This guide I hope will have some use for the newer players to join our ranks as Reddit has had a bit of an influx in “how do I make ISK and the like subjects” Keep in mind this is written by myself as a personal account of my experiences and opinions, take it with a grain of salt when I say something like “mining is boring”
Introduction
Background and experience: I’ve played eve for 4 years, 3 of which have been in Null sec, 1 in high sec running level 4 missions, and some mining. I have lead one of the largest corporations for its time for over a year and was even an alliance leader for a time. I have since stepped back into the joy of no leadership and just enjoying the game.
When you are new to eve and start the game, chances are you have no idea about 1/100th of the game, it is new and vast. Enjoy this time, the game is on a scale that is really hard to explain. In the many of thousands of hours I have spent in this game I have not touched every aspect and far from an expert in some areas. I need to stress, this is okay.
The first thing you should do when starting eve is think about where you want to be in 6 months to a year. This game or hobby is not something you will master in a few hours after reading some guides, if you choose to stick with it, this little game/hobby will teach you some things about yourself. How you learn, what your own limits are, and what you are willing to do to achieve a goal.
I ask you take this guide for what it is worth, my opinions and experience so far in the game, what struggles and stresses I have endured, the experience gained and knowledge I wish to share in a game that is hard to find good reliable information.
Another thing forgotten by a lot of long players of the game is that EVE is like a second language. I will try to explain the abbreviations and mechanics of the game but, I’m bound to miss or forget something.
DAMAGE TYPES
· Electromagnetic (EM)
· Kinetic (KIN)
· Thermal (THERM)
· Explosive
FACTIONS
· Amarr
· Caldari
· Gallente
· Minmatar
Step 1: The Goal
Ask yourself. “What is it I want to do in Eve?” – don’t worry this will change as you grow.
Eve is a sandbox, there is no right or wrong way to play this game despite what is said by some in the community. You can high sec mine, do missions, explore, production, research, invention, planetary interactions, wormholes, pirate, player vs player, faction warfare, gank, troll, steal, scam… The list goes on. This is your time, your money, your enjoyment. That being said you need to give yourself a goal in order to continue the drive. The carrot on the stick idea. For me it was level 4 missions and getting into a Drake, that moved to getting into a Raven, then lasers are cool so I trained for a Paladin Marauder. You will evolve as you grow so don’t worry if you change your mind.
Setting the Goal: Some steps that have helped me along the way in how I set my goals.
Skill Plan:
· What do you want at the end of 365 days?
· Set a short, medium, and long goal – example: 1 month, 3 months, 6 months.
· Your goals should be in line with your end of year.
· Be flexible, if you end up changing your mind in a few months, there are a lot of cross training in eve.
Corporation:
· You don’t need to be in a corp to enjoy the game but it is really suggested as it gives you a support group in a sense.
· Look to newbie corps, they are low to no skill point requirements and the good ones will have some programs in place to help you grow
· Make friends, not enemies. Some things to consider in EVE. This is one “shard, server” Your name will follow you as you go.
· Get on voice coms when you can, get to know your corp mates. Ask questions of them and be an active part of your new family.
“I am alpha and omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.”
Alpha clone or Omega?
Something new to the game is the option to play for free with restrictions or to jump right in and play as the “paid” omega clone, the monthly subscription. (NOTE: This is my opinion on the matter) I would suggest going Alpha to start, the reason for this is time/money/expectation.
Benefit of being an Alpha to start.
· There is no real commitment, this is your chance to explore the beginning of what EVE has to offer without any regrets or expectations. It is 100% free.
· Gives you time, you are not obligated to play. A lot of friends I tried to get in the game in the past were stand offish because they felt obligated to play, if you are forcing yourself to play EVE you will not enjoy it.
· The community, as funny as this sounds but it is true. Our lovely community has a soft spot for the alpha clones and most of us want to kill you, drop some isk that is maybe 10 times worth your loss, and explain what you did wrong and how to avoid it.
Detriment of being an Alpha to start.
· You will not have access to the full range of the game, what I mean by this is you won’t be able to use all of the ships, modules. You are also restricted to logging into one client per pc. The other more important restriction is you will train at half the speed of an Omega clone.
· Some corporations will not accept alpha clones.
· You can max out the amount of skills available to you in under a year.
Taking all of this into consideration, being an alpha for any given time is not an issue. You can make up for lost skill points with skill injectors, but they are pricey.
Final note: This is a game, there are a lot of fun aspects to it as well as some tedious almost work related aspects to the game. Do what you enjoy, and never forget, this is a game.
