Jump clones
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Jump clones are a technology used by capsuleers (i.e. players in EVE) which allow them to transfer their consciousness between different bodies. Your medical clone is different than your jump clones so don't think of them as the same thing. Medical clones are essentially your new body that you wake up in with the location determined by what you have set as your current Home Station, should your capsule get destroyed (usually only by other players via PvP/gank, or NPCs known as Circadian Seekers and Drifters if you aggress them and lose/don't get away).
Jump clones require specific skills and can cost ISK to set up and use, but can be used at will (with a cooldown period between uses, unless via Citadels).
A good way to think about jump clones is to imagine that you have a number of bodies available to you (which may be in widely scattered corners of the galaxy), but only one of these bodies currently holds your consciousness; the other bodies, without a consciousness, are inert. You can transfer your consciousness from your current body to another body, thereby taking control of your new body and rendering your old one inert. You will still have your experience intact, but any physical possessions won't travel with you (they stay with your old body).
In game terms, when you jump from one body ("clone") to another, you take your skill points, standings, corporation membership, and cerebral accelerators with you (i.e. they are unaffected). However, you cannot take any items or ships with you, and any implants also remain with your old body. Your old body effectively turns into an inactive jump clone, and you can jump back into it later.
Prerequisites
In order to create or use jump clones, you need at least one level in the skill 
Infomorph Psychology (1x, 1M ISK); every level of allows you to create an additional jump clone. After training Infomorph Psychology to level V (which allows you to create up to 5 jump clones), you can train the Advanced Infomorph Psychology (5x, 36M ISK) skill, which allows you to create one additional jump clone per level (up to a maximum of 10 in total). Your medical clone does not count towards this total.
Jump clones are purchased and installed at Clone Bay facilities in NPC stations for 900,000 ISK. They can also be installed elsewhere (see below). However, once you have installed a jump clone(s), they are yours forever, unless you destroy them accidentally or on purpose (see below).
Note that not all stations have medical facilities. Additionally, you may also install jump clones on board capital ships with Clone Vat Bays fitted on (Titans and Rorquals), or in player-owned outposts in sovereign nullsec space and Citadels fit with a Stand Up Cloning Center I (fees may be set by the owner via standings).
| A long, long time ago... |
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| Before the Aegis update on July 14th of 2015, there was a requirement that you, or your corporation, have a standing of 8.0 or better with the corp that owned the station where you wanted to buy a jump clone. |
Activating jump clones
Once you have a jump clone installed, you can activate it from your character sheet after exiting your ship. Jumping is instantaneous, but you must wait at least 24 hours between clone jumps (training Infomorph Synchronizing (2x, 5M ISK) decreases this delay by 1 hour per skill level) when the clone is at a station.
- Leaving behind, or "installing", a jump clone at the station or citadel you are jumping from requires you to pay a fee. This fee is 900k isk for NPC stations and owners of citadels can set this usage fee freely.
- A unique feature you can use at citadels is to "switch" jump clones, basically jumping to a jump clone located at the same citadel as your active clone. This does incur the regular installation fee (for "installing" the clone you leave behind), but it does not trigger the 24h cooldown timer between jumps and you can even do so while you still have an active cooldown timer.
Reasons for using jump clones
There are three main advantages to using jump clones:
- Quickly travel to other parts of the EVE universe: You can have jump clones (with a few ships and modules) positioned in various parts of New Eden, allowing you to easily jump between these stations to participate in activities suitable for that location.
- Safeguard valuable implants when fighting other players (PvP): you can switch to a "clean clone" (i.e. a jump clone with no implants) when there is a high chance that you will be podded while engaging in PvP, to avoid losing expensive implants (which would be destroyed when you are podded).
- Have jump clones specialized for certain tasks: As skill hardwiring implants give very specific bonuses (e.g. the Zainou 'Deadeye' Large Hybrid Turret implant gives a bonus to damage for large hybrid turret weapons only) and cannot be removed without destroying them, it may be worth having jump clones with implant sets geared towards different activities.
Examples
- A pilot is running high-level missions for two NPC corporations, which are located far away from each other (to, for instance, balance out his faction standings). Instead of flying his slow battleship between the two mission hubs, he installs a jump clone (and stations a fully fit battleship) at each mission hub. He can then clone jump between the two locations easily to run missions for both corporations (on alternate days).
