EVE New Citizens Q&A

I know other people already mentioned it, but I wanted to give you the link.

http://wiki.eveuniversity.org/Template:ShipsMatrix

That's a pretty decent place to start to get a general idea of fits for all of the ships in game. If you're unsure, you can't go too terribly wrong with a fit from there.

Spaceology 101 would be a walk in the park compared to what you signed up for. It took me 6 months before I could even try to come up with a crappy fit on my own without getting someone else to make a fit for me.

Eve is a very deep game and you will constantly be learning. I'm still learning stuff about this game every day and there are still huge parts of this game that I have no clue about. You either get excited by the fact that the game is this deep or you get overwhelmed.

The bonus is that you receive no grade for how well you do or how fast you learn and there is no boss looking over your shoulder making sure that you are doing a good job. Just enjoy the experience and have fun. Some of the most fun I've ever had in this game is when everything was brand new to me. Sometimes I wish I could get the brand new feeling back. Yes there are times that I'm happy to be a bitter vet as well but I'm just saying it is a game kick back, relax and enjoy the ride.

I'll chime in just to say this;

- as a 6 year veteran of the game, I still do not know everything. And not for lack of trying.

- what I DO know (PvP) is always in a state of flux... so I have to keep learning.

- in any activity you engage in you WILL lose about 1/2 the time... and that is a best case scenario. The truth is, even if you know what you are doing and have done everything "right" there will always be a very high probability that you will not succeed. And it will have nothing to do with a random number generator (most of the time). More often than not, it comes down to the "other guy(s)" being more cunning than you... you being dumber than everyone else... and/or you had less in the way of manpower/logistics.

- this is a "process" game... not one where you race to the finish line/boss/dungeon/equipment/blahblah. You will get MUCH farther in EVE by taking the time to understand underlying mechanics and "networking" with other people (pro-tip: even if you want to be a complete carebear, make friends with a PvPer... they can teach you "things").

- coming from the last point; the game is designed to be a perpetual "rat race" where everyone is more or less "stepping on the toes" of others. Harvesters affect builders, builders affect PvPers, PvPers can affect haresters and builders. And builders/harvesters can even contract PvPers to kill other builders/harvesters to hopefuly jack up prices for goods.

- also coming from the last point; you are not safe anywhere in the game. High-sec offers up some degree of "protection" via some discouragement mechanics... however if you make yourself valuable enough as a target, **** off the wrong person, or were at the wrong place at the wrong time... you CAN be killed. And you will not get a warning beforehand.

- take everything with a sense of humor. Even the trolling. Especially the trolling. Believe me, it helps.

Hey I played UO too. I got in right after launch, was on Pac. Some friends and I started a guild, wound up making it the third largest guild game-wide. We helped form an RP alliance with about a thousand players from about 20 guilds on Pac. Not just "RP" we had huge pvp battles, and with the help of GM's, Seers and Volunteers. Man those were fun times. Blobbing was hard back then
About same age, maybe a tad bit older.

Don't sweat it, man. EVE is monstrously deep, that's whats so good about it. After years in this game I still learn new stuff, and I'm still far from doing everything in this game or even to begin to try. Just pace yourself, focus in on one thing to do, or two in some cases, for a while, such as if you like missioning that is a really good start for the combat pilot. Even run the sisters of eve epic story arc if you haven't yet.

As you do that, raise your core skills as mentioned. If you focus in on learning a couple-few ship while raising those skills, in time you will fly those particular ships with as much usable SP as most any vet flying the same thing. Having so many skills in the game helps newer players a lot to even out the playing field, since you don't use every skill to fly that ship proficiently, only a handful of them for the ship, fit and of course core skills for that ship.

Don't worry about training the wrong skills, I have lots I never needed on my main char, or didn't need anymore after game changes, but some I just didn't need but trained them. I think the most valuable website wiki is the EVE Uni site, you can find ships and fits there that are typically common, from entry level to advanced fittings on those particular ships. Then just use EVEMon (indispensable app) to hammer out a skill plan for that ship and fitting. Lots of good info on their wiki about most everything game related, they did a good job on it.

Yeah, EVE takes some study, and no quick rewards, but it pays off and makes it far more worth it to you compared to just being hand-led through the game to some silly level cap or whatever. Lucks!

<-- ps hah you might even remember the 'all kill no skill' in UO, what they said to scorn tamers and their armies of dragons (derived from the "all kill" command). Though hammer warrior was my fav. luved smashing peoples armor off so they'd run away nekid

Want to say thank you again to all the people who have replied so far, to the person who threw a little isk my way, all the links to good info (my link-clicking skill is almost maxxed), and to what seems to be a nice community as a whole or at least on the forums!

