Interdiction is a military term for the act of delaying, disrupting, or destroying enemy forces or supplies en route to the battle area.
This can be done in a myriad of ways, generally involving forcing a ship to stop by using threats, firepower or a Quantum Enforcement Device (QED).
Methods
Quantum Enforcement Device
- Quantum Snare: Creates a "bubble" around the ship. Any ship passing through will be knocked out of quantum travel, and unable to activate their drive until the Snare is turned off. Engaging the Quantum Snare requires significant charge-up time, and maintaining the snare requires a lot of power while generating large amounts of heat. This can only be done by the Mantis, which is a weak fighter, so support vessels might be needed to fight the target.
- Quantum Dampening: Prevents the activation of quantum drives within a short range while active (approx. 2000m). Dampening can be activated instantly, trapping lone unwary ships as long as they are within its radius. There is little benefit to using it over the snare in the Mantis, except that it can be instantly engaged (the snare takes 30 seconds to charge).
NPC Interdiction
NPCs are capable of interdicting players, which spawns an asteroid cluster providing a playing field for the ambush to take place on, rather than simply being open space as would almost definitely be the case without this spawning mechanic.
Player Interdiction
Players are also capable of interdicting other players and NPCs using the Quantum Snare. Priton and Dolus have created an online tool to help players interdict ships. It is heavily encouraged to bring friends when Interdicting in a Mantis.
Interdiction Ships
Several ships have been announced with a role of Interdiction or Interdictor, although all ships can technically be used for the task.
Image | Name | Description | Has a QED |
---|---|---|---|
Mantis | The RSI Mantis is a single-seat interdiction ship, capable of pulling targets out of Quantum travel using "Quantum Enforcement". | Yes (Snare and Dampening) | |
Cutlass Blue | The Drake AS-1 Cutlass Blue (also known as DCB2) is the go-to patrol ship for militia and law enforcement. | Yes
(Dampening) | |
Scorpius Antares | The Scorpius Antares is a variant of the Scorpius heavy fighter, equipped with a co-pilot operated EMP device and quantum jammer in place of its turret. This ship is listed as a heavy fighter, but as it has a QED, it is often used as one. | Yes (Dampening) | |
325a | The Origin 325a is the combat variant of the 300 series. It features an advanced weapon payload as well as a custom targeting system designed especially for the 325a by WillsOp | No | |
Avenger Stalker | The Aegis Avenger Stalker is a civilian light fighter that is popular among bounty hunters. | No | |
Avenger Warlock | The Aegis Avenger Warlock is a light fighter outfitted with a Behring REP-8 EMP Generator, capable of emitting a powerful electromagnetic wave to disable any electronics unfortunate enough to be within the blast radius. | No | |
Buccaneer | The Drake Buccaneer is a rough-and-tumble frontier fighter that can be easily maintained in the most primitive conditions. | No | |
Sabre Raven | The Aegis Sabre Raven is the high tech variant of the Sabre designed for intelligence missions. | No | |
Vanguard Sentinel | The Aegis A3G Vanguard Sentinel is an electronic warfare ship that's designed to fight smart instead of taking enemies head on. | No |