The following is the last draft submitted to EON for my Insider's guide to Fleet Warfare. This is the complete draft including instructions on layout and other details, as well the body text. It is quite interesting to compare how the published article differs from the draft and how the editor's hand has been applied!

This article is quite old now and some of the details are out of date now. I may get round to updating that and create a new guide, but for the timebeing I thought I'd share here.

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INSIDER'S GUIDE TO FLEET WARFARE

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"Carmichael floated in the capsule's bioplasma, his enhanced jacked-up cortex awash with multispectral input from his ship's sensor arrays. With deepening awe he witnessed the formation of the attack fleet, eyes wide as over two hundred pilots gathered at the rendezvous point. He smiled as best he could in the confines of his pod. This was what he had trained for. This was what he had been missing. This was war."

//note: This is a bit long but if that isn't satisfactory, ask Nyphur for another replacement intro.

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TEXT: Arrs Grazznic
When he's not running missions at the speed of light, Arrs Grazznic can be found on the front lines of war fleets out on the frontiers of 0.0.

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//Note: Feel free to change any of the subheadings if you have a better idea

For many players, fleet warfare is EVE's 'end game', the pinnacle of what the game has to offer. Massive fights that decide the holders of space and the future of alliances. For others, it is simply an unplayable lag-fest with little purpose or enjoyment. In this guide, I intend to show you how to be a good fleet pilot and some of the tricks and tips you can use to reduce lag and improve your fighting efficiency.

The Infantry

So what makes a good fleet pilot? Some less than helpful capsulers will simply tell you to "STFU and do what you're told, nubbi", but once you get into the heat of battle there will be no one telling you exactly what it is you'll need to do. You will have to rely on your experience and knowledge and how these tie into the overall tactics of your fleet. To make sure you function well as a part of the fleet, there are several things you need to understand. You need to know your position within the fleet hierarchy and how this relates to what you should say and do. You also need to know what ships you should bring to the fight and the best way to fit those ships out. Finally, once the battle starts, you will need to know how to use those ships to best effect.

Fleet Organisation

When flying in a fleet, you will have a Fleet Commander (FC) who will be directing the actions of the fleet as a whole. The FC will be issuing orders and manoeuvring the fleet to accomplish certain goals. While controlling the fleet as a single entity, the FC will not be telling individual pilots what to do; rather he will be instructing specific groups of ships to complete certain tasks.

There are a number of other common roles or positions within a fleet that work to assist the FC. Covert ops pilots will relay tactical information to the FC to allow him to make decisions on the best course of action. Target callers identify targets for the rest of the fleet when presented with multiple hostile ships. Target callers tend to be more experienced fleet pilots who know how the FC is likely to react and can assist by correcting picking the appropriate targets.

Want to be in my gang?

Many fleets make use of EVE's gang system. There are a number of benefits to doing this, including the ability to issue specific orders to the fleet, warp the whole or parts of the fleet as a single entity and distribute bonuses to the fleet members. Each corporation and alliance has it's own rules for how you join a gang, but the most common mechanism for joining a gang is to 'x up' by typing an 'x' in your corporation or alliance chat channels. This is sometimes followed by important information about your ship type or role, optimal range, tank type and leadership skills.

A detailed gang join request tells the FC what ships he has available to him and where his fleet is located. An experienced FC will be able to gauge his fleet's capabilities based on the provided information and assess effectiveness of the pilots in a number of scenarios. Ship and leadership skill information allows the people pulling the gang together to optimally allocate pilots to the right wings and squads and ensures that pilots receive the most appropriate bonuses relating to their role and ship types.

When you ask to join a gang, you may find that the FC will ask you to change the ship you are flying. Be prepared to accommodate your FC in these requests as he will have specific ideas of what he wants to accomplish and the ships he will need. Also be prepared do drop your CSPA charges - no one wants to pay for the privilege of having you in their gang!

Ship Roles

There are several roles for fleet pilots, all of which need to be filled for a fully flexible and effective fleet. The most basic roles in fleets fall into one of three categories, namely damage dealers, tacklers and anti-tacklers. The basic principle is that the tacklers hold the enemy damage dealers in place while the friendly damage dealers shoot them. At the same time the anti-tacklers protect your damage dealers from the enemy tacklers.

Damage dealers tend to be sniping battleships and other long range, instant damage setups. Battlecruisers and command ships are also sometimes also used in this role. Tacklers are usually frigates, interceptors and interdictors. Cruisers, assault frigates, heavy assault cruisers and battlecruisers form the basis of the anti-tackler group, whose job it is to kill enemy tackler ships. More advanced fleet configurations make use of more of some of EVE's more specialised ships, such as recon cruisers which can fulfil either tackler or anti-tackler roles.

