EVE New Citizens Q&A

Hey all. I've been floating around the edge of playing this game for quite awhile. It always looked really interesting, but I was intimidated by the fact I would be years behind some people. After reading some topics and posts showing even newbies can take down the vets if they put their mind to it and learn how to fly their ship I decided to get a 3 month sub to give it a solid try.

So, my initial aim/goal is to PvP (probably small gang eventually) some fleet from now and then (faction warfare looked interesting) as well as mission running and PI to support ISK costs of PvP. With that said, my ship path was going to be something like Thasher->Rupture->Hurricane->Maybe a Battleship. I figured I would be able to get into a decently fitted Hurricane in about a month or so maybe less?

However, I saw some people in chat talking about strategic cruisers and how they can really fit into any role and can be effective in multiple situations. I took a look and they seem/look pretty cool. They seem pretty pricey to be doing in PvP with, but I guess if you are well equipped and aware the ship will provide an edge to make up for the ISK risk.

So my question is....with my goals of small gang-fleet pvp and mission/ratting on the side would I be better off going with my initial Cane plan or working towards a strategic cruiser (and probably just funding from Rupture missioning). I know there isn't one best ship, but I'm interested to see people's opinions of why they would or wouldn't take each path.

Thanks

Rupture and Hurricane are both amazing. I'd suggest you may find it takes longer than a month to be in a well fitted Hurricane but the Rupture is an excellent first major goal. Enjoy frigates in the meantime and try not to see them as a mere stepping stone toward bigger "better" ships.

You can participate in PvP from a very young age however you are going to need friends. Solo PvP while very possible just isn't all that probable given little or no game knowledge. I think that says a lot about the game though, that a grizzled vet can take on other vets in control of a week old character. It proves without doubt what a huge factor game knowledge and actual tactics are in EvE. That said skillpoints do matter too especially when your game experience is lacking, so group up with some buddies and fight en-mass :)

Contact me in-game if you like and I'll be happy to help further o/

No. You are not going to be taking down vets in a cane after a month or even three.

But read on because I have some good news.

First, and never forget this, Eve is NOT a solo game. It's not space knights heading off to glorious battle at the sun. It happens, but rarely, and it is not even all that fun or interesting (for a lot of reasons that are a distraction to this topic). Eve, at it's most exciting, is teams of people working and fighting together to accomplish their goals.

Whether it is a small gang or a giant null sec armada, it's groups of people working together. That's Eve. If you are looking for one versus one dueling this is the wrong game for you, but if you want the most intense PvP on the planet, if you can handle a game in which bitter vets with a thousand battles under their belts STILL get freaked out going into battle, if you can handle that then this is the game for you.

As I said, Eve PvP is a team sport. To be successful a team has covered all of their bases. I am going to tell you one of the hardest things for a newer player to really understand or believe.... Ready?

Your skill points don't mean a damn thing. The ships you can fly don't mean a damn thing. From new player to bitter vet, there is a role for you in a PvP team, and that role is no less important than that filled by the old-dude with a hundred-million SP. A skilled PvP gang is like a machine, the ships are the gears. Whether any one gear is bog or so tiny you need a magnifying glass to see it, without ALL of them it doesn't work. The machine grinds to a stop and then explodes in pyrotechnic explodiness.

After a certain point the difference between an old pilot and a new one is not really how well they can fly any one ship, but in how many different ships they can fly well. All of the different ships and classes have a role, they are all gears in the machine, they are all equally vital, and if you are flying it then they don't have to. They can fly something else, fill another role, and the team becomes that much stronger.

The natural and normal progression for Eve PvP pilots is to focus on and become masters of Frigate combat. These are some of the trickiest and most vital ships in the game. They are NOT, in any way, "newb ships." There's no such thing in Eve. They are, rather, fast support. They make the tackles, they run down the enemy EWAR and Logistics, they provide the warp ins, they are the scouts. They are, simply, one of the most important and difficult ships in the game to fly well. And in a month or two you can be a Frigate god if that's what you set your mind to.

Nor are these ships weak. That's something else to understand. The tech two Assault Frigates are fast, tiny, they can pack a tremendous tank, and can sometimes dish out Battlecruiser DPS.

Anyway I am not going to make this any longer than it is now. Simple answer: a BC takes many months to skill up and fly properly. Don't rush into it. If you want to PvP then do it. Jump in and have fun.

I still fly my impairor because that is the only ship I have enough skills for with my 7m sp :[]