Microwarp Cloaking Warp Trick

The MWD Cloak warping trick is a very old EVE Online trick that was once called an exploit, and later labeled by CCP as "a clever use of game mechanics". What the trick allowed players to do was warp away from players, or NPCs with a very small margin of time to be targeted because of a cloaking system. This become extremely helpful for players that were not in a covert ops ship, but wanted the same ability to hide behind a cloak when travelling. So now I'm going to offer a guide on how to accomplish this trick, since simply explaining the process can leave new players in the dark.


Setup

First off, I will be explaining how to do this with the default hotkey setup for EVE Online. The settings in question are the high-slot module hotkeys F1-F8, "Align To" with the "A" key, and "Warp To" as the "S" key.

Now on the ship we want both a MicroWarp Drive, and a Cloaking System fitted. When undocked, make sure to move the MWD to the high-slot bar as shown in the screenshot. This allows us to use hotkeys close to each other for quick execution. With this setup, we have the cloak on the hotkey "F1", and the MWD on hotkey "F2".

Now to put this to use. In a simple scenario let's say we've just jumped into a low-sec system, and we want to warp to the station in that system. Without removing the cloak we have from jumping through the gate, we need to make sure that the station is showing on the overview.

1. Align - Once we have the station showing on the overview we want to click the station on the overview, and press the "A" key to start aligning to the station.

2. Prep MWD - After aligning to the destination we want to press F2 twice, so that the MWD has been turned on, and then off.

3. Cloak - Now we want to turn on the cloak with "F1", so to hide from any potential enemies


4. Warp - Once the MWD is 75% from being shut off, we want to do a series of things quite quickly. First we want to turn the cloak off by pressing "F1", then click the station in the overview, and press "S" to warp to it. You can see a 75% MWD cycle in the picture to the right.
You may want to practice this with the MWD at 50% until you become more comfortable with this step. 

5. Rejoice - If all went well, once your MWD cut off, it will give you a "slingshot" effect putting your speed close to the amount needed to warp, or above it allowing you to insta-warp right after the cycle ends.

So that's the MWD/Cloak warp trick. It's not much different from using a MWD to insta-warp, but using the cloak while the MWD is in the process of being deactivated. We have to "align" or we cannot turn the cloak on, and start the warp before the MWD cycle ends.


MWD Insta-Warp

If you are not aware of the MWD insta-warp, hop into a Tech 1 industrial, and throw a 1MN microwarp on it. Start aligning to warp to anything in the system, and turn the MWD on and off. Once the MWD goes off, you will notice as your ship is put in warp once it turns off. The MWD increases the total speed of the ship, but when turned off the speed stays the same, but the max speed is much lower putting your speed into the 75% and above area needed to warp after aligning.


MWD Notes

For fairly new pilots this trick may not be as beneficial, but still works the same. The reason being is that the MWD you use will determine how quick you will go into warp. The reason being is that various MWD modules have a different Max Velocity bonus. The more bonus, the faster you will go into warp after the cycle. With Tech 1 MWDs, you may have to wait a second or two before you warp after the MWD turns off.


Ship Notes

These setups are fairly common in industrial ships (haulers). The reason being is that they are slow to warp, so the MWD trick is usually used for warping, and the cloak to help move things through low, null, or wormhole space. With Tech 1 haulers, keep in mind you only need a 1MN MWD to do this trick. While it won't be helpful for moving places, it will in fact give you enough boost to warp after decloaking. Some T1 haulers have a hard time fitting 10MN MWDs forcing them to sacrifice tank, and cargo space to do so. Regardless, it's something to be aware of.


MWD Insta-Warp Orca

I want to take the time to point out the MWD insta-warp one more time, since even older players seem to be clueless of this ability. This trick can be done on almost any ship, but the most neglect I see is on the Orca. Personally I do not like to wait 45 seconds or more to warp, so with the Tech 1 100MN MWD that is on it I can warp in 10 instead. It saves so much time, and gets rid of the drudging thought of having to move things far away.

Fly safe, and have fun! o/