It's not paranoia if they're actually out to get you (JF pilot diaries)

Why do I always check killboards before moving my JF out of station to the HighSec gate? 

Because despite what most people would assume, this is typically the most vulnerable (and therefore the most dangerous) point in your journey. When jumping onto stations within docking radius and using the benefit of session change invulnerability, you're almost 100% safe if you discount pilot error and server glitches (not accepting jump/dock commands). However if you're undocking and slowly aligning to your outgate and you don't check who else is in system with you:

You can die when you think you're safe.

"Oh Seraph you're just paranoid, chill out"

Words to live by for any JF pilot

Here's an example...

Yesterday Afternoon

While doing my usual JF trip to Jita, I almost always use Ignoitton. It's a 0.4 LowSec within 3j of Jita, with a suitable NPC station to jump onto and it leads directly into a 0.8 HighSec system (reduces likelihood of suicide ganks due to faster Concord time). This has made it very popular as a JF endpoint for routes into Jita, which of course has led to people camping it in the hopes of killing them. This hadn't previously stopped me from using it because in all honesty, there aren't many groups who are actually good at killing JFs.

However I'm paranoid enough that I don't want to take the risk of "just winging it", so I always check local before leaving the station I've just jumped on to. I think today that paranoia may have saved my Ark from a brutal death.

I had just jumped into Ignoitton as I usually do, no issues with jump-in points or bouncing. Two other JF pilots from different alliances had jumped in front of my alt before I was in position on the station, so I was feeling comfortable as I jumped in also. I docked up my Ark, no issues, then sat on my cyno alt waiting to dock her up before I did my usual checks and moved my JF into HighSec.

But something seemed off. I couldn't put my finger on it but I was starting to feel uneasy. My 10minute cyno timer had almost entirely run down before it clicked.

Why hadn't the other two JF pilots left station and warped to HighSec? 

Infact, they had both docked, stayed docked for about a minute, then logged off. That's weird behaviour in my book because usually JF pilots will undock and head straight for the HighSec gate unless it's too dangerous or risky to do so. Did they know something I didn't?

I headed to Zkill and started working through the names in Local. It took me about a minute to find something that confirmed my suspicions.

RIP this Anshar

A week prior to my trip, two Phoenix pilots had killed an Anshar in Ignoitton. They'd also been involved in an Ark kill in Ignoitton about five days before that, though admittedly not in Phoenixes for that one. Both those pilots were in Local chat now.

Specifically they were in station with me. 

Ah crap

Now at this point you're probably like "huh, you should be careful when you undock Seraph, they might try to get you" but have no fear, I was already in full paranoid meltdown mode.

Here's what I knew:

Two Phoenix pilots with a history of killing JFs are in station with me

Ignoitton is a very well known JF endpoint

The NPC station I'm in is the better of the two NPC stations in system to jump on to due to the station model, therefore it's the most likely location for a JF to be undocking from.

The warp distance to HighSec from the station is 50AU, plenty of time to warp a bump Machariel to the gate before I land and bump me away if I'm unlucky with my landing (JF warps at 1au/sec max, Machariel does 3.75AU/sec, or nearly 6AU/sec if rigged for it)

I asked myself "What are the chances that these guys are just innocently docked here?" Based on the evidence it seemed very very likely I was in danger, if not already a target.

Things I couldn't know:

Do they have a cloaked scout watching the undock for JFs?

Are they currently at the keyboard or are they just logged in?

If they ARE at the keyboard, are they waiting for a JF or are they just chatting in Teamspeak/Mumble?

Do they kill on station or do they go for the gate bump? Maybe they try both?

Being the paranoid fuck I am, I decided to act as though they were at the keyboard, already in their Phoenixes with a bump alt ready to try and catch me either at station aligning, or before I jumped the HighSec gate AND they had a cloaked alt watching the undock for when I was leaving.

Me thinking about all this in station with a 6Bil cargo and a 9Bil hull

 

So assuming all that, the question becomes, "How do I get out of this alive?" 

I had two options really:

1) Wait for them to log out for a few hours/attempt a downtime run (effectively the same)

2) Return to my mid-point and use my backup endpoint which is less busy, but requires more jumps through HS

I started to move one of my cyno alts back to my mid-point for this move (which was about 15j away) while I sat and watched to see if they logged out or otherwise showed signs of being alive. To cut a boring story short, they did nothing. They sat and waited, I sat and waited. I went to make some food and do some tidying IRL.

I came back about an hour later and only one of the dreadnought pilots was in station with me but there was now an 11 year straight NPC Corp player in station with us instead who's killboard "strangely" seemed to match the dreadnought pilots. Maybe he just likes to whore on kills and is nothing to do with them?

Yes Mr NPC corp you seem innocent

I decided to jump back to my midpoint and head for my backup endpoint. I'm not risking 15bil on the hope another player is AFK.

My jump to my mid-point was uneventful, then straight onto my backup end-point was totally normal. A relaxed trip through HighSec later and I was safely docked in Jita.

