EVE New Citizens Q&A

recently i upgraded from a t1 destroyer (L1 and 2 missions) to a t1 bc (L3 missions). i had higher expectations for L3 missions in both for isk/h revenue and mission difficulty (which i found to be very easy).

my current skills are:

0.7m armor
0.5m drones
0.5m electronic systems
1m engineering
0.8m gunnery
0.3m navigation
1.3m neural enhancement
1m rigging
3m scanning
2.7m shields
0.7m spaceship command
0.7m targeting

with level 2 mastery both at destroyer and bc i could easily do L1/2 and L3 missions respectively, and i have level 2 master also for bs (maelstorm). can i fly it in L4 missions or my skills are too low?

i created a fit with my character:

https://postimg.org/image/v31jx1a1h/ (after the page is loaded, you can enlarge the picture by clicking on it)

dps is 319, but i can't see tank value. maybe it's 229.9 hp/s?

so total is 319+230= 549, which is lower than 1000 and i can't run L4 missions with my current skills?

This advice here is perfect and I think that Solecist chose the word "progress" for a reason. Eve is not a linear, progressive MMO like most other games. There is no path of progression anywhere in this game. You don't progress up through levels and you don't progress up through "gear". There is no "end game" content in this game and the PvE is really just there as a means to make some isk.

In this game you will be flying T1 frigates into battle 10 years from now. This game is far less about what you have and far more about what you do with what you have. The challenging content in this game is other players. It's player generated content in an open sandbox.

That being said to answer your first question:

Probably at least half of all the level 4 missions can be soloed in a T1 frigate, no easily but it can be done by a competent pilot. However even the easiest level 4's a new pilot can loose a Battleship. So if "you" can fly a BS in level 4 missions or not has more to do with how well you know the game than your skill points.

If you want to try them and feel confident that you've got the equipment to get it done easily then make sure you can fit all T2 tank mods and that you are using mission specific hardeners and also make sure that you have enough generic damage skills to apply your damage.

That's not to say that any of the above is required, just if you are asking about easy mode so you don't have to worry about lessons coming in the form of lost BSs in missions then the above is an overly safe starting point.

Some of the level 4's can be done fairly easily in a BC. Also with level 4's come burner missions and many of those are frigates only.

It depends on the ship, some are very forgiving of lower SP pilots.

With a standard Tech 1 fitting, and the minimal skills needed for it I have done L4's in a Dominix
it wasn't quick, it wasn't easy and I had to warp out of the mission rooms several times.

I would not have attempted the same thing with the Hyperion or Megathron
I wouldn't recommend it either, it's just 'something' that you can do
much the same way that you can use a cruiser, or a frigate
but a little patience and some focussed SP investment will make L4's easy and less time consuming


For those wondering on how minimal, minimal was
Gallente BS 1
Heavy Drones 1
Sentry Drones 1
etc

Yes it can be done, but it wasn't much fun.
Skills at 3+ made it fun

and that's the key point, your playing a game
games are meant to be enjoyable

*meh - Go for it. Get yourself a Dominix (drones) or a Raven (cruise missiles) and a Micro Jump Drive (to get you 100km away quickly if you get in trouble) and just see what happens. Train up for T2 defense modules and improve your core skills ASAP but give it a try with what you have. Don't use that Maelstrom just yet, though.

Wanted to deal with this separately.
He has zero missile skills so you recommend a missile ship.
He has zero armor tanking skills so you recommend what is normally an armor tanked ship.
For a level 4 mission pilot he has virtually non existent drones skills and you recommend a drones ship.
Yes he could use any or all of these but how long to train the skills?
Would it not be a better for him to use the the same training time to acquire the skills he does not have and improve the skils he does for the fit he oblivious likes?

I see some scanning skills. Have you considered running DEDs? Even in high sec they pay pretty well (see 3/10 and 4/10s) and they are slightly more interesting than missions since you have competition with other players.

Here's a suggestion. Go to the test server and try out some different ships in L4 missions, see how they work out for you.

The test server will accept the same username and password you use for the main server. In the top left corner of your client window, there is a drop down menu to select which server you want to connect to. Select Singularity as the server and log in as normal. You do not need to be invited to Singularity, you just need an active account on Tranquility. Duality is a closed server, invite by CCP only.

All items on Singularity (ships, modules, rigs and ammo) can be bought for 100 isk each. You can buy a battleship and fit it for a couple of thousand isk. If you get in over your head and lose a ship, your loss is pretty trivial. You also get the insurance payout for the ship without buying insurance for it on the test server, so buying insurance on the test server is basically useless.

Hint: if you want more isk on the test server, buy the biggest ship (100 isk) you can fly, don't fit it or insure it, just undock, move away from the station and self-destruct the ship. You'll get the insurance payout and all you spent was 100 isk.

Some details to be aware of.

Your character data on the test server is not always kept up to date with your character data on the main server. CCP copy the character data from the main server onto the test server whenever they think it's necessary, not at regular intervals.

The last character refresh on the test server that I know of was about 5 weeks ago. Your character on the test server may not be completely up to date compared to the main server right now. All of your standings with various NPC corps are part of this. You might find you have enough standings with a corp to get L4 missions on the main server, but if you reached that level of standing after the last test server refresh, you will have a lower standing level on the test server until CCP refresh the character data again, or you raise your standing on the test server just like you would on the main server.

Another detail is that CCP will restart the test server whenever they want to, depending on what they are testing. Several restarts of the test server on the same day is not unusual.

Non-consensual PVP on the test server is restricted to specific systems, so you are pretty safe from being ganked by another player while testing stuff in low and nullsec. You might be attacked outside the sanctioned PVP systems by someone who doesn't know the test server rules or doesn't care about them, but it's fairly rare and you can report them for that.

The only thing you can bring back to the main server from the test server is the knowledge you gained from your testing. All the ships, items and isk you have on the test server stay on the test server.

Test server rules: https://community.eveonline.com/support/test-servers/test-server-rules/

I did something very similar, in fact after being able to run every L4 in a Drake I then upgraded to a Raven and did an easy L4 for my first one. Hauled the Raven back to station in structure and had to go back to the Drake to finish the mission off.

Read-guide-follow-instructions doesn't really help you with your working-things-out skill. That's a seriously important one for this game, because it has this habit of presenting you with problems you never anticipated and having you work them out right now or die trying.