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!

Returning to the Old Ways

Well, dear reader, I have failed you.  Thera was great in concept, but just didn't pan out as expected for solo hunting.  Specifically solo hunting in the form I prefer, my trusty Stealth Bomber.  While I did arrive into Thera and made the rounds a few times, I found that Pochven was a better compliment for my available hunting time and the prevalence of potential targets.

And...I also took a short break.  A healthy thing to do from time to time.  I bet you were thinking you'd see me again in 1 year.  Nope.  Take note of this dear reader, I will keep you on your toes.  You can expect the unexpected.  That said, yeah, I'm back in Pochven.

My return was timed along with the arrival of the game's Catalyst release.

More info about the release found here.

This release of particular note as it is focused on resource acquisition and added some new ships in the mining frigate and destroyer classes.  The addition of these ships is a particular draw for me as it excites the very players I am after, the miners.  There is also a new Exploration Battlecruiser that looks interesting.

So, with some new ships to hunt, missing my old stomping ground, and wanting to interact with my targets, why not step back in.  Game on.

The first week began with my return to Pochven.  I fit up a Nemesis and began making the rounds.  Unfortunately I was unable to find targets the first few days.  When I did find targets they were in groups or had some support ships that made it difficult for me to capitalize on a kill.  There was nothing really to report aside from hopping gate to gate in the hopes of finding a target.

As fate would have it, my luck changed on Monday.  I found an intrepid explorer followed by one of the newly added frigate mining ships, the Venture Consortium Issue.

The explorer, a Heron pilot, reached out for conversation.  They were somewhat caught off guard as to how I was able to catch and kill.  I detailed a few tactics and after a good conversation we parted ways.  Of note, they were interested in finding a good corporation to learn and improve.  I relayed a very well known exploration group and wished them well.  This likely a good topic to cover in a future entry.

While awaiting my cooldown timer I then ran across the Venture Consortium Issue.  Juicy.  One of the new frigate mining ships.  This particular pilot proved quite elusive.  Anything that arose on dscan they were quick to cloak up and await the system to clear.  Initially I thought I had missed the opportunity, but then they showed back up on dscan.  Once locating them, I was able to observe their behavior and better understood what they were doing.  I had to manage my de-cloak timer, but was able to get into position and pin them down.

A good start to the holiday season!  I am grateful to the newly accumulating abundance of players out mining and trying these new ships.  I will try to not over-farm the mining herds.  I do, however, look forward to sampling the various hulls of these new ships.

For now,

Be Well New Eden!

Something Old, Something New - Thera

What the heck is Thera?  Some citizens of New Eden have never heard of nor been to Thera.  Well, they are missing out.  Its unique.  It's technically in a shattered wormhole, but there are stations within that you can set 'death clones' in.  There are also a wide range of connections from high security, low security, null security, and wormholes.  There is even a benevolent group that maintains a collection of bookmarks and publishes the connection on a website, the group is Eve Scout, the web site link here.

The connection listing page on EvE-Scout.com

Eve Scout also maintains a page for connection to another unique system, Turnur.  Turnur is a low security system, but with a full compliment of high, low, null and wormhole connections as well.  Similar concept to Thera, but with the addition of a functioning local chat.  This might be an interesting stage for some future content.  For now, back to the topic of Thera.

Thera has quite a bit of backstory.  I don't think I could do it justice, but you can find a lot of detail across a couple informational web pages:

• Eve Online - Thera release detail
• Eve University - Thera info

Needless to say it's a pretty unique and intriguing system.  I dare say useful as it's a means of traversing all over New Eden via the many connections that are always in change.  It could almost be a hunter's paradise...if not for the many hunters that stage within.  So vigilance, awareness, and if we are lucky the element of surprise are the name of the game.

Another benefit is the availability of stations with which to dock in Thera.  This means some ship variants can be brought in and will serve to increase the engagement profile for the content beyond the usual candidate.  In all honesty, I will still hunt the usual candidates, fear not.  I can also deposit a jump clone in any of the stations, making quick return access should I be in another part of New Eden seeking rapid entry.  

One additional consideration about Thera before this adventure starts, the system is enormous.  342 AU across.  Insanely enormous.  This will take some getting used to.  The risk is that the warp is so long that there is little indication of landing on a drag bubble, a gang camping a wormhole, or some other concoction of death.  A set of tactical bookmarks for perches, docking, and undocking are all in order.

