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Brave Hole Divers
If you've been on a fleet with the Brave Hole Divers, or just heard that there's an opportunity to make dank isk in wormhole space by working with fleets, this guide is intended to be your next step. The information contained herein should be enough to get you out and running your own fleets. IF you're just joining, not everything here will be essential, but it's all useful for you to know. The wormhole krabbing fleets are generally one of the more laid back and casual fleet experiences, so you should feel free to get as involved in fleet command activities as you want.
At a very high level, these fleets are just small groups of pilots who run the combat sites in C5 wormhole space. The rats in those sites (called sleepers) drop loot that can be sold to NPCs for significant value. An efficient and well run C5 fleet can generate over 150mil isk/hr per participating player.
In a Nutshell, the gameplay loop is:
- Find an eligible C5 near GE-8JV
- Run the combat sites with spider tanked drone boats (Dominixes and Nestors)
- Collect the loot and optionally salvage the wrecks
- Sell the loot at an NPC station with the appropriate buy orders(like in Stain)
If that sounds interesting to you join #brave-hole-divers channel on Slack, as this is where we hang out, theorycraft, spam pings and ping out fleets
Finding an Eligible Wormhole
If there is no wormhole to krab in, this guide is worth less than the power you use to display it, so obviously the first step is finding an eligible wormhole. While experienced FCs can krab wherever, to minimize chances of dying and maximize isk per hour, a wormhole should be Convenient, Safe and Lucrative If you are not already familiar with wormhole characteristics, review https://wiki.eveuniversity.org/Wormholes for a primer to help with understanding the below.
Convenient
Time is money, even more so in eve, so a convenient wormhole will not include an epic escapade through 20 systems, while being constantly dropped on. We are looking for a wormhole that is fairly close by, usually meaning any Brave-owned system in Catch. Due to wormhole mechanics, the hole should also be Large or Very Large, as Dominixes will not fit into smaller holes. In addition, the hole should not be “end of life” (EoL), as it means that the time it will stay open is at most 4 hours, so unless one can get a fairly precise timer on hole lifetime, it’s usually discouraged to rat in EoL wormhole
Safe
There is a saying among wormhole groups saying, that you should consider any asset taken into J-Space to be considered forfeit, we, however, try to minimize the risks, to maximize the profits. There are several criteria for that: are there any structures anchored? if so, who owns them? is there anyone inside? is the zkillboard of the system full of recent kills? And this is just considering the in-system threats, we also have to know about the temporary neighbors. We want to ask all the questions for the connecting wormholes as well. All of this is however up to the FC to decide, are the risks involved worth it? The higher the risk, the more vigilance is advised, while the d-scan should be checked fairly often, regardless of danger level, a good FC will post alts on connection wormholes, called pickets, to get an early warning that trouble is brewing.
Lucrative
All of the above is irrelevant, however, if the hole has no or very few combat sites, a good hole will contain multiple Core Garrisons, or in case of a strong fleet, Core Strongholds, other sites can be run as well, but will most likely result in worse isk per hour
The Doctrine
You could have a perfect wormhole, but it would be useless if you had no ships to run the sites and bring home the sweet, sweet loot. The basic fleet comp will be Dominix and Nestor-class battleships, designed to both deal good DPS and keep the fleet alive with Remote Armor Repairers and Remote Cap Transmitters, as well as plenty of tank modules
Dominix
While it is a weaker logistics ship than the Nestor, Dominix will dish out similar levels of pain, while keeping your fleet alive. A team of 4 of them is enough to run a Core Garrison and a group of 5 should be able to deal with every site C5s have to offer. Also worth mentioning is that they insure very well, and are overall a pretty small investment. Keep the capchain up, and repair whoever is being attacked
Use the normal fit, unless you have been designated as “Drone Bunny”, more about that later
| Normal Dominix | Drone Bunny |
|---|---|
[Dominix, Domin(atr)ix] 1600mm Steel Plates II Damage Control II Energized Adaptive Nano Membrane II Energized Adaptive Nano Membrane II Drone Damage Amplifier II Drone Damage Amplifier II Energized Explosive Membrane II Large Cap Battery II Large Micro Jump Drive Large Cap Battery II Omnidirectional Tracking Link II Cap Recharger II Large Remote Armor Repairer II Large Remote Capacitor Transmitter II Large Remote Armor Repairer II Large Remote Capacitor Transmitter II Large Remote Armor Repairer II Large Remote Capacitor Transmitter II Large Remote Repair Augmentor I Large Egress Port Maximizer I Large Egress Port Maximizer I Hobgoblin II x5 Praetor II x5 Hornet EC-300 x5 Ogre II x8 Cargo/refits: Tracking Speed Script x1 Nanite Repair Paste x48 Heavy Stasis Grappler II Warp Scrambler II | [Dominix, Domin(atr)ix Bunny] 1600mm Steel Plates II Damage Control II Energized Adaptive Nano Membrane II Energized Adaptive Nano Membrane II Drone Damage Amplifier II Drone Damage Amplifier II Energized Explosive Membrane II Large Cap Battery II Large Micro Jump Drive Large Cap Battery II Target Painter I Cap Recharger II Large Remote Armor Repairer II Large Remote Capacitor Transmitter II Large Remote Armor Repairer II Large Remote Capacitor Transmitter II Large Remote Armor Repairer II Large Remote Capacitor Transmitter II Large Remote Repair Augmentor I Large Egress Port Maximizer I Large Egress Port Maximizer I Hobgoblin II x5 Praetor II x5 Hornet EC-300 x5 Ogre II x8 Cargo/refits: Tracking Speed Script x1 Nanite Repair Paste x48 Heavy Stasis Grappler II Warp Scrambler II |
Nestor
One of the best looking ships in EVE, a Nestor is a next step in the Brave Hole Divers corporate ladder. Thanks to its 50% remote repair bonus, a fleet of 3 is enough to tank a Core Garrison, and in exchange for slightly lower armor buffer, it gets about 10% more damage and better armor resists than a Dominix. As Amarr Battleship skill is the one that increases those resistances, it is advised to have it trained to at least level IV. But do what you want, I’m just a wiki page and not your dad.
