EVE New Citizens Q&A

If you want to know about remaps (adjusting your attributes) then you want to get Eve Mon (or eve HQ). These are external apps that are allowed by CCP (i.e. using them doesn't break the EULA). These will tell you what to change your attributes to based on the skill queue you've set up. In other words you need to be thinking about what you want to train over the next year as you only get 1 remap per year. This can seem quite a daunting task but as you gain in SP some of your training will start to take up to a month for 1 skill level (and in other cases an awful lot longer).

In theory there is nothing wrong with using T2 or T3 ships on missions but be aware that T1 ships will perform perfectly well on these missions. In general you want Frigates for lvl 1, Cruisers for lvl 2, Battlecruisers for lvl 3 and Battleships for lvl 4. If your looking for fits then using google can be your best bet, battle clinic isn't brilliant but will give you some basics.

First answer regarding attribute remaps:

Yes, getting skills at higher levels or more advanced skill trained takes longer, this is general for everybody in EVE. If it wasn't like this it would mean that EVE just becomes another power leveling MMO like all those others on the market.

Don't remap on a short skill plan, this is a waste of remaps. Like said use any out of EVE program like EVEMON or EVEHQ to make a long term skill plan and look how to effectively remap your attributes to cut down time on that plan. IMO remaps are worthless unless on a really long skillplan. I had a skill plan of over a year and a remap just took 3 days of that plan if I did it, which isn't worth it IMO.

On to the issues with missions and ships:

First of all, there are no T2 missions but they are called level 2 mission. Just to mention this as it makes your post easier to understand.

Level 2 missions should be doable with your destroyer if your skills are just a bit more up to par with the ship and missions, also try to fine tune your ship fit. It could be that the mission seems impossible due to your fit not being "perfect" for it.

Also, cruisers are nice to get into. But like anything in EVE, don't rush too it. A cruiser is worthless if you don't have the skill to use it properly (commonly known as, being able to sit in a ship doesn't mean you can use it properly).
Also there are no T3 stabbers. Stabber is one of the T1 cruisers for Minmatar (same for the Bellicose, Rupture and Scythe, all of them are also T1 cruisers). There are also T2 versions of the Minmatar cruisers, they are specialized ships (as with all T2 ships though) that are build for a more single duty in EVE (for instance the Heavy Interdictor cruiser, that is a very specialized ship that is mainly usefull in 0.0 space where you can deploy bubbles). And last but not least there are the T3 Cruisers (aka strategic cruisers), the downside of those is that if you loose them you loose a portion of SP in their subsystem skills.

And usually it means that better ships are more expensive, but not in general this means that bigger (or more expensive) is always better.

A good guidance for missions is:

L1: Frigate / Destroyers
L2: Destroyers / Cruisers
L3: Cruisers / Battlecruisers
L4: Battlecruisers / Battleships or T3 Cruiser
L5: BS or T3 / fleet of ships

The first in the list means it's possible but you might struggle a bit when on low skills, the 2nd listed will do it more easily (again if you have the proper skills to fly it though, so don't rush into a ship just because of it).

4 days in eh?

I think you should look at the rupture as a "mission cruiser" it's tougher and does more damage than the stabber, carries a few more drones for the frig killing etc. The stabber's main strength is it's speed, which isn't that useful in pve.

After you've got the skills to fly a rupture you're not too far off getting a hurricane battlecruiser, the rupture's larger brother, which is more than capable for lvl 3 missions.

Try not to look at the "shiny" ships like Fleet Issue variants or Tech 2 ships until you're happy with the basic Tech 1 hull they are based on. They are more expensive which can hurt if you get something wrong, much better to learn with the cheaper hulls.

If that's the account you are using for L2 missions then the main cause of your problems is very clear: your skills are too low. You need MUCH more than 6 days of training destroyers, weapons and support skills to be effective in this ship. You probably have only basic skills required to get into this class and that is enough only for most L1 missions. Train "Destroyers" skill to at least level IV, your weapon of choice to the level allowing you to use T2 modules, "Core Competency" and proper "Defence" certificates to at least basic. With the right tactics you should be OK in many L2 missions flying a destroyer.

Unlike other MMOs, character progression in EVE is more "horizontal" than "vertical". You are perfecting one class by training skills and flying ships, then you move on to the next one (skipping some if you want and can). Basic skills == no skills. And no, getting into a (T3) cruiser won't help much here. You will only switch from one unskilled ship to the other and you can fail L2 mission even in a cruiser.

I think you are rushing too much. Fly frigates and destroyers, do something else besides missions and train your skills during that time. There is no player level here, you don't need to finish L5 missions as soon as possible... You don't even need to finish any mission at all. Take your time and have fun doing whatever you want. You are not leveling by doing missions and missioning is not the main activity in EVE.

If you like missions, go to Arnon system and talk to sister Alitura. This will start an Epic Arc (a chain of 50 missions with common story line) that can be done in a frigate or destroyer. You will gain some experience and do fun stuff. And don't rush.

This, but also take some good advice from Xerces Ynx post. You likely are rushing into bigger ships to quickly (common mistake by many new pilots though who think bigger is better, same counted for me when I started playing EVE). Take your time to get skills up for a certain ship class so you can effectively use it. Commonly being able to sit in a ship doesn't mean you can use it.

To give a quick example why this is true, I have an alt character that can "fly" all races up to T1 battlecruisers and some battleships. This means it can fly the ships from station A to station B while I do other things with my main character(s).
It how ever can't do anything with a ship that isn't minmatar cruiser or below, because it lacks the skills to use (most) modules on it. So even if I would take a battleship into a level 2 with it, it will die horribly as I can't actually use that ship.