LS people. Who they are?

There are a lot of different people in low sec, actually. Some of them are harmless, some are deadly dangerous.
It doesn't matter whom you meet in low sec. Presume one thing: all of them are after you. And after you in particular. Flying with this sort of altitude will save you from many, many troubles you can drive yourself in. People can present no thread when you see them. But just couple of minutes later they can became your undesired enemies. Of course, you shouldn't be afraid of your own shadow, but flying without any care is not very good idea either.

So, who they are?


Transit passengers.





In most cases this guys "have to" fly thru LS. For example from hi sec to 0.0 or to another hi sec segment, may be into separated hi sec island. Any type of ships, but typically shuttles or capsules. They want to leave LS as fast as possible: for many of them LS is just inconvenient space to fly and they have any business there.



LS trolls.
This people just annoying as hell. They can spent hours cloaked at gate and troll everybody flying by. They pretend to be PvP experts quiet often. Well, nobody said it is prohibited. Sometimes they try involve you in "interesting" conversation in "local" chat while theirs buddy setup gate camp on the another side of the gate. Just ignore them.

Logistics.
This guys typically fly cloaked transports and deliver different things to LS, 0.0 or opposite ways. Typically, they have theirs own business in mind, but occasionally it can be alt of some LS pirates. Don't forget, pirates need supplies too. If such a guy pick some attractive target on his way, they can quickly came back and open hunting on you.





LS Traders.
They bring all sort of stuff and supplies from hi sec to low sec, including POS supplies and minerals, playing on price differences. Well, if they still do it, it suppose to be profitable, isn't it?

Mission runners.
This is very special type of carebears. They typically run lvl 5 missions and cash out on LP stores. I do not know much about them. But some pirated run lvl 4 missions too, especially for washing out security status or for making a bit of cash. And they can present the treat, since they definitely have PvP combat ships somewhere nearby, if not in the same system. Some of them even run missions in PvP fits.

0.0 "Pioneers"
Some people in 0.0 get bored and once in a while decide to go to low sec and make some kills. 10-20 people gang flying around, from system to system, trying to get on some gate campers or doc hugging. They are dangerous because off number. Overblobing is theirs philosophy. Typically they have security status 5.0 and belong to established 0.0 alliances.





Worm Holes occupants.
They like 0.0 pioneers, may come to low sec out of WH boredom to have bit of fun of pew-pew something different from slippers. They picking around for coupe hours in nearby systems. Don't forget it can be very long way to  theirs lovely POS in WH for them, if WH get closed. And closing exit to LS from theirs WH is yet another reason they can show up in local, jumping back and forth thru WH exit. It happens rarely, but it happens still.

Cyno alts.
Kestrel is the king of cyno alts. The only purpose of this ship to fire cyno, so jump freighter can pass hi-sec-LS border and avoid gate camps. Big fleets use them for entering low sec from 0.0. Just note that hot drop with cyno is not the type of cyno alts we are talking about here.


Faction warfare pilots
They run faction missions in certain regions and belong to appropriate NPC corps. Dramiel+Bomber is theirs signature. It is very unlikely they will engage you at gates, if you have positive sec status. This ships will dead as mosquitoes under centry guns at gates. Therefore, some explorers use the same ships.  And some pirates too.

Explorers.
This guys are your potential competitors. Many LS pirates do exploration for the steady source of ISKs. And if you have a chance to cross them on plex, radar or magneto side it is very likely they will engage you not even protect site and spook you away, but kill you. Don't be mistaken if they have nice bio and 5.0 sec status. Just think of every explorer as an alt of some pirate. LS DED exploration is pretty much about Tengu today. Pilgrims, Ishtars, Drakes, somtimes Vexors or arbitrators. Experienced magneto and radars runners use Ishkurs very often.

Miners.
You will be surprised, but there still such mini-profession in low sec. They uses POS for mining bonuses ship and mine gravimetric sites.Not my idea for the evening anyway.

Belts hunters.
Some npc overseers can spawn at belts from time to time. They drop faction loot. And some people hunting them down. Lone drake at belt shooting rats is more like a trap rather than overseers hunters.

Thieves.
It is very entertaining way to spend time in LS. I did it myself many times. This guys steal loot and salvage wrecks at gates after some ships (especially T2) got destroyed and there is nobody around. It can be very, very profitable too. By the way, this EVE "mini profession" is a very good way to overcome "finger syndrome" if you do it with alt.

Command bonuses boosters.
This pilots typically alts of some pirates picking around. They almost never are part of engagements, sitting on POS or cloaked at safe spot and decloack only for short period of fight. If you see Command ship(s) or T3 sitting at POS it is a good sign of dedicated pirates presence. Even if they are not in system at the moment, it can be nasty surprise for you in next system. But they are typically not a threat on theirs own.




I am sure I missed few categories, and I will appreciate if you can extend this list.

Here we come to most interesting part. Pirates. It would  be just a joke to write "there are pirates in LS".
Because there are many types of pirates in low sec, and they act differently and present different levels of threats, and they are the people you must avoid at any costs. The next post will be about them.