T HE E X P ER T ’S GUIDE

You’ve installed the client. You’ve started a trial account. TO E V E ONL INE
You’ve finished the tutorial and launched yourself into the
wide open galaxy. Now you have no idea what to do next.
Intergalactic Careers Advisor BILL MULHOLLAND is here
to take your hand and guide you to the destiny that awaits.

S
o there I was, two wormholes away from the nearest hi-sec exit It’s not all doom and gloom though. Learn the game, team up with
in unknown territory and I’ve scanned down a Sleeper Radar some friends, find what it is that you enjoy doing and the rest will fall
site that should make the trip worthwhile. I’ve taken down five into place. EVE is full of opportunities for those keen to follow their
of the eight defending Battlecruisers and I’m looking okay, with my goals. There will be difficulties and challenges, but none that are
tank holding at 38%, when two more ships appear on my scanner, unsurpassable with a bit of planning and teamwork.
closing in fast. I can’t run. I can’t hide. I can only hope that they are While EVE can be played solo, it really shines when shared with a
just tourists like me. group of like-minded players. Signing up with a corporation in your
No such luck! The first is an Amarr Interceptor who locks me down timezone is one of the best things you can do in EVE, and will often be
with his scrambler, while the second, a Heavy Assault Cruiser, has your best learning tool. In this game, experience is the one thing that
already opened fire. My tank and hull melt within three heartbeats – can’t be bought, and it’ll soon become your most valuable resource.
the next thing I know, I’m waking up in my still-wet clone pod back at So speak up, ask questions and don’t be afraid to ask for help.
base, sans very, very expensive ship.
WHERE TO START?
WELCOME TO E VE ONLINE Get out there and try new things! It’s astounding to hear long-term
EVE’s a scary place. Not in the upfront horror kind of way that FEAR veterans tell you they’ve never tried something in EVE. While it’ll take
is – more like that first-day-at-a-big-school kind of scary. It’s the you a very long time to do everything, you can certainly try your hand
uncertainty, the openness and the scale of it that can swallow you whole. at most things. Your own personal tastes will dictate how you approach
There are all sorts of people you’ll meet along the way: the friendly, the your future careers, and if you want to become an expert in a given
wise, the wealthy and those who are just looking to ruin your day. field, don’t be too narrow with your focus. Most career paths borrow
This isn’t a game for the casual couch gamer. EVE’s legendarily from each other in many ways. Understanding the hows and whys will
steep learning curve is feared and respected for good reason – failure only enhance your strengths, allowing you to be more flexible and able
to learn the fundamentals will result in your immediate destruction. to take advantage of opportunities as they present themselves.

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 INDUS T R Y
The backbone of any empire, and an absolute necessity for those How can I specialise?
with lofty sights. You’ll start this long and broad career path by mining MINING
asteroids for their minerals. Combine these raw materials with a Just about every ship in EVE is built by somebody, using minerals
blueprint and a factory slot, and you’ll have the means to create ships, harvested from asteroids. Mining is an absolutely essential part of EVE,
modules, ammunition and more. Most industrialists spend a lot of time and for many people, a great way to make some serious isk. Mining
running missions (aka quests) to improve their corporate and faction in a frigate or cruiser won’t see great profits, but once you step up to
standing, reduce factory wastage and to allow the convenient placement mining barges, the sheer bulk you can harvest is amazing. Team up with
of a Player Owned Station (POS). a support fleet and an Orca, and you’ll be clearing out ‘roid belts in no
time. Drones and shields are essential.
It is for me? Hours of thumb-twiddling will see you with a ton of ore that can be sold,
Start a career in Industry and it can take months to reap rewards. refined or made into ships. The money is okay, but not great. Teaming up
It is for the patient, far-seeing, enterprising player. You’ll spend with a fleet of other Corp miners helps a lot. Great for the semi-AFK player.
plenty of time mining asteroids, hauling goods and looking at
spreadsheets. PL ANE TARY INTER ACTION
Newly introduced in the recent Tyrannis expansion, Planetary
What do I need? Interaction (PI) is yet to be a proven enterprise. No longer seeded onto
Somewhat ironically, some of the best time-investments you can the market via NPCs, PI products are currently in a state of flux, with
give your industrialist character are good social skills. Building prices and profit margins bouncing all over the place. With nearly three
up your Connections skill early on saves you time while mission weeks training time required to become properly effective, the time
running, to get your all-important standings up with NPC factions. investment is fairly steep and at this stage, the returns are minimal.
Good standings will grant better access to more rewarding R&D Over the next few months and beyond, we will likely see PI becoming
agents, result in less waste when using Factories, and will ultimately quite a cottage industry, where players can set their colonies, start their
allow you to place a POS in hi-sec systems. Sound understanding of extractors and factories, and continue with their other pursuits.
how the market works is also essential. A good strategy is to set Time spent streamlining your colony for maximum efficiency can
buy-orders for minerals and let others do the mining for you, or allow you to squeeze in one more extractor or processor. However, until
create sell-orders to off-load your manufactured goods for profit. CCP revises the mechanics of the PI process, it is very much a click-fest
that has to be repeated time and time again.

