EVE New Citizens Q&A

1. evemaps.dotlan.net (I think) just look around lowsec systems find one with not many jumps then go and scout the system for a few days.

2. can't help sorry

3. nope, just recommended

4. MWD + Cloak trick, google it

5. don't land somewhere an astero is...they're beasts for what they are

6. PI is great, would recommend on an alt first that way you're not tied to a specific system on your main.

7. Sorry, can't help there either

1) Avoid Caldari space in general because that's a pretty popular area. As mentioned, Dotlan is a good resource for finding quiet systems, and you can also filter by jumps/hr or ship kills/hr in the in-game map.

2) This might do you well. I recommend investing in Sisters Core Scanner Probes because they're not too pricey and give you a decent scan strength bonus. The cargo scanner is a must, otherwise you'll just waste time hacking sites with bad loot.

3) Technically you can explore null in a T1 frigate but I don't recommend it. If you're getting into exploration you'll want to train up a covops frigate anyways, and the covops cloak is a life-saver in null. Alternatively, if you have a good bit of ISK, the Astero is a shorter train but pretty expensive.

4) Again, a covops cloak is really helpful. It is very hard to catch a covops frigate in a standard gate-camp - you'll need a fast locking Tengu or perhaps an interceptor to get a lock on before you re-engage your cloak. In absence of that, the MWD+cloak trick has been mentioned - I use it most for haulers, but the same principle applies.

Bubble camps are an issue in null. Keep an eye on your in-game map - if there are a lot of pilots in a system or the ships destroyed/last hour count is high, avoid it. Also, never warp gate-to-gate in null unless local is empty - always warp to a distant planet which isn't near a gate first. Finally, if a gate is out of d-scan range and you can't get into d-scan range anywhere in system, then just exercise caution. If you frequent particular gates, you could benefit from making bookmarks 200-300km off-gate to check for bubble camps.

I'd read up on bubble mechanics before venturing into null.

5) Learn to use d-scan effectively and watch it. This won't reveal cloaked ships like the Astero, but it will reveal their scanner probes which they need to scan down a site. Sometimes they bookmark the site before you get into system. Some people drop a can full of junk at the warp-in site to decloak their enemy but I've never bothered.

6) There's no reason not to do it on your main character. I have all three of my character slots pulling in ~1.3bil ISK per month total. I'd recommend working towards low-sec, because null is a pain to haul from and WH space only works if you have a POS set up (i.e. in a WH corp).

7) You can usually Google stuff like "Merlin fit" for this, but I'm not much of a PvPer.

Aside from the above tips, also:

Probe quickly, recall your probes as soon as you are done. If a pirate sees probes on d-scan, it tells him it might be worth checking the data and relic sites in system for something to shoot.

Check local, if you see probes (not your own) on d-scan, and the only other person in local has a negative sec status, expect company. Even if you do not see any probes, it's probably safest to cloak up or go to a safe spot if a pirate enters the system.

Don't hack in crowded systems, chances are at least one person in local has all the signatures mapped out already. Best is to only hack if local is empty.

Paranoia is your friend.

1) Besides jumps, be sure to look at kills in last two hours in Dotlan for the system you are looking at. There are some low-sec systems in Sinq Laison that aren't too bad. Also, Genesis (AVOID Gonditsa) last time I was over there. Make sure you know what you are doing from exploring high-sec and can afford to replace your ship before you spend a lot of time in low-sec.

2) Astero is quicker to train for than a Buzzard if you can afford it and has offensive capability.

3) Covert Ops cloaking device is very nice even though old vets will say you don't need one.

5) Don't go to data/relic sites in low/null if there is anyone else in the system -- until you are prepared to fight them.

6) Might want to do a quick train on your main for minimal PI skills to make sure you enjoy it before spending the money to dual train an alt. PI will tie you to an area though.