Character Creation

Race Selection

The race that you choose at the start of the game is mostly a choice of style, looks and overall preference. The initial race has no great bearing on what you can or cannot do in EVE. Any race can train to use the ships of any other race and there are no hard-coded faction considerations to worry about. In terms of current population balance the races break down thusly:
Caldari – ~40-50% of player base
Gallente – ~20-30% of player base
Amarr - ~15-20% of player base
Minmatar - ~10-15% of player base

Attribute Distribution

Eve Online replaces the "level" mechanic of other RPGs with skills, which train at a set rate over time. Attributes control how fast various types of skills are learned. There are many trains of thought on what constitutes a good point-spread at this initial stage and it all hinges on what activities you feel are most likely to pique your interest. Every skill in EVE is assigned a primary and secondary learning attribute which generally translates like so:

Combat / Piloting – Perception, Willpower
Mining / Manufacturing / Research – Memory, Intelligence
Trading / Mission Rewards / Fleet Leadership Bonuses – Charisma, Willpower

This constitutes a very general rule of thumb. EVE is highly complex and dynamic which makes it nearly impossible to determine what you will and will not like as your character matures. Because of this reality I tend to advise a balanced approach between Perception, Willpower, Memory and Intelligence with Charisma taking up the distant rear (and usually garnering no attribute points). Keep in mind that your point distribution at this step is further influenced by your Blood Line selection in the next step.

Skill Selection

You will next be presented with the bloodline selection tree after your attribute points are distributed. Bloodline will only determine your attributes.

Next you chose your profession. Choosing certain trees will grant you a substantial head start in certain areas. For example – joining the military school branch will result in an initial combat oriented lean. Play with these steps until you find something you like.

The Early Days

The Tutorial

If you are new to EVE I highly recommend toughing out the tutorial. It will give you a baseline of knowledge about how to move around the UI, access the market system and the star-map to plot auto-pilot routes. It is not the most exciting tutorial but it will reward you with a +1 implant worth 500K to 1M ISK at the conclusion. At about the same time you finish up the tutorial you should start looking at purchasing an updated clone. Clones are important to your survival because they act like a backup copy of your character should you die – it is important to keep the clone up to date as each clone grade only handles a certain number of skill points.

Tip: Buy a shuttle and use it to do the tutorial courier missions. It has 10m3 of cargo space available and is much faster than your starting ship.

Skill Training and Planning

One of the first things you should do once exiting character creation is to start training a skill. Typically it is a good idea to focus on getting your racial frigate skill (under Spaceship Command) to level 2 or 3. After that it is wise to focus on some basic skills like Afterburners, Engineering, Electronics, Gunnery and Drones. You can usually train these all to level 3 or 4 in a matter of hours. If you don’t see the skill in your skill sheet it means you have to purchase the book from an NPC station. Look for stations with the word “School” in their name as these will typically sell all of the basic skill books for the base price. If you find yourself short on ISK look ahead to the “How to Make ISK” section.

In addition to these skills it is also a good idea to purchase and train the basic learning skillbooks to level 2 or 3. The sooner the better, but be sure to balance these against the skills needed to pilot and utilize your ship!

For more on learning skills see the Learning Skills Guide

Security Considerations

The galaxy is divided into sections of space known as regions. Each region contains a number of constellations and each constellation is made up of several solar systems. Every solar system has an associated security status that indicates the level of CONCORD presence (NPC Police force). The security rating you will find on the cluster-map is directly correlated to CONCORD’s presence and should not be confused with the True-Security rating. The higher the security rating, the safer the system, with three distinct sections.

"High-Sec" Empire Space
1.0 to 0.5 (True-Security 1.0 to 0.4)
The majority of the core systems fall into this security range. Players who have ruined their standings with the police are not allowed in these regions. CONCORD ships will respond to any act of aggression and are guaranteed to destroy the aggressor. The lower the security, the slower the CONCORD response. War declarations allow two alliances to prevent CONCORD from interfering with aggression.

