Have you ever wondered what those stealth bombers are doing in the warzone? 

When you’re capturing an outpost in a deserted system in EVE Online factional warfare, you expect to see Punishers, Condors, Rifters, and Thrashers. They’re cost effective ships capable of accomplishing specific objectives; taking and defending complexes and outposts. 

But sometimes, a ship you might not expect comes through. It spends a while in the system, and it’s not at any outposts. Eventually, your overview refreshes and the bomber leaves the system. You hardly pay any attention to it because they’re not contesting your complex. No harm, no foul. Right?

Wrong. Never let an enemy accomplish any goal.

Even though you got to run your timer, that bomber was likely destroying critical targets. If you’re in a system with an enemy stealth bomber, they’re hoping you don’t notice them. Factional warfare stealth bombers are juicy targets in the warzone, especially for attack frigates. The reason stealth bombers are so vulnerable against attack ships is that stealth bombers have very weak defenses, low speed, and weak capacitors. Even though they are much more expensive than attack frigates, they aren’t designed for head-to-head combat.

When a stealth bomber ventures within directional scan range of an attack frigate, they are in danger. In the warzone, there are really only a few places in a given system that a stealth bomber would usually be.

D-Scanning Enemy Stealth Bombers

Using wide open settings for the scanner, you can pick up anything within a sphere with a diameter of 14.3 AU. By systematically narrowing down the settings on the sensors, it’s possible to pinpoint the position of ships within that range – as long as they remain relatively still. Stealth bombers stick around the same area when they’re on a mission, and usually they’re a little distracted. Check if there are mission beacons if you suspect there’s an enemy stealth bomber in your space. If you see any, scan those first to determine if the bomber is already trying to complete their run. 

Once you locate the enemy bomber and warp to their signature, you’ll exit hyperspace outside an acceleration gate to another pocket. Take that gate and your warp drive will transport you to the warzone area that the bomber is operating in. If you’re able to get there quick enough, you’ll have a chance to catch the bomber before it can escape.

If you tackle the bomber, you’re practically guaranteed a victory. The cowards from the 24th Imperial Crusade never send backup to escort their bombers. Instead, it’s their practice to send each on a suicide mission with no defense and abandon them at the first sign of trouble. But they’re in no way unique; many take this approach to be as cost-effective as possible.

Stealth Bomber Loot

The best part of killing enemies, aside from the victory itself, is the loot. After destroying an enemy ship in EVE Online, you get to dig through the wreckage for useful weapons, equipment or cargo. If an expensive ship is destroyed, the chances are that their loot and salvage will be expensive. Depending on how often you can safely transport the items to a trade hub via the cargo hold on your ship, hunting enemy stealth bombers for money in EVE Online factional warfare can be a lucrative avenue to fund solo frigate pvp. 

It’s not uncommon to use a frigate worth less than 5 million ISK to destroy an enemy vessel worth 100 milion ISK – or more. With this in mind, remember; if you die 5 times but manage to kill one enemy stealth bomber, you’re likely still coming out ahead.

Want to see EVE Online gameplay videos? Click here to watch Hannibal Decca solo frigate pvp.