Eve: Cloaking FAQ

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Contents

FAQ Information

Header

  • Author : Hygelac
  • FAQ Version : 1.05
  • Eve Version : Empyrean Age 1.1 - patch 61817 using both premium and classic clients
  • Updated : 25/09/2008


NOTE : This document in the process of being updated!


Scope

This FAQ covers the mechanics of the Cloaking within the Eve Universe, the modules used to cloak ships and those ships specifically designed to employ a cloaking device.


Cloaking Ships can perform many different roles within Eve and I have made some attempt at outlining generic cloaking strategies but this sort of information is always subject to conjecture and people will have varied opinions on the subject. For more information on subjects like exploration, scan probes and combat fittings, please refer to the Eve Online forums, they are outside the scope of this FAQ.


This FAQ does not cover manufacturing of Cloaking Devices or Ships designed to use Cloaking devices.


Audience

This FAQ is intended as an introduction to cloaking in Eve for newer players but experienced players could also benefit from some of the questions addressed.


Market Data

Please note that where prices are given for modules or ships, the data is an accurate indication of the price at the time of writing, this has been done through http://eve-central.com where possible. For items such as NPC seeded skills, I've given the exact price but for rarer items such as faction cloaks, I've only been able to make a best guess based on recent sales, contracts and forums.

Prices are intended to give you an idea of the relative cost of items, rather than a penny accurate price check!

Finally, prices in RED are to be considered in doubt or incomplete. Any information you could provide on the prices of these items would be appreciated.


Accuracy of Data

Note that I have personally tested each and every aspect of this FAQ, but please be aware that sometimes behaviour seems to differ in relation to certain issues. Where such inconsistencies have been noted, they are pointed out in the relevant section.


Corrections and Amendments

I am happy to amend any factual mistake present in this FAQ, please email me on and let me know what's wrong. Please note that this is a personal WikiMedia and registration will not be allowed to this site.

Cloaking : The Basics

What is a cloaking device?

A cloaking device is a module which is mounted on your ship in a highslot. When activated it renders you invisible or 'cloaked'. Think cloaking in Star Trek and you're not far off.


Can I be seen whilst cloaked?

Nope, whilst cloaked you are completely invisible. You can't be seen or targeted or found using the scanner. The only indication that you are even in system is your presence in the Local Channel.


How long does cloaking take?

It takes 5 seconds for your ship to cloak completely and be removed from both the scanner, the overview and visually. In tests it will actually appear to take 5-7 seconds, but this is just the time it takes for your client to update the overview and scanner.


In Trinity the premium Graphics client was updated to show a 'swipe' effect cloaking graphic, which makes your ship invisible from front to back. Whilst this effect seems to be slower for smaller ships and faster for big ships, the actual time taken to cloak your ship is consistently the same. During this process you can see the 'swipe' effect on the cloaking ship, or the 'fade' effect if you're using the older client.


This is governed by the attribute 'covertopsstealthbombercloakmoduledelay', and at present, all ships in the game have this attribute set to 5.00 secs. This attribute seems to be a recent addition, probably part of the Trinity upgrade when the 'swipe' effect was added. This could allow CCP to change the cloaking time in the future.


Can I be targetted during the cloaking process?

No, whilst it takes 5 seconds for your ship to dissapear visually, as soon as a cloaking module is activated, you cannot be targetted.


If someone is in the process of targetting me but doesn't have a lock, can I still cloak?

Yes, you are only prevented from cloaking if a resolved lock is on your ship, for example if a Carrier takes 60 seconds to lock you, you can cloak at any time before those 60 seconds is past.


How long does de-cloaking take?

Decloaking only takes a second, you will appear on screen, on scan and on overview after this time. I presume that decloaking is actually 'instant' but the second is just the time it takes for someone else's client to update with your decloaked ship. However just as with cloaking it takes 5 seconds to completely decloak and become lockable.


Note that immediately after decloaking, there are still come restrictions placed on your ship. See : Sensor Recalibration Time


Can I be forced to decloak?

