Telemicus Thrace
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Posted - 2006.02.14 09:48:00 -
[1]
 Originally by: NPDefender
....It makes it unfair for the rest of the players because of the failure of the autopilot systems....
Ah Amamake, I'd been here a few days when I first went there on a cargo run in my shiney new Hoarder. Lo and behold as soon as I enter Amamake I see Load3r (then in Mafia) camping the gate in his Scorpion. My first ever gate camp. That day I learned many things you won't pick up at the Hulm University. I have done a lot of hauling in low sec and I've never lost shipment, it is not broken you just need to treat it differently to high sec. Here are a few pointers:
1) Never, ever, ever enter low sec if you rely on auto-pilot. Learn to nav the old fashioned way. You can even set waypoints and AP the safe bits but in low sec you should always be at the helm. Auto-pilot takes the most direct route, study the map in that area and you'll see a couple of extra jumps will get you through Amamake. The system is not the bottle neck, just the particular gates that the AP likes. Avoiding pod kills is an interesting feature I have never even considered using. After all, you may be the first pod kill of the day at that camp. If you want to travel AFK just plot a high sec (>0.4) route (switch avoid pod kills off) and go do something else, just beware of high sec pirates so use a ship with good resistances and at least 4000+hp total and you should be ok if you get unlucky. Bottom line is Autopilot + lowsec = bad for your health, learn to navigate.
2) Ok, so you are at the helm and alert in low sec. Get a cloaking device. With practice you can shed your gate cloak and re-cloak in a fraction of a second. Granted a skilled inty pilot will spot you and be on you in a flash (more in a sec) but you can align to warp under cloak, decloak and warp saving yourself valuable seconds. ECM is also a great way to break the lock on a small tackler (ECM bursts are good too but you need to be careful where you let them off - very handy if you have gimped your locking times with that cloak).
3) Scan ahead. You should be keeping an eye on local and if there are any piraty looking folks about you should head to a planet and scan the gate you plan to exit from. There are plenty of guides to using the scanner and I'll leave you to find them but it's a powerful tool and easy to use once you get the hang of it. The real trick is that if you are at a planet (moons can have POSs which can kill you) and can scan the gate any pirate at the gate could be scanning the planet to catch you out and they do. This is where that cloak comes in handy since while cloaked you don't show up on scans.
4) Ok, the gate is camped. Oh noes. Well you can turn back. Plot another course (see point 1) or you can run the blockade. If you have instas then you are home scott free, I don't use them as it takes the fun out of it. That and I don't do regular runs. Warp into the gate at 15km and hit that AB. Activate boosters etc and pray. Now it's tempting to use ECM and shooters but if you do the gate will lock as you will have agro'ed. The upside is that the guys shooting at you can't follow you. As long as you are prepared to sacrifice cargo space a Mammoth can mount an impressive tank.
5) Of course I'm assuming you are hauling because a decent sized combat ship shouldn't have too many worries. If you are then consider a Prowler. Great ship, built in stabs and a Arbalest rocket launcher loaded with defenders can mount an impressive defence against heavy missiles and up. They take practice but can make you immune to stealth bomber camps. Also an MWD is a must for them, activate it only after they lock on.
I think thats more than enough free advice. If you still think CCP should fix it then stay in high sec. Eve is very PvP centric, YOU need to solve this 'problem'. Not CCP. Thats the game.
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