"Low-Sec" Empire Space
0.4 to 0.1 (True-Security 0.5 to 0.0)
CONCORD will not respond to acts of aggression. However, sentry guns are in place at stations and jump-gates, and will fire on aggressors. Sentry guns are “tankable” unlike a true CONCORD response. The lower the security, the fewer sentry guns in place.

Lawless Space
0.0 (True Security 0.2 to -1.0)
The larger player-run alliances and corporations exist in 0.0 space where they make their own laws and enforce them as they see fit. Currently most 0.0 alliance operate under what is commonly referred to as Not Blue Shoot It (NBSI) policies which means that if they don’t know you they will open fire on sight. In addition, NPCs often appear near jumpgates and fire on nearby ships.

Death and Consequences

EVE is about conflict and one way or another you will die. The sooner you accept this fact and come to grips with it the more fun you can have in the game. That being said there are two types of “dying” that can occur.

Ship Destruction – This occurs when your shield, armor and hull are depleted and your ship explodes. You lose the ship and a random amount of your equipped modules and cargo. The remainder is ejected into space in a cargo canister that can be picked up by another player or by yourself if you are quick enough and whatever or whoever killed you didn’t take it first.

Pod Destruction (Podded) – When your ship is destroyed you are ejected into your Pod. The pod is very agile and can quickly jump into warp to escape in the event of a pirate attack but sometimes you just can’t get away and they will get your pod too (Note: NPCs will not target your pod). If you are pod-killed you will wake up in your clone in the station that you installed it at (you remembered to update it and keep it current right?). You should immediately purchase a new clone that can handle the number of skill points your character possesses. If you should perish without an up-to-date clone you will lose a number of skill points from one of your skills. This is a painful consequence that is easily avoided!

Ship Selection

This guide is intended for beginning characters so I will cover only a small selection of ship-types which are easily attainable by a new character.

Amarr

Amarr ships appear sleek and balanced. They are usually symmetrical and always have a yellow tinge to them along with reflective gold plating.

Amarr vessels all possess enormous amounts of armor plating in place of shielding. Their ships receive bonuses to laser turret use and often have larger capacitors to support the drain imposed by energy weapons. However, even in an Amarr ship care must taken not to go overboard with weapons and other modules or the capacitor will drain quickly. Amarr ships are typically the slowest within each class but often possess a large number of low power slots in order to equip a fierce armor tank or heat sinks.

Utility

Tormentor - Frigate Class - The Tormentor is the Amarr mining and general-purpose frigate. It has a fairly large cargo bay and it can mount two mining lasers. The Tormentor also has a small drone bay that allows for extra mining capacity (mining drones) or for minimal defense (combat drones). This ship can perform adequately as a fighting vessel should the need arise.

Combat

Punisher – Frigate Class – The Punisher has thick armor, good shields and three turret hard points. It's not the fastest ship, but makes up for that with its ferocious fighting abilities. Unfortunately, it is fairly expensive and requires Amarr Frigate 3, so get another fighter first and save up for this.

Executioner – Frigate Class – This ship has only moderate defenses compared to the Punisher and two turret hard points. However, this ship is the fastest Amarr frigate, which allows it to dictate the engagement profile against most targets; a luxury not to be underestimated. The Executioner is also very cheap which makes it an excellent first ship until you can afford a Punisher.

Inquisitor – Frigate Class – The Inquisitor is a good fighter and is modeled after the Punisher with one big difference. Instead of utilizing three turret hard points it has three missile hard points. If you prefer missile combat as an Amarr, this is a good choice.

Crucifier – Frigate Class – Not only does this thing look weird, it functions differently to other vessels. It can only mount two turrets and it has less armor and shielding than the Punisher and Inquisitor. What sets this ship apart is the number of medium slots, more than any other Amarr frigate, that allow this vessel to perform admirably as a support and Electronic Warfare platform. This ship is best avoided as a new player due to its highly specialized role.

