Something in another thread gave me a question but rather than derail that thread I'll ask here...

I'll skip the background but I got podded twice at lo-sec gate camps yesterday. I was wondering if I'd survived if I'd put in prototype cloaking devices to run the lo-sec gauntlet I was facing.

It may be that all those bloodred squares un-nerved me [ok I admit that they did :) ] but it seemed that as soon as I tried to move they had me targeted and warp scrambled

1. How did they have me targeted so fast? it seemed like as soon as I broke the jump-in cloaking Wham!

2. I know from my covert ops frigate that I can't start my cloaking while I'm under the jump-in cloaking, I have to do something to break the first cloak before I can start my own. This seems to suggest that even with a cloak that fraction of time means vulnerability not matter what. If it takes 1 second of vulnerability between cloaks and unfriendlies can target me in 1/2 second then putting a prototype cloak wouldn't make any difference. I'm not sure that my covert ops frigate would've done any better.

Or was it just first gank jitters distorting my sense of time?

thats about right, the gate campers normally don't have the auto targeting mods, but, a few will, and no matter how fast you are, as long as they actually start targeting your ship, well then you can't cloak.

Plus, in many cases, the gate campers will have interceptor pilots on speed boost crisscrossing the gate to uncloak anyone who has come through the gate after all, that gate firing is a dead give away that some one has entered the system.

Jebus, I'm such a n00b :( It never occurred to me that the jump gate firing amounts to a huge "Hey Someone's Here!" sign.

I have a follow-up question if you don't mind. Does a cloaked ship show up on the overview? For me to target something I have to click on it in space or in the overview [at least I think I do]. How do these pesky piwates get me targeted so fast? It takes me a couple of seconds to get my mouse cursor positioned to click, is there some UI trick that I don't know about that lets you target very very quickly?

Cloaked ships do not show up anywhere, it will however decloak if someone is close to you. As for targettting the ship's targeting time should be the limiting factor not how fast they can click the object in overview. If they have smaller ships they'll grab you near instantly.

I'm a pirate and I can answer some of this. First off low sec pirates usually fly large ships (battlecruiser and up) because they have to tank sentry guns. Since the large ships have slow locking times they usually stack on a few sensor boosters which greatly reduces their locking times but it still takes 2-3 seconds to lock something. So, what they do is use Remote Sensor Boosters and boost one of their buddies and he can get almost insta lock speed.

As for the gate cloak and using a cloak it can be a bit tricky. If you are using a ship that warps cloaked (covops, recon, stealth bomber) your chances are 100% in low sec if you're quick enough. When you jump through a gate, you have gate cloak for approx. 30 seconds. If you have a cloak on a non-covops ship you can double click either toward your destination or some direction that will make it less likely they will be able to uncloak you and very quickly hit your cloak. If they dont decloak you then keep heading away until your 50km away from them or so, align to your destination, get up to speed, decloak and hit warp. Now, if you in a covops type ship that warps cloaked then just hit warp to your destination and very quickly hit cloak. You will show up in space for about 1/2 a second, however, they wont be able to lock you because even though they can see you Eve considers your ship cloaked which wont allow them to lock.

When you know your going to lose your ship because your tank is failing, align to any object in space. As the ship is exploding spam the warp to button in the overview. You will then insta warp in your pod. This will prevent 99% of low sec poddings :)

You can do the same thing while cloaked after jumping thru the gate. Align to any object and cloak at the same time (an object you are already fairly aligned too helps), then just warp to that object.

Anything is possible but short of an interdictor or bubble I've never seen anyone stop a T2 cloak. You will always show up in local.

Thanks very much, that was useful info. I'm going to running that lo-sec gauntlet periodically, I think I should invest in another prototype cloak.

It's embarassing to admit but my recollection is "Oh sh1t!!".."What the.." and I'm activating my medical clone. A [very] few seconds of total panic and it's over. I'd scouted the route with an alt and taken 2 ships through ok. Third time through was a different story. Sure wasn't expecting those blinking red squares with the skulls... :) Maybe as I die more often I'll develop some composure.

Originally posted by JuJutsu

It's embarassing to admit but my recollection is "Oh sh1t!!".."What the.." and I'm activating my medical clone. A [very] few seconds of total panic and it's over. I'd scouted the route with an alt and taken 2 ships through ok. Third time through was a different story. Sure wasn't expecting those blinking red squares with the skulls... :) Maybe as I die more often I'll develop some composure.

Heh I know the feeling. It's like you are all ready for a fight, red shows up and you forget what to do :(.

If you're in something big that has tank (or even if you're something small) and you have MWD fitted you can try burning the 12km back to gate and jump out. If they have aggressed you then they cannot follow. I dunno why I dont see our victims do this. I've seen people lose command ships+ due to lack of understanding of aggression mechanics. This is how I've saved my ships on multiple occasions....

Not sure if being warp scrambled can prevent a gate activation (which would explain some kills). I always overload my MWD and gtfo before they even get a lock. Even my slow Domi made it out of a huge gate camp other day

And no, I still dont quite understand aggression timers. I remote repped someone that had a 15 min timer in lowsec other day and then I incurred it. Yet I could still use the gates I believe. I thought when you had a 15 min timer in lowsec you could not use gates yet ive been able to use them? My lack of knowledge in this regard is sure to get me popped one day I been meaning to look at a wiki or something

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Originally posted by Baxslash
thats about right, the gate campers normally don't have the auto targeting mods, but, a few will, and no matter how fast you are, as long as they actually start targeting your ship, well then you can't cloak.

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That is completely wrong.
You can't cloak if you're locked, the locking process must have been finished.
Auto targeting won't target you when you uncloak, the module doesn't work like that.

To run a gatecamp an incredible agility and speed are very helpful. Cloaks themselves aren't that useful, since they slow you down and skilled players will find you.

Ugh, a lot of wrong info here.
 

Lets clear a few things up.  If you're in a ship with a covert ops cloak on it (the tech 2 one), you should never, ever, get caught in lowsec unless you do something profoundly stupid.  How to prevent this;  Jump through a gate, don't click anything etc, let the game load the grid.  Pick where you want to warp to, assign your cloak to a hotkey, say F1, click warp, press F1 a quarter second later. 

Interceptors do not help pirates in low sec, they are one-volleyed by gate guns.  No pirates use them.  They use sensor boosted Heavy Interdictors, or Lach's (for that lovely scram range bonus) to lock things quickly.

I've been a pirate for years, I've never seen a pilot that wasn't brand new to flying covert ops ships get caught and targeted before they cloaked.  Its just not possible to do, despite claims people with 3k scan res can do this.  Eve lags about a second, I've already hit cloak before you see me on your overview.  I'll pay you if you can manage to pull this off on me, you'll pay me after you waste my time and can't do it :P

You should never, ever, lose a pod in lowsec unless you are smartbombed or lose link with aggression and are probed out.  pick anywhere, you don't need to align since pods instawarp, when you are tackled and certainly going to die, spam the warp button, you will instawarp.

-The Balance
Beyond Divinity