EVE New Citizens Q&A

You do the combat tutorial?

Yep did the tutorials, but when faced with the vast array of choices, things start to get confusing.
I can see the difference between a autocannon 1 and auto cannon 2.(which seems to be a popular choice among people at my level) .
But I can't see the difference between the auto cannon 2 and republic auto cannon. Apart from the republic is loads cheaper and needs less skill !!
Clearly I'm missing something.

Tech II Autocannons will out damage Republic Fleet Autocannons when you have Small/Medium/Large Autocannon Specialization at level 3 or higher. RF Autocannons are 5% better than the base of meta4/T2, but because of the Specialization skill, the Tech II gives 6% more benefit at level 3, and subsequently more with higher skill trained. All Faction Turrets are like that. (The Small/Med/Large Autocannon Spec skill gives 2% per level to the t2 versions).

Tech II Autocannons can also load Advanced ammo types, Barrage (Long range falloff bonused ammo) and Hail (Shorter range but highest damage ammo). Which further compounds their advantages. These ammo types are much more useful in PvP than in PvE. Tech II is also much cheaper than Faction. A T2 Autocannon is normally around 30-40x cheaper than the faction version. small RF Autocannons go for around 20m~, small T2 is between 300-700k depending on the size.

Faction Turrets are kind of weird. (Most Faction items are usually strictly better than T2, but in the case of turrets because of the spec skill, they are not.) The only reason to use the faction turrets is mostly if you don't have the skill for t2 yet, but you have a lot of isk that you're willing to spend to get the 5% advantage.

There are a lot of numbers going on in EVE. The attributes page of a weapon can be a little disorienting.

Don't worry about the faction variant modules for now (ie the Republic autocannon). In general, buy the highest meta-level variant of a module you can afford (and afford to lose), and use T2 if you have the skills.

Firstly: Always fit guns that your ship has bonuses for. For instance, if you are flying a Thorax, always fit medium hybrid turrets. Let's say you pick medium hybrids here.

Secondly: Most weapons systems have short range and long range versions. For hybrid weapons, this means blasters (short range) and railguns (long range). Pick one. You'll design the rest of your fit around this choice - railgun fits want to stay longer range and so need speed; blaster fits need to get close then be able to survive. Let's say you choose medium blasters here.

Thirdly: Within the category of medium hybrids, there's different versions that have a different balance of range, tracking, damage and powergrid/CPU requirements. For this specific case, electron blasters have the best tracking and PG/CPU requirements and are the worst at range and damage. Neutron blasters are the opposite, and ion blasters are in between. Although there are exceptions to this rule, generally you will want to let your choice be governed by powergrid and CPU concerns. Let's say you choose ion blasters here.

Fourth: Each weapon has a statistic named "Meta Level" that is an overall indicator of price and power, with tech 2 weapons being somewhat arbitrarily assigned meta level 5. For rookies I recommend using the meta 3 guns until you can comfortably afford to upgrade to meta 4. (Generally, most weapons will deal 100/105/110/115/120% damage at meta levels 0/1/2/3/4, then 120% with the option of using tech 2 ammo and the benefits of specialisation skills at meta level 5, then amounts above 120% at higher meta levels). Be aware that higher meta levels will cost exhorbitant amounts of ISK and will make you attractive to predators (ie other players) who might suicide gank you, even in highsec, to steal your shiny expensive guns. Let's say you pick the meta 3 guns (IIRC, the name of this is Heavy Anode Ion Particle Accelerator I)

Fifth: Carry different types of ammunition. Don't bring every possible choice, but do bring at least the following three:
- Cheap close range ammo (for use on NPCs). I recommend Antimatter M in this example.
- Higher quality close range ammo, for particularly dangerous NPCs, and for player engagements. Carry this even if you are not looking to initiate PVP. I recommend the (much more expensive) Federation Navy Antimatter M here, which does 15% more damage than base Antimatter M.
- High quality long range ammo. I can't remember the tech 1 version here, someone else can mention it (as I can use tech 2 guns, I carry Null M for this purpose).

Be aware that ammunition will change capacitor use (or the whole ship's capacitor recharge rate on some weapon systems that do not use cap) and range and tracking.