EVE University's Random Tip of the Day

[Seamus Donohue]

Instant undock bookmarks also help. If you're flying a frigate, you also want an offgrid farbounce bookmark to warp to so that you warp to zero on the gate from a direction a smartbombing battleship can't easily predict.

[Carrathel (Biomassed 2017.07.08)]

Instant undock bookmarks also help. If you're flying a frigate, you also want an offgrid farbounce bookmark to warp to so that you warp to zero on the gate from a direction a smartbombing battleship can't easily predict.

A tip of the day on smartbombs would be useful here - what they are, how they're used, why etc. I've gotten to a point where I've got a Boundless Creation R&D agent at level 4 whose daily mission involves going into low-sec. It's only one jump away but last time I was in low-sec alone I was killed and podded - mind you this was before I joined the Uni and didn't expect anything like that.

I'm assuming people who run missions in low-sec make a ton of bookmarks using a cloaky Covops? Can I also assume that as long as nothing gets within 2K, with the Covops cloak, you never uncloak, even after jumping through a gate. Or do you need to reactive it again?

Sorry for the many questions but this thread covers a dozen useful tips that all seem to be tied in for the area I'm interested in atm.

[Seamus Donohue]

You must decloak to jump through a gate. Jumping through a Stargate or wormhole gives you a gatecloak that gives you invisiblity and invulnerability for 60 seconds or until you move; you must break gatecloak to activate your CovOps cloak (which makes you invisible, but not invincible).

[Gortois Aulmais]

You must decloak to jump through a gate. Jumping through a Stargate or wormhole gives you a gatecloak that gives you invisiblity and invulnerability for 60 seconds or until you move; you must break gatecloak to activate your CovOps cloak (which makes you invisible, but not invincible).

On this topic, if you fly a cloaky at all, something to get good at is nailing the timing for "jump, break gatecloak, cloak". You can't activate any modules while gatecloaked, so you can't just turn on your normal cloaking device. What you need to do is break gatecloak by moving, aligning, starting to warp, etc, then as fast as possible, turn on your cloak. If done right, you're exposed for about .25/.5 seconds or so, which I think is about as low as one can reasonably get. You're then free to move about the cabin. I mean warp about the system.

[Shori Laya]

On this topic, if you fly a cloaky at all, something to get good at is nailing the timing for "jump, break gatecloak, cloak". You can't activate any modules while gatecloaked, so you can't just turn on your normal cloaking device. What you need to do is break gatecloak by moving, aligning, starting to warp, etc, then as fast as possible, turn on your cloak. If done right, you're exposed for about .25/.5 seconds or so, which I think is about as low as one can reasonably get. You're then free to move about the cabin. I mean warp about the system.

Unfortunately, this seems to be quite random. Sometime you can start moving and activate your cloak immediately, sometime you get the "can't cloak because of gate cloak" message 2 or 3 times while hammering that cloak key after initiating a warp order. And by "hammering" I mean try to activate the cloak, wait a till you get the message, try again ...

[Sto Lo]

There may be a point worth considering here, if your connection is slow or your graphic card not up to speed you might be having lag issues. Unfortunately that can only be improved in game by reducing your settings.

[Physicon Ionavor]

There may be a point worth considering here, if your connection is slow or your graphic card not up to speed you might be having lag issues. Unfortunately that can only be improved in game by reducing your settings.

If the case, I think I've heard that zooming out far enough to cause ship/structure models to not be drawn can give you the GPU speed boost you need.

[Amun Suun]

On this topic, if you fly a cloaky at all, something to get good at is nailing the timing for "jump, break gatecloak, cloak". You can't activate any modules while gatecloaked, so you can't just turn on your normal cloaking device. What you need to do is break gatecloak by moving, aligning, starting to warp, etc, then as fast as possible, turn on your cloak. If done right, you're exposed for about .25/.5 seconds or so, which I think is about as low as one can reasonably get. You're then free to move about the cabin. I mean warp about the system.

Unfortunately, this seems to be quite random. Sometime you can start moving and activate your cloak immediately, sometime you get the "can't cloak because of gate cloak" message 2 or 3 times while hammering that cloak key after initiating a warp order. And by "hammering" I mean try to activate the cloak, wait a till you get the message, try again ...

I've found that it is necessary to wait a bit before breaking gate cloak or you can't activate modules. Behaves a bit like a session timer after jumping. Don't know if it is supposed to be that way. I usually wait ten seconds or so before trying. Otherwise there is a high probably that I'll be moving but can't cloak! There is an additional, small delay between breaking gate cloak and being able to activate modules. I've found it to be consistent but I suppose that could be connection or server load dependent. I activate a MWD before the cloak (improved, don't have covops skills yet), waiting slightly for visual indication that the MWD activated before cloaking. I don't like waiting on the cloak to verify that modules may be activated because my finger gets a little trigger itch and the cloak gets dropped after being activated. Then its 30 seconds of vulnerability. :blackeye:

I think it is align, not warp, that you want to do when you don't have a covert ops cloak. Warping will leave you exposed while aligning and coming up to speed. Done right, in a ship that aligns quickly enough, you'll be ready to warp instantly when the MWD pulse ends. Drop cloak and warp in one smooth action as it ends.

[Crularii]

On a semi-related note, I've completed a couple of low-sec hauling missions if they only involve a quick hop in to the system. One thing I always do is check the statistics for the system before I accept the mission. Things like ships and pod kills in the last hour and day, number of jumps, and average pilots in space. All of these help to get an idea of how active the system is, and how likely you are to run into a pirate camp. Of course, I am always checking my directional scan once I enter the system, and I make sure to check local and who is docked up in the target station if I need to drop off or pick up a package.

