High-sec suicide killing mining barges?

New Citizens Q&A
18

Here is something I wrote on the old forums regarding ganking:

https://forums-archive.eveonline.com/default.aspx?g=posts&m=6544374#post6544374
Context: Someone in a mining ship had been ganked and was asking for help on how to avoid it happening again.

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The writeup:
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The general idea behind Suicide ganking is to blow up a target ship before the NPC police arrive.

The NPC police, called CONCORD, will respond to any “illegal” act of aggression in high-security space (1.0 to 0.5 space).
This response is purely punitive (the NPCs don’t care about you, only making the offender pay for their craven act) and will result in the destruction of the offender’s ship 100% of the time.
Avoiding this punishment or delaying in any way is seen as an exploit and will result in a ban from the GMs.

More than that… there is no amount of tank that can mitigate the damage coming from CONCORD. These NPCs basically use a “death ray” to wipe out percentages of the offender’s HP (alongside regular, “standard” damage).

Now… the response times for COCNORD are thus:

  • 5 seconds in 1.0 space
  • 6 seconds in 0.9 space
  • 8 seconds in 0.8 space
  • 10 seconds in 0.7 space
  • 13 seconds in 0.6 space
  • 15 seconds in 0.5 space
  • No response in 0.4 or lower space

What the Suicide Gankers do is choose a ship with high damage potential and max out that stat. Destroyer class ships are generally preferred, though they can use bigger ships if they want to take out tankier, more high value targets.

Let us use a Catalyst as an example as it is the preferred ship for most ganks (and the gankiest destroyer in general).

[Catalyst, Ganking Ship Example]
Magnetic Field Stabilizer I
Magnetic Field Stabilizer I
Magnetic Field Stabilizer I

5MN Microwarpdrive I
[empty med slot]

Light Neutron Blaster I, Caldari Navy Antimatter Charge S
Light Neutron Blaster I, Caldari Navy Antimatter Charge S
Light Neutron Blaster I, Caldari Navy Antimatter Charge S
Light Neutron Blaster I, Caldari Navy Antimatter Charge S
Light Neutron Blaster I, Caldari Navy Antimatter Charge S
Light Neutron Blaster I, Caldari Navy Antimatter Charge S
Light Neutron Blaster I, Caldari Navy Antimatter Charge S
Light Neutron Blaster I, Caldari Navy Antimatter Charge S

Small Hybrid Burst Aerator I
Small Hybrid Collision Accelerator I
[empty rig slot]

With max skills applied and the weapons overloaded, this ship can pump out about 400 damage per second.
Using the above response times, that is…

  • 2000 damage in 5 seconds in 1.0 space
  • 2400 damage in 6 seconds in 0.9 space
  • 3200 damage in 8 seconds in 0.8 space
  • 4000 damage in 10 seconds in 0.7 space
  • 5200 damage in 13 seconds in 0.6 space
  • 6000 damage in 15 seconds in 0.5 space

So your ship has to effectively tank that much damage, in that amount of time, in order to survive.

Now please bear in mind… these numbers are all “upper limit” numbers. A ganker may do less damage if conditions are not optimal (which we will get into in a bit).

Now why do Suicide Gankers do this? Everyone has a reason, but they basically boil down to three things:

  • For Profit: This type of ganker is generally selective and will attack people they think they can make a profit off of. They try to calculate the value of their gank ship(s) versus the value of the potential loot. If they can potentially break even or turn a profit, they will mobilize and make an attempt.

  • Make a Statement: Some of your mining competitors may not be keen on “sharing” asteroid belts with you. They will thus nuke you (or hire someone to nuke you) and use your wreck to set an example to others.

  • For Giggles: Some people simply want to see the world burn. Cost and/or political fallout are not factors to these kinds of gankers. And if you mobilize against them… well… they like that too. They basically want to make things explode for the sake of things exploding.

What can you do?
There are a few things you can do. None of them are silver bullets, but they will stack the odds more in your favor.

  • Tank your ship: As pointed out above, the gankers are trying to apply as much damage as possible in as short a time as possible. If you have more HP than they have damage (even 1 more HP can make a difference), you will survive.
    ------ The best tanks you can fit for this purpose are called “Buffer Tanks.” The general idea is to load up on raw HP (see: Shield Extenders, Armor Plates) and increase your damage resistances (see: Adaptive Nano Plating, Shield Amplifiers).
    ------ “Active Tanking” is the act of fitting an Armor Repairer or Shield Booster to “repair” or “absorb” damage. This is generally not preferred against Suicide Ganking as it may not be fast enough to counter the amount of incoming damage.

  • Keep moving at all times: All weapons have a formula that takes speed and range into account. If you mess with either of those variables, you can mitigate the some of the incoming damage.
    ------ Orbit the asteroid you are mining. Not only will this mess with the ganker’s ability to apply damage but it also adds the asteroid as a potential obstacle that can block their flight path to you, further frustrating their efforts.

  • Stay at range: You may want to stay close to the rocks. I get it. It looks cooler. It feels safer. But it also gives a ganker a potential warp-in point. When you stay out at range… you force them to fly to you. This can give you the precious few seconds you need to warp away to safety.

  • Don’t AFK, use D-Scan: Not much to say about this. I know mining is boring and all that, but stay alert and keep an eye on your Directional Scanner for potential ganking ships (you will be scanning for destroyers within 1 AU of where you are).

  • Get a tankier ship: Take a look at the Procurer. Gankers hate that ship.