Old Habits are Hard to Break

Been a while!  I've not been as active as I was in previous years.  I still jump into New Eden from time to time.

I did a stint out in Geminate in a Stealth Bomber running some Havens.  This was doable, but not enjoyable.  I believe I had the locals confused by me too.  Either way, once I validated that a bomber could handily do a Haven combat site, I made my way to back to Jita.

Then, off to Pochven.  I will say this territory seems to ebb and flow.  Sometimes it's crazy and other times it feels quiet.  One thing for sure, my favorite targets are not as visible as they were last year.  Mining Ventures and Pioneers.  Maybe the danger element, maybe the mineral market being changed a bit.  After transitioning through the triangle of Pochven I took a wormhole and exited.

This dropped me into High Security(Hisec) space.  So I figured I'd just do some day trips into wormholes.  Luckily I found a hole with some ambition gas harvesters.  I feel they were not very active nor paying attention.  The wormhole was quite small, so the fact I had to de-cloak to drop probes, then scan the gas sites and they still did not leave....I was hopeful.  Two ventures.  Each harvesting on their own gas site.  I figured I'd at least get one.  When making a ping on one of the gas clouds I was de-cloaked by the cloud.  Figuring the target would warp away and....nope.  The target never moved.

I dispatched one venture and then quickly warped to the next gas site to nab the other:

One and then two!  Plus trophies, glorious trophies.

I figured I'd continue to take my time enroute back to Jita and just dip into various wormholes along the way.  Over the next week or so I visited a few wormholes and found nothing really.  Then on I popped into a hole and found a couple Pioneers out mining.  Intrigued I did not immediately act.  I waited, I watched.

The following day I hopped in to see what the activity level looked like.  There was a Tayra that seemed to scan and then collect a bit of Planetary Interactions(PI).  I followed the Tayra, but I was a bit too cautious and missed my chance.

The third day I was quite delighted to see this:

It brings a song to my heart to see New Eden with such activity.  I spent an hour monitoring the fleet.  As with all large mining fleets there are always some stragglers.  At some point the herd warped off, either done for the evening or dropping the cargo, but they left two Pioneers.  Time to make my move.

A successful capture with a trophy as a bonus.  With the job complete I exited the hole.  Off and running for the next adventure.

For now,

Be Well New Eden!

New Year and New Lessons

Welcome to 2026!  Arriving with a new year are new opportunities, new adventures, new experiences.  And with all this new, here I am with some old habits.  Taking a familiar path I departed into Pochven and began my circuit.  I began my hunt looking for the unsuspecting.  I was fortunate to find my first encounter.  Fitting as it was the very target I enjoy, the very target that brought me into the region.  The lone mining frigate.

The encounter relatively routine.  I've had a lot time to tailor my ship and fit.  I've practiced the approach and capture.  All aspects of this capture have been honed and fine tuned.  The only part of the encounter was that I was unable to secure the pod, the prize trophy.  There will be more opportunities.

Taking the next week or so I slowly strolled throughout the systems of Pochven.  I encountered fleets of PVE battleships with support.  I encountered small gangs.  Even some solo pilots.  I chased a slippery Magnate around, but ended the session without success.

Having a bit of time I dipped into Pochven a few days later.  I bounced a few systems looking for targets.  I avoided some interdiction destroyers as well as some mobile warp bubbles(these are no fun).  Upon entering Otela I was presented with a target.  A lone Venture.  Only 1 belt in system I quickly headed over to the location to prepare my normal routine.

During my crawl to the targets I will monitor dscan.  Generally watching the activity within the system.  Mostly larger ships moving gate to gate seeking larger targets.  The Venture is not always desirable for these small gang hunters as they are not prepared to tackle and get on top of the Venture quick enough.  The Ventures will generally be 100+ km away from the warp in to the site.  This allows ample time for escape should an uncloaked ship arrive.  Ventures also with built in warp core stability that will increase their odds of escape if initially captured.

