Tactical Busting – A New PVP Tactic Created by Phoebe

busted2Ever since the Phoebe Expansion was released people have been discussing the new Force Projection changes and how they will effect the universe, the coalitions, and PVP as a whole.

Personally, I am seeing a glimpse of the effects in my own region of space (Syndicate) where the big Coalitions are now unable to hold their valuable moons against small and medium size Alliances, instead choosing to not show up to the majority of the timers. A quick look at the Goon killboard confirms this with a noticeable increase in Control Tower losses.

It's no longer possible for CFC or any other coalition to own moons more than three capital jumps from their homes.

But, Force Projection wasn't the only thing to change in Phoebe. Another interesting change was ability to see and click bookmarks in space.

This change while seemingly unimportant allows for a whole new set of PVP tactics, one of which is something I'm calling Tactical Busting (or perhaps Gate Rigging?).

Before I explain what this tactic is, we should take a second to discuss the background...

When you travel through null it's important to never warp gate to gate in systems that may be bubbled. This is especially true in entrance/exit systems that connect High or Low Sec to Null Sec because they are the most likely to be bubbled.

To combat this you can warp to a Planet, Customs Office, or Belt near the gate and then run directional to confirm there isn't a HIC or Interdictor with a bubble up, then warp down to the gate and avoid the anchored bubbles because you are coming in from a different angle.

If you find your self traveling through that system or PVPing in the system often then you would put one or several Tactical Bookmarks on the gate so you could warp to it and land 200-300km from the Gate and avoid the bubbles.

From this perch you can then warp down to a bubble, the gate, a wreck, or whatever else you want to get a fight or just jump out of the system.

These are called Gate Tactical or in some circles "Perches."

The name "Perch" is an interesting name because it describes a Tactical that is typically above the Gate. In fact, I have found that there is a very large bias towards placing Tacticals above the Gate rather that below or to the side.

My guess is that people prefer to look down on their enemies rather than up at them.

In the past I noticed this and started always placing at least one (if not 2 or 3) Tacticals above a gate so I could catch people who had a false sense of security sitting at a Tactical that just happened to be where I had placed mine.

This has gotten me quite a few Tackles and Kills in the past but it was always difficult because I could not see the Tacticals to know if they were close to where the enemy was. The best I could do was to align to it and see if my ship moved toward the enemy.

So before Phoebe this tactic was an Educated Guessing game, that was very hit or miss.

However, the ability to see Tacticals in space changes that completely. Now you can see if the enemy is near your Tactical or perhaps even 30km short of it so you can warp to the Tactical at 30km and catch him.

But that's not all... We can exaggerate this tactic and make it even better!

What if we put 20, 30, 50, or even 100 Bookmarks around a gate in every direction?

Well my fellow PVPer, you just created a grid where you have the God Mode ability to warp where ever you want and catch everyone who uses Tacticals on that gate.

To help illustrate this I have created a video for you...

Watch Full Screen 1080p

PRO TIPS:

1. This is a new tactic to the universe. I have been around long enough to see these things play out and know that it will be most effective now then as people learn about it (get killed by it) they will make adjustments and find ways to avoid it. First Movers will reap the biggest rewards.

2. If a pilot is paying attention and aligned (you should always be aligned) then it will still be difficult to catch him. You can give your self an advantage by exploiting the Stealth Bomber's bonus that removes it's locking delay after uncloaking. Simply fit a Warp Scrambler to a Stealth Bomber and then throw as much EHP Tank on it as you can. Next, warp your stealth bomber to the Tactical nearest your enemy, approach to within 5km, uncloak, and warp scram him. All that's left to do then is warp to the bomber pilot and kill the target.

About the author

In 2010 Abbadon21 was the first person to create Narrated Instructional PVP videos for EVE Online. This started a new era of EVE Online and opened up high level "PRO" PVP to everyone. Abbadon21 is also the Founder of EVEProGuides.com, which is EVE Online's oldest and most trusted source for high quality PRO Guides.