Difference between revisions of "Skills and learning"

From EVE University Wiki
Jump to: navigation, search
(→‎Acquiring Skillbooks: Revised to third person. Changed note about the EVE University skillbook program to hatnote.)
m (→‎Training skills: again BEAUTIFY with links)
 
(67 intermediate revisions by 30 users not shown)
Line 1: Line 1:
{{related class|Skills Training 101}}
+
{{related class|Skill Planning (CORE class)}} {{Skills Links}}
'''Skills''' in EVE govern the abilities of your character. They determine which ships you can fly, what modules you can use, the effectiveness to which you can use those ships/modules, and much more. This is a guide to learning those in-game skills, explaining the mechanics that govern skill training, and making suggestions for training strategies.
+
'''Skills''' in EVE govern the abilities of your character. They determine which ships you can fly, what modules you can use, the effectiveness with which you can use those ships/modules, and much more. This is a guide to learning those in-game skills, explaining the mechanics that govern skill training, and making suggestions for training strategies.
  
=Overview=
+
== Overview ==
In EVE your skills are a significant part of what defines your character and what they can do. If you want to fly a ship, use modules on that ship, mine, trade, and so much more, you'll need to have trained specific skills for that. Additionally, training skills improves your performance (your ships will fly faster, your guns will do more damage, you will pay lower taxes, and so on). Some skills affect multiple areas of the game, but most are specialised. This has two major effects:  
+
Skills are a significant part of what defines a character and what they can do. If you want to fly a ship, use modules on that ship, mine, trade, and so much more, you'll need to have trained specific skills for that. Additionally, training skills improve your performance (your ships will fly faster, your guns will do more damage, you will pay lower taxes, and so on). Some skills affect multiple areas of the game, but most are specialized. This has two major effects:  
  
* It doesn't take too much time to become proficient in ''one'' area of the game (say, flying missile frigates), as there is a finite number of skills which improve your performance in that particular area. This also means that young characters (who have not been playing for as long) can "catch up to" older characters in specific areas of the game.
+
* It doesn't take too much time to become proficient in ''one'' area of the game (say, flying missile frigates), as a finite number of skills improve your performance in that particular area. This also means that young characters (who have not been playing for as long) can quickly "catch up" to older characters in specific areas of the game.
 
* Conversely, it takes much more time to become proficient in many (or even all) areas of the game; training every skill in the game to the maximum level would take around two decades of continuous training. In other words, older characters will be proficient in ''more'' areas of the game when compared with younger characters.
 
* Conversely, it takes much more time to become proficient in many (or even all) areas of the game; training every skill in the game to the maximum level would take around two decades of continuous training. In other words, older characters will be proficient in ''more'' areas of the game when compared with younger characters.
  
Fortunately, skills are cumulative, and once you have invested time (skill points) into a skill you will never lose them (with one exception: if you're flying a [[Strategic Cruiser]] and your ship is destroyed, you will lose one skill level in one of the relevant subsystem skills). This means that you can continuously improve your character's proficiency in one or several areas of the game, depending on your goals.
+
Fortunately, skills are cumulative, and once you have invested time (skill points) into a skill you will never lose them (unless you choose to extract them using a [[Skill Extractor]]). This means that you can continuously improve your character's proficiency in one or several areas of the game, depending on your goals. The unique skill system of EVE Online allows you to train skills in real time, even when logged off. You should always have a skill in training.
  
There are around 400 different skills in EVE, and every character can potentially learn every skill (provided that they have an [[Clone States|Omega clone]]; Alpha clone characters are limited in what skills they can train). It would be easy to get lost, but thankfully skills are divided into groups:
+
As of 10 July 2023 there are 466 different skills in EVE, with a total of 2,211x training time multiplier, and a total of 566,016,000 skill points. Every {{clonestate|omega}} character can potentially learn every skill, but it would take over 23 years of skill training even with 32 points at all [[#Attributes|attributes]], or 3,462 Large Skill Injectors, to achieve.
 +
 
 +
Alpha clone characters are limited to 172 different skills and a total of 20,443,992 skill points, while they also have extra restrictions of skill levels they can reach on each skill. Additionally, Alpha clone characters will have their training queue disabled once their trained skills plus their unallocated skill points reached 5,000,000 skill points, they cannot unpause it to train more skills, but still can apply unallocated skill points to skills. Alpha clone characters are also able to use a Daily Alpha Injector that gives 50,000 skills points.
 +
 
 +
It would be easy to get lost, but thankfully skills are divided into groups:
  
 
{| class="wikitable"
 
{| class="wikitable"
Line 17: Line 21:
 
|-
 
|-
 
|[[Skills:Armor|Armor]]
 
|[[Skills:Armor|Armor]]
|Skills to improve your ship's [[Armour Tanking|armor]]
+
|Skills to improve your ship's [[Tanking#Armor Tanking|armor]]
 
|-
 
|-
 
|[[Skills:Corporation Management|Corporation Management]]
 
|[[Skills:Corporation Management|Corporation Management]]
Line 26: Line 30:
 
|-
 
|-
 
|[[Skills:Electronic Systems|Electronic Systems]]
 
|[[Skills:Electronic Systems|Electronic Systems]]
|Skills relating to [[EWAR|electronic warfare]]
+
|Skills relating to [[electronic warfare]]
 
|-
 
|-
 
|[[Skills:Engineering|Engineering]]
 
|[[Skills:Engineering|Engineering]]
|Skills to improve your ship's [[CPU]], [[powergrid]], [[capacitor]], and to perform [[Capacitor Warfare Guide|capacitor warfare]]
+
|Skills to improve your ship's [[CPU]], [[powergrid]], [[capacitor]], and to perform [[capacitor warfare]]
 
|-
 
|-
 
|[[Skills:Fleet Support|Fleet Support]]
 
|[[Skills:Fleet Support|Fleet Support]]
Line 35: Line 39:
 
|-
 
|-
 
|[[Skills:Gunnery|Gunnery]]
 
|[[Skills:Gunnery|Gunnery]]
|Skills to use and improve [[turrets|turret]]-based weapons
+
|Skills to use and improve [[turret]]-based weapons
 