This adventure will bring system scanning front and center as a priority.  But the Eve Scout web site, a set of scanning probes, and some ambition and we have the making of a new adventure.  Next stop, Thera!

For now,

Be Well New Eden!

Hunting Tactics - The Perch

I shouldn't do it.  I should not divulge my secrets.  But, if this tale is to provide any legacy it should do its part in preparing the next generation of hunter.  Of note, the best teacher is failure.  Experience.  Small successes that reward a perfect execution.  But not all techniques need to be invented.  A handful can be passed along, like a watch or useful tool.  Passed along as advise for the next generation or successor.

A small bit of knowledge, but quite useful in ensnaring prey, the Perch.  I've referenced it before in a previous post.  What is it?  Why is it worth mentioning?  Well, having a perch can be the difference between landing on your prey and potentially missing them by having to warp away or slowly burn into position.  Simply put its a bookmark that is at a range away from your current position and from the target that allows the hunter to reset their current position by warping to the perch, then to the desired location ideally on top of the target.  The perch must be at least 150km from the current position as well as at least 150km from the target.  Ideally a perch is at 500km to 1000km away making it better as the greater distance ensures you are at a range that allows warping.

Why does the perch make a difference?  Well as an example, when stalking an explorer at a relic or data site.  If you warp in at 0 on the scanned location you will be forced to burn slowly while cloaked to pursue your target.  If the target is quick, you might be too far away to capture them before they clear the site and warp away.  BUT.... if you create a bookmark at 500km to 1000km when landing on the location, you can then warp back to your bookmark(the perch) reset, and watch your prey.  Waiting.  When the time is prime, you can warp down to a structure, or some object on grid close to the target to strike and unleash your fury.

And how do you make a perch?  Well, when warping into a location you will see a distance shown above your capacitor and control detail.  If you have a bookmark ready, you will just click the create bookmark when you are 10,000 or so km away.

Here you can see I am warping in to a relic site.  I have my Bookmark window open and ready, picked a name 'OCK ping' for the site.  Then I'm watching the distance count down to around 10,000km and will click the Bookmark Submit button to create the perch.

Creating a perch is amplified by a key feature of the Stealth Bomber.  With a Stealth Bomber, when you decloak there is no target locking delay.  So when you warp onto your prey, if you are close to the prey or an object you will automatically decloak and can immediately start locking up the target.  This is quite satisfying.

From your perch, if your target has velocity, say orbiting an astroid or gas cloud, you can also time your attack to align and warp down to the target.  Landing with in time to decloak, lock and tackle.  From the perch you can also take your time to best determine the optimal window to make your attack.

A recent success of an intrepid salvaging Heron on a POCO in Pochven.

I had dscan'd the Heron and found it close to a POCO.  I warped to the POCO and prior to landing created a bookmark or perch.  Once I landed I then warped back to the newly created perch.  I observed the prey for a moment plotting my moment of darkness.  When the time was opportune I warped down to the target, decloaked, locked, and dispatched them back to their home station in known space.  Good times.

For now,

Be Well New Eden! 

New Eden gets some changes

September 9th, there was some updates unleashed upon New Eden.  Lots of ship changes as well as some environment and system changes.  There were even changes for Pochven and wormholes.  The trusty Stealth Bomber remained as is.

You can read all about the tweaks and twists here:  https://www.eveonline.com/news/view/legion-major-update

From the notes, I am curious about the changes to wormholes.  There is mention of an increase in connections.  Not great for the wormhole citizens if they like to lock the hole down to mine or run combat sites or whatever shenanigans they do.  But for a hunter, if more folks are out in wormholes then there are more opportunities for mayhem.

I will say that my preference for hunting has always been wormholes.  I've likely mentioned this before.  I tend to repeat myself from post to post.  BUT...  Wormholes can be pretty quiet and hard to find opportunities to engage on a consistent basis.  I've found Pochven to be a richer environment for targets as it is more contained in the 27 systems.  That said, maybe it's time to take a week or two and see what the wormhole landscape feels like.

In other news, I know I've been quiet here for the past week or so.  While I have not posted my activities or thoughts, I have been active.  I am in the shadows, lurking, waiting, patient.  I've been close a couple times to dispatching some prey.  I've had a Garmur warp in on a lonely target only to run my prey away.  I've found a Magnate at the sun looting containers that somehow eluded my grasp.  Some magic on his part.  I've combat scanned several explorers that are loose in the system, only to warp in to an empty location.  These are the slow times that make you appreciate your successes.  These are the times where the hunted begin to feel confident and comfortable, maybe even propagate and bring their bright eyed friends in with them.

