Science & Industry

All,

I'm very new to EVE (my first and only characters is less than a week old) and I am almost done the tutorial missions. I enjoyed mining and want to know if solo mining is at all lucrative for someone who plans on playing 10-15 hours per week. Also, a question about low/null sec vs. highsec, I realize that low/null sec is the eventual goal for all miners, as this is where the rare and valuable ores are located. However, will I still be able to make relatively good isk by starting out in highsec mining veldspar and other very common ores? I want to start out in highsec to gain the capital needed to invest in better ships/equipment to venture into null/low sec.

Thanks.

You will find a lot of pilots still slag off mining in terms of profitability but personally I still think it is a viable career choice for new pilots. In fact there is more ISK in it now than when I started off a few years ago with the price of Pyerite & Tritanium stable and at a good level. The skill requirement for mining vessels has recently been reduced so it won't take you that long to get into a Retriever.

Low & nul sec are not the eventual goal for all miners as you will quickly find out if you try to mine in low sec. In your capsule or floating dead in space you will soon be. If you are well clued up and in a good alliance mining in nul sec may be safe but there better things to do in New Eden.

You may find mining not so much fun if you just do that activity so I suggest you broaden your skill base and look to level four missions, or high sec Incursions, or Factional Warfare which will all bring in more ISK.

Alright it seems you have a lot of the pvpers points of view.

This is a pure manufacturing/industrial player's Opinion:

I Solo mine a LOT. In a mackinaw (not perfect skills but close enough, with no implants) I make about 10mil isk/hr and this is not trying hard. You can very easily make more, but mining allows you to do homework during it, watch movies, heck even play other games with friends, or doing the dishes ect. ect. If you enjoy playing the game and not being fast action then industry is very good. I started 6 months ago and I started out mining, and eventually got into manufacturing t1, then I manufacture t2 and capital ships!! I still mine on a regular basis anytime I have something else to do. I make millions of isk a day off not logging on due to my manufacturing jobs and planetary interaction. If this, along with staring at spreadsheets a great deal, Then manufacturing/mining is for you. If you don't enjoy the spreadsheets so much just mine and sell this it's a great activity to do while doing something else as well!

P.S. Once you reach a retriever you can easily just mine anytime you need something else done, and go back to pvp/pve when you have time to focus on the game!

Hope this helps!

nope, generally speaking mining isn't an isk making monster, it's something people do while mostly afk as more of a passive income.
i mine while i'm watching random tv series i've downloaded. i think of it as "isk for tv".


oh you poor misguided new players.
null sec and low sec aren't worth it at all for a miner. between afk cloaky campers and people who actually want to blow you up because you're a free kill, the "rewards" of null sec aren't worth it. the ores are barely worth more than empire ores and you're taking more risk and have more logistical costs.
staying in high sec, multiboxing multiple accounts is the way to earn money mining if that's how you want to generate your isk in this game.
i started out like you with those rose tinted goggles, and now i'm back in high sec earning more than i could in null sec now i have more than one account.
if you can find a null sec corp that has players that regularly jump freighter things to and from empire space it can be lucrative to mine in null sec. however unless you're in a corp like that, or you have multiple accounts to do it for you then empire space will pretty much be more lucrative.


the problem is, by the time you have that, you'll have realised null and low sec are pretty much a complete waste of time for any miner with more than one account.

Join a corp, one that runs Orca and hauling support for its miners.

Also other posters are right, Null/Low-sec is not currently worth it for solo miners.

Mining is the lowest profit profession in EVE. But it is also the easiest. The problem is easy quickly becomes boring.

As a solo miner you can make easy 15 mil an hour without any boosts. Get into a corp that offers mining boosts through a ORCA supported fleet and you can make 20-25 mil easy. but it is still very boring.

I would recommend running the sisters of EVE epic mission arc. Google it if you are not sure how to start it or what to do. It will give you a taste of what EVE has to offer. By the time you finish it you will have several ships and about 1 mil cash.

If you train up your social skills, social 4 and connections 4 for starters. you will only need to run a few level 1 missions to unlock level 2 missions. Level 2 missions are very easy and much less boring than mining solo. You should have a decent feel for mission running and how to fit your ships by the time you unlock level 3 missions. Once you get into level 4 missions you can make +40 mil an hour and have fun doing it. Any experienced level 4 mission runner can make over 60 mil/hr. While a max skilled and boosted miner will only make 20-25 mil/hr and mining gets very boring.

Correctly null sec mining is no better isk than high sec mining. You can not solo mine in null in anything but a Skiff as the null sec belt rats that spawn are generally waves of battleships and battle cruisers unlike the frigates that spawn in high sec. On top of that most null sec ores are currently worth less than high sec ores. Although I expect this to change very soon. If you really like mining by all means stick to it. But I would recommend at least trying mission running.

Mining can be boring, it can be cathartic, it can be relaxing, its rarely outright 'fun'. But I enjoy it, and do a ton of it. When I get home from work and am working on reports for the day on the lap top, I have mining going on next to me on the desk top. I keep the sound up, and my eye drifts to the screen every few seconds or so to make sure I do not have any surprise visitors coming.

It is profitable, but as stated above, it is the slowest money maker in the game currently.

Depending on your play style (and your lifestyle / time free, etc), mining can be a very relaxing way to pass the time in game. Some people (namely heavy pvp'ers) don't think so, but then, it is a different play style from theirs. Try it, get a feel for it, and if you enjoy it, welcome aboard! If not, try out some pvp and / or mission yourself up to L4's for faster money if you prefer the pew-pew lifestyle.

See you in the black,

~Z

yeah, and so were ships. you haven't really gained anything just because mineral prices have gone up.
still takes you the same amount of time to buy things.

i mean, when i started mining trit was half what it is now, as was the cost of a drake.

mining is still poor isk/hour in comparison to other activities, especially at the solo level.

This dude is right. Work on your standings first and then switch to industry later. The standings will pay you back much more than what you can make on mining in the beginning.

Mining can be great supplimental income while you actively make isk at the same time.

Learn to station trade remotely.

Park in same region as a major trade hub.
Mine semi-afk while you work the markets.

You'll get rich with both the most and least profitible ways at the same time.

This can also be done while you mission with drone boats but this is going to be much harder after the next big update.
I still recommend it so you can get perfect refine and low taxes on your trades due to high standings.

Train up enough science to get some bpo's ready for building.
Use items big enough to suck up the minerals you mine.
They don't have to be all that great but it's nice to have options on how to get rid of your mining loot.

At this point your will become a true industrialist.
So yes you want to mine to increase your isk per hour as a whole.
This will go up further if you can get in regular orca hosted fleets with good skills/implants.