Following my routine to the letter, I did notice a Loki show on dscan.  Mistake number one, I 'assumed' that the Loki would have no interest in the Venture.  The Loki dropped off dscan as expected.  As I was already cloaked and crawling to my target I figured I would have ample time even if the Loki appeared with me.  

My second mistake was another 'assumption'.  Are you seeing a pattern here?  Upon landing I could see that the target was around 100km away from the warp-in.  Additionally I saw there was the potential that a ping could be made about 100km from the warp-in and somewhat closer to the target.  For whatever reason I dismissed this option.

So, once I was within range I captured and dispatched the Venture.  Quite quickly as the Venture exploded I found myself locked and warp disrupted by a Loki.  My mistakes now catching me.  With few options I decided to try to outrun the Loki and see if I could quickly get outside of disrupter range...this was unsuccessful.

So, I present my first loss of 2026 along with my second capture.  A reminder and opportunity to learn.  An ego check.  A lesson to humble myself and see that there always others around.  Sometimes with the same intentions as my own.  Some more effective than I am, or at least a more effective counter.  The circle of life as it were.  Enjoy this dear reader, as likely this even will provide some retribution to you.

For now,

Be Well New Eden!

Wrapping 2025 Up

As 2025 comes to an end, I wanted to take a moment to review some stats and figures.  Nothing really to brag about, just a nice little summary of the hunt that took place in 2025.  A little piece of history.

May and June doing group activities from Thera, also not in the chosen killing platform(Stealth Bomber).  July through December all within Pochven.  In October a brief excursion into Thera again.

Also I wanted to review about 4 months of loot that resulted from my hunts.  The amount is not huge, but does showcase that if PVP and hunting is desired activity you can very likely operate on a small budget and focus on hunting without the need to spend time on other activities you don't enjoy.  Not saying that folks don't enjoy PVE, they do.  In fact I want them to enjoy PVE otherwise I have nothing to hunt.

Normally when I am able to successfully eliminate a target I'll retain the modules and other items of value left in the wreck.  I'll store these in the Pochven region until I have a reason to return to HS to visit a trade hub.

Beginning in August I was curious what amounts were possible from my small visits into Pochven.  I didn't really track any of the amounts.  Likely if I would have been more consistently active the quantity and amounts could have been better.

About 195 million ISK from looting the wrecks of my targets.  Based on my chosen Stealth Bomber fit, this is the value for 2 replacement ships and fits.  Depending upon the chosen fit, this amount might field 3 or possibly 4 bombers.

But, it gets better.  One evening I was tracking down a Helios.  Once I pinned it down I realized it was unmanned.  A free ship.  A Helios makes a pretty decent scanning ship, so rather than blow it up I opted to capture it to either sell or use.

Some odd cyno fit and really no idea what it was doing in Pochven.  My guess is the originator using Pochven to transport from NS in to HS to a trade hub.  Not sure.  But their discard was my gain.  Adding another 47.8 million ISK to the bucket.  So 242 million ISK all acquired doing a chosen activity with little to no grinding outside of traversing systems looking for targets.

Side note, I've mentioned it before, but a little sneak peak at my trophy cabinet:

52 frozen corpses.  Mostly by my hand.  Several picked up just floating in space.  These collected over a number of years.  I'm always eager to expand the collection.  Who knows, maybe yours will appear in there at some point.

Happy New Year!  Hope 2025 found you well.  Time to close it out and prepare for 2026...

As always,

Be Well New Eden

Finally, a Taste of the New-New

Success!  I've seen them out from time to time since they were released.  Only a few times were they solo and disappeared as quickly as I could pin down their location.  Another time a collection of 5 or so with a Porpoise providing support.  What are they that I am referring to?  Well, the new Pioneer mining destroyer hull of course.