The moral of the story, the prey can be over-hunted.  There needs to be balance.  There will be times the hunter is prevailing and there will be times the prey feel safe.  There is a need for both.

This is my 12th post in a month and a half.  A few more posts than my short run last year.  Bear with me dear reader.  I am still on this journey.  The quest is long.  The challenges plenty.  Provided that the prey is out in space I will find them.

For now,

Be Well New Eden!

Risk Taking

The very fact I am a cloaky hunter says something about my risk taking profile.  It's low, very low.  That said, there are times I kick myself for not jumping on an opportunity.

Within the nomadic Stealth Bomber hunting world, risk taking involves taking on more PVP oriented targets.  This includes gunnery or missile bonus ships as well as drone boats.  Drones are a bomber's worst nightmare.

So when taking risks I need to evoke my biggest advantage.  Stealth and surprise.  I hold the cards as to when I will engage and how.  I also need to be quick.  The faster I can eliminate the target the less likely they realize there is an issue, equally this will diminish their ability to call in reinforcements.

Violence. Speed. Momentum.  -  Dr. Disrespect

So, while doing the tour of Pochven I spotted a Kestrel at the sun.  I decided to see what a Kestrel was up to.  Often I see T1 frigates at the sun or in some special gated area.  I will ignore these mostly, but on this night my interest got the best of me.  Warping in to the Sun at range I made a perch about 700km off.  Perches are handy to pull you away from the field of battle, but also to allow you setup a warp in to the target if there is an object nearby to them.

Use the tools.  I pull up Zkill to review the pilot, their history, and see if I can find a fit used for the Kestrel.  I'd like to see what I'm getting myself into.  Maybe give myself an out.

In the middle of the research a Sunesis warps in and quickly cloaks on grid.  This scares the Kestrel away.  Bummer.  This does not scare me away.  I am intrigued.  I wait.  Not long and the Sunesis uncloaks and proceeds to salvage and scoop the wrecks of the NPCs that are in battle in Pochven.

A Sunesis can be spicy.  Potentially much worse than a Kestrel.  They get a drone damage benefit.  They can also be fit with rockets/missiles or gunnery.  Zooming in on the ship I see that this one seems to be only fit with salvagers.  A little Zkill research, but nothing found for a Sunesis loss on this character.  In the back of my mind the drones are still an issue, but I figure - Let's Do This!

From my perch I warp down to a grouping of wrecks.  Then once near the target I begin my approach.  It's not long and I have the Sunesis tackled and under attack.

Finishing the Sunesis, I am tickled that I also am able to capture the pod and collect a frozen corpse for a trophy.

A beautiful and colorful explosion for that pod.

So, in retrospect I am glad to have taken the risk.  My gamble paid off and I live on able to continue the hunt, seeking the next engagement.  I am grateful for the content provided by Jowemado Egivand.

For now,

Be Well New Eden!

The Competition

Right in front of my eyes, a fellow kindred spirit hunter stalking the same prey.  I had seen a Manticore a few systems back.  A lot of times folks will use Stealth Bombers to bring into Pochven to try and improve their standings with the Triglavians.  A Stealth Bomber is not the most efficient way to do this, but can be effective as you can certainly eliminate some NPC targets and potentially eliminate some player industrials if you are lucky enough to find them.  

For myself on that evening, not finding targets and soon forgetting the Manticore I continued my roam and search for targets.  As I was almost done for the evening I hopped into system and what did I see?

An Endurance.  Sadly the Endurance of a target I have already collected 3 corpse trophies from.  But an empty night and an empty few days so I will take what I can get.  I settle into my approach, the long 145km crawl towards the target.  Along the way I have time to admire the ship, his efforts and the mining laser.

Kinda dark and intimidating if it wasn't just an eager mining vessel doing their part to provide resources into New Eden.  As I near my prey, to my surprise...

It's the other Manticore.  They too have eyes for this Endurance.  And a bit ahead of me as they were already upon the target with me still 97km to go.  As fate would have it the prey was able to escape.  Seen here, note the Velocity.

Our fellow hunter likely saddened by the target simply warping away.  Likely our hunter with a single Warp Scrambler or possibly a single Warp Disrupter.  Our prey likely with a Warp Stabilizer and able to effectively negate the hunter's tackle effects and make their escape.

