Ganking in high sec!

this guide was written by hank of the murder of crows corp. (shamefully reprinted from the criminals & punishment section of the EVE-Online forums) It's evident that this activity is looked down upon by the majority of the EVE community, but there are many who support player's right to do it and CCP does not appear to be concerned about it, since they often mention that players are not 100% safe anywhere in EVE, including 1.0 systems, and shouldn't be. However, people on the eve-o forums still ***** about it constantly, so if you participate in it be forewarned that your name may appear on the forums and you'll have names like "griefer" thrown at you. Your reputation could be tarnished in the eyes of carebear pussies, so if this bothers you please do not participate. The other downside is the loss of security status. Attacking a ship in a 1.0 system only gets you -0.1 sec, which isn't much at all. I'm unsure what landing the final blow gets you, but I would guess the penalty is at least 5x as steep. Mysteriously, none of us seemed to have gotten the kill when we tried this the other day so I'm not sure how much sec you lose for actually destroying the ship. Anyway, if the sec status drop bothers you, either do not participate or play the role of the hauler. Note that there are no consequences at all until your sec status goes below -2.5, after which you wont be allowed into 1.0 because Concord will gank you (you can travel in a pod tho). I've heard of players successfully travelling in places they arent supposed to with instas and shuttles/fast frigs, but its not 100% guaranteed. As your sec status falls below -2.5 you'll be allowed into progressively less and less systems, until the -5 mark after which you can't go into anything higher than 0.4. Note that at that point you also lose your sentry gun protection at gates and stations. So unless you want your travel restricted, it's probably best to keep your sec status above -2.5. Since most of use have decent statuses some criminal activity is certainly allowed (and encouraged) while we're waiting on our next empire war. So with the consequences out of the way, I'll tell you that theoretically ganking haulers in high sec is the easiest, fastest, most profitable thing you can do in Eve. Theoretically. Obviously that does not always turn out to be the case as we saw a few days ago, but we learned many lessons from that that we can carry forward so we'll do better next time. That is what this topic is about. Let's start with what is required to do this successfully. As far as I can tell you need a minimum of 3 people, 2 in caracals and 1 in a hauler. Obviously more people gives you a better chance of success, but also means you'll lose more ships to concord and have to split up the profit more ways, so we'll have to find the optimum setup for these operations that maximizes both chance of success and profit-per-person. Assuming we have 3 people doing the operation, here are the setups that should be used, and following each is the role the person is designed to play. Note that the Caracals should not use named or T2 mods, as there is a 100% chance the ship will be lost. If you're filthy ******* rich, you should still fit regular mods, and give some isk to poor bastards like me. next part follows Hauler (Most worried about sec decrease) Hi - nothing Mid - # of slots vary for different indys, but the following mods should be fitted in order of importance (first = most important): 1. Afterburner 2. Ship Scanner 3. Passive Targeter 4. As many Sensor Boosters as possible Low - Expanders (feel free to fit nice expanders if you want, as the hauler probably wont be in much danger, but Expanded Cargohold I's are probably fine) Role: Grabbing the loot after the kill. The hauler should position himself to where he's close to undocking ships (if at a station) or to where people warp into or out from gates, and assist with the scanning process. Once a target is decided upon, flip on the afterburner and get as close as possible to the target so that you can get to the can before the scavengers do. Caracal 1 (less worried about sec decrease) Hi - 5xHeavy Missile Launcher w/ EMP missiles Mid - 1xMWD, 1xwarp disruptor, 1xwebber, 1xsensor booster Low - nothing (or ballistic controls to increase chance of success) Role: This caracal should sit tight and wait for a target to be decided upon, then lock the target, MWD up to him, web, scramble, and let loose with the EMP missiles. Since you fire first and use EMP missiles, you most likely will not get the kill and thus your sec status loss will be minor (-0.1). Caracal 2 (least worried about sec decrease) Hi - 5xHeavy Missile Launchers w/ Explosive missile Mid - 1xShip Scanner, 1xPassive Targeter, 2xSensor Boosters Low - Nothing (or ballistic controls) Role: This person will assist with the scanning and deal the death blow. Once a target is decided upon, call it out on TS and wait for Caracel 1 to let loose with his missiles before firing yours to maximize damage output. Hopefully your missiles will destroy the target and the hauler can loot the can. Explanation I've decided it would be best to go with Ship Scanners instead of Cargo Scanners for the following reasons: 1. There is tons of money in nice named expanders, as detailed below, which will likely be fitted and not in cargo. 2. It is a lot quicker to determine whether or not an indy has named expanders than it is to scroll through 1000 types of items he might have in his cargo to determine if anything is valuable. 3. Since expanders slow ships down, it's likely that only indys with a lot of **** in their cargo will have them fitted. If their cargo is empty or they arent carrying much, they will probably fit nanofibers or overdrives instead so they will be faster. 4. If there is a period where no indys are in sight, other ships can be scanned. A ship decked out with valuable faction mods is likely to just have ammo in the cargo. The passive targeters should always be used when targeting so that people dont know what we're doing before we strike. The sensor boosters are to decrease lock times, because there is often a small window of time in which to scan, decide, lock, and fire, and we need all the extra time we can get. Also, the group needs to be on TS so that communication can be quick and everyone can be on the same page all of the time. The group should probably stay close to each other to enhance awareness of what others are doing and to make sure Caracal 1 isnt on the other side of the station when the target is called, etc. Note to the Caracal Pilots: After concord blows you up, warp to a planet immediately and wait for things to die down a bit. This is because once you are criminally flagged all players can pod you with no consequences (I think). It's best to get the hauler or someone else to get 15km behind a station in alignment with the planet you are at so that you can warp to him and dock immediately. The flag timer is random, so make sure you wait at least 45 minutes after the incident before undocking in a new ship because the sentries will shoot you immediately if you are still flagged. You should get a free starter ship when you dock, so test out the sentries with that before leaving in a valuable ship. Expanders and their approximate values (conservative estimates) 1. Expanded Cargohold II (not available) 2. Local Hull Conversion (40-45 mil) 3. Beta Hull Mod (16-18 mil) 4. Partial Hull Conversion (10-12 mil) 5. Type-D Altered (4-6 mil) 6. Alpha Hull Mod (3-5 mil) 7. Mark I Modified SS (1-3 mil) 8. Type-E Altered (500K-1.5mil) 9. Expanded Cargohold I (60-65K) 10. Marked Modified SS (150K-200K) 11. Basic (250) So now you should know what you need to set up this kind of operation and what everyone's ship setups and roles should be. I hope this helps, and feel free to make comments/criticisms/additions.