CrazyKinux charges EVE bloggers everywhere with the task of writing about the mechanic they’d most like to see removed from EVE. I’m not technically a blogger so I don’t expect to be considered for any of the prizes that are on offer but the topic intrigued me so I thought I’d throw my idea into the ring whether it is eligible for the competition or not. I expect a ton of submissions on the topics of sovereignty and local chat so I figured I go with something a bit lower key.

Welcome to the ninth installment of the EVE Blog Banter and its first contest, the monthly EVE Online blogging extravaganza created by CrazyKinux. The EVE Blog Banter involves an enthusiastic group of gaming bloggers, a common topic within the realm of EVE Online, and a week to post articles pertaining to the said topic. The resulting articles can either be short or quite extensive, either funny or dead serious, but are always a great fun to read! Any questions about the EVE Blog Banter should be directed here. Check out other EVE Blog Banter articles at the bottom of this post!

“Last month Ga’len asked us which game mechanic we would most like to see added to EVE. This month Keith “WebMandrill” Nielson proposes to reverse the question and ask what may be a controversial question: Which game mechanic would you most like to see removed completely from EVE and why? I can see this getting quite heated so lets keep it civil eh?”

To kick off I ask the question: If such a thing existed in reality, what would a tractor beam know about a jetcan?

Ignoring the philosophical discussion of whether a piece of technology can “know” anything at all, personally I reckon that it can’t tell anything except that it’s an object that it can lock on to and apply it’s force to.

So why is it that when my alt, that is not in the same corp as my main, attempts to tractor over a can or wreck that is “owned” by my main, the tractor beam politely informs me that I can’t do that because it doesn’t belong to me?

How the hell does it know that? And more importantly why does it care?

In the real world we have many examples of technology that can enable you to break the law. Connected to my TV is a device that can record copyrighted programmes and films onto VHS tapes or DVDs. Not only that, I can also use it to copy a tape or DVD contained copyrighted material onto another DVD or tape. It lets me because the technology can also be used in a lawful way but more significantly because the company that made it didn’t break any laws in doing so. They merely pointed out to me that copyright laws exist and left it to me to act responsibly in it’s use.

Another example where the legality is much more blurred is with in-car radar detection devices which warn you of radar based speed cameras nearby. It is not illegal, at least not in the UK, to have a device “listening” to the radar frequency, only to actually receive a signal on it. This device doesn’t even really have a legal application, at least not in the form it is provided, yet the manufacturers broke no laws making it and possession of one is not illegal so they continue to be made.

Consider also the fact that, in the world of EVE, theft isn’t even really considered much of a crime. CONCORD will not respond to it and merely turn a blind eye for fifteen minutes while you take your revenge, should you so desire to. Add to this the fact that, with wrecks, whilst the contents may be considered to belong to the character that delivered the killing blow, the wreck itself is not, hence why you can salvage anybody’s wreck.

I can, however, see why CCP added this “legality detection” mechanic into tractor beams – it’s a sop to the jet can miners. As a part-time member of this group of EVE players I know all too well just how annoying it is to have your ore stolen and not have many realistic options of dealing with it in your mining barge. I can imagine the uproar that that would ensue if the ore thieves could just tractor your can out of your reach from 19kms away.

Despite the fact that I use jetcans to store my freshly mined ore, let’s throw the counter-point into the mix here: jet cans are not intended to be in-space secure storage for your ore. The somewhat inappropriately named “Giant” Secure Container is there for that purpose. Not only is it secure but you can anchor it against tractor beams too! The problem is with that misnomer – they are not giant at all. A Hulk pilot with decent skills will fill the 3,900m3 it provides in about 2-3 minutes making it pretty ineffective without at least two haulers at your disposal.

So CCP, how about a giant can that is actually giant? Even 10,000 m3 would be enough to allow your hauler to zip to the station and back. This would solve the problem to jetcan miners but how about missioners who already have to deal with ninja salvagers coming into their mission and taking their hard earned salvage. Well that one is simple, just make the wreck the property of the killing character, just as the contents are, thereby removing a legitimate gripe of many mission runners in the process. Then we can get rid of this crazy mechanic with absolutely no basis in reality.

This could also open up opportunities for a wider range of applications for tractor beams. How about trapping a pod to prevent it from escaping? Even more extreme could be the ability to scoop said pod to your cargohold although, on second thoughts, that is probably too extreme! With this you would be able to tractor a frigate inside the range of your battleship’s webber. You’ve sacrificed a high slot for something that may be of no use so there is give and take there.

So whilst exploring this line of thought, let’s point out that surely a tractor beam should exert pulling force at both ends of the “line” based on relative mass? Clearly a dreadnought isn’t going to budge if it tractors a frigate but try this round the other way. You’re only going to pull yourself closer to the dread, but then couldn’t that be used to create an additional speed boost through the slingshot effect?

Ooh, now here’s a wicked idea – how about a starbase tractor array? Sniper BS fleet? Not for long!

And right here a whole world of possibilities open up before us!

Have fun with whatever you happen to be doing and good luck to all the real bloggers with your entries which are all linked below for you to check out!

1. Diary of a Space Jockey, Blog Banter: BE GONE!
2. EVE Newb, (EVE) Remove You
3. Miner With Fangs, Blog Banter – It’s the Scotch
4. The Eden Explorer, Blog Banter: The Map! The Map!
5. The Wandering Druid of Tranquility, “Beacons, beacons, beacons, beacons, beacons, mushroom, MUSHROOM!!!”
6. Inner Sanctum of the Ninveah, Kill the Rats
7. Mercspector @ EVE, Scotty
8. EVE’s Weekend Warrior, EVE Blog Banter #9
9. A Merry Life and a Short One, Eve Blog Banter #9: Why Won’t You Die?
10. Into the unknown with gun and camera, Blog Banter – The Hokey Cokey
11. The Flightless Geek, EVE Blog Banter #9: Remove a Game Mechanic
12. Sweet Little Bad Girl, Blog Banter 9: Who is Nibbling at My House?
13. One Man and His Spaceship, Blog Banter 9: What could you do without?
14. Life in Low Sec, EVE Blog Banter #9: Stop Tarnishing My Halo
15. Cle Demaari: Citizen, Blog Banter #9: Training for all my men!
16. A Mule in EVE, He who giveth, also taketh away?
17. Dense Veldspar, Blog Banter 9
18. Morphisat’s Blog, Blog Banter #9 – Randomness Be Gone !
19. Facepalm’s Blog, EVE Blog Banter #9: What a new pilot could do without
20. Memoires of New Eden, You’re Fired
21. Kyle Langdon’s Journeys in EVE, EVE Blog Banter #9 Titans? What’s a Titan?
22. Achernar, The gates! The gates are down!
23. Speed Fairy, EVE Blog Banter #9: Down with Downtime!
24. I am Keith Neilson, EVE Blog Banter #9-F**K Da Police
25. Ripe Lacunae, The UI… Where do I begin… (Eve Blog Banter #9)
26. Clown Punchers, EvE Blogs: What game mechanic would you get rid of?
27. Estel Arador Corp Services, You’ve got mail
28. Epic Slant, Let Mom and Pop Play: EVE Blog Banter #9
29. Deaf Plasma’s EVE Musings, Blog Banter #9 – Removal of Anchoring Delay of POS modules
30. Podded Once Again, Blog Banter #9 – Do we really need to go AFK?
31. Postcards from EVE, 2009.07.02.00.29.06
32. Harbinger Zero, Blog Banter #9 – War Declarations & Sec Status
33. Warp Scrammed, Blog Banter 9 – Never Too Fast
34. Thoughts from an Accidental Minmatar Revolutionary, EVE Blog Banter #9 – Aggression timers, WTs and Stargates
35. More articles as they are posted!

This article is brought to you by EVE-Mag.com - an independent EVE Magazine, ©2009 EVE-Mag.com. Read more of New Eden's finest writers here!

I’m sitting at around 6 weeks into Eve and I think I’ve finally figured out how I can generate a reasonable cash flow without a huge amount of boredom. Before I get any comments that say “that method is stupid” or “I can do better with my Tech 2 fitted Hulk in 20 minutes,” I’d like to remind everyone that this is an article is for us newbies. We’re those guys that over trained up to Minmatar battleships in the first week and fitted their first Tempest with railguns because “those are the best.” I kid of course but it must be understood that this is for the guys that still think 100 million ISK is a lot and need something interesting to do that doesn’t pose a significant threat to their ship or sanity.

Anyway, the method I’ve been using to generate a major source of my income is Salvaging and I’m not talking about 2 or 3 ships at a time. I’m talking about serious large scale salvaging of missions, in particular level 4 missions.

So how does a newbie get into a level 4 mission and even if a new player can get a level 4 mission how do they survive? This is where the benefits of being in a corporation pay off big time. The higher skill point individuals in my corporation have different priorities than I do. In several cases they need standings more then they need money, although they don’t mind the money! Since their priority is on standings they want to get as many missions done as they can and this means they need to do them quickly. Salvaging is not known for its speed and although a fair bit of ISK can be pulled in from the salvage, I’ve seen some players that just ignore it outright due to the time and relative boredom it entails. This is where we new players can find a niche. As a new player I have very little capability in terms of assisting with the mission in the traditional “pew pew” sense, but I can substantially speed up the ability of others to finish by taking care of the aftermath.

My recommendation is to work out a deal with your corp mates for the salvage. The nature of the deal will vary from person to person, but in general I’ve found that things can be worked out to the benefit of all parties. A few examples of deals I’ve worked recently:

1. You salvage it, you keep it. This is usually the most profitable deal. Everything I pick up I get to keep. I can make many millions of ISK off a mission. This can be nice sometimes but it doesn’t present you as much of a team player or show solidarity with the corp or much benefit to other members.
2. You salvage it, we split it. You don’t make as much ISK as method 1 but it’s probably a better option in the long run. If you’re saving the mission runner time and still providing them with fair portion of the loot then they’re much more likely to let you help again in the future, heck they might even ask you!
3. You salvage it, the corporation gets it. This typically occurs when several corp mates are involved with the mission. At first glance it seems like it stinks but in reality this is paying dividends that are difficult to quantify. It is helping you build trust with your corporation and it is providing ISK and supplies for corporate coffers. This is going to fast track a young member into a valued position within the corporation. Also, if word gets around that you’re a team player then corp members are more likely to throw assistance your way in the form of time, advice, ships, ISK etc… A senior player helping out us newbies can be priceless.
4. You salvage it, you make a flat rate per hour. This is a little risky for both sides. On the one hand it ensures a fixed amount of income for the salvager; however the actual payout may be worth less than the salvage. On the other hand the salvage may be worth less than the payout for the mission runner! This sounds suspiciously like a regular job and it pretty much is. My one experience with it got me around 10 million an hour for about 6 hours of work. I’m told I salvaged and looted around 100 million in gear but I can’t verify that for sure. It was a really long 6 hours but that money has gone a long way for me.

Obviously other deal possibilities exist. I’m just giving a few examples of things I’ve done in the past.

Becoming a salvager involves more than just getting a corp mate to drag you along on a high level mission. Actual skills and tools exist in game that allow for salvaging and improve your salvaging efficiency.

The most important tool is the Salvager itself. This should not be confused with the Civilian Salvager which is used in the tutorial missions. You must be able to use the Salvager I which requires Mechanics III, Survey III, Electronics I, and Salvaging I as a minimum. Once you can equip a salvager it acts a lot like a mining laser except you can only use it on ship wreckage. Target the wreck, get within 5,000 m and turn it on. The Salvager takes 10 seconds to cycle, at the end of which you will get one of four messages:

1. “You do not have enough skill to salvage this wreck.” – Get more salvage skill
2. “Your salvage attempt is unsuccessful.” – It will cycle again, be patient.
3. “Your Salvage attempt was successful.” – Awesome we got some loot!
4. “Your salvage attempt was successful; unfortunately there was nothing to salvage.” – Rats!

If you only have one salvager it takes a heck of a long time to salvage anything. I strongly recommend having at least 4 salvage lasers on your ship, maybe more depending on your other capabilities.

In my opinion the second most important thing to include on your salvaging ship is a Tractor Beam. One of the major inefficiencies in salvaging a mission is the fact that salvagers have such a short range and the wrecks are going to be scattered over a huge area, sometimes greater than 100 km. It’s a real pain in the neck to salvage one or two ships at a time, this can take a minute or more each. If you have 20 ships in one room that’s roughly 20 minutes of just trying to get the salvage, that’s not including transit time between the wrecks. The Tractor Beam can dramatically speed this up by turning your ship into a tugboat effectively. Tractor beams can pull cargo containers or wrecks toward your ship; the Tractor 1 has a velocity of 500 m/s and a range of 20 km. All you have to do is get within 20 km of a wreck, target it, and pull it toward you. You can even move toward other wrecks while you’re doing this. Once it’s within 5 km you can start salvaging. This was a massive increase in my efficiency. To use the tractor beam you must have Science level IV and that’s it. This is really nice because most players need the science skill anyway so this shouldn’t detract from your regularly scheduled training plan significantly.

Other items you might want to add to your ship are a Salvage Tackle Rig to increase the chance of getting salvage. This requires some skills which may not be in the long term plan for everyone. An Expanded Cargo Hold should be a high priority to minimize the number of trips back and forth to the local station. I also include an Afterburner to speed up my transit time between wrecks. Lastly a Cap Recharger is useful because the Tractor Beams and Salvagers eat my capacitor.

Since I’m Minmatar I’ve set myself up in a Thrasher due to the large number of high slots and fair number of medium to low slots. My actual setup is as follows:

4 Small Tractor I
4 Salvager I
1 MN Afterburner
2 Cap Recharger I
2 Expanded Cargohold II

Is this the ideal setup? No, but honestly I don’t have the skills to add the other items I want. Ideally I’d like to add/upgrade the following:

2 Cap recharger II
3 Salvage Tackle I

My current setup lets me tow and salvage 4 ships as I move between the wrecks. I pretty much never stop moving unless my cap runs out, which is sometimes a problem due to my low level of skill in Energy System Operations and Energy Management. Both of these will increase my capacitor recharge rate and capacitor size. These are necessary skills for pretty much everything in Eve and have been added to my training queue (thanks Ecaf!).