Other Important Ship Types

There is always a need for covert ops ships in fleets. These ships are the FC's eyes and ears, mostly commonly found scouting systems surrounding the main fleet warning of incoming hostiles and searching for likely targets. Covert ops can also be invaluable on the battle field as they can creep up on enemy sniping positions, allowing friendly fleets to warp to the enemy at their optimal ranges. Covert ops ships also have excellent bonuses to scanner probes, so they can be used to probe down stray targets in systems or targets who log off to try to save their ship or pod.

Most comprehensive fleets also include a fair number of dedicated electronic warfare ships. While they don't directly kill enemy ships, electronic warfare is one of the few weapons that can completely negate enemy ships in an engagement. A handful of well fitted Scorpion battleships can lock out several sniping damage dealers and if electronic warfare frigates and cruisers are mixed in with the tackling groups they can also greatly reduce the effectiveness of the opposing forces.

The final pieces of the fleet jigsaw are capital ships, usually carriers and dreadnoughts. Dreadnoughts are the ultimate damage dealers in eve but are primarily used against enemy structures such as POS and station services. Carriers can function as both logistic ships using remote repairers and shield transfers or as damage dealers using fighter drones.

Ship Fittings

Like everything in EVE, there are no hard and fast rules as to how you should fit your ships for fleet combat. There are a number of cookie-cutter configurations that provide good basis for fittings but ultimately the fitting decision is a compromise between what you can use, what is available and what the FC wants in his fleet. Most FCs will insist on microwarpdrives as a mandatory module because the boost of speed they provide can mean the difference between remaining in the fight or waking up in a new clone.

Unless you have a very fast ship, you should not fit short range weapons. Fit for long range and weapons that deal instant damage i.e. rails, artillery or beam lasers. There are of course a number of fitting guidelines to follow based on your specific ship class. Your FC will always have a different take on fitting out ships but the basic guidelines will still apply.

Tacklers

If you are flying a frigate, interceptor or interdictor then you are a tackler pure and simple. It is your job to lock down the enemy damage dealers so they can't escape the field of battle once they start taking damage. Frigates and interceptors need to be fast and agile and have at least one warp disruptor and a stasis webifier. If you have the spare slots, consider fitting electronic warfare modules such as sensor dampeners or target disruptors.

Interdictors are the kings of tacklers, able to lock down multiple ships with the deployment of warp disruptor probes. As always with tacklers, fit first for speed, then fit warp disruptors and webs and finally fit some modules for survivability such as capacitor gear and a tank. Don't worry about guns or missiles on an interdictor as they are not important. Interdictors are almost always primary targets during fleet engagements, so you need to be able to survive attacks until you can escape from your own bubble or other tacklers.

Anti-tacklers

Assault frigates and destroyers are primarily there to kill the enemy tacklers. There is a high chance that you will not be near your target ships, so you will need to fit for speed and favour long range guns. Generally, you won't have time to get up close and personal, so you need to be able to kill frigates in the 10km to 40km range. Speed, quick locking and maximum damage should be your fitting goals before thinking about tanking - you are relying on your ability to kill the other ship before they get you.

Frigate-killer and support-killer ships need fast locking time and decent range, so sensor boosters are a must. If you have the spare slots, fit target painters to make the smaller craft easier to hit. Your weapons should be the small sized long-range weapons and you should aim for an optimal range of around 35km. Remember, your targets are going to be small and likely travelling quickly, so weapons with good tracking are ideal.

Heavy Tacklers

Cruisers, heavy assault cruisers, battle cruisers and command ships can fulfil a number of roles, specifically heavy tackler, tackler or support killer and damage dealer. The fitting principles for these roles are quite similar across the ship types. For a heavy tackler, you need to be fast and agile and must fit both a warp scrambler and web and, if you have room, fit electronic warfare modules as per ship class and bonuses. As you are likely to be in the thick of it, you'll need to fit your tank before considering dealing damage - you are not there to kill enemy ships, rather your job is to hold them in place while others do the wet work.

Damage Dealers

If you fit a cruiser or battle cruiser as a damage dealer then your job is to decimate the larger enemy ships (i.e. cruisers and above). You should fit for maximum instant damage and fast locking times. You don't need to fit warp scramblers or stasis webs, that's what your tacklers are for after all, but if you have some spare slots you can load up some electronic warfare modules. Finally, fit a tank without compromising your damage dealing and locking ability.

Battleships are the primary damage dealers in fleet engagements. They should be fitted for maximum instant damage at extreme range with super fast lock times. A long range battleship should be able to hit at 150km but preferably 200km. Tanks are generally an afterthought and often are not even considered as your primary defence is your distance from your target.

Ravens and Dominixes are usually frowned upon when brought along on fleet engagements. While they can both be configured to hit at 200km their damage isn't dealt instantly. They can be used as support damage dealers along with battle cruisers and command ships, though they tend to become primary targets.

