Living in Wormhole Space

 Wormhole Space (W-space) is unique and very different from Known Space (K-space) in many different ways. Lack of local chat, randomness of exits coming out of a system, unique NPC ships (Sleepers), resources that are not available in high or low security space (High End Gas and Ore), lack of aggression timers are only few of the advantages. It is only natural that at some point short trips to W-space will seem less profitable then a long term operation from within a W-space System. This Guide is meant to explain how to set up and maintain that kind of operation, it will show you how to successfully live in W-space. But I have to warn You, once you start living there, you might never want to go back to K-space!

Introduction to Wormhole Space

File:Wormhole1024.jpg

Wormhole1024.jpg

Wormhole Space, as mentioned above, is quite different from any environment You may have encountered before. These are few things you will need to know.

• There are no Stargates in W-space. Once inside w-space, wormholes are the only way to get from one system to another, never go into w-space without a scan probe launcher and probes.

• There is no local chat in W-space. You cannot see if there's someone new jumping into your system. 
• All W-Space solarsystems as treated as null sec (0.0) even ones you enter from empire.

• There are no Asteroid Belts in W-space. The only source of Ore in W-space are Gravimetric sites.

• Wormhole Systems can have an 'Anomaly' or Effects inside them that affects attributes of every ship in the system (Sleepers included).

• Wormhole Systems can have Static exit wormholes, which means that a certain system will always spawn a wormhole leading to a specific System. Those can either be another W-space System or a K-space System. To determine the Systems Static connection go to Static Mapper, enter the Locus Signature of a system, and check for the probable static exit.
• There are different Class types of W-space Systems. The class of a wormhole system does not affect the difficulty; it only affects the types of sites likely
  to spawn in the system. The Class of a system also affects the types of likely static exits. A Class 2 System will more likely have a High Sec K-space exit then a Class 3 System.
  
• There is no Ice anywhere in W-space, You will have to import some of the POS fuel from K-space (some of it can be made using Planetary Interaction).
  
• There are no stations or outposts in W-space. You wont be able to dock anywhere. Having and maintaining a POS is very important.

Picking the right System

Before you can even start thinking about moving into a W-space system You need to pick the right one for your needs and plans.

There are about 2500 Systems in W-space, each different and unique. Choosing the one You will like will take time and lots of effort. You will probably spend days or even weeks scouting before you find a system that suits Your needs. You will have to decide if you are going to live there by yourself or with a couple of friends. You will have to know what activities are you going to perform there (manufacturing, harvesting Gas and Ore, Killing Sleepers) and if you are going to be able to do those things alone or will it require a fleet. You'll have to know if the activity You picked will require frequent Logistic runs out to K-space.

Planning

All these things will affect Your choice of your home system.

• Plan ahead on what kind of static you wish the system should have, look for that.
• Keep in mind that the wormholes have mass restrictions. You won't be able to jump Capital Ships through most of them, and there are wormholes that won't even allow battleship sized ships.

• Decide what Class of the system You're looking for, take into consideration the kinds of exploration sites the system is likely to spawn.
  
• Ask Yourself if You want the system to have any Effects that would help You with Your activities.

Example

Let's say You would like to harvest gas and ore, You wont do any manufacturing, and you want to kill sleepers, but you don't have any corporation members to help you with that.

• If Ore and Gas are your main priorities, You might want to consider a higher Class System, because they are more likely to spawn better Grav sites. You can now go look for a Class 4 wormhole with a static Class 2 connection. The reason for this is that the home system (Class 4) will provide you with the Ore you want, and the Class 2 connection will most likely have a High Security K-space exit as well as anomalies with sleepers that You can manage to kill by Yourself.

• If, on the other hand, sleepers are Your main goal, and mining ore is what you want to do in Your spare time, then the System You would be looking for would be a lower class. A Class 2 System with a static high sec exit would spawn anomalies with sleepers You can kill solo, and an occasional Grav and Ladar sites You can mine by Yourself.
  

It's up to You what kind of system would be the best for Your needs and activities You want to perform. All You need to do is find that system.

Moving into a Wormhole System

So think you've found a system You like, and You would like to move in now, that's great! Let's see now..

Checklist

• Does it meet your requirements?

• Have You checked if there is someone already occupying it?

• Have you checked Dotlan for activity in that system?

• Does the system seem to have a high/low/no number of incoming wormholes?

• Were there any player kills in that system in the last week/month/year? (you can check that on dotlan and killboards)

• Does it have a static exit to another w-space system?
• Are logistic runs to K-space going to be easy/hard?

If you are satisfied with the system, it's not occupied, have the exits You want and it's fairly safe it's time to move in and get things started.

Let's go shopping then.

The single most important thing You need is a place to call home.

A place where You can keep all Your ships, loot, ore, modules and Your Exotic Dancers safe at.

