EVE New Citizens Q&A

When ever and what evee you start in, you will die.

A lot.


A bigger ship will only delay it slightly. A lot of the PvP is based on what ship you fly and what you fight. How your character skills are and more importantly how good YOU are. And a bit of luck.


P.s. for a cruiser you will have to train those exact same core skills as for a frigate and even more...so training that will take even more time then a frigate.




Judging from your post, EVE might not be a perfect fit, as from the looks you expect a fast paced and more quickly involved game.


Everything in EVE takes time, lots of time.

I disagree with JP in this case (). I know many good pilots who cannot stand flying frigates but do very well in cruisers or battlecruisers, or in specialized roles like Logi/Ewar. Frigates can be very frustrating to learn in - I actually believe they are the hardest ships to fly properly. Not only are you learning about all your opponent's ships and their capabilities, but you have a very small time frame to do it before you explode. It can be very difficult to gauge how much DPS/tank a ship has when it kills you instantly and it can be very difficult to pull back from a piloting mistake.

The reason people recommend frigates to learn in is that they are cheap, and the quickest ships to skill into. That doesn't mean you have to learn in them. You can put together a low skilled blaster thorax, hop in a fleet with armor logi, and be much more effective than you would be if you had flown a frigate poorly instead and exploded immediately. This will give you more time to figure out what is going on, what you are doing, what you SHOULD be doing, and WTF just happened.

Another choice would be logistics or ewar, both of which can be skilled into quite quickly. These ships generally stay alive through remote reps or keeping range. Logi ships rep their own fleet and are the most widely loved pilots in fleet. Everyone would be glad to have an extra t1 logi with them and it's quite a quick train to be semi-effective. Ewar ships harass the enemy fleet by disabling them in various ways and can be incredible force multipliers in small-gang situations. If you don't like dying, learning to fly one of these well may be the right niche for you. I have a friend who has made an art form of jamming enemies with his falcon without being caught. He's racked up dozens of engagements without a single loss and kind of loses his mind on the very rare occasion that he is caught. The T1 version of the falcon, the blackbird, was actually my very first PVP ship. IMO it's an excellent introduction to PVP because it forces you to learn a little about the enemy ships to protect yourself, but allows you to stay at range where you have time to react to the situation.

Don't get me wrong, frigates can be very fun to fly once you get the hang of them. I spend most of my time in frigates and many of the best pilots I know prefer them to any other class. There are few things as rewarding as winning a frigate duel. Because they are so quick and hard to catch these fights are generally consensual, so by winning you are beating someone that thought they could beat you - which is just fun! Some of my favorite kills are expensive faction frigates that I managed to kill with my cheap t1 frig by having some trick up my sleeve that they weren't expecting.

There are many different niches in EVE PvP. Faction warfare is quite different from other lowsec areas. Nullsec varies widely (see sov. null vs. NPC null). Wormhole space is a whole other unique experience. Even highsec has some interesting opportunities with mission baiting etc. Just because you don't enjoy one doesn't mean you won't love another. Sample around and try a few things. You might be surprised. And don't worry about skills too much. With a good corp to back you up you can be very useful even with t1 mods and average skills. You attitude and willingness to learn will make much more of a difference in your success than you SP.

To clarify, this is really the only point I really disagree with. I wouldn't jump that conclusion so early when the OP has so much left to try.


This is very true. In a 100 v 100, cruisers will be alphaed off the field just like a frigate. In a 5 v 5 though, they provide much more time to react to what is happening than a frigate does. My experience is more of the latter as I enjoy small gang/solo the most. I also think it's a better way to learn since it demands you are actually useful to your fleet.


I don't disagree that you will be foucsed, but at least in small-gangs I still believe it's easier to stay alive. Logi (hopefully) will have other logi repping them, which extends your life and lets you practice some module management. Ewar should be used for hit-and-run type tactics. It's kind of your job to position such that the enemy fleet CAN'T primary you. You might have to warp off grid, but your blackbird/griffin should never be close enough to get pointed/killed, and you're still learning more than you would if you suicide tackled something in a frigate.

Truth is, you can be instapopped in anything smaller than a Carrier. Oh, wait. I think you can be instapopped in those too.

Thanks for the replies guys, I just bought 6 months gametime to give Eve a proper though now I'm trying to fight the urge to start a 6 month skill plan going then play Fallout 4 or something while my core skills train then find a nullslec corp to join once I meet the SP requirements they have, excluding the ones that have 50m - 150m SP requirements, seeing that makes me think I need a few years training before I leave highsec.

What would be a good first T2 ship to train for? Or should I do all all fitting and core skills before I train to fly the ship itself?

Skillpoints, any of their existing corp members can train whatever you're training, and/or probably already has the skills trained. So why exactly would any null alliance recruit you? This game doesn't have limitations of class (tank, DPS, cc, etc) or a level cap, so over here we recruit based on reputation, trust (if any), and moxie.

If you want to be accepted in any PVP corp or alliance worth its salt, you have to show them that you can learn the game, that you can think on your feet, and any PVP reputation or kills that you get won't hurt. So get out there and play the game, see what you like, try everything.

Characters that sit in station and just train skills are often viewed as spies. You're an unknown who suddenly wants to join and wants access to their stuff; they'll probably say no.

Join the 'Spectre Fleet' in-game channel.

Loiter for a few days, see the kinds of ships/fits they like getting kills/whelped in then come along for a ride on something suitable for your budget.

Usually I just rock up with my combat toon in a T2 frig or T1 cruiser (~30m or so for either although it depends on the wallet) and get primaried as soon as a big fight kicks off but it's something to get the killboard ticking over and show potential future alliances that you're up for fleet pvp.... if you're really risk averse you can just join one of their regular blops fleets and sit in a bomber inside a pos shield before collecting your 99% killboard efficiency.

If not that then start fitting out cheap frigs and demand 1v1s in trade hubs or start learning the mechanics around FW plexes, eventually someone will notice you and take you under their wing with some tutelage or provide some tips.

e: and in answer to the OP...I don't particularly like solo frig PvP either, it's over too fast and most of it is predetermined before you engage (which is where a lot of the skill comes in vetting your engagements properly and getting the engagement to start in a favourable manner.)

to the op - pvp is what you make it .

The key to success in eve is picking your fights. Some people like nothing better then 1 v 1 frig fights, others love nothing but ganking solo jump freighters. Big giant fleet fights are what get others going. For me, I only like fights where the other side is hopelessly outclassed and cant fight back. So just because you don't like fw or frig fights doesnt mean that there isnt some form of pvp out there for you. The best thing you can do is to get into a corp that has some diversity - fighting in lowsec, highsec, wh' s, whatever - so you can see the opportunities out there and decide what is for you.

You sound more like me, had 6 months game time and started doing skill queue online, whilst playing something else.

Hasn't worked out very well for me though, Avvy has over 10 million sp in combat/core skills and no desire to play her atm. Playing something else for long periods can detach you from your character.

So if you really want to try it properly this time, don't play skill queues online.

It's weird how many people hate t1 frigs at the start, but end up flying them predominantly later in their career when they realise it's REAL Skills and not only SP Skills that make the pilot.

Everyone blows up a lot when they first start PvP, regardless what size ship they learn in. It's not the ship or your equipment that got you blown up, it's you as a pilot expecting equipment to make you better at something without adjusting your tactics. The more you are blown up, the more you can learn and eventually not be the first guy to die, one day maybe be the last guy to die.