If you've read my previous post on the New Player Experience, then you'll already know that I'm a huge advocate for the Career Agents in Eve Online. I think these are great intros into some of the mainstream ISK making ventures you might try out in Eve. Well, at least the non-PVP vetures. But like so many of the tutorials in Eve, they do not quite go far enough.
Great, you have a Venture Mining Frigate, some mining lasers, and know how to shoot said lasers at rocks in space. But how do you actually make money at that? Oooh, look at you and your Wreathe Industrial Ship... but do you really want to use it to run low level distribution missions for a handful of ISK?
Like I said, the career missions prepare you, but they're only the most basic of courses. After you complete the tracts, get the free ships, and hone a few skills, you need to work on a lot of other related aspects to really start bringing in the money.
Great, you have a Venture Mining Frigate, some mining lasers, and know how to shoot said lasers at rocks in space. But how do you actually make money at that? Oooh, look at you and your Wreathe Industrial Ship... but do you really want to use it to run low level distribution missions for a handful of ISK?
Like I said, the career missions prepare you, but they're only the most basic of courses. After you complete the tracts, get the free ships, and hone a few skills, you need to work on a lot of other related aspects to really start bringing in the money.
There are a number of streamers that have tried to address this question. Below you can find a few that I thought were useful. I'll try to vary the streamers featured in any given section so you get a broad cross-section of the community and can look through their related videos on your own. They'll help you with the career aspect; you'll have to find a corp of people you like on your own. And I do recommend finding a corp. It's a transformative experience in the game, if only to have some like-minded and experienced individuals to chat with.
Exploration
For me, there has been nothing more fun in all of New Eden than exploration. It's not that I'm a carebear, unwilling to fight. It's that I love seeing the lore of the game, finding the beautiful vistas, and making some decent ISK while doing so. It can be a little hit and miss on the latter, though. So if you decide exploration is for you, know that some days you'll bring in mad money, and some days you'll find nothing.
You can get a brief understanding of exploration in my previous blog post. Like the career agents, though, that will only take you so far. I can honestly say that even though I've only been with them for a short while, doing exploration as a member of a Corp like Signal Cartel has made the experience so much better for me, and I've learned quite a bit to help my own efforts.
Unlike many of the other areas, you won't find Exploration Agents. This is a field of gameplay where you need to be motivated to go out and find your own sites, which can present its own challenges. Here's Jurius Doctor's take on exploration. While it might be a little low energy, the introduction from Hitchhiker's Guide sold me.
Personally, I'm a big fan of Worm Hole exploring. Yeah, sure, I've died in there a few times, but overall it's peaceful, it's profitable, and it adds to my enjoyment of the cat and mouse game.
Personally, I'm a big fan of Worm Hole exploring. Yeah, sure, I've died in there a few times, but overall it's peaceful, it's profitable, and it adds to my enjoyment of the cat and mouse game.
Fighting
Yes, it's Eve. So you already knew that you could blow up things and make money from it, right? In Eve Online, Fighting comes in two varieties: Player Vs Environment (PVE) and Player Vs Player (PVP). Both of these are worth talking about in their own right.
PVE
PVE combat offers a few different ways you can make ISK, and a few different types of activity that you can find a corp or other group to help with. In these endeavors you'll be pitting yourself against various AI-controlled NPC ships in an attempt to collect bounties, salvage wrecks, earn Loyalty Points (LP), or obtain loot drops. Let's look at the ways you can make ISK in a PVE mode of play.
Incursions
Incursions are like the raids of other MMOs. In these events you'll need to form up with a fleet of others and tackle various incursions by outlaw factions into known space. You can usually find a standing fleet ready to tackle incursions and ask to join up. Be aware they may have certain ship doctrines (required ships and fits) that you'll need to follow.
Security Missions
If you've completed the Career Agents, then you're already familiar with using the Agent system in Eve. If you haven't finished the Career Agents then go do that now. This article will still be here when you get back!
Finished? Ok, then let's talk about Security Missions.
When you open the Agent finder menu from your NeoCom menu, you have the option to filter agents by type and distance. Take a look the preset option for Combat to find Security agents.
These agents will offer you missions in nearby systems where you can make some ISK by killing off NPCs. Often you can double-dip on this, making not only the mission reward (and time bonus!) but also getting bounties off the NPCs you're killing.
Here's Pockets to tell you more.
Ratting
I'll admit that when I first heard someone mention ratting, I was really confused. Why would there be rats in space?! It just didn't make any sense. The specialized lexicon of Eve is its own barrier to entry though, and we'll discuss that in a future post.
Ratting, derived from Priate, is the practice of going through space and killing the NPC pirates you find. Frequently this will mean warping to asteroid belts and knocking off the pirates that like to land there. It might also refer to going into Combat Anomalies found in various systems as well. In ratting, you kill the pirates for loot, for bounties, and for salvage and then sell what you find.
Since this guide is targeted to the new player, here's an Alpha Clone guide by Reload, instead of how to do this in a supercarrier.
PVP
Now here's an area where I'll admit to having very, very little experience in Eve. Most of my time has been spent escaping other players who would steal my precious cargo, and very little of it has been spent actively searching for a fight. Still, there are a few ways that you can turn PVP into active ISK making opportunities.