As you'll recall in my Unconventional Fits discussion, I have learned to utilize two Warp Scramblers in my setup.  One being a faction variant that has an enhanced feature to make my scram ability to be -5 and the target only able to be a +4 at best, commonly a +2.  A powerful lesson for the hunter.

I took a moment to see what the fellow hunter's engagement history looked like.  Using Zkill I was able to see what they used, how they commonly hunt, if they are solo or in groups.  Then I looked through the losses.  I found a few Stealth Bomber losses.  Notably a couple odd Nemesis fits that appeared to be configured for a tackle setup in a fleet.  Tackle being no real ability to damage the target, just hold them until the fleet can arrive to take the target down.

I did find one fit, quite similar to my unconventional fit, but our fellow hunter using two T2 Warp Scramblers, -4 at best.  

This likely good enough to hold the Endurance, but will lose a Venture if they are properly fit with a stabilizer.

So, an empty evening for me.  But some entertainment from watching the encounter.  Always good to know others are around.

For now,

Be Well New Eden!

Useful Tools - Zkillboard

When hunting, there are a number of tools available to assist, support, and maybe even enhance your experience.  One such notable tool is the Zkillboard(https://zkillboard.com/) or just Zkill.

This web portal has a long history for Eve Online.  It's loved by many.  Hated by some.  But a powerful source of intelligence.  It provides an offline portal to review player interactions(kills).  It also offers a lot of analysis and data analytics related to these interactions(....kills).  A daily, weekly, monthly, annually collection of activity as reported by the players.  The information within only the tip of the iceberg.

For me it serves a number of beneficial roles.  It provides a record of player vs. player events that I took part in at a point in time in-game.  A nice log of history for successes and failures.  It also provides a reference for me to review ships and fits.  To see how players are either successful or not with a fit and function of a particular ship.  

As a tool, it provides me with a view of player performance, specifically my targets.  What do they commonly fly?  Do they they win or lose?  When they lose I get a glimpse at the fit.  Do they fly solo or in groups?  If in groups, what is their role?

All of this information for a simple Venture, Prospect, or Endurance and recently for Herons.  All this provides some insight into what is potentially awaiting.  Is my target a creature of habit? Are their fits something that will quickly succumb to my Stealth Bomber platform or choice?  Or will my target have teeth making my job a challenge or chore?  Worse yet, will my target get the best of me with a fit that has an unexpected edge?

All of this detail packaged neatly in the Zkill history of my target.  Easily accessed in the moments prior to my attack.  Giving me the confidence or concern to engage or hold off.  I recommend this tool to be used during your encounters and engagements.  Give yourself a potential edge.  Also, enjoy a moment in time that reflects an encounter or engagement.

More tools are out there, I'll try to cover more of my favorites in the future.

For now,

Be Well New Eden!

A Speed Bump on the Filamenting Highway to High Security

Recently, and thanks to slowing down my visits into each system into Pochven, I find a lot of exploration frigates in odd locations within the system.  These intrepid explorers are not sitting on any known celestials.  They are sitting in a safe location, but uncloaked out in space.

I was initially convinced they were at scanned signatures like wormholes or maybe a data or relic site.  Eventually they would then just disappear off the scanner never to be seen again.

Being nomadic, I am able to setup a combat scanner.  So I figured I would combat scan one to see what they were doing.  An important risk of Combat Scanning is scaring away the prey.  If they are busy, they might not notice the combat scanning probes.  But if paying attention they will scurry off.

On the first occasion I scanned down the Heron. and then cautiously warped over to the ship at range.  This lead to a failed capture as I was too far from the ship and could only see the filament gate open and witness a disappearing act.  My trepidation lead to a missed opportunity.

On another occasion during an evening roam I find a Heron on dscan.  I see that the ship is close to a customs office, so warp over to see if they are near or at a safe.  As I land I see the filament already running and, like the time before, they are already jumping through the portal.  Another disappearing act.

But, my luck is about to change.  Yes another evening and I am doing a thorough run through a system.  I found a Heron on dscan out in the middle of space.  Not wanting to miss this one I went to a safe location away from their scanning range and quickly refit for combat scanning.  

Luckily they did not seem to be paying attention as I was able to scan them down, return the fit of my ship to combat configuration and warp to their location. The filament portal was just opening as I landed and the Heron was about 200km away.  Just far enough to warp down to the target and quickly eliminate the ship.  I also acquired a trophy.