Caldari

Caldari ships have a gray hue to them, making them look metallic and utilitarian in design. They have a lot of flat surfaces and look pretty similar to what a human spaceship of a few hundred years from now might look like.

Caldari ships represent the state of the art in shield and missile technology. Vessels of the Caldari state have the strongest shielding of any race and often possess a large number of medium slots in order to accommodate many advanced electronic modules. Unfortunately, Caldari vessels depend so much on their shields that armor plating has often been added as an afterthought and it shows. Ships of this race also have very few low power slots. The Caldari have a good balance of weapon technology in their ships - Those that do not specialize in missiles often specialize in rail guns or a combination of the two.

Utility

Bantam – Frigate Class – The Bantam is the Caldari mining and general-purpose frigate. It has a fairly large cargo bay and it can mount two mining lasers. The Bantam also has a small drone bay that allows for extra mining capacity (mining drones) or for minimal defense (combat drones). This ship can perform adequately as a fighting vessel should the need arise.

Combat

Merlin – Frigate Class – The Merlin is the brute of the pack. It can mount a total of four weapons (2 turrets 2 missiles), which is more firepower than almost any other frigate in the game. It has moderate armor and excellent shields along with a small cargo bay. However, its speed and maneuverability are low and it cannot carry any drones. The Merlin is an excellent all-around combat frigate but it is quite expensive and requires Caldari Frigate 3 so it probably won't be your first ship.

Condor – Frigate Class – The Condor can mount 2 weapons and has average shields and armor. This ship is the fastest Caldari frigate, which allows it to dictate range easily. It is also very inexpensive which makes it an attractive first combat ship.

Kestrel – Frigate Class – The venerable Kestrel. This ship sacrifices speed and maneuverability for a full missile-specialized approach. The Kestrel can mount four launchers and has a large cargo bay to accommodate the larger ammunition. Like the Merlin, the Kestrel cannot use drones and is quite expensive in both ISK and skill requirements. If you prefer missile combat, get this instead of a Merlin.

Griffin – Frigate Class – The Griffin is a support and Electronic Warfare platform. This ship fills a very specific role and is not recommended for the new player.

Heron – Frigate Class – The Heron can mount a missile launcher and a turret. It has a small cargo bay and a small drone bay but is second only to the Condor in speed. Its defenses aren't great, but it has several medium slots to play with. It's really a jack-of-all trades vessel, which makes it difficult to recommend for the new player.

Gallente

Most Gallente ships have a blue-green hue. They have smooth curves and rarely have any flat surfaces or right angles. Gallente ships rarely contain symmetry and can appear even more bizarre than Caldari ships.

Gallente ships are usually well-rounded, with good attributes across the board. They typically use hybrid weapons and drones as their main weapons. The most noteworthy aspect of these vessels is their enormous drone bay. Gallente ships are easily the best drone ships available. Every last frigate has some kind of drone bay, and most have a pretty large one.

Utility

Imicus - Frigate Class - The Imicus is one of the better mining frigates available. It has a very large drone bay, a large cargo hold, and it can use two mining lasers. The Imicus is more expensive than most mining frigates but the expense can often be justified. The Imicus lacks the mining laser yield and capacitor bonuses of the Navitas, which makes it less efficient when mining in a gang where someone else is hauling material away.

Navitas - Frigate Class - The Navitas is the Gallente mining and general-purpose frigate. It has a fairly large cargo bay and it can mount two mining lasers. The Navitas also has a small drone bay that allows for extra mining capacity (mining drones) or for minimal defense (combat drones). This ship can perform adequately as a fighting vessel should the need arise.

Combat

Tristan - Frigate Class - The Tristan, or FatMan, is one of the two combat frigates fielded by the Gallente Federation. It can mount four weapons, two launchers and two turrets, which give it a very substantial punch. The Tristan also has a decent drone bay which most ships in its role lack, further adding to its damage potential. However, it is quite expensive and requires Gallente Frigate 3, so save up for this one.