Step 2: ISK
Arguably the driving force of most players in this game is ISK, and the making, hording, stealing of it. I will let you in on a secret. ISK is easy to make, but even easier to lose. In this segment I’m going to go over the importance of ISK, the many uses of this wonderful set of numbers, and how to make it.
P.L.E.X. – Play as an Omega for no real money cost.
It is possible to play this game as an omega clone without spending any real money in the game. You can do this by buying a P.L.E.X. from the market. Current prices are about 1 to 1.250 billion ISK. To a new player this number is large, scary and feels unobtainable. You are most likely correct. It is very rare for a new player to make over a bil in their first month of gameplay. There are a lot of reasons for this, this is normal. There are stories and even some guides on how to accomplish this, but it is not a guarantee it will work for everyone. Realistically it will take time before you can play for no cost for months at a time.
How do I make ISK?
There are multiple ways to make ISK in eve. To new players asking this question the responses are mostly the same.
· Mine
· Missions
· Nullsec ratting
· Exploration
These are the “top” suggested and most successful new player ISK making activities. Don’t be fooled though, there are many more ways to collect the mistress known as ISK. Some of the other ISK making ventures are…
· PVP
· DED sites
· Scamming
· Market trading
· Manufacturing
· Market manipulation
· Hauling
· Salvaging
· Scavenging
· Reprocessing.
I’m sure there are some additional ways I have not listed, but you get the point. There are a lot of ways to make is in EVE. Some easier and some dangerous and much more rewarding.
MINING
Mining in EVE is what I feel the core of the game is. Without ore you can’t reprocess minerals to create anything in the game. This is a complex process that involves Reprocessing and Blueprint research, as well as the inevitable blueprint invention for tech II modules and ships. I’m going to cover my experiences with mining as well as friends who have had great success.
SHIPS – There are a lot of mining barges, exhumers, and even capital class mining ships. Each has its own perks as well as detriments. EVE is a sandbox, there will never be a fit or ship that is the best for all situations. Keep that in mind as we delve into this part of the guide.
This section of the guide will list the ships, attach a related EVE UNI wiki guide and a small description of each ship. Skills needed and suggested plans will be listed below.
FRIGATES
· Venture – http://wiki.eveuniversity.org/Venture – The first mining ship you will most likely use.
· Prospect – http://wiki.eveuniversity.org/Prospect – This is a tech II version using the same model as the Venture, this ship focuses on gas cloud harvesting normally found in wormhole space.
· Endurance – http://wiki.eveuniversity.org/Endurance – Another tech II version of the Venture, this ship focuses on Ice mining in hostel space, as well as wormholes.
MINING BARGES
· Procurer – http://wiki.eveuniversity.org/Procurer – This barge has extremely good tank, as well as the ability to do decent damage with drones. Ideal for Dangerous areas of space. Lowest mining yield of the barges.
· Retriever – http://wiki.eveuniversity.org/Retriever – Middle of the pack, this barge has okay tank, better yield than the Procurer and what sets it apart is a very large ore hold.
· Covetor – http://wiki.eveuniversity.org/Covetor – This barge has the worst tank, and smallest ore hold but, highest yield of the barges. For solo mining this barge is not recommended as it is vulnerable to PVP in both high and low/null sec. This barge will shine with a group doing a mining operation as you can mine at high yield and normally there will be a process in place to recover the ore mined, allowing you to focus on getting as much ore in as short of a process as possible.
EXHUMERS
· Skiff – http://wiki.eveuniversity.org/Skiff – The tech II version of the Procurer, the skiff has a reputation for the toughest mining ship sup capital ships in the game, with a role bonus of 50% more drone damage and hitpoints, the Skiff has been dubbed the “Battle Skiff” I would suggest using a Skiff if you are in low/null sec space as you will live long enough for help if you get caught, in many cases you can kill your attacker and not stop mining while you do.
· Mackinaw – http://wiki.eveuniversity.org/Mackinaw – The tech II version of the Retriever, the Mackinaw has been said to be one of the best solo mining ships and excels at Ice mining. The tank is not even close to the skiff and has minimal damage application. Like the Retriver, the Mackinaw has the highest ore hold of all the Exhumers. I would suggest using this during mining operations or mining Ice. I would not suggest using this in high sec as it is an easy target for suicide gankers and will set you back if you lose a few in a row.
· Hulk – http://wiki.eveuniversity.org/Hulk – The tech II version of the Covetor, the Hulk is a monster when it comes to ore. By far the greatest yield of all exhumers it suffers from the lowest tank, and a smallest cargo of the group. This monster will excel in mining operations as it will mine more ore than any other sub capital mining ship and should be used with strong defense groups as its tank isn’t enough to protect it from the pirates if you are flying solo. In fact I would only recommend using this ship if you are in a protected mining group.