Finally. Third time was indeed a charm.  Adding to my glee I was also able to score a bonus kill in the next system over with another Heron that was just lingering on the gate.

Taking some extra time in each system to see what is lingering out in space has provided some extra opportunities.  I am grateful.

For now,

Be Well New Eden!

Circle of Life

Within New Eden there is a food chain.  There are capsules that occupy the bottom and those that stand on top.  This food chain is influenced by the N + 1, player aptitude, ability, skill, planning and just dumb lock.  To better define the N + 1, and outside an individual capsuleer skill set, the larger fleets or player groups will generally prevail over smaller ones.  Even if the smaller is of greater skill.  Not always, but in general.

As a solo nomad living the cloaky lifestyle I am resolved to the fact I will fall victim to larger groups or better players.  I am within the food chain.  But, thanks to my cloak, I am not the bottom rung.

A while back I was trying different Stealth Bomber hulls.  I had completed a number of circuits throughout Pochven in the Hound and was ready to trial the Purifier.  I made a trip to Jita and set myself up with a shiny new Purifier, the Blaster/Rocket combo.  New ammo, cargo, the works.  Not even a scratch on the paint.

I filamented back into Pochven and began to roam the circuit.  At some point, a lucky mining Prospect was found.  Lucky really only for me.  Following my well established process I evaporated the Prospect into oblivion.  But then...

A Rapier was also on grid cloaked along with me.  Likely this Rapier had also seen the Prospect and had the same plans as I.  Well, the Rapier turned my new Purifier into scrap.  Well played.  Later as I reviewed the Prospect and Purifier I pieced together a funny chain of events.  The hunter had become the hunted, and then repeated, and repeated.  The Rapier pilot was caught shortly by a Loki.

The Loki not just satisfied with the Rapier also caught a Venture.  But likely to his surprise was then eliminated minutes later by a Vedmak and Ferox combo.

The Vedmak was eliminated about 14 hours later to a small gang.

The Circle of Life playing out in real time.  And I was just a small cog in that wheel.  A cog near the beginning, but a cog nonetheless.

Likely this happens frequently.  Maybe not within minutes of each event.  We help our targets to remember that they and we are all part of this circle.  Our targets make our hunt fulfilling and necessary.  The eliminations make this universe what it is, risky and costly, but also gratifying.  Pretty deep.  

For now,

Be Well New Eden

Thinking Out Loud - Patience

During the course of this campaign if have sought to evolve my tactics.  Historically I would nervously hop from system to system and then belt to belt looking for unsuspecting targets.  Traversing 9 systems without any targets of opportunity would be defeating.  Often sadly parking at a Safe location and logging off for the evening.

Lately I've been experimenting with spending a bit more time in a single system.  Watching the system ebb and flow with the potential of flora and fauna passing through.  Some visitors making targets of opportunity and others outside of my engagement profile.  Spending a bit of time on a gate, noting the direction of travel and how the visitor conducts themselves.  Similar to wormholes, the visitors and residents of Pochven can behave erratically, unexpectedly, even odd.

In learning more about the habits and behaviors of my targets I have developed greater patience.  I will watch my prey get setup on a rock only to immediately warp away.  I've seen them get spooked and cloaking up near the rock, then feeling safe they decloak and return to work.  They do need to periodically offload their ore cargo to a station, a logical explanation.  But, ideally they will return to the ore belt to continue mining.

The other day, while patiently hunting for targets of opportunity, I found a Venture.  Not surprisingly when I landed at the ore belt and started creeping toward the target they warped off.  Hoping they would just be offloading cargo to a station I waited.  To my delight they returned, but seemed to pick a rock in the exact opposite direction I was traveling.  No problem, I'll reset my position.  Then, to my dismay, they again immediately warped off.  Patience.  I figured I would reset once again and sit just off the warp in location in hopes of their return.  They did.

It's worth pointing out at this time that there is a 15 minute cloak stabilization timer that exists in Pochven.  This means that you have 15 minutes that you can remain cloaked before there is a chance(most likely you will) that you will decloak.  This just involves a bit of management for the stabilization timer, how long it will take to stalk your prey, and a strategic use of a safe location to reset your cloak.  Hunters take note.

As my cloak stabilization timer was almost done I needed to warp to a safe to reset my stabilization timer before being able to stalk my prey on grid.  When I returned the Venture was gone.  F--k.  I figured I would wait a bit and hope for a return.  It paid off.