Incursus – Frigate Class – The Incursus is the Gallente Federation’s answer to the Punisher. This ship has three turret hard points along with a drone bay, which allows it to deal significant damage with either rail guns or blasters. The Incursus also has a fair number of medium slots and a large number of low slots that allow it to be flexible - Fitting for speed and tackling or for endurance and damage absorption. The Incursus is an expensive frigate and requires Gallente Frigate 3 but it is an excellent combat ship.

Atron - Frigate Class - The Atron is the fastest Gallente frigate and possesses moderate defensive capabilities along with light armament consisting of two turret hard points. This ship also has a small drone bay and is very inexpensive. The Atron is a good first combat ship while saving for a Tristan or Incursus.

Maulus - Frigate Class - The Maulus is a support and Electronic Warfare platform. This ship fills a very specific role and is not recommended for the new player.

Minmatar

Minmatar vessels appear patchwork and pieced together. They often feature large solar sails and industrial surfaces that make them appear dark brown or reddish in color. Symmetry is not a big feature on Minmatar ships due to their haphazard construction. Indeed, many of these ships appear as nothing more than an engine with guns attached.

Minmatar ships are usually good across the board, much like the Gallente vessels. What sets Minmatar ships apart from the other races is their speed and signature radius. Minmatar ships are the fastest in EVE, easily outdistancing their counterparts from the other races. The main weapons of the Minmatar are projectile-based turrets but many of their ships can also mount a healthy number of missile launchers. Their spread of medium and low slots are not exceptional but they are not poor either.

Utility

Probe – Frigate Class – Like the Imicus, the Probe is just an excellent miner no matter what race looks at it. The Imicus has more drones, but the Probe has a bigger cargo and more speed. It can also mount several cargo boosters. It's expensive, but worth every penny. Once you get one it will serve you well.

Burst – Frigate Class – The Burst is the Minmatar mining and general-purpose frigate. It has a fairly large cargo bay and it can mount two mining lasers. The Burst does not have a drone bay, which hurts its flexibility. This ship can perform adequately as a fighting vessel should the need arise.

Combat

Rifter – Frigate Class – The Rifter is one of the deadliest ships in the frigate class. It can mount 3 turrets and 1 launcher at once and has good shields and armor. The Rifter is also very fast compared to other combat frigates, which allows it to dictate range easily. Most Minmatar will argue that this is the best combat frigate in the game (most Minmatar will argue about anything), and it certainly has some very positive points. It is expensive though and requires Minmatar Frigate level 3.

Slasher – Frigate Class – The Slasher is a light fighter and is very cheap. It is also the fastest frigate in the game at its base speed. It will serve you well until you can afford something else, and also makes a good ship for deliveries and courier missions where you might run into trouble.

Vigil – Frigate Class – The Vigil is another support and EWAR vessel that also happens to be very fast, almost as fast as the Slasher. Its highly specialized nature makes it hard to recommend to a new pilot unless the need arises - when it does, keep this ship's innate speed in mind.

Breacher – Frigate Class – The Breacher is an excellent missile ship. It has three launchers and one turret that can be mounted simultaneously. The Breacher is also quite sturdy when its good shields and armor are combined with its excellent speed. It's also pretty expensive and requires Minmatar Frigate 3 but if you're into missiles, get this instead of a Rifter.

Equipment Selection Basics

Weapons

Weapon Systems in EVE are divided into 5 general categories based on their method of operation. Each category has unique strengths and weaknesses but their basic function is the same – they blow stuff up by dealing EM, Thermal, Kinetic and Explosive damage or a combination thereof. This plays into their relative strengths against Shielding and Armor on a scale like this:
EM – Thermal – Kinetic – Explosive
Strong vs Shields Strong vs Armor

Turret Users should take a look at the tracking guide. Missile Users should take a look at the missile guide.

Energy Weapons

Pulse Lasers – This type of energy turret is designed for short to medium range encounters where damage and tracking are paramount concerns. These turrets have the highest tracking rate of the energy variants in order to function in close combat where transversals are high.

