
Hunting Grounds
The Knowledge
Depending on the aim of your roam – you could be looking for war targets, ratters, newbies taking their first steps outside empire, your opposing faction, small gang fights, large fleet battles or even a solo titan doing something stupid – you will visit different areas of space, and this is where The Knowledge comes in. Much like a London black cab driver, a good FC running a roaming fleet must have a comprehensive knowledge of their target area of space and those adjacent to it, as well as a solid grasp of the political landscape of those areas; Knowing who is likely to batphone whom and escalate a fight, or who prefers small gangs to large fleets, is key to running an enjoyable roam for your pilots and not just giving your opposition free killmails.Lowsec
Now before I go on it must be made clear that lowsec space is not just Faction Warfare (FW) space – I see too many people equate one with the other. Lowsec space that is not F is found in many regions from Aridia to The Forge to Molden Heath and is home to numerous entities, all looking to make their way in the world as pirates, industrialists or even a mind bending combination of the two. Groups such as A Band Apart, The Tuskers, and Feign Disorder. Groups that are very much small gang focused, for whom fights featuring 5 to 25 pilots are the norm. Of course you find large well organised groups in such areas, who are often capable of suddenly appearing many regions over from their usual haunts if an opportunity for PvP presents itself. These groups include such entities as Snuff Box, Shadow Cartel, Suddenly Spaceships and once again, Balkan Express. These groups are often found involved in larger fights usually over a strategic asset such as a POCO or a lowsec money moon, as well as just fighting one another for the fun of it. However if an enemy is large enough they are likely to batphone each other, making life much harder for their opposition.Faction Warfare Lowsec
Faction warfare lowsec is home to the four racial militias who are split into two distinct conflicts zones, one in the north west of Empire space and one to the south east. The militias themselves consist of solo pilots, small gang corps and alliances, the latter sometimes with a focus on the glory of their particular militia and the subjugation of all before them. Thanks to the use of complex’s (plex) for asserting system control, anyone roaming through this space can find engagements with particular ship classes and even gang sizes, making for a multitude of enjoyable fights for roaming gangs of any size. Yes, even the regular 200 man Ganked fleets get some great fights in FW space.Lowsec Player Events
From time to time, enthusiastic individuals will set up events that take part in lowsec often featuring capital ships and prizes. These tend to feature many hundreds of pilots braving lowsec to take part. Hanging around the periphery of such events is a great way to get some kills and gauge your pilots reactions to large fights, fighting against and alongside more organised groups and generally experiencing system conditions they may rarely see elsewhere. For small gangs that want to take part these events are usually terrible beyond compare, but roaming the surrounding pipes can lead to running fights with other such groups.NPC Nullsec
Say nullsec to many people and they picture alliance held sov space, and permanently camped entry systems. They tend to forget that there are a few regions of nullsec – Great Wildlands, Syndicate, Curse, Outer Ring, Stain and Venal – that are in the hands of NPC factions. In these regions you will find a few small entities that truly do believe that small gang PvP across nullsec is flourishing, even if at times they will fleet with one another to take on interlopers. Groups like Appetite for Destruction and GROON make their respective home regions that much more interesting for visitors, big and small.