Best way to escape an interdiction

[Exigeous]

There have been many many threads discussion PvP, PvE, ganking, griefing, etc. etc. Invariably interdictions are discussed but I don't think I've ever seen a very simple, "here's how to escape" post anywhere. It's likely that many know this so this is probably only really helpful to the new players. I'm a big advocate for flying in open as I personally really enjoy the human interactions or at least just seeing other commanders making the galaxy feel alive. I do role play gentlemen pirate quite a bit so in that way it's important to me that commanders choose to fly in open. The fear of being interdicted and killed, while silly or not, is a real thing as many feel the risk is too high and they just can't survive. Well here's how you do, in almost any ship against almost any ship, NPC or human.

Realize these are my opinions, they are in no way fact, they are just what I've experienced after doing a great number of commander interdictions. There are many ways to handle this, as I hope people will post how they handle it I'll continue to update the suggestions below with those additions. I've created two sections, how to handle an interdiction once it's started and how to evade it in the first place. Okay, so here's my advice...

Evading an Interdiction Before it Begins

• First know that an attacker has to be behind you traveling in roughly your same direction to grab you. The size/type/engineering of the interdictor effects the distance and angle to the target so you'll need to make somewhat large turns and speed changes here but if you're paying attention to your scanner many times you can avoid the interdiction before it begins. See a Type 7 behind you, smile, wave and o7. See a FDL behind you, time to start evading.
• You can also "outrun" your would be attacker. Not only does he have to be behind you but at a certain distance. It's likely that if you pop out at the start and bee line to your destination that you'll be travelling faster than him most of the trip and that he'll catch you at the slow down for dropping. Here you can do 2 things, first you can target a destination beyond your real destination (or none) so that your ship won't auto slow down as you near, or you can simply leave throttle at 100% until you reach the target then do the turn of shame to come back to drop out. That will not only keep you ahead but the turn will make it less likely you'll be grabbed before you drop out.

Handling an Interdiction Once Begun

• First when you arrive in your destination system head straight for the station. Do NOT hang out at the star and fuel scoop, that's about the worst thing you can do. You give your attacker plenty of time to see you jump in, get aligned with you and ready for the grab. You've made your last jump, you don't need any more fuel, just refuel at the station. Even if it's 10k ls from the star I'm sure you'll have enough fuel so don't lolly-gag, get your moving!!
• As soon as you get grabbed target your attacker (with the appropriate hotkey) and evalute who's grabbing you. Is it an NPC Sidewinder or a commander in a FDL with a wing of 3? Knowing what you're going to be dropping into before doing so can be very critical.
• Next are you near a planet or star? Something that you can turn toward so that you and your attacker will slam into it's gravity well and be pulled out of supercurise separately? If so turn, this will break the interdiction and drop you both out separately.
• Now decide, are you going to fight the interdiction or submit? Personally I *always* submit, always. I feel it's far less work and I'm gonna escape anyway but as it is possible to win an interdiction this is your call. If you're new to this and have gotten interdicted less than say 20 times it's less likely you'll win, especially if it's a commander. Have you won 200 before, sure, fight your off!
• If you do fight realize what you're risking. I've interdicted at least 100 commanders by now and have never lost a single fight. If you fight and lose you'll not only take hull damage but your FSD cool down time will be doubled. This added risk means I just submit so I know I can jump much sooner.
• Drop into regular space, full pips to engines and immediately boost
  EDIT: Several have suggested 4 pips to shields and 2 to engines, not a bad idea.
  EDIT: It's also been suggested to boost at the attacker (don't hit them) as they will take longer turning to come after you giving you distance from them)
  EDIT: Another suggestion is 4 pips to engines boost and as soon as you see any hits to shields go full pips to SYS. By then you'll likely have enough charge for another boost in engines and you'll likely only need 2 boosts for cool down if you submitted. Do get 4 in SYS and 2 in ENG, no don't need anything in WEP.
• Right after the boost bring up your left/Nav panel and if you're at the top scroll up quickly (taking you to the bottom), if in the middle scroll down quickly. Either way find another system nearby to jump to. Realize that if you low wake back into supercruise your attacker is going to do the same and just nab you again pretty much right away (I've done this to targets as many as 4 times. Drop, jump, grab, drop, jump, grab, repeat as necessary)
• Select that system and choose to FSD jump right there. This is the trick - if you high wake to another system you won't get mass locked by the other ship, if you low wake back into Supercruise you can/will get mass locked
• By now you should be able to boost again, check to see where the next system is and if you need to turn start your turn before the boost so you'll hopefully be pointed at the system right after.
• Watch the charge and jump. Oh, and if you don't know as soon as you see the countdown that's when you actually jump from the other players perspective. At that point you're safe. (It's *very* unlikely that the ganker will have a high wake scanner)
• Feel good that you escaped, that you foiled your attacker and best of all - you weren't a douchey combat logger!!!

