Lao Xin
Minmatar
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Posted - 2009.09.19 20:47:00 -
[1]
There is a lot of good advice here, but my experience as a trader was a lot less lucky recently.
After getting bored of grinding faction with Fed Navy, I decided to start doing more courier routes. I mostly ignored lowsec because I was popped before doing a storyline mission in eggelhende. I was oblivious to certain things, such as:
-30 second immunity after undock if you don't do any action -using cloaking devices to help your aligning from a station or stargate -eying local like a hawk, observing "scouts" (later I realized I was scouted on the ation gate) -creating undock bookmarks, which are bookmarks you setup 1-2,000km out from a station where you haven't changed your direction, helping alignment to near 0 (undocking now shoots you out in a cone so it's not perfect each time). -simply, knowing where to go and not, putting some systems on avoidance
So after a while of doing high sec courier contracts and intermingling them with some trade and the occasional courier mission, I became more brave and confident. I found lowsec areas that don't have much piracy, and began doing those. And then one day I took out almost all of my money in collateral (106m ISK), went through Rancer.. and on the other side was a Broadsword. I didn't have a cloaking device or propulsion. My warp stabilizers were useless to a heavy int. To be honest if I had known I was going through Rancer, I would have fitted properly.. but the route I thought would be going back and not short-cutting through. So I waited for someone to hopefully warp out before me, and sure enough they did and the broadsword tried to scram them. I then aligned to the best celestial, but he must have saw me, dropped target (or failed to scram) and scrammed me right as I was about to warp. I lost most of what I've been accumulating for a month (my courier packages were destroyed) and he popped my pod (should have ejected), with 3 +4 implants installed.
So it's with a bit of humility and perhaps jealously that I read your experience, with your incredible luck concerning the complete noob pirates you encountered, and a word of advice and warning: don't ever get lazy, complacent, and always know where you're going and if 10 extra jumps will ensure not losing your shirt. And always know your luck will run out one day, and be prepared for it.
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