To me salvaging is about the same level of excitement as ratting. The only difference between a wreck and an NPC pirate is the lack of movement or danger from a wreck. To keep salvaging interesting I try to improve my efficiency in moving between the wrecks. I plan out routes based on the wreck placement trying to minimize my time, distance I travel, and number of large turns I make. This may seem sort of pointless, but it’s actually honing my skills as a pilot so it has some actual advantages. Instead of flying directly at a wreck and then doing a 180 to get to another one I try to fly within 19 km of a wreck, snag it with the tractor beam and then put myself on a route to within 19 km of another wreck, basically working around in a big circle. It’s very rare that I “align to” any of the wrecks; this process involves a lot of double clicking in empty space and estimation of distance on my tactical display. I’m hoping it’ll improve my interaction with the overview and the game. I think that might be another article…

It seems pretty clear that an individual a little more serious about salvaging could make this a great primary career. Obviously the Salvaging skill should be taken to level 5. This opens the door for the Salvager II, which has more range (6000 m) and a 2% better salvaging chance. Less obvious, but still very important are those Salvage Tackle Rigs which do require a lot to train; Armor Rigging I, Jury Rigging III, and Mechanic III. However, they have such an increase to salvaging chance that it becomes less of a waiting game for the salvager to finish and more of a speed game to get to the next wreck! One last really great recommendation is to use a bigger class of ship if it’s feasible. One recommendation on the Minmatar side is a Hurricane Battlecruiser. This thing still has the nice 8 high slots like the Thrasher along with 4 medium, 6 low, and 3 rig slots along with a nice big capacitor! It’s a +35 million ISK investment I think will be worth it, plus it’s an excuse to fly a Battlecruiser.

I hope this helps the other new players out there generate some ISK to put toward their true passion of PvP, Industry, or whatever floats their boat! Until next time, keep on learning!

Deibos

This article is brought to you by EVE-Mag.com - an independent EVE Magazine, ©2009 EVE-Mag.com. Read more of New Eden's finest writers here!

With Apocrypha a fully new part of space was added to the eve universe. Pilots are now able to discover new depth of space – known as wormhole space (w-space). As the name implies it is reached via wormholes, which can be found all around New Eden. Besides all the facts and details you can read in patch notes there were many discussions about settlement in such systems. In this article I want to report some experiences we made in our wormhole venture, where we tried to settle down in the unknown.

Settlement
Directly after the patch we were looking for a system that seemed to fit for our corporation. Wormhole systems can be classified into different classes, from 1-6, where class 1 is the easiest and class 6 is the hardest. To start with we decided that a level 3 system would work in the beginning. When the first explorers entered the system we found a lot of anomalies and signatures of all kinds. As moon mining is not possible in unknown space, a moon was just randomly picked and our shiny medium tower was deployed there. Our first step was to bring some more covert ops pilots into the system, which would always be there to scan the actual wormholes and ensure that we did not lose the system. For our second move we brought in combat pilots to take care of the sleepers (the new NPC race in wormhole space). We started clearing the sites and after some initial trouble we developed a set-up as well as tactics to deal with the Sleepers. Players can easily find tactics and set-ups on the official EVE forum. Basically with good teamplay they can be beaten easily.

The first weeks
A daily task in the first few weeks was to scan the system to find all of the wormholes and signatures. This enabled pilots to move to empire space to get new ships and supplies. Besides some visits by other explorers, we also encountered groups of pirates looking for a kill. But by staying vigilant and continuously looking at the directional scanner and by keeping a scout on the wormholes we ensured quick intel which created safety for the pilots.

Another observation was that the number of anomalies and signatures seemed to
decrease. At the end it consolidated at about 3 signatures and one anomaly, where the signatures were mostly ladar or gravimetric and therefore mining sites. On the EVE-O forums there are a lot of threads talking about this phenomena. My explanation is a more mathematical rather then a “CCP has implemented this maliciously” one. Non-finished sites despawn after about 72 hours while finished sites respawn directly after they are done. Further sites are not necessarily respawning in the same system. That’s why they are gathering in systems with low or even no activity. On a point of view based out of one fixed active system it seems that the number of sites in this system is decreasing, while others are constantly filled. Which is correct (in numbers), but definitely not a result of CCPs implementation and only a side effect of POSes in system. The statistical distribution coupled with the timers leads to the effect that signatures gather in “unused” systems. Further combat sites are done fast while mining sites are often left. That gives the feeling that there exist many more mining sites than combat sites. We experienced that we constantly get new combat sites and anomalies in our system, but not five a day, instead only one or two new signatures per day.

Going deeper into unknown
After we got settled in the class 3 system and logistics were working, the explorers desire to get deeper into the unknown space and discover new untouched systems got stronger. We decided to equip a deep exploration gang with another tower and supplies for some days. Soon we found a class 4 system and decided to stay there. Early on the difference between both systems were obvious. The first system had always direct connection to known space, whereas the class 4 system had only a indirect connection. The overhead for scanning all the way to known space to move supplies and ships in was immense. Further, the same experience with number of signatures was made as in the other system we occupied. Of course, the sites were a lot harder and provided ambitious content but due to the fact of the logistical issues it was not worth it. The connections to New Eden were spread all over the place (for example, exits leaded to Delve, Providence, Metropolis, Great Wildlands or Geminate) and varied from 0.0 to empire space. That’s why we decided to take a step back, keep the class 3 system and just send deep space exploration gangs into deeper unknown space to take care of those systems.

Summary
So the main question remains: “Does it work and pay out having a POS in wormhole space?”. My answer is yes, but not for all corporations and all kinds of unknown systems. Settling in a class 3 system works for medium sized corporation,while large corporations will soon get bored as the number of sites is too small to have constant action. Further PvP capabilities are definitely needed if you want to be able to secure your system, as you will get visitors. Settling in systems deeper into wormhole space with no direct access to known space is pretty hard but doable. We decided not to do so, as logistical overhead kept too many members busy and left not enough time extensively farming the system. All in all the new content provides a lot of options for corporations not participating in sovereignty warfare.

This article is brought to you by EVE-Mag.com - an independent EVE Magazine, ©2009 EVE-Mag.com. Read more of New Eden's finest writers here!

As of this writing I’ve been playing EvE for a whopping three weeks and I love it. Yes, I’m a complete newbie and I have no idea what’s going on most of the time but I am really enjoying the hell out of it.

EVEMag was one of the websites I found in my search for information regarding the optimization my character playing. Honestly, it wasn’t that much help. In fact, a lot of websites aren’t all that much help for the new player. You veteran players take for granted a lot of the stuff we really have no idea about, but that’s ok, this makes the game more realistic.

I like to think of myself as a reasonably intelligent guy. I’m an engineer by training and a teacher by trade; I’m no stranger to learning or to hard work. I’ve been playing Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Games (MMORPG) for well over 10 years; Ultima Online and World of Warcraft being the two most significant chapters. So why am I having so much trouble learning the ropes in EvE Online?

This game takes the “Massively” in MMORPG to another level. As the great Nigel Tufnel would say, “it goes to 11.” I honestly can’t believe the expanse of New Eden, the online activity, or the options presented to the player.

Now don’t get me wrong, the basic mechanics of the game are not super difficult to learn. The new player tutorials and three career agents at the beginning are really great and I strongly recommend them to anybody new to the game. I went ahead and did all three career agents since they were basically giving away free stuff and ISK. This gave me a lot of practice with moving from one system to another, NPC combat, the basics of mining, and the basics of industry. However, this isn’t what EvE is all about, these are just the tools used to play the game. It’s a big galaxy out there and it’s filled with a lot of different options.

The size of the galaxy and the freeform nature of the game make choosing a path a little bit overwhelming to the new player. It’s pretty difficult to pick a career when you don’t know which skills you need to be successful in said career. For example, in my first week I was just training whatever fit my fancy at the moment. Typical of a former WoW player I wanted results fast. I was generally picking skills that would train in under an hour so I could put another “skill complete” notch in my belt. All this resulted in was a waste of about 25% of my newbie training bonus. If you want to be a good player it’s really important to do a little research and find a career path you can focus on early. You can knock a lot of hard skills out of the way with that double training speed bonus in the beginning.

With all that said, you still have to be careful with that training! A career isn’t “I’m a dude who flies battlecruisers.” It’s really “I’m a dude who is good at flying battlecruisers.” I’ve found that EvE has a lot of “secondary skills” that support whatever your primary role in the game is. Being well trained in secondary skills separates the good players from the average players. How did I find this out? Well, after I determined that I could make decent money through mining or ratting and salvaging I started looking at the things I was going to be able to afford in the market. Specifically I looked at ships and I started at the top. Obviously Titan’s were out of the question but maybe a battlecruiser wasn’t. If I could grind up 30 million ISK I could afford a Hurricane and I’d be all set, right? Again my experience from previous games gave me the confidence that I could grind the cash by the time I was done training the prerequisites but I didn’t appreciate that those minimum prerequisites on the info tab were just that, the bare minimum skills needed! Sure, I might own a Hurricane but the first serious tangle I get in and *poof* all that work is for nothing.

Discovering this was a hard and nearly expensive lesson for me. It all started with something that I thought was a ship most newbies couldn’t afford or weren’t smart enough to get into quickly, a Minmatar Stabber. I took my awesome new ship to lowsec and started doing a little ratting on pirates with 500,000 ISK bounties. I knew they were my ticket to my battlecruiser. I had already calculated that I only needed 60 of them for the ship and maybe 20 more for the armaments, mostly guesswork but I’d sort out the details later. Anyway, I’m minding my own business working the pirates when all of a sudden the lights start flashing and my shields and armor start going into the red. Enter the first Player Pirate I’ve ever seen…. He “snuck” up on me, probably by flying in from 100 km when I wasn’t smart enough to keep an eye on the overview. By the time I knew he was there I had just enough time to try and warp away and I learned my second lesson for the day, this one was about warp scramblers. Needless to say I died a quick and noisy death.

This is the part where I know a lot of new players can get frustrated and sometimes quit. If you’re new and you’re reading this you should realize that player pirates are part of the danger of lowsec. People can and will kill you there for no reason other than the fun of it. This is called “risk vs. reward.” The reward for you is more bounty from better pirates or more money for better minerals. The risk is from bigger pirate NPCs and even pirate PCs who will kill you and probably take your stuff.

I ended up starting a conversation with the fellow that killed me and he turned out to be a really cool guy. I gave him some respect for the quick kill and for not podding me and he thanked me for not being a smack talking douche from highsec. He was the first other player I ever talked to and the 10 minute conversation we had cleared up a bunch of my questions. He even ended up giving me my stuff back AND more stuff on top of that without me even asking. Guess what, Pirates are people to!

His biggest piece of advice for me is the same I’m still following and the same I want any other newbies that end up reading this to take; join a player run corporation designed to help newbies. There are some pretty well established ones that are pretty big like Eve University or you can go to the eve-online.com forums and find groups in the recruitment forum.

I have to tell you, joining a player corporation has made all the difference in the world. They’ve helped me figure out the fittings that work on my ship, the type of career I’m best suited for based on what I wanted from the game, more efficient methods of earning ISK, and how to survive and thrive in lowsec.

Here is a summary of my advice to all the newbies that read this:

1. Do the new player career missions, yes all 3 agents. Hit F12 to get to the help and the select “Show Career Agents” near the bottom. This is going to give you a good handle on the basic mechanics of the game and give you a bunch of free skill books and ships.
2. Join a player run corporation as soon as you can. Find one that suits your personality and has members which are active in the game when you are. If you’re not engaged with them in conversation then you’re not going to learn much.
3. Try to focus on a particular career path. Learn the secondary (or support) skills needed to supplement that path so you’re good at what you do.
4. Have fun and don’t be afraid to talk to other players, even the ones that kill you. In my short few weeks of this game I’ve found the player base to be exceptionally mature and respectful. Maybe I’ve just been lucky or maybe the Barrens Chat in WoW has just really lowered the bar for me.

Until next time, keep on learning and have fun playing.

Deibos
Ultra Newb

This article is brought to you by EVE-Mag.com - an independent EVE Magazine, ©2009 EVE-Mag.com. Read more of New Eden's finest writers here!

by Ecaf Ersa

Beep – beep – beep – beep – beep – beep

I slammed my hand down on top of the alarm clock.

Beep – beep – beep – beep – beep – beep

The alarm clock flew to the floor.

Beep – beep – beep – beep – beep – beep

“What the f…?”

I had been having a great dream and was very annoyed. I can’t remember what it was about now but I knew it had been a good one. Opening my eyes I saw the flashing light on the comm panel and realised my rude awakening had not been the alarm clock’s doing. Despite it’s recent cruel treatment at my hands it still dutifully informed me that the time was 03:42.

Through the sleepy haze I stabbed at the respond button, “WHAT?!”

“That is no way to answer the comm Ersa.”

Recognising Major Felps’ voice snapped my brain into gear. “Sorry Sir, you caught me in the middle of a good dream.”

“Well…for that you have my apologies Ersa.”

Major Felps was a good guy and a great officer – no, a great guy and an outstanding officer. He was the kind of officer that would have me instinctively reaching for the warp button after ordering me to send my freighter into a group of hostile battleships.

Socially he was a real riot and, outside of work, was referred to exclusively by his nick-name “Major Ding-Dong” which he had earned after having being seen naked in the shower. He was not the best looking guy on the station but could get nearly any woman he wanted into bed just by telling them how big his manhood was, which he was not at all shy about doing. This would usually result in anything from a shocked look to a witty put down and even occasionally a slap in the face but nine times out of ten their curiosity would get the better of them and we would see Ding-Dong heading for the bar door with the lady in question on his arm. Our well rehearsed salute to this would be the whole table shouting in unison “DING-DONG!! Time for bed!” – which we never grew tired of.

