So, I’ve been living on Low Sec at least partly, usually fully since the end of the previous year, so I feel somewhat qualified to speak on what type of PvPers you find here. In my head there are two main sub-groups that entities I have met fall within, before dividing again into many, much smaller sub-groups. There are far too many notable groups out there to mention here, so please do not consider the entities mentioned here any sort of complete list.

The Bourgeoise

This category is reserved for those entities who have exceptional ISK reserves, high SP pilots and the willingness to use that ISK in the field, even if in some cases only when they know they won’t lose the fight. In general these groups are relatively small, but close-knit organisations who have been doing what they do for a good long while, making them exceptionally good at their style of gameplay. Groups that fall into this selection are tho ones the rest of us fear to engage for the cyno that will inevitably bridge in one of their signature Doctrines, commonly relying heavily in Tech 3 cruisers. Examples:

Shadow Cartel – My first experience with such group, recently described by Wey’oun of D’n’D in this TMC article as “wanting to fit 100mn ABs to anything with a mid”, most likely referencing their 100MN Tengu fleet which they run from time to time. I have also seen them field Claymores with single-ET Basilisks (for the brave of heart only) and good old fashioned heavy armour battleships with triage support. Rivaled only with DnD is their dread fleet, though I have yet to see this in action first hand.

Drunk’n’Disorderly – Though recently disbanded, it would be a disservice not to mention them here. With an outstanding Dread fleet which I have faced on multiple occasions, as well as being dropped on them in multiple Bhaalgorns and Faction BS when I was running a mid-sized UNI fleet, not to mention this fantastic welp. I have heard them called “the PL of Low Sec”, an apt name given they are were very popular batphones.

Urine Alliance – More commonly known as Snuff Box (or CCP CTF runners up 2013), their current most popular setup is to bridge large groups of Absolution-class battlecruisers with guardians onto anyone foolish enough to engage their fishing T3s or Recons within Bridge range of Sujarento. Another notable fleet fo theirs is their Armour Arty Machs, dropping 20-30 of them with guardian support at optimals to an ongoing engagement and blapping anything stupid enough not to get out of their way.

Regardless of their own personalised doctrine, each of them can bring some serious heavy armour brawl to the table when there’s a grid to be owned. In general, groups such as these will have capital escalation on standby in case any of their pimped out fleets get into any trouble, and I would probably do the same if each lossmail was going to be at least 400mill a pop. There are occasions where many of these groups will band together to achieve a common goal, such as the recent Revenant kill.

The Proletariat

Also known as “everyone else”. Now, by no means does this imply everyone in this category is necessarily poor, inexperienced, or unskilled, more that you don’t generally see them in the types of fleets as listed above. By all means they’ll be able to rub together a few faction BS and a couple of Caps when the Call To Arms is sounded, but you’ll usually see them in the hodgepodge of T1 hulls we have come to know and love under CCP Fozzie and Rise’s re-balancing efforts. The two most typical groups in this selection are FW corps and small, dedicated-piracy corps, though, as always, there are many exceptions. Here are a few of the most varied examples I have some experience with:

The Tuskers – A dedicated group of Pirates who focus on excellence in small-gang and solo PvP with demanding entry requirements, while retaining a family friendly corp culture. One such notable past member is Azual Skoll, author of possibly my favourite eve blog; The Altruist. I almost want to have another section for groups such as the Tuskers, as by all means they have the experience, the SP and likely the ISK to do what the Bourgeoisie do, yet I prefer to think of them as our working-class heroes.

SniggWaffe – My own corp, the PvP training and feeder corp for Sniggerdly, the executor corp of Pandemic Legion. I once heard us described as “A bunch of psychopathic 5 year olds given switchblades which PL have thrown into the playground with all the other children”.

Fweddit – Yes, I know they’re on deployment to fight in Fountain with the CFC. Still, for a very long time they were the powerhouse of the Amarr militia, their most well-known fleet concept being “Panzers”, the Maller/ONI/Augoror blob which was probably the first and biggest impact of the T1 cruiser changes back in November. I had a great number of enjoyable fights with them while they were still down in low sec and hope to see them return very soon.

Brave Newbies Inc. – Somewhere halfway between E-UNI and Fweddit, a dude from Reddit decided to create a corp for noobs, got a huge number of members and promptly moved them to Rahadalon, thanks to which SniggWaffe, a 220-man corp at the time, had the 7th most kills of any corporation in all of EVE in March of this year. Over time BNI have had to regulate some of their famously open procedure which they were very much against in the beginning, but you can’t really blame them for it. Not only that, they have graduated from constant frig swarms to T1 fitted cruiser and BCs. Hell, I even saw one of them in a Raven once! Since our bromance in Rahadalon we’ve maintained good relations, and with their recent move to Barleguet in Placid I look forward to interacting with them in the coming weeks. BNI is very reminiscent of early-day Goon/TEST, grab 200 dudes in frigates and just bloody go for it.

FW groups in particular will maintain POSed up links in their home and surrounding systems, though there is a great variance of attitude within each Militia. Waffles currently live only a few jumps out of the main Gallente staging system, some of their corps love a good even brawl, yet others prefer to blob a;ll their fights and take fewer risks. To each their own.

One of the wonderful things about Low Sec is that every system or two will be the home base of some corp or alliance, with their own culture, doctrines, attitude and resources. Learning about your neighbours is a must to get involved round here, and it’s a very enjoyable experience, be they 20-man corps of a few friends, hi-sec gate-campers, giant null entities on deployment or any other type of group you mention. Each constellation has its own flavour, yet is constantly evolving and adapting to those around them, which is one of the main reasons I find EVE such a beautiful game.

Apoth ♥