a suspect will result in a loss of your own security status. Therefore, engaging in regular PvP as described in this guide will inevitably reduce your security status. This is why Low Sec is often described as pirate space. Low security status can cause you to be attacked by faction police when entering High Security space.

If you continue to live in lowsec or nullsec, having a low security status is unlikely to affect you as you can simply use a hauler alt, or a hauling corporation to get ships and other supplies from Highsec to where you live.

Should you wish to retain the ability to travel back into High Security space at any time without restriction, you can always take actions to recover your security status, either by killing NPC rats, or by redeeming Clone Soldier Tags

Eve Uni members are required to maintain a security status above -4 in order to obtain new titles. A security status below -5 is also likely to incur an email from management asking the pilot to repair this. However remaining above this level is not difficult, particularly given the Clone Soldier Tag mechanics

Where to fight?

While fighting in Null-Sec, Wormhole, or even High Sec space is perfectly possible, the majority of small scale PvP is done in Low Security space. Specifically, those areas of Low Sec designated as “Faction Warfare Space”

For EVE-Uni members, our Low Sec Campus is located on the edge of Faction Warfare Space, and the primary activity of this campus is PvP in the surrounding region. This guide is designed in part as a primer for life in this campus, however is applicable to any pilot looking for solo and gang PvP content.

Faction Warfare mechanics includes many features which are specific to corporations and individuals who elect to align themselves to one faction, as described in more detail in the Faction Warfare Wiki page. For the purposes of this guide however, we will only be considering those aspects which relate to all players, regardless of affiliation.

Faction Warfare Arenas: Plex

Faction Warfare space contains Factional Warfare Complexes (commonly known as "Plexes", not to be confused with PLEX) which are effectively PvP arenas. These appear on your overview and probe scanner window as beacons which all players can warp to with names such as “Gallente Novice Outpost” or “Caldari Large Installation”

The key factor to note is the “size” of the plex, as denoted by the middle word in the description. This indicates the size of ships which are able to enter the arena for fights

• Novice: Frigates only

• Small: Frigates & Destroyers

• Medium: Frigates, Destroyers, Cruisers

• Large: Any ship

When you initially warp to any plex other than the large sized variant, you will encounter an acceleration gate. Only the appropriate sized ship will be able to activate the gate and enter the plex itself. Large plex have no gate and allow any ship to enter.

The reason these arenas are so important for PvP is that:

• They provide a fixed point in deadspace for people to fight at

• The size limitations mean that you can, to a limited extent, control the fights you take, and ensure that when looking for a fight in, say, a frigate, you are not immediately jumped on by a T2 Cruiser for instance. This is a key reason why most Low Sec PvP is done in frigates which can fit into any plex.

NOTE: The gate limits ship sizes, however it does NOT limit the number of ships entering the plex. You can still be overpowered by a gang or fleet of ships if you are not aware and careful.

The Beacon

When you initially activate an acceleration gate and “slide” into the plex, you will arrive within around 2.5km of a “beacon” in space. This beacon should be visible on your overview as you land. If not, adjust your overview settings to display all brackets (items in space), as the location of the beacon is a key factor in plex combat.

Any ship entering the plex will also next to this beacon – there is no way to warp in at range. The exception is large-sized plex, which have no acceleration gate, and therefore can be warped to at range as with any normal cosmic object

The beacon is key to fighting in a plex, as it means that when inside a plex, you know almost exactly where an enemy ship will enter. Likewise, when entering a plex where an opponent is already within, they will have positioned themselves knowing where you will appear. This always gives a slight advantage when fighting to the ship which is already inside the plex, and a large part of the various strategies for frighting in a plex is based around this mechanic.

Warp Blocking

The other thing to note is that you cannot warp within a plex. While normally if an object is 150km away from you, but still on grid you can warp to it, within a plex you will get an error message. If your scout, or fast tackler chases a fast ship 150km away from you within the plex, there is no way to catch up to him without following him with sub-warp engines.

This makes sniping, and kiting ships very effective at defending plex, although they are also much less effective when attacking a plex.

D-Scanning for fights

Much of PvP is about picking your fights, and having a clear strategy in place before you engage. For this, you need intel.

The most basic form of intel you will need is to determine if a plex contains a ship already, and if so, what kind of ship. Or if you are already inside a plex, what ships are coming your way, and might try to enter your plex to attack you. The tool for this will be your Directional Scanner, or D-Scan.