Faction Warfare
Each of the Empires in Eve has an opposing Empire that it can't stand and has some kind of open warfare with. As a Capsuleer, you're able to take advantage of that animosity and make some money in the process. Faction Warfare is a capture-the-flag style of gameplay in space. You'll probably need to form up with fleets, and unless you're in a corporation that's signed up for Faction Warfare, you'll need to leave your current group and join a faction. If you're still in an NPC Corp, then you'll automatically switch over to the relevant NPC Faction Warfare Corp.
With Faction Warfare, capturing and holding targets in contested space allows you to earn Loyalty Points. These Loyalty Points can be traded in for ships, hardware fittings, ammo, cybernetics, and blueprints. If you don't want to use these rewards directly, you can sell the results.
Piracy
Of course you can be a pirate, too! Find a gate or station to camp, lure people into fights, and blow them up. Take the loot that comes out of their ship. For this one, I actually had a hard time finding a good video to show you. If you're interested in being a pirate, then the best way to learn is to join up with a piracy corp and let them show you the ropes. Or if you want to pretend you're doing Bob's work and harass miners and industrialists, there's always CODE.
I will stress here, however, that if you choose the life of a Pirate, remember that the ships you're blowing up belong to real people. You can enjoy this lifestyle without being a an abhorrent person. Keep it cool. Keep it respectful.
And if you're the victim? Just remember that they're playing a game too. Give them a 'Good fight/GF!' in local.
Industry
I'm going to lump several activities under the heading of Industry. These will include building/crafting, hauling, trading, and mining.
Get familiar with how the regional markets work. You can use Eve Marketer to get an idea for where to buy and sell things, and generally see what they're going for in any given place or time.
For Hauling and Station Trading, I've found Eve Trader to be an invaluable tool.
You may find the main activity in the game called Industry to be that of building materials. This is usually combined with the below activities, making it part of a whole. You might mine your own materials, reprocess them, build, haul the new item, and then sell it on a station.
You may find the main activity in the game called Industry to be that of building materials. This is usually combined with the below activities, making it part of a whole. You might mine your own materials, reprocess them, build, haul the new item, and then sell it on a station.
Hauling
Hauling is an activity in Eve that I've found surprisingly more fun than I would have initially thought. It's something I do once or twice a week to break up other activities and makes for a decent supplemental income in the game. Hauling is slow, requires thought and research, and will help you become more familiar with the safe way to fly.
At it's heart, the concept behind Hauling is simple:
- Pick up goods in your ship at Station A.
- Fly goods in your ship to Station B.
- Profit.
In practice, the act of hauling is more complicated than this. You'll need to decide on a basic risk profile, determine what you're hauling from where to where, plan your route, and so on. Don't take my word for it, though; I'm still a relative newbie in this arena. I've selected a few videos on YouTub that will get you started. Oh, and take a look at Eve Uni's Hauler Alt article; this will help you set up an alt for hauling so that you gain a degree of additional security.
If you want to run missions related to hauling, then open your NeoCom and look for Distribution missions. Most of these can be done with a Cruiser if you don't want to have a freighter.
If you want to run missions related to hauling, then open your NeoCom and look for Distribution missions. Most of these can be done with a Cruiser if you don't want to have a freighter.
If you think you'll enjoy doing this, then join the in-game channel for Haulers.
Scammers
Beware of Scammers! If you're just getting started with Hauling, consider very carefully about whether or not you want to take hauling contracts. Do your research... then think even harder. I recently thought I'd spare myself the loss of a few million ISK from a failed speculation trade by doing a quick hauling trade nearby. I located a contract that fit my risk parameters, noted it was to be delivered to a private station, and decided to check out said station. I could dock... so I assumed it was all good. I went back, took the contract...and found I was locked out of the station when I got back there.
Be very, very careful with hauling contracts.
Mining
From my personal experience, mining was a good source of consistent income. I could make more money doing other activities but it was always a gamble. Mining would consistently provide the same steady amount of ISK per hour (providing no one blasted me out of the skies). For maximum efficiency you'll want to do this with others, preferably someone in something like an Orca that can provide command boosts and nearby storage. Hit up a wormhole or Nullsec and have fun.
Honestly, I don't recommend this as an activity on its own. You'll probably want to find some buddies for this one, or pair it with other aspects of Industry and Trading.
And you guessed it... you can find Mining missions your The Agency menu on the NeoCom.
Station Trading
This one can take a little ISK in the pocket to really get you started. It comes in two flavors. One is paired with hauling, where you buy goods cheaply at one station, then transport them to another and sell for profit. The other has you remain on the same station, buying things cheap and selling high. The Eve Trader tool I linked above can help you get started. If you really have some money and can follow trends, patch notes, etc then you could ratchet up your profit with some analysis.
That's just a little more effort than I usually want to put into my trading efforts.
Is That All?
Not by a long shot!
Eve Online is a sandbox game as many of its older players will tell you. There are plenty of other ways to enjoy the game, and not all of them revolve around making money. Like to write? Then maybe you should speak to Imperium News Network about being a journalist. Want to take in game photos? Why not start your own travel blog?
Really, there are very few limits beyond your imagination. Find that thing that you have fun with and do it. And then maybe find a second thing to do when you start feeling burned out with the first one.
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