Gang and Fleet Options

Overview

How do I create a fleet and what are the benefits of being in one?

Coordination is key element in successful combat. Without it, individual ships tend to fight individual combat without regard to the force as whole, thus breaking the first law of combat: Concentration of firepower and forces. A fleet is a fully organized unit with a command infrastructure. Within this hierarchy, various leadership skills and modules can be utilized to provide bonuses to the fleet members, and the fleet options give you the tools to coordinate movements of friendly forces and reduce the confusion during combat. Everyone can create a fleet and everyone can be invited to one, so it's not even necessary for fleet members to be in the same corporation.

Fleet Creation

Note that the maximum size of a fleet is 256 pilots. That is 1 Fleet Commander, 5 Wing Commanders and 25 ten man squadrons.

• Creating A Fleet

To create a fleet you can right click on the portrait of a pilot and select "Form Fleet with..." from the context menu.

The person who created the fleet will automatically become both Fleet Commander and the fleet Boss.

Note that the maximum size of a squadron is 10 squad members including the Squad Commander. The maximum size of a wing is 5 squadrons. The maximum size of a fleet is 5 wings.

• Self Invite

The fleet Boss has the option to enable Self Invite. This option is useful when you want to invite multiple pilots into your fleet and total control of who enters the fleet is not needed. You can enable this option for your corporation or your alliance.

You can enable this option from the "Fleet Actions" menu. After you enabled it, your are able to post a fleet invite in chat by going to the channel where you want to post it, right clicking yourself, then move your cursor to "Channel" and click "Post Fleet Invitation". Your corporation/alliance members will now be able to join your fleet by clicking on the invitation message.

• Voice-Enabled

The fleet Boss has the option to "Set Voice-Enabled". This requests all current and future fleet members to join the fleet audio channels, but they can choose not to do so.

Fleet Roles

The skills listed for each role are not required, but if they are missing the pilots under your command will not receive any leadership bonuses from you. For example, a Wing Commander with the skill wing command at level 3 can command 3 squadrons that get his bonus, the 4th squadron will not receive the bonus however.

• Squad Member

The basic member of a fleet. They have no options available to them beyond the basics. They receive the highest fleet bonuses from their Squad Leader, Wing Commander and Fleet Commander.

• Scout

This role is only a marker. It is a way for the commander of the fleet to visually designate scouts. This role can be applied to any member of the fleet without affecting their other options.

• Squadron Commander

This role requires the skill Leadership at level 1 minimum, without the skill the squadron will not receive any leadership bonuses from their Squadron Commander, Wing Commander or the Fleet Commander. A Squadron Commander has commander options over and gives leadership bonuses to his squadron only. A Squadron Commander only receives leadership bonuses from himself, his Wing Commander and the Fleet Commander. A Squadron Commander does not receive any leadership bonuses from other commanders of equal rank in the fleet hierarchy.

• Wing Commander

This role requires the skill Wing Command at level 1 minimum, without the skill the squadrons in the wing will not receive any leadership bonuses from their Wing Commander or the Fleet Commander.

A Wing Commander has commander options over and gives leadership bonuses to all squadrons in his wing only. A Wing Commander only receives leadership bonuses from himself and the Fleet Commander. A Wing Commander does not receive any leadership bonuses from other commanders of equal or lower rank in the fleet hierarchy.

• Fleet Commander

This role requires the skill Fleet Command at level 1 minimum, without the skill the wings and squadrons in the fleet will not receive any leadership bonuses from the Fleet Commander. A Fleet Commander has commander options and gives leadership bonuses to all squadrons and wings in the entire fleet. A Fleet Commander always receives leadership bonuses from himself regardless of the active status of the fleet. A Fleet Commander does not receive any leadership bonuses from any other commander below him in the fleet hierarchy.

• Boss

This is a special role that is given to the pilot that formed the fleet, usually the Fleet Commander. This role can be shifted to any other pilot on the Fleet. This role lets the pilot in it invite anyone to any squadron or wing in the fleet and move anyone between squadrons and wings, including command positions. The boss can also create or delete new squadrons or wings and set "Self Invite", "Free Move" and "Voice-Enabled".

Fleet Management

Any commander in the fleet can invite a pilot into the fleet hierarchy below him. A Squadron Commander can invite anyone into his squadron but not into any other squadron. A Wing Commander can invite anyone into any squadron in his wing as a Squadron Commander or a normal Squad Member. A Fleet Commander can invite anyone into any squadron in any wing under his command as Wing Commander, Squadron Commander or normal Squad Member. A Boss can invite anyone into any part of the fleet and with any role available.

