safespotting
Latest
EVE Online's deep safe spot nerf to be deployed on Tuesday
Safe spots are an integral part of EVE Online's tactical warfare, making it harder for other players to locate and consequently destroy your ship. They're created by making a bookmark while in warp, which causes the bookmark to lead to the middle of nowhere. When you're on the run from bad guys, you can often slip away by warping between several safe spots while they try desperately to scan you down. Deep safe spots are illegal bookmarks created far outside the bounds of a solar system. Pilots hiding here needn't bother warping around to evade pursuers, as they'll be quite literally off the grid and virtually impossible to locate. Deep safe spots several hundred AU from the nearest celestial object have also been used in the past to jump huge capital fleets into a hostile system without fear of being attacked.
CCP changes deep safe spot nerf due to player feedback
On Wednesday, we brought you the news of CCP's plans to nerf deep safe spots in EVE Online. Deep safe spots are bookmarks far outside the outer boundaries of a solar system. Being several hundred AU from the nearest celestial body, ships in a deep safe spot are far outside normal scanning range. The spots have been created using a variety of exploits over the years, and with Tyrannis on the way they're headed for a nerf. The announcement of the change was met by strong opposition from some players on the official EVE forums, not about the nerf itself but the planned implemention. On May 18th, all ships and objects over 10AU further from the system's star than the outer-most planet were scheduled to be deleted. Any ships or items inadvertently left there would be gone and any pilots logged off in these locations would log in to find themselves without a ship. In response to player feedback, CCP have decided to rethink their plan to delete objects in deep safe spots. These objects will instead be moved to the outer edge of the solar system. In the new announcement, CCP took the time to clarify what objects will be moved with a handy diagram. The announcement was rounded off with some interesting statistics, showing that there are currently about 345 ships without pilots abandoned at deep safe spots across EVE. As these ships will eventually be moved to within normal probing distance, some lucky players may find them unexpectedly.
Deep safe spot nerf coming to EVE Online
Any EVE Online player that's spent time in nullsec or lowsec will know the importance of safe spots. By creating a bookmark while in warp, you can warp to areas of space several AU from any celestial objects. Although other players can still see your ship on the directional scanner, they'll need to narrow down your location with combat scanner probes to warp in on top of you. You can be stay relatively safe from hostile players by continually warping between multiple safe spots, an old and intended part of EVE's tactical gameplay. The creation of deep safe spots several hundred AU from the nearest celestial object, however, has never been an intended game mechanic. Over the years, several different bugs and oversights have allowed players to create them. Unfortunately for players that have been using deep safe spots, this particular tactical tool is going to change when Tyrannis hits on May 18th.
Keeping yourself alive in EVE with safespots
Learning how to create safespots in EVE Online is an essential survival skill, but it's one that takes some time to get the hang of. The Goonfleet video tutorial to safespotting is an excellent start, but other player resources are popping up and explain how important it is to have and properly use different types of safespots.EVE blogger Manasi has written an excellent guide to safespotting called "Getting your A$$ out of the fire" that covers the different types of safespots a player in EVE can make use of. Namely, "gate" safespots (useful for watching a gate at range while cloaked), "deep" safespots (used most often, numerous such bookmarks are needed), and "station" safespots (within docking range of a given station, allowing you to evade attackers by docking up). Manasi goes into detail about how to create each type of safespot, and -- most importantly -- how to use them. Manasi's "Getting your A$$ out of the fire" paired with the aforementioned Goonfleet Safespotting 101 are all you need to get a handle on safespotting in EVE Online. Be sure to check them both out if you're a new pilot. Goonfleet's Safespotting 101 video tutorial is embedded below the cut.