SUPPORT / BOOSTERS
· Porpoise – http://wiki.eveuniversity.org/Porpoise – The Porpoise uses the same ship model as the Noctis and the newest ship to join the industrial family. The Porpoise is capable of boosting mining fleets on field. Bonuses to tractor beam range and speed, as well as survey scanner range, this ship makes an excellent command ship for mining operations. I would suggest using this in a mining fleet, great for security of space.
· Orca – http://wiki.eveuniversity.org/Orca – The Orca is a wonderful utility ship that can fit many roles for mining operation as well as solo play. The Orca has a small ship bay so it can be used to move ships. It also has a sizable ore hold and ship cargo hold so it can move cargo as well as large sums of ore. With a role bonus to mining drones and command burst modules as well as others this is a great mining command ship as well as for personal mining use. The orca has more utlity than a paragraph is worth, here is EVE Uni’s in-depth guide for the Orca – http://wiki.eveuniversity.org/Orca_Guide
MINING CAPITAL SHIP
· Rorqual – http://wiki.eveuniversity.org/Rorqual – The history of this Capital class monster is long, however the Rorqual has received its most significant buff ever, making it the number one mining ship you can obtain. The full fit currently included the new mining drones is around 10+billion ISK. For better lack of words, this is the “end game” of mining for an EVE player. Extremely high tank, mining yield, cargo capability, and the ability to “jump” light years at a time just adds to the utility and worth of the Rorqual. The Rorqual is the only mining ship that has restrictions to where it can go. This ship can only be used in Low / Null security space.
There have been changes to the Rorqual that do not reflect the related wiki currently. The core of the changes can be found – https://community.eveonline.com/news/dev-blogs/mining-foreman-revolution/
MINING SKILLS
This part of the guide will go over what skills are needed and suggested paths to help achieve your goal. I am going to break this section down in categories in no particular order; Ship, fitting, Mining specific, Leadership, Reprocessing, Drone, and finally Tanking.
This list will give the name of the skill and a short description of what the skill does. I will also include the (X) multiplier for the skill, this is important when planning a skill queue because the higher the X multiplier the longer the skill takes to train. Example: 1X is 256,000 to train to level V, skill points, 3X is 768,000 (3 times longer than 256,000)
NOTE: RIG MODULES CAN BE INSTALLED TO A SHIP WITHOUT THE NEEDED SKILL. THEY ARE LISTED IN THIS GUIDE AS A SUGGESTION, EVEN THOUGH THEY ARE NOT NEEDED THE SKILL STILL WILL BE HELPFUL FOR REDUCING THE DETRIMENT SOME RIGS GIVE.
BASIC SKILLS
MINING – 1X – 5% ore mining yield per level
ASTROGEOLOGY – 3X – 5% ore mining yield per level
SPACESHIP COMMAND
MINING FRIGATE – 2X – Skill at operating ORE Mining Frigates
EXPEDITION FRIGATE – 4X – Skill for operation of Expedition Frigates
MINING BARGE – 4X – Skill at operating ORE Mining Barges
EXHUMERS – 5X – Skill for the operation of elite mining barges
INDUSTRIAL COMMAND SHIPS – 8X – Skill at operating industrial command ships
CAPITAL INDUSTRIAL SHIPS – 12X – Skill at operating Capital Industrial Ships
SPECIALTY MINING – Note: These skills are only needed if you plan on going beyond mining ore or Merxocit
ICE HARVESTING – 1X – 5% reduction in cycle time per level
DEEP CORE MINING – 6X – Required for mining Mercoxit
GAS CLOUD HARVESTING – 1X – Allows use of gas harvesters
FITTING
CPU MANAGEMENT – 1X – 5% CPU output per level
ELECTRONICS UPGRADES – 2X – Required for fitting and using co-processors
MINING UPGRADES – 4X – Required for fitting and using mining upgrades
JURY RIGGING – 2X – Used for fitting rigs
Drone Rigging – 3X – Used for fitting mining drone augmenter rigs
TANKING
POWER GRID MANAGEMENT – 1X – +5% power grid output per level
SHIELD OPERATION – 1X – 5% reduction in shield recharge time per level
SHIELD UPGRADES – 2X – Required to fit shield upgrade modules
TACTICAL SHIELD MANIPULATION – 4X – Required to fit shield hardeners
SHIELD MANAGEMENT – 3X – +5% shield capacity per level per level
SHIELD RIGGING – 3X – 10% reduction in Shield Rig drawbacks per level
HULL UPGRADES – 2X – 5% bonus to armor hit points per level
DRONE
DRONES – 1X – Increases number of drones in space by 1 per level
DRONE INTERFACING – 5X – Increases drone damage and mining drone yield by 10% per level