The answer to this question has changed a bit since cloaking was first introduced in Eve. Currently you can only be forced to decloak if you approached within 2km of most objects.


A good rule of thumb is that the objects which will decloak you are the 'solid' objects in the game. Not all objects in Eve are solid, an indication of solidity is whether you can fly through that object without your course or speed being altered. I.e. it's just a floating graphic in space. Here are some examples :


Objects and Actions which WILL NOT force you to decloak

  • Wrecks
  • Cargo Containers
  • Scanning Probes (Snoop, Fathom, Survey Probes, Observator etc)
  • Frozen Corpses/Biomass
  • Being in the direct line of fire for Weapons i.e. Howitzers, Lasers, Hybrids
  • Being in the direct line of fire for Target Painters
  • Smartbombs (Although you will suffer damage and trigger aggression)
  • Bombs (Again you suffer damage and aggression is triggered)
  • Other Cloaked Ships!!


Objects and Actions which WILL force you to decloak

  • Flying into Planets, Moons and Stars (See additional comments below)
  • Rockets, Standard Missiles, Heavy Assault Missiles, Heavy Missiles, Cruise Missiles, Torpedoes
  • Asteroids
  • Stargates
  • Space Stations
  • POS Force Fields
  • NPCs
  • Player Ships and Pods
  • Drones/Fighters
  • Sentry Guns

Comments on the above lists

There will be a few surprises on the two lists above but I have retested every single action and item in Empyrean Age 1.1 - patch 61817 using both premium and classic clients.


The most important thing to note is that the objects which don't decloak you, will still prevent you from Re-engaging your cloak. So a fleet of cloaked ships can all approach a Cargo Container within 0m but as soon as one of them decloaks, all of them will decloak because a Player's ship within 2km will always force you out of cloak.


Also note that the tests performed with missiles are slightly inconsistent and seem to be related to the size of the missile. Sometimes, missiles would pass through my test ship without causing me to decloak, but one of the next volley would. Whilst it 'seems' to be related to size, I can't prove this irrefutably.


Planets, Moons and Stars are technically hollow. It is possible to get a mission bookmark inside one of these objects, sometimes you can warp to it, sometimes you'll 'bounce' out. Attempting to approach a planet until you are 0km from the object results in your ship 'bouncing' off of the skin. When this happens you will be decloaked and velocity will hit 0m/s.


Finally, note that it is sometimes possible to approach within 0m of certain massive objects without being decloaked the two most common instances of this are with Starbases (including outposts) and Stargates. This has been buggy since cloaking devices were introduced and seems to be related to the Graphics being inconsistent with the actual radius of objects. For example the Gallente Administrative Outpost has a bigger graphic than it's actual size, it is still possible to 'bump' into the top of the station so that it appears solid, but you wont be decloaked, even though the scanner reads at 0m from the object. But if you move your cloaked ship slowly down the structure towards the actual object marker (The [ ] in space which appears when you hold the [ALT] key) once you get to within approximately 2km, you will decloak.


This problem became more prevalent when the graphics were unscaled to account for the massive ship sizes introduced with Capital Ships in Eve Red Moon Rising. A Carrier would dwarf the station at which it was docked, so all Stations had the visual and docking range expanded, but whilst you can dock at any point where the range is shown as 0m, you will not decloak. As with all objects if you decloak at any point you will be unable to re-engage the cloak until you move at a distance, so these objects are dangerous because you need to cover a LOT more distance to get 2km from a station, than from a Cargo Container!


What restrictions are there to a cloaked vessel?

Whilst cloaked you are under extreme restrictions, essentially you cannot activate any modules on your ship whilst under cloak, including moving things in or out of cargo and drone bays.


