Eve Survival Skills

These are basic high sec survival skills which you need to know. What's more, knowing them is not enough. You must always be ready to use them at the right moment. The biggest killers in combat situations are uncertainty and hesitation. You will have to practice some of these skills to be sure you have them right when you need them.

Check Local

If your corporation is at war you should ALWAYS check local chat for war targets BEFORE undocking. It must be habit. If there is a war target in system then you should reconsider undocking. Also see Escape Points below. This is such a simple concept that people don't realise how vital it is. Always check.

Escape Points

An Escape Point is a Bookmark directly ahead of the undock path from a station that will allow you to go to warp nearly instantly when you undock. This works because you launch at higher than your minimum warp speed and you have lined up the point so you are aligned to warp as you leave the station. The point is always more than 150km (warp range) from the station but is better off being off grid (where you can't see the other ships at the station). If an escape point is properly set up, a Frieghter can undock and get to warp before it is locked by enemy ships.

IF YOU MUST UNDOCK AND THERE IS A WAR TARGET IN SYSTEM YOU SHOULD ALWAYS USE THE ESCAPE POINT.

Its good practice. It is also good to be ready in case the War Target is outside the station waiting for you. Going "Uh Oh, War Target. Better use the escape." Is too slow to make it work. You will be scrambled and probably killed. Before undocking, open your People and Places and get the bookamrk somewhere on screen. Undock and hover the mouse over the bookmark. As soon as you can click (the mouse pointer changes) you right click and warp. You should warp before the targeting immunity runs out.

To make an escape point you need a fast ship with a Microwarpdrive. Launch from the station and head your ship in the direction of the launch path. This wont be exactly the path you are flying when you launch due to a scatter thing CCP put in. You'll have to judge it. Hit the MWD and burn for a while. I tend to make Escapes at least 1000km from the station. Bookmark the spot and return to the station to test it. For it to be working your ship should do that stutter step just before it goes to warp as soon as you click the bookmark. If the spot isn't quite right warp to it and burn sideways in the direction you think will fix it. Make a new bookmark and test again. For a final test use a big slow ship and see if it is as fast to warp as your frigate.

Redocking

You are alowed to redock 10 seconds after you leave the station.. Your targeting immunity should last 30 seconds. That means you should be able to dock about 10 seconds before someone targets you. If you are warp scrambled at the station and you do not intend to fight, then spam the dock button. You may just escape.

Aggression

You cannot use a stargate or dock in a station for 30 seconds after your last aggressive act. If you attack someone you can't just dock to escape. You will have to call in drones and turn off all offensive modules and then wait 30 seconds. This has two main effects on what pilots do. If the enemy has a big ship with lots of tank, and is at the station or gate, we will not kill him in time before he deaggresses and docks/gates.

The other effect is important. If someone attacks you at a gate, and you have no aggression, you can jump through and that player cannot follow you for 30 seconds. Its a good way to shake a tail. The problem is that experienced PvPers will have someone waiting on the other side.

Getting Your Pod Out

There is no reason to lose your pod in Empire space. The reason for this is that there are no warp bubbles. However, hesitation and lag usually cause people to lose their clone and implants. Again you must know what to do and be ready to do it at the right moment.

When you realise you are going to lose your ship, you should select a distant celestial object (a gate, planet, station, etc). Start spamming the warp to button. Keep going while your hull runs out and you swap into your pod. You should get the command through to the Game in time for the pod to accept instructions. Pods warp almost instantly. As long as you get the command through the lag of swapping vehicles. DO NOT TRY TO DOCK OR USE A GATE. There is a 10 second session timer that activates when you lose your ship and you cannot dock or gate while its counting. Warp out or die. Oh and don't think people wont pod you. People get more points on killboards for a pod than for a shuttle or rookie frigate so they will kill you if they can.

Waking Up In Station

If you find yourself suddenly in a station you have probably been podded. You old body has been "killed" and your clone has been activated. You have also lost any implants you had in that body. Furthermore, you have used up your clone AND YOU MUST MAKE A NEW ONE. You have to go to a medical bay and purchase a clone large enough to hold all your skill points. Do this by opening the Medical Window and going to the "Clone" tab. Select the "Upgrade Clone" button at the bottom. The smallest clone offered is probably enough for you though its worth checking on your character sheet.

If you forget to do this and you lose your pod again you will lose 5% of the training points in one of your skills. Sorry I don't know how they choose the skill.

As you train skills, you will have to upgrade your clone periodically. Make sure you check this often.