With these methods you can likely keep yourself safe in open in almost any situation. If you do get grabbed you might take some shield hits, hell you might lose your shields. You might even take some hull damage if you had super weak trader shields or none at all (tip: flying in open with no shields is always a bad idea). You might even get stopped, chat with a pirate, have some role playing fun and give him some cargo. Realize that even if a pirate takes half of your CG cargo that's likely not going to effect your rank in the CG (if you have mission cargo tell the pirate as many will just let you keep that). Worst case you get grabbed by a ganker and you get sent to a rebuy screen. Just don't let that bother you, realize that it effected maybe 30 minutes tops of your life, it's extremely rare, some fake numbers in your fake credits account change and you're right back to your normal fun. If you get off, post about it, offer bounties, etc. you're doing exactly what they want, letting it effect your enjoyment of the game. Don't let them win....

Thoughts? What methods do you use? Has this not worked for you? Please let's save the combat logging debate/flaming for the many many MANY other threads on the topic.

~X

 

[777Driver]

Your method will get low skilled freighter pilots killed -

Assuming a half decent shield config.

4 pips in SYS - 2 in ENG

Boost towards the attacker whilst locking in the high wake (ideally whilst applying full lateral or vertical thrust at the point of boosting.

Charge the FSD whilst boost turning to the high wake destination - Jump out without a scratch.

 

[Dr. Ivo Robotnik]

I fight the interdiction, in my experience it takes much less time than submitting and it's really not difficult.
I play in Mobius though, so my interdictions are only with NPC's.

 

[Ouberos]

I'm no ganker but I always carry a wake scanner. I sometimes follow people just for practice.

Best way to avoid an NPC interdiction is carry no cargo. I would agree the flying at the attacker is best.

But don't hit them.

 

[vrseven]

IF you know that you are going to be interdicted because of a NPC message and you just jumped into a system trying to jump into another, start your FSD and do loops until it is fully charged then align it at the destination target system.

 

[Anton_]

I'd suggest hi-wake again ASAP upon entering the the first escape system, to make it harder for your PVE interdictor to follow you.

 

[777Driver]

IF you know that you are going to be interdicted because of a NPC message and you just jumped into a system trying to jump into another, start your FSD and do loops until it is fully charged then align it at the destination target system.

Jumping between systems is not an issue, you can high wake during the interdiction, I do it all the time.

 

[Frank]

I fight the interdiction, in my experience it takes much less time than submitting and it's really not difficult.
I play in Mobius though, so my interdictions are only with NPC's.

I've fought and won interdictions with human players. I don't know if things have changed since the last time someone interdicted me. It was a month or so since I escaped my last human interdiction because I normally only play in Solo.

 

[777Driver]

I've fought and won interdictions with human players. I don't know if things have changed since the last time someone interdicted me. It was a month or so since I escaped my last human interdiction because I normally only play in Solo.

Against a human things are much easier, always fly wide arcs, monitor the scanner in SC, emergency drop if you see a triangle lining up. NPC's can do insta interdictions, humans have to do it the old fashion way.