The Wiki Directional Scanner Guide is already an excellent and detailed resource on using this tool and should be read in detail, however the following is a brief overview of the important aspects for plex scanning:

• When scanning plex, keep your D-Scan set at a 5 degree angle, and max range, and hold down your D-Scan hotkey (by default “V”) then click on the plex within your overview to quickly and efficiently scan each plex

• Note that the D-Scan will not tell you if a ship is actually inside a plex, or outside, next to the acceleration gate. If you see a ship on D-Scan which is too large for the plex you are scanning, they are likely sat on the acceleration gate outside, and may be trying to catch ships entering

• When inside a plex, set your D-Scan to 360 degrees, and 1AU range, and ensure you are scanning regularly to detect anyone landing on the acceleration gate who may be about to enter. You may want to occasionally switch to a longer range as well just to check what is happening elsewhere in the system.

Solo/Gang PvP Ships

T1 Frigates

Probably the majority of Low-Sec PvP is done in T1 frigates, making this an excellent entry point for new players, as well as for more experienced ones. These are less common in Null-Sec PvP, however their low cost, high effectiveness, and ability to enter any plex in the game mean they are the most common sight in Low Sec plexes

Faction / Pirate Frigates

These are also very common sights in Low Sec due to their power advantage versus T1 frigates while still being able to enter Novice plexes.

Faction frigates are a slightly more expensive, but still affordable step up from T1 frigates. While powerful, they can still be killed by a skilled T1 pilot, and should be seen as an extension of the frigate meta game when devising tactics

Pirate frigates are substantially more expensive, but also have subtantial advantages versus almost all other frigate variants, and are some of the toughest opponents in PvP. In skilled hands they are able to take on ships substantially larger than themselves, or multiple other frigates simultaneously. These are quite advanced ships, and new pilots should probably not be flying nor fighting them without backup.

T1 Destroyers

These can be thought of as larger frigates with very poor range control due to their speed, but great DPS/EHP ratio to make up for it. They can be kited by a skilled T1 frigate pilot very effectively but they are also able to tear their way through much more expensive Faction or Pirate frigates if both ships have similar optimal ranges.

T1 Cruisers

Relatively rare sights in Low Sec plexes, and a magnet for other cruisers, or advanced ships such as pirate frigates and T3 destroyers looking for an expensive killmail. The few cruisers you do see flying solo are often fitted specifically to kill adventurous or foolish frigate pilots, and new pilots should avoid engaging them. In particular anti-frigate cruisers such as the Vexor and Stabber should be avoided.

T2 Assault Frigates

Despite their frigate hulls, in performance Assault Frigates are more similar to T1 destroyers. Like the T1 destroyers, they trade manouverability for higher DPS and EHP, however the Assault Frigates do so at a considerably higher cost. They are not very popular in the current game as they are generally outperformed by T3 destroyers, and even some Pirate frigates, while not being that much cheaper.

T3 Destroyers

These are have effectively replaced Assault Frigates as the best small ship option in PvP. They are only marginally slower than standard frigates (and often faster when in propulsion mode), while also retaining the excellent damage and a strong tank of the destroyer hull. They make for great Brawlers and Kiters alike and are virtually impossible to counter in a T1 frig except in a few select scenarios. Pirate and Assault frigates may stand a chance, however only in skilled hands and with good tactics. Less experienced pilots should simply avoid these ships without substantial support.

Basic Ship Meta

Ships for PvP in general are grouped primarily by their optimal range. All other things being equal, winning a PvP fight, whether solo, or when leading a huge fleet, usually means ensuring that you are in your optimal range, and your opponent is not.

• 0-5 km Optimal Range - Brawlers
• 5-10 km Optimal Range - Scram Kiters
• 10-20km Optimal Range - Kiters
• 20km+ Optimal Range – Snipers

In Low Sec PvP, as most fighting is in plexes where much of the engagement takes place around the fixed point of the beacon, it’s important to note that Micro-Warp Drives (MWDs) are generally not preferred, as they can be immediately de-activated by a warp scrambler, rendering you at an immediate speed disadvantage. While MWDs can be useful for Kiters, and some more unusual fits, the predominant propulsion module used is the afterburner. It should be noted though that in Null Sec PvP, without Plex mechanics, MWD fitted ships are the dominant force.

Brawlers

Brawlers use high damage, close range weapons, such as blasters or pulse lasers. Because of this, they rely on quickly getting into close range, and preventing opponents from pulling away.

When defending a plex, they will orbit the beacon very closely, and immediately try to scram and web any incoming ship to hold them at close range and prevent them pulling away.

When attacking a plex, they will need to try and swiftly close the range between them and the defending ship to get into their optimal range.

Due to range being key, fast brawlers like the Atron or Federation Navy Comet are very useful here due to their raw speed, as well as the damage boosts to brawling weapons. An alternative is a ship which carries dual stasis webs, such as the dual-web armor Kestrel or the Caldari Navy Hookbill. These are relatively slow ships in general terms, however the double web effect applied to your opponent will remove the speed advantage of almost any other ship, and allow you to dictate range despite being the slower ship on paper.