- A new member of EVE University has taken advantage of the University's implants program and installed a set of +3 learning implants to speed up his skill training. He wants to poke his toes into low-sec, but is worried about being ganked and losing his implants. He therefore creates a jump clone without any implants, and switches to it before heading into low-sec, thereby safeguarding his implants. He can then switch back and forth between his clone with implants (to speed up his skill training) and his clean clone (for venturing into lowsec) depending on what he wants to do that day in EVE.
- An experienced pilot wants to specialise in running Incursions, but still enjoys some frigate PvP to relax. She creates a jump clone and fits it out with high-level (and expensive!) implants to maximise the performance of her incursion-running battleship (e.g. implants to boost the amount of armor on her ship and the damage of her large laser turrets), but switches to a clone without any implants when she just wants to jump into her frigate and shoot at anything that moves.
- An industrialist runs an extensive manufacturing operation in a quiet, out-of-the-way system. He hates hauling, so to sell his final product he ships his items via courier contract to a trade hub. He then creates a jump clone at the trade hub, and uses it to periodically jump to the trade hub to sell his products (which is faster than flying back and forth in a ship).
Step-by-Step instructions
Skills
Make sure that you meet the prerequisites:
- Have learned at least one level of the Infomorph Psychology skill
- Have at least 900,000 ISK available to pay for the jump clone if installing at an NPC station. Owners of outposts or citadels may set fees via standings.
Finding a clone bay
- Access your map (default: F10)
- Click on the second icon from the left in the title bar, the multicolored circle called Color By
- In the Services section, select Clone Bay
Your map will highlight all the systems with clone bays, hovering over the system will tell you exactly which station.
You can also look for clone bays in citadels which are often cheaper than stations but you can lose access to them (see below):
- Access your game menu (the first icon in the top left)
- In the Business sub-menu, click on Structure Browser
- Click on Service Filter and select Clone Bay
The list will update with all the nearby structures with clone bays. If you hover over the clone bay icon in the last column, the installation fee will be shown.
Create a jump clone
- Dock at the station, outpost, or citadel where you would like to create your jump clone. For installing through a Rorqual or Titan you will need to be in space very close to the ship in question.
- Use the Clone Bay (accessible from the station services menu) to install and purchase a jump clone. Make sure to select "Jump Clone" (and not "Medical Clone" Note that the Clone Bay can be used to set your new Home station for your medical clone).
Now you have both your active clone and an inactive jump clone in that station. - If you want to fly your current (active) clone to a particular location, undock from the station and do so.
- To jump into the new jump clone you just created, dock up at a station and leave your ship (so that you are in your capsule).
- Open your character sheet, and select the "Jump Clones" tab. Here you will see a list of all your available inactive jump clones, including their locations and any implants they may have installed. Select the jump clone you just created, and click the "Jump" button.
Congratulations! You have just performed your first clone jump!
You can repeat this procedure as often as you'd like to create additional jump clones, with two restrictions:
- You need to have sufficient levels in the Infomorph Psychology and Advanced Infomorph Psychology skills to create additional jump clones.
- You may not create a jump clone at a station at which you currently have an inactive jump clone. You can easily get around this problem by choosing a different station, or by jumping to the offending jump clone and moving it somewhere else.
Losing Jump Clones
Once you have installed/bought a jump clone, it is yours forever. Additionally, if you get podded, you will find yourself at your home station (the station where you last installed your medical clone), while all your inactive jump clones will still be available (although you will lose any implants that were installed in your active clone in the moment you were podded). This new clone you find yourself in is essentially now the jump clone you were just podded in, less any implants.
There are, however, three cases which would destroy one of your jump clones:
- If an inactive jump clone is located in a capital ship (with a clone vat bay module), and that ship is destroyed, the jump clone (and any implants installed in it) will be destroyed.
- If an inactive jump clone is located in a citadel, that clone will be destroyed if the citadel is destroyed, or if the owner of the citadel offlines or unplugs the Clone module.
- Due to a limitation of the game mechanics, you cannot have two inactive jump clones at the same station. The game will warn you if you try to clone jump away from a station which already has an inactive jump clone, but if you ignore its warnings, then one of your jump clones (including any implants installed in it) will be destroyed. Note that this does not apply to medical clones - it's perfectly safe to have a medical clone and an inactive jump clone in the same station. Also you can jump from your active clone in a station or citadel to an inactive clone in the same station or citadel.
