I’ll assume this is the killmail we’re talking about:
A few things to notice:
The fit doesn’t look bad but is low on HP (10k EHP)
MWD + cloak trick
Attacker was (unsurprisingly) a Tornado
One question: you had MWD and cloak. What happened? How did the Tornado manage to lock and shoot you? Did something go wrong when you applied the MWD cloak trick?
Anyway, last time when I hauled a batch of 500M PI to Jita in an Epithal I did two things different than you did, and didn’t get killed by the Tornado at the gate, even though it was looking funny at me. I’m not saying my way to do it is better (or that it will keep you alive!), but I’ll share it anyway in case you or someone else is looking for inspiration.
I did it in multiple trips of 100M each
My fit had 37k EHP instead of 10k EHP.
For reference, a single Tornado can shoot you for a large amount of damage in one volley, which is why they are often used to shoot haulers at Jita gates. The amount a single Tornado can shoot at once happens to be just around the amount of EHP your ship had: 10k.
[Epithal, Epithal 37k EHP high sec]
Damage Control II
Reactor Control Unit II
Reactor Control Unit II
Reactor Control Unit II
Large Shield Extender II
Large Shield Extender II
Multispectrum Shield Hardener II
Multispectrum Shield Hardener II
[Empty High slot]
[Empty High slot]
Medium Core Defense Field Extender I
Medium Core Defense Field Extender I
Medium Core Defense Field Extender I
With good skills you can fly this. With lesser skills you may need to swap some of the T2 mods for compact versions but that should still give you plenty of EHP to survive the volley of a single Tornado.
Keep in mind that this fit doesn’t use the MWD cloak trick to survive, so you are only safe as long as your cargo is worth less than the amount of ships needed to chew through 37k EHP. Unlike the MWD cloak trick fit you used, this fit will be more reliable as the main defence doesn’t fail when another ship spawns within 2000m of yours.
The option also exists to use a courier contract to pay someone else to carry the goods and if they don’t make it, collect collateral. Corporations like PushX and Redfrog (at least used to) specialize in hauling contracts so you neither have to do the work nor take the risk.
Jita is a convenient market though if you want to dump stuff or buy a full fit in one station.
Just take some precautions, like a character that isn’t at war, a ship that isn’t carrying too much, enough hitpoints on your ship that a single tornado doesn’t pop you, a hidden local chat and you’ll be fine.
@zanlo If you want to do anything meaningful in EVE you have to join a corporation or be ready to spend a lot of cash and lose a lot ships. That’s just the way EVE is designed. It’s a corporations/alliances game, massively multiplayer with alliances wars and faction warfare between empires. If you can’t be on Discord or Teamspeak at least once a week for a few hours I would suggest Elite Dangerous.
EVE can be played just fine solo, even with a single account, you just have to know what you are doing. Granted it will be harder than just joining a corp and getting friends…
Doesn’t look like OP is just fine to me. Unless my reading comprehension fails me he seems upset. How many of these lessons, how many ships and isk would he have to go through before the evidence finally dawns on him and he either barters time with his wife or slip back into Alpha and lose interest altogether?
EVE was designed with players cooperation and rivalry in mind. Solo pilots are an accidental anachronism.
I read it from the poster.
Small steps into learning with a corporation, even smaller steps solo… and moar tears, too. Let’s not forget that.
I think OP hauling half a billion’s worth of materials is insane to begin with, let alone solo.
I suspect he thought he had a cheeky angle. Then figured out the hard way there is no angle in eve. Had he paid as much attn to transport as pi, he should have done well.
If hauling FIVE HUNDRED MILLION’s worth of stuff, “two months of work” he precised, doesn’t phase him into some kind of alertness where the idea of precautions are highly recommended and even, in a PvP game: obvious, then he either didn’t care that much about the time spent or the materials lost.
The tutorial starts with a station blowing the hell up even before you got the time to board your new shiny ship. Then you have to attack some baddies and you die defending some strangers.
If that doesn’t tell him to pay attention and plan ahead on all fronts then hopefully that gank did.
@zanlo Actually, I think this is the kind of new player we should try to support. He came outta the gate with a better than avg idea for most of the posts we see! He hid his complaint in a warning to others instead of whining. And he did put up a short fight only to be overwhelmed on the forums.
Not a bad start for someone new if you think about it. I hope he posts again and tries to pick up the pieces…
Don’t sell only one product. You’ve produced many T2 byproducts, make money!
Sell most stuff in Perimeter. Many buy orders work there, too, and if you set up sell orders, you’re free to chose the spot.
Don’t fly what you can’t afford to lose. If a loss of 500m ISK is too much to get over without nervous breakdown, don’t put it all into one vulnerable little ship.
I don’t know any PI player who doesn’t lose an Epital from time to time. It’s part of the calculation.
Concerning the headline:
“If your new to Eve - Don’t” do PI.
Get into the game, learn basics until it’s time for an Alt, train this Alt well (all PI skills + Gallente hauler up to V) and earn money while your main char can do whatever you like in the meantime.
I hope he can negotiate for at least three hours a week on EVE so he can join a corporation, participate and rebuild his PI operation with protection added.
But I have 14 yrs experience to guide me.
And that my fried is how you learn! Solo or in a corp. And a corp is not an all powerful cover usually.