All About EVE Online

Making Mountains of Molehills (7 of 10)

Mission Log: Reginald Mental (that’s me), Capt. This is a simple transport and delivery mission in another system. I set that auto pilot up for the round trip as soon as saw the orders. Made sure I transferred the goods from my hanger to the cargo hold. Undocked and hit the auto pilot. After going through the Jumpgate I warped to the location I was given. Talked to my agent again, completed the mission, undocked and hit the autopilot again. After going through the jumpgate, I simply warped back to station and checked in with the agent and collect my reward and bonus.

- End Log -

• Some missions seem like repeats to previous missions but they have slight differences and give you the chance to practice what you learned.

Balancing the Books (7 of 10)

Mission Log: Lady D’Mentia (that’s me), Capt. I’m not an archeologist but I think I can fake it. My job is to discover the secrets of the runes and remove any rats that might be there as well. Then I get to analyze the runes and recover some data for my agent. Well it looks like this site is in deadspace, so I will need to go through an acceleration gate. The First gate had no guards but the second gate had two rats. There is a lot of veldspar here, I wish I had the time and the equipment to set up shop this could be a good haul here. The third pocket of deadspace had the runes and two more rats, this is looking easy. Well it took several runs of the analyzer but it finally got some good info for me, a datacore. Now to take it back to my agent and get my reward.

 - End Log -

• The analyzer, like the salvager and codebreaker discussed earlier, will allow you to access game based secure cans. And as I mentioned before when you get “Your attempt at —– failed this time” or something like that, it does not mean you cannot do it, just that it will take more time. Just let the module run until you succeed and then open the can (in this case). If you cannot do it the message will be more like you do not have the skills, or that it is too difficult for you. Again the Civilian Analyzer really only works for the tutorial missions.
• There are sections of space where you cannot warp directly to. These are called Deaspace. To get to these Deadspace areas you will use an acceleration gate. Most of your missions and adventures will be through these. They can limit the size of ships that can pass through. They can also be locked until you finish something (like kill all the rats in the area, or just one special one) or have a key. To use an Acceleration gate is just like using a jumpgate. Get within 2500 m of the gate, select it, and then hit the jump icon above the overview. You will be thrown to the next location, sometimes called rooms or pockets. There can be several rooms or pockets to mission. Acceleration gates also make good meeting places when in a fleet (later on that).
• Sometimes deadspace areas have asteroid belts, even some rare ones. You have a bit of security because it’s a mission related site, so if time and equipment permit you could start a mining op and make a few ISK on the side or stock pile for later.
• In this mission you will recover an “Elementary Civilian Technologies” datacore. Data cores are used in the invention of Tech II items. A Tech I Blueprint Copy (BPC) of a item or ship combined with a number of datacores, the right skill set and a bit of luck, can produce a Tech II BPC of that item or ship.

Cash Flow for Capsuleers (6 of 10)

Mission Log: Reginald Mental (that’s me), Capt. Well it seems that last mission must have really shaken my agent. Looks like this mission was to her way to send a message to the rats. I was to go out to a location in system and destroy their outpost. They built an outpost in deadspace, so I had to use and acceleration gate to get to it. I did a target lock, turned on the Deflection field, and gave him both barrels. Surprise, surprise, a couple of rats and two defense guns appeared, don’t know how I could have missed them, maybe cloaked or not yet deployed. Well I kept firing on the outpost and destroyed it. It dropped some cargo but that had to wait. I could not take much more of the big guns, so it was back to the station for some repairs. I repaired the ship and headed back for more. I did not need to, but they scratched the new ship. This time I used a hit and run tactic. When my shields got to low, warp out. Let them recharge and go back for another round. It took a bit but I finally wore them down. Got some good loot but it was risky. When I got back to station and checked in with the agent and gave her the news, the outpost was gone. I got my reward and bonus and got out. Luckily the repairs to the ship were not too bad; I am beginning to like that deflection field.

