Difference between revisions of "ECCM"

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<small>Original text by Aether..<br></small>
  
<p align="Left"><small>Original text by Aether, March 2009.<br>
 
 
Edited by Aether June 2009 to correspond to ECM changes.</small>
 
  
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__TOC__
  
 
==Introduction==
 
==Introduction==
  
For more information about ECM please consult the following article [[Aether's ECM Guide|ECM Guide]].<br><br>
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For more information about ECM please consult the following article [[ECM - Electronic Counter Measures]].<br><br>
  
 
==Counter-ECM Modules==
 
==Counter-ECM Modules==

Latest revision as of 17:29, 2 January 2012

Original text by Aether..


Introduction

For more information about ECM please consult the following article ECM - Electronic Counter Measures.

Counter-ECM Modules

ECCM modules increase ship's sensor strength thus decreasing the probability that its lock will be broken by ECM. There are two versions of this module:

  • The mid-slot ECCM module is called very plainly "ECCM". It is an active module that boosts ship's sensor strength by 80-96%.
  • The low-slot module is called "backup array". It is a passive module that boosts ship's sensor strength by 40-48%.

Both types of these modules exist in racial varieties that boost only one type of sensors as well as omni/multi varieties that boost all four sensor types. There are no differences in fitting requirements between omni and racial ECCM. However, for mid-slot ECCM modules the omni module consumes twice the capacitor per cycle as the racial module, making fitting racial ECCM beneficial for your cap. Best performance is given by the best named racial ECCM. Not only does it have lower fitting requirements than its T2 counterpart but it also consumes much less capacitor.

Quite often ECCM modules get omitted from ship setups that are posted on forums. Many players do not consider these modules to be essential in fits since they are good for doing one thing only - countering ECM ships. However many gangs and fleets come with one or several Falcons and Blackbirds. When you're going against opponents who have been reported to have ECM ships there is absolutely no excuse to not fit ECCM. In this situation all ships in your gang suspect to become primary for getting jammed - logistics, heavy damage dealers, your own ECM ships - need to fit some ECCM modules. Mid-slot ECCM modules will cut your chances of getting jammed by half, which in battle is quite significant.

Counter-ECM Ships

ECM ships try to keep at the very edge of their ECM optimal distance. For Griffins and Kitsunes this is about 40-50km range, for Blackbirds this is 70-100km, for Falcons/Rooks - 50-80km, for Scorpions - 100-180km. When going against a gang with ECM ships your gang has to be able to quickly handle targets sitting at these ranges. Several approaches can be used to achieve this.

Mid-Range Hitters

Any ship capable of hitting targets located 100km away is a good defense for practically all of the encounters with ECM ships in game. Examples include T2 pulse-fit Apocalypse capable of hitting at 60+ km at optimal, Drake capable of throwing missiles to 60+km distance, Cerberus capable of hitting targets from 140+km, HAC-snipers such as sniper Eagle, Munnin, or Zealot all of which can snipe to 100km, sniper Rokh or Megathron, sentry-drone assisted Dominix and Ishtar. Missile ships are an especially good defense because they can load FoF missiles and do damage even if they are being jammed.

Fast Ships

Ships capable of covering 50-100km distance fast are useful for running off ECM ships. Most ECM pilots (unless heavily drunk) will warp off if they see a Vagabond approaching them, for example. Even though some ships such as Falcons and Rooks have a good chance of jamming HACs, most pilots prefer to not take any chances with an expensive recon ship.

Interceptors

The advantage of launching interceptors at an ECM ship instead of missiles or ammo is that they can serve as a point for other gang members to initiate warp to. Average speed of an interceptor piloted with good navigation skills is about 4,000-5,000 m/s. At this speed it is able to cover 50-100km distance in 10-20 seconds. ECM ship pilots sometimes easily let interceptors approach them, knowing well that the strength of their ECM is enough to jam it permanently and avoid getting tackled. What ECM pilots do not count on is that an interceptor can be fitted with several ECCM modules significantly improving its chances of tackling. Even if the tackle was not done successfully, inty pilot can serve as a TAM and also make a bookmark at the spot of ECM ship.