I'd like to give you a run-down of what I have done so far since making this post with everyone's help.

First, I reorganized my entire skill que with mainly the basic skills to be an efficient capsuleer in all/any ships.

I then gutted my Vexor and am re-evaluating my fitting for it based on everyone's input but got a little sidetracked.

Before I could do that, I ran across a post on Ninja Salvaging lvl 4 missions and as I have NEVER done something like this before, it intrigued me so I threw together a Heron for combat probing and a Merlin for salvaging solely based on info I read, which was a bit outdated (think I can find something more efficient and as fast as a Merlin for salvaging though, plus it has a tiny cargo hold if I happen to meet a friendly who allows me to loot).

I had already trained fairly deeply into scanning for hunting relic/data sites and decent salvaging skills for a noob.

I found a decent little spot and set up shop. I was able to fairly easily locate several lvl 4 mission runners, save their locations, hop in the Merlin, and go pillage their wrecks. I avoided even looking into any cargo as I don't want to be tempted in flagging until I have more isk saved for ship replacement/refitting.

Made a little bit of isk in a few hours and was a decent time. Did meet a nice Russian guy who allowed me to loot a bunch of his stuff which helped a lot. Definately more fun than mining but I would rather make a few friends before I start off making enemies!

Today, I am going to build a quick, cheap explorer ship and head to null sec in search of data/relic sites. This will be must first time in null sec so I will be sure to bring some vaseline!

Hopefully I can get lucky, find something good, and make it back in one piece!

I also hope to find a player corp and will keep a more serious eye and ear open starting today as well.

Wish me luck! If you have anything to reply with, don't be shy!

Good luck :)
I recommend to try a high sec based corp first, or a corp with ambitions to move to low/null or a high sec corp who have connections with null/low sec(if that is where you want to go :)

I've never done that myself probably for a lot of the same reasons that you are not and I am not recommending that you do. However the amount of isk that you make looting one level 4 mission site will likely pay for the cost of the ship that you use to loot it and enough over that amount to still be more than you would make mining. Also it is my understanding that a lot of mission runners don't even loot their sites so the chances of you loosing that ship are probably lowish.

Further even if someone does engage you and blow up your cheap looting ship you can always dock and re-ship into something specifically fit to take them out and come back and blow up their expensive mission boat and have a chance at some faction or deadspace loot or maybe make some isk ransoming them.

Again these are not things that I personally have done nor recomend doing however they are well within the allowed game mechanics.

Some options on this:

When exploring in high sec you will come across wormholes and wormholes have exploration sites in them. There are many tricks to learn about operating in wormholes as well as doing relic and data sites but you can learn and get good at both in not too long if you apply yourself.

If you just want to try out null sec NRDS space is an option for those looking to dabble but don't want to commit. I can tell you more about it if you are interested.

with your attitude I doubt you'll have much of a problem with this.

Wanted to give a quick update on how my day went yesterday and my current direction in the game right now.

So last night, I took my Heron for some null sec probing in hopes to find a nice relic or data site to pillage.

First, I warped to a spot I felt was safe, not quite in the center of the system but about 30km out. I was sitting still probing with map open so I could find a site, and at the same time checking my directional scanner. No one was there but me as far as I could scan. After about 4 minutes, I found a wormhole and was proceeding to figure out what the last unknown signature was, when I see a Gnosis on my d-scan!

I quickly dropped the range to halfway and I am still picking it up! I wait while my probes return and do one last dscan at 1 AU and the Gnosis is still showing up! I start to warp and KABAM! He blows me up in literally 2 seconds...lol

I have no idea how the guy found me so damn quick, but he did so I refit another Heron and decided to stick to High Sec until I can save a lot more isk first.

I was quickly finding relic and data sites, but each time I warped there, someone had beat me to the punch and was already 75% completed. I was able to open one but after the fourth time getting beat to a site, I decided it was just too crowded where I was exploring for sites so I spent all morning today searching the map for a way less active spot in High Sec.

As of now, I have just finished buying 4 new ships and fitting them all. I will share my ship fits and you all can give me advice if you like, just remember these are all PVE fits and done according to my budget and skills.

