Editing Instaundock Bookmarks

==Problem==
[[File:Undocking from Jita 4-4.png|thumb|Undocking area of Jita 4-4 is pretty busy]]
It is impossible for a pilot leaving a station to know whether there is anybody outside camping it or not. Undocking ships are invulnerable for 30 seconds. It is impossible to lock, damage or bump them. This gives their pilots some time to assess the situation and decide what to do next. It is possible to dock again if needed given that the ship is still within the docking area of the station (which is not the case for kickout stations). However, as soon as the timer ends or if a pilot performs any action other than docking or stopping, the ship becomes vulnerable. At this moment a pilot's ship may get attacked and either be severely damaged or completely destroyed.

==Solution==
The idea of instaundock bookmarks is to allow undocking ships to warp away from the station to a potentially safer area without spending time on alignment. When executed correctly it drastically reduces the chance of being damaged while trying to undock.

==Mechanics==
There are 2 game mechanics involved in this process: undocking from stations and warp jumps.

Every space station has 1 or more undocking areas used by ships to leave the station. Undocking ships spawn in a random point around one of these docks flying away from the station at speeds that may be considerably higher than their max velocity. The direction they are flying in is generally perpendicular to the dock with a random deviation of up to +/- 15° from the ideal perpendicular. It is worth noting that horizontal and vertical deviations are calculated separately, so the shape of all possible undocking vectors resembles a square pyramid. Such randomization reduces a chance of ships spawning at the same point and bumping into each other while undocking.

<gallery mode="packed">
File:Undocking angles experiment.png|thumb|Undocking angles distribution experiment
File:Undock pyramid front.png|Approximate undocking angles pyramid
File:Undock pyramid side.png|Approximate undocking angles pyramid (side view)
</gallery>

As for the warping part, there are 3 criteria which have to be met in order do a warp jump:

* The target destination has to be 150+ km away from the ship for it to be able to initiate a warp jump
* The ship has to move with 75%+ of its maximum velocity
* The ship has to move towards the destination.

[[File:Warp angles deviation experiment.png|thumb|Warp angles deviation experiment]]
It is widely accepted and stated in various sources that a deviation of up to 5º from the destination is allowed (ref: https://wiki.eveuniversity.org/Advanced_piloting_techniques#Warp). However, according to empirical data acquired in Dec 2023 for the purpose of writing this article the max allowed deviation is approximately 7º and the shape of all possible deviation vectors resembles a cone.

Usually instaundock bookmarks are pretty far from stations and ships are flying fast while undocking. So the only thing required for this mechanic to work is to ensure that your ship faces the bookmark. However since the alignment angle deviation cone is much smaller than the undock angle deviation pyramid it is impossible to create only 1 instaundock bookmark that will work all the time. There are 3 strategies pilots can use to mitigate this issue.

* Repeat docking and undocking procedures until the vector is close enough to the bookmark
* Create a bookmark as close as possible to the ideal vector to reduce alignment times
* Create multiple bookmarks to increase a change of them being usable

Regardless of the strategy it is recommended to create instaundock bookmarks outside the station’s grid which is 8,000 km or more depending on the station. Doing so reduces the chance that campers will see where the ship eventually lands and predict its further trajectory. So it may buy you some time to align the ship to the next destination and safely warp away.

==Usage==

[[File:Using undock bookmarmk.png|thumb|Using an instaundock bookmark]]
In order to use an instaundock bookmark:

# Click the Undock button and wait for the system to load
# Visually verify that your undocking vector is close enough to the bookmark
# Initiate warp if the vector is good enough
# Dock back to the station if the vector is too far from the bookmark and try again until you get it good enough
# Once warp is over select your target destination and warp there

'''Note''': Be extra careful with kickout stations (see https://jambeeno.com/sta). Once you undock from such a station you may (and, probably, will) not be able to dock again. So you’ll have only 1 chance to warp to the bookmark if the station is camped. It is recommended to avoid such stations if possible.

'''Note''': Once a ship undocks there is a short (about 5 seconds) session changing timer. It is impossible to dock again during this timer. So you may need to send multiple docking requests in case the first one doesn’t work.

'''Note''': It is not recommended to use instaundock bookmarks while flying slow ships like freighters. It takes a lot of time for such ships to align to the target location. Even if a freighter successfully warps to the bookmark, campers still may be able to scan it down using combat probes faster then it’ll be able to align to the target destination. It may be a better tactic to undock and align to the target destination while remaining in the docking range of the station in this case. This way it should be possible to dock back if other people start performing offensive actions towards your ship.

