Dealing with Concord

Ganking relies on doing enough damage before CONCORD shows up and ends the party. That means if CONCORD is already in the belt, you can't gank: they will instantly jam you as soon as you fire. So if CONCORD ships are already in the belt, you need to move them out so you can get the full amount of ganking time.

In addition, the first spawn of the day will arrive 6 seconds early: it takes 6 seconds for CONCORD to warp once they are 'alerted' (alert time varies by sec status, anywhere from near immediate to 15+ seconds), but if they haven't been spawned they will merely spawn right on top of you. If you're the first person to gank in the system that day you need to "prep" the system: go get a newbie ship and shoot something in a non-ice belt or shoot a pos. Once you're destroyed, the system is ready.

CLEANING UP YOUR OWN CONCORD SPAWN

Cleaning up your own CONCORD spawn, so other people can make their own attack runs, is actually really easy. Dock at the closest station to the belt you just ganked in, then immediately undock in a newbie ship and don't move - simply drift for 30 seconds with your docking immunity. This will pull CONCORD to you, and since you have your docking immunity sentry guns will not kill you before CONCORD gets there. If multiple people participated in a gank, they should all do this at the same time.

Please make sure to clean up your own CONCORD spawns whenever possible: it makes life easier for everyone else and really isn't very difficult.

CLEARING OTHER PEOPLE'S CONCORD SPAWNS

Sometimes clever pubbies, or lazy goons, will leave a spawn in a belt. You need to get rid of that before you gank, or you'll be instagibbed when you gank (unless you're in a Galtpest).

Concord usually only spawns one fleet per system. Concord, once spawned, will travel from place to place dealing with anything that shoots something they shouldn't. That means you just need to summon CONCORD somewhere else: take a newbieship in an alt and plink something - a GSC, or the staging pos. Just don't do it near faction police or sentry guns, so you don't die before CONCORD gets there.

If two people gank at once, however, there will be two fleets. It appears that the closest spawn is the one that moves: ergo get closer to the spawn you want to move (nearby belt, nearby pos, whatever) than the one you don't, then summon it. If all else fails, use safespots just off-grid. Don't worry about CONCORD being close: they take a flat 6 seconds to warp regardless of distance.

IDIOT'S GUIDE TO GANKING

1)ADD CONCORD TO YOUR OVERVIEW. Seriously. Otherwise you're not going to notice Concord is already in the belt and get waxed immediately.

2)Make a hotkey for "engage drones". I like to use F9, then line up all of my mods I'm going to fire next to it, so I can mash, say, f4,f5,-f9. Drones are a key part of your dps and you need them engaged asap.

3)Do you have a high enough sec status to fly around in the system without getting gibbed by the faction police? Great! You should probably stock up the SMA with a few ships while you still can, and train a Mr. Happystandings (see below). If not, see the section below on life as a pirate.

4)A gank is 'lined up' with an alt. This alt futzes around the belt, and then sits next to a juicy-looking target. Your ganking ship then warps to your alt. If the miner is watching, they may notice you sitting next to them and get the **** out - if that happens, just line up a new gank. Even non-bots only pay attention every 10m or so.

5)Warp to your alt. Launch drones, then come to a complete stop (if you're in a blaster ship). Lock the target, then fire/tp/scram/web, then hit your engage drones hotkey (you made one, right?). Now, watch and wait. Once the ship blows up, use your alt (the one you lined up the gank with) to scoop the loot, then loot your own ship when CONCORD blows it up. Warp both your pod and your alt back to the closest station.

6)Immediately board a rookie ship or shuttle with your ganking alt, and undock. Don't touch anything after you do: wait for CONCORD to blow you up. You've just cleared CONCORD from the belt so the next guy can start his attack run.

7)Smack up local something fierce.