Skill Discussions

I have 2 characters that I have been developing for a while. One is a mission/explorer http://eveboard.com/pilot/Zornia_Estemaire and the other is a Indy pilot http://eveboard.com/pilot/Arrakis_Fremen. What would you suggest as far as combining their talents to make Isk? I was thinking of making a corporation with them and using Zornia to set up a POS in Hi Sec because of the high standings he has with Gal. and Min. Any other suggestions would be appreciated.

The thing I always recommend is, train them 2 different directions.
What you DON'T want, is 2 characters that do the exact same thing.

They can both deal DPS, both tank, etc. Some skills will overlap. But try and go 2 different races, and split the roles/specialty skills among them.
Make one of them pure combat focused. Make the other do the scanning, hauling, fleet boosting, salvaging, etc.

The 2 characters will compliment each other, but along the way, you will find that you have 2 very focused mains as well.
Making ISK will always be your choice, and if the 2 characters can assist in that, all the better.

Whats more important, is having fun in the game . Having 2 different characters gives you more choices when you log in.

Focus your indy guy to include marketing skills - right now you have those on your activity char vs your indy alt. Exploration can lead you off to distant spots where you may not be around when a production run finishes with your indy and your indy char will be the one that will have the hauling capacity to move produced goods (in bulk) vs an explorer type.

Pick a type of product (or products) to manufacture that will have you collecting the materials with your activity character. Work towards skills to enhance the BP's and such.

Pick an R&D group and get some passive core generation - aiming for core types that you will use for more advanced T2 style production - it's a longer term investement/return so the sooner you build up to gain the cores, the better the pay-off in the long haul - a pay-off that takes no more effort than to go collect them "when you feel like it".

This R&D corp advice - go ahead and get passives using both chars together - indy having "the focus" but also another core type from your activity char as well. He can do the "fighting" while the indy does the salvage and hauling side - both sharing in R&D corp rep gains and such.

What to produce - that's your call but aim for whatever type (or types) of things you can sell as end-product as well as potentially use by your exploration char.

Just a few thoughts on the topic.

Yes - marketing skills on your industrialist is best. Chars that go out and about - especially with exploration - can end up "busy" when you do have products you want/need to sell - plus buying "supplies" as needed.

As far as the potential of having some market/industry style skills on a combat char"not looking good", don't worry about that too much. Easy dismissal of that issue is "passive income" - combat type chars having such available are held in fair regard.

Consider reversing that POS thinking. Have your industrialist gain the corp management skills vs putting a lot of effort in with your explorer char.

Either can work but industrial chars tend to "sit" more, in safer locations, than an explorer and that tends to be near where they work (the POS). As such, they can respond as needed far easier than a char that may be out and about with more frequency plus any rep needed helps with services from local stations you'll be buying and selling at.

Just work stuff like missions a bit using both chars (sharing rep gains across them) so your industrialist is well positioned with whatever rep may be needed for refining, selling or whatever you choose to get into. It should allow you to focus your skills more towards active and passive style activities.

Decent rep on an indy is very handy if they get into certain fields of endeavor - namely earning the most.