Faction warfare strategy and tactics

Note: this is a draft page on Factional Warfare strategy and tactics

Factional Warfare strategy and tactics

In Factional Warfare you can fight for one of the four empires against its enemies for control over areas of low-sec. This page gives tips on how to make the most of the PvE and PvP opportunities in Factional Warfare (FW); for a more detailled look at the FW mechanics see Factional Warfare.

Before joining

Before joining Factional Warfare, you should at least be able to fly a frigate with a microwarpdrive, a scram or warp disruptor, and a web.

Apart from the 0.0 standing with the appropriate faction, there are no further in game requirements, apart from not being on a trial account. Skill-wise, you should be able to fly a frigate with a MWD, scram/disruptor, and web. This correlates with having the Tackling level I certificate and the Navigation level II certificate. Understand the different overview settings A fleet movement class will be very useful Understand how to operate the onboard scanner (Apocrypha changes not taken into account yet) Understanding how to use the star map is not a must, but can be an advantage Understand the directional scanner Apart from that, I suggest being partially self sufficient ISK wise and being able to lose several frigates and cruisers including their fittings. Before you join a militia, make sure you don't have assets you need that are too dangerous or too expensive to be moved through the opposing empire's faction space. Further, check your overview settings and adapt them. Personally, I have a separate tab with opposing militia members just as normal war dec's with a flashy background on overview. I also have neutrals on overview to identify “out of corp” spies in rookie ships. You will also want to prepare a few ships before hand to quickly jump into a new one if desired. For Minmatar FW Amamake is a common rally ground, so a base near or in this low-sec system can be handy. For other militias, I suggest looking at the FW Map pack from Ombey's Eve 2D Maps [2]. Having Teamspeak, Ventrilo and Eve Voice ready for usage will help as well. In the Minmatar militia, Eve Voice is commonly used by all corporations, though the corporations usually have an internal TS or Ventrilo server. From hearsay, I heard that the Amarr militia has been using a more or less Amarr militia public Ventrilo server to handle militia fleets. I personally prefer Eve Voice as it is available for everybody and you don't need to setup an additional program. Identifying who is talking is also a little easier.

Apart from that, I suggest being partially self sufficient ISK wise and being able to lose several frigates and cruisers including their fittings.

Plexing

Opened vs unopened plexes (check whether it's on the overview ("visited")) - can decide to warp-and-cancel to make it more difficult to track you down. Share rewards when in fleets D-scan from a distance or from acceleration gate (note that some enemies like to camp the acceleration gate!)

D-scan once inside the plex to spot ships approaching acceleration gate Warp-in spot clearly defined by beacon - either stay close (brawler) or stay away (kiter/sniper)

friendly NPC not much help in a fight - do little damage and no e-war. choose plex size to fight particular ship classes (keep in mind that there is still power difference - eg pirate frigates can enter newbie plexes) plex sniping

Missions

see FW missions page

i Hub bash

25M HP i-Hub bash: SB does about 300-400 dps, battleship 600-800 dps, tier 3 battlecruiser 600-800 dps add time vs dps graph

Making money

Earning Loyalty Points

Defensive plexes that provide very low skilled players with the opportunity to participate and earn Loyalty points. Offensive plexing: more LP! Use maps to find quiet systems

Converting Loyalty Points into cold, hard cash

maximising profit (donating LP, LP rewards scale with tier, cashing out)

Upgrade systems or not

system upgrades rarely worth it for the benefits, definitely worth it for the militia tier

Militias and fleets

communication within militias (chat channels) spies and intel

Overview settings

overview settings

Neutrals in FW space

neutral = pirate? (both as a target and a threat)

Travelling through enemy high-sec

travelling through enemy high-sec