EVE Online Money Making Tips for New Players

EVE Online is a deep and complex game. The choices before a new player are virtually limitless and opportunities for fun and adventure abound. However there is one thing that every player needs to get their dreams in motion, and that is ISK, the interstellar currency of EVE Online. Unlike many other MMORPGs, EVE Online does not try to limit what a new player can do. The amount of ISK you can obtain is limited only by your knowledge and your dedication. The more you learn about EVE Online the more opportunities you will see for making ISK and soon your wallet will be stuffed.

For the newer player, ISK will be obtained primarily through mission rewards, bounties for killing NPC pirates, mining, and selling loot obtained from slain enemies. Each of these income streams is discussed below. Note that this is not a total guide to EVE Online and making money, but rather a quick overview for someone wanting to get into the game with enough knowledge not to wind up throwing good money away due to lack of understanding.

Bounties

In EVE Online, killing an NPC that belongs to one of the "pirate" organizations will net the player a reward in the form of a bounty. These pirates can be found most often lurking in the asteroid belts of solar systems that have a .7 security rating or lower. The amount of bounty awarded for the kill is based on how "tough" that particular NPC is. In the starter systems, the pirates will be about 11,000 ISK and below, with the big money bounties in the millions of ISK reserved for pirates in the furthest reaches of space and in the hardest player missions.

The NPC pirates in the .7 security status systems should pose little problem for players who followed the tutorial with most of them dying with a single volley from your weapons. However they always spawn in groups, so don't assume that you will win and be prepared to warp off if you are in a tight spot. Hop out of the belt, repair up, and get back in and finish off any pirates you left behind.

So if you want some quick cash but don't want to mess about with doing a mission at the moment, then go belt hopping and kill some NPC pirates and rake in some cash from the bounties. Just remember that the bounties are paid out every 15 minutes, so you won't see the reward show up immediately. Also after you kill the pirates, you can check their wrecks for loot, which leads us to the next section.

Loot

In EVE Online, just about everything that enemies drop after being killed is useful to someone. This is a big change from other MMOs where the loot that the enemies leave behind is mostly trash to be dumped off at the nearest NPC vendor. Because just about everything you will find is in demand somewhat, it makes liquidating the items you found a bit more challenging if you want to get the best price.

Once you have obtained a piece of loot, you can check the market screen to see how much it is worth. When looking at the "Sell" section of the market screen, you will see that some of the items in that list are highlighted green. The green orders are the ones that can be filled in your current location. For instance someone might be buying Foxfire Rockets for 100 isk 2 jumps away, but they are only paying that price if you are in that system so that order will be listed without a green highlight. Now you must decide whether you want to fly over 2 jumps to and sell your rockets for 100 ISK, or stay in your current system and sell them to someone who is offering less than 100 ISK.

In many systems, particularly systems where new players congregate, people put up offers for items with ridiculously low prices hoping to cash in on the inexperience of the newbies. Therefore you should take the time to learn the Sell section of the market screen as soon as possible. Often times the difference between getting .01 ISK for an item and 20,000 ISK for the same item is a matter of moving from one station to another.

Mining

For many people, mining is the first "career" that they pursue in EVE Online. It is a no brainer activity that can generate decent amounts of ISK. For a newer player who only needs to buy a frigate and some basic fittings, spending an hour or two mining to get a quick cash infusion is not a bad idea.

Every race in EVE Online has a frigate that is designed specifically for mining. This frigate will provide bonuses that allow you to fit multiple mining lasers and usually includes a larger cargo hold than other frigates. However the Mining Lasers take up a slot on your ship that you would normally put a weapon into, so you should stick to systems that have a .8 security rating and above to avoid NPC pirates lurking in the belts.

Mining is the process of removing ore from an asteroid. Once you have this ore, you take it back to a station and either refine it into minerals or sell the raw ore on the market. Brand new players with little or no refining skills are usually better off just selling the raw ore rather than refining it as you will lose so much to waste in refining. Make sure that when you sell the ore you are getting a fair price. If the price is .01 isk, then you are in a system where someone is trying to rip off newbies. Either take the ore to another system where the price is better, or put up a sell order on the market yourself. The latter option takes more time, but may get you better results.

Mining appears simple on the surface, but if you choose to follow it as a career be prepared to spend a lot of time honing the many Mining related skills that help you get the most yield from refining ores. You should also spend some time doing missions with various Corporations so that you have a better standing with them. The better standing you have with a corp, the less they charge you (in minerals) for refining at their stations.

Mission Rewards

EVE Online Missions are highly variable in difficulty even among the Level 1 selection. New players must pay close attention to their ship otherwise they might find themselves floating home in their pod. However most level 1 missions are very easy, and unlike some higher level missions, none of the enemies will shut off your warp drive, so escape is usually fairly easy if you find yourself in over your head.

To begin maximizing returns on missions, players should train the Social skill to at least level 3. This increases the amount of rewards you receive from a mission by 15%. This affects not only the cash payout, but the loyalty points and the faction standing increase as well. There are other skills in the Social category that give you a better relationship with various types of agents, but these are usually expensive and not that helpful when you are still grinding through the early Level 1 missions.

The loot drops in early missions are not that great, though many times you will be fighting ships that use the same ammunition or missiles as you so that can save some money. If you are just trying to get money as quickly as possible it is usually best to just skip looting the ships and move on to the next mission. As you do missions your standing will go up with the corporation you are doing missions for and your rewards will rise along with it. Later on once you have a better understanding of the Market screen and relative worth of the items you are seeing then looting becomes a more viable option after completing a mission. Also remember that this is not World of Warcraft, there is 0 chance that a level 1 mission enemy is going to drop some super rare item, so you are not missing out on anything by skipping the loot at this point.

Finally - mission runners should visit the eve-survival.org website which offers walk throughs and advice on nearly every mission in the game. If you just want to blitz through missions as quickly as possible, then eve-survival is an invaluable resource. The site also works using the in game web browser, so tabbing out of EVE Online is not necessary.

Conclusion

While EVE Online can be overwhelming to a new player, these quick tips should help you get some ISK, and make the best of the ISK that you earn. Once you have a few million ISK in your wallet as a security blanket, then travelling between the stars in search of adventure becomes a lot less stressful.