EVE New Citizens Q&A

Greetings Capsuleers!

I'm making a thread to hopefully discuss a dilemma i'm facing; one about Logistics.

Although, before I start, i'm just going to say - Yes. I am new. Relative to you, anyway. However, I believe I know a fair deal on the subject, the only thing i'm lacking is real experience.

Right, anyway. Since I joined EVE, I've been lacking a awful lot of enjoyment. I know EVE is about "Long-term satisfaction" and isn't a "Adrenaline-fueled blast-fest", but this isn't about that.

Until now, i've been flying a T-2 fitted Republic Fleet Firetail, and whilst it is generally fun, zooming around and blasting pirates, I do feel like there's something missing.

What do I miss? Helping others. At a elementary level, there is very little I can do to help the members of my Corp or just the general public in a supporting role, apart from offering help to those who need it (Insert "Don't mine the barren asteroid" joke here).

So, I looked around, trawled more data than you could find in the Amarrian Slave-and-save™. And what did I find? The holy grail of what I wanted.

Logistics.

It had everything I could possibly want - essentially, I could be a healer, even if only in essence, not literally. I didn't have to shoot enemies, or scour through the shattered, charred wrecks of opponents for loot. Instead, I could help others achieve a greater goal. It was exactly what I was looking for.

So far, so good. So, I buried a little further. I found a large range of skillplans. I gawked, not quite believing the training times (Yes, it may seem little to you, but for a whelp like me it seemed forever and a day). So, I made my own personal Logistics plan. It was even longer than the recommended one.

So. I'd love to get into the Logistics trade. I now offer the podium to any Logi pilots to tell me of your tales, experiences and opinions on the career, and whether it is good for me or not.

Also, any personal tips would be greatly appreciated.

In advance, thank-you for your time reading this.

(TL;DR - Logistics or gtfo?)

On the other hand, I do hear logistics pilots are a sought after commodity eclipsed only by FCs in most places that aren't tiny corporations/alliances, so you may get lucky and find a good home, after all. Though, as the previous person said, capable opponents will usually try to target logistics, first, to remove them from the field.

what I can tell you is that logistics guys are highly wanted in alliances focussed on PvP. But as you already recognized it always takes a lot of time to get where you want to go in EVE. Therefore I recommend not to go for one profession straight forward. Personally I always do some smaller skills between my original plan to improve what I am doing meanwhile, see some "skill training completed" messages and spread my general possibilites. Makes they way to where you want to be at the end even longer, but keeps you busy :)
with my current 17m SP in Nullsec I can rat, loot, pvp with battleships and -cruisers. Except looting nothing I can do really good, but I can do it and I have my options. If I'd go for ratting exclusively I would have stopped playing a few months ago and had to wait until the end of this year, going for carriers. Meanwhile I would 100% have cancelled my subscription without any reason to log in or havin just one single activity when logging in. Nevertheless these times come, but taking a break for two weeks doesn't hurt too much. Oh hai, RL!

tl;dr: spice up your skill plan with stuff you can do meanwhile

EDIT to your last post: EVE PvE isn't that standard MMO thing where you would need a healer. Basically it is like a standard MMO with random aggro, healers may wear plate, every class has stunlock and you can't see your opponent's class, level or current health (wow, I popped that shield ... oh no its an armor tank...). So usually you just try to get a ship that can deal with everything for PvE, not X ships to fulfill their roles. That's done in PvP in EVE.

Inability or unwillingness to field logistics is the exact reason why 200 man highsec alliances routinely get thoroughly spanked by 5 man corps in wars. Well that and the fact that most highsec morons can't figure out a good fit to save their lives.

Also I am friends with the people who are currently kicking your ass and I can tell you that the various acts of obnoxious idiocy that your corpmates get up to only serve to make cold hand of shadow even more annoyed with you.

Yes, Logistics (as in repairing other ships in combat, rather than as in moving shitloads of stuff around the universe) is very sought after in PvP corps/alliances. So much so that some pay you (in in-game money) to fly one (if you lose it, you get reimburse more than 100%).