Felps continued, “Is your Recon flight ready Ersa?”

“Nothing I can’t fix in ten minutes Sir.”

“Good, be in my office in full flight gear in fifteen minutes.”

“Sir.”

The comm light went out and I hurriedly dressed.

*********************************

It only took me a few seconds analysing the scanner data to be sure. “Yes Major, it’s the same thing as I encountered yesterday in DY-P. Looks much bigger and more stable too.”

“Any way of telling where it goes?”

“Not that I can see. That information could possibly be in this data but if it is we don’t know how to decipher it yet. Sending a probe through it might tell us more.”

“Might?”

“Yes Sir, it all depends on where the other end comes out. The probe will need to be able to recognise stellar patterns to know where it is and be able to communicate back to us. For all we know it could get crushed into a microscopic dot before it even makes it through and we’d have no idea.”

“Hmm, that’s comforting to know.” said Felps in a matter-of-fact tone whilst appearing to intently examine the floor.

Looking up at me he continued, “So any volunteers to go in first and find out?”

I knew I was the only other person there but couldn’t stop myself from looking around the room. “I guess that will be me then Sir.”

“Good man. Fit your Recon out as best as you think and be in the briefing room at 04:30.” Free reign on fitting? – that was something new.

I snapped to attention and saluted “Sir!” before turning and marching out. Felps might have been Mr Social but in work you did everything by the book. It had only taken one of us to be fined three days wages after calling him Ding-Dong in the office to learn that you didn’t blur that line.

I quickly adjusted the fitting on my ship. Most of what I figured I might need was already on there, the obligatory covert ops cloak, a full probe launcher, as much of an armour tank as can be crammed in, my treasured Gallente Navy webber, a disruptor and a microwarpdrive. I opted for sensor dampeners seeing as survival was more important than kills but swapped out the energy vampires for a couple of medium railguns just in case. Four medium drones completed the set up before I rushed off to the briefing room.

The briefing revealed a total of ten ships of various types being mustered for the mission as well as three carriers and a dreadnought ready to be hot dropped in at a few seconds notice. I was very happy to see a still blurry-eyed Marakal taking a seat in the room. He was the only one there that would be bringing a battleship to the party. My “volunteering” for a potential suicide mission had earned me a place at the table with the officers and brought a silent “oooh” face from Marakal.

This was to be primarily an information gathering exercise but given that we had no clue what would be at the other end, or even where that would be, we had a very wide remit to do what we thought best in any given opportunity and as I was the scanner I was made FC. WOOT!

*********************************

The nerves began to creep in as I approached my Arazu “Nysm Nyd” but I stopped at the sound of quick footsteps behind me. I turned around to see Felps’ assistant Rashelle chasing after me. I’d been very shyly flirting with her for ages but hadn’t had the guts to ask her out yet. My heart began to race as it usually did whenever she came close. Damn she was beautiful.

“Come back please Ecaf” she said.

I thought at first she meant that the plan had changed but as I started to move back towards to the hangar door she leant in quickly and kissed me on the cheek. “Otherwise I’ll never get that dinner will I?” she said with a cheeky smirk and I realised she meant to come back from the mission.

I forgot my nerves for a few seconds and a big smile grew across my face. “Sure!” I responded and, now full of courage, I added, “Leave a light on for me.”

She just smiled coyly while twirling a lock of her long blonde hair around a finger. I took as long as possible closing the Recon’s hatch as she waved me off and at the last second before it sealed shut she blew me a kiss. Safely out of everyone’s sight I caught it and put it in my top pocket for safe keeping. It was bloody typical that I score just before a deadly mission into the unknown. We didn’t even know if our medical clones would function properly wherever it was we were going.

While the nine of us sitting outside the station waited for Marakal to buy replacement lasers for the ones he was for some reason missing, I examined our odd collection of ships. An official fleet wouldn’t usually comprise of such a variety. We had two frigates, a Rifter and a Maulus, two cruisers, a Vexor and a Blackbird, an Ishtar, a Sleipnir, a Myrmidon, my Arazu and Marakal’s still absent Apocalypse. I guess we covered most of the bases between us.

After another ten minutes had passed boredom began to creep in and I started having some fun abusing my FC comm channel permissions by cutting the middle out of peoples sentences. The resulting confusion was hilarious until everyone realised what I was doing. Within seconds I was webbed, scrammed, sensor damped, unable to target anything, my capacitor drained and my shields down to half.

We were cut short by Felps on the command channel, “What’s with the weapons fire Fleet Commander?”

I thought quickly, “Ah, just testing our set ups before we head into the unknown Sir.”

“Good idea but do it somewhere other than outside the station please.”

“Yes, sorry Sir. We’re done now in any case.” and as Marakal finally appeared I added, “Moving on to the wormhole now.”

“Align planet three.” After an appropriate pause I initiated fleet warp.

Ten ships all sharing a warp tunnel is always sight to behold, no matter how many times you’ve been there before, and I stopped contemplating the enormity of my task ahead to enjoy it. Marakal’s Apoc, with his signature crazy flames paint job, drifted in close then disappeared behind me as the tunnel collapsed and we shot out of it next to the wormhole.

Up till that point the fleet channel had been filled with lots of “La-la lala la-lah, Ecaf’s got a girlfriend.”, “Get bent”, “Up yours” and more of the usual general banter but now it fell silent as everyone except me took in their first sight of a wormhole. The pictures in the briefing room had been pretty but the real thing was simply awesome. Even I was somewhat taken aback as this must have been five times the size of the one I had found before, just a few minutes before it had fallen in on itself and disappeared.

I opened the fleet channel again. “OK guys, this is it, on the clock now, comms clear.”

I switched to the secure command line and reported that we had arrived and were commencing scanning. I fired off the deep space probe and took some initial readings from the wormhole. The data showed it was very stable and would take a significant amount of traffic. While relaying this to command I instructed the probe to move to the wormhole entrance. It was rather fortunate that the science boffins had recently discovered how to cram not only a simple ion drive onto these probes but remarkably a warpdrive as well, otherwise this would have been nearly impossible.

Energy began to crackle around the wormhole’s entrance then leapt across to the probe which simply disappeared.

“Erm….what happened there?” asked Marakal over the fleet channel.

“Comms clear please.” I responded calmly. I didn’t want to admit just yet that I didn’t know. I was getting no telemetry data from the probe and I wondered if my big break was going to be a washout. Then suddenly the data screens blazed alive as the probe reconnected with the ship’s computer and masses of data started pouring in.

“Command this is W-Squad FC. The probe is intact and sending data – routing it to you now.”

“Roger Fleet Commander. Give us your analysis as soon as you have it.”

It took a couple of minutes to extract the information I needed. Basically it was space just like any other bit of space but the probe had no clue where it was despite having the sum total of all technical data regarding all the stars in our known space. Nothing that it detected matched anything in it’s database – it did not recognise a single star.

Command’s analysis concurred with my own and I was given the order to proceed.

“Felder, connect to the deep space probe. I’ll contact you through that.”

“Roger Fleet Commander – Good luck Ecaf.”

A round of good luck messages came from the rest of W-Squad, except Marakal of course who instructed me to find the first bar I could and “get the beers in”. A private typed message appeared on my comm. It was from Felps and read “Major Ding-Dong wishes you the best of luck Ecaf. Fly safe.” I beamed at this previously unknown breach of protocol from a man I admired so much. I briefly considered the possibility of a promotion from this – if I could just make it back out alive.

I manoeuvred my ship toward the wormhole and when I got to around a kilometre away the same energy we had seen before crackled across the gap between the wormhole and my ship.

It appeared I was still alive so I opened my eyes again. Space looked pretty much the same here as it did everywhere. Checking my instruments revealed a standard solar system with four planets and six moons.

I reconnected to the probe and sent a message to Felder that I was alive and well and instructed the fleet to standby. After firing off several different probes I cloaked the Arazu and began to collate as much data from the system as I could.

A few minutes scanning satisfied me that I was alone and I sent another message to Felder to send the fleet through. Only he would remain behind to cover the wormhole entrance and to relay communications with command.

Within a few moments all eight of them had appeared around me and I opened the fleet channel, “Everyone bookmark the wormhole then find a safespot please. Make extra copies of your safespot bookmark for everyone.”

Once they had all reported back I ordered them all to warp to Marakal’s slow-boat battleship where we exchanged safespot bookmarks and established fallback plans and meeting points in case of various possible events. Leaving them there I returned to the wormhole cloaked so I could keep an eye on it while I used core probes to search out any signatures of interest.

I found a lot more than I had expected to and picked the one with the strongest signal. Having scanned the site down to the exact spot I warped in at a distance. I don’t know what I had expected but the sight of a complex of significantly sized structures was not high on my list of possibilities.

The structures looked industrial and although they were clearly not derelict there was not one single sign of movement or life. A place like this back home would be constantly buzzing with activity.

I related this development to the squad who all wanted to come and see it but I told them to stay put for now. I quickly put together a transmission package of scan data from the site and sent it to the deep space probe waiting patiently by the wormhole for Felder to send on to command.

For a while I flew around the buildings looking for some clue of what this place was for. The buildings were arranged in a rough, almost semi-circular, crescent moon shape with the larger structures concentrated in the centre and thinning out at the points. The whole complex was well over two hundred kilometres across. Getting nothing from the structures themselves I navigated towards the logical centre of the site.

Much became clear in the space of just a few seconds. The first unexpected event was the stars on my viewscreen suddenly moving downwards at speed and I instantly recognised that my ship had bounced off something that I hadn’t been able to see just a second before. This was followed quickly by my Arazu’s de-cloak alarm warning me I was visible.

Surprised into inaction for a second or two I sat momentarily confused as the ship attempted to return back to it’s previous course. The stars previously on the viewscreen had now disappeared, obscured by the vast expanse of metal less than a couple of kilometres in front of my ship, “Holy crap!!!” being the sole thought bouncing around inside my otherwise stunned and vacant brain.

The beeping of alarms and sudden appearance of multiple ship signatures on my overview dragged my mind rapidly back into focus and I quickly turned the Arazu around and flew toward open space. More ships poured from the structures and I frantically spammed the cloak button as lock-attempt warnings flashed all over my screen. Thankfully I disappeared again before any of the locks completed. Adjusting course slightly to head straight toward a planet that was mercifully close to my alignment, I had a few seconds to view the gigantic, newly found object as the alien ships swarmed toward my position. The closest was just a few kilometres away when the stars stretched out into lines and I warped the hell out of there.

The pounding of my heart drowned everything else out including my own voice rapidly repeating the single word “SHIT!” Slowly I edged back to reality and what I had seen began to form into a single coherent word – “SHIP!”. The configuration was nothing like anything I had ever seen before but it was easily as big as any titan we had. No, it had to be bigger, much bigger. I’d never before faced a titan without having one of our own plus hundreds of other ships in the fleet and never while I was in charge. My pulse rate raced upward again as I fought to control my panic.

*********************************

“Ecaf…you found that bar yet?……Ecaf…….Ecaf…….FACE!” Even Marakal’s impatient use of my nickname failed to penetrate the terror that gripped my mind like a slaver hound’s jaws on it’s victim’s neck.

“Ecaf…if you don’t respond I’ll have to assume command and take the fleet home without you.” Gorden was designated second-in-command but even this threat to my command didn’t drag me into focus.

“Come back please Ecaf.” Rashelle’s silky tones soothed their way into my head and I calmed down enough to take back some semblance of self-control.

“Comms clear…I won’t say it again. Safespot seven NOW…please.” As if disconnected from my own body I watched my fingers though a haze as they trembled over the controls. “Come on Ersa… get a grip!” By the time I arrived, last of everyone after even Marakal’s battleship, I had the situation clear in my head.

I quickly told them what I had found but had to shout down the babble of questions from everyone. “SHUT UP!!!…They could be listening. Nobody says anything from hereon in – use broadcasts if you need to alert me to something.”

I had been packaging what little data I had of the new ship and sent the transmission to the probe. Aura answered “Unable to connect.”

“WHAT?!…Shut it bitch!” I tried again but got the same result. I had been resolving myself to the task of returning to the site to gather more data but now I had a new problem. I kept this piece of information to myself for now and after broadcasting “Hold position” I warped to fifty kilometres of the wormhole, cloaking mid-warp, but arrived to find nothing. I checked my position – exactly fifty kilometres from my bookmark. “Where the hell is the probe?… Where the hell is the wormhole?…Shit!”

“OK Ecaf…keep calm…think……..right…it’s simple…get more data…make as much distance as you can from all this…scan for a new wormhole…get home…report in…be the hero…take Rashelle out to dinner…take Rashelle to bed…live happily ever after……yeah right…piece of cake!”

Buzzzzz….buzzzzz – the de-cloak alarm again. One of the alien ships had somehow sneaked up on top of me and I was being rapidly locked. With no time to run I locked back and activated all my weapons and warp disruptor while setting an orbit course. The alien ship was roughly the same size as mine but couldn’t keep up with my microwarpdrive enhanced speed so I kept the range I wanted and had good time to analyse the ship. I could recognise features but the technology was quite different, even the material it was made from was unknown to me.

Thankfully it’s turrets couldn’t keep track on me either and I was only taking random hits which my shield easily coped with. Launching my drones at him finished the job off and I rejoiced in the explosion. I was a little surprised to see a pod emerge from the wreck so I failed to lock it before it disappeared. Though why should a pod be surprising? We’d seen near identical technology develop independently in more than one place before. Unless…the two technologies had a common ancestor. This thought worried me a little though I wasn’t sure why.

Bolstered by a nice kill I was back in the zone again and warped back to the complex at a distance, cloaked of course. Some pilots bitched at cloaking ships claiming it was unfair – but bollocks – all is fair in love and war and if it keeps me alive then I’m going to use it. And besides there’s nothing stopping anyone from using them.

