EVE New Citizens Q&A

Hello friends. Long time mmo'er wondering why I waited so long to try this game.

Finally gave it a shot and have been playing nonstop for the last few days. I'm really enjoying myself.

I have been reading a lot but am looking for guidance and feedback from some experts to make sure I am getting off on the right foot.

Because I liked their back story, I chose Amarr. Right now I have about 250k skill points.

I just subbed today (only took 3 days of the trial to convince me). I did the tutorial and right now I am doing the Sisters of Eve missions while raising skills and want to sign up for factional pvp. I am wondering how many skill points I should have before I actually give it a try?

As far as pvp goes:

I have always been a big bang for the buck guy. For instance when I build a new PC I am always looking to maximize my value for dollar and look for that sweet spot where I can get 90% of the performance for 50% of the cost. I'd like to apply this to Eve, and I know you should never fly what you can't afford to lose so I am looking at the Tormentor as my learner pvp frigate.

I started off flying a Punisher, but wasn't sure I liked the close in fighting style.

I have my ship outfitted with beam lasers and am using infrared crystals which gives me an optimal range of 11 KM. I also am using the Hobgoblin drones. I'm having a good time with this setup in pve.

I guess I am looking to see if the Tormentor will be a doable in pvp. If so, any build or tactics suggestions would be appreciated. I'm kind of thinking of trying to kite with it maybe.

Lastly I am curious if anyone has a better suggestion for the best bang for my buck for a learner frigate. Cheapest build, best combat viability. (I'm expecting to die....a lot!)

Thanks much friends

You should expect to die a lot. Really any t1 fit t1 frig will be good. Not just for learning either. A lot of pvp happens in t1 frigs because most pvper's are looking to do it cheap. (keeping in mind that "cheap" is relative) There is no skill point floor for pvp. As a matter of fact it is highly suggested that you get out and do it right away. No matter your skill points the learning curve is steep and more about player skill and acquired knowledge then skill points and shinny equipment. You will die a lot and it is best to do it now while your equipment and clone cost so little. That way you will be getting the most bang for your buck. Also, don't just join the militia. Find an active faction war corp to join with players that don't mind showing you the ropes.

Good luck & welcome to the best game ever

Edit: kiting is a pro technique in Eve. It requires finesse and a healthy understanding of the game mechanics...look at this blog for some tips

I would recommend finding a good corp to learn pvp in EvE. Many factional warfare corps will be new-player friendly, but if you can't find any, there is always RvB and Eve-Uni, which are generally considered to be a great place to learn to pvp amongst a pretty wide variety of players.

I also vote "bite the bullet, do brawling instead of kiting, and just deal with dying a lot".

Primarily because when you charge a (usually bigger, stronger) ship with guns blazing, you'll probably find it more funny than tragic when you blow up. If you're under the impression that you're doing something clever with the mechanics like kiting people around, getting blown up (the exact same number of times) is instead going to get _really frustrating_.

Frustrating is bad, it causes you to burn out before you get actually good at flying about.

As for the best SP total to start PvP, I'd go with "while you still have less than 900k sp", because you can get your "oh, crap, that was the wrong button abort abort" pod-deaths out of the way before updating your clone actually costs anything. Well, most of them, I still do it occasionally.

The earlier you start pew pew the better, by the time you have 2 or 3 mil sp it can be too late and you will have picked up bad habits and the fear.

Try to get tech two guns as soon as possible, and with small guns it wont be hard. The sooner you can start swapping those radio crystals for scorch the better. The problem with radio is yes its range is awesome but its damage is severely lacking, not even great alpha either. If I had to kite fit a tormentor this is how I would fit it like this:

[Tormentor, Kiting fit]

Heat Sink II
Pseudoelectron Containment Field I
Overdrive Injector System II
Nanofiber Internal Structure II

Medium Azeotropic Ward Salubrity I
Limited 1MN Microwarpdrive I
J5b Phased Prototype Warp Scrambler I

Dual Light Pulse Laser II, Scorch S
Medium Pulse Laser II, Scorch S
Medium Pulse Laser II, Scorch S

Small Anti-EM Screen Reinforcer I
Small Core Defense Field Extender I
Small Ancillary Current Router I
Hobgoblin II x2
Top speed is 3203(heat) 4561
EHP 4.86
DPS Scorch: 149 dps Multi: 159
OptRng: 13.8km

There's only one real answer and Blain has it.

Why the need to be so frugal?

Buddy of mine uses the imperial navy slicer with scorch, buffer and rep. He raves about it. Says its the best kiting frigate he's used.

I suggest you look into the t1 cruisers come retribution. A lot of them will be viable come dec 4th. Amarr isn't the best for kiting though, unfortunately.

Confirming Navy Slicer anecdote.