EVE New Citizens Q&A

Your sec status rises (extremely slowly) if you kill NPC pirates. You can find NPC pirates if you do security missions, and also in the asteroid belts of any solar system rated 0.8 or lower.

Now, the NPC pirates (rats) that appear in high-sec (0.8-0.5) are frigates, and in low-sec (0.4-0.1) you'll see cruisers, and they barely budge the security status. You have to go to 0.0 space and hunt battleship rats, or do Level 4 agent missions (they also have battleship rats) to see any sort of movement on your sec. status number.

As far as what the sec. status does:

- It does NOTHING from 5.0 (max) down to 0.0.

- It gives you a nice yellow color in the overview from -0.0 to -1.9, making you look like a bad-ass.

- You'll be attacked by Navy (not Concord) in high sec space, if you linger too long, from -2.0 to -4.9. First only in systems rated 1.0, then 0.9, 0.8, down to 0.5 as you go lower and lower. Note that the Navy ships that attack you aren't Concord and you can survive them if you have a tanked ship, or avoid them if you have a fast ship.

- Once you get below -5.0, your overview color changes to red, and any player can start shooting you without repercussions. If anyone shoots you, you can shoot back and both of you will have an "engagement timer" where you can shoot each other, may the best win. If you're in a ship, the Navy ships listed above will also harrass you, which is why some people fly around in a pod; NPCs ignore pods, but of course the risk is that players can possibly one-shot you.

You lose sec. status if you're a pirate and attack "innocent" people in high-sec.

So, basically, you don't need to raise your sec status from 0.0, it's as good as 5.0. If you plan on doing piracy, you could create a buffer by going to 5.0 and then going crazy shooting everyone, till you get to -1.9, then grind NPC rats to raise your sec status back up.

But most pirates love PVP and hate grinding PVE rats, so they just let their sec. status reach -10.0 and wear it as a badge of pride. They can use long range trading skills to buy things from afar, and courier contracts to have it brought to low security space, or just use neutral hauling alts. So low sec status isn't much of a bother.

Your security status is only an "issue" if it dips too low into the negative, as Memphis says, it can inhibit your travel through various security space.

If the mechanics are kept as I last recall them, you are correct in your personal standings with how reprocessing ore and the like effects (not to mention the Industrial skills, etc).

For those players that like to do naughty things and still fly in high sec there are guides out there for how to raise you sec status the most efficient way possible. However as has already been pointed out if you don't plan on being one of those then there is no reason for you to worry about it. If you would like to be one of those then NC Q&A is not the place to find info on how to become an effective pirate.

But rest assured the info is definitely out there if you are so interested.

Almost ...

* CONCORD attack criminals (flag).
* Faction police attack those with low security status (also at -5 they become outlaws and legal targets everywhere)
* Faction navy attack those with low standing (including those in the opposing faction in faction warfare).
* Customs agents respond to contraband.

Only CONCORD is inescapable, and guarantee destruction of the criminal's ship.

Beware that CONCORD are the faction police in CONCORD and Interbus controlled systems (e.g. Sanctum constellation in the Genesis region).

Thank you all for some very helpful and useful advice.

I wasn't intending to embark on a career of piracy (well, not yet ) but I'm considering going down the industry route in these early days. It seemed unlikely that i would be killing many rats then, so wondered if security status rose from other activities. It seems not, so good to know it's not completely essential - at least for now.

Thank you again, and not just for replying here. I've been reading this sub-forum for days and you all give such useful and interesting advice on the game.

Does that mean you cannot escape those systems if you are below -5.0? (Or whatever level sec status based on system status)

This used to be the case, but was patched out a looooong time ago for the sake of consistency.

Is it still the highest bounty rat killed every 5 minutes in each system or just 5 minutes globally now?

It changed from highest per system per 15 minute block to highest globally per 5 min.

It's not always the highest bounty though. IIRC, frigates count as 1, cruisers 2, battleships 3, lowsec belt battleships 4, faction rats 1 higher, and clone soldiers as 5.

Highest rat is the only one that counts.