• A commander in the fleet, be it Squad Commander, Wing Commander, Fleet Commander or fleet Boss, all have the following options when right clicking on a member of their squad, wing or fleet as appropriate in a chat window (under the Fleet sub-menu) or directly from the fleet overview.

1. Leave Fleet - Only available if the commander clicks on himself. Lets him leave the Fleet and makes his position vacant, dropping all bonuses he was giving to his squad, wing or fleet.
2. Set Scout - An option for a commander to mark a pilot as a Scout. See the Scout role described above.
3. Warp Fleet/Wing/Squadron to Member - Lets a Commander warp all members of his Fleet/Wing/Squadron that are located in his grid to the selected member. The Commander also has the option of selecting the exact distance which is by default 0.
4. Move Member - Lets a Commander move a member of his Fleet/Wing/Squadron to a different part of the Fleet that is within his command range. I.e. a Wing Commander can move members of the squadrons he commands between squadrons and assign or revoke Squadron Commander roles. A Commander may move himself if he so wishes but may lose roles doing so.
5. Make Boss - Lets the acting boss of the Fleet transfer his role to the pilot selected.
6. Kick Member - Lets a Commander remove a pilot from the Fleet.

• A commander in the fleet, be it Squad Commander, Wing Commander, Fleet Commander or fleet Boss, all have the following options when right clicking on the fleet bar on the overview.

1. Leave Fleet - Same as above.
2. Regroup - Makes all members the commander has control over in his vicinity move towards him at full speed. Fleet members are free to set a new course after the command is given.
3. Create Wing/Squadron - Lets a Fleet Commander or Boss create a new wing in the fleet. Wing Commanders, Fleet Commanders and the Boss can right click on a wing to create more squadrons. A maximum of 5 wings per fleet can be created and a maximum of 5 squadrons per wing. Note that the new squadron or wing has to be populated by the commanders afterwards or it is useless.
4. Delete Wing/Squadron - Lets a Fleet Commander or fleet Boss delete an empty wing from the fleet. Wing Commanders, Fleet Commanders and the Boss can right click on individual squadrons and delete them if they are empty. This does not work if the wing or squadron is not empty.

• A fleet Boss has the following options when right clicking on celestial objects in space (stars, planets, moons, stargates or stations).

1. Warp Fleet/Wing/Squadron - Lets a Commander warp all members of his Fleet/Wing/Squadron that are located in his grid to the selected celestial object. The Commander also has the option of selecting the exact distance which is by default 0.

• Any member of the fleet has the following options when right clicking on a member of their fleet in a chat window (under the Fleet sub-menu) or directly from the Fleet overview.

1. Leave Fleet - Lets the fleet member leave the fleet. Only works if the fleet member clicks on himself.
2. Warp To Member - Warps you to that fleet member at your default warp-to distance. Only works when the fleet member selected is in the same solar system as you and in-space. You also have the option of warping in at a selected distance rather than the default.

• Any member of the fleet has the following options when right clicking on the Fleet bar on the overview.

1. Leave Fleet - Same as above.

The fleet boss, Fleet Commander, Wing Commander or Squad Commander can reassign the ability to grant leadership skill and module boosts (referred to as the "booster") to those fleet members under his command.

This is subject to a few rules:

1. The default setting is that the respective commander (fleet, wing or squadron) is the booster for those under his command.
2. There can only be one fleet booster in a fleet.
3. There can only be one wing booster in a wing.
4. There can only be one squad booster in a squad.
5. Before you can reassign a booster, you have to right click on the current booster and select "revoke booster" first.
6. The commander's skill is used to determine if the booster can be used at all. This means that if the commander's skill is insufficient to run a squadron, wing or fleet of its current size his underlings gain no benefit from a booster even if the pilot providing the boost has sufficient skills.
7. Both the commander (fleet, wing or squadron) must be in the same system for the bonuses to be applied.
8. A wing commander can not be a squadron booster.
9. A fleet commander can not be a wing or squadron booster.
10. You can not boost outside of your wing or squadron.
11. You may not receive or give any fleet bonus while you, or the person acting as booster, is flying in a POD. Even a rookie ship or shuttle will allow someone to provide or receive basic (non-specialist) leadership skill bonus.

This option exists for commanders to reassign their bonus granting abilities to other members of the fleet under their command as circumstance dictates. A squadron commander with maximum armored warfare skills will want to assign the booster ability to a member with the highest skirmish warfare skills when in a squadron of interceptors, for example.

