As per the title I feel that since getting into Eve a week or so ago I’ve just been skirting around the edges - which is fine, and understandable, but I’ve come to a point where I have a few questions and the in-game chat, useful as it is, isn’t really the place for more in depth questions and answers.
I’ve done a bit of everything in the first week of starting. I am up to around 2.5m SP with a combination of bonuses and skill injectors. I’ve been exploring, which I do enjoy, mining, less so, and as a former Ultima Online player, I am hoping that the PVP is going to be the main area that I will ultimately want to get into.
So a few questions:
Are the estimates for ISK generation that I have seen bandied around quite generous? I am, for example, done some Exploration around 0.2 sectors and combat sites in the similar places, along with some Tranquil and Calm Abyssal runs and some FW stuff. The defensive FW seems very boring but I just did it to get an idea of how things work, but once I had bought the ammo to upgrade for LPs, and paid the extra ISK required, I ended up with around 3m ISK profit from about an hour or so of FW’ing once I had bought ships, gone over to the correct area etc. Are the profits listed just when you are solely chaining the missions?
Is Eve University still something worth doing? I have seen older posts saying about how useful it is, but it also seems extremely regimented. I guess this is a wider question with corps. Again, from previous MMOs i understand that these things have to be led but I won’t necessarily be able to commit to a certain night or time every week due to family commitments. Is this something generally frowned upon?
I have uploaded a build for a cruiser that I seem to be struggling with in level 2+ missions which I believe should be a piece of cake. Is this build substandard or is it likely to be a ‘learn to play’ issue? Or perhaps I dont have the SPs to be in cruisers yet? I’ve also listed my skills to date:
[Rupture, Roopi One]
Gyrostabilizer II
Gyrostabilizer II
Gyrostabilizer II
Photonic Upgraded Co-Processor
IFFA Compact Damage Control
Large Shield Booster II
Medium Cap Battery II
Fleeting Compact Stasis Webifier
50MN Quad LiF Restrained Microwarpdrive
220mm Vulcan AutoCannon II
220mm Vulcan AutoCannon II
220mm Vulcan AutoCannon II
220mm Vulcan AutoCannon II
TE-2100 Ample Light Missile Launcher
Medium Capacitor Control Circuit I
Medium Projectile Burst Aerator I
Medium Capacitor Control Circuit I
Hobgoblin I x6
Inferno Auto-Targeting Light Missile I x100
Phased Plasma M x1200
Scourge Auto-Targeting Light Missile I x372
Barrage M x640
Depleted Uranium M x1452
Your income grows more or less automatically in your learning process. Don’t grind, just have fun.
“Doing” EVE Uni? I get much information from their documentation, and everybody can join the corp and attend courses, but it’s up to you, just try if you feel attracted.
There’s some inconsistencies in that fit: Tier 2 cannons, but no T2 DC? T1 Drones? Don’t mix guns, a Nos might suit better. Looks like your cap is tight because you rely on active shield and MWD. Level 2 Missions should still be easily completed with that fit.
Your skills show some gaps, e.g. gunnery3 is hardly enough if you fit T2 guns. Magic14 actually help to run a ship smoothly (btw EVE Uni link, hehe).
Edit: If you want to fly a ship, skill its class at least to 3 before undocking (in this case: Minmatar Cruiser 3), it’s just a few hours skilling, but worth the time. These T2 Medium guns take a whale of time instead…
You will be surprised: Your cap will look much better as soon as you fit an AB instead.
One tiny launcher won’t help much, that’s a job for your drones.
You’ll find everyone has opinions and different ways of doing things. I’ll throw in mine for you to ignore.
I know the logic of the light missile launcher - it’s worth it if you go for s rapid light - using the spare high slot on a Minmatar gunship for more DPS isn’t uncommon, but moke it worth it. And don’t use auto-targeting missiles, their damage is poor compared to even standard missiles.
Trading the MWD for an Afterburner will give you the fitting space. It will also increase the size of the capacitor - MWDs have a penalty to capacitor size. It’ll probably mean you can ditch the Battery and fit a tracking computer. Better, fit some form of shield resistance module. The better the resistance, the slower your shields will be worn down and the less you need to pulse the booster. You may be able to drop to a meta T1 booster. This saves fitting space (a downside of T2 modules os they are demanding to fit).
You are really suffering with stacking penalties in that fit - more of the same bonus is penalised. Three Gyrostabilizers is probably the limit - add in the rate of fire rig to the three rate of fire gyro bonuses, and well, that rig is doing very little for you. Stick a shield rig in in place of it - either to do increase resistance, or one to reduce capacitor use of the booster (I think one does that).
Minmatar Cruiser Level IV is worth it - those hull bonuses help (especially as they don’t stack as I recall).
If you are having problems tracking, and artillery tracks badly to start with then try lower calibre medium artillery turrets - trade a bit of range for better tracking. Or swap a Gyrostabilizer for a tracking enhancer - absolute DPS means nothing if you can’t apply it.
Anyway, hopefully there’s something useful in those ramblings. Minmatar isn’t my area (I’m an Amarrian pilot) but I have flown them.
Level 3 is a quick sweet spot. People laughed at me years ago when I asked about skill stuff. Get the Minmatar cruiser up to 3. Going from 1 to 3 will increase your DPS (damage per second) by 5 + 5 for each level.
Get the other important stuff to 3, since 3 happens quickly.
Somewhere there’s a magic 14 list that aims at optimal levels the quickest.
For defense getting some Tactical Shield Manipulation would be good. Shields are leaky without it. You’re using a shield booster, so throw in some Shield Compensation, though NOT the ones that are particular to a damage type (Explosive, Kinetic, EM, and Thermal) since they have a specific and limited module application.