|-
 
|-
 
|[[Skills:Missiles|Missiles]]
 
|[[Skills:Missiles|Missiles]]
Line 44: Line 48:
 
|-
 
|-
 
|[[Skills:Neural Enhancement|Neural Enhancement]]
 
|[[Skills:Neural Enhancement|Neural Enhancement]]
|Skills related to using [[implants]], [[Jump Clones|jump clones]] and [[Messing_With_Your_Head#Better_living_through_chemistry:_Intro_to_booster_drugs|boosters]]
+
|Skills related to using [[implants]], [[jump clones]] and [[medical boosters]]
 
|-
 
|-
 
|[[Skills:Planet Management|Planet Management]]
 
|[[Skills:Planet Management|Planet Management]]
|Skills related to [[Planetary Interaction|planetary interaction]]
+
|Skills related to [[Planetary Industry]]
 
|-
 
|-
 
|[[Skills:Production|Production]]
 
|[[Skills:Production|Production]]
Line 53: Line 57:
 
|-
 
|-
 
|[[Skills:Resource Processing|Resource Processing]]
 
|[[Skills:Resource Processing|Resource Processing]]
|Skills needed to [[mining|mine]] raw materials, [[refining|refine]] them, and [[Guide To Salvaging|salvage]] components from destroyed ships
+
|Skills needed to [[mining|mine]] raw materials, [[refining|refine]] them, and [[salvage]] components from destroyed ships
 
|-
 
|-
 
|[[Skills:Rigging|Rigging]]
 
|[[Skills:Rigging|Rigging]]
|Skills needed to fit [[rig]]s to your ship, and to make them more effective
+
|Skills to make [[rig]]s fit to your ship more effective, and needed to manufacture rigs
 
|-
 
|-
 
|[[Skills:Scanning|Scanning]]
 
|[[Skills:Scanning|Scanning]]
|Skills needed to [[Scanning & Probing|find objects in space]] using scan probes, and to [[Hacking 101|hack]] into secure containers in exploration sites
+
|Skills needed to [[probe scanning|find objects in space]] using scan probes, and to [[Hacking|hack]] into secure containers in exploration sites
 
|-
 
|-
 
|[[Skills:Science|Science]]
 
|[[Skills:Science|Science]]
Line 65: Line 69:
 
|-
 
|-
 
|[[Skills:Shields|Shields]]
 
|[[Skills:Shields|Shields]]
|Skills to improve your ship's [[Shield Tanking|shields]]
+
|Skills to improve your ship's [[Tanking#Shield Tanking|shields]]
 
|-
 
|-
 
|[[Skills:Social|Social]]
 
|[[Skills:Social|Social]]
Line 74: Line 78:
 
|-
 
|-
 
|[[Skills:Structure Management|Structure Management]]
 
|[[Skills:Structure Management|Structure Management]]
|Skills required to anchor and control various deployable structures, such as POSes and [[Citadels]].
+
|Skills required to anchor and control various deployable structures, such as [[Upwell structures]].
 
|-
 
|-
 
|[[Skills:Subsystems|Subsystems]]
 
|[[Skills:Subsystems|Subsystems]]
Line 88: Line 92:
 
It would not be practical to go into detail describing all these skills on one page; there is therefore a separate page for each section of skills (linked above). Furthermore some of these sections have corresponding [[Skill Tree Maps]].
 
It would not be practical to go into detail describing all these skills on one page; there is therefore a separate page for each section of skills (linked above). Furthermore some of these sections have corresponding [[Skill Tree Maps]].
  
=Recommended Skills=
+
== Recommended skills ==
 +
New pilots might want to consider some of the following lists of skills:
  
To help new pilots get their heads around the vast array of skills available to them, several sets of recommended skills have been compiled:
+
* The [[Short Skill Plan]]: a quick route into basic functionality in a wide range of effective Tech 1 frigate, destroyer, and cruiser hulls
* [[Basic Skills]]
+
** EVE University does not require any particular skill training pattern from its members, but the Short Skill Plan is designed in part to make a character ready to participate usefully in many types of University fleet
* [[Core Skills]]
+
* [[Basic Skills]]: easily-accessible skills which can be quickly trained to medium levels
* [[Covert Ships Skillset]]
+
* [[Support Skills]]: not necessarily required for specific ships/equipment, but very helpful
* [[Starting Skills]]
+
* [[Fitting skills]]: make it easier to fit everything you need onto any ship
* [[Support Skills]]
+
* The [[Pyramid Skill Plan]]: a way to conceive of and plan longer-term training and specialization once pilots have a clear sense of what they might want to do in New Eden
* [[The Magic 14]]
 
  
=Skillbooks=
+
Be aware too of "[[The Magic 14]]", 14 skills which benefit any ship you fly. These are ''not'' a skill ''plan'', but they are skills worth training to medium levels in the medium term, and to level V in the long term.
To learn a skill (unless it's part of your [[Starting Skills|starting skills]]), a pilot must acquire and inject the relevant skillbook.  
 
  
==Acquiring Skillbooks==
+
== Skillbooks ==
{{hatnote|If you are a member of EVE University, [[The Skillbook Program]] will reimburse the cost of any skill which is NPC-seeded and costs no more than 1 million ISK. See the linked page for details.}}
+
To learn a skill (unless it's part of your [[starting skills]]), a pilot must acquire and inject the relevant skillbook.  
Pilots who completed the starter missions from the [[Tutorial_and_Career_Agents_in_Eve|tutorial agents]] will have already been given some useful skillbooks.
 
  
The main way to acquire other new skillbooks is from the market. Pilots can browse the available skillbooks under 'Skills' in the Browse tab, or just search for a particular skill. Currently most skillbooks are sold by NPC corporations for a fixed price.
+
=== Acquiring skillbooks ===
 +
{{hatnote|If you are a member of EVE University, the [[Skillbook Program]] will reimburse the cost of any skill which is NPC-seeded and costs no more than 3.5 million ISK. See the linked page for details.}}
 +
Pilots who completed the starter missions from the [[career agents]] will have already been given some useful skillbooks.
 +
 
 +
The main way to acquire other new skillbooks is from the market. Pilots can browse the available skillbooks under 'Skills' in the Browse tab, or just search for a particular skill. Most skillbooks are sold by NPC corporations for a fixed price.
  