'''Note''': Never share your instaundock bookmarks with other pilots and always change bookmarks which could be compromised. Especially if you are using them frequently. Every shared bookmark should be considered compromised by default.

==Creation==

There are 2 types of space stations in EVE: stations with horizontal undock and stations with vertical undock. A procedure is different based on station type.

===Stations with horizontal undocking===

[[File:Station with multiple undocks.png|thumb|A station with multiple horizontal undocking areas]]
Most stations have horizontal undocking mechanics. There are 2 types of them:

* Stations with undocking area aligned with directions on the tactical overlay
* Stations rotated clockwise or counter-clockwise in regards to the tactical overview

If a station with horizontal undocking is aligned with the tactical overview:

# Undock
# Stop your ship (using the Q-click piloting mode may be more effective)
# Visually identify the center of the undocking area of the station
# Position your ship at the center of the undocking area using manual piloting
# Turn on the tactical overview
# Rotate the camera to look vertically down at the top of your ship
# Zoom out
# Use the Q-click piloting mode to order the ship to fly straight along undocking lights. This direction has to be the same as one of 90 degree lines on the tactical overview. Use these lines precisely to pick the correct direction. Range doesn’t matter much, 50 - 100 km should be more than enough.
# The ship will start aligning and moving towards the target point.
# Issue a stopping command to your ship once it fully aligns and gains some speed.
# The ship will lose its destination point and start decelerating, but its orientation in space and movement vector will remain the same.
# Turn on max speed.
# Your ship will continue flying in the same direction as before, but there won’t be a final destination point anymore
# Turn on your MWD or AB and wait until your ship flies far enough from the station.
# Create a bookmark

<gallery mode="packed">
File:Using approach to position.png|Approaching the middle of the undocking area
File:Position in the middle of undock 2.png|A ship is in the middle of the undocking area
File:Using overlay to establish vector.png|Establishing a vector for an instaundock bookmark using tactical overview
File:Creating horizontal bookmark.png|Creating a bookmark
</gallery>

If a station with horizontal undocking is not aligned with the tactical overview the overall algorithm remains the same except the 8 step. It won’t be possible to use tactical overview directions to establish a precise direction for the ship in this case. So do this instead:

# Take any resizable UI window
# Place this window near any line of undocking lights
# Use the top edge of the window as a guide and rotate the camera until undocking lights will be horizontal as well
# Place the top left corner of the window at your ship
# Use the top edge of the window as a guide and use the Q-click piloting mode to order the ship to fly straight along this edge.

<gallery mode="packed">
File:Using ui to align overlay.png|Using a UI window to align undocking lights horizontally
File:Using ui to establish vector.png|Using a UI window to establish movement direction for the ship
</gallery>

===Stations with vertical undocking===

[[File:Sentry gun under vertical station.png|thumb|A sentry gun under a station with vertical undocking mechanics]]
Some stations have vertical undocking mechanics. There are two types of them:

# Undocking from amarrian stations ships fly downwards
# Undocking from The Fulcrum in Zarzakh ships fly upwards

It is impossible to create bookmarks in Zarzakh and it doesn’t really make sense to create instaundock bookmarks there considering the system-wide effect in this system.

In order to create an instaundock bookmark for stations with downwards undocking mechanics:

# Undock
# Stop your ship
# Make sure sentry guns are visible in your overview
# Check if there is a sentry gun right under the undocking area of the station
# Position your ship in the center of the undocking area
## If a sentry gun is not present, position the ship right under the station
## If a sentry gun is present, position the ship right under this sentry gun to avoid bumping into it
# Turn on the tactical overlay (important: '''do not''' use first person view!)
# Turn on the minimal speed possible by clicking the bottom left corner of the speed selector in the HUD
# Use the Pitch Down shortcut to manually rotate the ship downwards. Keep rotating until it doesn’t rotate anymore and flies straight down.
# Turn on max speed
# Turn on your propulsion modules and wait
# Create a bookmark once you are far enough from the station

<gallery mode="packed">
File:Position under vertical station 2.png|A ship is in the middle of undocking area
File:Position under sentry gun.png|Position under a sentry gun
File:Pitch down setting.png|Pitch Down shortcut settings
File:Heading down.png|Heading downwards
File:Vertical undock bookmark creation.png|Creating a bookmark
</gallery>

===Multiple bookmarks===

Since it is impossible to have only 1 instaundock bookmark that works all the time you may want to create multiple bookmarks to cover more undocking angles. There may be multiple ways to do it based on the amount of calculations and flying you’re willing to do and the importance of these undocking bookmarks working all the time. Following are some options to place multiple instaundock bookmarks.