 

[Exigeous]

....Boost towards the attacker whilst locking in the high wake..... .....Jump out without a scratch.

Can't say I disagree with that, I'll update my suggestion with boosting at them first with the idea that now they have to turn to catch up and you can gain some ground.

I fight the interdiction, in my experience it takes much less time than submitting and it's really not difficult.
I play in Mobius though, so my interdictions are only with NPC's.

Again I can't necessarily argue as NPC's aren't too hard to beat, I don't think I've ever lost an NPC fight (well when I was a noob sure). It's just far easier/less work for me to submit, boost, charge, jump than to play the mini-game.

I'm no ganker but I always carry a wake scanner. I sometimes follow people just for practice.

Interesting, may I ask why? Practice for what, missions where you need that or just to use another in-game tool? I think I've used one all of 3 times, if someone high wakes on me I'll just move on to my next target.


Hopefully Frontier will finally do something about cheaters and you won't be allowed in game let alone in open. If you can't handle risk in a video game perhaps you should be doing something else with your time.

I'd suggest hi-wake again ASAP upon entering the the first escape system, to make it harder for your PVE interdictor to follow you.

Not a bad idea at all, that said I've never had anyone - NPC or commander - chase me to another system.

I've fought and won interdictions with human players. I don't know if things have changed since the last time someone interdicted me. It was a month or so since I escaped my last human interdiction because I normally only play in Solo.

Oh sure, I suppose I shouldn't imply you can't beat a commander interdiction it's just been my experience, after interdicting MANY more commanders than an average player, that I've never lost a single interdiction. The majority do submit but about 20% don't and those are the ones that almost always wind up dead (as they take a bit of damage, have a far longer cool down and are very likely to shoot first).

 

[Dr. Ivo Robotnik]

Which is a good reason to take the position that you do. My post was merely a response as to how I handle interdictions (since you mentioned NPC and human in your opening post).

Again I can't necessarily argue as NPC's aren't too hard to beat, I don't think I've ever lost an NPC fight (well when I was a noob sure). It's just far easier/less work for me to submit, boost, charge, jump than to play the mini-game.

 

[Exigeous]

Which is a good reason to take the position that you do. My post was merely a response as to how I handle interdictions (since you mentioned NPC and human in your opening post).

Oh sure, and sorry if I seemed dismissive or otherwise implied you were "wrong". There are many ways to handle these, which is why I even asked for how others do so, I just figured I'd share what I feel to be the best way as I've not only used this to escape many times but I've also been on the other side FAR more than the average player and as such have seen various methods work well and others fail terribly.

So again a totally reasonable way to handle it, hell I'd love to meet up some time and see if you could defeat me in an interdiction mini-game. I don't mean to sound arrogant (I mean is wining interdictions even something to be arrogant about?!?!) I've just not yet had any commander defeat me.

 

[Frank]

Oh sure, I suppose I shouldn't imply you can't beat a commander interdiction it's just been my experience, after interdicting MANY more commanders than an average player, that I've never lost a single interdiction. The majority do submit but about 20% don't and those are the ones that almost always wind up dead (as they take a bit of damage, have a far longer cool down and are very likely to shoot first).

It all depends on the ships as well. My Python is pretty good at winning the interdiction game. I don't even attempt it with NPCs when I'm in my T9, but on saying that, I did manage to evade an interdiction once in my T9 during a Huttons Vs The Code tussle. That was many moons ago and there is always balancing going on.

If I do lose to a human I don't hang around to fight. I high tail it outta there, dodging and spinning and full pips to shields. The extra cooldown does mean I've been killed a few times, but on the few occasions where I've been playing in open and been successfully interdicted, I've more often gotten away.

The interdiction minigame is something that traders have in their arsenal, and shouldn't be dismissed in such an offhand way. If you do want to try it out then practice by getting yourself an interdictor. Both sides of the game are very similar. Go to the control settings and enable your mouse widget so that you've got a dot in the centre of your screen. When you are in the middle of an interdiction, ignore all the fancy sparks and fizzing noises. Just concentrate on keeping that mouse dot near the smallest interdiction circle. Keep that circle white.