 
The NPC sell orders can be distinguished in two ways: they have a uniform price, and they have nearly a year's worth of time listed in the 'Expires In' column. (The maximum amount of time a player can put a sell order up for, by contrast, is 90 days.)
 
The NPC sell orders can be distinguished in two ways: they have a uniform price, and they have nearly a year's worth of time listed in the 'Expires In' column. (The maximum amount of time a player can put a sell order up for, by contrast, is 90 days.)
Line 111: Line 117:
 
Players also sometimes put up sell orders for NPC seeded skillbooks. If the order is priced below the NPC price, the player is probably selling off books they bought in error; if the order is above the NPC price, the player is probably hoping to trick someone into buying. It is good practice to check the NPC price before buying an NPC-seeded skill from a player sell order.
 
Players also sometimes put up sell orders for NPC seeded skillbooks. If the order is priced below the NPC price, the player is probably selling off books they bought in error; if the order is above the NPC price, the player is probably hoping to trick someone into buying. It is good practice to check the NPC price before buying an NPC-seeded skill from a player sell order.
  
Some skillbooks are not directly seeded onto the market. Instead, they are acquired through the [[Skillbooks from Loyalty Point Stores|Loyalty Point (LP) stores]] of NPC corporations or from [[exploration]] sites. These tend to be more advanced skills, such as {{sk|Small Autocannon Specialization}}, which lets you use T2 small autocannons. Some players trade in these skills by finding them or buying them from LP stores where they have LP and then putting them up on the regular market for a profit. Depending on how hard it is to obtain these skills outside of the market, buying them from players selling them on the regular market can often be the simplest option.
+
Some skillbooks are not directly seeded onto the market. Instead, they are acquired through the [[Loyalty Points#Skillbooks|Loyalty Point (LP) stores]] of NPC corporations or from [[exploration]] sites. These tend to be more advanced skills, such as {{sk|Small Autocannon Specialization}}, which lets you use T2 small autocannons. Some players trade in these skills by finding them or buying them from LP stores where they have LP and then putting them up on the regular market for a profit. Depending on how hard it is to obtain these skills outside of the market, buying them from players selling them on the regular market can often be the simplest option.
  
==Injecting Skillbooks==
+
Updates in 2019 opened up another way to acquire skillbooks. Any skillbook which is available via an NPC-seeded sell order can instead be purchased and immediately injected via the Character Sheet skill page. Injecting skills directly from the character skill interface can be done anywhere, and is thus a useful option for pilots living in [[Wormhole space|wormholes]] and other logistically challenging places; to counterbalance this convenience, the price of taking this option is 30% higher than the standard NPC price, so pilots who can easily access NPC skill markets should continue to take that option if ISK is an issue.
 +
 
 +
=== Injecting skillbooks ===
 
Once you have acquired a skillbook, you can "inject" a skillbook.  
 
Once you have acquired a skillbook, you can "inject" a skillbook.  
  
Right-clicking on a skill in a hangar or cargohold, also gives you an 'Inject skill' option. Injecting a skill shunts the skill from the skillbook into the Skills list on your Character Sheet (and destroys the skillbook), but doesn't actually start it training -- effectively it stores the skill at 'level 0'.  
+
Right-clicking on a skill in a hangar or cargohold, also gives you an 'Inject skill' option. Injecting a skill shunts the skill from the skillbook into the Skills list on your Character Sheet (and destroys the skillbook), but doesn't actually start training -- effectively it stores the skill at 'level 0'.  
  
Injecting is useful if you've bought a skill which you have the intent to train, but don't actually want to start training it right away or have yet to meet the requirements to train: once it's injected, you don't need to worry about keeping the skillbook with you, and there's no risk that you'll lose the skillbook if you fly into dangerous space and lose your ship. The same is true and useful for [[Jump_Clones|jump clones]] -- you can jump to a clone in hisec or a trade hub, acquire and inject the skill there, and then (after the jumpclone waiting period) jump back to your main clone somewhere in more dangerous space, where you can train the skill at your leisure. Note that you can inject a skillbook without knowing all the prerequisites to actually start training the skill.
+
Injecting is useful if you've bought a skill that you have the intent to train, but don't actually want to start training it right away or have yet to meet the requirements to train: once it's injected, you don't need to worry about keeping the skillbook with you, and there's no risk that you'll lose the skillbook if you fly into dangerous space and lose your ship. The same is true and useful for [[jump clones]] -- you can jump to a clone in hisec or a trade hub, acquire and inject the skill there, and then (after the jumpclone waiting period) jump back to your main clone somewhere in more dangerous space, where you can train the skill at your leisure. Note that you can inject a skillbook without knowing all the prerequisites to actually start training the skill.
  
=Training Skills=
+
== Training skills ==
You can train a skill by dragging and dropping it into the training queue, or by right-clicking on it in your Skills list.
+
You can train a skill by dragging and dropping it into the training queue, or by right-clicking on it in your Skills list. The first skill in your training queue is the one training at the moment, once fully trained the next one starts automatically training.
 +
Unallocated skill points earned through various ([[Skill_trading#Skill_Injectors | skill injectors]], daily rewards, or [[AIR_Daily_Goals | AIR daily rewards]]), can be applied to a skill in the training queue. Two options are possible :
 +
* To apply to a single skill, right click on a skill in the training queue and select "apply skill points".
 +
* To apply all your unallocated skill points to  your training queue, click on the "+" button on the right side of the total training time.
 +
Skill point can be applied to skills already partially trained or injected.
  
==Training Time Multipliers==
+
=== Training Time Multipliers ===
 
So, how is the time it takes you to train a particular skill calculated? The number of skill points necessary to train a skill is determined by the skill's '''rank''', also known as its '''training time multiplier''', while the rate at which you get new skill points is determined by your '''attributes'''.
 
So, how is the time it takes you to train a particular skill calculated? The number of skill points necessary to train a skill is determined by the skill's '''rank''', also known as its '''training time multiplier''', while the rate at which you get new skill points is determined by your '''attributes'''.
  
