Directional Scanner, or D-scan for short, is one of the most valuable tools when it comes to Eve Online's PvP. It requires no in-game skills or modules to operate yet its correct use may be the difference between losing a ship to a gatecamp or sailing past them safely. Here's another video guide courtesy of Joey Belvar from the Sedition Alliance.
Offensive D-scan
To find targets near a specific celestial:
Set your Directional Scanner to max range and lowest angle,
Hold "V" on your keyboard and click on an object towards which you want to perform the scan, like a station or a plex,
The camera will rotate towards the selected object and the directional scanner will refresh. If there are targets matching your selected filters, they will be displayed.
Defensive D-scan
To make sure no one warp on you unnoticed while plexing:
Set your Directional Scanner to 0.1 AU range and 360-degree angle. If you prefer an earlier warning, set the range to 0.1 AU less than your closest celestial (so if the nearest object is a stargate 3 AU away, set your scanner to 2.9 AU - that way you will catch ships that are in warp nearby)
Tap "V" on your keyboard while hovering your cursor in space to refresh the directional scanner
Keep refreshing the scanner every 30 seconds or so. Soon it will become second nature.
Narrowing down probing direction
The Directional Scanner is an excellent tool if you want to probe down your target in one cycle. To find where to drop your probes:
Set the scanner to the max range and 90-degree angle. Spin the camera and refresh the scanner until you find your target
Narrow down the angle to 60-degree and refresh the scanner again. If the target is gone, move your camera a bit from the initial position till you find it again,
Repeat the procedure for 30 and 15-degree scans (you can try your luck with 5-degree but it's usually very fiddly),
Reduce the range of your D-scan gradually until the target disappears (you can change the range fast by hovering your cursor over the range bar and scrolling with your mouse. To do it more gradually, hover over the range input instead where each scroll will change it by 0.1 AU),
Increase it back by 0.1 AU each scan until the target is back on the scan,
Using the probe launch window, place the probes at the edge of the displayed Directional Scanner cone.
While not entirely fault-proof, this will maximize your chances of getting a 100% signal with your first probe placement.
Comments