I agree to checking the stats of systems you are flying to/through, but want to add, that you shouldn't take them for granted, as the numbers you will get have quite a delay. Even if your map tells you there were only 2 pilots in space in the system, there can be 20 there when you jump in.

[Crularii]

I activate a MWD before the cloak (improved, don't have covops skills yet), waiting slightly for visual indication that the MWD activated before cloaking. I don't like waiting on the cloak to verify that modules may be activated because my finger gets a little trigger itch and the cloak gets dropped after being activated. Then its 30 seconds of vulnerability. :blackeye:

This is something I wouldn't do, as your signature will be heavily increased by activating your MWD, i.e. potentially hostiles will have it much easier to target and point you, before you are able to cloak. Always activate the cloak before your MWD, you should have ample time to do so, if you don't lag too much.

[Edward Kurvora]

Remember though when jumping in to a gate camp the gate flash will announce your arrival. The only way to avoid this is to be supper sneaky and wait for someone else to jump and jump at the exact same time as them, then wait for them to decloak to make your escape. This work particuly well if they have intys as they will normal engage the first person to decloak.

[Lucius Exitius]

So I'm a noob so I may be shot down pretty quick but what's the point of cloaking? I understand that it is a tool to jump people and/or intimidate but don't most people in null sec or low sec space just assume that players are going to have cloaked ships? I have never been in low sec or null sec yet so I guess I don't have the same view as most of the players here.

[Meridun]

So I'm a noob so I may be shot down pretty quick but what's the point of cloaking? I understand that it is a tool to jump people and/or intimidate but don't most people in null sec or low sec space just assume that players are going to have cloaked ships? I have never been in low sec or null sec yet so I guess I don't have the same view as most of the players here.

Emphasis mine in the quote above.

Cloaking is a way to either jump people or avoid being jumped yourself, which are pretty significant in lowsec and nullsec.

The fact that people may expect it doesn't necessarily make it any less effective. People in null sec and lowsec assume players have guns too, but I hear that ships are still being blown up.

[Shiu Juan]

So I'm a noob so I may be shot down pretty quick but what's the point of cloaking? I understand that it is a tool to jump people and/or intimidate but don't most people in null sec or low sec space just assume that players are going to have cloaked ships? I have never been in low sec or null sec yet so I guess I don't have the same view as most of the players here.

It is more effective at avoiding being jumped. You can warp to a safe and cloak up to avoid being probed down. However, there is a delay before you can start targeting after you decloak, so a solo gatecamp sitting cloaked up waiting for someone to come through and dawdle on the gate is probably not getting a successful lock before the person can warp off once the aggressor decloaks. Of my limited experience of low and null sec, the number of cloaked ships is maybe 10-20%, (of course it is a little hard to tell, since when you D-scan and compare your results to local count, it is distorted upwards by the unpilotted ships sitting in POSes, and downwards by the ships out of D-scan range (ie if you don't see the ship on d-scan is it sitting cloaked up, or is it just out of range.))

What I find odd though is the number of uncloaked stealth bombers I have seen flying around alone.... (Stealth bombers and Force Recons being pretty much the only ships that can jump people from being cloaked.)

In summary, cloak can be used for:
- I am all alone doing something like ratting/mission-running/mining in low/null/wormhole and suddenly I see I am no longer alone in local/d-scan. Warp to safe, and cloak up to wait them out. Note though that I have reduced my efficacy in the primary activity by sacrificing a high slot. A Retriever has 2 high slots, and a Covetor/Hulk has 3, so fitting a cloak has reduced yield by 1/3-1/2. On the other hand, a Raven has 6 launcher slots and 2 other high slots to play with, so it is quite a viable option on something like that.
- Scouting: The most effective use in my opinion. It can range from just sitting off some from the gate and keeping track of what you see, reporting to the fleet; being cloaked while you are distracted scanning down targets with probes; and warping to your target in their safe spot and then working your way around until you have a good warp-in for the your fleet to land with. The cloak means that they have no idea they have been found while _other_people_ get ready to pounce.
- Blockade Running: A cloaky industrial ship means that you can try to get through a warp-disruption bubble (if untended), or waltz through a gate camp in low-sec, since you can stay cloaked while aligning, and get into warp without dropping the cloak. (Though IMO the low align time on a blockade runner even without the cloak helps a whole bunch also.)
- Dropping on people with a Stealth Bomber. Warp in close, align, drop ordinance, warp-out or boot it out of 2k range and cloak up. Generally not used to shimmy up to people before dropping ordinance nor sticking around after the drop.
- Surprise! with a Force Recon: Often used as Scout/Tackle for a Black-Ops assisted hot drop. I have not done this, so I am somewhat vague on the mechanics, but I think this does involve shimmying up to the person while cloaked, then drop cloak, tackle and hold until reinforcements arrive.

The intimidation factor is only there in one of those cases where suddenly out of black you are tackled, a cyno field goes up, 40 frigates appear, vaporize your ship, and disappear all within 30-60 seconds (if well executed.) (I don't really consider the scout's warp-in all that intimidating. It is isn't like you didn't see the spike in local, and the uncloaked ships arriving in range from warp to warn you that you might be screwed.)

[Blythar]

Great series of topics Seamus. Regarding cloaking, I watch my warp indicator. I suggest you do not align before because that keeps you in the kill zone longer than just hitting warp. Soon as I get a warp indication, which does not mean i am warping, only that I have initiated warp, my cloak will take. The problem with "hammering the cloak button" Is on more than one occasion, i turned it right back off.