 
The base numbers of skill points (SP) required to train a skill with a training time multiplier of 1x (like {{sk|Navigation}}, for example) go like this:  
 
The base numbers of skill points (SP) required to train a skill with a training time multiplier of 1x (like {{sk|Navigation}}, for example) go like this:  
  
* Level I: 250
+
{| class=wikitable style="text-align: center;"
* Level II: 1,414
+
|+ Skill Points
* Level III: 8,000
+
! Level || Total SP || Level SP || Percentage
* Level IV: 45,255
+
|-
* Level V: 256,000
+
| I || 250 || 250 || {{#expr:100*250/256000}}%
 +
|-
 +
| II || 1,414 || 1,164 || {{#expr:100*1164/256000}}%
 +
|-
 +
| III || 8,000 || 6,586 || {{#expr:100*6586/256000}}%
 +
|-
 +
| IV || 45,255 || 37,255 || {{#expr:100*37255/256000}}%
 +
|-
 +
| V || 256,000 || 210,745 || {{#expr:100*210745/256000}}%
 +
|}
  
 
When training from one level to the next you start with the skill points you accumulated training the previous level - so, for example, if you start training {{sk|Navigation|IV}}, you will already have 8,000 SP in the skill and will need to train 37,255 more SP to move from III to IV.
 
When training from one level to the next you start with the skill points you accumulated training the previous level - so, for example, if you start training {{sk|Navigation|IV}}, you will already have 8,000 SP in the skill and will need to train 37,255 more SP to move from III to IV.
  
If a skill has a training multiplier higher than 1, the numbers of SP required for each level are multiplied by that number. So, for example, {{sk|Evasive Maneuvering}} has a training time multiplier of 2x, and you need to accumulate 500 SP (250 x 2) to train it to I, 2,828 SP to train it to II and so forth.
+
If a skill has a training multiplier higher than 1, the number of SP required for each level is multiplied by that number. So, for example, {{sk|Evasive Maneuvering}} has a training time multiplier of 2x, and you need to accumulate 500 SP (250 x 2) to train it to I, 2,828 SP to train it to II and so forth.
  
 
The better the benefits of a skill or the equipment it lets you use, the higher its training time multiplier, or 'rank' as it's sometimes called, tends to be. {{sk|Amarr Titan}}, for example, has a x16 training multiplier -- you need to accumulate 4,096,000 SP to train it to V.
 
The better the benefits of a skill or the equipment it lets you use, the higher its training time multiplier, or 'rank' as it's sometimes called, tends to be. {{sk|Amarr Titan}}, for example, has a x16 training multiplier -- you need to accumulate 4,096,000 SP to train it to V.
  
SP = 250 * multiplier * sqrt(32)^(level-1)
+
<!-- SP = 250 * multiplier * sqrt(32)^(level-1) -->
 
+
: <math> \displaystyle \text{ SP } = 250 \times \text{ multiplier } \times \sqrt{ 32^{ ( \text{ level } - 1 ) } } </math>
==Attributes==
 
  
 +
=== Attributes ===
 
Every EVE character has five attributes. These are:  
 
Every EVE character has five attributes. These are:  
*Intelligence
+
* Intelligence
*Perception
+
* Perception
*Charisma
+
* Charisma
*Willpower
+
* Willpower
*Memory
+
* Memory
  
 
These attributes determine how quickly you train the various skills in the game. They do not influence ''anything'' else about your character. Since time is perhaps your most valuable asset in EVE, understanding attributes and optimizing them for your character's plans is absolutely vital. In order to view your attributes, open your character sheet and select "Attributes". The five attributes for your character will be listed there.
 
These attributes determine how quickly you train the various skills in the game. They do not influence ''anything'' else about your character. Since time is perhaps your most valuable asset in EVE, understanding attributes and optimizing them for your character's plans is absolutely vital. In order to view your attributes, open your character sheet and select "Attributes". The five attributes for your character will be listed there.
Line 155: Line 176:
 
By default, your character has a score of 20 in all attributes (except Charisma, with a score of 19).  
 
By default, your character has a score of 20 in all attributes (except Charisma, with a score of 19).  
  
===Effects on Skill Training===
+
=== Effects on skill training ===
 +
Every skill has a primary and a secondary attribute: {{sk|Navigation}}, for example, lists Intelligence as its primary attribute and Perception as its secondary attribute. When you start training a skill, you can calculate the time needed (in minutes) thus:
  
Every skill has a primary and a secondary attribute: {{sk|Navigation}}, for example, lists Intelligence as its primary attribute and Perception as its secondary attribute. When you start training a skill, you can calculate the time needed (in minutes) thus:
+
<!-- ( SP_Needed - Current_SP ) / ( Primary_Attribute + ( Secondary_Attribute / 2 ) )-->
 +
: <math> \displaystyle \text{ t } = \frac { \text{ SP needed } - \text{ Current SP } } { \text{ Primary Attribute } + ( \text{ Secondary Attribute } / 2 ) } </math>
 +
 
 +
In general, the skillpoints accumulate at a rate equal to
  
   ( SP_Needed - Current_SP ) / ( Primary_Attribute + ( Secondary_Attribute / 2 ) )
+
   [Omega Clones] SP/minute =        Primary_Attribute + 0.50 × Secondary_Attribute
 +
  [Alpha Clones] SP/minute = 0.50 × Primary_Attribute + 0.25 × Secondary_Attribute
  
 
It's not necessary to know the mathematics involved here, but the important thing to note is that your score for a skill's primary attribute will affect its training time twice as much as your score for its secondary attribute. You can find your attribute scores on your character sheet in the Attributes section.
 
It's not necessary to know the mathematics involved here, but the important thing to note is that your score for a skill's primary attribute will affect its training time twice as much as your score for its secondary attribute. You can find your attribute scores on your character sheet in the Attributes section.
  