Other Ship Types

One battleship that is often overlooked as it tends to be called as the primary target in any engagement is the Scorpion. If you can protect it, the benefits this ECM-boat can bring to the battlefield are immense. A handful of Scorpions, properly fitted, can effectively each take many enemy ships out of the battle each by inhibiting there ability to lock targets and engage.

The capital ship class you regularly see in fleet combat is the Carrier. It used to be that carriers sat at a POS and delegated their fighter drones to the support fleet but theses days carriers are being used more and more frequently on the front line as primary damage dealers and battleship blob busters. As damage dealers, Carriers should be fitted with a tank, a few sensor boosters and a general mixture of drone control units, smart bombs and capital remote repair units.

Carriers also perform well as logistic ships, both in the traditional sense and in EvE parlance. With Revelations II, Carriers can fit the triage module which allows for considerably more efficient remote repairing of ships and structures, supplementing the Logistics cruiser class. Carriers also have the ability to carry other ships into combat. While these ships still need pod pilots, a loaded carrier can hold up to 3 cruisers and 5 frigates, enough to get several pilots back into a long engagement should they lose their original ships.

You sunk my battleship!

It is inevitable that anyone engaging in fleet combat regularly will eventually lose a ship somewhere along the line. Where your wallet allows, you should try and have a number of ships fitted and ready to go so that you can get back into a fight at the earliest opportunity and provide your FC with options to fill any gaps in his fleet. Even a spare frigate or cruiser already fitted out and waiting will be helpful.

One consideration that is often said is don't fly what you can't afford to replace. This applies to fleet warfare just as any other combat. Never fly your last ratting ship into combat as if you lose it you won't be able to make the cash to replace it. In addition, most FCs suggest that you fit your ship with the expectation that you will win rather than the possibility that you will lose. What I mean by that is fit the best modules you have available. Don't think "I won't fit on my T2 MWD in case I get popped" - you need all the advantages you can muster in combat so fit the best modules that you can afford to lose.

Pre-flight checklist

The first thing you should always do before undocking and engaging in fleet warfare is to check that your clone is up-to-date as there is always a high probability that you will be waking up back in your clone bay. If you are flying a battlecruiser or battleship, you should also check that your insurance is paid up.

Once the actual fighting starts, you must first and foremost listen to what your FC tells you. It is his responsibility to dictate the terms of the fight and rules of engagement. He will tell the fleet when to start fighting and when to disengage. He will also let the fleet know where each ship role group (snipers, tacklers etc.) should be located. Your fleet commander might send you to your death or send you into what seems like a hopeless situation but it's the soldier's duty to follow orders no matter what they are. If you are not sure of anything, ask in the gang channels for confirmation rather than over the voice comms.

Defender advantage

Fights tend to happen in a limited number of locations. Gates, stations and POS are the primary locations for engagements, with battles sometimes happening in asteroid belts or at safe spots. In many engagements, especially those where a side is defending a celestial object, the primary damage dealers are the ranged sniping battleships. These will be located at their optimal range from where the enemy is expected to appear, giving the defending force a tactical advantage.

As these are the main offensive force, they tend to have dedicated target callers identifying enemy ships for engagement. If you form part of the sniper wing, it is important that you follow the target callers instructions and shoot at the primary and secondary targets rather than other possible targets. The reason for this is that very few non-capital ships can withstand the damage dealt by concentrated fire from a collection of battleships.

Standing orders

Standing orders will of course vary from FC to FC, but there is a simple and effective standing order for engagements that is generally a good idea to remember. All Tech 1 frigates and cruisers engage frigates, attacking the closest ones first. All Tech 2 cruisers and frigates engage interdictors first, then interceptors and battle cruisers engage enemy cruisers, heavy assault cruisers and battle cruisers. Interdictors and interceptors engage the opposition battleships, warp scrambling what ever they can. Finally, all battleships engage the called primary and secondary targets.

If your target group is empty (i.e. there are no frigates left for your Tech 1 cruiser to target), it's a good idea to move up to the next largest ship group on the list. This means that over the duration of the battle, more and more fire will percolate up to the tougher targets. For battleship pilots, it is important to concentrate fire on primary and secondary targets. It really doesn't help to start shooting at 6 or 7 different targets hoping to get in on more kill mails.

For this to work properly all fleet members need to be aware of the above prior to entering a fight. The rules are simple and allow for your pickers to call primary and secondary targets for your damage dealers while allowing the fleet support to wreck havoc, though in a controlled and predictable manner.

Survivability Tips

If you are in an engagement and you are called primary, you will die quickly regardless of your tank unless you can warp out of the engagement. For ships that are fast and agile, this may not be too much of an issue. For slow moving BS, however, it can be a problem. To counter this, point your ship toward a known safe spot or POS when the engagement starts and head to wards this at 50% to 75% speed. When you are called primary and the enemy start targeting you, you can warp away quickly as you are already aligned and at a good speed.

