Fleet Basics

The objective of this class is to teach newbies the basics of flying in a fleet. It covers basic game mechanics and common fleet commands.

Within a normal fleet, there are several distinct roles that you and the other players in the fleet will be performing. Not all fleets need all of these roles, but any sizeable fleet will have them.

• FC - The Fleet Commander, or FC, is in ultimate charge of the entire fleet. They are the one usually speaking the most on comms, giving commands, and figuring out how to win the fight. Fleet Commanders have special commands available to them to warp everyone in fleet at once.
• SC/WC - Squad Commander and Wing Commander are specific roles within the fleet hierarchy. Players with high-level skills in Leadership can take these roles to provide bonuses to the players in their wing/squad. They are also able to separately warp the players under their squad or wing.
• Logi - Logistics are the healers of EVE. These players can repair your shields or armour. They are sometimes in a separate channel in Mumble so they can communicate between themselves without disturbing the rest of the fleet.
• Logi anchor/LC - This special Logi pilot is in charge of making sure the Logi pilots keep in range of the rest of the fleet. During fights, logi pilots will 'anchor' (see below) on the logi anchor. See this guide for more information: FC how do I logi anchor?
• DPS anchor - Less common, this player is the anchor for DPS (damage-dealing) pilots. Usually though this will be the FC.
• EWAR - Electronic Warfare, or damps and jams. These ships can stop the enemy pilots from locking, shooting or repairing each other.
• Scout/+1 - Often when jumping through multiple systems, the FC will call for a "plus one" or scout. This player's job is to jump into the next system ahead of the main fleet, and report back on whether it is safe or not.

This is THE golden rule of EVE Online. Losing ships is no fun (well, it can be), especially so when that ship represented a sizeable proportion of your total assets. Following this simple rule can save you from much grief. Thankfully, Brave Collective has an excellent SRP program to help pay for your doctrine ships.

• It would be wise to insure all of your T1 ships before undocking them. The chances of your new Condor lasting the 90 days of the contract are incredibly low. Also, If you add the insurance payout for most of our ships to the amount that we SRP them, you are, in fact, making money.
• May not be worth it to you on T2, Navy and Pirate ships due to the relatively low payout for these ships.

• Don't leave home without ammo! It's easy to forget.
• Bring enough for 2-3 reloads. This should be enough for most roaming fleets. Your fleet commander will let you know if you need to bring more ammunition for a structure bash.

• Bring the right drones.

• FC will often tell you to align towards a gate or celestial in advance of being fleet-warped.
• Aligning enables all ships regardless of their size to enter warp at the same time, which has many tactical benefits.
• If the command "align is broadcast" is given, look for the align destination in the Fleet window under Broadcasts. Right-click it and select Align.

• Group Warp: Your SC, WC or FC will warp the squad/wing/fleet to the location of his choice once you are aligned.
• Cold Warp: Your SC, WC or FC will warp the squad/wing/fleet to the location of his choice, even if you are not currently aligned to it.
• Warp Yourself: Warp yourself to the destination.

• This means DO NOT JUMP!
• It is extremely poor comms discipline to say the J-word ("jump") if you are not the FC. It can confuse the fleet and cause other players to jump at the wrong time.
• When holding on a gate, it is best to orbit the gate at 500m, because sitting still in space is a good way to die.

• Order to jump through a stargate or wormhole (or occasionally bridging Titan).
• Always hold your gate cloak after a jump (i.e. don't move or activate any modules) unless the FC specifies otherwise.

• Usually given while in warp to a stargate.
• As soon as you land on the gate you are in warp to, jump through. Hold cloak on the other side.

• After jumping through a stargate, you have 60 seconds of invisibility and invulnerability.
• You cannot be decloaked during these 60 seconds by a nearby object or ship.
• You are invulnerable to smartbombs during these 60 seconds.
• If you move your ship in any way during this minute, your invulnerability and invisibility drops and you can now be seen by others on grid with you.
• ALWAYS HOLD CLOAK UNLESS OTHERWISE INSTRUCTED!

• A 1976 megahit by Lynard Skynard
• Get yourself to the destination system as fast as you can, i.e. warp yourself and jump every gate as soon as you arrive.

• Fans have all been shit on. Get the fuck out.
• Switch to pod saver and warp yourself to a random celestial.
• After leaving warp, warp yourself to another celestial. This is called “bouncing”.
• Continue the random warping until further instructions are given.

• During travel or a fight you may become stuck in a warp bubble. FC will call to burn out of the bubble before you align or he fleet warps. No newbie left behind.

• Lock up the broadcasted/called target and shoot it.
• Shoot in order instructed (primary, secondary, etc.)
• PLEASE FOCUS ON THE PRIMARY.

• Orbit the FC (or occasionally a specified DPS anchor) at a specified range. If no range is given, assume something small, e.g. 500-2500m.
• FC will usually specify whether prop mods should be on or off; if in doubt, turn it on.
• This is so the fleet stays together and does not die.

• Turn your guns off to get ready to blast next target
• FC will do this when switching targets to get the largest alpha strike possible.

• Shut the fuck up
• Clear comms for command/scout etc
• DO NOT TALK UNTIL TOLD IT'S CLEAR

At the bottom of the Fleet window is a series of buttons which allow you to broadcast a message to everyone in the fleet. Three of the buttons correspond to damage to your Shield, Armour and Structure.

If you are locked up by the enemy fleet (i.e. you see yellow-boxes around the enemy player ships - this is also referred to as "being yellow-boxed") click the "Broadcast for shields" button immediately, before you start taking any damage! This will let the logi pilots lock you and start repairing you before the enemy damage arrives. Overheat your hardeners and repairing modules to last longer before logi reps land.

The only time you do not broadcast for repair is if the fleet suffers damage from bombs. If that happens, logi already know about it, and 50+ players all asking to be repaired at once is not helpful.

As well as requests for shield or armor repair, the FC or other fleet members can broadcast a variety of other messages. These include instructions on aligning, destinations, and whether an enemy has been sighted. Some FCs prefer to use the broadcast window to set aligns instead of calling them out in comms (which also prevents spais in comms from being able to track the fleet's movement).

In general, unless you have been specifically instructed to by the FC, DO NOT broadcast aligns or destinations to the fleet! There may be op-sec concerns that you are not party to, or the FC may have a reason for not broadcasting.

If you think the fleet would benefit from broadcasts and the FC is not providing them, ask politely: "FC, is it okay if I broadcast aligns?"

• Turn your hardeners on
• You can join any fleet as a 'day one' newbro. Hop in a tackle or ewar ship of your choice. If you are unsure, ask your FC.