4.1 What is combat like?
Combat in EVE does not follow the standard "keep in sight, calculate lead" style of fighting commonly associated with most space simulators. Combat is highly tactical with high-tech, long-range weapons and a variety of defensive equipment and strategies employed. The interface itself is comfortably uncomplicated with the use of the mouse and keyboard.
4.2 What are the main tactical considerations?
Players should equip their ships in keeping with their selected combat strategies, choosing the weapons best suited to their ships and characters’ skills. It is important to find a balance between offensive and defensive measures, discovering effective combinations of weapons and combat-related equipment.
A wide freedom of choice exists when selecting combat tactics, offering a range of options including brute force, firepower, superior speed and range, defense and evasion or stealth and cunning. Most importantly, players need to be able to respond to the tactics employed by their adversaries. Flexibility and wise power usage are always key elements of an encounter and can mean the difference between victory and defeat.
4.3 What types of weapons are available?
Weapons range from simple projectiles to missiles, energy weapons, railguns, blasters and combat drones. Each class offers diversified modules and types with advantages and disadvantages. In addition to standard weaponry, there is also a wide variety of specialized equipment such as proximity mines, energy drains and stasis webbifiers, to name but a few.
4.4 What defense methods are available?
Basic defense comes in the form of physical and energy shields. To supplement these, players can use many of their weapons in defensive mode to attack incoming missiles or combat drones. It is also possible to use scramblers, jamming devices and a host of other equipment to boost your defensive advantage.
4.5 What kind of non-weapon combat-related equipment is available?
An abundant melange of equipment exists for gathering intelligence and information about other players and their ships. Due to the strategic nature of combat, any kind of intelligence regarding the enemy can be vital. This applies as much to knowing how to outfit your ship to engage a familiar foe as it does in how to execute your plans during the actual heat of battle.
Electronic warfare plays a large role in combat. For example, if you have the ability to jam your opponent’s weapons or prevent him from warping away, you can fend off his attempts to do the same to you.
