EVE New Citizens Q&A

Hey and welcome to Eve. I'll try and answer your questions for you.

Practicing very basic combat on npc pirates in asteroid belts is a good first step to get used to activating your modules and the basics of the combat system. For low cost PVP, you have a few options. The test server allows you to buy anything really cheap and try out ships and fits in a pretty much consequence free environment. On the main server, so long as you keep your ships cheap, duelling and heading out to lowsec will quickly find you fights and though you will lose a lot, you'll learn fast.

Don't worry too much about losing your ship - it will happen, and the sooner you lose the fear of losing, the quicker you'll become a competent PVPer. Just keep the costs manageable by flying what you can afford to lose. Also, a big corp/alliance will often provide newbie ship for free and/or replace losses on operations. TEST, Goonswarm, Eve Uni, etc all have ship replacement programs. You will also get more out of PVP in a gang than you will solo.

The only absolute skill requirement is a preparedness to lose. Everything else is gravy. Newbies are often assigned the role of "tackler" in a gang - i.e. snagging the prey with a warp scrammer/disruptor while the rest of the fleet shoots them. If you can fly a relatively fast ship with a scram and a propulsion mod (afterburner or MWD), you can tackle. Again, a big corp/alliance will help you here.

Small ships take down big ships all the time. There is a limit to which skills affect the ship's capability; e.g. you can max all skills for a Rifter fairly quickly, and even a 10 year vet can't have more than that in skills relative to a Rifter. Then it comes down to budget for fits and the experience of the meat popsicle at the keyboard. A gang of newbies in cheap cruisers can and do take down faction battleships. And a 2 day old newbie in a tackler can be the reason that battleship couldn't get away.

To join chat channel, click the icon that looks like a speech bubble at the top of your corp chat window.

For lore, check out the Evelopedia.

Hit me up ingame if you have any more questions. May you get your first kill soon!

Thank you ShahFluffers and BlackHuey for your posts.

If I wanted to get into PVP combat as soon as possible, what should I train for and why?

That's entirely up to you.

Certain racial lines are good at certain things and are weak in other things.

Some examples:
- If you like brawler, "in your face" style combat then Gallente might be a good choice. Their primary weapon system is the blaster which has the highest damage potential in the game... however blasters also have the shortest range. Gallente ships are also not the most nimble around... making them easy targets for "kiters" (see: "skirmishing ships")

- If you perfer "tank and gank" style combat then you can't go wrong with the Amarr lineup. Their ships can layer themselves in armor and their weapons allow them to hit out equally well at medium-short and long ranges. Be careful though as Amarr ships are the slowest in the game and aren't the best when operating "solo."

- Caldari offer "ranged" style combat and excel in arguably the most potent and annoying electronic warfare style around; ECM. They also have a few "brawler" type ships that can pump out a decent amount of damage. The only issue with Caldari is that their ships suffer from deep "trade-offs" within their specialty; ECM ships are "squishy," most of their ranged ships deal lackluster damage, and their brawler ships are slower than most.

- Minmatar are possess some of the best skirmishing ships in the game... able to buzz around a target, deal damage, and fly away if things go south. They also have a ranged weapon system (artillery) that deal very high volley damage which is ideal if you want to end a fight before it starts. And if you are a bit indecisive about which weapon or tanking style (turrets or missiles... armor or shields) then this is a good "starter race" as Minmatar ship can be fitted many, many ways.
However, most Minmatar ships suffer from poorer HP levels compared to other races... making them a little bit squishy. Their versatility in using many different weapon and tanking styles also means you need to train many more skills to get the most out of them.


Beyond this... you have the different ship classes with their own pros and cons.

- Frigates: fast, nimble, and squishy. They can lock up ships the fastest and are ideal in running down targets of interest. Frigs also are among the cheapest ships in the game.

- Destroyers: anti-frigate platforms that pack a punch... at the cost of duability. Think of a slower frigate with the same tank and damage just below cruiser level. Uses the same sized mods as frigates.

- Cruisers: "bread and butter" ships that deal good damage and have strong tanks. Their mobility is quite limited compared to frigates and destroyers, but significantly better compared to larger classes. Probably one of the most versatile of the classes, they can fend off frigates and attack ships significantly larger than themselves... if used correctly that is.

- Battlecruisers: same as the cruiser class but with either battleship level tank OR battleship level gank. They are popular for having more combat options and "staying power" compared to cruisers... at the cost of mobility.

- Battleships: the largest of the sub-capital ships, but also the most vulnerable. Few things can match the durability and firepower of a battleship making it ideal for defensive operations and high-stakes "brawls." Unfortunately these ships have the mobility of a pregnant whale in cold molasses and are thus quite vulnerable to smaller, faster ships. Best when used with other [smaller] ships and not to be used with poor skills.

Beyond this you have capital and supercapital class ships which you don't need to know too much about... yet.



The general outlines above should help you narrow down what you want to train for. Remember that you can train anything in the game regardless of your starting race without penalty... so no need to "re-roll."

T2 guns will help no player against stupidity. I have seen total newbies absolutely destroy 2005 characters. Said newbies did have a very good grasp of the agression mechanics though.