CONSTRUCTION
Everything requires a blueprint to be built, and blueprints
are expensive. Brand new ones can be bought on the market,
but you’ll need to spend time improving them before they
can become profitable. Material Efficiency and Productivity
Efficiency levels determine how long, and how wasteful,
production times will be. By researching these, you can
reduce the numbers, making the Blueprint Original (BPO)
more cost effective. The problem is, most research slots at
public stations are booked solid a month or more ahead. The
pure industrialist ends requiring a POS, where they have
unlimited access for manufacturing, researching, copying
and (hopefully) inventing Tech II Blueprint Copies (BPC).
BPOs are expensive, and will require teamwork and fund-
pooling from an entire Corp to secure the investment. Starting
smaller on rigs, modules and Cruisers is a smart move, and
will allow you to work your way towards the top-dollar items.

W H O A M I? It’s not the ship, but who’s inside that counts

CA LDA RI GA LLENTE
Blue/grey and industrial design, they rely on Organic and green, Gal ships are close-
shield technology for defense. Very heavily in fighters that use armor and Hybrid
focused on Missiles, they also give bonuses weapons. They are also very strong
to Hybrid weapons and Electronic Warfare. drone boats.
M A JOR TR A DING HUB M A JOR TR A DING HUB
Jita IV – Moon IV, Caldari Navy Dodixi IX – Moon 20 – Federation Navy
Assembly Plant Assembly Plant

MINMITA R A M A RR
Rusty and angular, these fast ships Golden and stylised, these
can make use of both armor or powerful armor tanking ships
shields, and mainly use Projectile make use of Energy weapons
weaponry and Missiles. and drones.
M A JOR TR A DING HUB M A JOR TR A DING HUB
Rens VI – Moon 8 – Brutor Tribe Amarr VIII – Emperor Family
Treasury Academy

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 C OMB AT
Unlike many MMOs out there, combat in EVE carries true risk. You may
well be immortal, but the beautiful ship you spent your fortune fitting
out isn’t. Lose that and it could send you broke. “Only fly what you can
afford to lose” is a motto many swear by, and for good reason. Whether
you’re fighting mission enemies, gate campers or a hostile corporation,
you can and will lose ships.

Is it for me?
Combat is for everyone in some form or another. Industrialists need it
for Standings boosts, explorers use it to clear an asteroid belt of rats –
even miners need to defend themselves. Every EVE player should learn
the fundamentals of combat, if only for self-preservation, but PVP is for
the purist – the adrenaline junkie.

What do I need? the reality is that piracy has arguably the highest skill and patience
By far the most skill-intensive field, being a combat pilot requires requirement of any career, with the exception of capital warfare. Flying
a strong focus on both offense and defense. There are a multitude the best and most versatile ships in the game, these lo-sec hunters are
of ways of inflicting hurt on your foe, be it direct weapons such as essentially adrenaline junkies.
missiles and lasers, or the more indirect ways, such as electronic Ironically, pirates possibly spend more time waiting than any other
warfare and energy neutralisation. career. Experts in probing, scanning and attack, pirates more often than not
Likewise, defense can be as simple as having more armour or hunt in packs, either actively searching or gate camping. If terrorising the
shields, being so quick that nothing can hit you, or having teammates spacelanes appeals, then piracy may well be for you.
repairing you remotely. EVE certainly doesn’t limit you in your choices, However, with so much time spent waiting for some helpless victim
but the best advice is to make one choice and stick to it. Specialise and to come along, piracy can be exceedingly boring. Of course, this is
you will dominate. countered by the intense adrenaline high you get when entering combat.
After a few kills, your Security Status will likely reach the point where
you can no longer enter hi-sec without being shot on sight, making
other activities difficult, if not impossible. Pirates will often have a
second account generating credits to pay for lost ships, as PVP doesn’t
always reap cash rewards.