Things were now much more like I would expect, a mass of bustle and activity. Hoards of ships flitted here and there, mostly concentrated around the “titan” (for want of a better word) but also many combat vessels patrolling the perimeter. Only now I noticed that the ship was unfinished, although not by much. This site was clearly a mega-shipyard, probably, hopefully, built just for this one ship.

I sat and observed the proceedings for a while, manoeuvring just a few times to keep clear of the roaming sentry ships. After about ten minutes all the ships that had been scurrying around the colossal ship, like tiny shrimp on a giant whale, moved away and huddled next to the structures. A little concerned at this I backed away too. Nothing moved for a few more minutes until an almost microscopic movement in the corner of my viewscreen caught my eye. I watched as two alien pods emerged from the central structure, lost in the vastness of the place. They made their way quickly to a neighbouring structure where several seemingly inactive but identical ships were clustered together. The two pods each disappeared inside one of these ships which then came alive and moved out into the centre underneath the titan.

As they came close, one almost right at the front and the other roughly in the centre, hatches opened and the two ships disappeared into the belly of the great beast, the hatches closing smoothly behind them. Not many seconds later the ship became animated. Plumes of fire, steam and smoke ejected from various points around it and my data screens started showing massive energy spikes coming from the mighty vessel.

I quickly identified two distinct energy signatures, one of which correlated very closely with the energy we had analysed from the wormholes. The other was new but bore many similar characteristics to readings I had seen on doomsday device scan data. My fear that this ship could only have one possible purpose solidified into fact.

I worried that the devices might be set off but I was further away from the titan than the structures and other alien ships were, so I sat tight and waited to see what would happen. By now I knew we had no choice but to somehow try and destroy this ship before it could be unleashed. I had no proof it would be heading to my home but that was a chance I didn’t want to take, and even if it first went elsewhere in my galaxy, would we be able to stop it once it was in full swing? The best chance was now, before it was completed, and I put my mind to thinking up a plan. But how could we achieve such a daunting feat with a handful of ships not suited to the task?

As I prepared to return to the fleet, the energy spikes dropped back down and the beast went back to sleep. I delayed warping as I watched the hatches open again and the two ships re-emerge to repeat their previous journeys in reverse.

A new idea began to form in my mind – an idea more crazy than the whole concept of crazy itself.

*********************************

“You’re fucking insane Ecaf!” shrieked Marakal uncharacteristically, “You have no proof any of this will work!”

“Give me a better idea mate and we’ll do that instead.” I answered sombrely.

There was no response.

“We’re on our own here boys…I can’t, and won’t, make any of you do this. If anyone wants to go off and take their own chances then good luck. But I’m going in with this plan even if I’m on my own.” I’d always pictured myself draped in glory but I’d never gone as far as considering martyrdom before – I was too fond of life. Yet here I was, in all probability signing away my immortal life on a slim chance that I could save the galaxy from something it didn’t yet know existed. Worse than that, even if I succeeded they’d probably never even know I had done it. What a way to go – but the futility of it all somehow spurred me on – too many drunken nights watching action holo-reels I expect.

“OK dude,” came Marakal’s quavering voice over the fleet channel, “You’re a crazy bastard but I’ll follow you to our collective graves. You’re going to need a BS to have the remotest chance of pulling this off.”

Seven more responses came one at a time, some more enthusiastic than others, but all in the affirmative.

After hammering out the last details of the plan, we assembled at safespot two which gave us the best angle of warp into the crescent shape. We said our farewells, some on the verge of tears but I had a grim determination about me now. I wished I could have one last beer before my doom overtook me but, alas, I had neglected to bring any. Then I suddenly remembered boarding my ship and my mood lightened a touch as I put my hand in my breast pocket and retreived the “kiss” from Rashelle that I had stowed there. I pictured her face as I touched my fingers gently to my lips. It was the best I would get now.

I couldn’t enjoy our shared warp tunnel this time. I was too fixed on what I had to do. Against my whole Gallentean upbringing I decided to pray. Not because I was about to die but just in case there was a god out there who could bless this suicidal quest and make the assumptions that our slender chance of success relied on turn out to be fact.

*********************************

I could only watch helplessly as Gorden’s Myrmidon and Pauli’s Vexor disintegrated and their pods blown into spacedust. Samethi’s Blackbird and Zurgu’s Maulus had both done well to keep the alien ships off for as long as possible but now they were gone too. Asketh’s Ishtar had survived remarkably well, taking out dozens of the smaller ships before finally succumbing under the weight of the enemy.

Just four of us remained. Marakal’s Apocalypse was completely obscured by swarms of alien battleships as he sent barrage after barrage of hybrid salvos into the unfinished section right at the rear end of the titan. As we had planned he was attracting the most attention from the aliens. His structure had taken a severe battering and he was barely being kept alive by Jordi’s Sleipnir which was also suffering badly under the onslaught of so many ships. We needed the Sleip for just a little longer and again I prayed that this could be so.

As I neared my objective on the other side of the titan I called to Jaxsen still waiting at safespot two in his Rifter and he confirmed “on my way” a few seconds before he dropped out of warp on top of me, uncloaking me in the process. Saved me from doing it myself I guess. We both ejected our pods and closed the last few metres to the only ships left silent, the ships that had earlier docked with the beast. I crossed my fingers and instructed my pod to board the closest ship. Damn! It was working! As my neural jack interfaced with the ship I became overwhelmed with alien symbols and had to fight to make any sense of it.

Slowly I began to recognise patterns of data and worked out how to get the ship moving. Nobody had noticed us yet but none of the other ships were moving. I hadn’t seen which one Jaxsen had boarded and couldn’t work out how to communicate with him. I didn’t have time to wait for him and carried on across the void towards the head of the beast. I started to make sense of the data I was getting and the picture around me became gradually clearer. I anxiously watched for Jaxsen to start moving but nothing stirred. The aliens seemed to be ignoring me, probably assuming I was on their side. “Yes, yes, I am on your side…move along…nothing to see here.”

An explosion erupted from within the mass of alien ships and I knew this meant the Apoc was no more, but I noticed a pod moving swiftly away and prayed that Marakal had ejected and escaped in the confusion before his ship had gone. Immediately Jordi became the focus of the alien’s attention and it was his turn to disappear inside a cloud of red. The pod that I hoped was Marakal was evading attention and moving toward the silent ships. Then my luck ran out and I turned my focus to the alien frigates which were closing in and starting to target me. Jordi also targeted me now and began turning his repair systems to my aid but surely he couldn’t last much longer.

My alien ship was just holding together as I approached underneath the front of the titan. I wondered how I would get in and just tried a “board ship” command. Logical I figured and sure enough the hatch started to slide open. It seemed I was doing the right thing because suddenly the Sleipnir reappeared again as every alien ship decided I was enemy number one. But they were too late – I was nearly inside the beast.

“Damn dude, you took your time getting that thing going.” came Marakal’s voice in my head and turning my attention aft I just glimpsed an alien ship docking in the rear hatch marginally ahead of mine.

I laughed for the first time in what seemed like forever and our fallen comrades were briefly forgotten as I instinctively quipped back, “Well you always were the languages man. If only you could add two numbers in your head you’d be a genius!”

“Haha, touché! Now, let’s get this party really going…with a great big bang!” I could imagine the grin that would surely have accompanied that sentence.

As the hatch slid shut below me my mind became suddenly stunned with a concept so large my brain struggled to comprehend it. The universe was trying to enter my brain all at once and I felt tiny…microscopic…infinitely insignificant against the backdrop of all of existence.

I was being to drown under it all when “WHAO! What a rush!” and I was back again, Marakal’s voice echoing through my head, anchoring me to reality and my pod, barely bigger than me.

I struggled to get any words to form “Nnnnn….how…did..you.cope with that so easily man?”

“Damn dude, didn’t you do X when you were a kid?” I knew he was referring to the highly illegal mind-bending drug X-Instinct.

“Erm..no.” I almost felt ashamed of my staid years at university studying away diligently while everyone else around me was off their heads.

“Much the same feeling. Are you with me? Jeez this is a damn awesome ship!” He was babbling a bit now.

“Errr..Ecaf…sod self-destructing the ship…we can take this home!”

“What!?!” was all I could manage finally adding, “How?”

“We can make wormholes!”

“Erm…we can?…well…that’s good…I think…carry on then.”

“Roger Fleet Commander. But first, if you don’t mind, I’m going to set off this über-doomsday device!”

“Erm…OK…good idea…proceed!”

Within less than a minute an enormous blast of energy radiated out from our newly acquired ship, majestically sweeping most of the giant structures with it, leaving strands of twisted girders spiralling jaggedly off into the distance. The alien data streaming into my head from the eruption of energy had made a beautiful pattern and I felt the secrets of the universe’s energy unlocking themselves in my mind, as if they had always been there, hidden away in the darkest recesses.

A large number of the alien ships had stopped trying to destroy their own ship and warped off when they realised what was going to happen but they now returned and resumed their vain assault. I felt hope for the first time since I first saw this beast but regardless of the final outcome I was unashamedly proud of how far we had got and what we had already achieved.

I could sense large amounts of energy accumulating within the ship again but this was different to the last time. I excitedly realised this was going to be a wormhole and sure enough seconds later space began to warp and distort a few kilometres away to our right. There was a rushing sensation as if atmosphere had unexpectedly found its way into a vacuum, then the distortion erupted outward leaving behind a shiny new wormhole.

“Right your turn Ecaf…get this giant lump to that wormhole.”

My grasp of the alien technology was forming nicely now and the huge beast began to turn, agonisingly slowly, toward our road home. “Couldn’t you have made it in front of us?” I jokingly chastised Marakal.

“Pfft…the cheek!” was his response to that, thankfully picking up on the joke.

“Good work though mate. Well done.” It might have been my plan but he had made it work and, assuming we made it back, I would make sure he got the credit.

After what seemed like an age we made it to the wormhole with the alien ships still pounding away at us. I’ll never complain about a freighter again. Marakal spoke again, “They know where to hit us dude, some critical systems are going offline. I made the wormhole as big as I could but I don’t think it will survive this much mass. Fingers crossed we make it through.”

The energy from the wormhole surrounded our titan and the mouth opened up, sucking us inside. As we barrelled through the tunnel I noticed many ships following behind us but one was giving off very different energy patterns to the rest. I jubilantly recognised Jordi in his rather battered Sleipnir racing up next to us but I could also see the wormhole collapsing in on itself getting closer and ever closer.

The alien ships bringing up the rear span madly out of control before falling into the oblivion of the collapsing wormhole. A strange pain began to form in my head as the collapse caught up with the rear of the titan and our smooth transit quickly turned violently turbulent. I shared the ship’s pain as it began to twist and writhe under the cosmic stresses. The last thing I was conscious of was a feeling very much like when my ship disintegrates under fire automatically ejecting my pod, but there was something else too – a sense of abject loss, as if I was missing a limb.

*********************************

“You have both suffered some neural damage but exclusively in certain specific memory engrams. Nothing you won’t recover from in time.”

*********************************

“Please come back to me Ecaf.”

*********************************

“Oi!….Dude!…There’s a cold beer here…if you ever come round.”

My eyes opened. Strip lighting. Plastic ceiling tiles.

“Finally!!…Here quick…before the nurse comes back.”

I turned my head toward the voice. Marakal was grinning inanely, as usual, from the bed next to mine, but more interestingly was waving a bottle at me. I tried to lean across but my body didn’t want to respond and the attempt was feeble. He leant in closer and closed the remaining gap between my hand and the bottle which I finally managed to grab. I stayed there just long enough to hear the familiar clink of glass on glass before slumping back into the comfy, welcoming embrace of the clean, crisp bedsheets. Lifting my head a fraction I poured the beer into my open mouth. Shame most of it missed.

“Great man! Well done! The nurse isn’t going to miss that! Neck it quick, we’ve got four more each to finish before she comes back and confiscates them.”

“Oh…by the way dude, we’re fucking heros…and Rashelle just left your bedside for the first time in days…that’s some bladder control she has…I reckon you’re well in there mate.”

He raised his bottle and winked before sinking the remaining contents and grabbing another one. I settled my head back on the pillow and, forgetting all about the beer, smiled the biggest smile of my life. At last…a hero.

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Our goal is to build up the arsenal of Rookie PVPers, starting with Frigates and working up to larger classes of ships, to help ease the growing pains of PVP as much as possible. While we acknowledge the fact that many sites offer “setups” or “configurations” it is through my personal experience that such sites rarely have content suitable for lower SP players. When one can find a low SP requirement setup it is rarely “Rookie”friendly or to be more specific, friendly to their wallet.

We wish to help change the common misperception that PVP is out of reach of new players. We also wish to show that PVP is not only about T2 fitted Battleships, HACs and Recons but also includes Frigates, Destroyers and Cruisers. By creating and publishing setups which are sturdy,effective and easy to afford we hope to encourage this change. Rookies will soon find that getting kills does not start at 30,000,000 SP or two billion isk. Instead they will learn that they can easily afford to PVP. That even with 1.6mil SP a Rookie can easily contribute to fleet operations within their Corporation or Faction.

By blunting the edge of defeat and empowering PVP Rookies with knowledge we hope to tempt them from the safety and boredom that is the hangar. We believe that once a player gets a taste for PVP they will start to resemble a shark that detects blood in the ocean. To help create a desire, a frenzy and “appetite for destructi

on” is the ultimate goal of this feature. So forget what you have been told before about your inability to PVP and start the revolution within as you help leave a wake of destruction with your fleetmates!

Let us begin……

Race: Caldari

Class: Frigate

Hull: Merlin

The Merlin is the heavy hitter of the Caldari’s Frigate class ships. With its bonuses to shield resistance and hybrid optimal range this ship can take a beating most frigates could not hope to withstand, all the while fighting outside of web range. This is particularly useful for newer players that find themselves in a fleet taking on larger ships where maneuverability and speed are the key to surviving a firefight. As with all Frigates, once they lose their speed and maneuverability advantage against larger ships, they become nothing more then sitting ducks. With its small size and heavy resists the Merlin can prove to be a frustrating target for Cruisers and larger.