These arrived a while back along with the new Venture Consortium Issue hull.  These new mining destroyers come in 4 flavors:  

• Pioneer - base level hull
• Pioneer Consortium Issue - Faction variant
• Outrider - Tech II variant
• Perseverance - Faction variant focused on ice harvesting

Likely the Outrider is the only version that would give me grief, with a larger drone bay and number of drones on the field as well as the Tech II bonuses that increase durability.  Also, the ability to provide mining and all other variants of boosting(armor, shield, tackle, speed, etc).  Lastly, it can utilize a micro-jump drive, or 'boosh' as its known by those that use it.  A well executed boosh can jump a number of ships about 100km away.  Spicy.

My unsuspecting target:

This one caught on a mining anomaly in the edge of the system.  I believe they had dropped off a load of ore at a station when I noticed them.  They disappeared as a few Thrashers arrived into the system, but with a bit of patience and understanding the miner's desire to mine, I waited for the system to clear in hopes they would get back to it.  Sure enough they did.

You'll notice they were setup with a 10MN Afterburner.  This is an example of the prey adjusting their tactics to increase the odds of survival.  This particular tactic used to burn away from the tackle of the predator with the hopes of creating enough distance to eventually warp off.  The Afterburner is not deactivated by the Warp Scrambler.  Also a 10MN is over-sized to increase the potentially speed over that of the normal 1MN Afterburner intended for frigates and destroyers.  Luckily I am using a 5MN Microwarp drive so the speed was well within my ability to keep up.

A good catch!

For now,

Be Well New Eden!

Riding Along with Change

Strange.  A few quick tours of Pochven and really none of my historically favorite targets out in space.  Where are all the Ventures?  Where are all the mining enjoyers?  Where are all these new mining ships?

I dipped out for a couple months, come back and the place is changed.  Who moved my cheese(A reference to Spenser Johnson's book Who Moved My Cheese ~ only relevant here as I am dealing with change).

Well, as I adapt to the new activities of the Pochven occupants, I am still finding success hunting.  And with that I've taken an interest in the PI haulers, basically added them to my list of interest along with the miners, explorers, and salvagers.

With the destruction of the recent PI haulers I've found that oddly only 1 in 3 with any cargo of value.  I still have a hunch they are re-loading the cargo into the station as I nibble away at their ship's hulls.  Granted I try to get to them quickly as they seem quite nimble and eager to collect or load or transact with the POCO.  Tonight's offering:

On this outing I also ran across a salvaging Catalyst as well, just couldn't quite pin them down.  The prey can be quite slippery.

Stay vigilant dear reader.  Be ready and open for change.  Adapt and overcome.

For now,

Be Well New Eden!

Another Mystery Solved

From time to time, and during the hunt, I encounter exploration ships just sitting out at random locations in space.  Sometimes there are scannable signatures and other times not.  I know about the filament placing ships around/near constellations/structures, but what about the ships located oddly or not near any known structures/planets/etc?

Adding to this conundrum, there are no data/relic sites for explorers to run within Pochven.  Yes, during events there might be some special sites for a limited time, but in general and day to day they don't exist.  So, when I ran across this explorer that appeared to be at a scannable signature, or at least what I hoped was a scannable signature, I needed to find out.

I needed to refit my death-dealer to scan this signature.  I elected for Core Scanners as opposed to Combat Scanners, no need to scare the prey.   Another issue, I needed to refit my ship discretely and this system is somewhat small with most locations all being on dscan.  Luckily I had a safe spot that was based on an old Astrahaus location.  This location was questionable as it was way outside anything you can reasonably warp to.  I quickly refit.

Another point of order, I needed to run the scan quickly.  Sometimes the prey will run if probes are seen, especially Combat Probes, so I needed to be quick.  Before going to the outside safe location I had isolated the ship to a particular point in space.  Using this I was able to place and perform my scan quickly, only 2 passes.  Likely I need to discuss the process of isolating ships in space to speed up scanning, but another tale for another time.