A default character (assuming it is an [[Clone States|Omega clone]]) with no modification to their ability scores gains between 29 and 30 skill points per minute (1740 to 1800 SP per hour). If the character is an Alpha clone, they only gain half (15 points per minute) as many skill points.
+
A default character (assuming it is an {{clonestate|omega}}) with no modification to their ability scores gains between 29 and 30 skill points per minute (1740 to 1800 SP per hour). If the character is an Alpha clone, they only gain half (15 points per minute) as many skill points. An Omega character with neural remap focused on specific skills and +5 implants (see details below) can have 32+26/2=45 skill points per minute, 2700 SP/h, 64800 SP/day, '''1.944M SP/month''' (per 30 days). See the following table for a breakdown of major options:
  
Each attribute is associated with skills for particular spheres of activity. Generally the groups of skills are associated with particular attributes as follows - with some exceptions:
+
{| class=wikitable style="text-align: center;"
 +
|+ Training Speed
 +
|-
 +
! rowspan=2 | Clone Type !! colspan=2 | Attributes !! rowspan=2 | Implants !! colspan=4 | Skillpoints
 +
|-
 +
! Primary !! Secondary !! per minute !! per hour !! per day !! per 30 days
 +
|-
 +
|Alpha ||20 ||20 || None || 15.00 || 900 || 21.60K || 648.0K
 +
|-
 +
|Alpha ||20 ||20 || +3 || 17.25 || 1,035 || 24.84K || 745.2K
 +
|-
 +
|Alpha ||27 ||21 || +3 || 21.00 || 1,260 || 30.24K || 907.2K
 +
|-
 +
|Omega ||20 ||20 || None || 30.00 || 1,800 || 43.20K || 1.296M
 +
|-
 +
|Omega ||20 ||20 || +3 || 34.50 || 2,070 || 49.68K || 1.49M
 +
|-
 +
|Omega ||20 ||20 || +5 || 37.50 || 2,250 || 54.00K || 1.620M
 +
|-
 +
|Omega ||27 ||21 || +5 || 45.00 || 2,700 || 64.80K || 1.944M
 +
|}
 +
 
 +
 
 +
If you want to know your exact Skillpoint rate, you can use [https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1EVVw0iD5EWh9QyuL6KdZzKceYIvmo8Wni2RkcbCuWMo this calculator].
  
{| class=wikitable cellpadding="2" style="text-align:left;"
+
Each attribute is associated with skills for particular spheres of activity. Generally, the groups of skills are associated with particular attributes as follows - with some exceptions:
|+'''Skill Groups and Associated Attributes'''
+
 
! Group (# of skills)!! Attributes (Primary, Secondary)
+
{| class=wikitable
 +
|+ Skill Groups and Associated Attributes
 +
! Group (# of skills) !! Attributes (Primary, Secondary)
 
|-
 
|-
 
| [[Skills:Armor|Armor]] || Intelligence, Memory
 
| [[Skills:Armor|Armor]] || Intelligence, Memory
Line 193: Line 244:
 
| [[Skills:Planet_Management|Planet Management]] || Intelligence, Memory / Charisma, Intelligence
 
| [[Skills:Planet_Management|Planet Management]] || Intelligence, Memory / Charisma, Intelligence
 
|-
 
|-
| [[Skills:Production|Production]] || Intelligence, Memory / Memory, Intelligence
+
| [[Skills:Production|Production]] || Memory, Intelligence / Intelligence, Memory
 
|-
 
|-
 
| [[Skills:Resource_Processing|Resource Processing]] || Memory, Intelligence / Intelligence, Memory
 
| [[Skills:Resource_Processing|Resource Processing]] || Memory, Intelligence / Intelligence, Memory
Line 201: Line 252:
 
| [[Skills:Scanning|Scanning]] || Intelligence, Memory
 
| [[Skills:Scanning|Scanning]] || Intelligence, Memory
 
|-
 
|-
| [[Skills:Science|Science]] || Mostly Intelligence, Memory
+
| [[Skills:Science|Science]] || Intelligence, Memory / Memory, Charisma
 
|-
 
|-
 
| [[Skills:Shields|Shields]] || Intelligence, Memory
 
| [[Skills:Shields|Shields]] || Intelligence, Memory
Line 209: Line 260:
 
| [[Skills:Spaceship_Command|Spaceship Command]] || Perception, Willpower (beginner) / Willpower, Perception (advanced)
 
| [[Skills:Spaceship_Command|Spaceship Command]] || Perception, Willpower (beginner) / Willpower, Perception (advanced)
 
|-
 
|-
| [[Skills:Structure Management|Structure Management]] || Memory, Charisma / Memory, Willpower
+
| [[Skills:Structure Management|Structure Management]] || Memory, Willpower / Memory, Charisma
 
|-
 
|-
 
| [[Skills:Subsystems|Subsystems]] || Intelligence, Memory / Perception, Willpower
 
| [[Skills:Subsystems|Subsystems]] || Intelligence, Memory / Perception, Willpower
Line 215: Line 266:
 
| [[Skills:Targeting|Targeting]] || Intelligence, Memory
 
| [[Skills:Targeting|Targeting]] || Intelligence, Memory
 
|-
 
|-
| [[Skills:Trade|Trade]] || Charisma, Memory / Willpower, Charisma
+
| [[Skills:Trade|Trade]] || Charisma, Memory / Willpower, Charisma / Charisma, Willpower
 
|}
 
|}
  
 
As a rough summary:
 
As a rough summary:
* '''Perception''' and '''Willpower''' are very important for combat pilots, since they help you train skills which let you use better ships and weapons, and use your ships and weapons better.
+
* '''Perception''' and '''Willpower''' are very important for combat pilots since they help you train skills that let you use better ships and weapons, and use your ships and weapons better.
 
* '''Memory''' and '''Intelligence''' are very important for industrialists, and still quite important for combat pilots (they're useful for drone skills, fitting skills and tanking skills).
 
* '''Memory''' and '''Intelligence''' are very important for industrialists, and still quite important for combat pilots (they're useful for drone skills, fitting skills and tanking skills).
* '''Charisma''' is important for traders and mission-runners, and anyone who's training the Leadership skills.
+
* '''Charisma''' is important for traders and mission-runners, and anyone who's training in Leadership skills.
  
It should be obvious that raising your attribute scores, particularly for skill groups you intend to spend lots of time training, is a very good idea. Ways to do this are discussed in later in this guide.
+
It should be obvious that raising your attribute scores, particularly for skill groups you intend to spend lots of time training, is a very good idea. Ways to do this are discussed later in this guide.
  