Examples of things you CANNOT do whilst cloaked

  1. Target anything
  2. Activate a Cynosaural Field
  3. Activate a Covert Cynosaural Field
  4. Launch Drones
  5. Open Cargo Containers
  6. Reload Weapons or Charges
  7. Move items into our out of your Cargo Hold
  8. Activate Smart bombs
  9. Use Friend or Foe Missiles (F.O.Fs)
  10. Change Ammo Types
  11. Activate a Micro Warp Drive (MWD)
  12. Activate a docking sequence
  13. Jump through a Stargate
  14. Activate Armour repairers or Structure Repairers
  15. You can't start a scan probe analysis


Examples of things you CAN do whilst cloaked

  1. Start a New Scan with probes you launched whilst decloaked
  2. Talk in chat channels
  3. 'Look At' other ships
  4. Move your ship around*
  5. Align to an object
  6. Make bookmarks
  7. Wait for Scanning Cycles to finish (i.e. Moon scans, System scans etc)
  8. Use Eve Voice
  9. Stack/split Items in your Cargo Hold
  10. Handle Buy and Sell Orders on the Market
  11. Handle Contracts
  12. Change any of your client settings using the escape menu


Other restrictions of Cloaking

Depending on the exact cloaking module which you are using there may be other restrictions, the most important are :

  • Engage your Warp Drive (Only Covert Ops Cloaking Device II will allow you to warp whilst cloaked!)
  • The speed of your ship is usually altered (Again, Covert Ops Cloaking Device II is the exception here)


See the Section on Cloaking Devices for more information

Can my missiles do damage once I've cloaked?

The answer to this is No, but the behaviour here is not quite as black and white. Your missiles will not do damage to a target once you are fully cloaked. But during the 5 second cloaking delay whilst you are still visible but unlockable, your missiles will still impact the target and do damage! This might be unintended behaviour with the recent addition of the 'covertopsstealthbombercloakmoduledelay' attribute, don't be fooled by the attribute name, this holds true for all types of cloak including stealth bombers and covert ops.


Can I Jump through Stargates when Cloaked?

As stated above, No. However with some careful timing and a bit of luck you can get through gates without becoming a target:

  1. A Cloaked Ship Approaches the Stargate.</li>
  2. Once you are at 2.5km, press the decloak button </li>
  3. Wait half a second then 'Jump' </li>
  4. On the other side, you start cloaked but this isn't a proper 'cloak', it will expire as soon as you move or after 60 seconds, which ever comes first!
  5. Start moving in a random direction</li>
  6. Quickly press the 'cloak' button, you will 'blink' on peoples scanners then disappear again, because it takes 5-7 seconds to cloak, it is possible for someone to work out your projected course while you are in the process of cloaking. To prevent this, change course after a 5 seconds or better still, warp away if you have a Covert Cloak fitted.


Can I Jump through Wormholes/Jump Portals when Cloaked?

No, you must first decloak in order to use the 'Jump to Member' option but as with Stargates, you can decloak, wait half a second, then jump.


When can't I cloak?

You can't cloak when within 2Km of another object, even if that object wouldn't force you out of cloak like a Cargo Container or a Wreck, once you are decloaked, being within 2km of ANY object will prevent cloaking. Additionally, you are unable to cloak when you are targeted by another player or NPC, this can be a real pain if you are trying to get out of trouble! And is the reason that many stealth bomber pilots will fit Sensor Dampeners or even Passive Targeters!


How much capacitor does it use?

None of the Cloaking Devices require capacitor to activate and it will stay active until you switch it off or you're forced to decloak.


What is the Reactivation Delay?

As you might guess, the reactivation delay is the time period you must wait before the cloaking device can be activated again, this is ALWAYS 30 seconds long for each module. Therefore if you decloak you cannot re-cloak for 30 seconds. The exception to this rule is the Stealth Bomber class of ship, which received a -100% bonus to the Cloaking Delay, so they can re-cloak instantly.


What is Sensor Recalibration Time?

Once you have decloaked you can't target anything for a period of time usually around 20secs, this is called 'Sensor recalibration time' and is modified by your cloaking skill.

Different cloaks have different recalibration times. It is worth noting that you can actually start targeting sooner as long as the actual lock doesn't resolve before the end of this 'recalibration' period. Best approach is to start trying to lock as soon as you decloak.

Stealth Bombers benefit from a -100% reduction in Sensor Recalibration time, meaning that they don't suffer from this penalty at all and can't target immediately.


What is Scan Resolution Penalty?

