After a month in a C6 WH, I am adrift again. This time I am headed to deep null-sec to spend time with the Gangrel Mining and Security Corp. These guys seem like an ideal balance for me of being laid back, being cool with the PVE, and being willing to train up newb PVP pilots.
I am excited to see how the new Sovereignty mechanics pan out. Stay tuned for updates when I manage to get settled in out there in the deeps of space. I look forward to putting my scanning skills to use exploiting the new Dominion 0.0 resources!
Showing posts with label plans. Show all posts
Showing posts with label plans. Show all posts
Monday, December 14, 2009
Monday, December 22, 2008
Survey says!
Thanks to a bit of advice from Letrange, I am currently training up Survey and have bought the Salvaging skill which I will train next. This investment (Salvaging isn't cheap!) should help me finance further progress in gaining ISK. I am also going to train for a Catalyst, which I can be in very quickly, and which should be better for a dedicated salvaging ship. Since I already enjoy ratting and missions, this may help increase my returns while I am still only running L1's (and soon L2's).
Friday, December 19, 2008
Budding mogul, or the pains of EVE newbishness
Diving into EVE is very challenging due to the way CCP designed the skill progression. While I am slogging away at my learning skills, I have also learned enough about the game to now have a sense of what I NEED to be able to play more efficiently.
I have realized the possibilities of trading on the markets as a way to maximize profits. Of course, now I need to train new skills so I can have more than 5 open trades at once. I also need new skills so I can pilot my frigates more effectively.
I am holding my edge on a slippery slope. If I give in and keep cheating on skills at the expense of learning skills, I will be less effective in the long run. It would, however, be much more instantly gratifying to work on more of these support skills. My immediate compromise has been to train some of the needed skills to 1 or 2, while returning to the Learning skills for the bulk of my current development.
LOTRO MoM was supposed to save me from this issue, as I was planning to be playing it as my main game while I trained up the basics in EVE. While MoM is very awesome, I have been finding EVE irresistible lately. I think this is mainly because I have always played LOTRO with Sedona, who is currently binging on DDO and not available to hang out with me in Middle Earth.
As the strength of MMO's lies in the social aspect for me, without my favorite gaming buddy even an excellent game may be less captivating. It is amazing how much the "regular crowd" impacts the fun level of an MMO. Since I have less expectation of playing EVE with Sedona, it has been a good place to spend time on my own. Hopefully, I will establish corp membership in the next few weeks as well and start making some new online friends! I hear that corp life opens up new dimensions in EVE's gameplay.
Saturday, November 15, 2008
Free range plans
I have been playing with EVEMon and have worked out my skill learning plan for the next 131 days!
First, I will train all the learning skills to 5. Next, I will train drones so I can get tech 2 Hobgoblins. This should make missions significantly easier, even though I am not having problems with most Lvl 1 missions at this point. I might even try some Lvl 2 missions with my now speedier Imicus and tech 2 drones!
The next phase of training involves getting into a Helios and learning to use a Covert Ops cloaker module. My thoughts on going for the Helios are that I can use it as a scout to help Sedona move goods, and hopefully be helpful for a corporation as a scout. Sedona and myself are planning to try to join a corp after we have trained the basics. We hope to find a 0.0 corp with significant Industrial and POS activity who are open to taking on newbs with brains. We have already identified several prospects that we are watching! Getting faction to allow for some jump clones is also on the agenda, as implants are too expensive to lose casually!
Getting the learning skills is very slow, and the game design in EVE definitely favors those who think long term! Luckily, Sedona and myself are planning to check out LOTRO Mines of Moria for the next month or two. We will keep the skills cooking in EVE, and return to more regular piloting sometime in early 2009. I will still probably do some occasional missions to be developing faction in the interim.
It is funny that my original plan was to mainly train skills in EVE for the first several months, but I enjoyed the game so much that I couldn't stop playing EVE! Sedona agrees that EVE will likely be our primary Virtual world for the next several years! A casual player would probably be better off not initially training all the Learning skills to 5, but rather focusing on getting broadly trained in Navigation, Gunnery, Drones, Electronics, and Mechanics. As we are planning on checking out LOTRO in the near future, the strategy of getting all the Learning skills out of the way makes sense. I can already tell that I will be playing EVE for years, so the investment in early Learning skills makes sense!
