Shipping with the Shipcaster

Active Interstellar Shipcaster in Intaki

Interstellar Shipcasters have been in the game for almost 2 years now but even experienced players have trouble explaining how exactly do they work. Let's take a look at them so the next time you plan to resupply your low-sec base of operations, you may take the interstellar shortcut!

A History Lesson

The shipcasters are relatively recent addition to the game. They were introduced as part of the "Shadow War" event that happened in the second quarter of 2023, asking players to aid the Empires in gathering research material to unlock the technology. It all happened in hi-sec sites that turned anyone entering suspect, making for some high stakes player vs everything scenarios, and by many pilots it is considered to be one of the best events in the recent years. All of the factions managed to gather enough components to finalize their shipcaster research and now we have 4 of those in space, one for each empire:

• Gallente in Intaki

• Caldari in Onnamon

• Amarr in Mehatoor

• and Minmatar in Amo

Preparing the Shipcaster

With all that fancy tech and 3 month long events, players expected the shipcasters to revolutionize logistics efforts for the militia pilots. What we got was basically a one way gate leading to a semi-random location. But let's start with the basics.

The shipcaster located in the empire space is the entry gate but by itself it has no exit. To make a connection, militia-enlisted players need to build a shipcaster landing pad in a low-sec FW system. You deliver the components, put them in the structure and it gets space printed. To fully build a landing pad, you need: 150 smartfab units

5 self-harmonizing power core

200 photon microprocessor

2000 nanotransistors

In return, you get a small amount of LP for your efforts. With the landing pad in place, the shipcaster becomes active, linking your hi-sec entrance with the system that has a landing pad in it.

A shipcaster displaying its active connections

Getting casted

In order to use the shipcaster, you need to be enlisted with the militia controlling given shipcaster, for example, you need to be enlisted with the Gallente Militia to use the Intaki shipcaster. Now go to the target system and warp yourself to the structure (keep in mind that it may be hidden from your overview by default; you can add it by searching for "Interstellar Shipcaster" in the overview settings). Now you just select to which system with an active pad to go and you are set, right? If only it were so simple.

The shipcaster can only be linked to up to 3 landing pads at a time. That means that if there are more landing pads spread across the warzone, you are not guaranteed a connection to the system you desired. While we don't have a confirmation from the devs, the system prefers to link to system with high advantage score, so you are more likely to find a connection leading to active systems. The caster cycles between the destination on 2 minute timer, so just wait for it to align to your destination system, and use it as any other stargate. Remember it's one way only!

The active connections can be checked remotely, without having to be in the shipcaster system itself. Just open your FW window and take a look at the "Warzone Control" map. The active landing pads will be marked with a circle icon. Just keep in mind that the shipcaster indicator on the right-hand side has been permanently broken since its inception, pay it no attention.

The in-game FW map will show you the active landing pads

Practical uses

While shipcasters being placed in hi-sec make them of relatively little use to committed FW pilots, there are two scenarios where they come really handy. First is that you are just starting your FW adventure and don't have the low-sec logistics figured out. Stocking up on ships in hi-sec is considerably less risky, with the caster entry systems usually having reasonable markets on their own, making them perfect for day tripping - just grab your favorite ship, jump straight into action and get sent back via pod express.

Second scenario comes into play when you know that your usual hi-sec/low-sec entry point is gate camped. Instead of feeding an easy loss, you can take a detour through the shipcaster, allowing you to quite literally skip the camped systems. This is especially useful for resupply runs, where you want to move a transport ship full of goodies without moving it through the known chokepoints.

One advanced strategy to consider on your hauling alt is to ensure that they have the standings necessary to enlist with both factions participating in a war, for example Gallente and Caldari. With the flexibility of Direct Enlistment, you can enlist with the faction offering the best shipcaster connection, make the delivery and de-enlist to return your hauler to the neutral status.

Summary

And that's almost all there is to the shipcaster. It boils down to the fact that shipcasters are one way gates allowing enlisted pilots to easily reach FW frontline systems. If you are just starting out, take a look at them when you are planning your next dive into low-sec, maybe it will save you a few jumps!