EVE New Citizens Q&A

One day in, probably about 2 hours game time, into my trial and experiencing information overload.

I'm not a genius but I'm also far from stupid.

I have no idea where to even begin with this game. I'm currently going out to meet more agents or something, part of the tutorial.

I'm a pvp kind of guy but I don't mind doing pve if that helps me slowly build towards a pvp ship and polish some basic skills.

Where to even begin? There is sooooooooo much information out there. That is not a bad thing at all, don't get me wrong. But all these acronyms getting thrown around, the mind boggling tech tree, and the sheer volume of options are making me gunshy on which direction I should be going.

I've tried to do some of my own homework but I'm intimidated by the amount of info and conflicting opinions.

So, as an aspiring pvp pirate/raider/part-time industrialist, what are the basic skills and info I need? Am I making a big deal out of nothing? Should I just jump in head first? Are stupid decisions on skills that I make early in the game going to cripple my ambition later?

I appreciate complexity in a video game, espeically an MMO, but.....I....Just....Don't.....Get.....It.

Thanks.

Welcome to EVE. I've been playing since 2007 and still don't know all the mechanics.




For starters, run around the tutorials and figure out some of the basic game mechanics. There's a fair bit of documentation both ingame and on wiki.eveonline.com.



As far as the skills required, look at certificates. Certificates do not do anything on their own, but they are helpful. They are groups of skills that help you at a certain task. For example, there are certificates for using projectile weapons, which includes the skills needed to use them, as well as the various gunnery support skills which improve them.

Whenever you "show info" on a ship, one of the tabs is "Recommended Certifications". The listed certifications give you a general list of skills you should have to fly the ship in a normal capacity... Of course, it is by no means necessarily a complete list,. There are many ways to fit any ship, some of which are rather unusual and not covered by the recommended certs, but it should get you started.



Nope. There is no limit on skills you can train. The only downside to training one skill is that you could have spent that time training another one. Maxing out any given set of skills is actually rather easy.

Also, don't think that veterans with lots of skillpoints have a ridiculous leg up on you. One of my friends ingame has around 13 million skillpoints, and I have 51 million. You'd think I am way better off in any given fight than she is, but...her drone skills are actually better than mine. Assuming we were fighting in droneboats (like the Vexor and whatnot) she would easily be competitive with me.





Anyway, after figuring out what's going on my first recommendation is to join a corp. EVE is not a very good solo game, specifically as a new player who does not otherwise know what is going on.

Thanks for the info, it's helpful but I don't understand all of it.

How do I obtain Certificates? I see the tab on my character menu but I have no idea how to obtain them. Any additional info would be awesome!

I fail at multi quoting but as to your second point, I hate paying opportunity cost, but I suppose that is the price of learning.

Agree.. Following the Certificate Tree is helpful... Work on the Core.

Also, Do the tutorials... seriously, they are more helpful than you think... take notes if you have to as it is a huge lot up front to remember. After a while, it will become second nature and you'll get the jist of it.

Just a few things to remember in this game (practical use, more or less)

1) Trust no one - this may seem out right cruel and disheartening, but scamming, piracy, theft and out right douche-baggery is allowed in this game... In fact, it in some ways is encouraged.
2) Do not fly what you can not afford to replace upon losing it - That new shiny may seem the "bees knees" but its all tears when you lose it to a ganker or out right douchebag (see note 1).
3) Find something in the game that interests you, and perfect it - Dont be strayed.. As a new player, the number of things that you can do in this sandbox are enormous. Take your time. Perfect the one thing you want to do (Tackling, HAC's, Ganking). Once you can successfully handle, then branch out. This means not just learning to fly a particular ship... but flying it WELL.

Hope this helps!

Welcome to EVE Online.

Yes, when you first start everything might seem a bit daunting, there is only 1 thing that you can do to it and that is to bite through it (seems weird, but in EVE you have to learn a lot when you start, when you understand that all other stuff will come as a 2nd nature).

There is this famous graph about EVE's learning curve.

1 actual good guide (and I'm surprised some didn't mention it before) to help you learn the basics of the game is the ISKguide (totally free to download as PDF, it has a lot of info on almost everything).

Here is a list that will explain the acronyms in EVE.

On to your questions:

The basic skills you need as a industrial player are those found under the Industry tab of skills, they mainly involve mining and production skills to make you better in one of those.

As for PvP, the skills on those depend a bit on which type of PvP you are after (Solo, 1v1, small gangs, large fleets) but also depends on the ships you like to fly:

- Projectile turrets (Minmatar ships)
- Hybrid turrets (Gallente ships for Blasters, some Caldari for Railguns)
- Missile launchers (mainly Caldari ships but other factions also have missile boats)
- Laser turrets (Amarr ships)
- Drones (all races, but Gallente specializes in those with certain ships)

Also keep in mind besides guns you need to have the skills to fit a ship (tanking, etc.), a global idea on tank is:

- Gallente (Armour tanked)
- Amarr (Armour tanked)
- Caldari (Shield tanked)
- Minmatar (Jack of all trades, some ships are armour, others shield and some are best to be speed tanked (out run your opponents guns)).

And there are no real stupid mistakes you can make when it comes to training skills. The only "mistake" you can make is train something you eventually will never use. So I suggest to first find out a bit what you like most and then train towards it. Like mentioned before Certificates will help you with it (though I found some certificates useless as they also demand skills which you really don't need). Like said before you can't make a stupid mistake when training skills, even if you end up with a skill you trained and not use it, the only downside on that is that the time you took to train it could have been spent on a more useful skill (and almost every pilot in EVE has some skills he shouldn't have trained if he had a 2nd chance).