Counter ECM Tactics

FoF missiles

FoF stands for "friend or foe". These missiles can be launched and will hit nearest target even if their host ship is being jammed by ECM. All ships relying on missiles for their dps should always load some FoF missiles into their cargohold. This way during a fight you can reload and continue adding to damage output of your gang instead of sitting perma-jammed and unable to do a thing. There are no FoF equivalents to torpedoes and heavy assault missiles some some missiles ships such as torp-Ravens, HAM-Drakes, stealth bombers, and Sacrileges are unable to use FoFs to their advantage.

Drones

If you become jammed by an ECM ship and it is the first thing that has aggroed you, your drones will auto-aggress on it , but only if it is within their control range. For normal combat drones the drone control range is 45-57km depending on pilot's skills. Sentry drones can hit up to 100km but your ship must have several drone link augmentors fitted to extend your normal drone control range to that distance.

Your own ECM

Sure way to make an ECM ship ineffective is to jam it with your own ECM. ECM pilots sometimes become complacent thinking that they can jam everything on the field. At this time they may let an interceptor approach them, or even a HAC or a T1 cruiser or destroyer. If a friendly ECM ship decloaks and jams them at this point, the enemy ECM ship will drop lock. This will un-jam the tackle and allow it to place point after which all you need to do is apply a bit of damage to the ECM ship and it will melt (ECM ships typically have very weak tanks).

Dampeners

Dampeners serve to reduce locking range of ECM ship making it unable to lock anything. ECM ships would often sit at the very edge of their locking range so that getting hit even by one dampener will make them drop lock (exception are Falcons and Rooks). Dampeners have shorter optimal range than ECM and as such don't hit as often at extended ranges. However, within optimal range, effect of dampeners is not chance based, unlike ECM, and once they hit it is always a successful hit. With Recon IV, Long Range Jamming IV, and Frequency Modulation IV on a Lachesis or Arazu rigged with two Particle Dispersion Projector rigs dampeners have 59km optimal range and 84km falloff. This means that in <59km range a dampeners on Lachesis or Arazu will always hit, and between 59km and 143 km it has between 100 and 50% chance of hitting target.

ECM Ship In-Line

A roaming ECM ship is unlikely to have bookmarks around gates and stations in systems where it is roaming. As such, to get into its optimal range but still be as far away as possible, it will rely on warping 50, 70, or 100km from other objects. You can therefore observe which object it is in line from, warp to that same object and warp back at same distance. With some luck you will land right on top of it.

Scan Probing

Covops or any other ship fitted with a scan probe launcher can scan out the location of an ECM ships. The scanner can then warp the rest of the gang to its location or even warp itself and try to place a point. The advantage of this tactic is that ECM ship pilot might not pick up combat scan probes in the air and your gang will catch him or her off the guard. The disadvantage of this approach is that it will take a while to position the probes and run a scan and by that time the fight may be over. This approach works best when you already have probes pre-positioned on grid. In this case it takes about 5 seconds to run a scan and another 10-30 seconds to warp your combat ships to it.

ECCM Setups

Anti-ECM Interceptor (Crow)
Lows:
Overdrive injector II
Gravimetric Sensor Backup Array II
Gravimetric Sensor Backup Array II
Mids:
Warp Disruptor II
1 MN Microwarpdrive II
ECCM-Gravimetric II
Highs:
Rocket Launcher II
Rocket Launcher II
Rocket Launcher II
E5 Prototype Energy Vampire

Anti-ECM T1 Frigate (Vigil)
Lows:
Overdrive Injector System II
LADAR Backup Array II
LADAR Backup Array II
Mids:
ECCM - Ladar II
1MN MicroWarpdrive II
Remote Sensor Dampener II, Targeting Range Dampening
Highs:
200mm AutoCannon II, EMP S
200mm AutoCannon II, EMP S
Drones: Hobgoblin SD-300 x1

Other References

Ryysa's Electronic Warfare Guide
EWAR Certification