EVE New Citizens Q&A

Hello fellow capsuleers!
I have been exploring each of EvE ''career'' options, so far, none of them have been able to keep me away from boredom, At the moment, I have my eyes in FW but I have a few questions before getting my feet wet here....

0. How is the state of FW right now? Is it recommended for newbies looking into the (arguably) fastest pvp in EvE? According to forums, FW seems dead,nobody looks for fights and the only people who does plexes are just farming LP. I Intend to do a lot of pvp when I get in but if its just farmers then I am just wasting my time since they are built to be slippery...

1.Is there such a thing like the best race overall? I know the balance keeps tipping on every side at every moment, I also keep hearing good and bad stuff about each race but Gallente and minmatar seem to have the worse reputation at the moment according to some old posts, since there doesn't exist a official POV regarding the races militia....

2. How does one decide on a station or a base of operation? Is there one for each race? Is there a official station like the trade hubs? I know losing a crapload of ships is normal when starting out but how does one avoid the pain of getting poped, reship again in a faraway station just to die again? Is this normal? Anyway to avoid the logistics nightmare of reshipping? I don't mind hauling the ships to a station to lose in FW but who the hell dies just so they can reship 100 jumps away from the action?

3.Is it profitable in the sense that you don't go negative ISK while pvping solo? I just want to pvp without having to resort to PVE or anything mind numbing boring for ISK, It is good enough for me if it covers all my ships and modules, anything extra is just an icing in the cake.

4.How does one ''cash'' the LP? I remember seeing the option of converting concord LP but I don't know if its related at all.
Does one convert the LP directly into ISK? Or does one buys stuff at a discount from the militia stuff to resell higher at the market hubs? Since I have never ever done market pvp, I assume ships and ammo tend to be the safest and fastest not so profitable?

I think those are the questions for now, I will post them if I remember any more
Thanks for everyone who answers, Now I know a 2 month character is hardly ''new'' and some people here may know me but each career I have tried so far has an insane amount of details you won't notice at first glance, at least until you dive in to try it.

Hello... meat.

Let's get started.


Don't believe everything you read on the forums. Faction Warfare is always in a state of flux. One side starts winning, then another side starts gaining ground... it's basically a never ending war with no real "victory."

The "plex farmers" you read about are merely opportunistic people (or "alt characters") who switch sides to gain the most profit possible (see: when one side begins to have too many systems "plex farmers" start working for the other side). Many FW veterans usually disregard them and don't really see them as "true" Faction Warfare people.

As far as being a newbie is concerned... it is both recommended and not.
It is recommended because it will teach you "skirmish warfare" in a way that few other venues can offer. It is ruthless, chaotic, and will make other forms of warfare seem slower and less dependent on personal skill.
However, the catch is that as a newbie you must learn from other, more experienced people, first... because learning on your own will be akin to bashing your head against a brick wall. So having some semblance of social skills is necessary. And often, the fast paced nature of FW is just not what someone enjoys.


Depends. Some races' have better ships for certain forms of combat by virtue of their weapon systems, traits, and bonuses.

For example: an Atron is a Tech 1 Gallente frigates. Fitted with blasters, warp scrambler, and Microwarpdrive it can be an effective ship in ganking fragile "kiting" ships.
However the Tormentor (a Tech 1 Amarr frigate) can be a very beefy brawler that can lock down an Atron and dictate range... putting itself just out of blaster range but staying within its own engagement envelope.
But then the Tormentor can be potentially beaten by a Breecher (a Tech 1 Minmatar Frigate) equipped with dual shield reps and rockets... absorbing incoming damage while dishing out its own.
And the Breecher can be outmaneuvered by a Kestrel (Tech 1 Caldari Frigate)... fitted with sensor dampeners it can prevent its target for ever achieving a target lock while slowing whittling it down with long range missiles.
Which can then be nuked by an Atron.

So first choose what race fits more into your particular playstyle... learn the strengths and weaknesses of that race... and then expand from there.


Do you want to be in high-sec or low-sec?
Is the system close to where a lot of combat happens or not?
Is this system within range of a major trade hub and/or a mini-hub itself?
Is this system the base of other FW people?

There is no right or wrong answer per se. It is whatever works for you personally.


PvP in general (and especially for newbies) is a negative ISK activity. You will gain little profit in it until you become good or can attach yourself to people who are good and want you to be good.

As for PvEing... the "dirty little secret" of every PvPer is that they ALL PvE to a certain extent. Some are smarter than others and have to do less... others grind more... and still others find ways to make it passively (which can be harder to do than you think). But due to their PvP experience they are better at keeping it "secret" and/or protecting it.



It works the same way. You earn Loyalty Points by killing people and by running down complexes (which also helps take enemy systems or keep friendly systems).
When you have enough, you go to the station that belongs to the FW NPC corp and "buy" stuff from their LP store... which you then sell on the open market.

Some faction items will go for more or less depending on how well the war is going for that particular side.

Really excellent advice above. I'll just chime in and agree that race does not matter.

When I joined Minmatar FW they were at Tier 1. A month later they were at Tier 4. Then in another month they were at Tier 1 again. It's a very fluid thing.

If you are in it for the pew pew, Tier 1 is much more fun than Tier 4, in my opinion, anyway. On the other hand, Tier 4 FW missioning is the most lucrative cash making opportunity that I have found in the game yet.

You're making a great choice. FW is a lot of fun and/or can make tons of ISK.

I really don't get this 9 month crap, it's easy. Look for fleets in fleet finder, listen to fc when he says jump, orbit oranges at optimals and hit f1.


