Solo PvP
Brought to you by The Black Sheep - because only one can be the best.
Solo PvP is said to be a thing mostly abandoned by the greater Eve community, for myriad reasons and circumstance, some of which I am familiar with, and others that I am not. I don't buy that. As such, this article shall outline basic skills and tactics as they apply to solo and small gang PvP in lowsec.
The key is to find your fights, instead of waiting for them. This means fighting on your terms, as an aggressor. If you feel that you're compromising your optimal circumstance in order to fight a fight, there's a good chance you'll lose.
Why
Learning to solo PvP helps you develop a skillset that any FC will appreciate. You will become competent with using your d-scan, comfortable flying as a +1 skirmish or scout, and have a situational awareness that only comes from doing PvP. The losses you suffer are worth the ISK price you pay to become a better PvPer.
Ship Choice and Fitting
A frigate is a cheap and versatile ship. Flown well, it can pose a serious threat to other frigates, cruisers, and the occasional battlecruiser.
When your frigate explodes, you won't be so readily dissuaded from PvP, as they're easy to replace. The Uni runs a t1 frigate ship replacement program, which means that if you insure your ship, you'll not only receive a new one from the Uni hangar, but also a good chunk of ISK you can spend replacing your modules.
T2 frigates are also excellent for solo pvp. Though the hulls are quite a bit more expensive, assault ships and combat interceptors do remarkably well in solo and small gang PvP. The combat interceptor has the benefit of a 9au warpspeed, which allows for quick movement across and throughout systems. There are times where you'll give chase, and arrive at your targets destination before they do. Which is EPIC.
Once you've chosen the hull you'll be using for PvP, you'll obviously need to fit it. Afterburners and active tanks reign supreme, in the authors estimation, for a few reasons.
Afterburners do not make your signature radius bloom, nor do they become deactivated by warp scramblers. If you're flying a frigate, you'll usually being fighting inside scram range, and the extra speed that an afterburner offers is very welcome, as is a teensy signature radius. The reason is simple. The monstrous DPS that your hypothetical enemy possesses only works if they can hit you. Speed, combined with a close orbit and small signature bloom, turn the eft warrior's paper DPS into a much smaller number.
Active tanks allow for prolonged engagements, and reduce the likelihood of you dying to frigates that fight outside of scram range. Frigates that fight outside of scram range and apply kiting tactics usually do little dps, and instead rely on their ability to whittle you down. If you're repping it back, you're more survivable. If you're buffer fit, you're screwed. Sometimes a kiting enemy will become frustrated with your tenacity, and enter your scram range in order to hit harder. BOOM, now they're fighting on your terms.
Look for fits in the Eve University ship fitting database, located here. Yet another decent spot to look for fits is battleclinic. Remember, try to understand a fit before you fly it, and your chances of success are greater.
Directional Scanning
Directional scanning is an amazingly useful thing to know how to do, and I will venture to say that it's your primary lowsec soloing skill. Knowing how to d-scan allows you to find your fights, instead of waiting for your fights.
It's assumed that you've taken the time to utilize the Overview Guide. A properly arranged overview is crucial to your ability to fight engagements. That being said, the Uni overview does not lend itself well to scanning, as by default, most of your brackets are turned off. We'll remedy that.
To supplement the standard Uni overview, you can create a new preset in which near everything is selected. Planets, belts, etc... Any object that you believe an unsavory pilot may have reason to visit. Save the preset as "Bracket" or a similar naming convention. Now, in your overview settings, you can set your bracket profile so that all brackets pertinent to scanning are showing. The brackets don't clutter up your overview, but simply give you celestial objects to scan towards while you're in space.
Typically, when entering a system, you'll scan at 360 degrees to see what's close by in space. If a ship of interest appears on d-scan, start narrowing your scan towards various celestials.
Once you've reasonably narrowed your scan towards a celestial where you suspect your target is, warp to it at whatever distance you're comfortable with. The idea is to only warp to a fight you think you'll win, so this means you'll oftentimes be warping to 0. Watch this video if directional scanning remains ambiguous ---> Goonswarm d-scan tutorial. Do not be discouraged if you don't get it right the first time, as it takes practice.
