I have played for about a month and I’m planning to join faction warfare in a short while. I did find the Warfare and Tactics forum but there’s not a lot of useful information for a new player that i could see, so I hope it is OK to ask here.
I understand that stations can be locked to one side or other if they lose control of the system. If I transport some ships to a station as a base, it seems I might lose the use of them, which would be a blow. If I travel into the war zone, I have a much higher chance of a gate camp before I get anywhere. Whilst I am fine with losing ships in combat, I’d prefer to at least try and get into a fight, so my question is: Are there ‘bases’ where people either store their ships, or can buy replacement ones?
Second, I read that I might lose ‘security status’ from fights, and need things called ‘tags’ to restore it. Where are these found?
ShahFluffers’ handy-dandy-guidelines for joining Faction Warfare:
SET UP YOUR OVERVIEW!! Make it so that “friendlies” do not show up (helps to prevent friendly fire incidents and reduces irrelevant information) and especially make sure that militia status is above suspect/criminal status (quite a few militia members have low security status… if you attack them you will incur a large faction standings penalty… and will often be blown up at the hands of your allies).
Buy ships and mods in bulk (mostly frigates and destroyers) and fit them in about 2 or 3 different ways ways for flexibility (ex, shield-fit, armor-fit, DPS/gank-fit, nano-fit, etc). Have them sitting, pre-fit, in an easy to access station… preferably one in low-sec that many other militia members use.
You will lose a lot of ships in militia. Have a steady source of income to replace stuff (which can come from running complexes or missions in low-sec FW systems).
Do not give away friendly fleet locations and/or friendly ship types in Militia Chat. The enemy has many spaiz!!!
5i. Learn the area well. Even the high-sec areas. This will help you when you are looking for stuff to kill or escaping from hostiles.
5ii. Just because combat is more open and encouraged in low-sec it does not mean the enemy militia may not stage attacks in your high-sec area. Keep in mind that joining Faction Warfare puts you in a GLOBAL war declaration. You can be attacked anywhere at any time. Even in Trade Hubs. Especially in Trade Hubs.
6i. When looking for a fleet, type “X” into militia chat and eventually you will get picked up.
6ii. Alternatively, go out and roam a bit. If you stumble upon a friendly fleet, they might pick you up. If not, keep looking (and try killing some stuff while you’re at it).
7i. Once you join a fleet, join audio (be it the in-game EvE audio, Ventrilo, Teamspeak, Mumble, etc) and LISTEN.
7ii. LISTEN SOME MORE.
7ii. ARE YOU SURE YOU ARE LISTENING???
7iii. If you cannot figure out where the fleet is by listening, ask [politely] by typing in fleet.
The FC (fleet commander) is GOD himself and his orders should be followed to the letter (ex. even if you’re in a frigate, SHOOT THE GODDAMN “PRIMARY” that has been called). Try to keep idle talk to a minimum (unless nothing is happening) and don’t say anything when an engagement is underway. If you have a question… use your best judgement and ask after it is over.
Get to know the “regulars” within your timezone and help them whenever you can. Good things will follow if you make friends with them.
Listen to everyone’s advice… no matter how abrasive it is. Chances are, they know what they are doing and you don’t.
To answer your questions directly:
Yes.
Starting out, it is okay to be based outside of the warzone. But you are correct in that gatecamps will be an issue.
To get around this, find a high-sec area that leads to less “well known” low-sec passages.
This may increase your travel time if you are called to a specific “hot zone” and delay / deny you backup when a hostile force comes rolling through (because few people want to venture away from the “hot zones.”
As you gain more experience and make friends with the “regulars” you will find out what the “strongholds” for your side are.
These are the places to move stuff to.
Or you can ask for someone that you befriend to help you move stuff. Either scouting for you (not recommended) or putting up a contract with collateral (using your friend’s in-militia services or Red Frog Freight).
Alternatively, make a bit more ISK than normal and buy the stuff being sold in the station. A proper stronghold should be reasonably stocked up in basic ships, equipment, and modules… for a “reasonable” markup.
Over time… set up little “waystations” for yourself in various systems. This way, if the “stronghold” system ever falls, you have something to tide you over until you can get someone with an alt character to move your stuff.
Okay so…
The thing is… low-sec is home not just to the militias. Before faction warfare, it was a haven for pirate/outlaw groups. And it still is.
Most of these groups have members who have below -5.0 security status… meaning that anyone can shoot them anytime without penalty. However, not all of them will be this way. Some will be above -5.0 and you will be in a position where you have two choices: shoot first and take the security hit yourself… or wait until they shoot, and risk being at a disadvantage.
More than that… opposing militias will often have spies or “neutral” characters running about, keeping an eye on you.
Sometimes it is unavoidable and you must take a security hit to remove them from the field.
(note: shooting people in the same militia will also carry a standings penalty for the faction… do not do this often!)
The “Security tags” you mention come from Mordu’s Legion NPCs. You can randomly find them in asteroid belts. Tough little NPCs to kill too.
After you have a certain number of various tags (there are multiple types) you can then visit a CONCORD station, turn in said tags, and pay a substantial ISK fee to modify you security status.
This is quite expensive though. Most of the time it is simply cheaper (and more fun) to create a second character on the same account to do all your “legal” stuff in high-sec while you blow things up with impunity in low-sec.
Regarding losing sec status-- It’s podding people that will wreck your sec status. If you just hang out doing FW complexes and take or initiate whatever fights naturally come along, your sec status won’t go down that much. My alt has been in FW for many months and has a sec status of -0.8 or so.
I will also add that one does not really need to stress too much about security status.
Not until one is below -2.0 that is.
At that point the Faction Police (not CONCORD**) will start to give chase in 1.0 systems.
At -2.5 Fac Police will chase in 0.9 (and above) systems
At -3.0 Fac Police will chase in 0.8 (and above) systems
At -3.5 Fac Police will chase in 0.7 (and above) systems
At -4.0 Fac Police will chase in 0.6 (and above) systems
At -5.0 and below Fac Police will chase in 0.5 (and above) systems with the added bonus of being “permanently” suspect status and thus can be freely engaged by anyone, anytime, anywhere.
Faction police use stasis webifiers AND use warp scramblers.
And cloaks cannot be used either.
But they can be avoided / outrun in a nimble enough ship. Or destroyed by a powerful enough ship / group.
**edit: For those wondering, CONCORD are the “universal” police of High-sec (1.0 to 0.5 space). They generally do not care about anything except “illegal” player-on-player combat (see also: “Criminal Status”).
They cannot be avoided, outrun, destroyed. or even tanked.
In fact… doing any of those things is considered “cheating” and players may receive a ban.
So if you find yourself against CONCORD then accept the fact that your ship is doomed and prepare to warp out in your escape pod.
Faction Police and Faction Navies are for those with bad security status and Faction Warfare (respectively).