The bonuses of the Merlin are bound to be most attractive to 2 types of players. First off would be the Rookie pilots looking to bring some DPS to the fight or for those to nervous to rush headlong at another ship in as a dedicated “Tackler”. The other type of Pod Pilot the Merlin seems almost custom made for would be the aspiring Fleet Commander,or “FC” for short, participating in Faction Warfare. Both types of pilots would find the built in tank of the Merlin comforting, allowing both to keep their cool during a fight. The endurance of a fully fitted Merlin will give the Rookies extra time under fire, something that will eventually help remove some of the edge off of the adrenaline rush you can only find in EVE PVP, which is far from propaganda churned out to entice new players. The aspiring Commanders will gain additional time to lead his fleet of Frigates as he leaves fleet mates to server as tacklers while he provides supporting fire from range.

While the DPS of the Merlin is in fact lower, on average, when compared to other heavy Frigates of other factions, its range helps balance it out. The range allows the Merlin to engage most targets at warp gates and warp in points to FW complexes without having to close or camp a position. This allows the Merlin to forgo Afterburners and MWDs and invest the additional slot as well the PG/CPU into its tank and weapons. In EVE PVP a lot of players will take high damage per second versus range and average DPS. One thing Caldari pilots must remember is that not all fights are within 5km and with a web you can negate the speed the other player needs to close to their effective range. While they struggle to close you are continuously firing away, slowly ripping them apart, completely unopposed.

The Merlin’s mix of missiles and turret slots allows for flexibility in range and damage output. This helps to reduce the difference in DPS between the Merlin and other Frigates. While this can lead to shorter range set-ups using a mix of rockets and blasters, I feel the longer range configurations along with the durability of its tank will allow the Merlin to deal more damage over time. The range will also augment the tank as it allows the pilot to stay outside of the range of webifiers, smart bombs, medium neutralizers as well as NOS which can quickly mean the end for any Frigate. It is this overall flexibility that causes many players to doubt it, instead opting for faster, higher DPS Frigates as they are easier to understand. However a smart pilot should always take into account the possibilities a ship can offer before relegating it to the darkest corners of one’s hangar.

Configurations:

Setup: Standard fleet Merlin

Highs:
2x Standard Light Launchers
2x 125mm Railguns

Mids:
Small Shield Extender
Small Shield Booster
Warp Disruptor
Target Painter

Lows:
Damage Control 1
Overdrive Injector System

Effective HP: 2710
Damage Per Second: 24
Capacitor Endurance: 34 seconds

Pros:

The standard Fleet Merlin is a great starter ship for either new players to the game or to the PVP side of EVE. The Merlin’s resists in this configuration are supplemented by a shield extender and booster to help repair any damage taken during a fight. It’s Warp Disruptor allows it to help the fleet tackle any war targets they encounter and with the quick lock on time of a frigate. While it is not a dedicated “Tackler” every “point” helps in a fleet battle, be it a 5 on 5 or 100 on 100 fight, an additional “point” helps ensure that targets are unable to leave the fight. Rounding out the Mid slots is a Target Painter. The Target Painter is especially useful in a Caldari fleet as missile launchers gain the biggest benefits from a “TP”. The Fleet Merlin has exceptional range for a Frigate, striking out to an effective range of 24km allowing it to put fire on any target within seconds in most combat situations.

Cons:

The Merlin, again, is the heaviest of the Caldari Frigates and its emphasis is on tanking as opposed to speed. This makes the Merlin a slug against opposing Frigates. Due to the lack of a Stasis Webifier it cannot attempt to control the speed of hostile ships. This means fast, short range, high dps Frigates are bound to close quickly and stress the Merlin’s tank shortly. This will also lead to tracking issues against fast targets at short range. Also the Target Painter does not do much for the Merlin itself. Overall this setup is not recommended for roaming solo or in a gang that does not have enough Tacklers to keep short range Frigates from closing with the Merlin.

Conclusion:

The Fleet Merlin is a great starter ship for those looking to participate in PVP as part of a fleet. This makes it a great setup for those participating in Faction Warfare where fleets typically have a range of ship classes working together. The Merlin will be able to fire upon most targets before the bulk of the fleet and will help pin down a hostile ship. It also makes it an easy mark for his missile using fleetmates with its Target Painter. While the Merlin is still slow for a Frigate it was not designed to serve as a dedicated Tackler however it help bolster a fleets tackling ability. In the end the Fleet Merlin helps its friends in ways faster, short ranged Frigates rarely can.

Most new players will find that their Level 1 mission agents will hand out frigates as rewards making replacements relatively easy. Most players will find most of the mods during their missions further easing the pain of replacing combat losses. While the Merlin is not going to be putting out huge DPS it helps new PVP pilots gain experience in working as part of a fleet. The Target Painter and “point”, a “point” being a Scramber or Disruptor, gets the Rookie thinking about setups that are not pure tank or pure gank. Instead they will begin thinking about how to fit to help the whole instead of only themselves. I am sure that most FCs will agree with the concept of the setup even though they may have differences of opinion on weapons or speed. In the end the standard Fleet Merlin is a great starter PVP ship from which players can then branch out and explore the other areas of PVP all while starting strong in the mindset of working as part of a fleet.

Setup: Buffer Merlin  ::EDITED::

Highs:
2x ‘Malkuth’ Standard Missile Launcher
2x 125mm Carbide Railguns

Mids:
Medium Suborbinate Screen Stabalizer (Medium Shield Extender)

2x Invulnerabilty Field Sheild Hardeners

Prototype Sensor booster (scan resolution script)

Lows:
2x Micro Auxiliary Power Core

Effective HP: 5071
Damage Per Second: 25 with Iron hybrid rounds, 39 with Anti-matter
Capacitor Endurance: 1 minutes, 6 seconds

Pros:

While slightly different then your basic Merlin setup this configuration focuses on defenses which will allow the pilot to endure more punishment then normal. This is effective for plexing in FW where even a few seconds more can mean success or failure. The weapons load allows the pilot to strike at range, something that is useful for taking down plex rats while still being able to support your tacklers holding the warp-in point at a moment’s notice. As the enemies start to close in the pilot can swap the Iron Hybrid rounds for Anti-Matter rounds, increasing his DPS.

Cons:

This setup does not look to remedy what some would consider the problems with the Merlin. Without a Micro Warp Drive or Afterburner this configuration is still a slug. It also lacks a web and “point”. This means the Merlin pilot is unable to contribute to the fleet’s ability to tackle.

Conclusion

This config clearly needs to work as part of a fleet as it is unable to tackle its own targets. While useful in a fast roaming fleet made up of Frigates and Destroyers due to its range, DPS and tank it is the wrong configuration to bring to a fleet with larger ships. In mixed fleets, all Frigates should be equipped with at least a Warp Jammer or Disruptor due to their lock on speed when compared to Cruisers and larger. This configuration is also great for Faction Warfare “plexing” where its range can help pick off rats while being in effective range to support Tacklers quickly.

Edit Notes: The Buffer Merlin setup previously posted was a prototype for the configuration and stored in EFT under the same name. The revised Buffer Merlin is the configuration that I have used many times while a part of the Amarr Militia in 2008. For those that did not see the incorrect set up the difference was primarily in the midslots. Its effective hitpoints went from 2.6  to 5,071. Also its DPS went from 16/20 to 25/39 (Iron/Anti-Matter).

Setup: The Berlin(short range Tackler)

Highs:
2x Light Ion Blasters
2x Rocket launchers

Mids:
1MN Micro warp drive
Stasis webifier
Warp Scrambler
Small shield extender

Lows:
Micro Auxiliary Power Core
Overdrive Injector

Effective HP: 1792
Damage Per Second: 35
Capacitor Endurance: 48 seconds

Pros:

The Ion Blasters and Rocket Launchers give this Merlin configuration greater punch then the typical weapon load out. The Merlin can make for a great tackler against larger targets, especially post QR due to its small signature radius. The small signature radius backed with the shield resist bonus will help ensure the Merlin’s survival. The Microwarp could be replaced with an Afterburner which will reduce the strain on the capacitor but reduce its top speed.The Warp Scrambler backed by a Stasis-Webifier will turn most PVP ships into sitting ducks waiting to be ripped apart by the Merlin’s fleetmates.
Suggestion: If the pilot is feeling confident they could drop the small shield extender and fit a Sensor Booster with a Scan Resolution Script to increase the Berlin’s chance of catching hostile ships before they warp off.

Cons:

The Merlin is the largest of the Caldari frigs designed with damage and resistance in mind making it a ranged fighter. When facing other Frigates a player will quickly realize that lighter designs have the advantage of speed which can be frustrating if the target is attempting to flee. The Merlin should only be used to tackle ships larger then itself as it will need more time to lock and close with the target then lighter Frigates such as the Condor.

Conclusion:

The “Berlin” configuration attempts to address some of the problems with most Merlin setups, that is speed, tackle and DPS. While the Berlin can close with targets and deliver higher levels of damage when compared to setups with light missiles and rails, it puts the pilot within range of Scramblers as well as Webs. Both will rob the ship of its speed leaving it unable to close meaning it will not be able to deal damage. In spite of this it allows a Caldari pilot to serve as a short ranged Tackler for mixed ship class fleets. They will be able to deal higher levels of damage then normal while helping their fleet lock down targets and hopefully bag additional kill mails. In the end this config is best used as a durable tackler for a mixed fleet or as part of a fleet of fast ships where its MWD allows it to keep up with running battles.

The Capacitor is limited when all mods are in use so the pilot must take care to monitor its level. The pilot should always give his Scrambler and Webifier priority over weapons fire. A tackler is useless if it cannot do its job! When necessary, shut off the blasters and stick to your rockets and tackling gear. The Micro-Warpdrive should be used when closing with the target and shut off within scram range as the drain on the cap and increase in signature radius will work against you by making you a bigger target for hostile ships.

Setup: BloodSucker!

Highs:
2x Small Nosferatu
2x Small Rudimentary Energy Destabalizers (small energy destabalizer)

Mids:
Initiated Warp Disruptor
Stasis Webifier
Small Converse Deflection Catalyzer (small shield booster)

Lows:
Micro Auxiliary Powercore
Overdrive Injector System

Effective HP: 1480
Damage Per Second: 0
Capacitor Endurance: Negligible

Pros:

The “BloodSucker” is based upon an encounter I had recently with a hostile Merlin pilot in FW. I was in a Moa thinking I had an easy kill in front of me but I was in for a surprise. This configuration is what I believe the pilot was flying. Due to its small size and ability to tackle backed with a boost in speed,thanks to an Afterburner, the Merlin was able to slip under my effective range with my medium rails making it extremely hard to hit. The shots that did land were reduced by the Merlin’s natural resistances. Once I had fired the Merlin proceeded to tackle me and begin draining my capacitor. Any damage I had inflicted was soon repaired. I was left there kind of embarrassed as I was unable to keep my tank online while firing at this little nugget that was unable to kill me. Thankfully he didn’t have friends with him.

Cons:

While the pilot that I encountered mounted a rocket launcher, it did virtually nothing as my natural regeneration exceeded his damage output. The fight ended as a stalemate as we had a good laugh in local and decided to disengage. The pilot had mentioned that he was able to beat other Frigates using the setup but mounting a single rocket launcher. Against Cruisers and above, the DPS of the launcher is going to prove useless. The cons of the above configuration is that you will be unable to deal any damage, leaving that role to your fleet mates. While he left my Moa unable to use most of it’s guns throughout the fight a ship with light drones would still pose a serious threat to the Merlin.

Conclusion:

The BloodSucker proved to be a nasty surprise. A surprise that would have allowed a hostile Cruiser to rip apart my Moa with out effort due to the capacitor drain the Merlin was able to execute. Thus bringing down my tank. The same tank that has had several groups of Cruisers and larger pounding away for some time before taking me down. While this configuration does not have a rocket launcher it increases its ability to drain the target.

The Merlin should feel free to burn up his capacitor in order to make use of the Nos. With the Afterburner, tackle gear, shield booster and destabalizers this should take little to no effort. The shield booster combined with the Merlin’s resists should negate any shots the target can land. In fact most of the damage the Merlin repaired during our fight was thanks to my own capacitor recharge rate being used against me. I must also mention the cap drain was exceptionally fast due to my own tank and weapons and his destabalizers and shield boosting which allowed the Nos to do their job.

This setup is extremely specialized and even with the removal of one Nos or Destabalizer and mounting a rocket launcher, the setup is best used as part of a gang where another ship can provide the firepower as you lock down and drain the target. This would be best accomplished with a wing mate on a safe spot just outside of overview range. They can then quickly join the fight once the Merlin knows that the target is unable to warp off and cannot use the warpgate. I can see a group of 2-3 frigates having great success against solo cruisers and maybe even against Battlecruisers that do not rely upon drones for its offensive capability.

:By Request:

Setup: SlowMo-Solo PVP(Warning:This fit is purely EFT theory at the moment!)

Highs:

2x ‘Malkuth’ Standard Missile Launchers

2x 150mm Carbide Railguns

Mids:

‘Fleeting’ Warp Disruptor

‘Initiated Harmonic’ Warp Scrambler

2x ‘Langour’ Drive Disruptor (Stasis Webifier)

Lows:

Micro  Auxiliary Power Core

200mm Crystalline Carbonide Plates

Effective HP: 2665

Damage Per Second: 29 w/Iridium charges , 40 w/Anti-Matter charges

Capacitor Endurance: Stable

Pros:

While the Merlin is slow for a Frigate this setup will be able to turn even the fastest Frigate into an even slower space brick with its 2 Webifiers and Warp Scrambler. It can also slap a point on a target out to 20km with its Warp Disruptor which also serves as a means of deception. Its pair of 150mm Railguns and dual Light Missile Launchers ensure that it can return fire on any hostile Frigate. The 200mm plate offers the Merlin additional protection while allowing you to carry a more then impressive array of tackling gear.

