public:dojo:brave_hole_divers

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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 Hospital Nestors and VNIs/Rattlesnakes
  • Collect the loot and optionally salvage the wrecks
  • Sell the loot at an NPC station with the appropriate buy orders (like in Stain; Curse is a better place to sell though because it is less camped)

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

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.

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

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.

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

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 Nestor battleships supporting VNI and Rattlesnake DPS. The Nestors are called hospital nestors due to being fully rep fit and cap stable without a capchain.

One of the best looking ships in EVE, a Nestor is a next step in the Brave Hole Divers corporate ladder. As Amarr Battleship skill is the one that increases those resistances (as well as Armor Compensation Skills), 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. Note that the Hospital Nestors must be cap stable and have minimum resists in EM/Therm/Kin/Explo of 74/67/67/72. If you can match the resists with less tank you can throw on additional DDAs.

Nestor, Hospital - Brave

[Nestor, Hospital - Brave]

Drone Damage Amplifier II
Imperial Navy Energized Adaptive Nano Membrane
Capacitor Power Relay II
Capacitor Power Relay II
Imperial Navy Energized Adaptive Nano Membrane
Dark Blood Energized Explosive Membrane

Republic Fleet Large Cap Battery
Large Micro Jump Drive
Dark Blood Cap Recharger
Dark Blood Cap Recharger
Republic Fleet Large Cap Battery
Drone Navigation Computer II

Drone Link Augmentor II
Large I-ax Enduring Remote Armor Repairer
Large I-ax Enduring Remote Armor Repairer
Large I-ax Enduring Remote Armor Repairer
Large I-ax Enduring Remote Armor Repairer
Large I-ax Enduring Remote Armor Repairer
Large I-ax Enduring Remote Armor Repairer

Large Remote Repair Augmentor I
Large Remote Repair Augmentor I
Large Remote Repair Augmentor I

Acolyte II x5
Hornet EC-300 x5
Hornet EC-300 x5
Infiltrator II x5
Ogre II x5
Ogre II x2
Praetor II x5
Valkyrie II x5
Warrior II x5


Nanite Repair Paste x400
Sisters Core Scanner Probe x8
Mobile Depot x1
Mobile Tractor Unit x2
Ogre II x5
Praetor II x5
Prototype Cloaking Device I x1
Core Probe Launcher I x1
Heavy Stasis Grappler II x1
Heavy Warp Scrambler I x1

As DPS boats we run VNIs, they do provide a lot of damage. Requirements are at least 9.5k Armor HP and minimum resists in EM/Therm/Kin/Explo 69/60/71/67, again Armor Compensation skills and bling means you can fit more DDAs and less EANMs.

Vexor Navy Issue, C5 Krabber

[Vexor Navy Issue, C5 Krabber]

Energized Adaptive Nano Membrane II
Energized Adaptive Nano Membrane II
1600mm Steel Plates II
Drone Damage Amplifier II
Drone Damage Amplifier II
Drone Damage Amplifier II

Drone Navigation Computer II
Drone Navigation Computer II
AML Compact Omnidirectional Tracking Link
AML Compact Omnidirectional Tracking Link

Drone Link Augmentor II
[Empty High slot]
[Empty High slot]
[Empty High slot]

Medium Anti-Explosive Pump II
Medium Anti-Kinetic Pump II
Medium Anti-Explosive Pump II


Acolyte II x5
Hornet EC-300 x5
Ogre II x5
Ogre II x1


Nanite Repair Paste x200
Sisters Core Scanner Probe x8
Optimal Range Script x2
Tracking Speed Script x2
Mobile Depot x1
Ogre II x3
Prototype Cloaking Device I x1
Core Probe Launcher I x1
Stasis Webifier II x2
Warp Scrambler II x2

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

Requirements are at least 17k Armor HP and minimum resists in EM/Therm/Kin/Explo 72/69/66/64. Rattlenakes should carry a full load of EM and Thermal Torps.

Rattlesnake, DAnk C5 Ticks

[Rattlesnake, DAnk C5 Ticks]

Drone Damage Amplifier II
Drone Damage Amplifier II
Imperial Navy Energized Adaptive Nano Membrane
Imperial Navy Energized Adaptive Nano Membrane
Drone Damage Amplifier II
1600mm Steel Plates II

Drone Navigation Computer II
Drone Navigation Computer II
Omnidirectional Tracking Link II, Tracking Speed Script
Omnidirectional Tracking Link II, Tracking Speed Script
Missile Guidance Computer II, Missile Range Script
Missile Guidance Computer II, Missile Range Script
Large Micro Jump Drive

Drone Link Augmentor II
Torpedo Launcher II, Inferno Javelin Torpedo
Torpedo Launcher II, Inferno Javelin Torpedo
Torpedo Launcher II, Inferno Javelin Torpedo
Torpedo Launcher II, Inferno Javelin Torpedo
Torpedo Launcher II, Inferno Javelin Torpedo

Large Anti-Kinetic Pump I
Large Anti-Explosive Pump I
Large Anti-Explosive Pump I


Acolyte II x5
Gecko x1
Ogre II x2
Praetor II x2


Inferno Javelin Torpedo x4000
Inferno Rage Torpedo x4000
Missile Precision Script x1
Missile Range Script x1
Nanite Repair Paste x500
Sisters Core Scanner Probe x8
Scan Resolution Script x1
Targeting Range Script x1
Caldari Navy Inferno Torpedo x4000
Optimal Range Script x1
Tracking Speed Script x1
Prototype Cloaking Device I x1
Sensor Booster II x1
Stasis Webifier II x3
Target Painter II x2
Warp Scrambler II x3

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

Corax, Picket

[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

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

Site running details:

  • Bookmark the central Tower in the Garrison and warp to it at 10
  • Drone Bunny is either a VNI or a Rattlesnake.
  • For Garrisons everyone refits a single DDA to a DCU II

If you are not interested in running fleets, feel free to skip this part.

This fleet comp is designed to run C5 sites with 2 nestors. There are two advantages to this. The first is that VNI DPS is generally higher than Nestor/Dominix DPS due to the ease of training high levels in ship skills. The second is that with no capchain the logistics does not need to worry about neuts bringing down the capchain or Catalysmic vairable wormholes. It is recommneded that the drone bunny not be a Nestor to keep the Nestor's reps free for damage switches. Finally this fleet setup is aimed to run Garrisons. If you wish to run strongholds then make sure all ships refit a Drone Damage Amplifier to a Damage Control Unit II

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.

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.

  • public/dojo/brave_hole_divers.1551995179.txt.gz
  • Last modified: 2019/03/07 21:46
  • by Ignacius Kh'orlan