You can also destroy any jump clone you via the Jump Clone tab on your character sheet. This can be handy for freeing up a jump clone slot to then be able to install a new one at your current location, especially if the other jump clone was clean, and you don't need to have a clone at that location anymore.
Losing Access to Jump Clones
Before Citadels existed, it was the case that if you had a jump clone somewhere, you could always jump to it (cool-down timer permitting). In particular, in Sov Null, if you left a jump clone in a station/outpost when you lost sov and evacuated, you could later jump back there, even if you no longer had docking (or any other) rights in that station/outpost.
However, Clone bays in Citadels are controlled by Access Lists, and if the owner of the Citadel changes them so that you have no access to the Clone Bay, then even if you have a jump clone in that Citadel, game mechanics will prevent you from jumping into it.
Jump Clone Example
Suppose you have the following clones:
- In Jita, you have a medical clone.
- In Jita, you have an inactive jump clone with a memory implant.
- In Rens, you have an inactive jump clone with a willpower implant.
- In Dodixie, you have an active clone (i.e. that's where your character is at the moment), with a perception implant.
Suppose that you fly your character from Dodixie to Rens. You will now have an active clone and an inactive jump clone in Rens.
If you try to install a second jump clone in Rens, the game will refuse to install it. You will not lose anything.
If you tried to jump clone from Rens to Jita, you would have ended up with two inactive jump clones in Rens, which is not allowed. The game will warn you not to do this and allow you to cancel; if you ignore the warning and clone jump nonetheless, your inactive clone in Rens (with a willpower implant) will be destroyed, but you will keep the inactive clone containing the perception implant.
You can, however, jump from your current body in Rens (with the perception implant) to your inactive jump clone in Rens (with the willpower implant) without destroying any jump clones.
At any time, if you are podded, you will wake up in Jita, at which point you will have an active clone and an inactive jump clone, both in Jita.
Clone Vat Bay Specifics
Basic details
The Clone Vat Bay is a high-slot module which can only be fitted to the Rorqual Capital Industrial Ship or Titan class vessels. The skill Cloning Facility Operation to at least level I is required for operation.
The Rorqual only permits a maximum of 6 jump clones. Titan class vessels can take up to 75 clones. Both of these limits are affected by the Clone Facility Operation skill (10x multiplier; +15% to clone bay size per level, or 1.15x multiplier to effective bay size). Thus the Rorqual takes 6 clones with CFO V; 5 clones with CFO IV; 4 clones with CFO III; 3 clones with CFO II and I. The Titans will accept 75 clones with CFO V; 65 clones with CFO IV; 56 with CFO III; 49 with CFO II; and 42 with CFO I. Clones are stored in an invisible part of the ship and are not destroyed if the Clone Vat Bay is unfitted, however if the host vessel is destroyed then the clones installed are lost.
Using a Clone Vat Bay
Let's assume a Titan pilot in an Avatar and another pilot who is currently in a Scythe Fleet Issue cruiser. First, the Titan pilot must fit the Clone Vat Bay and have it online, and he must have sufficient Liquid Ozone in the fuel bay, since the CVB uses 1 unit of Liquid Ozone per activation. Next, he must activate the clone bay, which, given the fact that it immobilizes the Titan and has a 5 minute cycle time, requires the usual safety precautions. (Tethering is not broken when activating a Clone Vat Bay.)
Next, the Scythe Fleet Issue pilot must be on grid with the Titan, and under 5000m in distance from the Titan itself. The Titan pilot select the SFI pilot via the right click menu and chooses "Offer Clone Installation". This sends a prompt to the SFI pilot to accept the offer, which transfers 900,000ISK from the SFI pilot to the Titan pilot and installs a clean clone. The SFI pilot is then free to warp off or go about his normal business.
When the SFI pilot wishes to jump clone to the Titan, the Titan must first have the clone bay active. The SFI pilot then navigates to the Character Sheet and finds the jump clone stored in the Titan, and clicks the Jump button. This subtracts 900,000 ISK from the SFI pilot's wallet as a charge paid to the TransStellar Shipping for the act of jump cloning to a facility that is not a player Citadel type structure. The SFI pilot then spawns in an empty capsule about 5000m from the Titan itself.
Clone Vat Bays are rarely used in the current metagame, although they can offer a specific advantage or utility in extremely specific circumstances.
