User:Finno issier
Finno's guide to NSC PVP, as learned the hard way over about 12 months.
While nothing here is new to a bittervet, I hope this saves some newbies some months of frustration. I had a bittervet explain these things to me early on, but it took a long time for the knowledge to stick in my mind.
Summary points:
- PVP outcome is decided at undock
- PVP depends on countering doctrines correctly
- EVE ISK faucet/sinks need to balance out
PVP outcome is decided at undock
While it can be argued that many things come down to execution and tactics and FC and pilot skill, those things are secondary factors. The primary factors of the game of EVE PVP are akin to a game of Rock/Paper/Scissors. If you undock in Rock and your opponent is flying Paper, you are screwed. if you're in a brawly armor cruiser, and they're in a sniping shield fleet, you'll never be able to get close enough to them to do any damage, and they'll never be in any danger as they kill you from afar.
Note that RPS is a zero-sum game. It is not possible for both parties to come out ahead. The best-case outcome with ships is that all ships survive. Worst case is all ships die. And the spectrum in between requires that there is a "winner" and a "loser". Often times this gets reframed by EVE players as "gud fites", meaning that even though they lost, they had a fun time during the fight. It is a useful attitude that helps the players cope with the agony of defeat.
PVP doctrine counters
So now that you know that PVP outcome is decided at undock, how do you win at that game? The way you win at that game is figuring out what your opponent is flying and undocking in the sort of ship that counters their strategy. This requires mainly two things:
- having information about what the opponent is flying
- having the counter ships stocked and fitted in your hangar
PVP player strategy
- You're in null-sec. You need to assume that every non-blue player is actively trying to kill you. If you see anyone on dscan or even in local that you're not exactly sure who they are or what they are doing, you need to run away. As you likely have a few seconds before they attack you and you die.
