EVE New Citizens Q&A

so I have looked through the forum and while most of my questions where answered to some degree already I still feel I need to ask.

When can I start to PvP?

Normal response is right away, everybody needs a tackle, and while I do very much plan to do this while I skill up, My question is when is it a smart time too solo pvp/1v1?

Now I am well aware I will lose plenty more ships soloing compared to say getting into a group, and while I plan to group I also plan to solo. I am currently levelling everything I need, the basic outline of my plan is fitting/manoeuvring/dps not in any particular order, I am levelling the main skills first to say 2 or 3 depending then the outlying and repeating, building a steady base.

lastly this also has been asked a insane amount of times and I apologise for asking again but what would be the smart option for a t1 frigate?

I know they have all got there pluses and minuses but I wanted to fly the merlin with light Ion blasters (a fit I found that looked fun on top ten hammer), but then it dawned on me, while the dps will be good even in lowish levels I might not have the manoeuvrability too stick close enough to do the damage in a dog fight, what is, in your opinion the most sp friendly in other words what frigate will get me having fun the fastest?.

yea good idea! so once i can get it fitted even with tech 1 options us fitting it with tech 2 options like the build is not a option i do not have the fitting or the skills to equip wont pose a problem?

thanks for the info guys, gotta say getting into eve I knew I was going to enjoy it, but was unsure of the skills in terms of do I have to max to stand a chance, I have to say this refreshing too know that its not the case.

dp sorry

It is certainly true that having all the shiny t2 modules is an advantage in a specific 1v1 scenario. Support skills help, but if you train right you can get all the relevant support skills up to reasonable levels very quickly.



If you start running around in a solo Merlin right now, you will probably die. A lot. However, this would also be true if you ran around in a fully t2-fit and well-skilled Merlin...Because the biggest thing that is going to get you killed isn't your SP or how shiny your ship is, it's your own inexperience. You aren't going to know which pilots are alone versus which have gang boosts and a blob of friends right behind them. You aren't going to know whether a particular ship is something that your ship can take. You aren't going to know how to fly your particular ship to counter your opponent and win.

So, imagine you wait until you can fully t2-fit your Merlin before starting out PVP...You're going to be losing ships constantly (unless you're afraid to fight anything, in which case you won't get any experience)...And these t2-fitted Merlins are going to cost you on the order of 10 mil a piece.

Now imagine you start PVPing with a t1/meta fit. You are still going to die often, but each lost is going to cost you a trivial amount of ISK. You can lose the Merlin, shrug your shoulders, and go and pick up another one, because you can probably comfortably buy them in bulk.


As far as getting kills in a t1 fit - It's very possible. If it's a very close fight with both of you eating into each others' structure then a t2 fit can change the course of the fight. If the fight is lopsided, however (one of your fits is just naturally advantaged, or you fly your ship in such a way as to make the fight lopsided), then the result will be the same regardless of SP and fit cost.

thanks guys! O I plan to lose ships, lots of em, when I started playing I knew I would need money to start to pvp so I got 2 plex, and that way if I lose a ship as you say ill just shrug.

so one final question remains I am waiting one more day to start to pvp all my skills then relating too pvp/fit will be level 2/3 or even 4 in some, where would you suggest I start? RvB, or faction warfare, maybe a low sec gang corp.

but my overall goal is stay in the merlin, learn, learn some more, and get good at pvp while levelling of course. once I have hit the cap of a few key skills and get the others to level 4 ill consider switching it up then maybe, but as for now I am 100% loving the idea of staying in the merlin a long time to learn its in's and outs and learn the other ships so i know what to expect, this game is huge and even in a year I bet I'm still learning.

FW is a pretty solid option, a decent amount of people flying round looking for fights and all you need is a T1 frig to get started, and make money while you kill and get killed. And you can get reliable 1v1 fights pretty much all the time, a couple of which which will get you more skilled and experienced than 500 fleet fights.

ECM alts and OGB alts are also much rarer than people will have you believe too, not to say they don't exsist.

RvB is a good option too, but mainly for the fleets and their occasional (but utterly amazing) events. Outside of fleets, most of the pvp is station games with slave equipped, full-tank mallers and other similar BS that won't teach you much. And their frigate ffa system is ghost town which is sad. Still a load of fun to be had there.

Either way, your first step is to go out yonder and get some.

Sounds like your skills are good enough (though I would say the same to most). Join FW and go PewPew and have a blast.

I think it depends upon the type of pvp you plan on doing and what your tolerance for loss is. If you plan on doing duels in high sec there isnt alot of risk involved and you can start right away with t1 frigs. You will probably get owned. You will learn a great deal.

If you are planning to roam low sec and null sec then you might want to get a few more skill points. But a t1 frigate that catches someone mining or ratting in a belt or plex may still prevail even without great skills. If you go attacking every flashy red dude you see in low sec you will die gloriously. If you catch them in an illegal act on a gate and get a scram on them the gate guns might kill them for you.

I began pvp in this game with caldari ships like the merlin. The merlin has changed since i flew it years ago. Back then it had 4 high slots 2 were missiles and 2 were turrets. I used a short range in your face blaster and scram fit and i used to lead our kill boards every month mostly soloing. Back then high sec pvp didnt have duels so we flipped cans and war decked anyone breathing.

You will hear it said that caldari is not a great race for pvp. That is a matter of opinion but most folks are referring to the guns vs missiles. For big fleet fight null sec pvp and to some extent low sec piracy they are probably correct. But many big null sec alliances have lived off of missile fleets for years. For solo pvp I personally would prefer gun boats over missiles in general. Blasters are great for solo pvp close up and in your face.