And another thing to bear in mind that not all interdictions are by Exigeous, and so some of the interdictors will be better at the minigame than others. But if you press your "target highest threat" button during the interdiction and see that it is indeed Exigeous behind you, you could always submit at that time.

 

[Rupert Pupnick]

I read in another thread recently that you can only be interdicted by a vessel that is
on your six (i.e. directly at the bottom of your HUD scanner). If you make course changes
on the way to your destination (zig zagging or corkscrewing) that keep other ships
from positioning themselves directly behind you, you can't be interdicted.

This seems to have worked for me so far, but I've only played solo, so maybe this
only applies to NPCs...

 

[vrseven]

Another thing that you can do if you jump into a system and need to be in SC until you reach a planet or Orbital station is to out run the pursuing ship. I do that all the time and leave them in the "space" dust. Head straight for your destination and if there are any planets near by, aim your ship at the edge of the planet and use the gravity to propel you forward faster.

 

[Exigeous]

The interdiction minigame is something that traders have in their arsenal, and shouldn't be dismissed in such an offhand way. If you do want to try it out then practice by getting yourself an interdictor. Both sides of the game are very similar....

That is both very true about traders needing to be good at the mini-game and great advice for new traders to get practice at it. You're right that I shouldn't be too dismissive here, remember my goal is for this to be for new players, those without much experience yet. When you're new the thrill of getting interdicted by another commander is usually so high that you're unlikely to win so accepting that before it happens and knowing what to do is likely a good thing.

...not all interdictions are by Exigeous, and so some of the interdictors will be better at the minigame than others. But if you press your "target highest threat" button during the interdiction and see that it is indeed Exigeous behind you, you could always submit at that time.

HAHA, that is too damn funny my friend!!! I certainly hope that's meant as tongue-in-cheek as I'm reading it as I in no way mean to sound like some douchey that I'm some interdiction master. I've just done a lot of it, far more than most as I think the vast majority of players have rarely seen another commander let alone interdict/attack them. Touche my friend, you definitely got a huge laugh outta me!!

I read in another thread recently that you can only be interdicted by a vessel that is on your six (i.e. directly at the bottom of your HUD scanner). If you make course changes on the way to your destination (zig zagging or corkscrewing) that keep other ships from positioning themselves directly behind you, you can't be interdicted.

This is generally correct but realize the angle that I need to be behind you (called the interdiction arc) is different based on the size and type of interdictor used and can be engineered to be even better. I use a 4A that is engineered so I have a pretty big capture arc. Just zig zagging a bit isn't really going to do much, you need to make rather large turns, vary speed, etc. as I also have to be within a certain distance behind you to nab you. The current CG is in a system where the station is only 50-60 ls from the star giving me *very* little time to get behind a target to nab them and as such I've definitely had several pilots evade me. They clearly see me coming in behind them, in an FDL with my interdictor out (so I'm a triangle on their scanner) and as such they start maneuvers like your describe. With the quick trip to the station they'll likely win that the majority of the time so honestly I just move on to the next target that seems unsuspecting and BANG, another interdiction.

Good advice none the less. I'd say that's a good way to "evade" an interdiction, my point was what to do when you do get nabbed. I'll add this to my first post as it is good information.

Another thing that you can do if you jump into a system and need to be in SC until you reach a planet or Orbital station is to out run the pursuing ship. I do that all the time and leave them in the "space" dust. Head straight for your destination and if there are any planets near by, aim your ship at the edge of the planet and use the gravity to propel you forward faster.

Yup, this is also good advice, like above, to avoid the interdiction in the first place, however I think the use of gravity here is a bit incorrect. If you're approaching a station at a planet and head for the planet you're going to get slowed by the gravity, not sped up. This is if you have the station locked as your destination as your ship is trying to plan your acceleration curve to drop at that station. If you notice when heading toward a station orbiting a planet closely you'll see your time counter go up as you pass the planet's gravity well. What's better is to target a planet/station that's well past the station you're heading to. That way your ship will calculate the acceleration curve for that distant point and not start slowing you down for your real destination. When you get close re-target your station, sure you might have to do the turn of shame but if anything that will help you as not only are you going much faster but you're turning so I can't get behind you!

