Test Wiki Please Ignore

• Overview that explains the basic concepts behind attacking or defending a POS
• General information about POS configuration belongs on a different page
• Specific POS setups should be put on a separate “Example POS Setups(?)” page to keep page length down
• Configuration - we're only going to list very basic attributes for modules and only for the base version, so things like (m3, kg, powergrid used, CPU used, and hitpoints).
• Faction versions of POS towers/modules are not covered here
• Briefly describe a few of the different types of POS setups, with links to the Example POS Setups page for specifics, bulleted list will be plenty, mention only the major styles such as deathstar, etc
• Basic setup of a POS should be covered on a POS Setup page
• Null-sec POS tower elements like cyno jammers, etc are not covered at the moment

The primary form of defense for a POS is its force field (or shield bubble). If you are inside the shield bubble, you cannot be targeted or damaged, nor can you target/damage anyone outside it. You can either enter the bubble based on standings or be given the starbase password to slip through the shield. Even if your POS access is based on standings, you must set a password on the tower. The bubble will exist until the tower is destroyed (shield and structure of the control tower) or taken offline.

There are two caveats to the invulnerability when you are inside the POS shield however. The first is that someone who is inside with you may decide to bump you out of the shield radius. The second is that the shield radius tends to warp and wobble, slowly moving inward and outward a few hundred meters. Therefore you should always stay at least 3-5 kilometers inside the bubble and not hang near the edges. Anyone else inside the bubble should be instructed to not move their ship around as it can bump pilots away from the tower. Use of the “keep at range” functionality of the selected item window may be useful for short AFKs to keep you within range of the tower or arrays.

All towers have shield, armor and structure like normal ships, but during the initial phase of combat only the shield comes into play. In addition, each tower has a set of basic shield resists that vary according to the race/faction of the tower. One of the resists will be 50%, one will be 25%, and the other two resists will be at zero. You should add shield hardeners to shore up your weaker resists.

As a general rule of thumb, “array” structures are mounted inside the POS bubble while “battery” structures are mounted outside the POS bubble. If the module targets enemy ships then it must be outside the POS bubble. This is enforced by the game when you attempt to anchor the structure at the POS location. Batteries should be evenly spaced around the POS bubble in order to avoid dead spots or weaknesses in coverage. In general, “battery” structures will need to be at least 5km away from the edge of the POS shield bubble. See the section on offense for more discussion on this.

The correct way to harden the shields of the POS depends on the tower size, the tower location, and expected opposition. But you should probably use one of the following recommendations. You will need the most modules (highest number) for the two resists that start at 0%, with one fewer hardener for the resist that starts at 25%, and one fewer for the 50% resist. So if your tower starts with 0% EM, 0% THE, 25% KIN and 50% EXP (i.e. Amarr towers), you will need (4) EM, (4) THE, (3) KIN and (2) EXP shield hardeners to reach 68-72% resists across the board.

1. 1/1/0/0 results in 25%/25%/25%/50% resists
2. 2/2/1/0 results in 44%/44%/44%/50% resists
3. 3/3/2/1 results in 58%/58%/58%/63% resists
4. 4/4/3/2 results in 68%/68%/68%/72% resists

Small towers in hi-sec should start with either no hardeners or a 1/1/0/0 hardener setup, lo-sec should use a minimum of a 2/2/1/0 setup. Medium towers should use a 2/2/1/0 normally, or a 3/3/2/1 setup in lo-sec or during wartime. Large towers should use a minimum of a 2/2/1/0 setup in hi-sec with an upgrade to 3/3/2/1 or 4/4/3/2 in situations where you are more likely to come under attack. In all cases, if you plan on leaving the tower anchored during attacks, you should have spare hardeners already anchored so that you can quickly online additional hardeners. This general means that you will have a setup with 5 or 9 hardeners always running with another 4 hardeners ready to be put online.

A tower with high resists becomes very difficult to reinforce since you force the attackers to spend 1.8x to 3.1x more time then if you don't plug the two 0% resist holes. Trying to stack the resist modules beyond 4/4/3/2 is pointless (due to stacking penalties) and you'd be better off using that PG/CPU for other defensive modules.

See Shield Hardening Arrays on the POS Structures page for more detailed information.

Sensor Dampening Batteries are extremely useful because can force the enemy to move closer to the POS. Up to the optimal range of 150km, they cut the target's scan resolution and targeting range in half, with decreasing effects for the next 150km of falloff range. This prevents attackers from sitting at long range and sniping at your POS batteries or tower. Due to their minimal fitting requirements, all towers should mount at least a pair of these. Since they are designed to draw attackers closer, you should spread these around the tower to get full coverage instead of clumping them all together.

The purpose of electronic countermeasueres (or ECM) is to break a target's locks on other ships/targets and to prevent them from reacquiring those locks for up to 30 seconds. In POS warfare, ECM is extremely useful for frustrating enemy pilots who are trying to do damage to batteries and the POS shield, for breaking up remote-repair gangs so that they cannot repair each other, or for making logistics ships ineffective. Some POS setups place a heavy emphasis on ECM.

Relying on ECM alone to save your tower does not work. It only serves as a deterrent against attack and a way to slow down the attackers while your backup fleet comes to the rescue.

The four types of ECM batteries are Ion Field Projection Battery (MAGNET, Gallente), Phase Inversion Battery (LADAR, Minmatar), Spatial Destabilization Battery (GRAV, Caldari) and White Noise Generation Battery (RADAR, Amarr). They have an optimal range of 200km, a falloff range of 100km, with a jam strength of 45.00 for their primary type and 15.00 for their secondary types. In comparision, ships like the Blackbird, Kitsune, Falcon, and Scorpion have jam strengths in the 6.00 to 12.00 range. These modules must be mounted outside the POS bubble.

Faction ECM is recommended for large towers in hostile environments to ensure jamming on enemy ships, even on secondary types. At a minimum, a medium tower should have (2) of each type online and a large tower will probably want (4) of each type online. If a medium or large tower will be actively defended by players (POS gunners) taking control of the defenses, then you may wish to anchor spares of each type. Some POS setups mount as many as 72 ECM batteries anchored with some of them online at all times. For more details, see the Example POS Setups page. Small towers can be fitted with (1) of each type online, but in most cases you should take a small POS down if you are under threat of a wardec or attack.

POS towers have two bays, a fuel bay and a 'stront' bay. The stront bay holds Strontium Clathrates which determine how long the tower will remain in reinforced mode if attackers manage to reduce the POS shields to 25%. The more stront, the longer that reinforced mode will last which will enforce a delay before enemies can fully destroy your POS tower. This delay gives you time to rally defenders or evacuate assets before the POS is completely destroyed. See reinforced mode for a full discussion of this.

Never online a tower without putting at least a few hours of Strontium Clathrates in the stront bay. Common recommendations are to put 8-16 hours worth in or 30-40 hours in. The goal is to shift the timer around so that it likely falls during your enemy's off-peak time. You should also have additional Strontium Clathrates available nearby that you can re-fill the bay after repairing the shields.

• Small: 100/hr, 4166 max units for 41.7 hours
• Medium: 200/hr, 8333 max units for 41.7 hours
• Large: 400/hr, 16666 max units for 41.7 hours

You can access the fuel/stront bays as long as you are within 2500m of the POS tower. Right-click on the tower and choose “Access Strontium Bay”.