PvP

PvP is seriously cool in Eve.

PvP in Eve is amongst the most harsh of MMOs I know. When killed you lose your ship, which can be worth 100M, 500M, 2.0B or even more. You do not lose 'experience' or skill points, though. (Unless your clone is out-of-date).

PvP in Eve involves destroying opposing ships and structures. The damage caused in warfare is counted in the ISK value of what has been blown up -vs- what has been lost. A fitted ship can be very expensive, 100M ISK easily, and you cause economic damage upon the opposition by destroying ships. Most corps will help cover the replacement cost of ships lost during sanctioned PvP operations. However, the economic warfare rendered upon an opposition can crumble their ability to maintain a defence.

When you are involved in a kill as victim or winner, you receive a 'killmail'. It's an Eve mail listing what happened, who was involved, and what was destroyed. Players then post these killmails to their corporation or alliance killboards. They record all killmails. Thus, the economics of loss and gain are calculated and shown as a tally.

The scale of Eve PvP is incredible. You can have 100-a-side 'blobs' of ships attacking each other and structures. Often you'll see 10 or 15 ships in a gang, perhaps chasing one target who encroached your territory, or defending a gate. Alliances can construct player-owned structures which have huge offensive and defensive capability, but are fixed in place.

There is so much PvP in Eve.

Newbies
Noobs and PvE players are protected to some degree by the police called Concord. They will actually materialise and kill an aggressor if you are in a secure system. Their guns will also attack at huge range aggressors who act near stargates in secure systems.

You can still get PvP'd though. I lost one of my first purchased Frigates when I jumped into an asteroid belt where two other noobs confused me for a threat and attacked. They didn't pod-kill me, though.

Do not feel safe in high-security space like 0.9.
You can still be suicide ganked by people who want your cargo really badly, at any cost. Read this page for more on that.

Low sec
As you move out of Empire (which is in the middle, basically) towards the outskits, you enter 'low security' space: 0.1 to 0.4. You are not guarded by Concord here. Be on your guard.

0.0
Then you enter 0.0 space which is totally unpatrolled: your PvP situational awareness needs to increase. Your risk of ganking is severe. Best to go there once you are in a Corp. Read my 0.0 section for more.

Gate camps
Read my travel section to learn how to escape from hostiles camping a star gate.

Roles
There are many roles in Eve PvP. It's surprising how varied it is, really. You do not just DPS a target in order to win the day. Other roles are crucial, such as:

• covert ops (like a hunter, used to probe or locate enemies)
• electronic warfare (which is like stunlocking, to weaken a target)
• cyno generator (to create a cynosaural field for a gigantic capital ship to jump to)
• interdictor (creating bubbles which prevent the target from warping away)
  
• 'healer' for friendly armour or shields, called Logistics in Eve (you can remotely repair an ally's tank)
• 'group buff' by using gang warfare links (you can 'buff' the speed, armour or information powers of your gang using warfare links)
• tackler (you stop the target from escaping).
  

Many of these skills require intelligence or memory attributes instead of the typical will power and perception used for ship and gunnery skills. Put some consideration into these paths when you start your character, so you can lay out your attributes consistently with the goal.


The Tackler
A common job for new PvPers is to be the 'tackler'. You use warp disruptors and stasis webifiers, plus other electronic warfare gadgets, to stop the target from running away, so all your Corp mates can complete the kill.

Here is a superb training flick to help you out: Tackle Training Video (or here in low bandwidth).

The main goal of a tackler is to get to its target as fast as possible to scramble and/or web it. The warp scrambler stops the target from warping away from you. The Stasis Webifier slows their movement to 75% of normal.

Note you should be ok with getting your ship blown up a lot as a tackler. You will be in a Frigate, most likely, because it's fast.

Tacklers are dangerous to the target ship and they will do what they can to drop you ASAP. As a tackler you likely have to get in close. If you can web him he can probably web you right back and that pretty much ends most frigs once that happens (speed is your defense and once taken away there is not much left to protect you).

Most corps have a frig replacement policy for their tacklers (or all their younger players). Usually all the gear you need will be provided free of charge too.

Tacklers are the most under-estimated role in the game. Everybody wants to get to the big ships with big guns. But the truth of the matter is that without a tackler you might not even get a lock on some ships.

A few pointers...

• Start by fitting your mid slots first. After all you are a tackler not a damage dealer. It is ok if you can't fit all the slots.. just focus on tackle (scram, disrupt, web)
• Equip anything that a)extends life but does not use cap b)does not affect your sig radius negatively
  
• You will not be targeted as often as you think unless you are a sole tackle (there should always be at least 2 tacklers and enough damage to kill the target before they both go down)
• Set orbit to 2000m inside your optimal range the second you undock (Make sure if you fit a web that optimal is now 6000m). Orbit your target don't sit stationary.
• Do not hesitate... Once primary target is called.. find it and attack it. The best tacklers I've got are the ones that go balls out!
• Turn on your scrambler and disruptor while you are locking. They will activate the second you acquire lock.
  
• Do not turn on the webifier until your disruptor/scramber is on them
  
• Use an Afterburner, not a Microwarp Drive until you're quite experienced.
  
• Create an overview that shows ONLY targets. Use ctrl+click in overview to acquire lock
• If guarding a Stargate, bump target to un-align and keep from approaching gate again and then orbit

Suggested items to fit:

• Mids: Warp Disruptor, Warp Scrambler, Stasis Webifier, Afterburner
• Lows: Signature Amp (faster lock time) and Damage control unit (lots of life with little cap usage). Basic Inertia Stabilizers"(increases how fast you can turn) and "Basic Overdrive Injector System" (makes you go faster) are good choices too.
• Highs: Anything you can fit.

Microwarp Drive?
Micro Warp Drives ("MWD") have 500% signature increase. You must turn it off once within tackling range or you'll get killed. Read the comments below for further discussion.
Much of the above information came from this forum post. Authoring credit goes to the posters therein.

The power of bookmarking
No, don't scoff. Bookmarks are like navigation upgrades. They let you survive, hide and find things. Read this superb guide from Agony Unleashed to learn more.