- End Log -

• There are sections of space where you cannot warp directly to. These are called Deaspace. To get to these Deadspace areas you will use an acceleration gate. Most of your missions and adventures will be through these. They can limit the size of ships that can pass through. They can also be locked until you finish something or have a key. To use an Acceleration gate is just like using a jumpgate. Get within 2500 m of the gate, select it, and then hit the jump icon above the overview. You will be thrown to the next location, sometimes called rooms or pockets. There can be several rooms or pockets to mission. Acceleration gates also make goo meeting places when in a fleet (later on that).
• Sometimes your target will be booby trapped (as we saw with the jumpgate above). Sometimes the trigger is getting to close, or opening fire. In this case once you start shooting the outpost two ships and two station guns appear and start shooting back. If you don’t panic and keep a good eye on your shields and armor and keep firing on the outpost, you can finish the mission and warp out.
• Some structures will drop a cargo container with loot in them. In the case above I could have bookmarked the area, completed the mission and then warped back to get the cargo container (or can) Completing the mission usually causes all the structures (in this case the acceleration gate and the station guns) and enemy to vanish, but leaves the wrecks and dropped containers. But you need to bookmark them first. To bookmark a site or an object location, select an object and right click on it (either in space or in the overview) and select bookmark. You will be give the chance to name it or just accept the default. Not all items can be bookmarked for cases like that you may need to jettison some object of your own and bookmark the jet can. Then collect your stuff from the can. If there is time. Wrecks, jet cans, asteroids, beacons and some structures can be bookmarked.
• Another trick for fast targeting is to hold down the control key (cntr) and click on and object either in space of in the overview. You can do this quickly. Press and hold the CNTR key, then left mouse click a rat, click next rat, click gun etc… and soon you will reach you ships limit of targets.
• You can use a hit and run method on you missions, but the enemy can rebuild their shields or armor if you wait too long. It’s a good idea to warp to station before your shields are completely gone. Docking with a station will restore you shield and capacitor level immediately.
• In this mission you get a +1 Limited cybernetic Implant. The implants add +1 to one of your attributes. Implants range from +1 to +5 with bonuses, or you can also get skill implants to improve gunnery or other skills. You have 10 sockets for implants (called slots, numbered 1 through 10) and you can have 5 attribute implants and 5 skill implants. They cannot be removed without being destroyed so you will lose it if you upgrade or change implants. They will also be destroyed if you are podded. Only certain implants can go into certain slots so be careful when deciding what you want to do. Also some of the higher end implants are very expensive.
• When a structure drops loot sometimes it can be contraband, so be careful what you pick up. You could be fined both ISK and security status.

Making Mountains of Molehills (6 of 10)

Mission Log: Reginald Mental (that’s me), Capt. This was a bit more difficult of an assignment. Renting the space and installing the job was easy enough, but I was missing Mexilon, a mineral not in this system. So my options are to find a system that has Pyroxeres or Plagioclase asteroids, buy the Mexilon, or buy the Capacitor Boosters 25 myself. I decided to check the local market and see what my cost where. Turned out it would be cheaper and faster to just buy 20 units Capacitor Boosters 25 in station and keep the BPC for later. Figured later on I would find some Mexilon and I could build the Capacitor Boosters 25 and sell them and make back the money. The Agent did not ask where I got the goods, he was just happy to get them and the bonus alone covered my cost, so I still made a profit.

- End Log -

• This is similar to the third mission as you have to use the provided BPC to make an item. The problem is you don’t have the minerals to do it. So checking the market is a good option. In this case I checked the price for Mexilon and the amount I would need (from the BPC) and compared that price to that of 20 units Capacitor Boosters 25. The time and cost showed me that it was just easier to buy the finished product and deliver that to the agent. Later on I can, when I find the right ore, still do the job and resell the items and maybe make even more ISK than what I spent. This is a good example of using the market of EVE. One thing to watch for is where you buy and if you have to travel/haul the stuff back, so just don’t go for the cheapest price. For more on the Market, look for my article “This Little Pilot goes to Market”.
• As I mentioned in the third mission, some BP build more than one item at a time. This BPC has two runs, but each run builds 10 units of Capacitor Boosters 25

Balancing the Books (6 of 10)

Mission Log: Lady D’Mentia (that’s me), Capt. This is a simple purchase and deliver run. I need to search the market for a tracking computer, buy it and deliver it to my agent. The prices vary greatly from system to system and region to region. The tracking computer seems a bit high in local so I expanded my search for the whole region. I found one about half the price but it was 10j (10 jumps) out. I set up the autopilot for the round trip. I undocked and hit the autopilot. Autopilot dropped me as always out of warp about 15km from the gate, but with the injector it cut that trip time almost in half. Once I entered the system with the tracking computers, I look to see which station had the good price and docked. Bought the tracking computer and loaded in my cargohold. Undocked and hit the autopilot again. Once in my home system I docked and Checked in with my agent to complete the mission and get my reward and bonus.

