Bookmarking

Its higly important in 0.0, it can easily become a garbled mess, its boring.
Get some tips on Bookmarking here from Lumenarious Rex.

Props to you Sir for the top guide.

Provi Update + I fail

I'm sorry I've been fail in Eve recently and done nothing interesting, last night I chased a few frigs about and watched a 20 BS Gents gang sail through WD-VTV from the safety of a POS but thats about it. To be honest I need cash and making cash is dull so I end up mooching about in a Rifter instead. Unfortunately I'm also rubbish at finding targets so this would make painfully dull reading.

Proviwar.
A couple of things happened this weekend.
The P6N8-J constellation now belongs to Sodalitas XX (I don't know).
The  XV7L-S constellation is now owned by Sodalitas XX & Daisho Syndicate with Ushra'Khan taking the last system, the gateway of KBP7-G.
This means there are now no Empire exit systems out of Providence that are friendly to CVA.

Things I've learnt
I need to roam more as I'm still very bad at it.
I need to stop buying ships off my ex-corpmate Titus Balls.
Sitting in an enemy ratting system cloaked up while they all cower in a POS shield is surprisingly fun.

Moar Proviwar

Summers coming, that means I get to do loads of fun things like sort out the shitheap that is my garden and try to make room for the inevitable slew of new outdoor toys my kids will get (by throwing out last years).
WTF has this got to do with Eve? Nothing really I'm just making a weak excuse as to why I've not been on much recently *hides copy of Bad Company 2*.

"So what's been going on with that wacky Proviwar?" I hear you all ask... well I would if anyone cared any more.
The Anti Providence task force of U'K, AAA, Atlas and friends attacked the P6N8-J constellation. All 6 system of it. Currently owned by Cold Steel Alliance its a pretty nice constellation with 1 way in and out and some ripe bearing grounds with an (0.48) low sec entrance a mere 2 jumps away which is always nice for shipping out your hard earned rat loot.
In other provi news there's been a steady flow of freighters taking stuff out of various parts of provi as the..erm..less combat orientated corps. decided this isn't the place for them and get out with what they can and occasionally failing.
 Its not all been going our way though with some good gangs being put together fast and messing about with our system lockdown plans while stuffs evacuated.

TL:DR MOAR FIGHTS!

What I've learnt
My shed smells bad.
Don't pick on an EWar frigate in a Rifter if he has friends nearby (I couldn't lock anything and only just escaped with 28% structure).
Medium Projectiles V - Woooooooo

Master & Commander

At the tender Eve age of 5mil skillpoints yesterday I FC a gang.
WTF!

I never intended in a million years to lead the Op. I made a forum post for a Corp. Tech 1 frigate/cruiser roam to try and get some people out hunting with the naive believe someone else would step up to the mark and take charge rather than letting me (who still has not got a solo kill) run the show, and with the wall to wall CTA's Eve's been serious business pretty much since I joined MSCS way back in November so I've had very little social time with my Corp-mates and wanted to get out and have some fun together.

The appointed date came and no-one seemed to take charge...oh dear. I hastily prepared a rough roaming route and read everything I could about FC'ing gangs on our alliance forums (sorry no links) before shatting myself and setting up a fleet.
1 stabber and 4 Rifters (including my Rifter) with another roamer going to catch up soon, so I wasn't too worried about loosing everyone's ships as we set off up the pipe to CB4.
Then Dan Grommel caught up...in a Dramiel. Dry mouth time.
To be fair to Dan he had said on the forum could he take his Dram, but I thought he was joking and replied sure as long as he didn't mind loosing it. The prospect of him actually loosing it and it being my fault was not a happy thought.
The very next system our scout reported he'd got point on a Myrmadon so we all warped in guns blazing and he went down (Congratulations to the enemy guy in a Rifter who warped straight on by and jumped through the gate without helping him. Bravo to you Sir) .
My first kill as an FC, I was pretty chuffed at this point.
Then the inevitable happened. My 2 year old Son woke up and, me being the only parent in the house, I had to bail pronto. Really sorry to the guys in my corp.

In all honesty I did barely anything here and was really FC in name only. This kind of roam is the bread and butter of what U'K do and the same guys could do it with there eyes closed and probably do a better job too. But it was a big confidence booster to me to do it and know that they were willing to let me boss em around a bit and also that I had the security of knowing that they all knew what they were doing and would (and indeed did) offer up advice without ever undermining my 'position' as FC. Thanks a lot guys.

p.s The gang roamed a bit more taking down a Vaga before calling it a night.

Ratting, its a bears life.

Not had much time for this with the recent Proviwar activities but at some point you need to make isk, its a fact of Eve life, and the "easiest" way I can do that in 0.0 is by ratting. Bounties + salvage+ loot = isk.

Anomly Vs belt
Initially all my ratting was in asteroid belts which is fast, easy to start (warp to a belt...oh look there's some rats) and simple enough. I'd clean up afterwards with a salvager (giving me some repair time) and move to the next belt. This had a few drawbacks for me.
Cargo space - I'd quickly run out of places to put loot.
DPS - I was leaving 1-2 highslots for Salvagers which was eating into potential DPS.
A bit boring - it was boring.
I don't have an alt so the often used technique of having a dedicated salvager 1 belt behind picking up all the goodies is not an option for me and I find clearing the belts then coming back in a salvage ship tends to lead to meeting new rat spawns in a ship with no guns and a terrible tank.