| Basic Nestor | Optimal Nestor |
|---|---|
[Nestor, C5 Nestor Basic] Armor Explosive Hardener II Drone Damage Amplifier II Energized Adaptive Nano Membrane II Drone Damage Amplifier II Energized Adaptive Nano Membrane II Drone Damage Amplifier II Large Micro Jump Drive Large Cap Battery II Drone Navigation Computer II Large Cap Battery II Omnidirectional Tracking Link II Cap Recharger II Large Remote Armor Repairer II Large Remote Armor Repairer II Large Remote Armor Repairer II Drone Link Augmentor II Large Remote Capacitor Transmitter II Large Remote Capacitor Transmitter II Large Remote Capacitor Transmitter II Large Remote Repair Augmentor I Large Remote Repair Augmentor I Large Remote Repair Augmentor I Federation Navy Ogre x5 Imperial Navy Praetor x5 Cargo/refits: Tracking Speed Script x1 Nanite Repair Paste x500 Heavy Jigoro Enduring Stasis Grappler x1 Heavy Warp Scrambler I x1 | [Nestor, C5 Nestor Basic] Armor Explosive Hardener II Drone Damage Amplifier II Energized Adaptive Nano Membrane II Drone Damage Amplifier II Energized Adaptive Nano Membrane II Drone Damage Amplifier II Large Micro Jump Drive Republic Fleet Large Cap Battery Drone Navigation Computer II Republic Fleet Large Cap Battery Omnidirectional Tracking Link II Cap Recharger II Large Remote Armor Repairer II Large Remote Armor Repairer II Large Remote Armor Repairer II Drone Link Augmentor II Large Remote Capacitor Transmitter II Large Remote Capacitor Transmitter II Large Remote Capacitor Transmitter II Large Remote Repair Augmentor I Large Remote Repair Augmentor I Large Remote Repair Augmentor I Federation Navy Ogre x5 Imperial Navy Praetor x5 Cargo/refits: Tracking Speed Script x1 Nanite Repair Paste x500 Heavy Jigoro Enduring Stasis Grappler x1 Heavy Warp Scrambler I x1 |
While a Basic fit is more than enough, Faction batteries, provide just a bit more cap stability under heavy neuts you can encounter in a wormhole, reducing the need to capchain around the unfortunate victim
Vexor Navy Issue
As a cheaper, less preferred alternative if we have enough battleships we can also run supporting VNIs, they do provide a lot of damage, but are not providing remote repairs to their fleetmates, and to actually undock a certain threshold must be met, so you should only treat the VNI as a temporary measure while you skill into the Dominix and later the Nestor
| Vexor Navy Issue | Vexor Navy Issue – Bunny Fit |
|---|---|
[Vexor Navy Issue, C5 VNI] Energized Adaptive Nano Membrane II Energized Adaptive Nano Membrane II Drone Damage Amplifier II Drone Damage Amplifier II 1600mm Rolled Tungsten Compact Plates 1600mm Rolled Tungsten Compact Plates Drone Navigation Computer II Drone Navigation Computer II Omnidirectional Tracking Link II Omnidirectional Tracking Link II Drone Link Augmentor I Auto Targeting System I Auto Targeting System I Medium Anti-Explosive Pump I Medium Trimark Armor Pump I Medium Trimark Armor Pump I Federation Navy Ogre x5 Cargo/Refits: Imperial Navy Praetor x5 | [Vexor Navy Issue, C5 VNI Bunny] Energized Adaptive Nano Membrane II Energized Adaptive Nano Membrane II Drone Damage Amplifier II Drone Damage Amplifier II 1600mm Rolled Tungsten Compact Plates 1600mm Rolled Tungsten Compact Plates Drone Navigation Computer II Phased Scoped Target Painter Omnidirectional Tracking Link II Omnidirectional Tracking Link II Drone Link Augmentor I Auto Targeting System I Auto Targeting System I Medium Anti-Explosive Pump I Medium Trimark Armor Pump I Medium Trimark Armor Pump I Federation Navy Ogre x5 Cargo/Refits: Imperial Navy Praetor x5 |
You might wonder, why would I need drones in my cargo, I can’t launch them from there. In certain situations towards the end of the site not switching drones cuts your damage in half, and since there is usually at least one Nestor in the fleet you can move drones between your Drone Bay and Cargo Hold without any issues
Picketing
If there are outgoing wormholes from the C5 you are in you might want to consider watching the connections, that's where picketing comes into play. The picket is a dedicated alt that has all world sounds maxed out sitting near the wormhole, preferably cloaked. As soon as they hear the characteristic wub-wub-wub a wormhole does they should a. Alert the FC b. Switch to that account to try and gather the name and ship of the person coming through. There is no specific fitting, but since the picket alt is often salvaging alt as well, a normal salvage ship with a cloak will fill that role perfectly
