When you go out with an NPSI group, there’s going to be different roles that the FC might need pilots to fill. Normally these are going to be the people that you’re putting on your watchlist. This will break down the most common roles you might see on different NPSI fleets.
Note: not all FCs or organizations use these roles, nor are they used in every fleet. This is just a general rundown of what the role is in case it’s used.
Main Fleet Roles
The roles under this heading are the ones that are typical on most pvp fleets. A fleet can utilize every role, or maybe only have one or two on the list. It really depends on the organization, FC, and fleet doctrine.
The FC (Fleet Commander)
The FC, or fleet commander, is the head honcho. They’re the one who’s gathering everyone up, choosing the ships (doctrine) for the fleet, and making the decisions one undocked. When the FC says jump, you jump! You can see what other types of things the FC will say here.
The Backup FC
The backup FC is the person that takes over the fleet if the FC dies, disconnects, etc. The backup FC isn’t always picked before hand, but if it’s on the watchlist you’ll want to put this person on the watchlist.
The Scouts
The scouts are the eyes of the fleet. They typically fly +1 and +2 systems ahead of the fleet to give a rundown of what the fleet will be jumping into. In a lot of NPSI fleets, the scouts also double as skirmish or hunters and not only give intel to the FC, but also actively look for targets to tackle. Most often in null fleets, the scout will fly a fleet interceptor since it can be nullified against bubbles, however, assault frigs and tactical destroyers like the hecate can also be viable choices.
Please note, in almost every fleet the Scout is required to be on voice to communicate with the FC.
The Dictor Pilots (aka Bubbler)
A bubbler, or dictor pilot, flies a type of ship called interdictor. Currently the two most popular ships that you’ll find on the majority of fleets is the Sabre and Flycatcher.
Some dictor pilots prefer to stay right behind the scouts so that they can get to a tackled target faster. Some prefer to actually hunt and sometimes the FC will want the dictor to stay with the fleet. In bigger fleets, there could be two or more dictors and different strategies employed.
The Logistics Pilots
Logi are to Eve as a healer is to other MMO’s. Logi fly ships that can repair shield, armor and hull or even give capacitor boosts. Not all fleets will require logi, but those that do the logi pilot will fly the ship that fits the ship doctrine. This means if the dps ships are shield fit, the logi will fly logi ships that give bonus to remote shield booster or, if the fleet is armor fit, they’ll have armor boost bonuses.
The Prober
The prober will have combat probes fit on their ship in order to find targets at locations you can’t warp to such as cosmic anomalies or safe spots. The prober will usually be some sort of tackle fit ship so that when the target is probed down, they can warp to the ship and then everyone can warp to them (if they’re not a scout, this is why they’re on the watch list!). Sometimes the FC will put the prober in position to be able to warp the entire fleet.
The Boosher
The boosher flies a Command Destroyer. The role “boosh” comes from the fact that the ship will be fitted with a micro jump field generator which will jump everyone within 6k 100km away if activated. In general, if the FC calls for a boosh you’ll want to put your prop mod on and approach the boosh ship (it will of course be on your watchlist!).
There are many tactics when it comes to booshing. Sometimes the FC will want to get to a target that’s hoovering around 100km from where the fleet is. Sometimes the FC will want to split off some ships from the main fleet for crowd control. For example, booshing the logi and killing them before the main fleet can burn the 100km.
In addition to booshing, the command ship also will have a command burst which will give a bonus to armor, shield, skirmish, etc.
Other Support Roles
Sometimes a fleet will want ships that ECM or are even bait. These aren’t usually “watch list” roles but are ships that are less common to skill into.
EWAR Specific Ships
On some fleets, you’ll hear the FC ask for a Sentinel, Keres, or Hyena. Or, other fleets may ask for recon ships. These all are highly specialized in different types of EWAR which helps with making targets less lethal. The ships mentioned below are what’s most likely to be seen in an NPSI roam due to cost and function. If you’d like to see all EWAR ships, check here.
ECM ships: ECM stands for Electronic Countermeasures. ECM causes the targeted ship to lose all of its current locks and the jammed ship can’t target anyone for the full 20 second module cycle. However, there is a chance that the jam fails and you have to wait for the next cycle. ECM ships get nice bonuses to jamming and can play important roles in fleets. In this category, the types of ships you’ll see commonly on NPSI roams:
- Griffin (T1 frig)
- Kitsune (Electronic attack ship)
- Falcon (Force recon, will be found most commonly on Bomber Bar fleets)
Weapon Disruption ships: these ships give bonuses to tracking and guidance disruption. Unlike ECM, disruption never fails but is dependent on being within optimal range to be 100% effective. The ships you’ll see that will fill this role is:
- Crucifier (T1 frig)
- Sentinel (Electronic attack ship)
- Pilgrim (Force recon, most likely to be found on Bomber Bar fleets)
Remote Sensor Dampening ships: damps reduce the targeting range and scan resolution (depending on the script being used). Damps tend to be long range ewar and it will work 100% of the time. Just remember damped ships can lock at close range so if being used in a brawl fleet, the scan resolution script is used the most.
- Maulus (T1 frig)
- Keres (Electronic attack ship)
- Arazu (Force recon, most likely to be found on Bombers Bar fleets)
Target Painting ships: target painters increase the sig radius of a target making it easier to track and hit. This hits 100% of the time and is a long distance ewar type.
- Vigil (T1 frig)
- Hyena (Electronic attack ship)
- Rapier (Force recon, most likely to be found on Bombers Bar fleets)
BLOPS
The BLOPS is the black ops battleships. If there’s a BLOPS on your watchlist, the chances are you’re going to be sitting in a bomber and on some cloaky bomber fleet.
The BLOPS is the ship that creates a bridge (cyno) between the fleet and somewhere else several jumps away. When the bridge goes up, you can right click the ship or the name of the pilot on the watchlist to select the jump option. DO NOT BUMP THE BLOPS!!
Hunters
Some fleets use hunters. What makes them different from scouts is that they’re not staying +1 and +2 systems away from the fleet. They’re actively poking their heads into all sorts of systems and can be a few systems away, especially in a bomber fleet that’s making use of jump bridges.
Watching Local and 1/7/14AU on DScan
This isn’t a watchlist role, but it’s something FCs will sometimes ask non-watchlist pilots to do.
- Watching local: what they’re looking for is a local spike. This person will usually click on a name in local chat, then do a ctrl + A which will highlight everyone. Any new person jumping into the system will be unhighlighted and then the person watching local can say “local up by X” or “neutral entered system” etc. If there’s a big local spike, then there could be a defense fleet that just jumped in.
- Watching DScan: the purpose of watching Dscan at 1/7/14 au is to make sure nobody can sneak up on the fleet. The person watching 14au can say that X showed up on Dscan and then the 7/1au pilots can speak up if they see them too and we know how far away they are.
Bait Ships
Sometimes, the FC will let the Drake come along or a battleship on a destroyer roam. This ship is intended to get a response from the locals in order to generate content.