Unfortunately I did not acquire the trophy pod kill.  But, my patience did yield the desired result.  As did my stealth and minding the various factors that play against the cloaky camper.  This is what the cloaky hunter lives for, a successful capture and kill.  Thank you Marlon Houston for your content.

For now,

Be Well New Eden

Unexpected Ships - Unconventional Fits

Just to explore this topic a bit further.  And not to take from the Stealth Bomber platform, but an idea arose that I would use a Procurer to hunt my prey.  I've seen this before, but never attempted it.  I figured a wolf in sheep's clothing.  Unsuspecting to the prey, or any eyes watching as you enter and depart the Pochven loop of gates.  An additional bonus, 12.5k m3 of cargo space to carry any mining ore dropped from your target.

I reviewed option for Blasters and Autocannons, even Rockets.  In the end the DPS output of the Blasters seemed to be the best.  The only negative is that you need to be very close to your prey.  Not terrible, but in practice if the prey is Afterburner(AB) fit they can make things drag out a bit as they can range themselves slight out of your optimal DPS range.

In addition to the Ore Cargo space, there are a couple other benefits.  The movement speed of the ship while cloaked is about 100m/s faster than the Stealth Bomber.  So while cloaked with your prey you can get into position for tackle much quicker.  Also the total EHP of your ship is about 2x that of the Stealth Bomber.  This adds to your survivability.

Now the negatives.  The DPS of the ship was about 3/4 of the Stealth Bomber's unconventional fit with Blasters and Rockets.  This proves negative as it will take longer to dispatch your prey, and longer uncloaked with them allowing the other hunters to see you and make haste to your location.  Also the cargo capacity of the ship is about half of the Stealth Bomber.  Not a huge deal, but this means you'll need to make frequent visits to a station to drop off any loot from your conquests.

Let's take a look at the fit:

Putting this fit to use I was able to bring it into Pochven and complete a successful hunt.  As with hunting in Pochven it can take some time to find a target.  But a target arrived and was dispatched by the hunting Prospect.

Sadly this kill took about 2.5 minutes from tackle to explosion.  A few errors on my part as I was not used to the lock time delay of the Prospect.  Equally the speed of the ship differed from my normal.  Lastly the target was orbiting a rock and was able to retain some speed.  Remember the proximity to prey is very important for this fit.  At some point I almost lost the prey as it burned out of my tackle range.  I was able to recover though.  A consolation prize was that I also received a trophy(frozen corpse).  Thank you Lochmere for your content!

So a bit of experimentation and trying something new.  An appreciation for what I am familiar with and how effective it is.  A learning lesson from trying something new.  Also some skills development to mind the speed and position of the prey and ensure it remains secured.

As always,

Be Well New Eden!

Stealth Bombers - Unconventional Fits

During my time hunting in both Pochven and Wormholes I've run across targets that have evaded my grasp.  Literally slipped away from near death.  Ventures are the most likely candidate to evade my grasp as they have a +2 inherent warp core strength.  Often the savvy venture pilot opting to further my misery by adding a Warp Core Stabilizer and add an addition +2 to their ship's warp core strength.

To counter this I initially went from a Warp Disrupter to a Warp Scrambler.  Then dual Warp Scramblers.  Now I employ the dual Warp Scramblers, but I have opted for the Dread Gurista variant that offers a -3.  This brings my capture ability to a -5 and my prey only a +4.

This brings about another issue for me in the trusty Stealth Bomber.  Application of damage.  Since Torpedos are intended for larger ships, the damage application is somewhat poor on small ships.  If you can keep them still and utilize Target Painter II or similar modules you can bloom their signature radius up to levels that make your damage application greatly improved.  Also adding some Small Rigor Catalyst rigs will further that signature increase.

My dilemma, if you will, is that employing the dual scrams will remove a target painter and thus reduce the signature radius increases I am counting on.  This dilemma is further amplified on the Hound and Purifier Stealth Bombers as they only offer 3 mid-slots each.  So dual scrams and a propulsion mod and no room left for the target painter.

Being a crafty hunter I wanted to fly the Hound and Purifier, mostly as they are Stealth Bombers and very cool, but needed an option to tackle my prey while still getting the damage application needed.  The solution, utilize smaller weapons.  I found a fit that uses Light Neutron Blaster II's along with Rocket II's.  So no need for the target painting nor Small Rigor Catalysts.  This allows the use of the dual scrams and a prop mod.