Beam Lasers – Beam lasers are used in medium to long range encounters where maintaining good damage over large distances is more important than tracking speed. The most extreme example of this is found in the tachyon beam laser, which is a battleship-class weapon that can reach out beyond 100km.

Ammunition: Frequency Crystals
Frequency crystals are used in all energy turrets in order to focus and fine-tune the beam in order to affect its optimal range and damage type. For example, radio crystals increase range dramatically but reduce damage output and shift the damage type towards EM. Multi-frequency crystals vastly reduce range but increase thermal damage by an equally large amount. Note: Frequency crystals are not consumed during operation so once purchased your ammunition expenses are essentially zero.

Hybrid Weapons

Blasters – This type of hybrid turret is specialized for close quarters combat. Blasters typically have optimal ranges in the thousands of meters with the largest battleship size neutron blasters reaching out to around 10km. What these weapons lack in range they make up for in raw damage. No other weapon system can challenge blasters for the dps crown, provided the blaster-user can get into range. Blasters have excellent tracking characteristics.

Railguns – The railgun is the hybrid turret to reach for when you feel like going the distance. These weapons are afforded a greater level of flexibility than blasters because they can operate at many different optimal ranges depending on the chosen ammunition. Railguns have moderate tracking characteristics and moderate damage output.

Ammunition: Hybrid Charges
Hybrid charges are fairly inexpensive which is good considering the amount of ammunition that these turrets can expend. Hybrid charges deal thermal and kinetic damage and offer a wide selection of range adjusting types. For Example: Iron charges increase the optimal range of the turret by 60% but do 62% less damage than baseline (Lead). Anti-matter charges decrease the range by 50% but deal 70% more damage than Lead charges.

Projectile Weapons

Auto-cannons – This is the projectile weapon platform that is intended for close to medium range combat. Autocannons are second only to the venerable blaster in terms of raw damage output but they are afforded a slightly longer optimal range and falloff. These weapons consume ammunition at a frightening rate but they put it to good use with good tracking characteristics and damage output.

Artillery – Artillery is the premiere Alpha-Strike weapons platform in EVE. These weapons can deal high damage over extreme ranges but suffer from a very slow rate of fire. Artillery turrets also have very poor tracking characteristics, which places them firmly into the sniper or hit-and-run arena.

Ammunition: Projectiles
Projectiles have the distinction of being the only turret platform that can deal any type of damage (EM, Therm, Kin, Exp) simply by changing ammunition type. From the long range Carbonized Lead (Kin/Exp) to the baseline Depleted Uranium (Kin/Exp/Therm) to the short range EMP (EM/Kin/Exp) this platform has a bewildering variety of choices to best fit the situation. Projectile ammunition is very inexpensive which is good because an autocannon can consume an outrageous amount of ammunition in very short order.

Missiles

Rocket Launchers – Rockets deal significantly more damage than standard missiles and can rival heavy missiles but suffer from sub-10km range. The explosion radius and explosion velocity of rockets allows them to deal full damage to all ships and even drones.

Standard Launchers – Standard missiles, or light missiles, have engagement ranges up to about 30km. These are standard compliment on many frigate and destroyer class hulls. Light missiles have good explosion radius and explosion velocity characteristics, which allow them to hit for full damage against nearly all vessels.

Assault Launchers – Cruiser-sized variant of the standard launcher. These use the same light missile ammunition as standard launchers but have a higher rate of fire and ammunition capacity.

Heavy Launchers – Heavy launchers are the standard cruiser-sized missile system and benefit from increased range over their light missile cousin. Heavy missiles can typically read out to 50 or 60km with good skills. Their explosion velocity and radius statistics allow them to deal full damage to cruisers and larger with moderately reduced damage to frigates and destroyers.

Cruise Launchers – Cruise launchers are reserved for the battleship class (and stealth bomber class). Cruise missiles have extreme ranges that with good skills can approach 150km. These missiles have explosion velocity and radius statistics that allow them to deal full damage to battleships and larger classes with moderately reduced damage to cruisers and highly reduced damage to frigates.

