Moving took me longer then I had hoped due to a mistake I made with my jumpclone positioning ( destroyed a clone in Derelik and then realized I didn't have the standings requirement to create a new one in Verge so I had to fly all the way back, facepalm)
Now that I have finally entered The Syndicate I've been on a few scouting trips
into the region and I plan on doing that the coming week or so.
My goal on my first trips have been to make tactical and insta -bookmarks around the gates , safespots and insta-warps from the station undocks. Not for all systems but for the systems that I think I will need to regularly fly thru when I am getting in and out of the region. Using them will make it possible for me to travel relatively safe if I want to. While i am doing this I am checking out the local inhabitants and what kind of traffic is moving thru the systems.
Today I had planned to scout from EZA to 98Q-OS but I didn't get far. Three jumps in, in VV-VRC, I caught an interdictor camp on scan at the IIRH gate while there was a 10+ ship fleet sitting in the M2 gate. I had managed to evade them when I came in from M2 by running like a madman :-) while overheating my MWD (6000+m/s, hell yeah) . Thank CCP for the speed of my Crusader.My decision to not bring a T1 frig as a scout has already paid off.
Speedy Devil |
With the gates blocked by interdictors and 20 in local I decided to call it a day ,dock up and wait for a better moment to continue. I don't want to risk my interceptor just yet. Patience is a virtue. The wise know when to quit and when to come back..
I do sometimes feel tempted to take the crusader into battle though. Yesterday when I warped to a planet I landed 70km away from a Taranis. A perfect opportunity for a 1v1 and I hesitated to attack or not. I decided to fly away. That didn't feel to good I can tell you .. running away when I want to learn how to PvP? But still a wise choice in hindsight. I have no experience in flying a Crusader and the Taranis with its drones would prob have chewed me up even if I managed to keep range from it (which is highly questionable knowing my lack of successes so far). Besides scouting is my primary goal right now and I need to pick my fights well , not waste ships and get demoralized. Gotta stick to the plan.
So far Syndicate seems very active and it is living up to its reputation.