This reduces the base scan resolution of your ship, this means that the Ship will acquire a target lock much slower than it would without the cloaking device mounted. The Scan Resolution penalty is in effect as soon as you mount the module on your ship, this means that you will target *everything* 40%/50% slower than normally. This is a big consideration when flying a cloaked BS.


Can I turn the module off to avoid the scanner penalty?

No. Putting the module offline will not remove the Scan Resolution penalty.


Does it work against NPCs?

Yes, but the usual restrictions apply, and remember that NPCs are very unpredictable. Sometimes they'll target you unfeasibly quickly, and other times they wont bother locking you until you start shooting them! They also have a tendency to roam around the belts so cloaking in a belt and going AFK might be risky.

Skills

What are the Attributes of the Cloaking Skill?

Description

Skill at using Cloaking devices. 10% per level reduction in targeting
delay after uncloaking per skill level.

Can not be trained on Trial Accounts.

Skill Requirements
Primary Skills
Electronics V
Attributes
Training Time Multiplier x6
Primary Attribute Intelligence
Secondary Attribute Memory
Avg Cost (Sept-08) 3,150,000 ISK


What are the Attributes of the Covert Ops Skill?

Description

Covert operations frigates are designed for recon and espionage
operation. Their main strength is the ability to travel unseen
through enemy territory and to avoid unfavorable encounters
Much of their free space is sacrificed to house an advanced
spatial field control system. This allows it to utilize very
advanced forms of cloaking at greatly reduced CPU cost.

Can not be trained on Trial Accounts.

Skill Requirements
Primary Skills
Spaceship Command III
Secondary Skills
Electronic Upgrades IV
Electronics II
Engineering II
Attributes
Training Time Multiplier x4
Primary Attribute Willpower
Secondary Attribute Perception
Avg Cost (Sept-08) 3,600,000 ISK


What are the Attributes of the Recon Ships Skill?

Description

Skill for the operation of Recon Ships.

Can not be trained on Trial Accounts.

Skill Requirements
Primary Skills
Covert Ops IV
Spaceship Command III
Electronic Upgrades V
Electronics II
Engineering II
Secondary Skills
Signature Analysis
Engineering II
Tertiary Skills
Spaceship Command V
Attributes
Training Time Multiplier x6
Primary Attribute Willpower
Secondary Attribute Perception
Avg Cost (Sept-08) 28,800,000 ISK


What are the Attributes of the Black Ops Skill?

Description

Skill for the operation of Black Ops.

Can not be trained on Trial Accounts.

Skill Requirements
Primary Skills
Cloaking IV
Electronics V
Secondary Skills
Jump Drive Calibration IV
Jump Drive Operation
Navigation V
Warp Drive Operation V
Science V
Tertiary Skills
Spaceship Command V
Attributes
Training Time Multiplier x10
Primary Attribute Willpower
Secondary Attribute Perception
Avg Cost (Sept-08) 57,600,000 ISK


Cloaking Devices

This section will cover the various main types of cloaking device with a nod to their variants. This sort of information is likely to change as Eve is constantly being rebalanced, so if in doubt, use the in-game 'Variants' tab along with the 'Compare' option.


There are three base varieties of Cloaking Device, these are :

  1. Prototype Cloaking Device
  2. Improved Cloaking Device II
  3. Covert Ops Cloaking Device II


Prototype Cloaking Device

Prototype Cloaking Device

The prototype Cloaking Device is the 'base type' for all cloaking devices and was one of the first cloaks introduced in the game. This variety and it's variants are just for cloaking. They do so with the penalties discussed in the rest of the document, namely, you can't activate modules, you can't warp, you will have a massively reduced speed and once you decloak you will suffer as sensor recalibration time penalty.


Description

This prototype of an advanced cloaking mechanism was one of the last major technological breakthroughs to come out of Crielere Labs. Although it does work it is not really a finished product and has some serious drawbacks, most notably the fact that the module creates high sensor disruption while fitted and can not operate unless at minimum velocity.