Also when you ever wonder what a certain ship is best in or what a modules does, right click it and select show info. In the window that pops up you should be able to find everything you want, from bonuses for a ship, to how much slots it has to fit and which skills you need to use (and with last expansion it even tells you how long it take to meet the minimum requirements).

Also keep in mind that having minimum requirements means you can sit in a ship, but it takes a bit more skills to actually fly it effective (support skills, fitting skills for the modules etc.)

---

Also would like to tell you the 3 golden rules in EVE:

1.) Don't fly what you can't afford to loose - Even in high-sec space (1.0 - 0.5) you can be killed, there is no real safe space in EVE, so your ship can be shot down. Rule 1 means you should be able to buy the same ship you fly at the moment from market again if you loose it (In terms means, don't stuff everything you have into 1 ship as it will end in tears eventually).

2.) Don't trust anybody you don't know in real life - EVE is a cold, harsh place. Scamming, Piracy, Theft and a lot of other grieving things are allowed in EVE. Trust is something people should earn in EVE and not be given.

3.) If it sounds to good to be true, it is - Like in the real world, nothing comes for free, if you see something that sounds to good to be true (contract, trade or even something in space like a yellow can named "Free Ammo") it usually is a scam, always double or tripple check before you accept something like that.

---

Final advice:

I do suggest you start looking for a corporation (not a NPC but player corp) when you find out what you like to do. EVE is a MMO and is (IMHO) best played with others. When searching for a corporation don't just dive into the first one you find, take your time to find the one that best suits you. Here are some things that might help you decide if the corp you like is actually good for you:

- How many members has a corp?
- How many members are active during your game times?
- Ask what the main activity is that the corp does?
- How old is the corp and what history (alliances etc.) does it have?
- Ask for any services the corp can provide (learning of new players, help with relocating stuff [freighter service], ship replacements).
- Check the corp out of game (google them, check their kill-boards, EVEwho.com for members, dotlan for statistics).

Also almost every corporation in EVE has a public channel. Use those channels, hang around in them, usually there are corp members in it to speak too, other people who like to join and might ask a question you forgot and sometimes even former members who like to stay in contact.

Again when searching a corp, don't put all your eggs in 1 basket. And if eventually you find out that a corp isn't quite what you expected you can always leave and join another corp (keep in mind 25 corps in your history in 6 months isn't a good sign and some corps don't want you as you are classed as a 'corp jumper') so best to take bit more time and try to find the right corp in 1 go.

---

If you ever have any questions, don't be affraid to contact me in game. When online just open a conversation or at all times shoot me an EVEmail and I will get back to you asap.


Kind regards and fly safe,

J'Poll

Think you are referring to one of my posts, and yes that is still totally true.

Questions are there to be answered. How stupid they may seem to you, likely all of us had the same question when we started playing. So don't just think because it sounds stupid that you shouldn't ask, most (though not all) pilots will help you out with questions.

EDIT:

Confirming that Schmata is indeed genuine about helping others.

First of all, I stole the same sentence from one of my highschool teachers who used it in his lessons.
And yes I'm really meaning that you are actually helping out new players. I tend to read the forums when I have the time and seen you give really good advice to others on here.

Thanks for all the information guys! It helps a lot!

Hello Nate Nichols,

I'm sorry to hear about the troubles you are having. I hope this is some useful information for you.

There are lots of resources out there and one of them are the ISD:STAR volunteers. We specialize in helping players, new and old with any questions or problems they may have. Don't also underestimate the usage of other players in the Help Channels. We are in Rookie Help as well as Help channels. We do our best to help out new players to the game and answer as many questions as possible. We have a vast group of volunteers who help out and who know enough first hand about specific things like PVP or Industry. If we don't know about a specific topic first hand we know at least where to look so you can get the information that you are looking for.

Taking the time to go run through the tutorials slowly can be beneficial. Just take your time with this game as it's not something that you will understand overnight. There are players out there who have been playing for years and still don't understand everything that this game offers. As some pilots have already said (and posted the famous EVE learning link) it does take time to learn.

Joining a corporation is also a great resource to help you out with learning the game. Look at maybe joining a corporation and learning from them. There are lots of corporations out there that help new players enter the game and some groups even specialize in it.

There is a lot to learn and it can be a struggle at the start. Use our wiki as we have an ISD team that keeps it up-to-date with the latest information. ( http://wiki.eveonline.com/ ) Even users are able to edit the pages if need be to keep it up-to-date.

Here are a few wiki links(if you haven't looked at them already) that could help you on your path.

http://wiki.eveonline.com/en/wiki/Rookie_Help_Channel_FAQ
http://wiki.eveonline.com/en/wiki/Making_ISK
http://wiki.eveonline.com/en/wiki/Category:New_Player_Experience
http://wiki.eveonline.com/en/wiki/New_Pilot_101

I hope that this helped out a little bit and if you have any other questions don't hesitate to EVEMail me an ask. I am always available by EVEMail and I'm always happy to talk for a little bit in private while i'm in Help channels.

Fly safe o/

I thought I would give a short update on my progress now that my understanding of the game has improved slightly. Also, all the help has been great both on these forums and via chat in game. Due to that help, a generous cash infusion, and a little determination, I've made some progress.

And with that progress, more questions!

I have trained some skills in gunnery and spaceship command for frigates. An Atron class frigate was recommended so I purchased that. After a fight with some npc I picked up another small turret like the one I already had and mounted it.

In space, one of the turrets is shaded out. What do I need to control two different guns?

How do you split up ammo in your storage?

When you have a target locked are you in optimal range with your weapon? Or does the ship lock on before the weapons are in optimal range?

Thanks