=General Training Strategies=
+
== General training strategies ==
  
===EVEMon===
+
=== EVEMon ===
[[3rd Party Tools#EVEMon|EVEMon]] is a third party software tool that allows you to make plans on your characters skill training (as well as monitor and plan many other things).
+
[[EVEMon]] is a third party software tool that allows you to make plans on your character's skill training (as well as monitor and plan many other things).
  
==Planning Ahead==
+
=== EVE-Skillplan ===
When you first start playing EVE, you may have little idea on what skills you will be needing next week, let alone next month. But after your first few weeks, you will start to form a picture in your mind on what sorts of things you want your character to be able to do, and consequently which skills you'll need. The specific training strategies listed elsewhere in this guide work much better when used together with a long term strategy.
+
[[Third-party tools#EVE-Skillplan|EVE-Skillplan]] is a web based and responsive skill planner to plan and share your training using your favorite devices - PC/Mac, tablet or smartphone.
  
===How Many Levels?===
+
=== Planning ahead ===
 +
When you first start playing EVE, you may have little idea of what skills you will be needing next week, let alone next month. But after your first few weeks, you will start to form a picture in your mind of what sorts of things you want your character to be able to do, and consequently which skills you'll need. The specific training strategies listed elsewhere in this guide work much better when used together with a long term strategy.
  
 +
=== How many levels? ===
 
As you train higher and higher levels in a skill, you get less benefit for the time invested.
 
As you train higher and higher levels in a skill, you get less benefit for the time invested.
  
{{sk|Surgical Strike}}, for example, gives you a 3% bonus to all turret damage per level - very useful for anyone who uses [[Turrets|turrets]] as their primary weapon system - and has a 4x training time multiplier. You can get your first 3% bonus in a trivially short amount of time: even with basic attribute scores, training Surgical Strike to Level I takes 40 minutes or so. However, with the same basic attribute scores training Surgical Strike from Level IV to V would take nearly 25 days -- and you would still only get 3% more turret damage for your trouble!
+
{{sk|Surgical Strike}}, for example, gives you a 3% bonus to all turret damage per level - very useful for anyone who uses [[turrets]] as their primary weapon system - and has a 4x training time multiplier. You can get your first 3% bonus in a trivially short amount of time: even with basic attribute scores, training Surgical Strike to Level I takes 40 minutes or so. However, with the same basic attribute scores training Surgical Strike from Level IV to V would take nearly 25 days -- and you would still only get 3% more turret damage for your trouble!
  
For a new character, it is therefore often most efficient to train a useful skill which has a high training multiplier to III or IV and then move on rather than taking it to V straight away. As a rule of thumb, if you use a skill at all it's probably worth training it to III, and if you use a skill regularly it's worth training it to IV.
+
For a new character, it is therefore often most efficient to train a useful skill that has a high training multiplier to III or IV and then move on rather than taking it to V straight away. As a rule of thumb, if you use a skill at all it's probably worth training it to III, and if you use a skill regularly it's worth training it to IV.
  
 
When your character is older you may well reach a point where you have fewer things you want or need to train - at this point, it may be worth revisiting some skills you left at IV and taking them to V.
 
When your character is older you may well reach a point where you have fewer things you want or need to train - at this point, it may be worth revisiting some skills you left at IV and taking them to V.
Line 255: Line 308:
 
Some skills are worth training to V because of a combination of several of the above reasons. {{sk|Drones|V}} for example lets you use a full flight of five drones, which is useful on any ship with a drone bay of 25m3 or more - and it's a prerequisite for the excellent Tech 2 drones.
 
Some skills are worth training to V because of a combination of several of the above reasons. {{sk|Drones|V}} for example lets you use a full flight of five drones, which is useful on any ship with a drone bay of 25m3 or more - and it's a prerequisite for the excellent Tech 2 drones.
  
==Boosting your Attributes==
+
== Boosting your Attributes ==
 
 
 
This section of this guide deals with strategies to help you train skills ''faster''.
 
This section of this guide deals with strategies to help you train skills ''faster''.
  
 
Effectively, all of the methods discussed below improve your training times by boosting your character's attributes. This boosting usually comes at a cost of something else; other attributes, money, or time.
 
Effectively, all of the methods discussed below improve your training times by boosting your character's attributes. This boosting usually comes at a cost of something else; other attributes, money, or time.
  
==Implants==
+
=== Implants ===
Another way to increase your character's attributes is through plugging [[Implants|implants]] into your head. The first five numbered slots on your character sheet's Augmentations window are for [[Implants#Attribute_Enhancers|attribute enhancers]], implants which each give a bonus (from +1 to +5) to one of your five attributes. Unfortunately, if your pod is destroyed all your implants in the clone piloting it are destroyed as well.
+
Another way to increase your character's attributes is by plugging [[implants]] into your head. The first five numbered slots on your character sheet's Augmentations window are for [[Implants#Attribute_Enhancers|attribute enhancers]], implants which each give a bonus (from +1 to +5) to one of your five attributes. Unfortunately, if your pod is destroyed all your implants in the clone piloting it are destroyed as well.
  
The +1/2/3 implants are relatively cheap and you only need to train {{sk|Cybernetics|I}} to use them, so it's worth investing in these as soon as you can as, even with the smaller bonuses, they reduce training time by a significant amount. Storyline missions sometimes offer an implant as a reward so if you're running missions you may find yourself collecting some implants. Members of EVE University can also take advantage of the [[The_Implants_Program|Implant Program]] to buy significantly discounted +3 implants.
+
The +1/2/3 implants are relatively cheap and you only need to train {{sk|Cybernetics|I}} to use them, so it's worth investing in these as soon as you can as, even with the smaller bonuses, they reduce training time by a significant amount. [[Storyline mission]]s sometimes offer an implant as a reward so if you're running missions you may find yourself collecting some implants. Members of EVE University can also take advantage of the [[The +3 Implants Program|Implant Program]] to buy significantly discounted +3 implants.
  
