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Distribution missions
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TURBOL0VER
A Misanthrope's Masterplan
#1 - 2014-02-05 09:44:22 UTC
Hello fellow capsuleers,

I've been thinking of starting a hauling alt and start running hauling missions (from agents, not contracts). Does anyone have experience running these? What can I expect on a risk/effort/time/ISK ratio?

This will be done on an alt for semi-afk content, it's not my main income so I'm not expecting billions to roll in, but still, is it generally worthwhile or just not bother?

Thanks
Gh0stBust3rs
Templars HIghsec
Stellar Fusion
#2 - 2014-02-05 10:22:59 UTC
they pay like crap generally but you can do them without losing standings with anyone else. Mining missions make a bit more then this but you have to be able to gas mine as well..

As a secondary income low sp character knock yourself out and skill for both. In the end you will have a neutral freighter alt.
Agondray
Avenger Mercenaries
VOID Intergalactic Forces
#3 - 2014-02-05 13:49:25 UTC
dont afk along some of the areas on autopilot or you will end up podded

"Sarcasm is the Recourse of a weak mind." -Dr. Smith
Ireland VonVicious
Vicious Trading Company
#4 - 2014-02-05 19:25:18 UTC
They are great for standings.

You will get access to jump clones without help of a corporation faster this way than any other.

If you do near trade hubs and are already working a region you can mix NPC with Player hauling and make a nice profit.

Everyone without a 8.0 NPC corp should look into distribution if only for a short while.
Qalix
Long Jump.
#5 - 2014-02-05 20:08:33 UTC  |  Edited by: Qalix
It's not terribly lucrative. If you're brand new and have almost no assets or ISK, it's an easy way to get things going while you wait out skill training times. L4s are better than L1 through L3, but you need to be ATK to make all the jumps or the time sink for autopiloting will eat up a lot of potential ISK making (haulers are slow).

Making ISK at the start of your eve career is a pain in the ass.

Some references:
http://wiki.eveuniversity.org/Hauling
http://wiki.eveuniversity.org/Hauling_101
http://wiki.eveuniversity.org/Making_Money_with_Hauling_-_Level_4_Cargo_Missions

Also, consider trading NPC goods (e.g. Quafe). EVE has a built in, basic NPC arbitrage system. You buy from NPCs and sell to other NPCs. The profits are consistent, if small, and are daily. There are some tricks to the trade (basically, always buy entire stacks and sell entire stacks; each time you do either, the price resets up (buying) or down (selling) twice before rising/dropping above/below profitiability. Play with it!)
Shiloh Templeton
Cheyenne HET Co
#6 - 2014-02-05 20:17:13 UTC
I wouldn't run distribution missions for isk. They are painfully useful for faction standing gain because they quickly lead to storyline missions.

Is this primarily a hauler for your stuff? If it's just because you like hauling, then rethink running courier contracts. There have been a couple of threads recently on Reddit/Eve where guys had great stories about their hauling careers. Not for everybody, but they enjoyed it. Also they mentioned there is a public hauling comm you can search for in game.

TURBOL0VER
A Misanthrope's Masterplan
#7 - 2014-02-06 08:05:03 UTC
So I took a random distribution agent and started off with a few lvl 1s. First two missions were indeed courier missions as expected, but then the agent started throwing combat missions at me as part of a storyline mission, (mission x, part 3 of 5. in example).
Batelle
Federal Navy Academy
#8 - 2014-02-06 15:30:04 UTC
TURBOL0VER wrote:
Hello fellow capsuleers,

I've been thinking of starting a hauling alt and start running hauling missions (from agents, not contracts). Does anyone have experience running these? What can I expect on a risk/effort/time/ISK ratio?

This will be done on an alt for semi-afk content, it's not my main income so I'm not expecting billions to roll in, but still, is it generally worthwhile or just not bother?

Thanks



The point of these missions is to get standings without needing combat skills. So plan which corp/faction your alt will get standings with, so its not some useless one that doesn't have trade hub stations or something. If you have no interest in standings, I wouldn't bother.