Leadership Skills & Modules

All leadership skills and modules only function under certain circumstances in a fleet. In order to have leadership skills be given to any member of a fleet, there must be an un-interupted chain of command begining with a Squad Member. Followed by a Squad Commander, this two-person fleet configuration is the minimum needed for all leadership skills, implants, and gang modules to work for everyone. For any additional players you wish to have share this boosting, one option is to make them Squad Members until you reach the maximum allowed. At which point you need to start creating multiple squads and possibly controlling these multiple squads using a Wing Commander. Continuing on to a full fleet with multiple wings and squads. For example, if you have a two wings with two squads and you want everyone to receive boosting from one person, then this single person must be in the Fleet Commander position. This person must also have the Fleet Commander skill trained along with each of the Wing Commanders having the Wing Commander skill trained before any leadership boosting will propagate.

Anyone may double-check that fleet/wing/squad boosting is being received by looking in the upper-left corner of the Fleet Overview window. At this location, you should notice either a red "X" or green "Checkmark" denoting the status of any boosting. All members of a fleet that are receiving a bonus will have the green checkmark displayed. Also, if the person who is the current booster has their ship destroyed, jumps out of system or docks at a station, any boosting they provided will cease and the next available member with the highest leadership skills will automatically be chosen to provide boosting until a commander revokes and re-assigns the boosting manually.

Only active wings and squadrons will receive any leadership bonuses at all. A squadron is active for all members of the squadron who are in the same system as the Squadron Commander, in space, and while not in a pod. A wing is active for all members of the wing that belong to an active squadron in the same system as the Wing Commander. A fleet is active for all members of the fleet that belong to an active wing in the same system as the Fleet Commander.

In all circumstances only the highest bonus applies, they are not stacked.

• A Fleet Commander will grant his leadership bonuses to all members in the fleet, including himself.
• A Wing Commander will grant his leadership bonuses to all members of his wing, including himself.
• A Squadron Commander will grant his leadership bonuses to all members of his squadron, including himself.

Broadcasts

Broadcasts are used for quick communication between members of the fleet. Seven broadcast buttons are under the fleet overview with a few more available when clicking on fleet members, objects in space or solar systems. You can filter what broadcasts you receive by right clicking on the broadcast bar at the bottom of the overview once at least one broadcast has been sent. This is handy when you do not need to see calls for armor repairs or capacitor boosting, which on the other hand would be helpful for a logistics pilot.

Also note that the overview can be set to put objects on it that have broadcasts attached to them to the top of the overview. This can be done through the overview settings. This may be useful in some cases when calling targets in an otherwise chaotic battlefield or for logistics ships to quickly locate an ally in need.

• Broadcast Options

1. Enemy Spotted! - Available right under the fleet overview as a red eye icon. Will broadcast a message which other members of the fleet can right click on to warp to you or set their autopilot destination to.
2. Need Armor / Need Shield / Need Capacitor - These three options are available right under the fleet overview and have a white and red cross on their icon. This will broadcast a request for help and allow other members of the fleet to right click on the broadcast to lock you, warp to you or set their autopilot destination to you.
3. In Position / Need Backup - These two options are available right under the fleet overview and each has a distinctive icon. These will broadcast a message to other members of the fleet to warp to you or set the autopilot destination to you.
4. Hold Position - This option is available right under the fleet overview and it has a distinctive icon. This will broadcast a message to the fleet to hold position.
5. Broadcast Location - This option is available when right clicking on the fleet bar in the fleet overview. This will broadcast your current location to the fleet.
6. Broadcast: Travel To Me - This option is available when right clicking on yourself in a chat window (under the Fleet sub-menu) or directly from the fleet overview. This will broadcast a location that other members of the fleet can right click on and set their autopilot destination to.
7. Broadcast: Warp To - This option is available when right clicking on any celestial object (stars, planets, moons, stargates or stations). This will broadcast a message that anyone in the fleet can right click on and select warp to. A visual indicator is also displayed in space for the pilots in the fleet.
8. Broadcast: Align To - This option is available when right clicking on any celestial object (stars, planets, moons, stargates or stations). This will broadcast a message asking pilots to align to that object. A visual indicator is also displayed in space for the pilots in the fleet.
9. Broadcast: Travel To - This option is available when right clicking on a solar system. This will broadcast a message for all members of the fleet that they can right click on and set their autopilot destination to.
10. Broadcast: Target - This option is available when right clicking on an object in space in the same grid as you. This option is only available for commanders. This will broadcast a message indicating a target which anyone in the fleet and in the same grid can right click and target. A visual indicator is also displayed in space for the pilots in the fleet. Additional targets called will also have a numerical indicator in the order they were called.