EVE New Citizens Q&A

Thanks!

If I join a null-sec corp (later when I have a ton of SP and am comfortably exploring in a cov-ops solo), will my options for null-sec exploration become better, or worse? Will I have to avoid certain null systems I used to explore?

I'm thinking somewhere down the line I'm going to want to join one just for the sake of playing with other people, everyone says corps are what makes EVE fun. Though as people have said in this thread, there's no point joining corps for exploration; but I may want to join one for FW PvP or something, and not totally sure what features of a corp I should look for in that case, and what features to avoid.

From personal experience, null sec is the most serene space to do exploration. Specially NPC null sec. But I would not suggest it for low SP and in Imicus to enter null. Problem lies not in danger of null but more of site scanning. You will spend quite long time to scan down sites in imicus and when you finally scan down one, it might be quite difficult to crack the hacking system. So you will end up seeing sites getting blown up more often than loot.

Low sec is a good start. I would like to suggest also that take survival as main thing to learn from low sec, and all kinds of fancy tricks people use to find you and how to counter them. Because in future when you will be flying T3 in null with cargo of 5 billion in loot, last thing you want to be, is unexperienced in survival/"know how".

It sounds like you're pretty set on low sec already, but as another new player in about the same situation, I figured I'd throw in my 2 ISK. Just a warning, I'm pretty much as new as you, with only ~1m SP, so I really know nothing.

Personally, I tried both high sec and low sec at first, but high-sec didn't have enough loot and low-sec resulted in my ship blowing up way too much. I decided null-sec might be worth a try considering my puny Imicus was worth almost nothing and I had at least accumulated 30m ISK or so with the loot from high and low-sec to replace as many ships as I needed.

I took the dive in an Imicus fitted with nothing but a core probe launcher, a relic analyzer, and a data analyzer. In my first few days, I died quite a lot (mostly from gatecamps) and the sites were pretty hard with my limited skills. After a bit more research into fits, I started training skills and adding more modules. I ended up with nearly the same fit as you have in your original post, but I opted for warp core stabilizers instead of nanofiber structures. The stabs have only saved me once, but I've also only had one run-in with a hostile since I got them.

Two weeks later, I'm now making what I think is a decent amount of money with null-sec exploration. I haven't died in four days just by watching local and using d-scan to look for potential threats. I hardly ever rely on my cloak other than to use the cloak/MWD trick when warping from a gate with other ships near it; I usually just run when I see other probes and I'm at a site. Three nights ago, my null-sec haul brought in 200m for a few hours of work, and last night, I got 300m. You might have different luck if you play during peak times, since I only really explore when there are <30k players online. I also generally skip data sites unless I'm on a dry streak and just want a little bit of loot.

However, as other people have pointed out, exploration can be very luck-based and there is competition even out in deep null-sec. I have sometimes gone hours at a time without finding a single site because other explorers have taken them all. There is also the added challenge of safely getting in and out of null-sec since gates tend to be heavily camped. I have found two gates that are relatively safe at the times I play, but I always use the map to check for active pilots and ships destroyed. Recently, I've taken to scanning down wormholes and using those to make my return trip to high-sec, but I might just be insane.


Overall, I'd definitely recommend null-sec exploration as long as you're ready to lose some ships early on while you get used to things. I've found that it's not nearly as unsafe as people say. Try the different regions of null-sec and see where you have the most success. I won't give away exactly where I explore these days, but I've spent time in at least 10 different regions of null-sec figuring out which was best for me. (Just stay away from drone space. I spent three hours roaming around just to find that there are no relic or data sites there)

I can confirm that the loot in low sec seems to be not much better than high, at least in my experience. If I'm going to risk my life, I at least want a decent payoff at the end of the rainbow so I'm seriously thinking about spending more time in null as well.

I have considered fitting out an interceptor for null exploration since inties are immune to bubbles, but a couple of vets I have talked to have advised against it although I'm still not sure why it wouldn't work....

Either way an interceptor is still a long way off - skill wise - so I think my first expeditions to null will involve nothing more impressive than a humble T1 explorer.

I can see that. Just spent the past few hours in null and blew up half the containers.

Still made 10x more than I did in low-sec with the containers that survived.

Yeah that makes sense, I really hate it when the containers explode, especially if I know something nice is inside. I guess low scan strength would also be an issue but at least you can do that while you're cloaked.

I'm just going to have to work on my bubble avoidance skills although I have been toying with the idea of escaping null by following multiple wormhole chains until I find a hi sec exit. Does anyone do it that way or is it even more dangerous than running a bubble camp? I don't plan on saying hi to any sleepers or residents while in WH space, just scanning down other WH's to attempt an exit into back into hi sec.

So manufacturing is worth investing the time in it if someone is a regular explorer, rather than just selling the blueprints?

Hmm. Might look into that.

Right. I can completely understand the advantages now considering I had my first death after almost half a day of null-sec farming in a fairly quiet region, when I was jumping gate-to-gate in my T1 frig, and I realized I had warped into a new system where I was suddenly webbed and burnt down because my index finger was in autopilot mode just jumping through systems where I saw too many players and hitting "warp to 0" on the next gate in route. It was a feeling of "wait, why am I not warping away from this gate" and "oh, here's my first death".

Though looking back, not sure if I could've done anything to survive this situation (best option in a T1 frig is probably turn back toward gate and try to AB and jump through where I came?), I don't think any bookmark methods would've helped that much,I probably could've avoided it if I paid more attention on the star map to my current course more frequently with statistics (pilots in system, traffic, ships destroyed recently). Most guides on T1 frig null sec survival start and end at "stay the f out".

It's pretty easy to get in a routine of being careless jumping gate to get in remote systems when it's off-hours, and then 4 hours of playing blows by and you're into peek time and you haven't checked the route that was quiet when you plotted it a while ago.

All in all though null sec exploration in a frig seems very doable, just at the cost of being a hunrded times more cautious and alert than being in a cov ops. I've read posts around the web where people say if you're in a cov ops and jump into a camp, who cares, just mwd+cloak burn a path clear of them all up or down to 200km and make a bookmark.

Until then I'll check my route more often with my frig.

ehh I started first with combat and exploration, it all trains pretty fast together (though combat training will seem to never end). Just wait until it's taking over a month for just one skill in other things he-he. I like my T2 Buzzard, still fly it a lot, and having missiles maxed really helps. But once into a T3 explorer, making sure you have some real combat skills is serious business. Exploration is far from void of combat situations, even radar sites in highsec sometimes have battleships.

This is exactly the route I've been taking lately. I've safely made it out of nullsec with hundreds of millions of ISK worth of exploration loot by following wormhole chains. I think I've made the trip five times so far, and although I always mash d-scan to check for threats, I still haven't even seen another player. For my last two expeditions into nullsec, I even made the trip from high to null with wormholes, completely avoiding the hassle of finding a safe gate.

I think you should be fine as long as you're careful, though other people might have had worse experiences than me.