2. How to avoid ‘catch bubbles’

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A catch bubble is a mobile warp disruptor bubble that is placed along a travel route between Gate A and Gate B. But it’s about 80-100km from Gate B, so that when you arrive, it ‘catches’ you in the bubble a nice distance away from the gate.

The way it works is that it catches anything that warps in within 120km of it, along a flight path that intersects it. Bubbles can be placed this way on gates or Customs Towers, or POSs (Player Owned Stations), so that they catch anyone arriving along a flight path from a distant starting point.

To avoid catch bubbles when you haven’t made any gate bookmarks (see #3 below) and you don’t have time to make bookmarks, you have to make sure you arrive at Gate B from anywhere other than Gate A.

To do this, follow these instructions:

  1. select your ‘outbound gate’ (gate B) in your overview. This will automatically move your view around so that the gate is near the centre of the screen.
  2. Then move your cursor over the gate in the middle of your screen. A list will pop up that shows a group of planets and asteroid belts that are near that gate.
  3. Right click on the planet you want to warp to in that group, and select ‘warp to within 70km’.

Your approach will no longer be along the flight path from Gate A to Gate B, therefore any catch bubbles will not catch you.

You’ll slip by the bubble trap that is waiting for everyone else, and you’ll jump out of the system and be on your way.

There will often be ships at the catch bubbles, cloaked or not, waiting for arriving ships to get caught in the bubble. Since they’re 80-120km away from you when you jump through the gate, they’ll let you go.

 

Click here to read the next guide – How to make gate bookmarks, and why