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Monday, November 9, 2009

Last week was a write off

EVE wise that is. Plenty of stuff going on IRL, which was the issue. I did manage to get on Sunday. I took the opportunity to start a partial teardown in prep for going deeper. Going deeper has been delayed a bit because of that lost week. Ah well.

Interesting end to the weekend though. While exploring nearby wormhole space for sites, we (myself and an alliance pilot) ran into an inhabited system with a Covetor mining away. As per our NBSI policy, it was time to find out if this miner was paying attention. All miners out there pay attention. What follows is a classic wormhole miner gank scenario. Learn from it. I've had it happen to me as well (though not in a while).

Parties involved:

Target: in a Covetor
My alliance mate: in a Hound
Me: in a Cheetah

The tactical situation was as follows:

I jumped into the system and did the usual d-scan, bookmark the jump point and analyze the situation. This was the first opportunity for the miner to spot me. Admittedly not a great chance but it was there (not fail at this point - it's a small window of opportunity). At this point I report in wormhole chat that I've got an inhabited system with a Covetor and a POS on scan. Chat lights up a bit but I tell them to chill while I scout the situation more closely.

Judicious use of the d-scan and the system map allows me to determine that:

a) the POS is at a moon of planet 5.
b) the Covetor is not at planet 5 - therefor not at the POS
c) planet 8 is out of scan range of both the POS (not that there seems to be anyone else around) and the Covetor both
d) the Covetor is near planet 7 up and clockwise from the planet.

At this point I get on audio and my corp mate in a stealth bomber comes on and jumps in system. I snag him on my scan and confirm that it's him. He disappears quickly and once again our miner had a chance to twig that he was in danger but didn't. (still not fail on the miner's part as again it's a small window of opportunity).

I retire to planet 8 to switch to combat probes while the hound warps to planet 7 and tries to get some range data - about 1 AU from the planet he reports. After I launch the combat probes I have him warp to planet 8 and align to planet 7 while I get my tetrahedron in shape - with a 4 AU spread. (still not fail on the miner's part although the fact that there was a planet off scan did make his situation more dangerous).

This is where the action starts. This is also where the miner fails. Note I've prepositioned my tetrahedron over the most likely spot the Covetor is located. The probes are still at planet 8 until I hit the scan button.

- I hit the scan button. 10 seconds later I have a hit at 52%, single return
- I shrink the tetrahedron and hit scan again. (takes about 20 seconds all told). 100% hit
- gang warp to 0, check warp on self.
- warp to 100.
- accidentally hit scan again (it confirms he's still there)
- recall probes.
- land to watch the Hound kill the Covetor while scanning for reaction forces.

This is where the miner failed. From the moment I hit that scan button, he should have had all 4 combat probes on d-scan. All told it took about 1min for us to get on top of him (scan and warp time). Even in an extended Covetor that's plenty of time to warp to his POS. Incidentally this is the reason that I fit my covetors with an I-stab and a mining laser upgrade instead of two extended cargo bays. I shortens my "get to warp" time. Consider low friction nozzle joints as well. There's no rigs for mining except the mining drone rigs - and you're in wormspace - nimbleness is everything.

Your ship has a d-scan - use it. Situational awareness and nimbleness is worth more than two warp core stabilizers (if you're being fired upon before you react you're dead before you can get to warp even if you're not warp scrammed). Early detection and getting to warp quickly is how you survive. Warp-stabs do nothing for a ship that takes too long to get to warp in the first place. They also are pretty useless in an environment that has bubbles (not that we had one in this case, but there are quite a few HIC pilots in AMC, let alone in wormhole space in general).

8 comments:

Rayne Stryker said...

Nice job. I am still working on my personal skills with the probes and all. Have been doing some practicing in high sec with an Imicus to get used to thinking in 3 dimensions and such. Sounds like you are a pro at it.

Letrange said...

Not necessarily a true pro, gifted amateur I'll give you. A true pro would have known a 2 AU patern would have yeilded a 100% hit on the first scan, and would have spent more time range finding and nailing the direction of the Covetor to guaranty a first scan hit. It's not so much that I don't know the mechanics I need to perfect it's the fact I haven't perfected them yet that puts me squarely in the amateur league for that stuff.

Based on the fact that so far I'm a far better cov-ops pilot than in any other ship, I suspect when I get in them for real that and get some time in grade in Rapiers / Cloakylokies I'll be quite dangerous.

Anonymous said...

This is a great write up. All pilots, miners especially, should be aware of this and be on constant alert.

A number of people have given me good pointers and advice on this very topic. Even in Hi-Sec you should be using your directional scanner vigilantly, for both practice and suicide gank squads.

The scenario you painted is a perfect example and a reminder of how to protect yourself. Thanks again!

maniac69uk said...

TBH I am guilty of mining in a wh without using the onboard scanner.

But that was in the past and *touch wood* no harm came of it. I did heed the warning and scan last time I was in a hole... and found a pos so I promptly left!! I wasnt set up for a fight (other than the few sleepers that are usually minding the roids)

Quivering Palm said...

Excellent writeup! This is indeed how it should be done!

Every miner in wspace should read about this and despare err..hm.. I mean prepare! :-)

Indeed, warp core stabs are overrated. I know we have been talking alot about them in the show but they simply don't cut it in wormhole space. As of late we don't use any in our mining ships.

Regarding however the use of drones when it comes to mining. I have seen many folks using mining drones to increase their yield. Well the bad thing is that drones can be pinpointed much faster than a hulk. In a recent scan I did to test this, in an 16AU scan a Hulk got 4.83 vs Mining Drone 5.24.

So on top of what Letrange mentions, don't use mining drones.

Benoit CozmikR5 Gauthier said...

So 8 months after Apocrypha came out people are still afk-mining or just not paying attention as if they're in a mission in Hi-sec...

/me spit-polishes the Vaga, waiting for the better scanning skills.... >:)

pjharvey said...

This is a fabulous account of hunting a w-space miner. The detail included is interesting to both sides, and I really appreciate reading the experiences you share.

I am keeping my eye out whenever I mine, that's for sure, and picking up some tips for when I am scanning a new system. I find your posts educational and entertaining.

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