In the field, this setup was extremely effective on my unsuspecting targets.  The damage is enough to quickly dispatch their ship.  I'm able to hold them down.  And I benefit from a larger cargo hold to abscond away with any loot dropped from their exploded ship.  Winning!

Here is a Hound fit:

The Purifier is exactly the same, as the High, Mid, Low slot layouts are all the same.  The Power Grid and CPU usage is very minimal so no fitting issues either.  The Manticore fit differs slightly as the Manticore and Nemesis have 4 Mid slots and 2 Low slots vs. the 3 Mid and 3 Low of the Hound/Purifier.  For the Manticore I remove the Damage Control II from the Low and swap in a Small Shield Extender II in the Mid.  The outcome is about the same total Effective Hit Points(EHP).

The Blaster/Rocket combo is so effective I've even managed to take down Mining Barges.  I believe the added EHP gives a small boost in confidence to endure the drones of a Mining Barge while the lower DPS takes a bit longer to see their ship explode.  Ideally the Torpedos would be used on a Mining Barge...but you never know what you will encounter out in the wild.

Until we meet again,

Be Well New Eden!

Stealth Bombers - Conventional Fits

So, traditionally the Stealth Bomber is a missile boat that is capable of fitting Battleship size Torpedos.  This allows the ship to dish out a substantial amount of damage an unsuspecting target of opportunity.  The damage is best dealt to larger ships as the smaller ships will receive a reduced amount due to their signature radius.  So even though the damage output reads a high value, the application of this damage to smaller targets is only a fraction of that output.  The speed of the target will also force damage application to reduce as the explosion radius now plays a role in the damage applied.

Knowing the details of how damage is applied to targets, the game of fitting your Bomber is now at play.  You'll need to setup and understand your targets to engage.  If smaller targets you will need to fit modules that will increase signature radius and allow greater damage application.  If industrial hulls, then likely damage application will not be an issue and you'll want a bit of damage mitigation via your own propulsion and speed tanking or possible some modules to inhibit the targets.

The Bomber can be very effective solo.  Very.  Effective.

As I began my adventures in Pochven(and Wormholes previously) I used a more conventional fit on the Bomber.  Torpedos and some modules to tackle and improve target signature radius as my targets of opportunity will be exploration, industrial, and mining ships.  Potentially I'll target some T1 Frigates and Destroyers that I find are fit with Salvagers, since they will generally be lower risk.

In my solo efforts I generally like to fit Arbalest Torpedo Launchers and utilize the Caldari Navy Torpedos.  Cal Navy Torpedos have some bonuses to damage application, but a bit less damage to target in total.  

Tech II Torpedos and Polarized Torpedos have their arenas to shine, an example of a Polarized fit.

Be wary of incoming DPS in this fit.  There are no resists with a Polarized fit, so if your target has teeth you need to be quick.

Since I'm hunting smaller ships I will utilize the Small Rigor Catalyst rigs to naturally beef up the target's Sig Radius and, you guessed it, improve damage application.  I would ideally like to fit two Target Painters, but...as I've learned a number of times...Ventures can evade tackle as they have a +2 and the experienced Venture pilots will also fit Warp Stabelizers that add another +2 for a total of +4.  A single Warp Scrambler is -2, with two modules providing a -4.  To ensure you lock down your target you'll want to utilize a Faction Warp Scrambler, my preference the Dread Gurista Warp Scrambler that has a -3.  This brings our ability to lock down targets at a -5 and the target's most possible a +4.  We win.

For the most part I have good results with this setup.  As well, this is my preferred setup for Wormhole hunting as you never know what you'll encounter and having the damage can be a benefit.

Some recommendations, since we are nomadic:

1. Mobile Depot to refit
2. Armor and Hull Repair modules, should the worst occur and you can't make it to a Low or High Security station to repair.
3. Nanite Paste to repair modules that have been overheated
4. Expanded Probe Launcher with some Combat Probes.  For the odd ship left hanging in space or whatever combat scanning needs.

The Manticore and Nemesis are best used with this conventional fit and damage application enhancements.  This due to the Manticore and Nemesis having 4 Mid Slots.  The Purifier and Hound with 3 Mid Slots and the target tackling with some damage application enhancements becomes tough.

The Purifier and Hound have their chance to shine in the Unconventional Fits that I'll introduce in the future.