Scram Kiters

An effective defence against a brawler is to fight from outside their optimal range, but still within warp scrambler and web range, normally between 7–9km. This is called "Scram Kiting". At this point, brawling damage will be minimal, however mid-range weapons such as beam lasers, railguns or rockets can still hit an opponent for substantial damage.

Once again, this tactic relies on relative speed to maintain range. When defending a plex you will likely orbit the beacon at your optimal range, however a brawler could quickly close range if they have a notable speed advantage.

Likewise, when attacking a plex, if a brawler is waiting at the beacon you will need to pull range before you take too much damage, which requires your ship to be faster overall than the brawler, as well as being tanky enough to survive the initial damage long enough to pull out of range.

For this reason, scram-kite ships often still fit speed modules and rigs to try and maintain speed advantage. Common scram-kiters include Breacher, Tormentor and Incursus. The Dual-Web Kestrel and Caldari Navy Hookbill noted earlier can also be equally effective as a scram-kiter as rockets can deal effective damage up to 9km, while the dual webs maintain your speed advantage.

Kiters

The other key factor in the meta are long range kiting ships. These will equip a warp disrupter to tackle at 20km+ ranges, and use long range weapons to fight well beyond the range of other ships. They are generally glass cannons, maximized for speed and damage. As they will not be able to apply a stasis web to their opponent at such long ranges, they usually rely on Micro-Warp Drives to maintain a speed advantage. However as a MWD can be switched off by a warp scrambler, if they can be closed down and tackled they will usually die quickly.

A good Kiting ship who is already inside a plex is very difficult to kill, as they will orbit the beacon well outside of scram range, and closing them down is very challenging. A ship such as a Tormentor with beam lasers can switch to long range ammo to damage the kiting ship at range, but without the ability to close range and get tackle, the Kiter is likely to simply warp away if they take too much damage. The primary disadvantage of a kiting ship is that they are very poor at attacking a plex, as any defending ship is likely to immediately scram and web them on the beacon and prevent them pulling range.

Common kiting ships are the Condor, Imperial Navy Slicer or Tristan

Snipers

While very uncommon, snipers aim to sit at extreme ranges, with very high alpha damage weapons, and deal huge damage at long ranges as soon as an opponent lands on grid. They are extremely rare in the current meta in Low Sec, however they are more common in Null Sec, particularly in gate camps, and it is important to be aware of the possibility. They usually trade considerable tank and maneuverability for their high damage output, and as with kiters, if they can be closed down they will die rapidly.

Key Concepts

Range and Speed

As should be clear from the above, controlling range is the single most important factor in PvP. Being able to impose your range on a fight will allow even a T1 fitted frigate to kill much more expensive fits. Overheating your afterburner gives you a huge 50% extra speed boost, and should always be done at the start of a fight.

This emphasis on speed and range impacts on all aspects of Low Sec PvP. For instance, buffer armor tank fits with armor plates are very rare due to the speed penalty incurred, with most armor ships favoring active armor repairers which do not harm your speed or acceleration. Likewise, ships which cannot fit a stasis web alongside their scram and afterburner, such as the Punisher, are very rare as they are completely unable to dictate range versus any ship carrying at least one stasis web.

Tracking

An additional consideration when trying to minimize damage, is tracking. Longer range weapons such as beam lasers and railguns have very poor tracking, and will miss a lot of shots against a ship in a fast orbit. Orbiting your opponent while using these weapons is therefore not the optimal method of engagement, instead use the “keep at range” command to minimize the transversal velocity.

Conversely, when attacking ships with these poor tracking weapons, advanced pilots will “spiral” into close range, using a high transversal velocity to minimize damage taken as they close to close range. This is a good way for fast brawling ships to get within range of scram kiters without dying before they can close the range.

Ships using blasters, drones or rockets also suffer much less from tracking issues, and a fast orbit in these ships can minimize incoming damage from poor tracking weapons while ensuring good damage application for your own weapons

Intel

All of the above means that knowing the fit of your opponent before you engage in combat gives you a huge advantage over rushing in blindly. With good intel, you can avoid fights which obviously don’t favor you, and devise tactics to win fights which would otherwise be equal engagements.

Often, just knowing the type of ship via D-Scan gives you some indication of the fight you can expect. For instance, a Condor is almost always kiting fit, Atrons are usually brawling fit, Breachers are most commonly scram-kiters.

If there are relatively few people in local, or if you already know the identity of the pilot you will face, you may want to research them on ZKill, to see their most commonly used fits and help you guess at what you will be facing. For this reason as well, never name your ship anything which includes your character’s name. This just makes it easy for an opponent to research you and devise a counter for your ship.

Surprise

This idea of anticipating your opponent can also be used against an experienced pilot to surprise them with an unusual fit, or a ship you rarely fly.