- End Log -

• This mission gets you familiar with the market in EVE. Some items are provided by Non Playing Character (NPC) in the game, but this does not mean that those prices are locked. Some items the NPC has locked and will not change (Skill books for example), others vary by supply and demand. Other players can buy and sell items for whatever price they want. Being familiar with the market is a good way to get the best ISK for your time and effort.
• You can use the browse or search tabs in the market to find your items. You can select the range of your search from the station, system, or region. You can also filter out low sec and 0.0 space. And you can select to show only what is available or show all objects.
• You can buy an item anywhere in the current region, then go there and pick it up. But to sell an object you must be in a station in that system. You can also place a buy order for items and set how much you are willing to pay and how far you are willing to travel to get it, but those limited to your skill levels.
• As for setting the autopilot for a market destination. Simply right click on the location, hover over ‘Location” and select ‘Set Destination’.
• Aura should give you ‘Trade’ and ‘Retail’ skill books through the tutorial, If you have not already received them.

Cash Flow for Capsuleers (5 of 10)

Mission Log: Reginald Mental (that’s me), Capt. Well it seems that last mission was diversion. Looks like this new mission was to have a little chat with a rat. Hey that rhymes. At least I didn’t have to leave the system. I am beginning to think my agent likes me; she gave me a Civilian Ballistic Deflection field. The goal was to check out what he wanted to talk about and report back to the agent. I showed up to the location, and set about orbiting the rat. I listened to what he had to say. He was offering me a job and all I had to do was to become a traitor to government. Then he challenged me to destroy his ship, ok. Did a target lock, turned on the Deflection field, and gave him both barrels. He left in his pod while I watch the smoldering wreck of his ship started to float away. When I got back to station and checked in with the agent and gave her the information, she almost went ballistic. I got my reward and bonus and got out. Luckily I did not have to repair the ship, I think that deflection field worked.

- End Log -

• As I mentioned earlier, ships have certain strengths and weaknesses. The use of some modules like shield hardeners and extenders can counter those weakness. Again if you know which rats you are going against, you can select the weapons that hurt them, and the hardeners that counter their weapons. Look for my blog on Weapons and damage types.
• Be sure to activate the hardeners before battle. Even though off they offer some help, they do their best work while powered up.

Making Mountains of Molehills (5 of 10)

Mission Log: Reginald Mental (that’s me), Capt. This is a simple transport and delivery mission in another system. I set that auto pilot up for the round trip as soon as saw the orders. Made sure I transferred the goods from my hanger to the cargo hold. Undocked and hit the auto pilot. After going through the Jumpgate I warped to the location I was given. Talked to my agent again, completed the mission, undocked and hit the autopilot again. After going through the jumpgate, I simply warped back to station and checked in with the agent and collect my reward and bonus.

- End Log -

• When the agent gives you a mission you will sometimes see that the location is another system. Right click on the orange link and set destination. You can then select the orange link for the agent, right click and add waypoint. This will set up you auto pilot for a round trip. You can use this method to make several stops with the Destination as you first stop and each waypoint as a stop in the order added (in future articles is will discuss how to change the order). One thing you will want to check is that you have your auto pilot set to stop at each point. You can do this by selecting the map icon on the left hand side or by pressing F10. Then under ‘Autopilot’ tab select ‘Settings’. Then activate the “Disable autopilot at each waypoint”. While here also select the “prefer safer”, this will keep you in high sec as much as possible. Then hit the map icon, F10 or select ‘close map’ to get back to your normal view.
• When using the autopilot to travel, it will warp you to about 15km from the gate and then set you on approach to the gate. When you reach the gate, it will jump you automatically. On the other side it will warp you to the next gate (again 15 km off) or disengage if you have reached your destination or waypoint.
• By right clicking in space, going to the bottom of the menu under Agent Missions, will you have one or more of the following. Encounter, Drop off, Agent station. Hovering over the one you want brings another menu, simply warp to, or dock

