Dealing With Can Flippers
When CCP instituted jet cans, mining was not part of its intended purpose.
They allowed it to continue because it was a nifty idea, but have
allowed can flipping/stealing to remain as a consequence, turning an exploit and turn it into a proper feature.
First rule to dealing can flippers, is to keep level headed (which btw you really should be doing at all
times in this game, or in real life for that matter =P) Even if the flipper targets you.
Just like bullies on the school ground, they want you to respond emotionally not logically.
If you panic, or act in anger, then they have got you right where they want you.
Can flippers are usually not concerned about your ore (although they may take it, if given
the chance, as they need to pay for the occasional ship loss), their primary goal is to engage you in combat.
So, if you find yourself panicking or getting frustrated… just keep repeating this mantra: "it's just a game". While
you figure out the best logical course of action (or inaction depending) to minimize your losses.
Finally, if you are harassed too much. Just move to another system.
Your Options Against Can Flippers
- Option: Fill & Warp.
Draw Backs:
Warping to and from a station every time you fill your cargo is by far the least effective method of mining.
If it takes you 1-2 mins to warp to the station and back, and 2-3 mins to fill your cargo, I think you can see where that can really cut into
your isk/hour.
Plus instead of having Mining Laser Upgrades in your low slots, you'll have to put in cargo expanders.
- Option: Use GSCs.
Draw Backs:
When you start reading the Giant Secure Can page, you might think it's the perfect solution. As
you read the second list on that page, you'll see why it's not.
And besides those facts, for anything other then a frigate; they really aren't large enough to be useful for this purpose (despite their "Giant" name).
- Option: Fly in a Fleet that Has a Combat Pilot for Back Up (or Call out in Corp chat for help)
This has potential to work, because anyone in your corp can take advantage of the can flipper's aggression
timer. However…
Draw Backs:
Combat is exactly what can flippers are hoping for, and if you or your corpmate loses their ship(s), this will greatly encourage them to continue
(and to bring friends to add to your troubles).
And don't think that these friends will only be coming "next time". They quite likely have said friends nearby to heal their
ship (they can not shoot at you, until you shoot at them first). Even
on your first encounter with them.
Plus, good luck getting competent PvP combat pilots to sit still for more then few mins.
However, if you are successful in destroying a can flipper's ship, this will be an embarrasing blemish on their kill board, and they may leave
you alone. (Or they might war dec your whole corp for fun / revenge. It's a gamble =P)
So, if you are lucky enough to have competent PvPers that will help out when called upon, you may choose to have them run missions in a system
very close by (with pvp fitted ships stored in one of your system's stations).
Just remember you only have 15 mins to start combat with the flipper, after that Concord will pop you if you shoot at him.
An evil strategy…
When I first founded Lone Star Joint Venture, my corporation, we very briefly lived in Empire space for about a month. I had been a null sec player all my life
and even I wasn’t sure how to deal with can flippers. With the help of the Science & Industry forum readers, we devised a strategy that sometimes work
really well at blowing up flippers, and is worth a try.
The technique is the following: mine as you usually would in your favourite mining ship. However, fit a point on it (warp disruptor), and the best tank you can
fit on there. You might not have to use it, but it can always be useful.
Rather than filling up a can you jettisoned, ask a friend (not in your corp) or use an alt in a PvP ship (something that locks quickly, like an interceptor, assault frigate,
and can do decent DPS) to jettison one for you, and have him remain close to you in the belt, cloaked works even better. Stealth bombers are really fun to use here!
When a flipper arrives in your belt and sees you jetcan mining, he will approach you thinking you are an easy prey and that you are of no threat to him. He won’t
pay attention to your friend in the belt, since he isn’t in the same corp as you. Chances are he won’t even notice the can you are mining with is actually
not yours, but your friend’s that is in the belt (or if your friend is cloaked, he will be even less suspicious).
At this point, he will either steal as much as he can and immediately warp out, or flip it in a fast ship, measure your reaction, and come back in a hauler. The best
thing you can do is: nothing! Let him think you are AFK, he will definitely come back in a hauler if he thinks you are.
When he comes back in a hauler, he will usually do so with a friend with some firepower. Uncloak your alt (or have your friend uncloak) and FIRE AWAY!
This trick has worked quite a few times for us. In fact, sometimes, they would get confused and shoot the mining ship rather than the friend/alt. Since
your mining ship doesn’t have any aggro, they get CONCORDOKKEN!
- Option: Don't Shoot at Them.
If you are mining alone, this is the recommended course of action; because, if you don't fire at them when they flip your cans, they
can't gank you. It's a one-way aggression timer up until you retaliate.
That applies double for your drones. They have minds of their own, and sometimes will attack a hostile when you don't
want them to, and then not attack when you do. Keep them in your drone bay until you see npc rats coming, and have target lock(s) on them.
A solution that simple, sounds too easy to work… right? Well, sort of.
Draw Backs:
Much like the school yard bullies I referenced, can flippers get bored easily. Most won't stick around for more then 5 mins or so, and you have 1-2 hours to flip the ore back.
Give it about an hour, (and if you don't see them or their corp mates in local) then flip the ore quickly, dock for 15 mins until the aggression timer runs out.
If they come back in a hauler, then its up to you what to do. But it's probably best to just let them have the ore.
Remember that your ship is very likely to be worth a lot more then the ore they are about to steal.
If you two are the only ones in local chat you might get away with flipping it back. But if you show up in a hauler to take it back, "Murphy's Law" states there will be a set of guns waiting to blow it up. Count on it.
The only way you'll have a real chance of not getting blown up, is if you flip the can, then very quickly dock at the station, and someone else in the
fleet scoops up the goods with a hauler.
They will not have an aggression flag, if you are the one doing the flip back.
But if you have someone else in a hauler, then really you are actually implementing option 5 not 4.
- Option: Fly in a Fleet That Have Hauling Ships
Draw Backs:
There really is very little downside to this, and is the option that most small mining fleets implement.
If you have haulers with tractor beams equipped or sitting beside the miners' cans, and never leave more than a couple thousand m³ in
the can at a time; there really isn't much of a window for flippers to steal enough ore to really worry about.
Also, remember if the hauler is not moving the cans with a tractor beam; leave a bookmark in the can, so that when the hauler empties it, it doesn’t pop on
you.
- Option: Mine in a Fleet that has an Orca (or Rorqual)
Draw Back:
This option takes up a pilot that would otherwise be able to mine with a hulk.
However—if you have enough fleet wide ore yield to match what 3 to 5 hulks can do—this is by far the best option. Because you
will never have to put up with can flippers again. =D Yay!
Plus, you get a fairly potent leadership bonus to ore yield—upwards of +48%!!
Also Orca's get 50-60km range on their drones (up from a barge's 40km), so you can rely on solely the Orca's drones for fleet defence against
high sec
npc rats. Allowing the miners to use mining drones instead.
Strength in Numbers
As you can see from the 6 options suggested here, this game is engineered to encourage co-operation with other players.
And you should expect nothing less from an MMO.
So if you are out there trying to mine alone; it is highly encouraged that you join a corporation. |
