Agent Standings

I'm enjoying my new home in Hek. I'm currently high enough standings to work for level 2 agents; however, I noticed my Corp standing isn't high enough to meet the .9 requirement.

I have a couple options...

1. Encourage Corp mates to work for the Boundless Creation Corporation to raise our overall standing.

2. Start working for a different NPC Corporation that already has high enough standings with our Corp.

3. Quit my Corp and find one that has a high enough standing with Boundless Creation Corporation.

The problem with solution #1 is that even if it's raised enough, what is to stop the influx of more recruits from diluting the standings?

Solution #2 seems like the most reasonable, but again, what stops more recruits from messing up the standings.

As for solution #3, better agent selection isn't one of my criteria for selecting a Corporation to join, but it might soon enough.

I know I saw some agents that don't require an "overall" standing in addition to your own personal standings. I wonder what separates these agents? Why does one not care what your Corp thinks of them while the other agent does care?

This was a level 2 R&D agent I was inspecting when I noticed both Corp standing of .90 and personal standing of 2.90 are required to get work from the agent.

Would anyone with more knowledge on the subject please enlighten me?

Moving: Oursulaert -> Hek

I realized that running missions out of 1.0 is not nearly as profitable as running them in lower security systems, and since I'm not ready for PvP (yet), I must move my operations to a 0.5 system.

I noticed some Corp mates missioning in Hek, so I decided to check it out. Hek is a 0.5 system, and it's surrounded by 0.5 systems as well. This means there are adjacent systems to run missions to mix things up.

I ended up liking the environment in Hek, so I packed up all my crap and waved one last goodbye to my agent friends in Oursulaert.

It took awhile, but I moved all my items and ships to Hek, and then logged off for the night. I'm looking forward to starting my mission grind for the Boundless Creations corp located at Hek VIII. Also, I finished Science IV and Hull Upgrades IV; this means I can now use Tractor Beams and Armor Hardeners (both are essential for maximizing the profit margin on missions).

EFT - EvE Fitting Tool

No, it's not Electronic Funds Transfer as we know in the real world (I know, I know- what's that, right?) Well, if you haven't downloaded EFT yet, and you're playing EvE, then you're truely missing out!

What EFT does is let you upload your character's skills and then select a ship to fit. The program lets you play with different ship fittings based off your skill level. Ever buy that extra turret just to find out you don't have enough power to put it online unless you remove another module? This is where EFT comes in handy, because you can see before any purchase is made if you have the skills to fit all those modules.

I've played around with the Gallente Brutix fitting and came up wit the following (see screenshot). Obvisouly my skills aren't all at V, but by this time tomorrow my Engineering will be at V and I won't be so hard up for powergrid anymore!

To all those vets out there- what do you think; where could I improve?

Blogger is having a problem with the HREF html code, so you'll have to copy and paste the link- sorry.

http://eve-files.com/search.dxd?search=fitting+tool

Vexor / Brutix - New Ship Update

I'm only qualified up to Battleships at this point, but that is because I spent the earlier part of my EvE career reading books while the rest of my graduating class rushed to their pods with the excitement of a 9 year old boy on Christmas morning.

A few nights ago I was running some level 2 missions with my jury-rigged Thorax; however, this ship was given to me by a very generous player and the rigs on the ship are worth 24 mil each, and combined with the cost of the ship at 7 mill, that makes the ship worth 79 million.

Up to this point the most I've seen is 7 mill, but I keep spending it on books faster than I can make the isk. I'm comfortable with my current skill books as they cover a wide variety of basics so I can fit my ships with more variation.

I decided it wasn't worth losing my Thorax in the case of an unfortunate event, and my research showed the Vexor as a superior PvE vessel. So, I hit the market for a Vexor and found one at 3.75 million; however, I only had 3.85 mill. Was it worth it to bring me down to 100k? I have enough random fittings and a few extra Frigates I could sell in case of an emergency, and this ship was a good investment for mission running, so I made the purchase.

I was unable to fit the Vexor the way I wanted to because I only had Thorax fittings, and they didn't match the Vexor's intended design. I had no choice though because I only had 100k left, so I put whatever I had in the hanger on the ship.

The ship was running level 2 missions just fine, but I went with a Corpmate on some of his level 3 missions and I felt useless in the Vexor and it's current fittings. My Corpmate asked if I could fly a Battlecruiser, and I explained how I had Battlecruiser II, but I didn't have the 24 mill to buy one yet. Without delay my wallet blinked and I noticed a 25 million deposit from my Corpmate who instructed me to purchase the Battlecruiser and come back when it was fitted.

That was an awesome gesture on his part, and after I returned with the fully fitted Brutix the missions started going faster. I ended up shooting back up to 3 million pretty fast, so I'm back up and running.

I'm not buying anymore skillbooks for awhile! ^^

And of course, my beautiful Acura Brutix Type S

Empire Days, Low-Sec Nights

Working in Empire Space gets mundane, but that's why I usually head out to find trouble in low-sec after my shift ends at the Federal Inelligence Agency; however, it's usally 'trouble' finding me.



Not this time.

I set course to the nearest low-sec system after undocking in my combat-ready Honda Tristan Si. With a couple close-range blasters, MWD, Webber, and Scrambler I headed out with danger on my mind.

The first system I entered was 0.2 and to my surprise was... empty? After that it was a 0.1 system and there were a few miner-esq looking players in local- could they be at one of the local belts?

WARP DRIVE ACTIVE

There were two ships upon exiting warp drive; the first was an Imicus at 20km, and a Thorax at 100km. These two didn't appear to be together, but it wouldn't have mattered if they were because I primed the Webber and Scrambler as I activated my MWD.

I soared through the skies and was on top of the Imicus before he knew what hit him. The Thorax continued to linger at 100km- AFK maybe?

After the Imicus exploded I let my cap recharge for a minute while I contemplated my next move. At this point I was on top of the world, nothing could stop me, especially an AFK Thorax.

I hit the switch on the MWD and closed the distance in little time. Webbed and Scrambled I enganed fire at a measly 750m orbit. Would my close range be enough to throw off his accuracy? Could my blasters cut through his armor?

During the fight it looked like I might not win, so I alligned myself to the station and pressed on; however, soon after allignment I went ahead and warped- better safe than sorry.

I had my first taste of being a pirate, and I must say, I could get used to this indiscriminate violence >=)

Learning Skills vs. Fun Skills

The first bit of advice received for any noob asking about skill training will sound something like, "...just train learning skills".

Well, that's great, but that noob could possibly get bored of frigates and leave the game- understandable. I took a different approach; I alternated learning and combat skills so I could advance in the game while still maintaining learning skills.

I've been using this approach for a few months now and I have all the tier 1 learning skills to level IV, and that allows the training of the tier 2 learning skills. The next plan is to alternate the tier 2 skills with my battleship / battlecruiser skills.

This method has allowed me a steady progression, but I know in the long run I'll be better off with the learning skills.

On a side note, does anyone know of an EvE market site that displays average prices of items in the different region...? I'd like to find where cheaper fittings are for my ships since I really don't mind flying a distance to pick up an item- I enjoy travel in EvE.