Cons:

This setup relies upon deception in order to work so do not expect this setup to work against the same pilot twice,  assuming you win.  1 vs 1 fights against a speed tank Frigate shoud, theoretically, give you the win. Against a buffer tanked ship with similar range will likely send you home in a pod.

I would not suggest using this Setup while next to a gate as it will take a while for the target’s speed to bleed away. Your best bet would be to sit off the gate and have the target come to you and away from the gate. This will allow you time to bleed their speed without them getting smart and jumping away.

Conclusion:

Again this configuration is EFT theory mixed with personal experience with the Merlin using other setups. At first glance this Merlin appears to be your typical long range Merlin that is lacking in tackle. Of the Frigate battles I have had in the past,thanks to Faction Warfare, the Merlin was my favorite ship and hostiles treated it the same way. Most wartargets that I encountered were Micro Warp Drive using speed machines. They simply rushed at my Merlin to close the range and take advantage of their higher DPS but extremely short ranged weaponry. Normally this would give them the advantage as their speed gave my Railguns hell, making it difficult to land a shot. My launchers however did hit but I was still left with 50% of my effective DPS sitting there, useless. This resulted in a few destroyed Merlins.

To a hostile Frigate pilot a Merlin is a sitting duck waiting to be picked off without a dedicated tackler supporting it. At first this setup appears to be a standard Merlin, long range weapons and a Warp Disruptor. This allows the target to believe he can simply MWD in,engage and MWD out of Disruptor range if it gets to hot for him.  If he believes he can take you down he has you pointed and most likely webbed. Even without the web he holds an advantage in speed meaning you cannot escape. Of course “All warfare is based upon Deception.” a bit of Sun Tzu if you will.

The pilot is now thinking how you wanthim to think. They kick in their MWD and rush you, laughing at your Disruptor’s pathetic attempt to tackle their 3km/s+ Frigate. You start to fire but they know its a matter of seconds before their greater DPS is in range and your rails become a joke. They get within web range and notice their speed is dropping, “big deal” until they realize they are dual webbed. As soon as they are reacting to that problem they realize their MWD just shut off and their speed is dropping even more. You turn off the Disruptor and the capacitor levels off around 50%.  You realize that you now control the range of the fight as your weapons continue to hammer away at a target that has no serious response.

While I have not used this setup before I will be sure to make use of it soon. Once I have a number of fights under my belt using this setup I will revise it with information based upon its performance. Feel free to leave a comment on its performance if you decide to try this or any other setup.

Final Words:

These configurations can easily be modified by most pilots with an average of 3 in the related skills. These configurations are also in no way,shape or form the only setups possible. Instead these setups are meant to give the Rookie PVPer solid configurations from which to build upon. As the player gains additional SP, Isk and PVP experience they will find new ways to fit their ships that will bring them success against their opponents. Our goal is to get the thought process started as well as to encourage players to take a risk on a great aspect of the game. So good luck and happy hunting!

Tip: Since Railguns and Blaster deal Kinetic and Thermal damage I would suggest loading your launchers with EM and or Explosive missiles. By determining what kind of tank the enemy has may allow you to switch ammo types. While most people will say that changing ammo in a fight is suicide I have found in many FW plex fights,while using a Merlin, that I was able to do so successfully. Based off of the damage information saved I realized that switching to a different flavor of Missile that I matched and exceeded the damage output I would have had if the switch was not made. Also covering all 4 damage types allows you to strike at their weakness with at least 1 weapon which beats striking it with zero weapons, instead focusing fire on its strengths.

Tip: If you missions with any corp within the Caldari State you will be able to apply your Loyalty Points (LP) towards “faction ammo”. Doing so allows you to aquire Caldari Navy Hybrid charges and missiles. While the damage output may seem small when compared to the cost, in PVP you want every advantage possible no matter how slight it may be. If you must choose 1 type due to cost I would suggest Caldari Navy Small Anti-Matter rounds as the bulk of the Merlin’s DPS is from its Railguns.

This article is brought to you by EVE-Mag.com - an independent EVE Magazine, ©2009 EVE-Mag.com. Read more of New Eden's finest writers here!

Picture credit: Davik Rendar

Race, bloodline and sex are purely aesthetic in nature as players are not bound to their races ship types and there is no lock in to any profession. You may start as a miner and turn out to be a professional hit man.

While EVE forces you to select a gender , unlike other MMOs, it means nothing in game. Male or Female means nothing beyond the look of your avatar within the game and until CCP finishes its “walkable” stations your avatar is a mere mugshot. Players do not get a bonus or penalty to their skills or attributes based upon the gender of their avatar. Also, one should not expect to receive isk for ./dancing around public areas such as Jita 4-4. If you make such an attempt, it is my sincere hopes that you get suicide ganked.

EVE also lets you select an Empire from which your avatar is from and gives you their frigate skill at level 2-3 on average. Beyond this initial ship skill you are not bound by any rules or regulations as to which ships you can train and eventually fly. A player may start as an Amarrian with “Amarr Frigate” at level 3 but with a little isk to buy a skill book that character can be cruising around New Eden in a Rifter, all within a day. The same is true with weapons, as long as you have the isk for the skill books and are willing to dedicate the time to train , you can make use of any weapon system you desire.

Within each Empire there are several “bloodlines” and “careers” one can select from which seems interesting. It can be interesting and useful when it comes to creating a character that fills the role you wish them to fill seemlessly. Unfortunately most players have no clue as to what they want to do within EVE by merely looking at the log in screen as well as character generation screens. To be honest you can easily find EVE junkies of 2 or more years that have no clue as to what they want to become within EVE. It is a curse as well as a great game feature. Just like in Real Life you can decide what you want to do but if you cannot figure that out chances are you will be set adrift. Eventually everyone finds their way in RL as well as in EVE. No one should ever feel as though they must stick to their starter “package”. EVE is about exploring, blowing stuff up and building your own “Empire”.

Go out there and find new and interesting things to try and train for. But most of all, find what makes EVE fun for you and push it to the limit leaving your starting skill set behind you if you must. EVE was designed to be about “choice”, not choices you made at the character generation screen! In EVE, the only boundaries,limitations and handicaps are the ones you create in your mind.

This article is brought to you by EVE-Mag.com - an independent EVE Magazine, ©2009 EVE-Mag.com. Read more of New Eden's finest writers here!

New Eve-Mag Feature: Proverbs of Eve

Its been awhile since I wrote anything that got published, real life has a tendency to demand all the free time of a college student when you least expect it though thankfully I did manage to find some time here and there.

Back in March during my spring break I stat down right before the next expansion hit and thought up of all the little tidbits of information that I thought new players, some of whom I thank for about three months of free game time, would need. These were one or two line, easy to remember, bits of knowledge that covered everything I could think of. Unfortunately even though the article was revised several times RL came calling and it went on the back burner, though looking back, that turned out to be a good thing. One day, ShardowRhino suggested that we take the many bits of info and go with a fortune cookie approach, so that is what we are doing.

Each week a Proverb of Eve (POE) will be published by various members of Eve-Mag. These will be quick bits of info, maybe a paragraph or two in length and a photo illustrating the point. They will be primarily targeted at newer and younger players but occasionally a POE may answer a question for older players. We hope you like this new feature!

This article is brought to you by EVE-Mag.com - an independent EVE Magazine, ©2009 EVE-Mag.com. Read more of New Eden's finest writers here!

Eve, The Art of War – An Advanced Guide to Warfare

About the Writer: I have been writing science fiction for over 20 years with many of my short stories being published. Playing Eve is another passion I have and was enthralled the first day I played. I am a big history buff and played with the idea of writing this article for several months before actually starting. I am 36 years old and I live in Arizona with my girlfriend our 4 kids, 2 cats and our new puppy. Hope you enjoy the article.

Prologue

This guide is a compilation of combat tactics from basic PVE to solo & fleet PvP. Many sources have been researched to make this guide a reality including personal experience. By following this guide you will win more battles then you will lose. Comparisons will be made to Sun Tzu and his book The Art of War which have been bolded. The book was written thousands of years ago but it is still applicable today. I will attempt to not repeat what has been written in other guides except when it is pertinent. Many of you will know some or even all of the tactics discussed here. How consistent are you in using them?

Chapter One
Laying Plans

The art of war is governed by five constant factors, to be taken into account in one’s deliberations, when seeking to determine the conditions obtaining in the field. These are: (A) The Moral Law; (B Heaven; (C) Earth; (D) The Commander; (E) Method and Discipline.

(A) The Moral Law causes people to be in complete accord with their ruler, so that they will follow him regardless of their lives, undismayed by any danger.

From a small gang to a massive fleet one thing is constant. There must be a leader. One leader who oversees the entire operation whether it be running a mission or fighting a battle with hundreds of ships. It must be agreed that their orders will be followed to the letter with out question or hesitation. Leaders have the responsibility of obtaining the objective with as little loss of ships as he can. When running PvE missions there is no reason to lose any ships. In PvP losses are expected but it should be avoided when possible and when it will not impede reaching the objective.

(B) Heaven signifies night and day, cold and heat, times and seasons.

To apply this to Eve think about time zones. There are players from five general areas. Americas. Europe, Australia, the Orient and Africa. If you are in a corp war, finding out where the majority of your enemy’s players are could be the key to your success. Corp wars in Empire have one goal, cause one side to surrender.

This can be accomplished in one of three ways. One, station camping their players so that they can not operate by running missions, mining, trading etc. Two, destroy more of their ships then they do of yours. Three, cause them to be afraid of undocking. Not because you are station camping them but because you could be there any minute to kill them.

If you are dealing with a corp who has players from several countries it makes it easier to use the advantage of numbers to take down the few players who find themselves online when you are. Remember war is not always honorable. When war is declared the end justifies the means. Your enemy will take advantage of anything they can so do not hesitate to use anything and everything at your disposal to get an advantage.

(C ) Earth comprises distances, great and small; danger and security; open ground and narrow passes; the chances of life and death.

This is in regard to distances of all kinds. From the ranges of your weapons and modules to the distance you may have to travel to conduct combat operations. Know the optimal range of your weapons and you will be able to maximize your damage in every engagement. If you can find your enemy’s typical area of operation research it for places that will be the optimal engagement locations.

I have been in wars where my enemies had offices 20 to 30 jumps away where they would hide and I would have to travel there to engage them. In order to conduct remote operations I would find an office within 1 jump of their system. This would be where I would move my clone to so that if I was pod killed I would clone one system over rather than having to move the entire distance again. I would bring modules and ammo to outfit several ships then purchase them once I got into the area. In 0.0 Space this can be more difficult. If the enemy is more than 3 jumps from where you can set up an outpost for ship replacement and cloning then do not engage. I will explain why
later in the guide.

Distance plays a huge factor in your chances of survival when in the heat of battle. Knowing at what range you inflict the most damage is key. Knowing how long it will take you to escape warp scramble range will also save you if you’re losing the battle. Granted you can use warpcore stabilizers but by doing that you shorten your maximum range and you can use those slots on something that could make the difference in battle. If you are assuming you will lose, do not fight. Fight when you are confident of victory. There is no dishonor waiting for things to be in your favor. Remember its all about who wins the war not who puts up the best fight before they are killed.

(D) The Commander stands for the virtues of wisdom, sincerity, benevolence, courage and strictness.

As mentioned earlier a leader’s job is to obtain his objective with as few losses as possible. Holding the field of battle but taking greater losses then the enemy is a lost battle. Veterans of the battle will know they lost and they will lose confidence in their leader and their ability to beat the enemy. If this happens you will have lost your next battle before it begins. Keeping your men alive while winning battles is a tough thing to do. Aside from training and the ability to obey commands your army also relies on their commander making calm and thoughtful decisions in battle. Commanders should train with their army as much as possible and take part in all aspects setting the example and personally showing them that he knows what they are doing. This will garner respect in your troops and they will follow you into the sun.

Many people have different opinions about what makes a good commander but there are qualities that remain constant. During combat a good commander will keep their cool and know when to stay in the battle and when it is time to go. When not in combat a good commander is the one that corp members can turn to for help them with fittings or to give them advice on skills training. A good commander will never go into a battle with out some kind of plan for the attack and the escape.

Anyone can be the CEO of a corporation in Eve but a good commander will recognize when there is someone better to lead his troops into battle other then himself. Also do not hesitate to use ideas given to you by other corp members because sometimes they have thought of something you have not. Be flexible in your thinking but also stand by your plans. If the plan fails take responsibility for the defeat and if they succeed give everyone credit and your corp will be there for you and each other.

(E) By Method and Discipline are to be understood the marshaling of the army in its proper subdivisions, the graduations of rank among the officers, the maintenance of roads by which supplies may reach the army, and the control of military expenditure.

Being able to marshal your troops for battle is important and should be practiced, even for smaller corps. When assembling a force, whether it’s three ships or hundreds, forming the fleet using the person with the best fleet skills and having plans of attack and retreat are vital. Using a voice chat system like Ventrilo or Teamspeak is also vital in assembling and directing your battle.

These five heads should be familiar to every general; he who knows them will be victorious; he who knows them not will fail. Therefore, in your deliberations, when seeking to determine military conditions, let them be made on the basis of a comparison, in this wise;
1) Which of the two corps is imbued with the moral law?
2) Which of the two generals has the most ability?
3) With whom lie the advantages derived from Heaven and Earth?
4) On which side is discipline most rigorously enforced?
5) Which army is stronger?
6) On which side are the officers and men more highly trained?
7) In which army is there the greater constancy both in reward and punishment?

By means of these seven considerations I can forecast victory or defeat.

While heeding the profit of my counsel, avail yourself also of any helpful circumstances over and beyond the ordinary rules. According as circumstances are favorable, one should modify one’s plan.

Be fluid in your plans making adjustments or changing it completely depending on what the enemy does. More often then not the enemy will have a plan of their own and it does not conform with yours.

All true warfare is based on deception.