Win.

Thanks for the answers everyone, things are a bit clearer now :)
However my last gripe is one's base of operations


Do you want to be in high-sec or low-sec?
Is the system close to where a lot of combat happens or not?
Is this system within range of a major trade hub and/or a mini-hub itself?
Is this system the base of other FW people?

There is no right or wrong answer per se. It is whatever works for you personally.

Does the FW systems change all time time? as in, do they move from constellation or anything? From what I gather on the guides, each of the factions are separated by a lot of systems where they war each other and change hands frequently.
Going by this logic, is it the best idea to setup a base near here so that the reshipping process is virtually painless? As I said before, I do not mind hauling a bit, its just that I want to get back into action as soon as possible after I die.

That depends.

Do you want to do FW missions or FW Plexes (and thus PvE)...then no.
Do you JUST want to PvP...then yes.

PvP in EVE is NOT a ISK making profession 99% of the time. You have to be lucky with drops and who and what you fight.

Most of the time it will cost you ISK rather then make it.
And thus almost all PvP players have other ways to fund their PvP habits, be it running missions now and then, trading, industry, selling a PLEX...that varies.

As a pilot in a very similar situation, i'll throw in my 2 cents.

Background: I'm 2 and a half or so months old (started an year ago, did one month, then quitted cause of no time and came back recently), around 2.5 mils SP, 0 experience and dived straight into FW as a solo pilot (not with this char as i'm following the advice someone gave me to never post on the forum with your main >_> ) untill i proved my mettle to someone and got invited into one badass pvp corp



FW is very much alive. Since my first day i got fights constantly. Sure there are the irritting stabbed farmers, but you WILL get action, even when you don't want it



It's very fluid. I'd rather choose based on timezone and language, i suggest you look around at corps recruitment threads and such to find out where you have better chances of joining someone that plays in your timezone and that is not a "national" corp with a language you don't know



some combat zones are very close to market hubs, you can go back there in 6-7 jumps and reship, and when you find a lo-sec system you deem right you can set there. I'd look for stabiity, as in a friendly corp living there so there are little to no chance of having the system flipped, and relative close ness toa market hub to reduce logistics cost.


so far after a couple weeks in the red, i'm now actually earning money enough to cover ship losses and save something. It really depends on how you do, don't expect to cover losses with justthe loot from kills tho, you're gonna have to plex, which can be fun because you'll get fights, but it might be hard to do exactly because of that. At some point, you'll get to know the fights you can't win and just bail and come back tof inish the plex or pick another one. Tip: friendlies don't like for someone else to arive in their plex and get the LPs, since the LPs are shared among the capturers, first comes first serves. Don't be a d**k or you will make enemies among friends.



I'm gonna drop some more advice, stuff that i found useful as a nublet willingly throwing himself in the middle of a packof wolves.

After the very firsts (really few) cheap t1 fit frigs to get a feel of the thing, forget about that. You won't do anything with those. You need t2 modules to compete to be honest, or at the very least high meta. Expect your typical fit to be worth something between 8 and 12 mills, flying anything not worth that pretty much makes you cannon fodder.

Skills. Focused skills. You're going to be playing along with players that sunk tens of millions SPs in combat skills. You gotta make the most of what little SPs you have. Forget about cruisers, forget about dessies, focus on frigs, focus on 1 race frigs and weapon system and tank only untill you have almost perfect skills there, specialization included. Fitting skills to 4 or 5 as soon as possible, and don't ignore navigation skills, speed is key in my experience. As far as i can see, i think the best option t the moment would be going caldari and missiles-rockets. Seems to me that kind of thing has the widest engagement profile among t1 frigs, but mind, i'm a noob so if someone corrects me pick their advice and not mines.

Avoid the systems that border with high sec, they seem to be populated with very hardcore players that love to prey on the weak, often with boosters/links, making an already unfair fight pretty much completely impossible.

Check local. If you see guys in the same corp, expect them to help each other, even if you see only one on short-scan, the other guy will be there waiting to come in once his buddy hs point on you.

Keep zkillboard open. When someone arrives in system, check his usual fits, that will give a tremendous intel advantage if you decide to take the fight, or enough info to know it's time to bail because your drone boat can't kill a condor pushing 5 km/s before his missiles plink their way thruh your hull volley after volley.

When someone kills you, don't be afraid about convoing them and asking for advice, i made friends with some awesome people that also happen to be ruthless and incredibly efficient space killers, and that have been invaluable with their advice.

Bookmarks! Safe spots, insta docks and undock!

First dozen ships you lose... hang tight, first solo kill will be one of the most memorable moments in your gaming history xD

That's the fun part about EVE.

Even if you are fitted with T1 meta mods and fighting someone with T2 or better mods.
The difference isn't that big.

The biggest difference in that fight doesn't come from the fitted modules, it comes from the experience people have in how to fly their ship and how to fight the fight.

Too proof that, I would link the 40+ billion loss of a officer mod fitted Navy Raven killed by a handful of T1 ships (with likely T2 modules), but forum rules disagree with me.

Well if you say the difference in modules isn't that big then I will just take your word for it and start pew pewing instead of worrying about some ISK that can be made back from some downtime when not PVPing.

Thank you.

Yes, that is what I plan on doing, learning in cheap T1 fits and as I get more experience I move into more expensive stuff like T2 mods and faction frigates.

As for the gang part, I really dislike being a F1 monkey, I really like the chaotic brawls where everyone battles with their own experience rather than let the FC decide everything.

Thank you.
Be seeing you in FW, although I will end as meat :)