Love the idea of EVE. Hate how PvP/PvE feels. What am I doing wrong?

New Citizens Q&A
1

Hey! New player here (2–3 days in), but I’ve been doing a lot of reading, watching videos, and diving into EVE content overall. I’m super excited about the game and trying to get some of my friends into it too.

We all really love the idea of a sandbox where players drive the game, there’s real risk and consequence, and creativity actually matters. What really draws us in is the PvP aspect, but I’m having a hard time selling it to them — and honestly, to myself a little too. So far, they feel like early PvP looks like “orbit + shoot” and not much else. I’ve read about concepts like kiting, manual piloting, turret tracking, sig radius, debuffs, etc. — so I know the depth is there. But we’re struggling to actually feel it. And if I can’t show them something exciting or meaningful early on, I’m afraid I’ll lose them. I’m usually the one who gets deep into games, explains mechanics, introduces board games, etc. I feel like I could 100% fall in love with EVE, and some of my friends might too — but if the PVP doesn’t land for us, we’re left (in our opinion) with a bunch of fascinating systems that feel a bit grindy or passive. So I wanted to ask the community:

Is low-level PVP really as shallow as it seems at first? How did it “click” for you?

What’s the best way to introduce new players to EVE’s combat and make it feel exciting?

Any tips or “aha” moments I could recreate with them?

Thanks in advance for any thoughts — I’d really love to make this click for them (and for me too)!

2

Welcome!

While I don’t have the best way to introduce PvP to new players, I can share what made it click for me.

As a start:

So far, they feel like early PvP looks like “orbit + shoot” and not much else.

This is the EVE equivalent of playing a first person shooter and saying “PvP looks like pressing my forward button and clicking to shoot players”.

Is it part of the game? Yes, but the PvP part is broader than that and once you have movement and shooting down the game gets fun.

What made EVE PvP click for me were fleet fights. I like the cooperative play where people have different roles where some call targets, others tackle targets, some deal damage and some being heals.

I liked being healer in other games as well and found this same role in EVE.

It’s also fun to be tackle for the fleet, see someone run off and catch them on the other side of the gate they tried to take to run, until the rest of the group arrives to finish them off.

I also like the hunting, looking for a player who is harassing my group’s infraactructure, figuring out where he stages from, which characters they use, which ship fits and coming up with ideas to counter them.

Counters. That’s another big part of EVE as gameplay often is rock-paper-scizzors and a well-informed and prepared player can bring the right ship and fit to counter others. This makes knowledge and information gathering a part of PvP.

If you know what your enemy is doing and flying you can come up with all sorts of solutions to counter their stratrgy from ECM jams that target their logistics ship to dscan-immune ships that can sneak up on someone who relies on dscan for their safety.

PvP in EVE is broad but in the end it comes down to moving ships in weapon range and killing it before it can get away.

And yes, you can use ‘orbit + shoot’ to do so.

My own intro to PvP was in a null sec grouo that made it possible for me to learn fleet combat early, but for a group like you and your friends it may be easier to form a small group with different ships of different roles (fast tackle, logi, ewar and some dps) and go on a roam outside HS space to see if you can catch and kill anyone.

I have no recommendations where to go, I rarely do so myself but maybe others know.

Keep your ships cheap, you’ll probably die a couple of times.

Have fun! :wink:

1 Like
3

PvP is more than fighting. If you want to avoid to be killed, the art of not getting caught is what you have to learn.
But all of EVE is learning, you will see after a while which subtle changes in attack and defence can change the results entirely. It just takes time and some commitment.

4

Well, it can be. I have to say that in most cases, EVE PvP hasn’t ‘clicked’ for me. The primary reason for this is that I’ve enjoyed the PvP of other games so much more, that spending the time it takes to find satisfying PvP in EVE seems like a waste. (Since I can load the other games up and be in interesting PvP much faster.)

A couple things I’d recommend that ‘almost’ clicked for me:

  • As Gerard says, find ‘small gang’ opportunistic fleet hunting to try out
  • Explore the different methods of low-level PvP to see if one of them works better for you. A great resource for this is the Faction Warfare Yearbook 2024
  • Just yolo some affordable ships into crazy situations and see what happens
  • Search some ‘solo PvP’ and ‘small gang PvP’ guides and videos to see what interests you

A key difference (for me) is that EVE PvP is less about “controlling the fight”, which is what I enjoy in my other games. Eg. maneuvering, aiming, moving to take cover or expose less vulnerable parts, getting in position for a good shot, etc. It’s fast, punchy, controlly, tactical, visceral.