The king of this approach is the Tristan. The Tristan can be fitted very effectively in numerous ways; the standard kiting Tristan, a brawler blaster Tristan, a scram-kite rail Tristan, or a Neut Tristan relying on close range Energy Neutralisers to drain an opponent’s capacitor and shut down their ship while your drones slowly kill them. As there are so many viable fits for the Tristan, it is almost impossible for an opponent to know beforehand what they will be facing and devise a counter-strategy in advance. This makes the Tristan very powerful in the meta game, and can get you a good number of surprise wins as a new player.

Similar ideas can also apply to more unusual fits such as a kiting Rifter, a neut Slasher, or a dual web Merlin. A surprise ECM module such as a tracking disrupter or damp can also turn an otherwise unpromising fight in your favor.

Finding a Fight in Null Sec

Low Sec PvP is by far the most common arena for solo players and small gangs of 2-3 players. Null Sec solo/gang PvP is absolutely possible, however it is much harder to find fights, let alone get kills without having a substantial fleet jump in on top of you.

In order to find fights in Null you’ll need to head towards the active SOV of another alliance, there are several tools on the map that will help you do that, checking the “active pilots in space during the last X minutes” box for example. Once you are headed towards a populated part of Nullsec there are several ways to find a fight. The ideal thing would be to find a ship of your size actively trying to solo too and proceed with a honorable 1v1, but that’s not going to happen a lot.

A more reliable way to find fights is simply to annoy residents enough and provoke them into fighting you. Killing their ratters, killing their miners or simply taunting them in local might do the trick. Once they’re annoyed they are likely to send a gang, what you are going to need is to try to split this gang using advanced tactics such as gates, bubble and aggression mechanics, or simply splitting them on grid. If a player is 100km away from his mates, he’s effectively alone for a while as you can only warp to fleet mates further than 150km. Suitonia’s youtube channel Eveiseasy is full of him doing that and you should probably head towards there for practical advice.

Another thing you can do in Nullsec is to bring a few warp disruption bubbles and set traps next to system gates.

The Null-Sec Meta

The key difference between Null-Sec and Low-Sec meta comes down primarily to propulsion modules. In Null-Sec, MWDs are far more common compared to the predominately Afterburner meta of low-sec, which has a substantial impact on tactics.

There are several reasons why Microwarpdrives are so common in nullsec. The first one is that an AB ship is helpless against a gang, you will not be fast enough to separate several people on grid and you will not be fast enough to reapproach gates and separate your foes using gates and aggression mechanics.

The other main reason is warp disruption bubbles: Nullsec is full of bubbles (both deployable and interdictor made) and speed is critical for both escaping them and taking advantage of them. For this, the substantial speed boost of the MWD is invaluable. An Afterburner can still be a good idea to bring in nullsec as long as you have an MWD too. This fit is called a dualprop ship and is great for soloing as in this case the MWD allows you to escape bubbles and close range rapidly to an opponent, while the afterburner lets you also retain a speed advantage once in scram range (where both of your MWDs will likely be deactivated by your respective warp scramblers)

MWD brawlers and MWD scram-kiters basically function the same as AB ships except they are faster initially while moving around on the grid and then considerably slower during a fight once they have been tackled and their MWD deactivated by a scram. This means the initial engagement range is going to be extremely critical and the most decisive factor: the actual speed difference between a fast and a slow ship are going to be a lot less important. For example, the difference in speed between a webbed MWD Atron and a webbed MWD Merlin is only 50m/s (the difference with Afterburners is around 150m/s). For this reason, slower ships such as the Harpy which are rarely seen in Low Sec 1v1 PvP are much more viable in Null Sec

This massive reduction in speed has many other collateral effects. For example, it makes rocket ships drastically better. Since fights happen at a slower velocity, rocket ships are able to use rage rockets and apply their full damage with a single web (as long as the enemy isn’t dual propped)

The fact that almost all ships will be MWD fitted by default also means that kiting becomes more challenging. Kiting ships which are viable in Low Sec such as the Tristan no longer have a speed advantage in Null Sec where your opponent will also be MWD fit. Instead, kiting relies on ships with natural speed bonuses which allow them to outpace even other MWD fits. Examples include the Garmur or combat interceptors such as the Raptor

Another big change with MWDs is that you get a strong capacitor penalty simply for fitting one, and on top of that using the MWD in itself uses a lot of capacitor. What this means is that both MWD ships get a lot less capacitor to work with at the beginning of an engagement in scram range. This is a huge drawback to capacitor intensive ships that use hybrid and lasers and like to work with a small ancillary armor repairer at the same time: the Tormentor and Incursus which are very effective ships in AB engagements become a lot less potent in this meta, while shield tanked rocket and projectile ships such as the Talwar or the Jaguar get a notable advantage due to their lower capacitor needs