A target lock is achieved when a ship's sensors start tracking another object. Once "locked", the ship can perform a variety of actions on the object. This can include attacking with weapon systems, examining the ship with ship scanners, salvaging a wreck, and aiding with remote repair modules.
A ship's sensors do not lock onto another object instantly. It can take from a couple seconds to over half a minute. The locking speed depends on several factors:
- The higher a ship's scan resolution, the faster it can lock.
- The higher a target's signature radius, the faster it can be locked.
- Modules such as Sensor Boosters and Remote Sensor Boosters can increase the locking speed.
- The Signature Analysis skill will increase the locking speed by 5% for each level trained.
In order to lock an object, it must be within targeting range of the ship. If the object moves farther away than the maximum targeting distance, the lock will be dropped.
A cloaking device will not activate if the ship has an active lock on it.
Breaking a lock[]
There are several methods of breaking a lock:
- Fly out of targeting distance of the locking ship. Unfortunately some ships can easily target objects that are over 100 km away.
- Warp away from the locking ship.
- Fly off the edge of the grid of the locking ship
- Use Electronic Counter Measures to disrupt the targeting abilities of the locking ship.