Prologue:
Compiled by Cyanfire, ABN (Always Being Nice) Protective Services.
S14 NA/EU, Pre-HWS+
This guide is designed to give a high level overview of the complexities of HWS PvP for new/current players. Freely available knowledge of PvP will increase survivability and give players interested in starting PvP a better chance. I have been PvPing for several seasons and have been through every circumstance possible. Ninja mining, faction warfare, pirating or pirated to name a few. PvP can and will take many forms.
This will be a living document with additions and updates as often as necessary. Ideally, I would like the community to give input on what additions they think should be added. Please DM me on Discord if you would like something added to this guide or if you have any questions about PvP.
Tiers will be used for organizational purposes. They will be Beginner, Intermediate, and Experienced. This is just for organizational purposes and not meant to imply skill level. More specific guides will be created in the future. In particular, there will be guides eventually for HV, SV, CV, and BA design and usage.
Beginner:
PvP is as much about being being knowledgable and prepared as it is about actual combat.
Know the rules. HWS has very few rules in PvP outside of exploiting. The important thing to understand is what is and is not allowed.
Mindset is key. Players are not bound to what your external concept of PvP should be. Go into PvP with the understanding that literally anything can happen at any moment. It follows that you should never bring more than you are willing to lose into PvP. I have caught and destroyed many players that had everything they owned with them and were wandering around in PvP which was completely preventable.
Know the game mechanics. An important mechanic to learn is the cb:sethome:id command. This will allow you to return to a safe location of your choosing anywhere on the server. If you do not make use of this, there is a good chance you will have to reset if you do not have a way out of system. You will need the id of your structure. Open the Control Panel of your structure that has a medic station. Go to Statistics, and at the bottom left is the structure id. Once you have used the command and successfully set your home, you can now use the cb:gohome command. If you die out in PvP, you will have 2 minutes to use the cb:gohome command and it will teleport you to your set location.
Know HWS Connect. HWS adds many features to Empyrion that can greatly impact your ability to PvP. You can access HWS Connect from this website at the top of the page. Almost all of its level based abilities are relevant. The most important ones will be your OCD and Recycle.
Know your systems and super gates. Knowing your way around PvP will be crucial. You will know if a playfield is PvP by looking at the bottom left of your HUD.
Entering a PvP playfield can be dangerous. The three main ways to enter a playfield are by warp, super gate, or teleport. Each have their pros and cons. Warping in allows you to bring in your ship safely. It is against the rules for a player to camp the warp in area. Using super gates can be more convenient and quicker, but is more dangerous as it is not against the rules for players to camp super gates. Go up to a super gate and use the sg:? command to see where it can take you. Teleporting requires a teleporter to already be in the playfield and will only teleport your player avatar. Some players will put a teleporter out into the deep space of a system to use as an entrance. This is a very safe method, but be careful as players can track these down.
There are numerous randomly generated PvP playfields on HWS, but it also has several key hot spots by design. Homeworld and Golden Globe are the highest valued areas in PvP as they yield very high amounts of resources and gold.
The Homeworld Sector has very dense resource deposits. The system is divided into five planets. Homeworld itself has various deposits. The surrounding planets have more specific resources as well as high value POIs. The planetary belt has every resource, and the asteroid belt has many gold asteroids.
- Iceworld - Erestrum
- Lavaworld - Zascosium
- Waterworld - Pentaxid
- Desertworld - Sathium
Golden Globe is located in the Blackhole Sector and is highly sought after for its gold deposits. It also has red gold which are two massive areas of gold that yield a faster rate of mining. You will become Guilty if you mine red gold.
It is important to understand how to identify threats in PvP. There are various mechanics for tracking and avoidance. The first and most important thing to do when you enter a PvP system is to lock your warp to another system so that if you do need to make an escape you are prepared ahead of time. Any ship you take into PvP should be equipped with a Detector. This gives you visibility of players for many kilometers around. CV’s can detect up to 12km away, and SVs can detect up to 8km away. There is also a proximity log that tracks any players entering/exiting a playfield. Once you enter a playfield you can go to the Registry and select the Proximity Log to view information on if there are players anywhere in the playfield.
Keep in mind that these techniques are provided from the standpoint of defensive purposes. There are many more tracking methods that are utilized more offensively by pirates/hunters. The main thing to takeaway is to be diligent in using these mechanics. A player intent/skilled in finding someone in PvP will find you.
Intermediate (WIP):
- HWS Creative Scenario
- Garage ships, Archimedes, Bob’s Miner
Much more
Experienced (WIP):
- EWS
- Lag shots
- Checkered armor
- Blueprints, and safeguarding
- “Cooking”
Much more
Further Reading:
In-Depth Guides (WIP):
-
CV
-
SV Design Guide
PvP Community Guide: SV Design Guide -
HV
-
BA
Older Guides (some info may be obsolete with age):
Bob's little guide to ninja mining