You need a POS.

POS Defence

This is the part many wormhole residents fail at. Every single day I come across POS's with poor or no defences, with billions of ISK floating around the POS shields, just asking to be blown up, ripped apart, leaving the owners broke and depressed.

First thing You need to take care of when planning a POS are the defences. Nothing attracts people like Torpedo or Cruise missile launchers, no Warp Disruptors and lack of any kind of E-War or hardners online at the POS.

Please check out this Eve-O Forum Topic before you even consider setting up Your POS in the system.

Large POS's are strongly recommended in W-space. Small ones or eve Medium ones are very easy to attack and take down. Most of people don't bother with Large ones.

Other then POS defences, You will need:

• Ship Maintrance Array to hold all your ships, as well as providing a fitting service for them.

• Corporation Hanger Array to hold all Your modules, loot, space POS fuel, bookmarks, etc.

Once you've got all of this, scan your way out to K-space, get Your hauler ready, scan Your system multiple times to make sure there are no new incoming wormholes, and make sure that you are actually alone in the system. Once you are ready, jump in the hauler, anchor the POS, online it as soon as possible, make sure You have enough fuel to run it for at least a day and a significant amount of Strontium.

Once the shields are up and running, You're fairly safe. Next thing you need to do is set up the guns, ECM, warp disruptors and everything else You've planned. Start moving in the rest of POS modules you wish to have there, and start moving in ships. Always have a spare scanning ship in the hangers, You never know when You'll need it.

Don't, and I really cannot stress this enough, leave any ships floating out in space. It will only cause You trouble, provide intel to hostiles, and provide opportunities for a corp thief. There is no reason to leave ships floating in space. If you ran out of space in Your ship array, anchor a new one, or reconsider the usefulness of the ships you own, and take some of them out.

Ships You will need

There are numbers of various activities You can do inside a Wormhole system. Most of them require specialized ships. There is no Jack of all Trades here, You will need at least a couple of hulls so you can be effective at what you do. You will loose ships in W-space, You will need to be able to replace them. Keep them cheap, affordable. Don't fly faction ships in W-space, they are simply not worth the risk. Here's a small list of recommended ship types

Must-Have's

• Scanning ships, T1 frigates, CovOps Frigates, Recons. You can't do anything without them in W-space. Keep spare ones. You will loose them.
  

Anomalies (Sleeper Sites)

• Battlecruisers, especially Drakes, are the most common ships people use to run anomalies in w-space. Drake can easily run any and every anomaly in a Class 1, Class 2 and Class 3 systems.

• Strategic Cruisers, especially the Tengu and Legion. They significantly speed up running anomalies, but are very expensive, so use them only if you really can afford to loose them.

• Battleships, with Remote Repair modules fitted are required for higher class wormholes anomalies, such as Class 4.

• Capital Ships, such as Dreadnought and Carriers are used in Class 5 and 6 Systems mostly to spawn additional sleepers in anomalies.

Gravimetric Sites (Ore Mining)

• Mining Cruisers, such as the Osprey

• Mining Barges, such as Retriever, Covetor - they are cheap and effective at what they do. 

• Exhumers - If you can risk and afford loosing one, they are the best, but You already know that.

Ladar Sites (Gas mining)

• Battlecruisers, especially the Ferox. They can field a decent tank and fit number of cargo expanders.
  

Salvaging, Hacking and Analyzing

• Destroyers, You wont need anything bigger then Dessies in W-space. Sleeper loot is small in size, It will fit in the small cargo of a destroyer.

Logistics

• Haulers, T1 or T2, Badgers, Bestowers, anything that you would use in K-space is used in W-space, and often. You will need them to run to K-space for supplies, to pick up PI products, can't live without them

• Capital Industrial Ships, the Orca and the Rorqual. First one is very useful for moving large amounts of cargo in and out of a W-space system, as well as providing mining bonuses for Your mining Fleets. The Rorqual, if you can afford it, will compress Your Ore, making it smaller and easier to transport to K-space.

PVP Ships

• T2 Cruisers, Heavy Interdictors, Heavy Assault Cruisers, Recon Ships, Logistics, any kind is very useful, as they are small in size, and huge in potential. Sooner or later You will have to face other players in W-space, and these are the bread and butter of W-space PVP.

• Stealth Bombers, W-space mechanics are the same as nullsec space. You can use Bombs, and they are very effective. Small gang of Bombers can really ruin a day for your enemies.

• Battleships, they are rarely used in PVP in W-space, but they are very useful in taking down POS's where you cannot use capital ships, and for defence fleets.

• Interceptors, useful for catching CovOps frigates jumping through wormholes. 

• Battlecruisers, any kind, they are very popular in PVP in W-space, because of their mass/dps ratio. They are easy on the wormholes, and can deal a significant amount of DPS.