It was a long time ago I skilled up for it, so not totally sure what of all the sp went to that - but

It is what you are looking for from your description. It can be very frustrating (hostiles have so much fire power that you can't keep up) very rewarding (you keep everything alive & everyone loves you) or pretty boring (hostiles don't show up and it all turns into a structure turkey shoot where your 5 drones can't do **** - yes I'm looking at you White Noise). From that you'd probably guess that logistics are mainly used in pvp. So if that's not your cup of tea - then ... hmm maybe you should reconsider.

That said, you probably will be needed in Incursions to keep stuff alive - same as above applies, maybe without the structure shoot boredom. On the other hand, Incursions doesn't pop up everywhere. Also, even if you do go for Logistics, then you do need to fly other things inbetween engagements - so it should by no means be the end goal for you EVE career.

Not having read any of the above replies (haven't had my coffee yet); Some people like support roles, others like being dps. If you do like support roles that aren't necessarily on the foreground but rather allow the group to actually function on the whole, and as such are more dependant on you than they (want to) realise, then you have several options. Logistics and Covert scouting are the main ones.

So yes, if you like support and making things happen then you'll love Logistics, Picture it as being a healer in "that other MMO" while the rest around you is all dps/tank; you can pick and choose whom you want to join. It can be a bit difficult though, especially if you have more Logistics (as you should) you need a bit of organisation and strategy to make it happen but it's well worth it.

If you like it, go for it.

I don't have anything against the corps wardeccing us - if it's how they want to play EVE, I have nothing against it. Also, I do not know what "Acts of Obnoxious Idiocy" people in my corp get up to - again, that is their problem, and is off-topic for this thread.

You do make a good point about small numbers not necessarily being a disadvantage - if you have support that can keep you on your feet in a battle, you can outlast any number of unorganized ships. That's what I love about logistics and fleet warfare as a whole; it's not about flashy equipment or who has the biggest ship, but how the group works as a whole.



Thanks for clarifying that!

I don't have much of a expendable income IRL, regrettably - although I can pay for subs if and when I need to.

Although, a year? The longest skill-plan I've seen (With all core skills and logistical skills to IV/V) is about 60-150 days (depending on how dedicated the plan is.) So i'm not sure where that figure came from.

Anyway, during the time I spend training, i'll most likely be flying a frigate or cruiser to do L1-2 missions, or mining in my Covetor. It's not a huge problem, I don't tend to get bored easily (praise the gods!).



Firstly, I love difficulties and challenges. That's why I play EVE. Other games like that game about the Craft of War in the World or something tend to make my brain rot with their infernal hand-holding.

Anyway, back to your reply; I do love support. Very much. That's why I was so drawn to this. Although I suppose the fact I posted this thread in the first place means I have some hesitation...


Thanks for all the replies!

From what i've seen so far, the most viable incomes (for now at least) seems to be Incursions, although there's no reason why people won't want a Logi for Level 5's. I suppose it's just knowing the right people!

Sitting in a logistic is not the same then flying it. You need pretty much all skills involved at lvl5. You can cut a bit more then one month of with doing the remaps in the right order. Logistics are ships that you start to skill for when you are more then a year in game. Not just because you need all fitting skills at 5 but because you need something to do when no logistics are needed.

You want to jump into the end game right from the start. That is possible, given you have the patience to wait that year of skilling out. If it's reasonable is a different question.

To make ISK in a logistic you can run Incursions (nerf imminent), run phat complexes in 0.0 (limited spawnrates, logistics done with alts anyway) or take part in L5 (again, logistics are piloted with alts).

There may be more content in the not so far future and given it takes you a year to fly a logistics properly you may go lucky to be ready when CCP is.

Also note that if you beeline to one of the Logistics that means you can't do much besides being in a group. When the group breaks up or there's not enough people online or you just have a short time then you'll be twiddling your thumbs a lot. I would suggest also picking something else that you find interesting to do, otherwise you'll get bored fairly fast.