Balancing the Books (5 of 10)

Mission Log: Lady D’Mentia (that’s me), Capt. This is a simple deliver run. I need to deliver the datachip I found to some other station in another system. I set up the autopilot for the round trip as soon as I saw the orders. It must be important, my agent gave me and overdrive injector to help. Those things increase the speed of any ship. I placed the datachip in my cargohold and undocked. Hit the autopilot. Autopilot always drops you out of warp about 15km from the gate, but with the injector it cut that trip time almost in half. Once I drop off the datachip and checked in with my agent, I undocked and hit the autopilot again. Once in my home system I docked and waited for the next assignment.

- End Log -

• When the agent gives you a mission you will sometimes see that the location is another system. Right click on the orange link and set destination. You can then select the orange link for the agent, right click and add waypoint. This will set up you auto pilot for a round trip. You can use this method to make several stops. Again it is a good idea to check the route.
• When using the autopilot to travel, it will warp you to about 15km from the gate and then set you on approach to the gate. When you reach the gate, it will jump you automatically. On the other side it will warp you to the next gate (again 15 km off) or disengage if you have reached your destination or waypoint.
• By right clicking in space, going to the bottom of the menu under Agent Missions, will you have one or more of the following. Encounter, Drop off, Agent station. Hover over the one you want brings another menu, simply warp to, or dock.
• If you have to travel through low sec space, it is a good idea to do it manually. Still set up you auto pilot with the route, but manual warp from gate to gate. This will put you right on top of the jumpgate and you spend less time as a target.

Cash Flow for Capsuleers (4 of 10)

Mission Log: Reginald Mental (that’s me), Capt. This mission was again in the same system. The goal was to check out an unauthorized Jumpgate and report back to the agent. I found the gate. Aura warned me that these gates are seldom unprotected. I am learning to trust her. I set a course to do a fly by, and then set a course for the station in my overview, just in case I need to get out fast. Just as I got close to the Jumpgate the computer warnings went nuts saying things like radiation and high speed particles which could rip the ship apart. I hit the button on the overview board and we were in warp before the shield even turned red. When I got back to station and checked in with the agent and collect my reward and bonus. Luckily I did not have to repair the ship.

- End Log -

• If you double click in space your ship will start traveling in that direction. I simply selected a open area of space off of the Jumpgate to do a fly by. Then I selected the station in the overview and placed my mouse on the warp to or dock icon. Once the Journal flashed and a message in local came up saying the mission objective was done, I hit the button and was off.
• As I mentioned above, Local chat will give you information sometimes about the mission. In this case it will tell you that the mission objective is complete.
• It would also be a good idea to turn on your shield boost as you got close to the Jumpgate, but watch your capacitor level. If your capacitor level gets too low you may not have the power to warp all the way to the station, but you will warp out as far as you can. Then it’s just waiting a few seconds while you recharge and hit the warp to or dock button again.
• Every once in a while you will see your Journal, Eve-mail, Character sheet and wallet flash. This means that the contents have changed. In the Wallet, money has come in or gone out. Characters sheet, a skill may have finished.

Making Mountains of Molehills (4 of 10)

Mission Log: Reginald Mental (that’s me), Capt. This was a simple mining and process mission again. There was a rouge drone in the belt when I showed up, but it did not last long. Once I had all the ore I needed in station, it was just a matter of running it through the processor plant. Once I finished the processing I checked in with the agent and got my reward and bonus and kept the extra minerals for an added bonus.

- End Log -

• This is almost a repeat of the second mission except this time you need to go out and deal with a drone as well. If after you have dealt with the drone you already have enough of the mineral Tritanium in your hanger, all you have to do is accept the mission and then complete the mission.
• This is a good chance to stockpile a bit and do some ‘Jet Mining’. In a secure space like a mission you have less chance of a thief or can flipper showing up. Just remember to bookmark your can and be sure and empty it within the hour (naming them they can last up to two hours). And sometimes the ore you find in missions is a rare kind and mining it all is worth giving up on the time bonus from the agent.
• Rats are the only worry you will have in mission space, so don’t go too far away.
• Also don’t be quick to sell your ore or minerals once you get them, they may be needed in a future mission.