The relief of landing at IV-IV cannot be overstated

So were they out to get me? Would I have died? Did I take a large detour for nothing but a bad feeling? 

Maybe. But I've had this Ark for over five years and I've not kept it alive without being very paranoid.

Fly safe guys o/

Amarr Epic Arc Experiment - Part 3 (The conclusion)

 So unfortunately due to corrupted notes on my computer, I'm missing the loot/salvage and bounties data from the following missions:

Hunting the Hunter

Fate of a Madman (just a choice more than an actual mission)

Catching the Scent

We can work out bounties that I probably would have got based on EVE Survival data, and I'll use the missions with similar amounts of ships to work out average loot value (minus about 10% value to allow for drop rates). I won't include agent pay because it's low enough to not matter alot in the final total.

So Hunting the Hunter, I estimate 15mil in bounties and 8mil in loot/salavage.

And Catching the Scent, I estimate 25mil in bounties and 14mil in loot/salvage.

We're ignoring Fate of a Madman because as I said earlier, it's a choose your path mission, not a fight and kill one.

So, on to the next mission. For those following at home, when we last left off I had been directed to destroy Rahsa's Fleet and capture the man himself (which we did). We then took him back to be interrogated (this was the storyline choice), during which he revealed that he hadn't been working alone but he managed to commit suicide before the interrogators could get a name. In order to track down the accomplice I was sent to retrieve a Sansha Command Signal Receiver from the stragglers nearby by killing them all and looting their wrecks. We've now returned from that mission and now we have been given a fake Sansha distress beacon built from the Command Signal Receiver to bait the accomplices back into the system.

This is literally a head in a jar my dude

Also, I want to note that I have returned to this Arc with the fresh Marauder buffs from the Bastions of War update (double rate of fire in Bastion), so I'll comment on how that feels in the conclusion. Spoiler, it's OP

I flew over to Shaha to place the distress beacon in a broadcast array hub, landing around 20km from it as I warped into the pocket.

Lucky I have a MWD

I placed the beacon, and was soon joined by a couple of battleships and cruisers which were rapidly dismantled by blazing laser justice. I won't wax lyrical about laser death again but trust me it was just as glorious as ever.

After easily wiping out the small force that came to kill me, it was apparently "obvious" from the wreckage that the traitor was Commodore Harkan according to my agent.

Don't worry, I have no clue who he is either.

Total ISK - Falling into Place

Pay + Bonus: 3.02mil

Bounties: 2.8mil

Total for this mission: 5.82mil

Loot/Salvage was estimated at 1.3mil

I was told to arrest Harkan so he could answer for his crimes. An uneventful few jumps later and I was on his doorstep in Polfaly. The big man himself sent me a message.

Hey that sounds totally safe, man without a face! I pootled over towards his mansion to arrest the naughty sausage, when suddenly...

Hey man is your house on fire?

I would have shown the actual explosion but 90% of my screen went white. This is the aftermath

I reported to my agent that Harkan had seemingly committed sudoku, and was ordered to go inform Riff Hebian; our buddy from a few missions ago.

Total ISK - Making an Arrest

Pay + Bonus: 3.01mil

Bounties: None

Total for this mission: 3.01mil

Nil loot and salvage

I flew back to Palas in my trusty frigate and told Riff Hebian that his old friend was both a traitor and probably dead. He took it pretty well since he gave me money and another mission.

Total ISK - An Unfortunate End

Pay + Bonus: 2.19mil

Bounties: None

Total for this mission: 2.19mil

Nil Loot/Salvage 

Yes I literally got payed to fly to him and start a conversation.

Riff told me my "final" task was to wipe out the last of the Sansha who were preparing to mount a desperate last attack against the local Lord. Sounds easy enough! I flew over the two jumps to Moniyyuku and prepared for battle.

Well that doesn't sound suspicious at all.

The mission objective tried to get me to focus on the energy neutralizer sentry but I decided to start melting through the ships, since apparently there was a lot of waves. Sadly I only got through three waves of each cruiser/frigate group before they all warped off and the mission was flagged complete. I killed the sentries so I could salvage in peace, noting that EVE Survival warns you that the neut sentry has a "massive tank".

Haha yeah okay

It died in less than 20 seconds.

Looting and salvage complete, not that there was much, I returned to Palas to report to Riff only to find things had gone batshit crazy since I had left.

Total ISK - Panic Response

Pay + Bonus: 2.2mil

Bounties: 1.6mil

Total for this mission: 3.8mil

Loot/Salvage was estimated at 490k

So it turns out Harkan isn't dead (shocker, who saw that coming?) and he's at the Lord's safehouse right now trying to kill him! Truly disgusting behaviour.

We flew best speed to Choga to defend our man. Landing in the first room, we slaughtered the Sansha forces guarding the gate. This seemed to piss off Harkan.

Well challenge accepted my guy, let's rumble.

