Wing Commander Ibramovic

The skill descriptions are not always as clear as they could be. Quite a while ago I learnt the leadership skill up to a rudimentary level because there was a possibility I may be helping a newbie friend and, from reading the skill description, I thought it was a requirement for forming a fleet. It seems instead that a fleet can be formed by anyone, trained or not. It isn't really a problem, as the leadership skill training comes from a basic book that is cheap to buy and quick to train a couple of levels in.

After the corporation plunges in to w-space a while back, requiring fleets to be formed in order to engage sleepers effectively, I took another look at the leadership skills, with the aid of the certificate system. Whilst the leadership skill allows the commanding of an increasing number of squad members there are secondary skills available that can boost the capabilities of all fleet members. The bonuses granted aren't superficial either. Skill in armoured and siege warfare increases armour and shield capacities, information warfare increases targeting range, and skirmish warfare boosts ship agility, all useful attributes for survival.

The bonuses a trained commander grants apply to all fleet members in the same system, and scale with the level of skill learnt. Whilst it is unlikely that I am the only capsuleer in the wormhole division of the corporation with some leadership skills it strikes me as prudent to improve what I have already started to learn, particularly as the availability of any particular capsuleer cannot be guaranteed, so the more pilots who can boost a squad the more likely a boosted fleet will be able to form to tackle Sleepers.

I have another interest in advancing my leadership skills. There is the obvious ego inflation that comes from completing leadership to level five and being able to become a wing commander, but there is a more tangible benefit to the fleet itself. Despite ages ago picking up some battleship skills I have steadfastly stuck to my beloved Drake battlecruiser, and I note that one of its rôle bonuses is its ability to have gang assist modules fitted, which can greatly enhance the effectiveness of a fleet. All of the gang assist modules require specialised training in a certain type of warfare to use, which in turn requires leadership skills.

It may be that I started learning leadership from a position of ignorance, and that I quite like being addressed as Wing Commander Ibramovic, but ultimately my motivation is to maximise my ship's utility in improving the capabilities of my compatriots, and my desire to help keep everyone safe. I still have a fair few days of training to complete before I can fit a gang assist module to my battlecruiser, but until then I am still providing useful bonuses to the squad's ship capabilities.

Posted in Gaming |
Tags: eve online, mmorpg, penny ibramovic