So recently I've bee trying anomalies instead. The bonus' are I can charge in all highslots blazing then once the smokes cleared I can dock up, swap to a dedicated salvage ship and do all the salvage in 1 swoop. The downside tends to be the bounties aren't as nice as the belt rats (for the level of anomaly I can solo).

My Ratting Boat
This is the current setup I use (its a Sansha rat area so Thermic and EMP tanked) and I tend to burn in close and do max dps on the biggest ships while either sending the drones after frigs or adding to my DPS. I can perma run 1 of the reps but the other is for emergency use (usually in tandem with the cap booster), and I cant run 2 Heavy launchers just yet, hence the mixing..
----------------------------
[Hurricane, current]
N-Type Reflective Membrane I
N-Type Thermic Membrane I
N-Type Thermic Membrane I
Damage Control I
Medium Armor Repairer I
'Meditation' Medium Armor Repairer I

Medium Capacitor Booster I, Cap Booster 400
10MN MicroWarpdrive I
Cap Recharger II
Cap Recharger II

425mm AutoCannon I, Phased Plasma M
425mm AutoCannon I, Phased Plasma M
425mm AutoCannon I, Phased Plasma M
425mm AutoCannon I, Phased Plasma M
425mm AutoCannon I, Phased Plasma M
425mm AutoCannon I, Phased Plasma M
Heavy Missile Launcher I, Widowmaker Heavy Missile
Standard Missile Launcher I, Flameburst Light Missile

Hobgoblin I x3
----------------------------

I can solo "Rally Point" anomalies fine and, with the odd warpout, I can do a 'named' Rally Point anomaly (Forsaken Rally Points seem to give good BS spawns but I can have difficulty tanking the damage).
One thing I have been thinking of trying Artillery instead of autocannons but I've not though up a fit yet, also I finish Medium Projectile Weapons V on Friday so I can upgrade to T2 guns after that (yay).
But as always more = better and any way people can suggest for me to rake in more ratting Isk quicker is always welcome.

I have also been thinking of trying out a few wormhole sites as and when they crop up locally so any suggestions for an omni-tank Hurricane also gratefully received.

Whats been going on in the Provi war?

Seems like the initial excitement over the war in Providence has died down (now the interesting initial moves have finished) and there's no exciting and huge battles to talk about so I'll keep this brief.
Continuing after the AM sov fail handed UK 3D-CQU, as much as the servers tried to stop us-

• Sylph disbanded - lol - this gifted N-8BZ6 to U'K
• Combined -A- & U'K forces took the gateway systems of G-5EN2 and Y-MPWL with Sys-K following shortly taking  R3-K7K . This leaves the Provi block 1 gateway out of the region at KBP7-G.

So currently our blues hold the majority of ways in and out of Provi which is a serious setback to the holders and numbers of reds to hunt are dwindling day by day .
I cant really comment on the operations to take the gateways as they generally happened while I was at work (damn you 'real life') but very few reports of battle have filtered through our forums and it seems Provi are opting for a "don't give em fights and they'll get bored" strategy. To be fair the CTA's I have been on recently were almost universally dull which has dampened my enthusiasm to log on till 3am for a good fight, so maybe its working.

Things I learnt
I like Target Painters and flying Ewar frigates.
I can run 2 medium armour reppers on my ratting Hurricane which is kinda cool.

Keeping the Vigil

Being a newbie in 0.0 space can be a bit of an ego hit during fleet operation. You're always taking the last possible option in the suggested ship types and get to take part in the kamekazee role of light fast takle, made all the harder if you have lag, which interceptors will do faster and (T2 fit) cruisers will survive longer. This often leaves me wondering if there isnt something more effective I can do even with my noob skillset.

The other day I noticed a stash of Vigils in the corp hanger and I hatched an idea in my tiny mind. Its not heroic, its not butch and macho but I could sit back and targetpaint primaries and contribute by boosting DPS for everyone else so I took the road less travelled of the T1 E-war frigate.

[Vigil, Vigil Fleet Painter ]
Capacitor Power Relay I
Capacitor Power Relay I
Signal Amplifier I

Cold-Gas I Arcjet Thrusters
Target Painter I
Target Painter I

125mm Gatling AutoCannon I, EMP S
125mm Gatling AutoCannon I, EMP S
Rocket Launcher I, Foxfire Rocket

[empty rig slot]
[empty rig slot]
[empty rig slot]


Warrior I x1

Its pretty straightforward really, 2 painters in the mids to do the main business of the ship with a 1MW mwd letting me cruise at 3,500 m/s. The capacitor power relays keep everthing nice and cap stable while the sensor ap means I can lock targets out to 70ish km (which is just short of my target painting range).
I should be staying out of trouble but just in case I have the awesome power of 2 125mm AC's, Rockets and one whole Warrior 1 to fend off any would be attackers (they might be able to help against any drones sent to attack me atleast).
I know its got no tackle but my thinking is to stay as near max range as possible so I don't really want to be venturing in that close and putting my paper thin ship in any more risk.

Only used it in 1 fleet fight so far and it was pretty (very) uneventful so I'll take any and all suggestions.