Attributes

Fitting
Power Grid 1
CPU Usage 30
Structure
Volume 100m3 Packaged
Miscellaneous
Velocity Penalty 90%
Tech Level 1
Sensor Recalibration 30 seconds
Scan Resolution Penalty 50%
Reactivation Delay 30.00 sec
Avg Cost (Sept-08) 1,300,000 ISK


Required Skills

Primary Skill Required
Cloaking I
Electronics V


Variants

This table shows the Tech 1 Cloaking Device variants compared to the Prototype Cloaking Device I

Market Faction Complex
Prototype

Cloaking Device

Prototype 'Poncho' Caldari Navy Dread Guristas Concord Modified Kaikka's Modified Thon's Modified Vespa's Modified Estamel's Modified
CPU Usage 30 tf -4 tf +30 tf +30 tf +54 tf +42 tf +54 tf +66 tf +78 tf
Sensor Recalibration 30 Secs -1 Sec -5 Secs -5 Secs -7.5 Secs -6.25 Secs -7.5 Secs -9.75 Secs -10 Secs
Scan Resolution Penalty 50% -5% -15% -15% -21.5% -18.25% -21.5% -24.75% -28%
Speed Penalty 90% 0% -17.5% -17.5% -20.25% -18.87% -20.25% -21.62% -23%
Avg Cost (09-2008) 1.3m ISK 1m ISK 35m ISK 35m ISK 429m ISK 140m ISK 1m ISK 1m ISK 1m ISK


Improved Cloaking Device II

Prototype Cloaking Device

The Improved Cloaking Device II is the Tech Level II version of the Prototype Cloak. This variety and it's variants are just for cloaking. They do so with the penalties discussed in the rest of the document, namely, you can't activate modules, you can't warp, you will have a massively reduced speed and once you decloak you will suffer as sensor recalibration time penalty. However these Tech II variants suffer less penalty that the Prototype cloak but is not necessarily better than the Faction or Complex variants.


Description

A Improved Cloaking device based on the Crielere Labs prototype. It performes better and allows for faster movement.


Attributes

Fitting
Power Grid 1
CPU Usage 60
Structure
Volume 100m3 Packaged
Miscellaneous
Velocity Penalty 75%
Tech Level 2
Sensor Recalibration 20 seconds
Scan Resolution Penalty 40%
Reactivation Delay 30.00 sec
Avg Cost (Sept-08) 9,000,000 ISK


Required Skills

Primary Skill Required
Cloaking III
Electronics V


Variants

Tech II Cloaking Device Variants compared to the Improved Cloaking Device II

Market
Improved Cloaking Device II Improved 'Guise' Cloaking Device II
CPU Usage 60 tf -9 tf
Sensor Recalibration 20 Secs -1 Sec
Scan Resolution Penalty 40% -5%
Speed Penalty 75% 0%
Avg Cost (09-2008) 8.5m ISK 70m ISK

Covert Ops Cloaking Device II

Covert Ops Cloaking Device

The Covert Ops Cloaking device is the best that Eve has to offer, it allows you to warp whilst cloaked and has a much reduced list of penalties. Unfortunately it can only be fitted to Covert Ops ships or Recon ships. This has been achieved through the mechanism of a greatly inflated CPU requirement.


Description

A very specialized piece of technology the covert ops cloak is designed for use in tandem with the covert ops frigate. Although it could theoretically work on other ships its spatial distortion field is so unstable that trying to compensate for its fluctuations would overwhelm even the largest standard ship computers.


Attributes

Fitting
Power Grid 1
CPU Usage 10,000
Structure
Volume 100m3 Packaged
Miscellaneous
Velocity Penalty None
Tech Level 2
Sensor Recalibration 10 seconds
Scan Resolution Penalty None
Reactivation Delay 30.00 sec
Avg Cost (Sept-08) 10,669,974.99 ISK


  • Note that there is neither a speed penalty nor a scan resolution penalty for the covert ops cloaking varieties, additionally these devices allow a ship to warp whilst cloaked! Unfortunately due to the large amount of CPU required, only the Covert Ops and Fleet Recon classes of ships can mount these devices. Stealth Bombers and Black Ops ships must use the standard Tech 1 or Tech 2 variety, which prevents warping whilst cloaked.


