An Introduction to Fleets

Many of you have never experienced a fleet before, and this can understandably make them a bit of an intimidating experience. To attempt to alleviate that a bit, here's a bit of information to give you an idea of what to expect when joining a fleet.

In most cases warping and taking gates are done in an organized manner, with callouts for each action. To keep a fleet together you generally don't self-warp on fleets; instead the FC usually calls for the fleet to align somewhere and then initiates a Fleet-Warp so everyone lands at the same time. Some common phrases you'll hear are:

• Align to X - This is usually accompanied by a broadcast. If you are close, the menu shows "Approach" instead.
• Gate is Red / Hold on the Gate - Do Not Jump through the gate until called for.
• Gates is Green / Take the Gate / Jump - Jump through the gate you're currently on.
• Get on the Bridge - Keep at Range 1000m on the Bridging Titan. Do Not use a Prop-Mod.
• Take the Bridge - Jump through the Titan Bridge by using Right Click → Jump Through or the Top Option on the Radial Menu.
• Free Burn to X - Self-Warp to make your way to X as quickly as possible.
• Hold Gate Cloak - After jumping through a gate don't do anything to maintain your 60 second cloak until the FC gives a new order.
• Prop-Mods On / Off - If your ship has a Microwarpdrive or Afterburner, this means turn it on or off.
• Burn Tacs - This order is commonly given to interceptors and fast-tackle. In these cases pick a random direction and burn your ship in it as fast as you can. This is to provide the fleet places to warp if needed.

When the fleet gets into combat, the FC usually starts by calling for people to Anchor Up; The default action for this order is to Keep At Range 1,000m on the fleet's anchor, but there are a couple other common versions of anchoring:

• Spread Out - This is the default action for T1 / T2 EWAR Frigates. Basically you want to stay as far away from the hostile fleet as possible while still keeping them in your EWAR range.
• Orbit 500m / 1000m / 1,500m - This is usually used in missile boats to maximize your transversal since your weapons aren't tracking based.
• Orbit 20km / 30km - This is used to avoid bomb damage in fleets especially susceptible to them.

Note For Logistics (Repping) Ships: Some fleets have a dedicated Logi-Anchor, when present these ships should anchor on it instead.

Targets are usually called out and broadcast one at a time by the FC, so as to maximize the alpha and sustained damage on the target to break any enemy reps.

Some fleets also require synchronized fire, and in these cases the FC will call for each individual gun cycle so as to maximize alpha damage. For situations where this is needed, the FC will usually ask for people to put a letter in fleet chat once their guns are cycled (ready to fire again), and then call a short countdown ending in "Fire" to signal when you should cycle your weapons.

Which ammo type you use is important in a fleet engagement, make sure to listen for orders to Pre-Load X or Reload X to ensure you're always using the correct ammo type.

The most common orders in relation to target calling are:

• Primary / Secondary / Tertiary Target - A set of targets to be locked and fired on in that order. These are almost always accompanied by broadcasts.
• Lock (and Fire) - These are two separate commands (though often given together) used to coordinate fire on a specific target.
• Free Fire - Fire-at-will on any hostile targets you can.
• Sort By Name / Range - Sort hostiles on your overview by name A-Z or distance Closest-Farthest and fire on targets in that order.
• Haze Tackle - Free Fire on any hostile tackle ships in range.
• Defang Drones / Fighters - Free Fire on any hostile drones or fighters in range.

Broadcasting for Reps tells our logistics that you're being attacked by the enemy fleet and that you need shield or armor to survive the fire. The best time to broadcast for reps is when the enemy fleet starts mass-targeting (yellow-boxing) you. This allows our logistics as much time as possible to lock you up and begin applying reps. You can also generally broadcast for reps if your main tank (shield or armor depending on the doctrine) drops below 50%. There are some situations in which you shouldn't broadcast for reps. For the most part this is to avoid overwhelming our logistics groups and ensure the ships that actually can be saved are.

You should NOT broadcast for reps in the following circumstances:

• The damage is primarily from bombs - The FC will usually call out a remaining percentage of shield or armor for people to begin requesting reps.
• You are in an EWAR Frigate - These ships just don't have the tank to survive direct fire long enough for reps to land. Your best bet is to bounce to a tac if you come under fire.
• You are in a T1 Tackle Frigate - Same basic reason as above, however the FC may sometimes call for tackle to broadcast for reps when we're trying to hold something down.

To help everyone get back into the action as quickly as possible, Brave has a robust Ship Replacement Program (Also known as SRP). This is a program which reimburses you for all or part of your ship's value when it's lost during a fleet. For more information on this program and instructions on how to apply, check out our dedicated page on the subject!

If you'd like some guides and further information on fleets, here are some recent classes run by The Brave Dojo which may be of help: