Guide: Skill Planning

Given some of the recent posts around the skill system in Eve, and some discussions in game with Corp members, I am going to propose a boring, but highly useful initial skill plan for new players who have no real idea what they want to do.  This list also focuses on Flying in Space skills for a basic combat oriented pilot.  I am assuming a new player is not going to immediately decide to go the industry or science based career paths. I’ll list these in a general order of training.  A key note:  Training to your racial frigate and gun type of choice is always a good first day of Eve approach, as it will let you actually do something in game.  It may also be worth training a few levels in the racial cruiser and medium turret or missile  too, but that is by no means an absolute.  It just gives you a few more ships to play with early on.  Also, playing through the tutorial missions will get you many of these skillbooks for free, so it is worth sending a day or three doing those missions! Core Fitting SkillsThese are horribly boring, but are highly useful Continue Reading →

Blog Banter 32: Mechanics and Education

Seismic Stan occasionally posts questions to the Eve blogging community.  His most recent is: “A quick view of the Eve Online forums can always find someone complaining about being suicide ganked, whining about some scam they fell for or other such tears. With the Goons’ Ice Interdiction claiming a vast amount of mining ships, there were calls for an “opt out of PvP” option.  Should this happen? Should people be able to opt-out of PvP in Eve Online. Should CONCORD prevent crime rather than just handing out justice after the event? Or do the hi-sec population already have too much protection from the scum and villainy that inhabits the game?” Seismic Stan asked us if there should be a way to remove non-consensual PvP from Eve, which I will take to mean, should there be parts of High Sec that do not allow non-consenual PvP.  I cannot think of another way to reframe the question that makes sense.  So we are either talking about PvP free islands or a PvP free High Sec.  I vehemently disagree with the removeal of PvP in high sec.  I would cautiously support development of very small islands of low value, PvP-free High Sec, but Continue Reading →

Wormhole Fun

I have been having some pretty awesome luck with exploration within a jump of my home system lately.  In the last few days I have found multiple Radar sites with about 20 mil of loot (in my opinion these are the easiest isk/time ratio in the game when the streak is on), I found a nice Sansha site with a 90m mod, and we found a nice little C1 that was inhabited. I go in, make some safes, scan down the sites and investigate things.  I get on the horn and call in some backup to clear out a few sites.  Jump clones are activated.  We end up with 2 combat sites outside of D-Scan of the people living in this hole.  There are at least 2 guys logged in flying around in a Tengu and Loki.  Fun!  The best WH sites are those you are stealing out from under the “owners”.  We make sure the warp bubbles are not on our warp lines to the sites.  We proceed to find out two Drakes can clear sleeper sites, but it takes a while. Apparently Sleeper NPCs know how to use EFT unlike the Empire rats, or they are just using Continue Reading →

Failing at (Internet Spaceship) Life

I saved up and trained up over the last month or so, and finally got myself into the ship I wanted to fly since I saw one in action, the Tengu.  My fit was a rather standard mission running fit, as I recently moved to a new section of Empire and have been grinding standing for various characters and stocking up on the isk while I decide on my next move in Eve.  My fit ran along these lines: [Tengu, Mission] Tengu Defensive – Amplification NodeTengu Electronics – Dissolution SequencerTengu Engineering – Augmented Capacitor ReservoirTengu Offensive – Accelerated Ejection BayTengu Propulsion – Fuel Catalyst Heavy Missile Launcher II, Scourge Heavy MissileHeavy Missile Launcher II, Scourge Heavy MissileHeavy Missile Launcher II, Scourge Heavy MissileHeavy Missile Launcher II, Scourge Heavy MissileHeavy Missile Launcher II, Scourge Heavy MissileHeavy Missile Launcher II, Scourge Heavy Missile Republic Fleet 10MN AfterburnerCaldari Navy Shield Boost AmplifierPithum C-Type Medium Shield BoosterInvulnerability Field IIInvulnerability Field IIPhoton Scattering Field II Caldari Navy Ballistic Control SystemCaldari Navy Ballistic Control SystemCaldari Navy Ballistic Control SystemPower Diagnostic System II Medium Capacitor Control Circuit IIMedium Capacitor Control Circuit IIMedium Capacitor Control Circuit I As far as Tengus go, this is not a terribly expensive Continue Reading →