I made short work of the second pocket while Harkan got political with me. It was pretty hard to hear him over the screams of his men as they were incinerated with bastion-boosted Conflag laser beams, but he seemed pretty upset about the Empress or something? I'm nothing if not a simp for Empress Kamyl so now he definitely deserved to die.

I warped into the next room, lasers set to justice. Once again Harkan babbled on about politics and weak rulers while I put his followers to the sword.

Don't scratch the paint!

With only the loss of a single Hobgoblin II (RIP little buddy) I moved on to the third room. EVE-Survival notes that the important thing in this room is the trigger control based on how much damage you do to the initial BS spawn. I decided to micro jump out and fight this room from Scorch range to keep things simple.

As each new spawn came in I held DPS off the first BS and killed the new spawn, but honestly I think I could have killed it from range and then killed all of the spawns before they reached me, 1600 Scorch DPS from 100k is incredibly powerful, jumping up to 2600dps once they get into Conflag range at around 60km. As it was, I didn't even lose my shield clearing this room.

Using target rows to organise spawns helps alot in not activating the wrong trigger

I cleared the loot and salvage off the field, dropped everything in a station because my hold was nearly full, then headed into the final room for the boss fight.

Oh good, he's going off the edge

EVE Survival warns there's alot of waves in this fight but honestly I didn't think it was that bad. Pretty sure there's more waves/ships in a L4 Pirate Invasion mission, and it wasn't hard to tank Harkan, just the occasional rep pulse, even though admittedly I had bastion helping out with both DPS and tanking.

Harkan pops, rest in pieces criminal scum

After everything was murdered, I returned to Riff Hebian for my reward.

Total ISK - Right to Rule

Pay + Bonus: 1.4mil

Bounties: 27.7mil

Total for this mission: 29.1mil

Loot/Salvage was estimated at 20.5mil

Implant achieved

Riff went on and on about how great I was, then handed me the implant I had lusted for for some months now. I had completed the Amarr Epic Arc!

Conclusion

The implant itself is estimated by EVE at 277mil, which is pretty nice but the market seems closer to 230mil (still not bad). 

Anyway, totals!

Total bounties: 151.9mil

Total Agent Pay: 35.52mil

Total estimated loot and salvage: 188.79mil

Overall Total ISK (Implant not included): 376.21mil

So I guess I answered my original question, though I'm a little disappointed with the answer. Atleast with the implant included the total ISK is over 500mil but I was hoping for higher.

If I did this sort of thing again, what would I change?

1) I think a Marauder is major overkill for Epic Arcs especially after the DPS buff in Bastion. As fun as it is to wipe out rooms in less than 30seconds with nearly 3k DPS, you spend most of your time moving between systems instead of fighting so a T3 cruiser or similar would be more time efficient if you're just farming the implant/faction standing.

2) I would definitely use a spreadsheet to record my results. Manually going back through a notepad on my PC and adding up the numbers would have been so much easier on EXCEL or a similar tool, and much easier to see overall.

3) I wouldn't take a 4month break in the middle because it's a nightmare trying to figure out where you were and find your old notes

Thanks for reading this far, especially if you had the patience to read the entire series!

Fly safe o/

The return to LowSec number 58: Super Electric Magnetic Boogaloo

 Well I'm leaving Null again!

I really need to stop making a habit of this

Basically, I spent most of November 2020-February 2021 not playing EVE for a number of reasons, mainly my job. During this time alot of changes happened in my alliance, half of which I still don't really understand how or why, but the upshot is most of the corps moved home, our old stations are being ripped down, and I have about 10 billion of stuff in asset safety. I  managed to rescue about 14 bil (including my now ancient Ark Jump Freighter that I've owned since goddamn 2016) but it still stings that so much is locked away temporarily. I'm currently waiting out the 20 days to get my stuff back (and pay for 15% of it, the cheeky fuckers at Secure Commerce are making a killing). That had really killed my drive to stay in Null, and by extension to play EVE.

2016 life, still going strong

So ouch.

However like "just one more drink" I logged into EVE on the Test Server today to help some old friends with testing T6 Abyss frigate runs... annnnnnnd I caught the EVE bug all over again. They told me they were knocking around in LowSec and they wanted to know if I wanted to come back and join up again like old times:

• Small gang fights: Check
• Bros to run Abyss with: Check
• Stations that don't vanish if I take a 3-4month break and then make me pay for my own stuff: Check

How could I refuse? And if I'm returning to my old 2014 era corp, I should go back to my cringe 2014 blogging obviously.

So I'll be resuming that Epic Arc playthrough/discussion I was doing because I don't want to leave it unfinished, but after that I'll probably be discussing Solo/Small Gang PvP like I used to and probably more Abyss content (be that guides, theory crafting, losses or epic drops).

In conclusion, blame my fellow addicts for re-introducing me to mainlining EVE into my goddam veins. I'll see you out in the universe.

Fly safe.