Friday 25 April 2014

Nomadikon: Camp sites

Alternative title: At least two baskets...

One of the biggest problems of living undocked full-time, is where to put your eggs, er, I mean, loot.

Battleship drops can be as big as 50m^3, which is roughly 1/5 of a bomber's cargo hold. It's a fairly big chunk of space, even on something cruiser sized. I had filled up my hold within 10 mins of clearing belts, and was sitting in a belt uncloaked wrestling with my ships inability to jettison more than one can every five minutes, trying to sort out the valuables from the not so valuable.

The best solution is a mobile depot.

Mobile Depots

  • Big cargo hold for it's size (50m^3 gets you 3000-4000m^3)
  • Difficult to scan down (depending on meta level)
  • Ability to re-fit ship
  • Fits easily in a frigate.
  • Relatively cheap (depending on meta level)

You could also use secure containers, but these don't have a good size to cargo capacity ratio, don't have the reinforcement timer, and doesn't look as good.

The depot also has an interesting mechanic, whereby if you emergency scoop the depot, the items inside are immediately jettisoned into a can. Nice for a quick transfer of items between friends, but something to consider if you find your depot under siege and need to bug out quick.

This is the important tip though: have more than one.

Procedure:

  • Maintain 2+ depots in your hunting grounds
  • Keep at least 2-6 jumps distance between each depot
  • Divide ammuntion stores equally between them.
  • Divide loot stores equally between them
  • Do not log off at your depots
  • Safes at about 15AU distance from jump gate travel lines are preferred
  • Adopt naming conventions of the locals


Quite simply, if someone finds it, and you can't defend it, you will have lost a good chunk of income. The best solution for this is to have at least two depots you store items in, so that the risk is somewhat mitigated. Nothing is going to stop a determined attacker from getting your spoils, but that doesn't mean we should make it easy for them.

That's why we keep them a number of jumps apart, and away from common travel lines. It only takes a quick D-scan to find a depot (and then a long while probing to actually locate it), but depending on where you set up, those 2-6 jumps can have enough divergent paths to make it a hassle to find them all. Keeping them out of easy D-scan range reduces the risk of people finding them.

Furthermore, keeping all of your assets split up, gives you many more choices to re-deploy from. If one of your depots is taken, you can refit from a different one, and get back to hunting. Be wary of escaping to a system with your depot in it. They will eventually catch you and your depot. Be brave my friend, and run into unknown space, and return once pursuit has lost interest.

The last point to consider is naming your depot. By adopting the naming conventions of the local residents, we gain anonymity in the crowd. Resist the temptation to mark your territory. The closer you mimic  the POS and other depots around you, the less notice you'll attract. They may even assume you to be a friend. 

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