Do note that there are also slot 1-5 implants (sometimes known as Pirate Implants) that also provide other bonuses, in addition to attribute increases.  While these are usually more expensive, do check the markets carefully, as sometimes some "Low-Grade" ones, which are +2 to an attribute, are occasionally less expensive than the equivalent +2 implant ("Limited ''<type>'' - Beta").  See [[Implants#Advanced_Attribute_Enhancer_Reference|the list here]].
+
Do note that there are also slot 1-5 implants (sometimes known as Pirate Implants) that also provide other bonuses, in addition, to attribute increases.  While these are usually more expensive, do check the markets carefully, as sometimes some "Low-Grade" ones, which are +2 to an attribute, are occasionally less expensive than the equivalent +2 implant ("Limited ''<type>'' - Beta").  See [[Implants#Advanced_Attribute_Enhancer_Reference|the list here]].
  
If you're podded any implants you are wearing will be destroyed - you can set up a [[Jump_Clones|jump clone]] with cheaper implants, or no implants at all, and jump into it when you want to PvP to lower the amount of ISK you're putting at risk.
+
If you're podded any implants you are wearing will be destroyed - you can set up a [[jump clone]] with cheaper implants, or no implants at all, and jump into it when you want to PvP to lower the amount of ISK you're putting at risk.
  
Since the more powerful +4 and +5 implants can be quite expensive, particularly for a newer pilot, one common trick is to arrange your skill plan so that you're only training skills which rely on the same two attributes, and then only plug in attribute enhancers for those two attributes. This way you only have to pay for two implants rather than four or five.
+
Since the more powerful +4 and +5 implants can be quite expensive, particularly for a newer pilot, one common trick is to arrange your skill plan so that you're only training skills that rely on the same two attributes, and then only plug in attribute enhancers for those two attributes. This way you only have to pay for two implants rather than four or five.
  
 
The advantage of implants is that they require minimal training time (Cybernetics only), giving you an immediate boost to training time which can quickly add up to months of time saved. The disadvantage is their cost, coupled with the fact that they are lost if your pod is killed.
 
The advantage of implants is that they require minimal training time (Cybernetics only), giving you an immediate boost to training time which can quickly add up to months of time saved. The disadvantage is their cost, coupled with the fact that they are lost if your pod is killed.
  
==Neural Remaps==
+
=== Neural remaps ===
 
Neural remapping doesn't let you boost your attributes overall, but it lets you take points away from one base attribute score and add them to another. The remap interface can be accessed through the Attributes tab of your Character Sheet.
 
Neural remapping doesn't let you boost your attributes overall, but it lets you take points away from one base attribute score and add them to another. The remap interface can be accessed through the Attributes tab of your Character Sheet.
  
Line 281: Line 333:
 
There are a number of rules governing remapping:
 
There are a number of rules governing remapping:
  
#You get a "normal" remap once a year.
+
# You start with a "normal" remap. The normal remap takes a year to replenish after use.
#*The year timer begins once you use the remap, not when it is granted.
+
# You start with two 'bonus' remaps. Bonus remaps are gone forever after use, they will never replenish!
#You can also have 'bonus' remaps. Two of these are granted when you start.
+
# If you have both normal and bonus remaps available then the normal remap will be used first.
#If you have both normal and bonus remaps available then the normal remap will be used first.
+
# Once you have used your normal remap and bonus remaps you must wait for the yearly timer to expire to remap again, so plan carefully!
#Once you have used your normal remap and bonus remaps you must wait for the yearly timer to expire to remap again, so plan carefully!
+
# You start with 20 points for Intelligence, Perception, Willpower and Memory; You start with 19 points for Charisma.
#An attribute's base score may not be raised above 27 or lowered below 17 (the default score for an ability is 19 or 20).
+
# An attribute's base score may not be raised above 27 or lowered below 17.
#Any points taken off one attribute must be added to another -- they cannot be 'left over' when you finish remapping.
+
# Your total base attribute points are 99, and 14 of them can be remapped.
 +
# Any points taken off one attribute must be added to another -- your remaining unmapped points must be 0 when you finish remapping.
  
The common strategy for remapping is to put together a long-term skill plan which majors on skills which use a particular two attributes, and then remap so that you denude all your other attribute scores and pump up those two attributes.
+
The common strategy for remapping is to put together a long-term skill plan that majors on skills that use a particular two attributes, and then remap so that you denude all your other attribute scores and pump up those two attributes.
  
If you create a long skill plan in [[3rd_Party_Tools#EVEMon|EveMon]], you can use one of the options of its 'Optimize Attributes' function to calculate which arrangement of attributes would be best for the first year of your plan. However, if you're new to the game your future career plans are quite likely to change as you explore the game, so making a year long plan after a few weeks isn't very realistic. Be frugal with your remaps for a little while until you get an idea for what you want to do.
+
If you create a long skill plan in [[EVEMon]], you can use one of the options of its 'Attributes Optimizer' function (available via the Skill Planner) to calculate which arrangement of attributes would be best for the first year of your plan. However, if you're new to the game your future career plans are quite likely to change as you explore the game, so making a year long plan after a few weeks isn't very realistic. Be frugal with your remaps for a little while until you get an idea of what you want to do.
  
==Cerebral Accelerators==
+
=== Cerebral Accelerators ===
Cerebral accelerators are consumed like [[Combat Booster|boosters]] and give temporary bonuses to all five of a character's attributes, speeding up their skill training time. These can be acquired through certain in-game events (like the [[Crimson Harvest]]) or by buying EVE starter packs. Accelerators acquired through in-game events can only be activated for a limited time (usually a little after the end of the in-game event), after which they will have no effect. Accelerators acquired through starter packs can only be used by characters younger than a certain age, limiting their use to brand-new characters.  
+
Cerebral accelerators are consumed like [[Medical boosters|boosters]] and give temporary bonuses to all five of a character's attributes, speeding up their skill training time. These can be acquired through certain in-game events (like the [[Crimson Harvest]]) or by buying EVE starter packs. Accelerators acquired through in-game events can only be activated for a limited time (usually a little after the end of the in-game event), after which they will have no effect. Accelerators acquired through starter packs can only be used by characters younger than a certain age, limiting their use to brand-new characters.  
  