P VP
One-on-one combat is a somewhat rare thing in EVE. More often
than not you’ll find yourself jumped by a small fleet of enemies, or
have a large fleet warp in to back them up. EVE really shines when
working as a team and combat is where it teamwork shines brightest.
There’s nothing quite like warping through null-sec in a fleet of allied
Battleships and support Cruisers, with Covert Ops frigates scouting
the way ahead for you.
Fleet warfare is chaotic, terrifying and utterly exciting. Interdiction
bubbles, Stealth Bombers, Carriers and Titans - you never know
How can I specialise? what you’ll encounter, but it’s bound to be spectacular. This here is
MISSIONS EVE’s endgame.
A whole lot more predictable than PVP, running missions can be It’ll be a while before you see this stuff, as Alliance warfare is very
one of the most profitable activities in the game. As a newbie, grinding much about politics. Although it’s all player-driven, those who call
through lower-level missions to edge your way up to Level 3 content the shots have been there for many years - for the newbie there’s
can be soul-destroying. Save yourself the misery by teaming up and possibly too much to absorb to enjoy, let alone survive.
tagging along with Corp mates running higher-level missions. They
are still very much “go here, kill everyone” or “move this from here to
there” but the reward is in the money you pull from mission rewards,
bounties, salvage and Loyalty Points.
Weapon and defense skills will be key to your success, but don’t neglect
your social skills. These will help you level faster, get better rewards and
gain access to better agents (quest givers) earlier on. Be careful though
- killing ships belonging to Empire factions (Amarr, Gallente etc) will
result in lower standings with them. Do this enough times, and you’ll be
shot on sight if you enter their controlled regions.

PIR ACY
Criminals and thieves, griefers and killers – pirates are a fact of life
in EVE. Yarr! If a life of crime and destruction appeal, lo-sec will be your
ideal hunting grounds. While some see these players as bottom-dwellers,

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CORPOR ATIONS
Aussie Corps are plentiful - there’s no
real shortage of them, and none that are
particularly dominant. The best way to
find Corps for your timezone is to speak
up in the Recruitment channel, and
shop around. Most will focus on certain
gamestyles, be it PVP, wormhole life or
Empire industry. Speak with someone
from the Corp to see if they might be what
you’re after and submit your application.

9 8

Ship Fitting Guide 3. MEDIUM SLOTS

The mid slots are used primarily for
are. Use Hardeners and Damage Controls
to improve your resists, and Shield
CPU and Grid, thereby allowing you
greater flexibility in fitting more of what
Fitting square pegs into round holes
Shield and Capacitor modules, but also Extenders and Armour Plates to increase you want. It’s like overclocking your
for a wide range of utilities such as your buffer. spaceship!
1. RIGS
propulsion units and EWAR modules.
This is where you fit your expensive rigs
6. SENSOR DATA 8. LOW SLOTS
to boost your ship’s capabilities. Limited
4. CAPACITOR Your targeting range, the number of More low slots, and she’s a natural
to two or three rigs, you’ll need to make
The more load you put on your ship, the possible simultaneous targets, speed armour tanker. Armour plates,
sure they count. Once fitted, they cannot
more capacitor it will use. With clever and your ship’s agility are shown here. Hardeners, Repairers and Damage
be removed without destroying them.
fitting, you should be able to have all These can all be modified by fitting Controls – these are often the essentials
modules running permanently, meaning certain modules, both positively and for active armour tanking. However,
2. HIGH SLOTS
your ship is cap stable. negatively. the low slots are also used for weapon
Guns, Launcher and Mining Lasers, high
upgrades and Shield Power Relays.
slots are generally for direct interaction.
5. TANK 7. CPU AND POWERGRID
They often use the most capacitor and
Showing the level of resistances for both Skills like Electronics and Engineering 9. CARGO BAY/DRONE BAY
CPU, so be judicious in what you fit.
Shield and Armour, here you can see should be trained to level 5 as soon as That pretty much sums it up.
where your strengths and weaknesses possible to get the maximum available

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 E ssential R esources

EVElopedia EVEHQ EVEMon Battleclinic DOTLAN EVE Maps EVE Survival EVE Central
wiki.eveonline.com evehq.battleclinic.com evemon.battleclinic.com www.battleclinic.com evemaps.dotlan.net eve-survival.org www. eve-central.com
An extensive resource Great site to assist with Excellent program A good site to familiarise Excellent 2D map The holy bible for Mission Great market watch
centre and wiki skill planning and ship for skill planning. yourself with common listing all locations and Runners – a blow-by- site. No tickers,
fitting. Includes a great Maximise your regime ship fitting styles, but resources blow breakdown of unfortunately
wormhole guide note that it is not gospel what to expect in most
available missions

E X P LOR AT ION
Gas clouds, hidden asteroid belts, combat sites, archaeological
ruins and wormholes are what you’re likely to find with some scan
probes. Tech II construction parts, blueprints, rare salvage and a
wealth of minerals are all out there for the taking.
The ultimate test for the explorer is wormhole diving. The danger
from the sleepers found there is only matched by the unknown –
with no reliable way to know if you are alone or not, the potential for
being jumped is to be taken very seriously.
There’s no one-ship-fits-all for exploring, but for finding the sites
to begin with, you’ll ideally want a Covert Ops Tech II frigate with a
cloak fitted. The skills you’ll need range from hacking to cloaking,
but the four astrometrics skills will be your most used.

