If there is a food pyramid, one side is relatively easy to occupy.
Haulers, i.e. industrials, freighters and their T2 variants usually have very bad cards in the murderous game of EvE once they are caught.
These ships have the task of transporting items and goods and therefore offer large storage space, but depending on the type and ship, the defense is relatively minimal and we are simply not talking about the offensive entertainment.
Therefore, these ships are a very popular target when it comes to finding worthwhile targets for a gank.
This is the case with many Haulers in EvE. They often end up as scrap metal during their use. All other ships have the same fate, but they can usually defend themselves.
The pilots of these unfortunate ships are relatively often depressed and angry about this loss, as it is usually unnecessary.
Is this how it is with the players? And what about NPC? There are haulers here as well, especially in the so-called mining expeditions.
What is a mining expedition anyway? This is basically a group of NPCs that sit in the asteroid belts and mine ores there.
They can belong to Empire-NPC Corporations and are usually peaceful because they are shown blue in the overview and therefore allied.
Of course there are also groups of pirate factions on the way.
In the rule case this group consists of Diamondsrats, i.e. the clearly stronger variant which also occur with FOBs and are therefore also more dangerous.
With the group in the Belt we are lucky, because there are only mining ships.
We can ignore these as a rule, because we are only interested in the Hauler. These are of interest to us and so we have to be patient if the Hauler is not in the Belt or move on.
I have decided there as a rule for waiting, because sooner or later something comes by here.
I myself fly a Hecate that can accelerate to almost 2,500m/s thanks to MWD and I think the fitting is relatively well known and also very common.
The advantage of the Hecate or the Tech 3 Destroyer in general is the modular switching between different modes. The damage or speed mode is especially relevant here.
The Hecate itself has with the built-in blaster a weapon that causes high damage at short range. So exactly what we need, a lot of damage in a short time. We don’t need to worry about defense.
Either we are relatively safe due to our speed or distance to the NPC. And Hauler fortunately don’t shoot back.
[Hecate, MIninghunter]
Magnetic Field Stabilizer II
Magnetic Field Stabilizer II
Magnetic Field Stabilizer II
Magnetic Field Stabilizer II
Initiated Compact Warp Scrambler
5MN Y-T8 Compact Microwarpdrive
Fleeting Compact Stasis Webifier
Scan Rangefinding Array I
Polarized Light Neutron Blaster
Polarized Light Neutron Blaster
Polarized Light Neutron Blaster
Polarized Light Neutron Blaster
Polarized Light Neutron Blaster
Sisters Expanded Probe Launcher
Small Hybrid Burst Aerator II
Small Low Friction Nozzle Joints I
Small Low Friction Nozzle Joints I
Void S x42525
Sisters Combat Scanner Probe x8
A Belt is not the best place for a fight because we all know if I’m in a Hauler I have two choices:
a) I get the hell out of there
b) I call friends
So now the NPC does the following, first a) and then b) and that too in the form of Diamondrats which can really deal out a lot more damage.
So we are now forced to look for another location and scan our friend on his chosen savespot.
There he stands lonely and doesn’t move, after all it’s an almost usable savespot.
But now he is no longer alone and has some friends with him. The more valuable the cargo the better friends.
Here it can be partly only frigates up to battleships, the latter almost cost me a Hecate because I was too impatient.
And I have learned, it is enough to warp to the targets at 100km, then align and wait until I am switched on.
I don’t have to get close to the hauler or do anything else, just waiting is enough.
In this context, the battleships would have caught me and I could warp out after three hits with just under 50% structure.
Now we have to be patient again, more with battleships, less with frigates. Now we just have to step on the gas and lure the guards away from the Hauler, which by the way still hasn’t moved.
At this point, with appropriate modes, and MWD we are traveling just under 2,500m/s and are usually being pursued at 1,500m/s and 950m/s respectively. This is he case with frigates.
The battleships are clearly slower and we should bring a long distance between the support and the hauler.
Did I mention that I still haven’t moved this one?
Depending on that try to build up between 200 and 350km distance. This way we can get enough time to grill the Hauler in peace.
If we have reached the distance we can directly warp back to the Hauler, either via the scan window or we have set a bookmark.
It is important to change the mode of the T3 destroyer to damage.
We put a Scrambler, Webber and hammer him appropriate dents purely. Depending on whether it is a T1 or T2 Hauler it takes longer or shorter.
Therefore, it is important to lure the NPC far away, because our glass cannon can not withstand much and the T2 Hauler last accordingly.
The Hauler had the possibility to move all the time, now it wants to and is not allowed to. Self-chosen fate.
Have we dealt enough damage and can look at a beautiful explosion.
And we can recover our reward from the ship and then take to our heels. We can now open the box we picked up and enjoy the loot.
I have to admit, it is kind of fun, even if this fun is very one-sided. The haulers certainly don’t have any, but you get paid accordingly.
Oh yes, the mining ships are also on the spot and you won’t believe it. They didn’t really move. Also they are not of interest.
Our loot usually consists of skins from the Industrial Livery series for all factions, depending on the corp the hauler belongs to.
So far I’ve found mostly skins for the Venture or Prospect, but also blueprints like for the Mining Harvester Drone or Mining Upgrades have been there.
The latter were guarded by the group of battleships. So I would say the better the protection the better the loot.
That a T2 Hauler better things “gives away” I could not say now yet determined. But for that I have simply caught too few Hauler in total.
Unfortunately, I can’t follow them with Sendriss, because I’m involved in several wars with Killtronic and Pandemic Horde, especially in Highsec.
Therefore, I now, pull up an alt on the same account and let him learn all the necessary, unfortunately many, skills. I am currently at just under 280 days to fly the Hecate well.
The Alt had so far simply nothing great and I’m not a fan of skill injectors. Therefore, I am biting my way through accordingly. In the war-free time, if there should be such a thing, I will definitely repeat it.
I just want to have the skins for my mining fleet.
In this sense, I wish you a good hunt.