Eve Echoes has been out for just over a week now, and the mobile offshoot of CCP’s legendary MMORPG, Eve Online, is going strong. Eve Online has always had a reputation of having a steep learning curve for beginning players, and although Eve Echoes has streamlined and updated parts of the game to make entry into the space sandbox less foreboding, it can still be a little tough to get your space legs. After spending more hours than I probably should have to find my way in Eve Echoes, I’ve gathered up a handful of beginner tips to help other new Capsuleers during their first few hours in New Eden. I can always use more tips, so be sure to add any tidbits of wisdom you’d like to share in the comments below.
Don’t Skip The Tutorials
Do your training! I always advocate playing games however you want to, whether it be casual or hardcore. Jump right in and start killing things if that is how you want to do it, or take your time and watch every cinematic; how you play is the right way. This time around, though, I have to say no matter how you plan to play Eve Echoes you really need to run through the tutorials. There are just too many goodies awarded, including free ships, to pass up. Not to mention that everything the tutorials have you do you would be doing anyway.
Train All Day Every Day
When you have a skill queued up for training you gain 30 skill points (SP) per minute (Omega Clones earn more) that are applied towards its completion, even when you are offline. If your queue runs dry you will start building up free SP that can be applied to training once you queue up a new skill, but you gain these points at a 50% rate. So always, always, always have a skill in your training queue. You can queue up multiple skills as long as you currently have less than 24 hours of training currently queued up.
Get Out And Explore
There are thousands of solar systems in Eve Echoes and there’s no need to stick near your starting location. There are some high traffic areas in High Sec, like Jita IV, that people seem to gravitate towards. The problem with that is right now there are so many people in the area the jump gates are shutting down, stopping traffic from entering. This isn’t too big of a deal but think about heading out to a different system if you get annoyed by waiting in line. There are plenty of systems that have decent populations out there so you’ll be able to turn a quick buck on the market without the wait at a warp gate to get into the system. You’ll also get the added benefit of having less competition driving the prices down so you can pad your wallet as well.
The Alpha And The Omega
Eve Echoes is free to play but if you plan on getting a little more serious you may want to consider dropping some cash in the store. Free to play Capsuleers have access to Alpha Clones, and are able to access almost everything the game has to offer. You will miss out on the highest tier ships (anything above tier 7) and access to the market will be limited to Interstellar Trading Centers, but you will still be able to make a decent living in the game.
Players who wish to sub up gain access to Omega Clones and the benefits that come along with them. Omega Clones get a boost to Skill Point accumulation and can further the increase with the purchase of the Cognitive Learning skills. Omegas also have access to the most powerful ships in the game. They are also able to post and buy items from any planet, making the buying and selling quicker, and often times cheaper, since they aren’t restricted to just the ITCs.
Don’t Forget Planetary Production
Even if you don’t want to spend any of your time mining asteroids don’t forget to keep your Planetary Production mines up and running. With planetary mining, you can set it and forget it just like Ron Popeil (I’m showing my age here). The timer maxes out at 24 hours but even if you forget to log in to reset the timer your product doesn’t disappear. Then, once you are ready to collect all you have to do is launch your goods into orbit and make a quick flyby to pick them up for a quick sale on the market. It’s free ISK!
Lost And Found
With thousands of star systems in the galaxy remembering which station you left those Mk 5 Cannons you need for your new ship can be tough. It’s easy to miss, but on the bottom left of the inventory screen is the button to switch between the current ship/station inventory and the Personal Assets page. This page breaks down all of your belongings into a station by station list. For your convenience, tapping any of the items will pop up a menu allowing you to sell the item or set up a delivery request to ship it to another station. It also lists how many jumps the station is from your current location if you choose to collect the item yourself.
Market Favorites
Just like the inventory screen, the market screen has a handy button hidden away in the bottom left corner of the screen that pops up your Favorites list. How do you set your favorites? Great question. On the Buyers and Sellers page, you may have noticed a gold square with a dark star inside of it. Tap on that box will highlight the star and add that item to your favorite list.
High Sec, Low Reward
In Eve Echoes, High Sec space is PVE only. That peace of mind of never being attacked by another player comes at a cost, though. That cost is a reduced chance for profit. Asteroids in High Sec only yield common and uncommon minerals and, like most MMOs, the market is already flooded with these resources so the price has been pushed way down. New players can get a boost to their revenue stream by heading into Low Sec to mine more expensive ores and PVE encounters follow the same rule, rewarding the harder difficulty with better loot. Just make sure you are able and willing to cover the cost of a destroyed ship if things go bad.
Going The Distance
It doesn’t matter too much when you are warping around in High Sec, but once you start making your way into the seedier parts of New Eden warping right up to your target destination is the easiest way to land smack dab in the middle of an ambush. To avoid this, instead of doing a quick tap on Approach, Warp, or Orbit, using a long hold will pop up a radial menu that allows you to set how far away you wish to stop your approach. That extra distance may be the only thing that allows you to escape if pirates are around.
Set a safe approach distance to avoid an ambush
If you have a specific distance that you frequently use you can change your default distance to save you the trouble of setting it manually each time. To do so, just tap on your ship to bring up the radial menu, then long hold on the Set Orbit button to set your default distance.
Have An Exit Plan
If you get up the courage to head into Low Sec or Null Sec to do some solo mining make sure you have an exit plan in case some pirates enter your area. The easiest way to do this is once you start mining, point your ship towards the system’s station or jump gate and be ready to tap dock or warp if a hostile jumps in. This will allow you to quickly align and warp out. You may take a hit or two but odds are you will escape safely.
There are a couple of ways to easily align your ship to your exit point. The first is to pan your camera until you see your target and double-tap the screen to turn your ship in that direction. An even easier and more accurate way is to choose the target from your Overview panel and then tap on Approach. Your ship will turn directly to the target, at which time you can shut your engines down and wait. Just remember not to go AFK in Low or Null Sec like you do in High Sec or you may come back to find your ship has been destroyed.
