So you’re just starting, and want to reach that first billion. Well, I’ll list a few different things you can do to reach that illustrious figure. Everything I’m stating is in the in-game tutorial and on various websites that I’d imagine could give a deeper well of knowledge. The majority of these things are repetitive and require skills at 3-4 which vary by time, but should be sufficient to give you enough skill point spread to try various activities you may come to like in EVE. I’ve found, though, that as with anything you only have a finite amount of resources—be that time or money. Learning what you’d like to specialize in early creates a long term plan, and higher skills bring more money, because you can use better equipment.
First Steps
Stay out of low sec or anywhere less than 0.6 unless you want an increased chance at PVP combat. I haven’t committed to PVP a whole lot because it’s not probable that I would win solo fights as a new pilot.
The first activity for new pilots in New Eden would be to finish the tutorial and agent mission. I promise, these are a godsend with helping you learn the game in a safer environment. Did I mention you get a few extra t1 ships that are good to make money with?
The next thing I would do is Project Discovery. This is a mini-game inside EVE that helps screen for heat signatures for COVID. It has real-world results also, but your work is graciously rewarded. Aim for accuracy—not only is it better for potentially life-saving real world application, but I believe consistently hitting 90% or better earns a bigger payout. Using an alt and blindly seeing if it would be accepted yielded about 1/3 as much as my main, and I believe it’s because I just haven’t been as accurate.
Taking A Dive
After you’ve earned a nice 20 million, you can buy a Corax and start doing abyssal sites in a t0 filament. I would go with a DPS of 115 and 9k in shield with arbalest launchers and light missiles. Personally, I use Caldari Navy missiles, but check to see how much they cut into your margins. I like to start off with 500 rounds. Remember that you can use your low slots to increase missile damage. For those just starting out, I’ll link the fit. It’s inexpensive, but it will do the job as you work on skills and funding to go deeper.
The main focus in each room is the bio cache. You have to blow it up, then loot it whilst killing any remaining enemies. Be careful not to go out of bounds or let the timer expire. If you have a fit other than the one described, and use drones remember to recall them. I recently lost a Gila because of my hubris. I studied and studied on how to complete the rooms and I forgot something as simple as recalling my drones, so I failed the next room. It was my first big loss, and its been quite a bummer, but it proved to be a learning experience. Using the Corax, I get about 2-3million for 30 mins a run.
Explore Everywhere
Another activity newcomers can do is exploration. Honestly, though, I have found that I’m not the greatest explorer. It takes a lot of time, and sometimes the payoff is good or it can be mediocre. But it requires better knowledge of the game than I have, and knowing the knowledge of private sites. It can be very lucrative, I just haven’t explored that stage of the game much. I got lost in a wormhole, which was lovely getting out. It collapsed on me—I forgot and I had logged off—whoops! Rookie mistake, but again: lesson learned.
Which brings me to another thing, and this is especially true in activities like mining or ratting: it’s not like industry where you can con another player. If you lose your ship all the time accumulated will be lost. I would refrain from buying faction ships as the insurance isn’t 100%
Rock On
So I couldn’t make an article on EVE without mentioning mining. Mining is the most utilized vehicle for a newcomer in EVE. Your starting frigate is a Venture—this little ship can net you around 4 million isk an hour. Multiple mining guides can be found online but it involves equipping mining lasers for the rocks, drones for the rat spawns. , Lock onto a rock and fill up your ore hold. Equip a salvager module, for after you’ve killed the rats to get a little extra ISK. Remember, the ‘f’ key is the default shortcut to order drones on a target. A rule of thumb to keep in mind, though: the lower the security rating of space you go to, the more risk/reward for the rocks.
And On It Goes…
There are various types of PVE content, like incursions, that I haven’t had a chance to dive into. Another example is Encounter Surveillance System (ESS) theft, where it seems like you’re robbing the citadels of a star system. These aren’t in my skillset yet, and my knowledge is limited so I won’t speak about that.
Lastly, once you have acquired a nice size stack of ISK you can go the scammer route. Or try to issue some hyper-net contracts. I won’t get into the details on the scam, though. It’s already notorious, and it does hurt other newbies, which this is not intended to do. A better alternative is to create market orders for items you are familiar with. This means items you use, so in the event that you have items you can’t flip, you can get use out of them or skill into them in the future.
Another thing I would do, if you’re able, is try to spot market inefficiency. See if items sell cheaper in one place, and haul them to where they sell for more. With more time, you will get used to prices and get familiar with the items you use. You may get a better intrinsic value waiting for things to go on sale, then buying and holding them vs trying to buy an item at market value and artificially raising its price
I hope this first article was able to help someone, and possibly create another EVE billionaire. If anyone would like to play with me, or message me with tips or corrections, my in-game name is Flasherthanlight.