Being able to quickly scan down potential targets is crucial. Hit hard, hit fast, and don't give your enemy time to rally the cavalry. Again, what you're attempting to do is destroy that wonderful advantage called choice.
If your narrowed directional scans produce no result, but you can still see your enemy on a 360 scan, try your system scanner as a last ditch effort. Sometimes pirates and the like will rat in anomalies, and you can make their ratting experience loads more thrilling. The nice thing about anomalies is that if you happen to catch a pilot inside one, there's a fair chance that he's already drawn aggression from the rats.
Further reading exists on the Eve University wiki here ---> Directional Scanner Guide
Gate and Station Guns
Don't fight on stations, unless you understand the mechanics of doing so. By attacking a pilot that is hugging a station like they miss their mommy, you're delegating the choice to engage to your enemy. They can dock up if the fight isn't favorable, or pound the hell out of you if it is. Not to mention the chance that their friends might undock a carrier on you. SKEEDADDLE!
Fighting on gates... is not as risky as fighting on station, as the likelihood of new enemy elements appearing is diminished. If you wait for a flashy to engage you first, you'll earn the sympathies of gate guns. A powerful thing. Yet, we're delegating the power of choice to the enemy. Avoid that. Understand the mechanics of session change timers and aggression timers before you engage a flashy on a gate.
Gatecamps
They happen. If you're in a frigate, you'll usually be alright. Sometimes you won't. If you jump into a gatecamp, there's a few things you can do to survive.
Spam your warp button and hope that you get into warp. If your ship pops, since you're spamming that button, chances are your pod will warp merrily away. Another option is to burn back to the gate you just came through. Wait for your session timer to expire, then head back to the gate with your prop mod pushing you along. If they web you down, you probably won't make it.
Gates that lead from highsec into lowsec are good candidates to suspect of a gatecamp. Frequently, the highsec side will have someone in local screaming "GATECAMP IN HAGILUR!!! JUMP AT YOUR OWN RISK!!! ASADKJASDBJ"
Plexes
Plexes are a strange environment to fight in. They allow for microwarp drive usage, but once inside the plex, you cannot warp within it. This means that if you're tackling something for your buddies, they'll have to slowboat the entire distance to you once they've entered the plex. For this reason, pilots will wait in plexes for ships to appear, knowing that they can engage and disengage before the rest of the fleet can get to them.
Hunting Grounds
Barring yourself from doing certain things until you feel you meet certain prerequisites is a good way to hold yourself back. Let's skip that part. Find a good lowsec pocket with highsec access, and move there. Immediately. Drag some friends along, or speak to your CO (if you're ILN) about moving there as a squadron. Opportunities for solo and small gang abound when you live in lowsec.
A very good handbook was written that illustrates some good stomping grounds. It outlines lowsec pipes where a fight can often be found. Note that these pipes have ancillary pockets that are very cozy... Think about these pockets if you choose to move to lowsec.
This link will only work if you have ILN forum rights ---> The Pirate Hunter's Handbook
123 Now or "Let's shoot some shi... er, stuff!"
The example below uses small gang to illustrate my point only for the narrative flair that a Uni wardec allows for.
Ok. Let's start at the beginning. You're sitting in Aldrat, and the University has been wardecced by yet another pack of screaming fools calling themselves Mercs. Whatever. Let them flounder in the face of real PvP. You're bored, station spinning, and Alliance is just... sitting there. That blinky ain't gonna come soon.
As you're not comfortable FCing for a large fleet, let's do some small gang!
You'll have to assemble the requisite PvP fleet, which means finding 2 additional pilots. Grab a few people that you're familiar with, and get in Vent. Now consider what ships you'll be bringing. Get in 'em, and head for lowsec.
You're an agile bunch, all in t1 frigates, which mean you don't have time for fleet warps. Stick together until you hit your lowsec destination, and then break off within the system and start scanning from different celestial objects. Hopefully, one of you will find a fight that the rest can dogpile on. WOOT!
Useful Links
A handful of useful tips ---> [1] The blog of Azual Skoll ---> [2] Wensley's rifter handbook ---> [3] You're not a pirate, but think like one ---> [4]