Siege Launchers – Siege launchers are reserved for the battleship class. These launchers fire torpedoes which with good skills can reach out to 100km. Torpedoes deal very high damage but have very low flight speeds, often taking 30 to 40 seconds to reach 90km. Their explosion radius and velocity statistics allow them to deal full damage to battleships and larger with highly reduced damage to cruisers and severely reduced damage to frigates.

Drones

Drones are a unique weapon system that nearly all ships in EVE can use but that are truly fearsome in the employ of certain Gallente vessels. Combat drones are divided into four racial types, each of which deals the primary damage type of its race. For Example: The Caldari drones (Hornet, Vespa, Wasp) all do kinetic damage while the Gallente drones (Hobgoblin, Hammerhead, Ogre) all do thermal damage. These are further divided into size classifications that are detailed below.

Light Combat – Light combat drones are the smallest drone class and are often used with frigates due to their extremely small size of 5m3 each. The light drone is often nothing more than a nuisance to anything larger than a destroyer but with good skills they can be highly effective against frigates and interceptors.

Medium Combat – Medium combat drones are probably the most widely used type of combat drone because they are effective against frigates while still dealing enough damage to be a credible threat to a cruiser. These drones take up 10m3 a piece.

Heavy Combat – The heavy combat drone is the largest combat drone that can be fielded outside of the capital class. These drones deal very good damage against battleships and cruisers but suffer against frigates due to their relatively slow speed. Heavy drones take up 25m3 each.

Sentry Drones – Sentry drones are stationary once deployed and operate much like a free-floating turret. They can reach out beyond 100km with good drone skills and are often employed in sniping scenarios. Their lack of movement makes them vulnerable to counterattack however and the parent ship must manually retrieve them. Sentry drones take up 25m3 each.

Utility – There are several types of drone under the utility umbrella. These range from the defensive shield and armor repairing versions to the offensive stasis web and ECM variants. Utility drones take up 5m3 to 25m3 of space depending on their class (Light, Medium Heavy).

Defenses

With all of the shooting and general nastiness going on around EVE it is important to know how to keep your hull intact. Different ships lend themselves to Shield or Armor tanking based on their slot layout (more mediums usually means shield tank, more lows usually means armor tank) and their bonuses. Ships like the Merlin which get 5% to shield resists per level are a no-brainer.

Shield Reinforcement

Hardeners – The cornerstone of any shield tank is the shield hardener because they directly reduce the amount of damage that your shield must sustain. There are 5 types of shield hardener, one for each damage type (EM, Kin, Therm, Exp) and one universal type that covers all four to a lesser degree. The standard active hardeners increase their listed shield resist by 50% each while the universal active hardener increases resists by 25% across the board. These modules take capacitor energy to run and they cycle in 10-12 second intervals. Another variety of shield hardener exists and it is the passive hardener, or resistance amplifier, that uses no capacitor to run but does not increase resistances by quite as much and there is no universal passive hardener.

Boosters – Shield boosters are a simple module. They convert capacitor energy directly into shield energy at the start of each cycle. These drain a huge amount of capacitor energy and are best used in short bursts. The shield booster is a mainstay of any active shield tank setup.

Extenders – Extenders offer an alternative style to the active shield tank. These modules increase the capacity of the shield dramatically while leaving the shield recharge time untouched. This results in more shield points being passively regenerated over the same amount of time. This type of passive shield tank is useful when capacitor denial systems are in use (Nos/Neuts) as it does not rely on having any capacitor energy to sustain. Extenders do have a downside – they increase the signature radius of any ship using them, which means you are a bigger target for any potential enemy.

Addendum: Shield Boost Amplifiers are worth a mention. This module increases the shield boost amount by 30% or more depending on the variant. Basically the shield booster will consume the same amount of energy per cycle but it will be adding 30% more shield points per cycle.