1. A Heron for scanning/exploring for combat/relic/data sites.
[Heron, Heron - Site Finder]
Type-D Restrained Overdrive Injector
[Empty Low slot]

5MN Quad LiF Restrained Microwarpdrive
Cargo Scanner I
Data Analyzer I
Relic Analyzer I
Eutectic Compact Cap Recharger

Core Probe Launcher I
[Empty High slot]
[Empty High slot]

Small Gravity Capacitor Upgrade I
Small Gravity Capacitor Upgrade I

Core Scanner Probe I x8

2. An Algos for Level 1 Missions and easy Combat Sites I find exploring/scanning.
[Algos, Algos- Lvl 1 Minmatar Missions]
Experimental Energized Kinetic Membrane I
Experimental Energized Explosive Membrane I
Small Automated Carapace Restoration

5MN Quad LiF Restrained Microwarpdrive
Small Capacitor Battery I
Small Capacitor Battery I

75mm 'Scout' Accelerator Cannon
75mm 'Scout' Accelerator Cannon
75mm 'Scout' Accelerator Cannon
75mm 'Scout' Accelerator Cannon
75mm 'Scout' Accelerator Cannon
Auto Targeting System I

Small Anti-Explosive Pump I
Small Anti-Explosive Pump I
Small Anti-Kinetic Pump I

Hornet I x6
Warrior I x6

Antimatter Charge S x2000

3. A Vexxor for Level 2 Missions and tougher Combat Sites.
[Vexor, Vexor - Minmatar PVE]
Overdrive Injector System II
Damage Control I
Drone Damage Amplifier I
Drone Damage Amplifier I
Drone Damage Amplifier I

50MN Quad LiF Restrained Microwarpdrive
Medium Azeotropic Restrained Shield Extender
Kinetic Deflection Amplifier I
Explosive Deflection Amplifier I

200mm Prototype Gauss Gun
200mm Prototype Gauss Gun
200mm Prototype Gauss Gun
200mm Prototype Gauss Gun

Medium Core Defense Field Purger I
Medium Core Defense Field Purger I
Medium Core Defense Field Purger I

Vespa I x6
Valkyrie I x6

4. A Catalyst for nothing but salvaging.
[Catalyst, Salvage Daddy]
Mark I Compact Capacitor Power Relay
Mark I Compact Capacitor Power Relay
Mark I Compact Capacitor Power Relay

5MN Quad LiF Restrained Microwarpdrive
Cap Recharger II

Salvager I
Salvager I
Salvager I
Salvager I
Small Tractor Beam I
Small Tractor Beam I
Small Tractor Beam I
Small Tractor Beam I

Small Salvage Tackle I
Small Salvage Tackle I
Small Salvage Tackle I

And there you have it! Hope I am at least moving in the right direction! As always, all replies and feedback are welcome!
If any of you are personally in a player corporation that is both PVE and PVP and feel I would be welcomed and enjoy, please share it. I want one that uses voice chat always and is English speaking.

I am almost completely broke now so I will be focusing on making isk today. I can not afford to die for a while so mission runs, High Sec exploration, and salvaging are my cup of tea all day today.
Wish me luck!

Thanks everyone!

Not sure how you made your safe spot or what you are calling a safe spot but there are guides out there on how to properly make and use a safe spot. Basics are that you need to drop a bookmark mid warp and then warp to that book mark and drop another bookmark mid warp.

Worth noting is that skilled probers can combat probe you very quickly without you ever seeing the probes. It has to do with using Dscan first to get a general idea where you are then then moving the probes ontop of you then out of Dscan range very quickly but just hitting Dscan every 5 seconds is no guarantee of safety against a very skilled prober.

So in my experience, EVE is one of those games that needs you to think differently to other MMOs. It requires a shift in what "Being a good player" means.

It sounds like you're quite worried about "Doing things wrong". Coming from other MMOs, I can understand that - You're expected to know what you're doing if you're in a dungeon, the game's simple enough that PvP matchups with different classes can be learned, etc etc.

I can understand how someone who's used to that sort of game might feel a little overwhelmed by the experience EVE presents. Whilst there's nothing wrong with those other MMO experiences, they're easy enough to learn by reading about that competence can be mostly assumed.

EVE is different. Basically the only way you'll improve is by going out, failing, thinking about what went wrong, refining your technique, failing again, repeat. Don't feel bad about failing, or dying, or even being podded, as long as you learned something. Especially don't let fear of failure get in the way of learning.

Fail faster.

One thing I would say is absolutely essential is finding a good player corporation who are willing to teach you. I really would suggest going for one outside of highsec. It may be tempting to stay in highsec as it's safer, but you'll learn much slower.

Personally, I'd suggest looking for a wormhole or nullsec corporation (But I may be a little biased in that regard, as I live in wormholes). You'll learn very very quickly in a hostile environment.

In the end though, it's all about what you want out of the game.

Good luck, and I hope you find what you're looking for in EVE! If you have questions, I'm happy to answer them in mails or something. Lots of these replies are pretty awesome too, so I hope you find something that helps you!