The explorer was at a Deepflow Rift.  I believe these signatures/sites arrived with an event a while back, but seems like they are still around.  I warped into the site at range and created a perch just prior to landing to allow me a quick warp point to reset my position.  No NPC's around and our intrepid exploration ship just simply pulling cans out of the Deepflow Rift.

I was quickly able to pin down and pop the ship.  The trophy frozen corpse also awarded, always a nice moment.  I also picked up the remaining cans floating nearby, each containing "Proven Deepflow Adaptive Container". Not sure what or how these work, but seems like they are opened like a loot box.  Op success!

But the evening was not yet over.  As I awaited my logoff timer an Epithal appeared on dscan.  Having some previous success I figured why not, let's try to snap this up as well.  And with all PI haulers this character too had evolved some interesting survival skills.  This Epithal pilot would go to a POCO, then return to the station.  Rinse and repeat, over and over.  I adjusted my observation tactics and luckily the PI hauler had at least one POCO to visit once I understood the pattern.  Sitting off the station I could see which POCO the Epithal was headed towards.

Sadly, in my eagerness I had not been minding my decloak timer.  My cloak promptly dropped at the station just after the Epithal warped off.  Rookie mistake, but I was committed.  I was exposed and visible, and as a Stealth Bomber I was vulnerable, naked.  Still decloaked I landed within range and quickly tackled and eliminated the target.

Oddly, the Epithal was unfit and the cargo hold empty.  This pilot likely hunted previously and adapted to minimize the loss, but no PI inside was just odd.  But, a kill is a kill, so merrily I ended the night.

For now,

Be Well New Eden!

Clever, but not Clever Enough

I like the adaptation that takes place around New Eden.  The evolution of hunter and hunted.  As the hunters find success, the hunted will evolve and improve.  This, for a short time, will confound and perplex the hunter until they too can evolve and improve.

In Pochven there is a good mix of hunter and hunted.  All of this in a convenient loop of connected systems.  An ecosystem on its own.  Some of the activities in Pochven can be extremely lucrative.  Some mildly rewarding.  Some take part in no activity and are just visitors passing through, using the filaments to come and go.  All activities make the chances of encountering other players across the various timezones possible.

I mentioned a while back how I have slowed down as I pass through the systems.  I will bounce around the system, take a look around, take a pause.  This has yielded some nice kills adding explorers and salvagers often found away from the gates.  I even feel I've been able to catch clever mining frigates that have the ability to cloak up at the first sign of activity.  

Last night before logging out for the evening I ran across an industrial hauler, an Iteron Mark V.  These ships can be performing a range of activities, but are always generally hauling something of value so my interest was piqued.

I have greatly improved at pinning down the general location of my prey, so often I can get within a reasonable range quickly.  This has served me well and allowed me to observe my prey and understand their habits and practices.  Knowing your prey will allow you to anticipate and gain the advantage on them.

This particular Iteron was warping from one Player Owned Customs Office(POCO) to then next.  I was able to get to the first POCO quickly.  As I approached the Iteron I noticed they were warping to the next location so I did not de-cloak and waste my opportunity.  I followed on to the next POCO.  As I landed a bit off the POCO structure I noticed they were about 200km away.  Bummer.  I foolishly approached feeling they might use a filament or maybe just sit there, but no.  They warped down to the POCO to conducted their business then warped on to the next POCO.  I followed.

At the 3rd POCO I now knew the drill.  Still at a short range from the POCO structure I waited.  When they came down the POCO structure I was ready, kind of.  Sadly they were on the other side of the structure.  This presented an issue as I was 45km away still and would have the slowly burn around the structure or decloak and be extremely quick but now give away my advantage.  Either scenario I am risking the loss of this target.  So I waited and hoped that they had at least 1 more POCO to visit.  They did.

On the final Poco I landed and waited.  This time they came down almost next to me.  A gift.  I quickly snapped them up.

As luck would have it I also obtained a trophy for the cabinet, the frozen corpse.  This capture ended the evening on a good note, and I left grateful for the quick and successful adventure.

For now,

Be Well New Eden!