As an aside, taking the Special Forces option in character creation has really been nice! My drone skills were good enough from the beginning to easily solo Lvl 1 missions. Even though I will have to play catch up to get the Industrial basics, I think it has been more fun as a newb to have the ability to run Lvl 1 missions from the start. For any newbs reading this, a basic strategy is to get an afterburner on an Imicus and orbit at 25km from the nearest enemy. You just get the enemy's attention, and then release your drones and let them wreak havoc! If they get too close, use the afterburner to keep out of damaging range. I carry a remote armor repairer to fix the drones if they ever pull aggression. I'm sure there are faster ways to run missions, but this method works well for me.
First, I will train all the learning skills to 5. Next, I will train drones so I can get tech 2 Hobgoblins. This should make missions significantly easier, even though I am not having problems with most Lvl 1 missions at this point. I might even try some Lvl 2 missions with my now speedier Imicus and tech 2 drones!
The next phase of training involves getting into a Helios and learning to use a Covert Ops cloaker module. My thoughts on going for the Helios are that I can use it as a scout to help Sedona move goods, and hopefully be helpful for a corporation as a scout. Sedona and myself are planning to try to join a corp after we have trained the basics. We hope to find a 0.0 corp with significant Industrial and POS activity who are open to taking on newbs with brains. We have already identified several prospects that we are watching! Getting faction to allow for some jump clones is also on the agenda, as implants are too expensive to lose casually!
Getting the learning skills is very slow, and the game design in EVE definitely favors those who think long term! Luckily, Sedona and myself are planning to check out LOTRO Mines of Moria for the next month or two. We will keep the skills cooking in EVE, and return to more regular piloting sometime in early 2009. I will still probably do some occasional missions to be developing faction in the interim.
It is funny that my original plan was to mainly train skills in EVE for the first several months, but I enjoyed the game so much that I couldn't stop playing EVE! Sedona agrees that EVE will likely be our primary Virtual world for the next several years! A casual player would probably be better off not initially training all the Learning skills to 5, but rather focusing on getting broadly trained in Navigation, Gunnery, Drones, Electronics, and Mechanics. As we are planning on checking out LOTRO in the near future, the strategy of getting all the Learning skills out of the way makes sense. I can already tell that I will be playing EVE for years, so the investment in early Learning skills makes sense!
As an aside, taking the Special Forces option in character creation has really been nice! My drone skills were good enough from the beginning to easily solo Lvl 1 missions. Even though I will have to play catch up to get the Industrial basics, I think it has been more fun as a newb to have the ability to run Lvl 1 missions from the start. For any newbs reading this, a basic strategy is to get an afterburner on an Imicus and orbit at 25km from the nearest enemy. You just get the enemy's attention, and then release your drones and let them wreak havoc! If they get too close, use the afterburner to keep out of damaging range. I carry a remote armor repairer to fix the drones if they ever pull aggression. I'm sure there are faster ways to run missions, but this method works well for me.
Saturday, November 1, 2008
Droning
I love my Imicus! I love EVE in general, and have been playing far too much in the past few days. A childhood friend who is an established miner and industrialist hooked me up with some seed funds, so I have been able to go shopping for training materials. The L1 missions and ratting in 0.7 belts have made a fair bit of ISK too, and even better provided me with some cool modules for free!Thanks to timely advice from Geaux Tiger, I checked out the Imicus and got a set of drones. I'm currently rocking 2 Hobgoblins and 1 Warrior, and the combo seems very effective against the pirate factions I have tangled with in the missions.
The main problem I have with EVE is that it is so awesome I am not sticking religiously to my plan to train the Learning skills up first. I have now got my basic Drone skills to a decent level, and trained skills so I can rep drone armour as well as my own. I'm not sure I need this micro armor tank, as I have never lost my shield. With my new drone skills, I can hang way back and it seems that most weapons cannot hit me very well when the afterburner is on and I set up an orbit around the nearest enemy.
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