MINING DRONE OPERATIONS – 2X – Increases mining drone yield by 5% per level
ADVANCED DRONE AVIONICS – 5X – Allows use of electronic warfare drones
LIGHT DRONE OPERATION – 1X – Allows for the operation of light drones
MEDIUM DRONE OPERATION – 2X – Allows for the operation of medium drones
AMARR/CLADARI/GALLENTE/MINMATAR DRONE SPECILIZATION – 5X – Allows the use of Tech II drones
LEADERSHIP
LEADERSHIP – 1X – Increases Command Burst and Mining Foreman Burst area of effect range by 7% per skill level
WING COMMAND – 8X – Increases Command Burst and Mining Foreman Burst area of effect range by 6% per skill level
FLEET COMMAND – 12X – Increases Command Burst and Mining Foreman Burst area of effect range by 5% per skill level
MINING FOREMAN – 2X – Grants a 10% bonus to the duration of Mining Foreman Burst effects per level
MINING DIRECTOR – 5X – Increases the strength of Mining Foreman Burst effects by 10% per skill level
COMMAND BURST SPECIALIST – 6X – Reduces reload duration of all Command Burst and Mining Foreman Burst modules by 10% per level
BASIC SKILL PLAN
I’m going to link a basic skill plan for mining, feel free to change this to fit your priorities. A tip, you can copy this list and import into your skill plan directly to the game, or third party skill planners such as EVE MON.
Attributes and Remap – Remap Points: Per 17, Mem 27, Wil 17, Int 21, Cha, 17
Time before Remap: 18d 16h 4m, After Remap: 15d 18h 32m
At the end of this train you will be able to fly Mining Barges with most of the upgrades available to you.
Mining Frigate I
Mining Frigate II
Shield Upgrades I
Mining III
Mining Upgrades I
Drones I
Drones II
Drones III
Light Drone Operation I
Mining IV
Target Management I
Target Management II
Mining Frigate III
Science IV
Astrogeology I
Astrogeology II
Astrogeology III
Industry I
Industry II
Industry III
Industry IV
Industry V
Warp Drive Operation I
Warp Drive Operation II
Mining Barge I
Tactical Shield Manipulation I
Mining Barge II
Mining Barge III
Mechanics III
Jury Rigging I
Jury Rigging II
Jury Rigging III
Shield Rigging
Capacitor Management I
Capacitor Management II
Capacitor Management III
Capacitor Systems Operation I
Capacitor Systems Operation II
Capacitor Systems Operation III
Mining Upgrades II
Mining Upgrades III
Mining Upgrades IV
Light Drone Operation II
Light Drone Operation III
Drones IV
Survey I
Survey II
Survey III
Salvaging I
Salvaging II
Salvage Drone Operation I
Salvage Drone Operation II
Shield Management I
Shield Management II
Shield Management III
Shield Operation I
Shield Operation II
Shield Operation III
Tactical Shield Manipulation II
Tactical Shield Manipulation III
Target Management III
Hull Upgrades I
Hull Upgrades II
Hull Upgrades III
MISSIONS
Mission running in EVE is how I started the game. There is a large grind to this part of eve and out dated (over 10 years) and dry content, it does however give you a feel of combat in the game and starts your path to fitting ships and potentially losing some. There are guides to the mission you can look up on google so I will not be covering each mission.
The rewards you get from missions are ISK, Loyalty Points.
To start doing missions you need to run them for agents. The NPE will get you access to the default security mission runners of your factions. More can be found in the agent locator in game, it should be noted that you do not have to run missions for your faction. It should also be noted that missions will effect standings with other factions.
The ‘agent finder’ can be found in the ‘people & places’ at the bottom of the ‘agents’ tab.
You will start with level 1 missions, no matter what your security standing is with any faction you will always be able to run level 1 missions.
Level 2 – 5 missions require higher agent standings. The standing requirements are as follows.
· Level 1: None
· Level 2: 1.0 or higher
· Level 3: 3.0 or higher
· Level 4: 5.0 or higher
· Level 5: 7.0 or higher
There are skills that can help increase the rate you earn standings with the agent, and other skills that can reduce standing hits from missions that will have negative effects.
What makes missions profitable is the loyalty points you gain from completing the mission. Level 1-3 has really low loyalty, ISK, and the bounty you gain from killing the NPC Pirates (rats) is rather low. Getting to level 4 and ideally level 5 is where the payout is rather nice. The idea is to blitz the missions, complete the minimal requirement to complete mission and collect the reward.