"**CCP is changing policy, and has asked that we discontinue the bonus credit program after November 7th. So until then, enjoy a super-bonus of 1B Blink Credit for each 60-day GTC you buy!"**

Never forget.
Ashlar Maidstone
MoonFyre BattleGroup Holdings
#9 - 2014-02-09 19:27:06 UTC
Hi Turbolover, just saw your question and let me sorta back up what others have said already along with my own observations. Level 1 missions are usually the lowest paying isk wise (20 to30k) range. These dont take but a few minutes to do and you can do ok with them
Level 2s are a bit more lucrative because of the higher pay, Now, getting into level 3s are a bit higher yet with some paying over 100k isk.

However one draw back I found doing l3s is sometimes you have to put up collateral in order to do a mission requiring that. I did one last night, it required 5million collateral and when I was done it paid the bonus and collateral back and I made 10million. Just by doing a simple 6 jump mission.

Now here's another idea, have you thought about doing the "Security Missions"?? Those tend to make you work a bit more but must follow the same pay scales rates and are fun to do, even salvaging wrecks from those missions you can make a healthy profit along with the reward and bonuses.

Others here may have other ideas or maybe agree with me, at least what I mentioned will give you ideas.

FLY RECKLESS!!Pirate
TURBOL0VER
A Misanthrope's Masterplan
#10 - 2014-02-11 11:00:43 UTC
Ashlar Maidstone wrote:
Hi Turbolover, just saw your question and let me sorta back up what others have said already along with my own observations. Level 1 missions are usually the lowest paying isk wise (20 to30k) range. These dont take but a few minutes to do and you can do ok with them
Level 2s are a bit more lucrative because of the higher pay, Now, getting into level 3s are a bit higher yet with some paying over 100k isk.

However one draw back I found doing l3s is sometimes you have to put up collateral in order to do a mission requiring that. I did one last night, it required 5million collateral and when I was done it paid the bonus and collateral back and I made 10million. Just by doing a simple 6 jump mission.

Now here's another idea, have you thought about doing the "Security Missions"?? Those tend to make you work a bit more but must follow the same pay scales rates and are fun to do, even salvaging wrecks from those missions you can make a healthy profit along with the reward and bonuses.

Others here may have other ideas or maybe agree with me, at least what I mentioned will give you ideas.

FLY RECKLESS!!Pirate



Hi there, thanks.
Yes I've got an alt that runs Security missions every now and then, and yeah that reward is far better. It's just that I got another account that's not doing a whole lot ATM, so I figured I could try courrier missions on it for semi afkness. :) That toon can also fly freighters, I might as well join Red Frog maybe.
voetius
Grundrisse
#11 - 2014-02-11 11:10:36 UTC
TURBOL0VER wrote:
So I took a random distribution agent and started off with a few lvl 1s. First two missions were indeed courier missions as expected, but then the agent started throwing combat missions at me as part of a storyline mission, (mission x, part 3 of 5. in example).


When the agent divisions were removed a couple of years ago so that there are now only Mining, Security and Distribution missions there was some talk by CCP about changing the storylines so that e.g. you would only get hauling storylines if you were using a Distribution agent - that was never done though. So you still have the situation where you can be running hauling missions and you get offered combat storyline missions.
Qalix
Long Jump.
#12 - 2014-02-11 16:45:36 UTC
TURBOL0VER wrote:
Ashlar Maidstone wrote:
Hi Turbolover, just saw your question and let me sorta back up what others have said already along with my own observations. Level 1 missions are usually the lowest paying isk wise (20 to30k) range. These dont take but a few minutes to do and you can do ok with them
Level 2s are a bit more lucrative because of the higher pay, Now, getting into level 3s are a bit higher yet with some paying over 100k isk.

However one draw back I found doing l3s is sometimes you have to put up collateral in order to do a mission requiring that. I did one last night, it required 5million collateral and when I was done it paid the bonus and collateral back and I made 10million. Just by doing a simple 6 jump mission.

Now here's another idea, have you thought about doing the "Security Missions"?? Those tend to make you work a bit more but must follow the same pay scales rates and are fun to do, even salvaging wrecks from those missions you can make a healthy profit along with the reward and bonuses.