Required Skills

Primary Skill Required
Cloaking IV
Electronics V


Variants

Covert Ops Cloaking Device Variants compared to the Covert Ops Cloaking Device II

Market
Covert Ops Cloaking Device II 'Smokescreen' Covert Ops Cloaking Device II
CPU Usage 10,000 tf -5,000 tf
Sensor Recalibration 10 Secs -1 Sec
Avg Cost (09-2008) 9m ISK 1m ISK


Cloaking Specialized Ships

Covert Ops Frigates

  • Note, I couldnt even mount the Covert Ops Cloak until I had lvl2 Covert Ops because of the insane CPU requirements.

Stealth Bombers

Force Recon Ships

Black Ops Battleships

The Black Ops Battleship class was introduced to Eve with the Empyrian Age patch in 2008 along with a new type of Cyno field generator called a Covert Cynosural Field Generator. From the patch notes : 


The Black Ops specialize in infiltration and covert operation. Equipped with a jump drive, they can jump
short  distances past enemy blockades. Covert Ops, Stealth Bombers and Force Recons (not Combat Recons) 
have been upgraded to support Covert Cynosural Field Generators. These new modules are advanced Cynosural 
Field Generators that cannot be detected and only Black Ops can lock on to. 

What makes the Black Ops in particular dangerous is that they can use miniaturized jump portal generators,
Covert Jump Portal Generators, to sneak allied forces behind enemy lines. However the covert jump portal 
technology is rather limited compared to the Titan class jump portals and require support from the ships 
that jump through to work correctly. Covert jump portal generators can only bridge for ships with Jump 
Harmonics 2 or above. 

The covert tech 2 ships: Covert Ops, Stealth Bombers and Force Recons have been upgraded to this end. The
resource consumption on the Black Ops jump drives and the Covert Jump Portal Generator is very high, so jump
fuel logistics are a concern. Fortunately the Black Ops can also use ordinary jump gates and can thus save
jump fuel for when it really matters.


Balancing

Because this ship is new to the game, there will undoubtedly be amendments in the future as CCP balance the new class. At present there is discussion of more fuel capacity and the ability to create covert ops cyno fields in systems with an active cyno

An Outline of Cloaking Strategies

This is a very subjective section and no doubt people will have strong opinions and their own ideas on the subject. This information is designed as a general outline of the potential uses, but as always it's up to you to decide what you think works and doesn't work. With most of these different uses you will find more complete guides on the Eve-Online forums in the resources indices.


The strategic uses of a cloaking device are influenced greatly by the type of Ship upon which the device is mounted. This section will deal with those ships call by class.


What Strategies can I employ when flying a Covert Ops Frigate?

  1. Scouting enemy ships and positions
  2. Scanning enemy ships hiding in safe spots
  3. Performing Moon mineral analysis scans
  4. Scanning for Exploration sites
  5. Blockade Running in Hostile Territory
  6. Smuggling Drugs and contraband in Empire
  7. Making Bookmarks in Enemy Territory
  8. Being used as a 'Warp to' marker for Fleet members (excellent for hunting pirates)
  9. Fleet support/Tackling (Sensor Damps, Tracking disruptors, ECM Race Specifics, Webbers/Scramblers, and a prayer)
  10. Griefing Smartbomb pilots in Empire (sneak within 5km of a Smartbomb using ship and watch Concord's response!)
  11. Generating Covert Cyno Fields for Black Ops Battleships
  12. Using Covert Jump Portal Bridges to insert into enemy territory


What Strategies can I employ when flying a Stealth Bomber?

Stealth bombers have been revised many times since being introduced into the game and may well be subject to changes in the future. Stealth bombers are difficult ships to fly effectively because they are are combat ships with impressive firepower but very little in the way of defence.