NULLSEC RATTING
Nullsec ratting, or krabbing (yes spelled wrong on purpose) as it has been called is one of the best income sources in eve. Nullsec ratting is done by running anomaly sites. Pirate combat sites to be more specific. Depending on what region of space you live in will depend on the faction on pirates you will be fighting. This will also determine what ships and fits will be more optimized for tank and damage.
For example: if you are fighting against Sansha Pirates, you would want to tank against EM/THERM and deal the damage type of EM second best is THERM.
Nullsec ratting has risks however. You will be hunted, you will lose your ship. It does happen, the difference is that you can make a lot more than your ship is worth in a short time. If you are dedicated and pay attention, you can do this going months in between losing a ship.
What you need in order to Nullsec rat.
· You will need to be in a Corp that owns Nullsec space
· The system you rat in will have to have an ihub upgrade, (this isn’t something you will be able to directly control) in most Nullsec Corps ihubs will already be upgraded.
· You will need a ship that can run the site, there are a lot of ships and fits that will work, and there is however one that currently is the king. That ship is the Vexor Navy Issue. (more on this later)
· You will want to learn your area of space, who is around you and what dangers you may face.
· NEVER rat with a neutral or hostel in space. That is asking for death.
· NEVER leave your character in space when you need to step away for longer than a few seconds. I have lost a ship to walking to the kitchen for a
There are so many points and suggestions that can be spoken about with Nullsec ratting that would be a guide in itself. What anomalies to run, escalations, how to do each one, what anomalies to run and what to avoid. I will suggest for this that you get with your corp and ask. Don’t ask “what is the best!” Ask “what should I be running at a newer level, what ship would be best for my skill points and path, ect”
EXPLORATION
This is one of my favorite forms of income and can be more than worth the invested time. I was working at a job where during downtime I could play games and my time was my own. I would scan in my alt until I had something to do. Cloak up and do my work, then get back to scanning. I would make on average 300-500 a day.
Scanning is hard for an alpha however. What makes scanning so worth it is going into too low and null sec space and doing sites there. This is risky and you will die, but the rewards are many times over the cost of the loss. The issue for Alphas is they don’t have the option to use a cloak. This means in low sec getting caught by gate camps. Null sec you have bubbles to worry about.
Scanning is taught during the new player experience, but to master this craft you will need to learn how the map works, and how to use some special tools. The most important tool is a website called Dotlan.
DOTLAN
This site will provide you with detailed information about what region of space you are in, Jumps per hour/24hour, kills, npc kills, ect. The wealth of information in dotlan is something so all players should get acquainted with.
What you want to use dotlan for is jumps per hour/kills per hour.
· Lower jumps per hour mean a chance there are sites waiting to be scanned down.
· Checking the kills per hour will help identify dangerous gate camps or systems that should be avoided.
If you plan on doing Exploration for a long period of time, it is worth getting tech II relic and data analyzers as soon as possible. It is something I would even recommend injecting if you are able. The skills improve your success rate in scanning so much that you will recover the loss of ISK for the injectors fast and make a lot more profit in the long run. This is not required, but strongly suggested if you are able to.
Step 3: Learn
DEATH
Over my eve life I have lost many ships, some to Rats, some to gankers, and a lot to my own stupidity. The truth of death in eve is the experience gained. Every time I’ve died I would always ask myself if there was something more I could have done. Something I could have changed to stay alive, fit my ship a different way, and not get baited away from the main fleet. So many little things make up a fight and your first few times will be swift and confusing.
When you die I would suggest the following
· Convo or eve mail the person who killed you asking how it happened, explain to them you are new and wanting to learn for next time. Most players will be glad to share advice and tips to avoid the death in the future. EVE being EVE you will run into a few jerks as well. Don’t let them bother you.
· Look over the loss mail and see what killed you, look how much damage was done to you and how much you took before death. Where you were in space, what corp/alliance the other players were.
· If you are in a Corp, ask what you could have done to change the outcome. Was there anything you could have done?
· Stand up, go to the potty, make a samach, chat with the wife/kids/dog/cat and get your ass back in the chair, reship, and get your butt back out there! The only way to learn, REALLY LEARN is to experience for yourself!
IN CLOSING
I hope you gained something from this guide. I enjoyed writing it and would like to make information in eve more readily available for newer players
Sources and useful tools
· EFT/PYFA – ship building tool (in fitting tool is great as well)
· EVEMON – Maintaining skill queues and character information.
· DOTLAN – Map tool, love of my life.
· http://www.eveuniversity.org/
