EVE New Citizens Q&A

Hi folks :)

I'm completely new to EVE and therefore a bit overwhelmed by the large variety of possibilities, offered by this beast of a game. I thought maybe you could help me out, in order to make the right decisions for my character.

What I am going for:
I am interested in a trader-like play style. I'd like to transport goods along dangerous routes (partly for time efficiency and partly for... the thrill^^) through the universe and make a profit of it. Is that viable?

So i guess I need a ship that provides maximum survivability in 0.0?

I'm going to specialize in Minmatar ships. What would I be going for?
Cloaked ship?
Fast ship?
Tanky ship? (Like a Rifter? Or wouldn't that be a good choice considering transporting/trading?)
Or a hybrid of those?

Do you guys have any suggestions what ships might suit me best?

Are there any skill to train that I must have/ must not miss for this kind of character?
I don't want to make any wrong choices and waste a lote of time ;-)

Thanks in advance :)

See you out there!

There are no bubbles in lowsec, so small fast ship can be enough if your items are small enough to fit into frigate.

As for nullsec, in addition to blockade runners, Jump Freighters are also usefull since they can bypass stargates completely. But they cost several billions and requires two characters to use effectively (one lights a cyno on target system where Jump Freighter them jumps to) so they are not something new players should plan for anytime soon.

1.) 0.0 Trading is possible. Just keep in mind that player owned stations likely won't let you dock. NPC 0.0 is always dockable.

2.) Want to ship stuff. Industrials / Freighters. T1 Industrials are starting ships. T2 Industrials are better (specially the cloaky "Blockade Runner" which can warp while cloaked). Freighters are good if you want large quantities shipped. Jump freighters if that means going into low-sec / null-sec.

3.) Tank skills are a must. Just keep in mind that Industrials (specially T1) are not that hard to kill even with a tank on it.

4.) Ship that suit you best:

- T1 Industrial of choice (Iteron mk 5 is the biggest overall, The humble bestower is the biggest if you compare hold size vs skill time.)

-T2 Industrial - Cloaky Hauler: This is for expensive transports or low-sec / null-sec.

- Freighter: Keep it in hi-sec, don't go low-sec or lower if you don't have a large escort force to protect you.

- Jump-freighter: low-sec and null as you can jump straight to stations (if they are in range).

- Some high-tanked ship for small (and more expensive stuff): Personally I have a massive tanked Drake on an alt that can ship small sized cargos that I don't want to fly around with my industrials.


5.) Skills: Core skills (better PG, CPU and Capacitor) and max you defense skills (might make you survive long enough to get out).

Other then that it's not much to train when you just want to ship stuff around. Also personally I doubt if there is much to be made in transporting stuff around as most (if not all) players have the ability to ship stuff themself. And there are plenty of "shipment service" corps/alliances around if you don't want to spend time doing it while you have ISK to spent (Red Frog / Blue Frog / Black Frog to name some).

Also, Trading (with some good skills) can be done without the need to undock. You can buy / sell stuff remotely etc.
My traders are characters that never undock. They can't fly anything besides the basic skills you get when you start a character, all they have skilled are the trading skills.

I am currently also training for a Viator as well since it seems to fit my needs the best.

I've been flying the three Galliente Drone boats for now, and find the Vexor's maneuverability and larger cargo hold make it a bit more ideal than the Navy Vexor, Myrmidon or Dominix. Would it be worth installing a second inertia stabilizer on my cruiser considering the stacking penalties? I also am training up my navigation skills which seem to have helped me avoid some bad situations.

The other thing that I feel has saved me in the past is a nice afterburner. I actually ended up spending more ISK on my AB than my Navy Vexor, but the difference between 112% and 153% is actually pretty huge. The navigation based hardwired sets also seem to help. I have very little experience with MWD and have heard both good and bad things about them compared to AB.

As for the four remote trading skills I have only trained them to level 2 since 5 jumps seem to be good enough to cover a good part of the region. I tend to keep around 90 open orders which enters the wholesale zone and accounting and broker relations are good to have at 5 if you are planning on doing lots of business.

If your mini aim to fly the prowler. In the mean time the Mammoth can carry alot of stuff through high sec.

use Eve Central to establish good trades. Id say do Amar to Jita its the best and shortest trade route.

Tank your hauler and do not Autopilot or you will get suicide ganked.

Dont forget to try something like Plantary interaction. Set up good colonies and they will just crank out product for you to sell while you haul.

Do station trading too. There no reason not too once you get the isk and the skills.

Buy low sell hi and check market history to make sure that the product is moving.

If you use a Blockaed runner, make sure you make the right mix between cargo space and manuerability.

Fit Expended Cargo hulls it carries more but is slower and sluggier, fit Nano's (Inerta stabs, they make you easier to target so leave them out, Nano's make you faster as well) and you'll be faster and faster with alligning, but you'll pay for that with less cargo space.

The most dangerous moments in transport are getting away from the Gate you jumped at and undocking, if there is hal a threat make sure you create a safe spot in a straight line from the station several hundred KM away so you can jump away as fast as possible.

Trading in NPC stations is also dependends on the standing with the Corp that owns the station. so some mission running is adviced.

and finaly:

T3 Strategic cruisers have Covert opps and Nullifiere Subsystems which makes it about the most safe ship to travle through the EVE Universe.

I dread those 0.5 to 0.4 gates and will always check the map's statistics before entering them. I will not even attempt the transition if there have been any ships destroyed in them in the last hour, at least until I get my blockade runner. I was just checking the statistical difference between Iteron V and Viator and the difference is huge even without the covert ops cloaking! The Viator has half the signature radius and double the HP. Twice the warp speed too, should make trips faster.

So you did put an Gistum C-Type on a Vexor???

Making it quite an expensive ship to gank.