Attacking your enemy by surprise is key in war because it lessens your enemy’s chance of escaping the system or getting to a safe station “or even making proper preparations for defense/offense. Hiding your movements is key. When logging off assume your enemy will use a locator agent to find all of your members. Keep them spread out as much as possible so they can only station camp one or two at a time. Using alts to scout out your and your enemy’s systems can be helpful as well and I myself use them often. When possible I will even have an alt join the corp I am going to war with so I can identify all of their members while feeding disinformation to them.

When able to attack, we must seem unable; when using our forces, we must seem inactive; when we are near, we must make the enemy believe we are far away; when far away, we must make him believe we are near.

In one war I was involved in I utilized a spy to locate members I wanted to kill. They had two offices 15 jumps apart. I would go between their offices, find their members at one, attack them, then race back to the other. After they lost ships this way and feeling like they could not go anywhere without me finding them, they surrendered.

Hold out baits to entice the enemy. Feign disorder and crush him.

Again using a spy that was in the same station as another fellow corp member we had been camping with three ships we decided to lure him out. The system was Maurasi in The Forge. It had only two gates. One gate led to Jita and the other led to Itamo. I knew that the best place to engage him would be on the Jita side of the Maurasi gate because of the lag experienced jumping into that system. So we had one ship leave the system and wait in Jita. Our spy then announced he was making a break to Itamo and he undocked. My other two corp members were at the Itamo gate waiting for my command. Our spy told our prey he was being chased by two enemy ships as he headed to the Itamo gate. We had two Thorax’s and a Rupture while our prey was in a Hurricane. He soon jumped into Jita and I was able to lock, scramble and webify him before the lag even wore off. I then had my other two members come and assist in the kill. He went down with out a single loss to us. We found out he did not have full insurance on it and he quit the corp the next day. By using the spy to convince the target he was safe we were able to engage rather then spend possibly hours station camping him.

If he is secure in all points, be prepared for him. If he is in superior strength, evade him.

I know the enemy will attempt to entice you to engage when they have the advantage but do not bite. You can use a shuttle to evade a station or gate camp very easily. Nothing will frustrate your enemy more than for you to evade them and avoid combat when they have gone to the trouble of assembling a stronger force then you. Wait until you positively have the superior force before engaging.

If your opponent is of choleric temper, seek to irritate him. Pretend to be weak, that he may grow
arrogant.

Often simple insults in convo will do the trick. Especially if he is an older player. He will look at you as a newb and therefore have no respect for you. DO NOT answer his insults if he throws them in local. Try and rouse him without rousing others against you. No matter how right you are, saying the wrong thing in local can bring other wardecs to your door. Two front wars should be avoided at all costs.

If he is taking his ease, give him no rest.

The constant pressure of your presence in his system will begin to frustrate him especially if he is on the defensive. Stay logged in within their system even when you are not actually playing. This will make him think you are always on and he has no hope of sneaking away.

If his forces are united, separate them.

Send a convo to all identified members offering them places in your corp. Let them know that you will give them very good positions and big bonuses the more they can steal from the corp they are in and information they can give you. One of the honest members will tell the CEO that you have made the offer. The CEO will have no choice to start to doubt the loyalty of all his corp mates. I usually offer twice the market rates for any ships or BPCs they can get.

Attack him where he is unprepared, appear where you are not expected.

Using locator agents and corp spies you can find identified members wherever they are. Do not hesitate to go to them and attack especially if you are stronger then them. They will perceive you as being everywhere and start to get paranoid.

These military devices, leading to victory, must not be divulged before hand.

Keep the entire plan to yourself giving only the appropriate parts to your subordinates. This will keep spies from learning the whole plan. Remember the use of spies is universal. Assume that everyone is a spy unless you know them in real life. Only tell your subordinates their part of the plan limiting a spy’s time to pass along the information.

Now the general who wins a battle makes many calculations in his temple before the battle is fought. The general who loses a battle makes but few calculations beforehand. Thus doing many calculations leads to victory, and few calculations to defeat: how much more no calculations at all!!! It is by attention to this point that I can foresee who is likely to win or lose.

This is very simple. Never enter a battle where you have no plan. Have an escape plan. Know where your troops need to reach in damage taken before letting them withdraw, have avenues of pursuit covered. Going against even newer players who have a solid plan while you have little or none will only get you defeated.

This article is brought to you by EVE-Mag.com - an independent EVE Magazine, ©2009 EVE-Mag.com. Read more of New Eden's finest writers here!

Kill NPC I: Amarr
-Amarr Tech I Ships

I’m sure many of you have at some point early in your EVE career decided that it would be a brilliant idea to take an Exequror or a Blackbird into a mission. You probably either lost it or left the mission feeling mystified and/or stupid because it didn’t work. For all of you who have not tried this yet, because you are too new or otherwise, good on you!

Of course, it’s one matter to know what not to fly in a mission, but it’s completely different to know what ships to fly and how to fit them. Here I’m going to cover every single Level 1 and Level 2 mission ship that will be realistically available to you early in your EVE career.

NOTE:
For all fits, please use Energy Weapons(Lasers) unless otherwise noted
All modules are Tech I unnamed – please upgrade according to your powergrid/CPU and skill capabilities for optimal results.

All “Recommended Skills” are not required, simply support skills that enhance efficiency.
Controlled Bursts III or IV, Energy Systems Operation III or IV, Energy Management III or IV, Small Energy Turret III or IV(for Frigates and Destroyers), and Medium Energy Turret III or IV (for Cruisers, and later on, Battlecruisers) are recommended for ALL Amarrian ships.

Vocabulary:

Pulse: If this is used in the context of a module, especially an armor repairer, shield booster, or afterburner, this means manually engaging and disengaging (click on the icon to engage, click again to turn off) a module to conserve capacitor as needed. A good example of this is to use an armor repairer, turning it on when you are taking significant amounts of damage, and then turning it off again once you are not.

Permatank: The ability of a ship to permanently engage it’s armor repairers or shield boosters, weapons, and every other energy-using module at the same time, indefinitely, without running out of energy.

Amarr
The Executioner:

While at first a seemingly capable mission ship, flying the Executioner even for a few minutes shows a completely different story. The 2/2/2 slot layout literally requires a pair of turrets in the high slots, however, what to do with the remaining 4 slots is a quandary. As per the description ingame, “The Executioner was designed specially to counter the small, fast raider frigates of the Minmatar Republic; thus it is different from most Amarr ships in favoring speed over defenses.” From this and our 2 low slots arises the problem with the Executioner as a low-skill mission ship. A low skilled speed-tanked ship cannot hope to evade all of the NPC’s, especially not if they’re using missiles, but that takes away the main difference of the Executioner from the other Amarrian frigates. Also, the capacitor on the Executioner is notoriously poor, and it is quite difficult to run both guns and an afterburner unless one fits many capacitor regeneration modules. While veterans can have fun blasting through a mission, for those new players(or old) that simply want to make as much ISK as fast as possible, the Executioner is not a contender.

Example Fit(Recommended):

High Slots:
2x Dual Light Beam Laser I, Standard S
Mid Slots:
2x Cap Recharger I
Low Slots
1x Small Armor Repairer I
1x Energized Adaptive Nano Membrane(or other Energized damage specific hardener)

Tactics: Orbit at optimal range and take down the closest enemies first; your beam lasers allow you long range so you can do this. To figure out your optimal range, undock from a station, right click on the icon of one of your lasers (make sure a crystal is loaded), and click “Show Info.” Go to “Attributes” and scroll down until you find “Optimal Range.” This is the range that you will do maximum potential damage up to. Keep in mind that you will be quite quite slow, so you’ll want to take out the fastest enemies as quickly as possible before they close range.

NOTE: This fit is not cap stable, either upgrade your modules, train more skills, or pulse the repairer(see vocabulary at top of article.)
Recommended Skills: Controlled Bursts III or IV, Energy Management III or IV, Amarr Frigate III or IV, Energy Systems Operation III or IV

Speed Fit(Not recommended for new players):
High Slots:
2x Dual Light Beam Laser I, Standard or Infrared S
Mid Slots:
1x Afterburner I
1x Tracking Computer I
Low Slots:
2x Overdrive Injector I

Tactics: Orbit at your optimal with the tracking computer on. Use Infrared crystals if you must get farther away, but at over 1KM/s with even Navigation I, if you’re careful you should be able to evade ANY Level 1 NPC

NOTE: Cap lasts 2:20 with no skills, Velocity is 992 m/s with no skills Optimal of 9.3KM – 12 based on crystals used.
Recommended Skills: Controlled Bursts III or IV, Navigation IV, Afterburner III or IV, Fuel Conservation III, Energy Management III or IV, Energy Systems Operation III or IV

The final verdict: Although a powerful and fast PVP vessel, especially in the area of tackling(preventing an enemy ship from warping or moving quickly) due to it’s high speed, the Executioner does not have the durability or endurance to become a major contender for the premier Amarrian mission Frigate.
Securitas’ Rank: 2/5 Stars

The Crucifier:

The Crucifier suffers the same basic problems as the Executioner: Low armor and shields, very limited slot layout, and a lack of useful bonuses. It’s intended for Tracking Disruption and is an admirable – and annoying for your opponent – PVP ship, but EWAR just doesn’t cut it in missions.

The final verdict: The Crucifier is a very annoying and effective PVP ship due to it’s electronic warfare bonus, specifically in the area of tracking disruption. A Tracking Disruptor, or “TD” for short, hampers the ability of the target ship to hit fast-moving ships via slowing down the turret tracking speed, or, if loaded with the correct script, lowers the range at which an enemy turret ship can effectively fight. The change brought on by a TD is drastic – over 50% reduction in tracking or optimal range per TD on a well-skilled pilot’s ship. However, for those tempted to use this ship in missions, there are a few very good reasons why this is not a good idea. First of all, the MAXIMUM number of TD’s one can fit is 3, meaning 3 targets tracking disrupted. A typical mission might have 10-30 enemy NPC’s, meaning that you cannot negate the damage of more than three of them, no matter how effective your electronic warfare is. Additionally, many missions will have enemy missile boats, which Tracking Disruptors have no effect on.

Secondly, the Crucifier lacks a large amount of armor or capacitor, meaning that it can neither take a lot of damage or sustain this for very long. Once one adds the fact that the Crucifier has only TWO damage unbonused turret slots and only space for one light drone, the Crucifier becomes largely useless in missions.

The Tormentor:

While the description says that the Tormentor has “strong defenses that make it a tough opponent to crack,” the Tormentor is nothing of the sort. It has less armor than every Amarrian frigate save for possibly the Impairor, and with a lack of bonuses for weapons or tank. This, combined with the fact that the Tormentor only has 2 unbonused turret hardpoints, makes it a somewhat less than desirable PVE ship.

The final verdict: An excellent mining frigate but the Tormentor has no place on the battlefield. Ever.

Example Fit:
NONE – Don’t try this

The Inquisitor:

Despite it’s initial appearance, the Inquisitor is a quite potent mission-running frigate – with the right skills of course. Because of it’s lack of capacitor-using weapons and it’s (relatively) long missile range, the Inquisitor can either be speed-tanked, orbiting at high speed from 20km out and pounding it’s targets, or at relative close range with a fair tank. It has no resistance bonuses and it’s damage is rather lackluster, especially because you’ll be using your lows to tank or fly fast, not to increase your damage, but from personal experience this ship can easily complete any Level I mission. Be wise in how you fit it, for it’s slots are also limited.

Other advantages to the Inquisitor come from it’s missile-based weapons systems. Using missiles as your prime method of damage enables you to ignore tracking. In other words, as long as a target is in range and not outrunning your missiles which is not a concern in missions, you will always hit for full damage, or at least as much as NPC speeds and resistances allow, never having to worry about whether or not they are avoiding your turrets by moving too quickly. Additionally, missile launchers use no capacitor energy, allowing more energy for the rest of a pilot’s modules, for example an armor repairer or afterburner. Yet another advantage is the ability to choose one’s damage type, although in almost every single case using Sabretooth (EM damage) missiles on an Inquisitor is better, because the ship receives a 10% damage bonus per level to EM missile damage, but only a 5% damage bonus to all other types of missiles. However, in some rare cases, such as elite Guristas rats (Dread ship type), it is more advantageous to use other missile types due to said rats having EXTREMELY high EM resistances.

Example Fit:
High Slots:
3x Standard Missile Launcher I, Sabretooth Light Missile
Mid Slots:
2x Cap Recharger I
Low Slots:
1x Small Armor Repairer I
2x Specific Energized Plating I

NOTE: The Inquisitor has a 18.8 KM range with no missile skills. Additionally, you should only need to pulse(vocabulary section above) the armor repairer as it is NOT cap stable. It does not fit with no skills, but with minimum skills, such as Engineering III, and Electronics III, with possibly Weapon Upgrades III, it should.

Tactics: This fit has no afterburner, so the best you can do is to fly in a straight line, which will help you avoid SOME fire, while pummeling the closest targets(or fastest) with missiles first. If you come up with your own afterburner fit, orbit 20km away with the afterburner on and shoot enemies one at a time.

Recommended Skills: Missile Projection III or IV, Missile Bombardment III or IV, Weapon Upgrades III

The final verdict: A capable mission running craft, the Inquisitor is an uncommon sight in PVE because of it’s missile-based weapons, but nonetheless it gets the job done admirably for those with the missile skills to use it.
Securitas’ Rank: 5/5 Stars

The Magnate:

The Magnate looks cool and is great for finding safed-up enemies with the use of probes and a probe launcher. That said you should never put this ship in harm’s way, especially in a mission, for the Magnate was never designed with combat in mind. It has only 2 turret hardpoints and only 2 low slots, limiting both tank and damage severely.

The final verdict: You can fly this in PVE for the lulz, but don’t expect to get out of that mission anytime soon – or alive, for that matter.

Example Fit:
NONE – Don’t try this

The Punisher:

For the vast majority of Amarrians, the Punisher is the mission-running Frigate of choice. It’s the toughest Amarrian frigate, although it suffers from the same problems as the Maller; plenty of capacitor, plenty of tank, plenty of fitting, but very little damage. One remedy for this is to use an afterburner and close ranged pulse turrets, although some of the BEST fits for the Punisher use autocannons because of their complete lack of capacitor use and low fitting requirements. Seeing as the Punisher loses no damage or bonuses over using them, this is a wise decision in many circumstances. Be advised, however, the thing is a bit slow unless fitted with speed-enhancing modules.

