EVE New Citizens Q&A

New player, etc etc. Already found a great Corp (hooray!)

Now, I know how to mine, and escape rats quickly (lol). But for getting back at the rats... I am needing a new ship.

My problem is, I am not confident that I can do it. Will I die? Of course, I don't care. But are my skills at a place where I can kill Null=Sec rats.


What "level" of weapons should I be taking into battle with rats in null-sec? I can build a destroyer (Caldari), but my weapons are going to be lower level... For example, can I go in with a build that has small shield support, decent capacitors, and then 150mm Railgun I?

I am looking at running either a Merlin Frigate or a Cormorant, both fully outfitted for Hybrid Turrets and shield tank, going through an area killing rats for bounty, then following up with a salvager.

Is that possible being new to the game? (a few days in)

If your corp is so great why do you need to come here for answers to questions like this.

I know that goons are easy to pick on and I say the above kind of tounge-in-cheeck, but seriously though I've heard that goons have some great in house tools and support programs. You should probably be looking with in your own corp / alliance for answers to questions like that.

Goons are known for taking players into this game and taking them directly out to null sec and getting them up and going. What ever they do or have available to you I recommend making use of it.

The "quality" (strength) of NPC rats depends on the "true sec" of the system. In the map everything shows as security 0.0 but in truth space can be anywhere from 0.0 down to -1.0.

Typically you're looking at groups of 5-8 cruiser + battlecruiser NPC's, or bigger (battleships, officer battleships). If the space is "poor", people typically kill off the cruisers in hopes that a battleship group will spawn. In any case, it won't be single ships, the rats are coordinated as a group of a few bigger ships + a few medium support ships.

You'll need to be able to kill several battleships pretty fast, because you don't have all the time in the world in nullsec space; a roaming group of PVP'ers could interrupt you at any second. The bigger ships are the payout - their bounty is higher, and they drop better loot, but you need to be able to kill them pretty fast.

Typically a destroyer is good for killing frigates, and if you're really good at it you can avoid being killed by the bigger ships, but you're probably not going to be able to put out the kind of DPS required to kill off battlecruisers and battleships in any decent amount of time. You'll likely need a battlecruiser or equivalent firepower-and-tank (faction cruiser, HAC cruiser, T3 cruiser, or even actual battlecruiser or battleship).

EDIT: To expound further, as you train the skills that unlock the bigger ships, you need to also train the weaponry skills for medium and large weapons, and the support skills for better shields, better armor, etc. The bigger ships are too slow to fly like frigates; you can't zip around and rely on speed, you have to kinda sit there and take the punishment, rely on your "tank" modules, whether shield-based or armor-based, to repair the incoming damage. It'll probably take a month or two to train up the skills; these are not newbie ships.

You can still go in a frigate or destroyer, but you'll basically have to be in a swarm group (MANY frigates to take out one battleship), or your role will be as a scout / lookout, or as a loot / clean-up crew.

Thank you to those of you who gave an answer - I truly do appreciate it.

And for those with the "Go to Goonies" attitude... Things aren't always that cut and dry. Some of us don't have access to the main alliances materials and such :) Especially as a new player.

/flame shield up!

i use to belt rat in a vengeance like a boss

Learning to probe and run relic/data sites is also a good thing to do for ISK. It also teaches you a very useful, high demand skill - probing.

Thanks again guys, I do appreciate the input! I'm taking it all in and planning things out :)

As for the Probing... In Null-Sec space, would I need the same "level" (I know, wrong term) of equipment as I would for ratting? Or can I find... Low-level stuff during probing?

And even then... I could probe without actually going in, just to learn how to probe... hmm...

Ideas abound :)

Unfortunately, as I said, space is "rated" by security, starting in highsec from 1.0 down to 0.5, continuing into lowsec 0.4 to 0.1, and finally nullsec 0.0 down to -1.0.

The "security" rating has PVP rules associated with it (when/if Concord appears, who can shoot etc.). So this affects the kind of PVP that you're likely to see in the space, with declared wars and suicide attacks in high-sec, piracy and roaming fleets in lowsec, and "anything goes" roaming fleets as well as major wars between large alliances in nullsec.

But the security rating also affects the "quality" of space: the ore that you can find gets better and better the lower you go, and the toughness (and loot) of NPC pirates increases. Unfortunately, it's separated into brackets, so to speak: if you want frigate NPCs, go to highsec, if you want cruisers with frigate escorts go to lowsec, and if you want battlecruisers / battleships go to null. You're unlikely to find just easy frigate rats in null.

As suggested by some of the Goon posters, you should feel free to team up with veteran players who can bring the firepower, and perform side tasks for them so you can learn the combat and share in the loot. It's the only way to learn, it keeps you from getting bored sitting in station training skills, and you also get to meet and greet other people. The Goons (and other major alliances) are VERY social; if you don't talk, don't post, don't say hi, and mostly play solo, you'll be kicked out in very short order.

well if that is the case and you have to come here for help then maybe that corp isn't so great after all.

I keep seeing people say this and I wonder what "AFK" means here. I have done quite a bit of ratting in null systems where people don't come through too often, but even with a VNI using fits others called AFK, I couldn't imagine it actually working out.

I mean, sure, I could walk away and not die, and even kill a bunch of ships, but drones will pop new waves, new waves will kill drones. I just don't see how people are not returning from their AFK to find a handful of rats popped and their VNI flying in circles doing nothing of note? Are people in VNIs actually clearing multiple wave sites in null with no input?

I find I have to at least pull in drones occasionally or micromanage their targeting priorities at the start of new waves. Other than that, it does free me up enough to easily watch both local, a movie, and chat; which is nice.