EVE is more about “controlling the circumstances under which the fight occurs”. A common quote in EVE is that “most battles are decided before the first shot is fired” and “if you find yourself in a fair fight, somebody screwed up”.

It’s more strategic level battle planning, where deciding what you fly, where you take it, and what targets you’ll engage is half the battle. The next part is initiating the fight under favorable circumstances, then limiting the target’s ability to escape, controlling the range, and balancing the module usage and cap so you deal the damage and survive while the target doesn’t.

Once you have some practice there are a few techniques to master (eg. ‘slingshotting’) that can help in those tight moments. Review some fight videos and see if what’s there lights any fires for you.

Hope this helps, enjoy your PvP!

5

My “aha” moment:

I was doing a lot of things wrong in game, but having fun…in my own newbie way.

I was new. I was flying solo. I’d scouted a gate before flying my, what was for me at the time, expensive, ship through and I got caught by a roaming gang in low sec.

I was “zoomed” in so I could see my ship “close” up.

Well, I got tackled, four ships. One of the ships was a thorax, just like my new “shiny” ship, and this guy’s thorax, on screen, rose up behind my ship, like an orca breeching water. Time seemed suspended.

I was absolutely mesmerized. It was so majestic. Two ships, one slightly off center horizontal, the other, the “orca” behind.

And then, the explosion. Pretty lights everywhere.

The guys (the gang) struck up a conversation with me afterwards and asked me to join them. They were great.

But, that image, of those two ships superimposed…has never left me, :slight_smile:

2 Likes
6

EVE is pretty much the opposite of what the instant gratification crowd prefers, it is not a MOBA nor Counter-Strike or anything such where you hop into a match, pew-pew, have your fun right away without much preparation then sign off.

As such if you and/or your friends lack the patience then probably it is better to look for something else because in the end you’ll probably just end up being disappointed and quit, meaning you’ll just waste your time and effort.

:thinking:

7

PVP in Eve-Online is not just shooting ships. PVP in Eve-Online consists but not limited to Politics, Market, Heist, Scamming, Espionage, Backstabbing your friends, Shooting ships, etc.

1 Like
8

There is no wrong way to play. Eve Online is not everyone’s PvP / PvE game. It draws in a lot of us senior citizens who have AARP subscriptions and worry about their social security check arrival. Old age takes a toll on motor reflexes, I don’t play Halo any more, and I seldom get on with Apex Legends either. It is rare when you can find a game with a strategic PvP game mechanic.

So let’s talk about some PvE strategy I have done on my own. When I was living inside a wormhole for 6 months, I developed my alpha strategy to survive the NPC rats in there. Players are not as scary in wormholes as long as you don’t get into chat, they seldom know you are there. Of course, you also seldom know, if they are present as well. One of the “big bads” in WH gas sites is the 5 sentry turrets in the Ordinary Perimeter Reservoir. I was able to devise a method to remove them from the site. Battles become more like thinking puzzles.

Goals are important, you can’t just mindlessly wonder through blasting on ships… well you can, but then the game has no shelf life. Some folks always point out the Epic Arc, but I like to set my own agendas. I lived in a wormhole station and lived in a wormhole without a station, both worked. Then I moved out and gas mine in low sec. Now I am training new alphas how to mine. I will figure out my next goal in the meantime.

Some players come here expecting to fly using WASD keys. You can do that to some extent. The keys are the arrow keys in the ALT+3 first person view. But the ships steer like a cow compared to using the overview ( computer control ) where you lock your targets, hit the approach button. I don’t just orbit and shoot my targets on my PvP character.

Before You PVP

  • I always recommend polishing up your skills. You can do this over time or buy the skill injectors.
  • Test ship builds and fits in Abyssal Space ( T0 filaments ), 3 room space dungeons. The man in abyssal space tutorials is Aceface.
  • Once you get skilled in PVE, then try PVP. Ganking miners and haulers is not PVP, since they are unarmed vessels you are not learning anything. I suggest you seek out others you deem to be your equals in low and null sec.

It is strange you brought up board games. The Icelandic company CCP got its funding making a popular board game over 20 years ago. They wanted to design this game but lack the financial backing, “Danger Game” sold 10,000 copies and they also took part in a popular children’s television show called “Lazy Town”.

Stay alert and fly safe o7

9

PVP in EVE is much more complicated indeed, still learning.

10

Watching videos and reading tutorials will only take you so far. If you really want to experience pvp and learn how it works you need to do it. Thankfully there is no shortage of enthusiastic groups who want to get new players involved and show them the ropes with no commitment.

Neither PvP nor PvE is as simple as orbit + shoot outside of low level missions. Dont let that give you the wrong picture of what combat is like.