So after a month of doing everything else I could possibly think of, I’m here to unleash the second installment of the Tree-Fitty: AFK Cloaker Series. What can I say? I’ve been a busy lady over the past month, but that’s a different blog post.
In this article I’m going to zero in on three distinct types of AFK Cloakers and their tactics personally observed. Now this is not the definitive article on AFK Cloakers by any means. Still I hope that the article will help you, my darling reader, be more aware and knowledgeable on how to deal with these menaces to space society.
--------------------
Mr. Snipe
The snipe is one of the more dangerous types of AFK Cloakers. I refer to them snipes because they usually pick off one ship at time and then go back to be dormant. Their tactics force them to rely on the complacency of system in habitants. Of course this means that their kills are easily preventable.
Method of Operation:
They are the kind that suddenly appear in the system, go inactive and remain inactive for an undetermined amount of time. What they are really doing is biding their time and waiting for the system inhabitants to go back to their normal routine of hauling or ratting. When they find a suitable target; they will strike quickly only going for the one kill and then disengaging before assistance can arrive.
Primary Ship Type:
T3’s, Cloaky Sabre
Primary Targets:
Single targets, usually hauling or PvE ships.
Where they attack:
Gates, Belts, Anomalies & Signatures
Party Animal
The Party Animal is the jackass of all AFK Cloakers. As the name suggests, they enjoy the company of others and usually en masse. In fact, they enjoy the company of others so much that they like to fit cynos and then hot drop the hell out of people. The truly sad thing is that this tactic works… repeatedly. How ever they are also usually the easiest to get away from due to the amount of things the AFK Cloaker needs to coordinate in order to achieve “op success.”
Method of Operation:
This AFK Cloaker looks not only for targets of opportunity, but also targets with a large pay off. This is because they are not the only ones seeking a kill mail and they need to make sure the quarry is worth it for all involved. These types will usually show themselves and attempt to get the intended target to aggress prior to lighting the cyno and jumping the rest of the fleet in.
Primary Ship Type:
Anything that can fit a cloak and cyno, usually T3’s & Cov Ops
Primary Targets:
Single Targets of ‘Merit’ (ie ratting carriers/ faction battleships), Small and Medium Gangs
Where they Attack:
Gates, Repair Ops, Anomalies, Signatures, Safe Spots
Can-Can
Out of the three, The Can-Can is the most obnoxious. This is the one that sits in local, cloaks and then proceeds to never shut the hell up. At anytime you can find them sperging away with rants, personal taunts, porn links, ASCII code and anything else to cause disruption and gain attention.
Method of Operation:
This type of AFK Cloakers wants you to notice them, but probably not for the reasons you think. Yes by making their presence known most hauling & PvE will end instantly, but this is not the main goal. Each time they start ranting in local, they’re actually conditioning the system inhabitants. They will start up and end around the same time and the pattern will repeat day after day. That is until at some point in time, a time when they aren’t usually active, they find a nice juicy victim. It’s usually the guy in TS saying, “Oh, they’re never around at this time” as he undocks his Nightmare.
Primary Ship Type:
T3’s and Cov Ops
Primary Targets:
Anything expensive
Where they Attack:
Anywhere
Hopefully this second installment of the Tree-Fitty: AFK Cloakers has given you a little more insight in to the subject as well as some things to think about. Keep in mind that this article only covers 3 tactics and I’m positive there are more out there (especially since I thought of a few as I was writing the article). For the rest of the articles in the series, check the link below.
AFK Cloaker Series:
No comments:
Post a Comment