It is important to have the camera centered at the wormhole, zoomed in as much as it is allowed, to be certain, that no enemy splash will go unnoticed
| Picketing Corax |
|---|
[Corax, Picket] Inertial Stabilizers II Inertial Stabilizers II Cap Recharger II Cap Recharger II 5MN Microwarpdrive II Cap Recharger II Prototype Cloaking Device I Salvager I Salvager I Salvager I Salvager I Salvager I Small Tractor Beam I Small Salvage Tackle I Small Salvage Tackle I Small Salvage Tackle I |
But then again, there is a lot of freedom with the ship choice, any ship from a capital (my God, please don’t) to a rookie ship will do, even a capsule, if that’s all that you have on hand
Running the Site
And now begins the fun part. First I bestow upon thee the one the only, wormhole bible: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/u/0/d/17cNu8hxqJKqkkPnhDlIuJY-IT6ps7kTNCd3BEz0Bvqs/pubhtml# In it there is are all information needed to successfully run a fleet. At the basic level, just shoot whatever is marked red last and you should be good.
Garrison sites are split into two parts, the site, and the Drifter Escalation. The first part consists of multiple waves of sleepers, and the escalation is a single ship called Drifter Response Battleship (DRB). That terrifying killing machine will not rest until it dies, or… well, that’s basically it. For its shields, you should deal thermal damage (Ogres) and for armor and structure EM (Praetors). You will be reminded when it’s time to switch drones.
Drone Bunny - The one who herds the drones. Using a Target Painter, they will make all the drones in the fleet, assigned to the bunny, attack one target. Depending on the experience of the person doing it they can do it on their own or get help from the FC. The drone bunny role is probably the most labor intensive job when running sites, but even then is not very hard. And trust me, controlling a big purple ball of death and destruction makes you feel powerful.
While most of the know-how comes with experience, there are several tricks to running sites:
- In Core Garrisons the towers that spawn in the first wave never switch aggro, which can force splitting reps, try killing them first
- In Core Garrisons the second wave contains 6 logi frigates, that are also the trigger. It's up to the FC but it's recommended to kill 4 of them while leaving 2 alive not to trigger the next wave by accident while reducing the regeneration of sleepers
- To hold the DRB you need at least 5 points of warp disruption, meaning 3 warp scramblers or one Heavy Warp Scrambler as well as plenty of Stasis Webifiers and/or Grapplers
FC stuff
If you are not interested in running fleets, feel free to skip this part
Selling the blue loot
While running the sites, you must have noticed that you are not getting any bounty payouts, don’t worry it’s perfectly normal, if you are getting bounty payments, you should report it to the nearest CONCORD representative. What sleepers do however is to drop “blue loot” when killed. You should gather in with and MTU and when the site is done, scoop it, as it’s your payout ticket, and there is no fury like a krab unpaid, so DON’T lose it.
If you manage to get is safely back to K-Space you might want to exchange it for ISK. There are buy orders all over New Eden, in NPC stations that is, with NPC buy orders for a set price, the closest to GE- being the 9RQ-L8 system in Stain, the way you get it there is up to you, but the most common way is to get an interceptor and fly it there, preferably with someone else scouting for you.
If you have friends with the right tools or have the right tools, a setup with a Black Ops battleship bridging you to the target system is the foolproof way of getting the money safe.
Distributing the ISK
Seeing that billion isk tick in your wallet makes you want to keep it, but you have to pay your fellow krabs. The best way to manage payouts, especially if you have people joining or leaving in the middle of the fleet is a payout sheet. Message Manks Crendraven in Slack on in-game if you want to get one, that is actually working correctly. When you know how much money everyone should get, simply “Give Money” to them in game. A good idea is to put their names linked in your Notepad in-game for easy money transfers.