Preparing Your EVE Client For PVP

Your EVE Client DOES NOT come optimized for PVP . . . CCP makes you do it yourself


This is a guide on how to prepare and optimize your client for an optimal PVP experience




STEP 1.) EVE Game Settings






I.) Enter the game then hit escape
2.) Go to the general settings tab and check "Show Session Change Timer"
3.) Select the "Autotarget Back" pull down and set that to 0


The Session Change Timer

What you have just done is made it so you can see the game's "Session Change Timer" AKA EVE Online's invisible loading bar. It will now appear as a tiny clock in the upper left hand corner of your screen when you dock, undock, join a fleet and do all kinds of other things in game. Being able to see this load bar will allow you to accomplish all kinds of neat little PVP tricks that you wouldn't be able to accomplish otherwise. Trust me on this . . . it is awesome.



Why You Want Auto Target 0

I will explain why this is important later on, ATM all you need to know is that you don't want to autotarget someone back when they target you. It makes life difficult in PVP, and on top of that, it will end up getting you killed when things go down hill and it is time to escape and save your ship. By doing this one thing, you have just DRASTICALLY increased your likely hood of survival when the unforeseen happens . . . and it WILL happen. See Aggression Mechanics section in order to understand why.






Standard Overview Settings





That is allot of clutter yes? Imagine if you were inside of an asteroid belt and 30+ asteroids were added to that mess . . . or better yet, what if each of those ships had their drones in space? :shock: You would see each and every drone, that is 5 drones per ship. Your overview would become filled with so much garbage that it would be impossible to find the target that you are trying to shoot at. This is bad and will lead to both your death and the death of your fleet mates.




Here Is How You Fix This Problem




Instructions

1.) At the very top of the Overview there is a little arrow pointing to the word "Overview Settings" Right click that little arrow and open up the Overview Settings window.
2.) Once there, hit the "Deselect All " button at the bottom that I circled. Your Overview will now go blank.
3.) Now find the folder that says "ships" right click that and hit select all.
4.) After that, find the folder that says "Deployable" [it is the fourth down from the top] right click it and select all.

Update:
5.) ALSO under the "Celestial" section please select "Beacon" (it is the fourth one down in that section)


Now you have a nice clean Overview that only shows ships, pods and warp bubbles which are good to have in your overview just in case you ever end up in 0.0 space. You will now see no drones, no asteroids and no mountain of crap. But you are not done yet...

By the same token, you don't want to see any of your friends in your overview either. The reason for this is that if you are in a 10 man gang, and you are fighting another 10 man gang, you then have 20 ships in your overview + any other random ship that might be around at the time. This can lead to bad things, like you might accidentally shoot one of your own fleet mates.


To Further Reduce Overview Clutter






Under the "States Tab" right beside the "Types Tab" UNCHECK the following

1.) Pilot has excellent standing
2.) Pilot is in your corporation
3.) Pilot is in your fleet
4.) Pilot is in your alliance.






Once you have done ALL OF THE ABOVEgo to the top of that same window. There is a little arrow under "Presets" right click it and "Save Current Type Selection As"


Name It, and save it as Targets


YOU ARE STILL NOT DONE


Did you notice that I actually have 3 tabs in my overview sitting side by side? You are going to need at least those 3 available to you at all times as well...




1.) The Navigation Tab


When you are in a gang, the fleet commander will set a course and you will be jumping from stargate to stargate. In order to do this as efficiently as possible, you will need a dedicated tab that shows everything that your new "Targets" tab shows you + all of the stargates in space. Making this new tab is simple, all you have to do is right click the top of the Targets tab that you just made, and select "Add New Tab" That will create a second tab [you can have a maximum of five tabs open in your overview] Name that new tab "Navigation" After you do that, all you have to do is find a stargate anywhere in space and right click on it. You will see the option "Add To Overview", do it and your set.


Now simply go back to "Save Current Type Selection As" save it and and name it Travel



2.) The Escape Tab


This tab will make it so you NEVER GET PODDED AGAIN, provided that you are not stuck inside of a warp bubble inside of 0.0 space of course (There is no way to get your pod out of those, which is why we have cheap Jumpclones to switch into when we decide to PVP in 0.0.) But beyond that, your good, and this tab setting is worth its weight in the amount of ISK it will save you. All you need to do is create a third tab, and in the Overview Settings Window hit the deselect all button. Find the "Celestial" folder [it is the second one down] open it and scroll down to "Moons" Check ONLY Moons You should now have a third tab that only has moons in it. Right?


Save that one as "Escape"




Tell Me Why I Need An Escape Tab Again?


When your ship is going up in flames, you now have an incredibly easy way to get your pod out of harms way and save your expensive implants. When your ship is going into structure and you know that you are about to die, simply switch from your "Targets Tab" over to your "Escape Tab" Select a random moon with one click of your mouse, and then spam the "Warp Button" at the top of your overview until your ship explodes. Once your ship does finally blow up, your pod will instantly warp to safety.


This is why people like me can fly around Empire during wartime with 1 Billion Isk worth of implants plugged into my head. Learn to do this neat little trick and mark my words you will NEVER GET PODDED AGAIN How cool is that?







Summary


Now You Have


1.) A session change clock in your upper left screen when you dock and undock.
2.) 3x Tabs in your Overview, with three distinct settings in each one "Targets" "Travel" and "Escape"
3.) You only see ships and pods belonging to pilots not in your Corp, Fleet or Alliance in your main PVP tab named "Targets"
4.) You only see moons in your "Escape" tab and nothing else.
5.) Unless your in Nullsec you won't ever get podded again? Right?



This is one of the most important things you need to do as a PVP'er, so if there is something in this thread that you don't quiet get (even though it was all circled in crayon) ask Eternum and make sure you get your client side settings right. Miss out on this part, and you will be feeling it for the rest of your character's life in EVE Online.