Your First Fleet
Onboarding · Day One
One fleet in your first week is what separates pilots who stay from pilots who drift away. It is the most important thing you will do as a new member, and it is easier than it looks.
A soft ping is enough for fleet number one. You do not need a doctrine ship, a certificate, or a perfect overview. You need a ship you can afford to lose, and to be on comms.
Finding tonight's fleet
| Where | What you will find |
|---|---|
#pings (Alliance Discord) |
Fleets forming now. This is the one to watch. |
#schedule (Alliance Discord) |
Planned fleets. Ops marked :strategic: are the big ones. |
| Fleets on the site | Upcoming and active alliance fleets. |
| Fleet 1 / Fleet 2 voice | Where alliance fleets talk. |
| Militia standing fleet | Always-on faction warfare in the militia Discord. |
If an alliance voice channel says CHECK MILITIA COMMS, the fleet is on the militia Discord.
If you are in the Academy, watch its pings too. Academy runs question-friendly fleets and hands out Thrashers.
What to bring
Most nights the fleet is kitchen sink: no doctrine, bring ships. That means bring what you have.
When the fleet calls a doctrine:
- If you can fly it, buy it from Amamake contracts. The MOTD tells you which fit.
- If you cannot, bring tackle, electronic warfare, or an anti-frigate ship and undock anyway.
- Do not DM the FC to ask what to fly. They are running a fleet for dozens of people. Pick something sensible and learn.
What to keep in your hangar long-term is in Fleet Types and Your Hangar. You do not need it tonight.
Before you undock
Voice
- Our voice is on Discord, which is unusual. Use push-to-talk.
- If you must use voice activation, turn on Krisp.
- Do not talk over the FC. On your first fleet, mostly listen.
- Type questions in fleet chat. Someone will answer.
MOTD
Read the fleet MOTD before you ask anything. It should have the doctrine, staging, FC, voice channel, and overview and broadcast settings.
Fleet chat scrolls the MOTD away. To bring it back, click More (three dots) at the top right of fleet chat and choose Reload Channel's MOTD.
Fleet window
- Open the Broadcasts tab. The FC broadcasts warps, aligns, and targets there. Right-click to warp or align. Control-click to lock the primary.
- Shoot the primary. Shooting anything else splits damage.
- Put the FC on your watchlist so you can find them and anchor.
Overview
Set up a hostile tab and a fleet tab, and keep broadcast targets at the top. A bad overview is how you shoot the wrong people. Overview packs are linked from the MOTD.
On the fleet
- Lost? Open the map, choose Color by → My fleet members, then ask in fleet chat. Not in the FC's DMs.
- Being shot in a doctrine ship? Broadcast for reps early, as soon as you are yellow-boxed by a lot of ships. Red-boxed is often too late.
- Being shot in a non-doctrine ship? Try to warp off. If you cannot, die heroically.
- Logi channel? It is for logistics pilots. If you do not know what that means, stay out of it.
Losing your ship on your first fleet is normal. That is why you brought a cheap one. Rejoin on the next ping.
Go deeper
The New Player Fleet Guide covers all of this in more detail, with screenshots of the fleet window.
Next, in your first week: Fleet Types and Your Hangar.