Armor Reinforcement

Hardeners – Armor tanks hinge on their resistances just as shield tanks do. Armor hardeners exist in both active and passive versions that are identical to their shield hardening counterparts with one exception. There is no active universal armor hardener while there is instead a passive universal hardener that increases resists by 15% across the board with no capacitor drain.

Armor Repairers – These modules convert capacitor energy into armor points every few seconds but there is one important caveat. The energy is taken at the start of the cycle and the armor points are added at the end of the cycle. This lag between activation and effect needs to be taken into account by activating early. Armor repairers are more efficient than shield boosters in terms of energy spent for amount repaired.

Plates – Armor plates add large amounts of armor points to any ship they are installed on but they also increase the ships mass while decreasing the ship's speed. An increase in mass can make the ship more sluggish in maneuvers and reduces the effectiveness of propulsion modules like the afterburner and microwarpdrive.

Other

Propulsion

Afterburners – Afterburners are a very handle module to train for in the beginning. They have very low skill requirements and can boost your ship’s top speed by 110% or more. These modules have no real downside other than taking up a mid-slot and providing a useful but not terribly exciting speed boost. Afterburners exist in 1MN, 10MN and 100MN thrust categories which translate directly to the mass of the ship they are intended to propel. (Frigates ~1.000.000 Kg, Cruisers ~10.000.000 Kg, Battleships ~100.000.000 Kg)

Microwarpdrives – These modules typically take several days of training in order to utilize them effectively but they will boost a ship’s top speed by 500% or more. Microwarpdrives have a pretty severe downside as equipping one reduces the total capacitor amount by 25% and when activated they bloom the ship’s signature radius by 500%. Activating a microwarpdrive at the wrong moment in combat can easily be the last mistake you make.

Electronic Warfare (EWAR)

Electronic Counter Measures (ECM) – ECM modules are the most advanced type of EWAR currently available. The successful use of an ECM module will break all target locks and prevents the re-acquisition of targets for 20 seconds. There are five types of ECM module; one for each sensor type and one universal. The specific ECM are typically called “Racial ECM” and they have higher jam strength against their listed type while very minimal strength against the remaining three. The universal ECM has a medium amount of jam strength against all four types but has much higher power drain than the racial ECM modules.

Each race of ship has its own sensor type:

• Amarr – RADAR (Radio Detection and Ranging)
• Caldari – Gravimetric
• Gallenti – Magnetometric
• Minmatar – LADAR (Laser Detection and Ranging)

Sensor Dampeners (Damps) – These modules decrease the targeting range and sensor resolution of any ship they are used against. This is often the best method to put long range battleships out of commission as they cannot fire on something if their sensors won’t lock onto it.

Energy Vampires (Nos) – These modules drain capacitor energy from the targeted ship and add it to your own. The drain amount is moderate but several NOS working together can easily render a ship defenseless.

Energy Neutralizers (Neuts) – These modules drain energy from the targeted ship but also take energy from your own. The drain amount is about five times higher than the equivalent NOS. These are often used on combination with NOS to both increase the impact on an enemy ship while supplementing your cap with the NOS.

Target Painters – Target painters increase the signature radius of the targeted vessel by 30% or more depending on the module. Boosting the signature radius allows larger guns to hit more easily, makes wrecking hits more likely and allows larger missiles to hit for more damage.

Tracking Disruptor – Tracking disruptors decrease the turret tracking speed of the targeted ship as well as the optimal range of the turret. The real benefit is in degrading the tracking performance of an enemy vessel as this will often allow your ship(s) to maintain a moderate transversal velocity that his turrets can no longer match.

Stasis Webifiers (Webs) – Stasis webifiers are one of the essential pvp tackling modules. These little beasts slow down the targeted ship dramatically. The base level is –75% to max velocity and this goes all the way up into the 90s. Webifiers allow slower ships to dictate range on an otherwise faster vessel or they can slow down that pesky frigate enough for your guns to hit him. These are very useful.