Is it for me?
If the thrill of the unknown appeals, then yes! Exploring has almost
entirely random outcomes. The reality is
that nine times out of ten you’ll get nothing,
but if you’re patient and methodical, that
tenth time may make it all worth it.

What do I need?
A sense of adventure, a lot of patience
and a probing ship. One of the faction
frigates that offers bonuses to scan probe
strength is a great way to start. Only a
dedicated Tech II Covert Ops ship with
Gravity Capacitor rigs will give you the
strength to lock down the most difficult
– and most rewarding – of sites.

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Glossary
T R A DING
0.0
Lawless space with no security
rating. You will die here. Buy low, sell high. It sounds simple
but is difficult to master. Do well, and
BPO you’ll make money faster than any other
Blueprint Original. Can
career. EVE’s dynamic marketplace is
be used to manufacture
something infinitely, or create almost entirely player-driven, and has
single-use copies of itself. a true supply and demand economy. The
four Empire factions’ major trade hubs will
Can Flipper often have the best prices for ships, fittings
Some who legally steals and items, and if you’re prepared to haul
another player’s item by baiting
the goods, you’ll often fetch a better price
them into shooting first.
at the smaller regional hubs.
Carebear Hauling goods ten jumps for a decent
A miner or a mission runner – profit is a great idea, but if the return
someone who avoids engaging trip is with an empty hull you’re missing
in PVP combat. a great opportunity. Keep your eyes open
for potential trade routes, set up your
Deadspace spare alts in likely areas to watch the
An instanced area of space
accessible only through an
market. A 10% markup across the board
acceleration gate. will see you prosper, but don’t be afraid of
trying for massive profits.
Gate Camp Always check the mean base price of
A group of combat ships a product at a good hub, and so long as
waiting at a jump-gate you aren’t buying much higher than this,
prepared to engage anyone
you’ll almost always be able to turn a
who passes through.
profit. Like combat, every player should
POS have a sound understanding of how
Player Owned Station. A semi- market trading works. you know you’ve made another sale is a small
permanent structure that can Until you have figured out what goods are in high victory every time. Predominantly sitting in-station
be placed by players in orbit demand, sell orders can be hit and miss. You’ll watching figures and charts, this is an accountant’s
around a moon. A staging area
often get undersold by small margins, beaten by wet dream.
for large corp operations.
constant price-watchers. If your opposition keeps
PLE X edging your prices out, it’s often best to choose What do I need?
Pilot’s License Extension, a some different products, or relocate to another A generous cargo hold is a great start. Many of
game-time card that can be area. The Contracts section is a non-regulated the frigates and cruisers with mining bonuses will
bought with in-game cash. forum for trade, and as such, there’s room for have large cargo capacities, and with Expanded
the opportunistic and morally questionable trader Cargo Hold modules fitted, you’ll often have more
Rat here. If you can keep aware of scammers, you can space than you’ll need. An Industrial hauler will
Short for Pirate. Hostile NPCs
that inhabit asteroid belts,
land some very good deals here, and it’s the only be needed for the big or bulky items, so getting
providing a combat challenge place to sell your Loyalty Point purchases. this skill up to at least level three is essential. The
for miners. better your corporate standings, the less tax you
Is it for me? pay per transaction, and with the Trade, Accounting
Safe Spot No mining, no combat and no direct interaction and Broker Relations skills, this is reduced to a
A bookmarked location not – pure market trading is very much a hands-off negligible level. Observation, time and study will be
near, or directly between, any
pursuit. However, seeing your wallet light up letting your best tools of your trade.
astronomical objects. Use
these to escape from PVP.

Sec Status
The Security Status level as E V E Rewards
issued by CONCORD, applied The very best thing you can do as a new
to players and systems. Lower
player is to get out there and try new things.
is more dangerous.
Join a Corp and tag along with their high-
Tackling level missions, their gate camps or their
Use of a warp scrambler to forays into wormholes and null-sec. Internet
disable a ship’s warp drive, spaceships are serious business, but don’t
and a stasis webifier to throttle forget to have fun. Ask questions, join in and
the target ship’s speed, look for opportunities, because this game
allowing for greater damage
won’t spoon feed you.
to be dealt.
She’s a harsh mistress, that’s for sure, but EVE
Tech II gives back as much as you put in. Screw up and
Rare, technologically advanced you’ll know about it immediately. But persevere
items that require additional and you will be rewarded in ways no other game
skills to use. can offer. Be bold, be creative and never be afraid
to try something new or different.

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