Others here may have other ideas or maybe agree with me, at least what I mentioned will give you ideas.

FLY RECKLESS!!Pirate



Hi there, thanks.
Yes I've got an alt that runs Security missions every now and then, and yeah that reward is far better. It's just that I got another account that's not doing a whole lot ATM, so I figured I could try courrier missions on it for semi afkness. :) That toon can also fly freighters, I might as well join Red Frog maybe.

Put in your app to the Frog asap. The waiting list is over two months long.
DSpite Culhach
#13 - 2014-02-13 03:22:52 UTC
This is what I did with a toon to grind standings:

* Download the GARPA program. Use it to find systems that have clusters of agents of the levels/corps you are after.
* Print a couple of maps of the region(s) from DOTLAN, mark the systems where you are most often sent to, as it will repeat, a lot. Note that some areas are "bad" as you will get more low-sec runs that you can cancel at no loss per hour - and please don't tell me to HTFU - the low sec station in question I kept getting requested to go to kept artillery/rail ships parked at the station, yes, I scouted multiple times.
* Do multiple pickups in system from multiple agents, deliver the lot in one run. I kept extra modules in the hold to refit on route. Agility mods, cargo mods for "max cargohold", warp stabs/cloak/MWD for the odd shortcut through low sec.

Once your brain memorizes the routes, it's much faster then doing single runs back and forth, even an L1 delivery in the middle of a L4 delivery is fine when its the same station/in the same system/on the way there.

I apparently have no idea what I'm doing.
Substantia Nigra
Polaris Rising
Goonswarm Federation
#14 - 2014-02-13 23:45:36 UTC
Distribution missions reimburse you pretty darn poorly. They are, however, still quite useful to many of us … in part because they’re easy enough to do in the background.

For example just recently I realised the need to bolster the standings of my capital-building guy, with a particular NPC corp (no particular need for associated faction standings). This was needed to reduce the wastage element in my compression-hauling. That character has no combat skills at all so I started him on low-level distribution and R&D missions. They paid terribly but I could run them quietly in the background while my main guys were doing other stuff.
Then, when I could take a day away from our current wars, I hopped out to hisec and quickly boosted his standings so he could access lvl4s (blitzing encounter missions with him in fleet). Now I’m back in null and he’s quietly running lvl4 distribution and R&D missions. It’s not a quick process but I expect to have him able to provide near-perfect decompression pretty soon now.

I guess I am almost a 'vet' by now. Hopefully not too bitter and managing to help more than I hinder. I build and sell many things, including large collections of bookmarks.
Cage Man
Fusion Enterprises Ltd
Pandemic Horde
#15 - 2014-02-14 01:14:37 UTC
Do some R&D missions and then start doing research for data cores, they not much, but leave them for a few months across a few agents, it all adds up. Do some pi if you can find somewhere where the tax's haven't gone crazy.. if you can fly a freighter, a blockade runner must be close, so can do it in low sec. Then maybe do some semi afk hauling or mining
Lady Agatha Heterodyne
Ubuntu Inc.
The Fourth District
#16 - 2014-02-15 03:05:16 UTC
Gh0stBust3rs wrote:
they pay like crap generally but you can do them without losing standings with anyone else. Mining missions make a bit more then this but you have to be able to gas mine as well..

As a secondary income low sp character knock yourself out and skill for both. In the end you will have a neutral freighter alt.


Distribution missions have one advantage if you have the right location when starting out.


  1. Find a hub for the level of missions you want to run, look for a group of similar agents in a system and neighbouring systems.

  2. Get as many as you can and run them, rinse and repeat as often as possible.

  3. Every 16th mission will be a storyline that drops something better.

    4. You will get standings for the corps and faction and have an easy lower risk activity that does not take too much time. You do not even need to get the time bonus.
TURBOL0VER
A Misanthrope's Masterplan
#17 - 2014-02-21 13:46:13 UTC
DSpite Culhach wrote:
This is what I did with a toon to grind standings:

* Download the GARPA program. Use it to find systems that have clusters of agents of the levels/corps you are after.


GARPA program? What is this?