Warp Scrambler/Disruptor – Scramblers are the other essential pvp tackling module. These come in a 7.5km 2-point flavor and a 20km 1-point flavor. The difference being tackling strength, range and capacitor drain. Scramblers are short range but put on 2 points of scramble and use very little power. Distruptors have a 20km range but put only 1 point of scramble while using a relatively large amount of power. From a practical standpoint this means an enemy ship would need to have 1 warp core stabilizer (WCS) to escape a disruptor and 2 to escape a scrambler.

ECM Burst – Currently broken/bugged. These used to break any target lock currently on your ship that was within a certain radius. ECM Burst were not very useful because the enemy can just re-lock you if they were even close enough to be effected.

Fitting Modules

CPU Upgrades – These boost your ship’s CPU output by several percent. CPU upgrades take a bit of power grid to fit – effectively trading one for the other.

Power Diagnostic System (PDU/PDS) – These little gems boost capacitor capacity, capacitor amount, shield amount, shield recharge rate and power grid output. They take a moderate amount of CPU to fit but are generally quite helpful in getting a little more power grid with some good bonuses.

Reactor Control Unit (RCU) – These modules are the direct opposite of the CPU Upgrade, adding several percent to the power grid of the ship while taking a moderate amount of CPU to fit – effectively trading one for the other.

Micro-Auxiliary Power Core (MAPC) – These are useful on frigates and destroyers because they add 10-12 power grid directly to the ship and cost only a moderate amount of CPU. Larger vessels will typically utilize a RCU or PDU, which give 10% and 5% respectively.

Professions - How To Make ISK

NPC Hunting

Missions

Combat missions granted by agents working for any number of factions. The mission itself often grants a payment and reward bonus while the NPCs inside the mission will usually give a bounty. Fairly good payouts as you climb the scale but loot drops are poor and getting the appropriate faction can be time consuming.

Belt Hunting

Belt hunting for most folks is simply the act of jumping between the asteroid belts in a system looking for the local pirate NPCs. This is an effective means of making ISK but it can also help hone your scanning skills. **LINK NEEDED**The lower the True-Security of the system the higher the NPC pirate bounties will be which translates directly into better income per hour. NPC Pirates, more commonly known simply as "rats," also have a randomized loot table and spawn table which allows for some interesting and extremely lucrative loot drops if you are lucky.

Complex Hunting (Plexing)

Plexing can be tough to do because there are a finite number of these structures around and they are not instanced in any way. In addition to the bounties on all of the NPCs, complexes are one of the only sources for rare pirate loot and faction ships, which usually is enough motivation to run them.

Courier Missions

Courier missions are currently under a vast re-design by the dev team. Most of them were removed but the few that remain offer an opportunity to make a few ISK while paying fairly little attention to what you’re doing. Often credited with being an “AFK money-maker” these missions typically have low to moderate pay rates to go along with their moderate to high travel times.

Market Transactions (Trading)

This is possibly one of the most lucrative forms of PvP in EVE. Market trading or day-trading is more cutthroat than one would imagine. Bitter wars have been fought over lucrative trade routes. If you’re into numbers, ROI percentages, and solving the traveling salesman scenario you can make big bucks here.

Mining

Mining is the base of all production in EVE. Because the market is player driven and most of the items on the market are produced from base minerals, miners and the fruits of their labor are always in demand. There is good money to be make in mining especially when combined with either production or trading.

Production

Producing the ships, modules and ammunition that makes the EVE world work is the job of production gurus. While many players get into the industry side of EVE through mining it doesn’t take them long to realize that minerals are often worth more once you build them into a final product for consumption.

Active Asset Redistribution (Piracy)

Piracy – ahh, or yarr. We don’t condone piracy in Bellum Aeternus but this is a lifestyle that some folks choose to make a living at. Typically the pirates of EVE will ransom a vessel or pod and let it go if that ransom is paid. If the pirate doesn’t get his money he will usually destroy the ship and scoop what modules survive for sale on the market.

What was yours is now ours by way of our actions...

Future Concerns

Sleep, Spell checking and grammar whoring.