Earlier this week, our two high sec wars ended. One expired
normally after the first week; the other was retracted a few days after it
renewed for week #2. Not because we did anything exceptional to make them run
away, but more likely because their war with EM was offset a few days from all
the secondary wars they had going with our allies. In that sense, it made good
tactical sense to continue the war for a few days so we couldn’t act as neutral
Logi support for our friends against them. These two wars kicked off an almost
automated response from me, and I’m realizing now that there are some very
specific things I have done in the past (and was planning to do again) in
response to high sec wars. So, without giving away any trade secrets, let’s
have a look at the 4 stages of high sec wardec response I personally employ.
It’s entirely possible that most experienced pilots react like this, so I might
be just be talking to myself, but I’m going to post it anyway.
Stage 1 – Initial Reaction
This stage is the one you hear about the most; How to react
to a wardec. You sit down, log in, click on that flashy envelope and… “Crap,
we’ve just been wardec’d.” The smart pilot sees this and immediately begins
adjusting their plans and operations to ensure their security. You’re going to
wrap up your mission running and park that faction-fit Battleship. You cancel
or move up that planned freighter trip to Rens. Basically, you end up shutting
down nearly all of your highsec carebear operations. Hopefully, your
Corporation or Alliance has plans to fight back, in which case you might need
to move some combat ships to a staging system, maybe restock you ammunition
reserves. At the very least, you should be learning what you can about your new
enemy. It doesn’t matter if that means you go dig up the information yourself,
review any intel files your corp/alliance might keep, or use a site like EveWho(Note: I haven’t used
EveWho personally, so I can’t offer any comments as to its quality). The
important thing here is to have some idea of what you’re going to be facing.
Once you’ve finished all this, it’s time to lean back and take a deep breath,
because next it’s war!
Stage 2 – Engagement and Avoidance
OK, your war is “live”, time to start shooting people in the
face! Your corporation is running fleets and is engaging the enemy. You’re
being smart, traveling in groups and using proper scouting techniques. Oh look,
the new guy just lost another Rupture ratting in a belt, FLEET UNDOCK, IT MUST
BE AVENGED!!!! When the fleets are out hunting, you’re doing what you can to
prepare yourself for the next fight. Maybe you need a replacement ship, so
you’re moving carefully, or contracting with independent shippers to get that
ship in to the warzone. The important bit here is, you’re not running around
alone, thinking you’re invincible. If you’re not killing the enemy, your goal
is to avoid the one-sided engagement. I believe the colloquial term is “gank”.
Even when you move on to stage 3 and 4, Engagement and Avoidance will continue
to be your Standard Operating Procedure until the war is completely over.
Stage 3 – ISK Replenishment
There are any number of ways that you can generate income
without using your primary pilot. Maybe you have a stable of PI alts, maybe
you’ve got a market whore, or maybe you just buy ETC and sell PLEX whenever you
need ISK. But some of us still rely on our mains for a significant percentage
of our ISK or, shock of shocks, only have one account/character. My preferred
method for income generation during a war is to just move to low security
space. I know what you’re thinking, “But Thansoli, lowsec is a dangerous, scary
place!! There’s pirates wearing funny hats waiting on the other side of every
gate to shoot me and take my cookies!!” Well, that’s not really true. The
pirates are around, sure. But with a little prior planning, you can mitigate
those risks and still make acceptable cash hiding out in lowsec.
Personally, I have several lowsec hidey holes I can make use
of (and have). One is a quiet corner that doesn’t see lots of traffic. It’s a
constellation that’s good for exploration, the cash isn’t superb, but it keeps
me in Exotic Dancers. Some nights I find combat sites, some nights I end up gas
harvesting. (Yeah, gas harvesting.) One of my other options is to move out to a
well-protected, friendly lowsec pocket where I can run level 4 missions almost
as though I was in highsec. A move out to lowsec can also be refreshing,
especially during a long war.
Stage 4 – Recovery
The war is ending, hooray!! There’s not really a whole lot
to this stage. For some pilots it involves unplugging for a few days and
getting some sun (always a good idea). Otherwise, it’s time to resume your
normal operations and dust off that faction-fit Battleship. If you’ve lost
ships during the war, it’s a good idea to get them replaced as soon as ISK
allows and get them reset in your common staging system. Because you never
know, the next war could be right around the corner!!