The Ploy: Gallente Path

The Ploy

"The Ploy" is detailed plan how to get to 5.0 standings. This is the fastest way I've found - and has specific requirements:

• Standings set up in specific way, to ensure that target (5.0 with all Empires) is reachable
• Social skill trained to V and Connection skills trained to IV or V - depending on your connections level you will need different standings at start
• At least 2 Career agents from each faction are available to run - if that's not possible, other means can be used, but with significant drawbacks
• Capability to run empire Epic Arcs - in terms of ship/skills
• Copy of Google spreadsheet

This version assumes you take Gallente path - which means your best standings are with Gallente, and worst with Caldari.

Step 1. Adjusting standings

To be able to start this plan, you need unmodified standings set in one of following ways:

Required Standings	Connections level
	Connections IV	Connections V
Gallente	3.74	3.17
Caldari	1.55	0.93
Minmatar	3.60	3.03
Amarr	1.09	0.46

Alternatively, "Selector" sheet in Google spreadsheet allows you to put your current standings and check if path the requirement are met.

This is minimum required to follow. It's way easier to grind standings now, than to try fix it later. If you're stuck in place where one faction is too low, you can run COSMOS missions or datacenters or more storylines to make it up. If you start with standings below these, you will not be able to finish it - keep that in mind before starting. Since the whole process is long, you might want to run SoE epic arc to fix last faction to required level. Keep in mind that SoE will give reward based on current standings - so it's best to run it for faction with the lowest standings.

Step 2. Last check

Check if you have Social at V, standings above minimums. For now you should stop running storyline missions - they will mess up this plan

Step 3. Career agents

Run all 8 Career agent chains, in following order:

• Caldari
  
• Amarr
  
• Caldari
  
• Amarr
  
• Gallente
  
• Minmatar
  
• Gallente
  
• Minmatar
  

Alternatively, you can copy this sheet: Google spreadsheet, and use "Simulator" sheet, which will show for which factions you have to run.
The main point if this part of The Ploy is to get both Gallente and Minmatar to 5.0 modified standing (to be able to run Epic Arcs) and keep both Caldari and Amarr at correct level, which will be required later.

Step 4. Epic Arcs

With 3.81 (Standings V) or 4.10 (Standings IV) you have 2 Epic arcs unlocked - run them both, picking standings reward (Minmatar!) and avoiding standing losses (Minmatar Arc has unavoidable ASmarr loss of 0.004, and Caldari Arc has potential losses that can be avoided). This will push Gallente and Minmatar to 4.75 - which allows us to lower them in next step, while gaining standings for Caldari and Amarr.

Step 5. Rebalancing

This is the tedious step. Right now storyline missions give very small net standings gains, they only shift them around. What you need to achieve are (minimum) the following standings:

Gallente - 3.81
Minmatar - 3.81
Caldari - 3.00
Amarr - 2.30

To get to that point, you need to run 7 Storyline missions with 1% reward - faster storylines to farm come from L2 Distro missions. Simply run L2 distro missions for Major and Minor enemy factions, either swapping them every couple of missions, or start with Major enemy and run it until Chosen faction drops to 3.96. If you choose corps required for Step 6 - it will shorten whole process
Another option are L3 Security missions - there is one missions chain ([New Frontiers]) and one Storyline mission chain ([Kidnappers Strike]) with very good standings rewards.

With this step Gallente and Minmatar are complete - you should have effective standings for both above 5.0.

Step 6. Last two

To Close the gap for two remaining factions, you need:

• Caldari- run faction Epic Arc
• Amarr - run faction Epic Arc, then SoE Epic Arc - the order is important if you started with minimum standings!

Step 7. Deviations from The Ploy

If needed, whole plan can be adjusted to suit your needs. Two possible adjustments:

• Step 3 - If your initial standings are higher that minimum required

You can skip some Career agents (they are very useful for Step 5 if available) - but keep in mind that you still need to achieve desired results after Step 3, which are available in Google Spreadsheet . Due to asymmetrical standings modifiers these requirements are different depending on path chosen. Having wrong requirements after Step 3 might delay whole process by 90-180 days, needed for next run of Epic Arcs.

• Step 5 - If your starting standings are higher, or other means of standings gain are available

You can skip some Storyline missions and replace them with Career agents, COSMOS or Datacenters - again, important thing is to achieve desired results. The best way is to check Google Spreadsheet, as it's required to simulate whole process.