Example Fit(Lasers, for purists, Recommended):
High Slots:
3x Dual Pulse Laser I, Standard S(to save capacitor)
Mid Slots:
1x Cap Recharger I
1x Afterburner I
Low Slots:
3x Specific Energized Plating(use named to save on CPU, you’ll need it for low skills)
1x Small Armor Repairer I

Tactics: Try to fly away from opponents to “kite” them with the afterburner on. This should get you a large amount of enemies following you directly, maximizing tracking and minimizing the damage placed on you. The way this works is that the NPCs are barreling straight towards you and presenting targets that are not moving laterally. Meanwhile, these same NPCs probably cannot match your range or speed, and therefore cannot hit you. Also, because you are taking less damage, you won’t have use the Armor Repairer as often, saving capacitor.
Recommended Skills: Controlled Bursts III or IV, Small Energy Turret III or IV, Afterburner III or IV, Fuel Conservation III

NOTE: Once again pulse the Repairer or get capacitor skills – very necessary for Amarr vessels.

Example Fit(Autocannons, Recommended):
High Slots:
3x 150mm Light Autocannon I, EMP S
Mid Slots:
1x Cap Recharger I
1x 1MN Afterburner I
Low Slots:
2x Specific Energized Plating
1x Gyrostabilizer I
1x Small Armor Repairer I

Tactics: Use your afterburner to chase down ships and pummel them at close range. Try to get within 2KM before you start firing. Only activate your armor repairer when you have the capacitor and need it.
Recommended Skills: Weapon Upgrades III or IV, Afterburner III or IV, Fuel Conservation III, Small Projectile Turret III or IV

NOTE: In almost all cases, one should not use non-racial weapons systems on ships because of “wasted” bonuses. The Punisher, Maller, and Prophecy are all exceptions to this rule due to their 10% laser capacitor bonus per level, but lack of any other laser bonuses. Because projectile-class weapons use NO capacitor whatsoever, and have lower fitting requirements (but also lower damage), they are excellent matches for these vessels. However, if one does not have Projectile weapon skills, it is usually not in a newer player’s interest to specifically train these.

The final verdict: The Punisher is either the best Amarrian PVE frigate, or ties with the Inquisitor, depending on your skills with their respective weapons systems(Lasers vs Missiles). Definitely something to put in your hangar.
Securitas’ Rank: 5/5 Stars

The Coercer:

While having plenty of damage, lightning-fast tracking, and a huge and very useful optimal range bonus, the Coercer is a less-than-optimal mission running ship. Twice to three times as expensive as the Punisher, with a larger signature radius and slower speed, making it easier to hit, and a weaker tank, as well as limited low slots, condemn this otherwise promising craft. That said if fit correctly with high skills it can “gank” it’s way through Level I and very easy Level II missions with ease.

Example Fit(Lasers, Not Recommended):
High Slots:
7x Dual Light Pulse Laser I, Standard S
Mid Slots:
1x Cap Recharger I
Low Slots:
1x Small Armor Repairer I
3x Specific Energized Plating

Tactics: Shoot the ships closest to you first.
Recommended Skills: Controlled Bursts III or IV, Small Energy Turret III or IV, Weapon Upgrades III or IV

Example Fit: (Gank, High Skills):
High Slots:
7x Dual Modulated Pulse Energy Beam I, Standard S
Mid Slots:
1x Cap Recharger II
Low Slots:
1x Small Armor Repairer II
3x Heat Sink II

NOTE: First of all, the above fit is intended as an example “gank”(killing enemies before they kill you) fit, not one to be used by newer players – just a way to show newer players how this would work. This is not cap stable and should ONLY be flown if you have the skills to fit all of the above with ease. It has a 10KM range and does 136 DPS with good skills. If you know how to manually pilot your ship and avoid fire as much as possible, you will blow through missions.

Tactics: Shoot the ships that are closest to you first; with your damage you should melt any Level I NPC within seconds

The final verdict: Fun to fly and daring, but not very tough, and one midslot presents limited options, forcing one to choose between capacitor stability and speed or range. The Punisher is a much better choice, especially for newer players who want a higher degree of safety due to the Punisher’s tanking bonus. This is a great ship for those who already know exactly what they are doing as it presents a bit of a risk to a very new player, however, with it’s ability to blow through Level I missions with great ease.
Securitas’ Rank: 4/5 Stars

The Augoror:

This is the cheapest Amarrian cruiser, and thus, many newer pilots may be tempted to use it simply because it enables them to say “OMG I have a cruiser now!” However, the Augoror is a bad choice of solo mission ship for a variety of reasons. Note that it can make an excellent mission support cruiser, acting in a logistics capacity to assist other vessels.

Now, you ask, what’s wrong with it? Well, although that 10% armor bonus per level is very useful for making you survive longer and for PVP where a buffer tank is preferable, that very same bonus will also make you survive longer and not potentially indefinitely – in essence, it will not allow you to “permatank,” or to keep a repairer/hardeners on indefinitely, any better than a ship without the bonus. Basically, it does not change the RATE at which enemies chew through your armor, simply the TIME that it takes them to do it. Permatanking is practically a requirement for ANY mission ship in case you mess up on something or get warp scrambled. Alright, admittedly permatanking is not required, especially for higher-level players, however, for a new player just hopping into their first cruiser, it’s most desirable to be ready for anything.

Thus, the extra 50% armor even at Amarr Cruiser V does not help a mission running pilot in the least, especially considering the ship gets no gun bonuses, not even a capacitor usage bonus, and only has 3 turret hardpoints. The final death knell for the Augoror as a mission ship comes from it’s 5 m3 drone bay, meaning you can’t even rely on it’s paltry drone damage to complete a mission. In addition, the 10% Energy need bonus for Remote Energy Transfer modules also doesn’t help at all in a solo combat situation – who are you going to give energy to, the rats?

However, new players can help out older corp mates by giving them capacitor from the Augoror’s generous supply, assisting the older playing in tanking and keeping his guns running, so he might be able to fit more powerful (and power-hungry) weapons and a tougher tank than he might otherwise be able to do alone. In this case, the Augoror should be fit with Medium Energy Transfer Arrays in the highslots, and capacitor-boosting modules, such as mid-slot Cap Recharger’s and low-slot Capacitor Power Relays, to ensure that the Augoror pilot is able to keep the Energy Transfer Arrays operational. No tanking modules should be fitted, as the Augoror has a generous armor buffer, and the newer pilot will have plenty of time to warp out and back in. Additionally, this allows the ship to focus entirely on it’s logistical role.

The final verdict: Not a good mission ship, could possibly be used in extenuating circumstances. However, in a logistics role, this ship excels.
Securitas’ Rank: 1/5 Stars(a 0 is possible)
Recommended Skills: Energy Emission Systems III or IV, Amarr Cruiser III or IV

The Arbitrator:

The Arbitrator is the Amarrian Electronic warfare cruiser and only Tech 1 cruiser sized drone ship. While it’s bonuses don’t immediately appear to be helpful to a new mission runner, it is probably the best Tech 1 mission ship the Amarrian fleet has to offer. Because newer players often lack fitting skills such as Weapon Upgrades and Advanced Weapon Upgrades, or even Engineering and Electronics to V each, having drones as a main damage source frees up your powergrid and CPU for things other than guns.

Additionally, the capacitor is not continually being drained by the cap-intensive lasers, especially for a newer player that lacks capacitor skills. With a fitting of an afterburner, cap mods in the mids, and a full armor tank in the lowslots, even 4 lowslots is enough for any Level 2 mission. With Tech II drones this beast is capable for either PVP or PVE. However, for PVE work, the second bonus of 5% to Tracking Disruptor effectiveness per level is for the most part completely useless; the slots are better used for more cap mods to power your tank or drone mods to make your drones go faster.

The highs can be fitted with nosferatus and small guns for up-close work and aggressing groups of enemies, or drone links to increase the range of your drones.

Example Fit(Tank, Recommended):
High Slots:
1x Dual Light Pulse Laser I, Standard S(getting aggro)
2x Medium Nosferatu I
1x Drone Link Augmentor I
Mid Slots:
3x Cap Recharger I
1x 10MN Afterburner I
Low Slots:
3x Specific Energized Plating I
1x Medium Armor Repairer I

5x Hammerhead I(Gallente drones do more damage against pretty much all NPC’s regardless of resists, with a possible exception to some Blood Raider Elite frigates)
5x Hobgoblin I (Same as above)

Tactics: Move after the wrecks after you kill them to loot them, focus fire on the cruisers first(except for Elite Frigates, usually preceded with names like Dread, Elder, Shadow, etc) with your Hammerheads, recall drones after all cruisers are dead, launch Hobgoblins and engage all frigates due to the better tracking of light drones. BEFORE launching drones, fire your Dual Light laser at groups of enemies so that they attack you and not your drones.
Recommended Skills: Combat Drone Operation III or IV, Scout Drone Operation V, Drones V, Afterburner III or IV

The final verdict: With a combination of low powergrid and CPU needs, drone-based damage, and very low skill requirements, the Arbitrator is the preferred mission running ship in the Amarrian Tech I navy.
Securitas’ Rank: 5/5

The Omen:

Many turret-users out there may be tempted to use the Omen. Personally, I advise against this for a variety of reasons, not least of which is that the Omen is lacking in the powergrid department. While it does plenty of damage and is quite cap stable, newer players will find it difficult to fit longer range lasers, especially Heavy Beam Lasers without a fitting module or two. The 15 m3 of drone bay makes the Omen slightly more desirable, but once again it is outclassed in every area but damage by the Arbitrator and Maller. For more experienced players who like to blow through missions, the Omen is a good choice. However, for newer players, it simply requires too many support skills to be viable.

Example Fit(Beam Lasers, Not Recommended)
High Slots:
5x Focused Medium Beam Laser I
Mid Slots:
3x Cap Recharger I
Low Slots:
4x Specific Energized Plating I
1x Medium Armor Repairer I

3x Hobgoblin I

NOTE: This does not fit with basic skill, and in fact, one needs relatively high skills(Engineering IV, Electronics IV), to fit this, which is why the Omen is less than desirable as a cruiser. As well, the damage is less than an Arbitrator and the capacitor does not last long.

Tactics: Try to kite your enemies as best as possible, take out cruisers first, use the light drones against frigates, except in cases of Elite Frigates (Dread, Elder, Shadow, etc), which should be taken out VERY FIRST, as these will warp scramble and web you.
Recommended Skills: Controlled Bursts IV, Combat Drone Operation II

The final verdict: While not a bad choice, the presence of better alternatives leaves the Omen a secondary or “just-for-fun” choice.
Securitas’ Rank: 3.5/5

The Maller:

The Maller will find many fans among newer players due to it’s 5% bonus to armor resistances per level. As opposed to the Augoror’s 10% armor bonus per level, this resistance bonus actually makes a tank stronger instead of just lasting longer. Thus, for newer players without many tanking skills, the Maller will get the job done, albeit slowly. The problem with the Maller lies chiefly in it’s lack of a damage bonus; though it has the powergrid for a full rack of medium lasers AND a tank, it will certainly take a while to finish a mission. It has a very generous capacitor and a medium energy turret capacitor use bonus besides, and it’s tank makes it as hard as a rock. The Maller is the most expensive Amarrian cruiser though, and with the Arbitrator available for nearly half the price and as good or better to boot, the Maller simply is not needed. In fact, it’s tank is almost “too strong,” meaning that a player will end up overtanking for a mission, which is not a bad thing but definitely not a good one.

Example Fit(Tank, Recommended):

High Slots:
5x Focused Medium Pulse Laser I, Standard M
Mid Slots:
3x Cap Recharger I
Low Slots:
2x Medium Armor Repairer I
3x Specific Energized Plating I
1x Capacitor Power Relay I

NOTE: This is NOT cap stable and does not fit with no skills, you must train up some basic capacitor and fitting skills. It also takes advantage of the tanking bonus of the Maller with 2 repairers, if you don’t have enough capacitor pulse one repairer or upgrade the modules.

Tactics: Take out targets at your leisure, you have a very powerful tank, however, take out the cruisers first so you can begin taking less damage and pulsing the repper as soon as possible, once again with the exception of Elite Frigates, which you should take out as soon as possible.
Recommended Skills: Controlled Bursts IV, Amarr Cruiser III or IV, Energy Grid Upgrades II or III, Motion Prediction IV.

Example Fit(Alternative, Recommended):

High Slots:
5x 220mm Vulcan Autocannon I, EMP M
Mid Slots:
1x 10MN Afterburner I
2x Cap Recharger I
Low Slots:
1x Capacitor Power Relay I
3x Specific Energized Plating I
1x Damage Control I
1x Medium Armor Repairer I

NOTE: If you want to have a bit of fun, this is a bit more daring and less “tough” setup, but as the Maller receives no laser damage bonuses, it does not lose any damage, and in fact gains one from the close range weapons. The capacitor is more stable as well. Also, this fits with NO skills and you can upgrade quite a bit, whether to 425mm autocannons or to more tech II modules.

Tactics: Burn towards the cruisers first and take them out quickly, once again with the exception of Elite Frigates. With this ship you have to be VERY cautious with Elite Frigates as they can and will evade the tracking on your medium-sized guns, and you have no light drones to dispose of them. In this situation, I recommend burning away from them with the afterburner and hitting them as they follow you, or take them out before they can reach you.
Recommended Skills: Medium Projectile Turret III or IV, Motion Prediction III or IV, Afterburner III or IV

The final verdict: The Maller is a quite capable mission ship at any level, and higher-skill players will even be able to get some damage out of the thing, but it is outclassed in price and in ease of use by the Arbitrator.
Securitas’ Rank: 4.5/5

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