<gallery mode="packed">
File:Instaundock bookmarks 1.png|1 bookmark
File:Instaundock bookmarks 3.png|3 bookmarks
File:Instaundock bookmarks 5.png|5 bookmarks
File:Instaundock bookmarks 7.png|7 bookmarks
File:Instaundock bookmarks 9.png|9 bookmarks
</gallery>

{| class="wikitable" style="width: 100%;"
|+ Degrees to km conversion
|-
!rowspan=2|Distance to the central instaundock bookmark
!colspan=5|Deviation from the ideal 0° vector
|-
! 1° !! 5° !! 7° !! 10° !! 15°
|-
| 8,000 km || 139.6 km || 699.9 km || 982.3 km || 1,410.6 km || 2,143.6 km
|-
| 10,000 km || 174.6 km || 874.9 km || 1,227.8 km || 1,763.3 km || 2,679.5 km
|-
| 15,000 km || 261.8 km || 1,312.3 km || 1,841.8 km || 2,644.9 km || 4,019.2 km
|-
| 20,000 km || 349.1 km || 1,749.8 km || 2,455.7 km || 3,526.5 km || 5,359.0 km
|-
| 25,000 km || 436.4 km || 2,187.2 km || 3,069.6 km || 4,408.2 km || 6,698.7 km
|-
| 30,000 km || 523.7 km || 2,624.7 km || 3,683.5 km || 5,289.8 km || 8,038.5 km
|-
| 40,000 km || 698.2 km || 3,499.5 km || 4,911.4 km || 7,053.1 km || 10,718.0 km
|-
| 50,000 km || 872.8 km || 4,374.4 km || 6,139.2 km || 8,816.3 km || 13,397.5 km
|-
| 75,000 km || 1,309.1 km || 6,561.6 km || 9,208.8 km || 13,224.5 km || 20,096.2 km
|-
| 100,000 km || 1,745.5 km || 8,748.9 km || 12,278.5 km || 17,632.7 km || 26,794.9 km
|}

The layout with 9 bookmarks is the easiest to set up: horizontal and vertical bookmarks have to be created with 10° indent from the the central bookmark, and diagonal ones have to be created with 10° indent from the vertical ones.

==Fittings==

Overall any fit can be used to create instaundock bookmarks. However, it is recommended to use faster ships like frigates with propulsion modules because it usually involves flying out of the station’s grid which takes quite a lot of time. It is important to keep a fit cap stable since inability to use propulsion modules for some time to regenerate capacitor charge significantly slows down a ship and requires the pilot to turn modules on and off manually.

The following fit can get alpha pilots up to 7100 m/s of velocity with MWD turned on.

<pre>
[Punisher, Fast Alpha Punisher Stable]
Micro Auxiliary Power Core I
Micro Auxiliary Power Core I
Mark I Compact Capacitor Flux Coil
Mark I Compact Capacitor Flux Coil
Type-D Restrained Overdrive Injector

50MN Y-T8 Compact Microwarpdrive
Small Compact Pb-Acid Cap Battery

Small Ancillary Current Router II
Small Ancillary Current Router II
Small Engine Thermal Shielding I
</pre>

The following fit can get omega pilots up to 9000 m/s of velocity with MWD turned on.

<pre>
[Punisher, Fast Omega Punisher Stable]
Power Diagnostic System II
Overdrive Injector System II
Overdrive Injector System II
Micro Auxiliary Power Core II
Micro Auxiliary Power Core II

50MN Y-T8 Compact Microwarpdrive
Small Compact Pb-Acid Cap Battery

Small Capacitor Control Circuit I
Small Ancillary Current Router I
Small Ancillary Current Router I
</pre>

Note that for camped stations it may be better to use cloaked Covert Ops ships. Even though they are much slower, they have an ability to move relatively fast while being cloaked which may be essential to get past the camp.

== Acknowledgements ==
Signal Cartel graciously thanks [https://evewho.com/character/2120621292 Millener Audeles] and [https://evewho.com/character/2112302868 Asa Kansene] for their foundational contribution to this wiki page that will assist future Signaleers as they explore the stars.