EVE New Citizens Q&A

Just a modecum of effort on your part would help a lot. Have you tried Googling "Eve exploration?" For instance you would find that there is nothing to fight in Data and Relic sites. Simple enough?

Here is just one of the many sites I found in 10 seconds by Googling. http://wiki.eveuniversity.org/Probing_In_Simple_Steps

The EVE community doesn't like people who want to be spoonfed information without doing their own research first. Get used to it. Since it appears you have indeed tried to find out some facts yourself, here is a few pointers:

You will die in EVE, regardless of what you do - unless you stay docked your whole life. Some actions lead to you dying more, some actions lead to you dying less, but ultimately every ship has its time. Never fly anything that you aren't okay with losing.

You need certain skills for exploration. You don't need them particularly high to start with, but you will eventually want to train them up to be faster. In addition to your character's skills, your skill as a player also plays a big role.

Yes, people will occasionally wait in the sites to kill you. In highsec, this will result in them losing their ship to CONCORD, so it's very rare. Anywhere else, refer to the first point.

Familiarize yourself with cargo scanning and the loot spew mechanic - in particular learn which cans are useful and which ones are junk. This is the biggest difference between making 10M and hour or 100M an hour.

Start with exploration in highsec to learn the how-to, but don't expect any great money. If you want decent income, explore in lowsec or nullsec.

Exploration is a game of chance. Sometimes you will scan ten systems without finding anything. Sometimes you will get dozens of millions in loot in the first site. If you want a more reliable and steady income, I suggest running missions.



The best way to get into PvP is to join a PvP corporation focused on helping new players. Search for Red vs Blue, or Brave Newbies. Yes you can be an asset even with limited playtime, just let your corp know what they can expect of you.

Awesome replies guys! Thanks a ton you really helped!

I am having a really hard time right how! So far all I am finding is wormholes in high sec space. Also can I clear rats and such out of high sec space in a T1 frigate? Or do I need a destroyer and so on?

Hi there. I'm actually a very new player myself (about a month) and have gotten into exploration so thought I would pass on a bit of what I've learned. First, exploration in low sec is far more lucrative than hi sec and is absolutely doable for a new player (and a lot more fun and exciting). You just have to prepare and be smart about it (which won't eliminate losses but will minimize them). I assume you have your race's frigate for exploration (I'm Caldari, so Heron for me). The links above to the exploration guide will tell you how to fit it. This is the link I refer to:

http://www.eveinfohub.com/guides/exploration/

Make sure you have a MWD and a cloaking device equipped. You can't use the covert ops cloaking device yet (you need a covert ops ship for that), but you can use the Improved Cloaking Device II. Use it (and not Prototype Cloaking Device I) because it enables you to do a "trick" to get through gate camps. The trick is described here:

http://wiki.eveuniversity.org/Cloak_Trick

Make sure you know how to do this like it is second nature. Do it everywhere you travel, even in hi sec. Practice it in hi sec. I could do this in my sleep the first time I entered low sec. I also practiced everything else (i.e., scanning down sites, the hacking game, and collecting containers) in hi sec a lot before I moved to low sec. I can do this all relatively quickly now so that I'm more efficient with it in low sec. Also learn to use D-scan so that you know if someone is in the system trying to scan you down. Use D-scan frequently while you are in a system scanning and doing the hacking game. Take the time to pause and hit it again. If I see someone trying to scan me down I move on. There are other systems out there. Read about what a safe spot is and how to use them. Only scan cloaked and from a safe spot. Have an alternate safe spot to run to in a system.

Use the in-game and Dotlan maps to map out low traffic areas of low sec. You want places where there are few pilots, few (or no is better) destroyed ships and pods in the last hour. Map out your route. Stay away from high traffic areas and especially don't explore in low sec areas right next to a hi sec area. I scan only in quiet systems with no other pilots or maybe just a few other pilots. Look at the info on every other pilot (right click on name and show info) in the system with you and move on if you see a pilot that is likely to be a danger to you (an obvious pvper). Even there are only one or two pilots in the system and they look pretty benign, assume they are a danger to you and be careful. Yeah, they could be mining but they could also have another ship or friends close by who would like nothing better than to gank you.

I know it can be a bit hard to find current information about exploration in low sec. There is some old stuff (pre-Odyssey) that has good information, but it usually has some outdated stuff included too. Just wade through it for the relevant stuff. And pay particular attention to anything written about exploration and low sec survival for Odyssey. In no particular order, here is some stuff I found helpful.

http://vonkeigai.blogspot.com/2013/07/tips-on-playing-exploration-minigame.html

https://forums.eveonline.com/default.aspx?g=posts&t=244165

http://wiki.eveuniversity.org/Odyssey_Exploration

I've been very lucky and haven't lost my first Heron yet, but I've already purchased another so that I'm ready to go when I do (because I will, sooner than later). It almost happened the other day. I was hacking at a site and someone had already scanned down the sites in the system and was on top of me in a covert ops ship just after I started. I took some damage but was able to warp away (or maybe the pilot realized I really didn't have anything of value at the time and figured I wasn't worth the bother). I was thrilled (and also nervous) the first time I encountered a gate camp. But I've more than made up for the cost of replacing the ship and all the mods, actually many times over. And exploration in low sec where there is some risk involved is so much more fun than hi sec.

Hope this is helpful. Happy flying!