As you succeed and fail in your hunting endeavors you'll refine your fit and module swaps.  Just know your prey will equally be adjusting their fit and tactics so this is an evolving give and take.  Ideally I can take more than I give, but loss is the best teacher.

For now,

Be Well New Eden

Continuing the Hunt

Even though the landscape has changed, the goal has not.  In Pochven we continue a key benefit we enjoyed in Wormholes, we don't appear in local.  We gain a pre-defined hunting territory of 27 systems, although only 24 are accessible by gate with the remaining 3 systems being accessible by gate if the character standings are high enough.  Ours are not.  These 3 systems, the Home systems, are still accessible by filament inbound to Pochven, but once we exit into the loop systems we can't return via gate.

I find that setting up loops seems to keep things intersting.  I traverse system to system seeking targets.  Notably some systems are large enough to accommodate safe spots and off-grid staging points.  Still other systems are no larger than then extents of dscan ranges and there is really no safe location.

I generally will online in a larger system from a safe location.  Have a look around that system, then begin chaining the systems looking for targets.  I do this for a set period of time and if no targets of opportunity I'll find a system I can stage in the for the evening and camp overnight in the ship.  Then, the next day, rinse and repeat.

I like to keep my schedule variable.  A good trait in hunting, don't be predictable.  The prey seem to evolve over time, often improving themselves as the fall victim to whatever hunter and hunting tactic.  So, best to keep things fresh, keep the prey on their toes, bring a nice big surprise for all involved.

I will note that when doing wormhole hunting I employed the same tactics.  I would nomadically stage in various wormholes.  I found more targets that were surprised and unprepared when I came from nowhere with the system mostly scanned and their location already pinpointed.

One such example as we embarked on this journey:

Caught by surprise.  A satisfying moment as most successful captures are.  This one with the added bonus of a frozen corpse trophy.  Podding is an extra spark of glee that provides a definitive evidence that this encounter occurred and that the target was indeed eliminated and reset to its starting point.  Some targets don't take this well.  Some targets disappear without as much as a grunt.  Fear not traveler, your frozen corpse is retained in a collection of trophies, preserved for all time, in an extremely safe vault, on display for my periodic enjoyment.  Thank you for your content Headhunter17, be seeing you again shortly!

For now,

Be Well New Eden!

Let's Try This Again...

As with all things in Eve Online there are endings and beginnings, but likely we are never truly done.  It's been 1 year since my last update.  Admittedly my chosen path had become difficult to achieve results.  The long periods without interactions started to drain my interest.

On a good note, I'm back.  As well, there is an area of New Eden that has kept me reasonable entertained.  This area offers the same characteristics of wormholes, but the added benefit of 27 interconnected systems.  Of course, I'm referring to Pochven.

(Image Credit: PochvenPotograhper found on Reddit here)

I'll kick off this series with a focus on Pochven.  I'm still dispatching New Eden's cruelty in my favorite frigate, the Stealth Bomber.  I will however be operating via a different character, Brul Kulevra.  Brul is no stranger to Pochven, in fact years prior had success traversing the territory and delivering sweet carnage to unsuspecting mining vessels.

Hunting in Pochven provides some nice opportunities to hunt in both conventional and unconventional fits for Stealth Bombers.  Conventional being Torpedos and unconventional being a rocket/blaster combo.  Both have some advantages and disadvantages.  I'll walk through some details in the future as we navigate this portion of the adventure.

We also have some opportunities to discuss survival tactics as well as engagement risks.  Pochven is quite lively and we are not the only hunters here.  As well, we are nomadic and there are many making their home here.

Our targets will be the ships that have limited capacity to punch back.  Mostly mining frigates and barges.  We will also see some frigate and destroyers setup to loot and salvage wrecks.  These can be juicy targets with limited capacity to fight back.  We will play to our advantages here.

The opening salvo(March 2025):

This capture was found as I was exiting Pochven and headed into High Security space for a Jita trade hub run.  Spotting this opportunity I quickly determined the Ore anomaly and crept upon our unsuspecting target.  No pod as a trophy, but a nice welcome back to cloaky hunting.  Thank you for your content Andeeznuts.  Odd name.  Is it 'and these nuts' or 'Andy's nuts'?

I'll dig into my hunting ship of choice as well as the fit in a future update.  This will be considered an unconventional fit for a Stealth Bomber.  Unconventional but effective.

For now,

Be Well New Eden!