Make sense??

Great input guys, really appreciate the comments!

~X

 

[vrseven]

You do not have to target the nearest planet or station to increase your speed and out run your pursuer. Just aim the ship at the edge of the planet/station not directly at it. The ship will slow down if aimed directly at the planet/station.

 

[Siranui]

- Submit

- Drop into regular space, full pips to engines and immediately boost

Insert: Don't just throttle down and submit. You're then going into a situation totally blind, and this is a mistake.

Pilots have a few seconds to orientate before throttling down. This is the only time you have any real thinking time during the encounter, so don't squander it by submitting immediately.

Identify the attacker: NPC or player, ship model and - importantly with NPCs - skill level. See if they're in a wing. It might be a sidwinder, it might be a full gank wing. You need to know.
See if there's a nearby body you can either dry-gulch the attacker into, or slam into yourself in order to drop out of SC and maybe lose them.
Decide *now* if you are fighting and running and take a second to prepare.
Put 4 pips to ENG and 2 to SYS [more on this in a moment].

NOW submit to the interdiction.

Your attacker will not be in a position to open fire the second you drop, so you can safely have 4 pips in ENG for your initial boost turn along your chosen escape vector. Having 4 in ENG will give you a few seconds of high boost regeneration while you are not under fire and there is no point having 4 SYS pips while you are not being shot at.
When your attacker aligns and opens fire, THEN move 4 pips to SYS.

 

[Exigeous]

You do not have to target the nearest planet or station to increase your speed and out run your pursuer. Just aim the ship at the edge of the planet/station not directly at it. The ship will slow down if aimed directly at the planet/station.

Hmm, I'll have to test this shortly as I don't think this is correct. That said if you keep your throttle at 100% and don't drop to 75% until you've passed your target by doing that and the turn of shame you'd likely keep yourself in front of your attacker and the turn will keep him from getting behind you as you decelerate. You seem awfully sure so I'll likely post back that you're correct I just don't think this has been my experience...

- - - Updated - - -

Insert: Don't just throttle down and submit. You're then going into a situation totally blind, and this is a mistake.

Pilots have a few seconds to orientate before throttling down. This is the only time you have any real thinking time during the encounter, so don't squander it by submitting immediately.

Identify the attacker: NPC or player, ship model and - importantly with NPCs - skill level. See if they're in a wing. It might be a sidwinder, it might be a full gank wing. You need to know.
See if there's a nearby body you can either dry-gulch the attacker into, or slam into yourself in order to drop out of SC and maybe lose them.
Decide *now* if you are fighting and running and take a second to prepare.
Put 4 pips to ENG and 2 to SYS [more on this in a moment].

NOW submit to the interdiction.

Your attacker will not be in a position to open fire the second you drop, so you can safely have 4 pips in ENG for your initial boost turn along your chosen escape vector. Having 4 in ENG will give you a few seconds of high boost regeneration while you are not under fire and there is no point having 4 SYS pips while you are not being shot at.
When your attacker aligns and opens fire, THEN move 4 pips to SYS.

ABSOLUTELY FANTASTIC ADVICE. I'll update my OP to reflect your points, specifically about evaluating the situation in those first few seconds. Remember I'm targeting this at new players who might be so excited they just can't think straight at first. But you're dead on balls accurate (reference anyone???) about this. Very well put.

 

[Leper Messiah]

Hopefully Frontier will finally do something about cheaters and you won't be allowed in game let alone in open. If you can't handle risk in a video game perhaps you should be doing something else with your time.

not defending cheating per se but people have been cheating in video games from the start, console commands etc...god modes. etc etc. Expecting people to play a game any way other than in a way that suits THEM is a fool errand IMO.