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I am an old school gamer in the deepest meaning of the word, I am also a true fan of EVE Online. This blog will be where I will expound on my thoughts about EVE.

Author: Mopar63

A recent article here at MMORPG took a look at the character creation system and tried to discuss the effects the attributes in game have on the skills. The article leaves a lot of things hanging so i thought I would try to clear it up.

EVE has five attributes: Intelligence, Perception, Charisma, Willpower and Memory. When creating your character you can make decisions that will effect the starting attributes. If you are going to try to maximize your attributes it is important you know what kind of play you are shooting for and then pick the attributes that are important to your skills:

Intelligence is the primary attribute in Electronics, Engineering, Mechanic and Navigation skill groups.

Perception is primary for Missiles, Gunnery and Starship Command

Charisma is the primary attribute of Social skills.

Willpower is the primary for Trade and Leadership skills.

Memory is the main attribute for Corporate Management, Drones and Learning.

Now you have to understand in direct game play the attributes mean NOTHING! Your ability to fire a gun or use afterburners are not based at all on attributes but on skills alone. However the time it takes to train those skills is effected by attributes.

Learning skills are very important then as these skills raise the attributes and thus reduces the learning time for other skills. This means that a beginning character will benefit a lot from putting learning skills at the top of their priority list

I suggest the following training schedule be the first one a player undertakes:

Instant recall (raises Memory)
Analytical Mind (raises Intelligence)
Learning (decreases overall learning time)

This order is to be repeated until all three skills have reached level 3. With these skills at level three now train up Iron Will (Willpower) and Spacial Awareness (Perception). If you are taking your character in a direction that will need Social skills quickly then add in Empathy for Charisma, otherwise this can wait.

Now with the attribute skills to level 3 at least you can now start training other skills you need to be effective. However keep them at lower levels for now. When you log for the night put on one of the learning skills to take it to level 4. In the morning switch back to skills with shorter times when you can manage the skills directly.

This is an important key to the skill based system. You can pause a training where it is, go to another and come back later. Get in the habit of when you are playing, setting short skills that you can change right as they come do. When you are going to be down for an extended period start a longer skill and pause it when you come back.

This method allows you to get a good solid skill set while still moving skills to higher levels. Using this method over the course of about a week you should be able to get Learning, Instant recall and Analytical mind up to level 4. Once these skills hit level 4 you can now begin the tier two of these respective skills and get another 3 levels pretty quick. Going to level 5 with the tier one is nice but it is still only a 1 point raise and not as big a return for the time investment.

There is one set of skills I suggest ALL new players put into the que as fast as they can after getting learning skills to level 3. Once I have hit this point I next train my Science skill to level 3 and then train Cybernetics to level 1. Implants are a great piece of gear that can raise stats as well as enhance the usage of a lot of equipment. The early game mission give you a few implants if you run the missions. These mean a nice boost and are essentially for free. Level 1 Cybernetics lets you use these.

The rest of the skills have not pattern as it is based on the way you plan to play. Personally I try as quickly as I can to raise the base skills for good frigate piloting. That means Navigation, Engineering, Mechanic, Electronics and whatever skills I need for my base weapon systems.

As I mentioned in my previous blog many people RUSH forward to get as big a ship as they can and so try to raise Starship command skills. I personally leave these alone and concentrate on the support skill areas I mentioned. The reason is those skills will enhance EVERY ship command down the road. By putting them first I get to be very effective with my frigate and when I am finally ready to move to cruisers I have great support skills and the ISK to make the move with little effort and the best possible return.

Unlike level based systems the skill system needs a player to take an active role in SHAPING his character. Make a plan and start working for it right out of the gate. If you find out down the road that you want to change your play style, no worries, the basics I gave you here to start will enhance EVERY play style down the road and get you rolling to making your mark on the universe.