ISC Intro: Traveling to and from Solitude

To all new recruits who may need some help in getting to Solitude from the core systems:

The first thing when coming out to Solitude is to understand that there are two main routes to Solitude from the core high-sec systems (refered to as the mainland). The 'north' route runs from Chesiette, on the mainland side, to Oerse, on the solitude side. This is the shortest route between Solitude and the mainland, but also the most dangerous because the 'north' route runs through null-sec space. It is also regularly camped. It is not recommended to take this route when going to and from Solitude.

The 'south' route runs from Bherdasopt or Asanot on the mainland side to Yvelet on the Solitude side. This is a longer route than the 'north' one, but safer, as it is camped much less than the 'north' route.

To make your transit to and from Solitude as safe as possible it is recommended to put two systems on your avoid list: Y9G-KS and Gonditsa. You can do this by searching for the system in the 'People & Places' window (button for it should be near the top of the Neocom), right-clicking on the system and selecting 'Avoid...'. The first is so that your autopilot doesn't take you through the 'north' route, the second avoids a system on the 'south' route that is camped often enough to be worth a few extra jumps for the added safety. This will set your autopilot to put you on the Asanot <-> Yvelet 'south' route, which is the best way to go to and from Solitude.

After you have done this, set your autopilot to one of the Solitude high-sec systems (recommended destination is Gererique), however before you make your way out to Solitude, check the level of activity on the route. You can do this by opening the map screen (F10). If the solar system map appears (you see planets, stations, asteroid belts, etc. but not other star systems) press the 'Star Map' button on the top center of the 'World Map Control Panel' window that appears when you enter the map screen.

Once you're in the Star Map, make sure the Star Map tab and the 'Stars' tab are selected in the 'Word Map Control Panel' window, scroll down until you see the 'Statistics' folder option and click on it. This will expand statistical viewing options for the Star Map. From this list select 'Ships Destroyed in the Last Hour'. What you now see is a heat-map by solar system of how many player ships have been destroyed in that system in the past hour. This will help you determine when is a good time to travel the route is. Don't worry if you see a few systems on the route with one or two ship kills on it (hover the mouse over the system to get the ship kill count). If you see a system with many kills (5+) on the route, you may want to wait an hour or two for activity on the route to die down before you go.

When you have your autopilot set up and have found a good time to transit the route, your next step is to actually transit the route. While transiting high-sec space it is generally ok to autopilot and leave the computer to travel you to your destination, but this is highly dangerous in low-sec space (between Asanot and Yvelet). For low-sec systems you will want to manually warp to each stargate on the route. Please be very careful bringing valuables through the route as even at the best of times it is entirely possible for another player to destroy you simply by bad timing.

If you are unsure about the route, or the best way to transit it, don't hesitate to ask a more experienced player for advice.

Safe flying!

- Calvin