  1. Fleet support (Sitting at distance from the main fight, launching cruise missiles)
  2. Being used as a 'Warp to' marker in Fleets (Only if you're already in position)
  3. Anti Frig 1v1 (1v1 these ships are at great risk)
  4. Scouting Fixed Positions (Sitting at distance from a Gate/Stn/Object cloaked)
  5. Bombing (generally considered unusable at present)
  6. Roaming Groups (small groups of Stealth bombers working together have been proven to be an effective fighting force)
  7. Generating Covert Cyno Fields for Black Ops Battleships
  8. Using Covert Jump Portal Bridges to insert into enemy territory


Bombs

In Revelations II, CCP introduced bombs into the game.

Stealth bombers can be armed with six different AOE (area-of-effect) Bombs that damage everything—friend and foe alike—within their blast radius. In addition to the four primary damage types, two additional ordinance variants include capacitor draining and target lock breaking bombs.

For bombs to be used effectively, a number of bombers are required to work in concert and deploy bombs of the same damage type in the midst of a group of enemies, before attempting to escape, whilst uncloaked. Each of the damage type bombs will do 6,400 base damage with an explosion radius of 400m. Meaning that they are very effective against battleships and even then 3-4 will be needed in order to destroy the battleship. Bombs currently cost an average of 9.5m each.

Bombs are rarely used at present and considered broken by the majority of players.


What Strategies can I employ when flying a Force Recon Cruiser?

Force Recon ships are a very versatile ship class, combining a Covert Ops II cloaking device with excellent electronic warfare capabilities and reasonable survivability.

  1. Scouting enemy ships and positions
  2. Scanning enemy ships hiding in safe spots
  3. Blockade Running in Hostile Territory
  4. Smuggling Drugs and contraband in Empire
  5. Making Bookmarks in Enemy Territory
  6. Being used as a 'Warp to' marker for Fleet members (excellent for hunting pirates)
  7. Fleet support/Tackling (Each class has a bonus to different forms of Electronic Warfare/Tackling)
  8. Griefing Smartbomb pilots in Empire (sneak within 5km of a Smartbomb using ship and watch Concord's response!)
  9. Generating Covert Cyno Fields for Black Ops Battleships
  10. Using Covert Jump Portal Bridges to insert into enemy territory


What Strategies can I employ when flying a Black Ops Battleship?

Black Ops Battleships were introduced into Eve with the Trinity patch and are the newest class of cloaking specialized ship, battleship sized vessels with bonuses to Cloaking device uses. Unfortunately this ship cannot use the Covert Ops Cloaking device and therefore cannot warp whilst cloaked:

  1. Solo PvP (1v1 these ships could perform well against an unsuspecting target)
  2. Fixed Scouting (the kind that doesn't need moving around)
  3. Ambushing (with a smaller ships as bait/tackler)
  4. Hiding from Covert Ops scan probes
  5. Blockade Running (Needs another cloaking ship to create a covert cyno)
  6. Roaming Groups
  7. Generating Covert Cyno Fields for Black Ops Battleships
  8. Using Covert Jump Portal Bridges to insert into enemy territory

What Strategies can I employ when flying any Ship not specifically designed for Cloaking?

In spite of the limitations there are plenty of ways to utilize a cloaking device on normal ships, although again it will depend on the ship class.

Note: Heavy Assault Cruisers can effectively float between the two below categories

Frigate/Cruiser Classes

  1. Fleet support/Tackling (Not as flexible as the Covert Ops but the speed penalty is less noticeable)
  2. Being used as a 'Warp to' marker in Fleets (Only if you're already in position)
  3. Anti Frig 1v1 (Risky and expensive)
  4. Scouting Fixed Positions (Sitting at distance from a Gate/Stn/Object cloaked)


Battleship

  1. Fixed Scouting (the kind that doesn't need moving around)
  2. Ambushing (with a smaller ships as bait/tackler)
  3. Hiding from Covert Ops scan probes


Industrial Ships

  1. Hiding from Covert Ops scan probes


Capital Ships

Capital class vessels make heavy use of Cloaking Devices, usually to ensure that they remain safe until they are ready to attack, or to recover capacitor whilst making multiple system jumps.

  1. Hiding from Covert Ops scan probes
  2. Ambushing (with smaller ships as bait/tackler)
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