If you are in a smaller craft and you are idle near a station or gate, don't just sit there waiting for something to happen. If you get jumped by the enemy, you will literally be a sitting duck. You should orbit the gate or station so that you have some transversal velocity, thus making it more difficult for you to be hit.

Once combat starts, you FC and target callers will direct you as to the ships to take out, but always keep an eye out for EW ships and interdictors. These should be primary targets for free firing squads within their designated target groups.

The Overview

A well-configured overview can be one of the deciding factors in any battle. By removing the clutter from your view, you will be able to correctly identify targets, avoid friendly fire incidents and even reduce lag. There are two simple steps to setting up the overview. First you need to create a 'base' setting and save it and then you create a number of variations of the base setting to display different ship types.

The base setting should be set to show everything that will be of general interest for us in fleet and gang combat, so it will exclude friendlies and NPCs. To create the base overview configuration, first open the overview. The first tab in the options is 'Filters', with the two sub tabs 'Types' and 'States' under that. The 'Types' tab is used to identify which objects you will see on the overview and the 'States' tab allows you to filter out pilots based on a series of criteria such as standings. On the 'Types' tab, first click on the 'Deselect All' button at the bottom to start with a clean slate and then select all ship, station and deployable options, along with Beacon, Stargate and Warpgate from the Celestial group. The "States" tab is where we get to filter out our friendlies. To do so, uncheck those that you do not wish to see, such as pilots in your gang, corporation and alliance and those with good or high standings.

Colour-coding

Next, you can update the colours and icons shown against pilots. This is generally a personal preference, however some of these settings can affect your performance. These options have the effect of assigning a small coloured icons to people and ships so that you can see the status of hostiles in the overview and easily identify friendlies in the local channel. The next tab on the overview settings is 'Columns'. The more columns you show that require client-side calculations such as transversal velocity, the more you will introduce client side lag.

Save these settings and give the scheme a useful name. This is your generic overview setting that shows all enemy ships while hiding friendly pilots. Using this template, you can now create a number of variations by selecting different groups of ships, such as only battleships or frigates, interceptors and interdictors. You can now quickly change the overview to show different target groups by loading one of your saved overview settings.

In Conclusion

Being a good soldier is all about following orders and maintaining discipline. When your FC issues an order, you need to implement it instantly, without thinking or questioning the instruction. The information provided above should arm you with enough skills to be a valuable member of any fleet and understand what is expected of you. The rest is down to you. Train well and I hope to meet you on the battlefield.

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Voice Comms

The clear communication of orders is critical to the success of any given operation. To this end, almost all fleets will utilise one form of voice communication or another. There is still a place for the numerous chat windows that are available (corp, alliance, player channels, gang and squad), but without question, using voice communications is the most efficient way to organise and control the fleet. There are a number of common options for voice comms, ranging from third party products such as Ventrilo and TeamSpeak to the more recent introduction of EVE Voice, an integrated voice comms system built into the game itself.

Whichever system you decide to use (or, more likely, whichever is mandated by your corporation or alliance), the same basic rules and principle for using the system apply. These rules can be easily summarised by saying that unless you are the FC, covert-ops or target callers, you should remain silent and just listen to what is being said. The voice comms channels are for the FC to tell the fleet what to do and should not be used as an open chat channel. No one wants to know if your ship is going down or what you're having for dinner during an operation. Another important thing is to use a 'push to talk' feature so that you have to actually press a button to activate your microphone. This will prevent stray noise from activating your microphone.

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Aggro rules

Understanding the various aggression timers is an important part of knowing when you can and can't jump at a Stargate, dock at a station or log off safely. Whenever you engage in combat, even if you are shot without shooting back, you get a personal aggression timer. In Empire space, this is shown in the top left corner of the screen, but there is no such visible warning in 0.0. When you log off, your ship will warp to a random location 1,000,000 km from your current location, then remain there for 30 seconds before disappearing. If you have an active pvp aggression timer, your ship will make the emergency warp but will then remain at that location for 15 full minutes, giving probing pilots lots of time to locate and destroy you.

The second type of aggression timer is the short version that starts any time you shoot a target or commit any hostile act toward them such as using ECM or warp scrambling them. If you do this, you are blocked from jumping at a Stargate or docking at a station until 60 seconds have passed after you have ceased firing.

//boxout#3
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Err, can you please repeat that?

There are some common 'commands' or orders you are likely to hear your FC call. If you don't know what these are, they can be a little difficult to interpret. Here are some common FC calls:

Check, check: Generally used to warn of hostile location or intent. Should only be issued by cov-ops pilots or fleet scouts.
Jump on contact: When you arrive at a gate you should immediately active it and jump to the next system.
Align for