{| class="wikitable sortable"
+
{| class="wikitable sortable" data-sort-type="number" style="text-align: right;"
! style="background-color: #333333;" | Name
+
|- style="background-color: #333333;"
! style="background-color: #333333;" | Bonus
+
! Name
! style="background-color: #333333;" | Duration
+
! Bonus
! style="background-color: #333333;" | Source
+
! Duration
 +
! Total SP
 +
! Source
 +
|-
 +
| style="text-align: left;" | Basic 'Radiance' Cerebral Accelerator
 +
| +4
 +
| data-sort-value="24" rowspan=4 | 24 hours
 +
| 8,640
 +
| rowspan=5 style="text-align: left;" | [[Crimson Harvest]]
 +
|-
 +
| style="text-align: left;" | Potent 'Radiance' Cerebral Accelerator
 +
| +8
 +
| 17,280
 
|-
 
|-
| Blood Raider Cerebral Accelerator
+
| style="text-align: left;" | Blood Raider Cerebral Accelerator
 
| +10
 
| +10
| rowspan=2 | 24 hours
+
| 21,600
| rowspan=2 | [[Crimson Harvest]]
 
 
|-
 
|-
| Advanced Blood Raider Cerebral Accelerator
+
| style="text-align: left;" | Advanced Blood Raider Cerebral Accelerator
 
| +12
 
| +12
 +
| 25,920
 +
|-
 +
| style="text-align: left;" | Extended 'Radiance' Cerebral Accelerator
 +
| +6
 +
| data-sort-value="72" | 3 days
 +
| 38,880
 
|-
 
|-
| Copper Ouroboros Accelerator
+
| style="text-align: left;" | Copper Ouroboros Accelerator
 
| rowspan=3 | +10
 
| rowspan=3 | +10
| 12 hours
+
| data-sort-value="12" | 12 hours
| rowspan=3 | [[Shadow of the Serpent]]
+
| 10,800
 +
| rowspan=3 style="text-align: left;" | [[Shadow of the Serpent]]
 
|-
 
|-
| Silver Ouroboros Accelerator
+
| style="text-align: left;" | Silver Ouroboros Accelerator
| 72 hours
+
| data-sort-value="72" | 3 days
 +
| 64,800
 
|-
 
|-
| Gold Ouroboros Accelerator
+
| style="text-align: left;" | Gold Ouroboros Accelerator
| 120 hours
+
| data-sort-value="120" | 5 days
 +
| 108,000
 
|-
 
|-
| Prototype Cerebral Accelerator
+
| style="text-align: left;" | Compact Cerebral Accelerator
 
| +9
 
| +9
| 14 days
+
| data-sort-value="336" | 14 days
| Starter Packs
+
| 272,160
 +
| style="text-align: left;" | Starter Packs
 
|-
 
|-
| Standard Cerebral Accelerator
+
| style="text-align: left;" | Standard Cerebral Accelerator
 
| +3
 
| +3
| 35 days
+
| data-sort-value="840" | 35 days
| Commissioned Officer Edition
+
| 226,800
 +
| style="text-align: left;" | Commissioned Officer Edition
 
|}
 
|}
  
==Further Suggestions==
+
The duration of boosters is extended if you have trained the {{Sk|Biology}} skill, by 20% per level trained; if you train Biology to level V, the duration of a booster is therefore doubled. For example, with Biology V trained, a Blood Raider Cerebral Accelerator will last 48 hours instead of the 24 shown in the table above.
 +
 
 +
== Further suggestions ==
  
=== Appropriate Remapping ===
+
=== Appropriate remapping ===
  
Neural remapping, is essential for mid- or long-term planning (compiling mid or long term skill plans can be made using external tools such as [[3rd_Party_Tools#EVEMon|EveMon]]) and can help you cut several days or weeks of the training time needed to finish such a plan. Please remember that a fresh character is given only '''two chances''' to remap and after you used both remap, the next remap will only be available after '''one year''' of playtime, so use them carefully.
+
Neural remapping is essential for mid- or long-term planning (compiling mid or long term skill plans can be made using external tools such as [[EVEMon]]) and can help you cut several days or weeks of the training time needed to finish such a plan. Please remember that a fresh character is given only '''two chances''' to remap and after you used both remap, the next remap will only be available after '''one year''' of playtime, so use them carefully.
  
 
As a note, '''new players are not recommended to use their second remap''' within their first weeks of playing, the reason for this is that most skill plans made by that time '''will change''' based on what you (will) know and learn during the time you spent playing EVE Online.
 
As a note, '''new players are not recommended to use their second remap''' within their first weeks of playing, the reason for this is that most skill plans made by that time '''will change''' based on what you (will) know and learn during the time you spent playing EVE Online.
  
After you know what you are planning for, and can make at least a mid- or long-term plans for things you want to do in EVE (which would probably be a several months or a year skill plan), you can begin to calculate an appropriate remap for the plan, this can be done using the help of EveMon's attribute optimizer or by common sense. You can try to experiment changing the remaps on the EveMon attribute simulator and see which skills are affected positively (trained quicker) and which skills will took longer to train using that remap, skills that took longer to train (because of a higher multiplier or if you are training these skills to higher levels) would be affected much more by appropriate remaps in long term rather than skills in which can be trained quickly.Several things you need to know before you decide to remap your attributes (since later on, you will only have the chance to do this once a year):
+
After you know what you are planning for, and can make at least a mid- or long-term plan for things you want to do in EVE (which would probably be a several months or a year skill plan), you can begin to calculate an appropriate remap for the plan, this can be done using the help of EVEMon's attribute optimizer or by common sense. You can try to experiment with changing the remaps on the EVEMon attribute simulator and see which skills are affected positively (trained quicker) and which skills will take longer to train using that remap, skills that took longer to train (because of a higher multiplier or if you are training these skills to higher levels) would be affected much more by appropriate remaps in the long term rather than skills in which can be trained quickly. Several things you need to know before you decide to remap your attributes (since later on, you will only have the chance to do this once a year):
 
* You know '''which attributes are important to any given skill categories''' (for example, Perception and Willpower are very important for combat pilots while Memory and Intelligence are very important for industrialists)
 
* You know '''which attributes are important to any given skill categories''' (for example, Perception and Willpower are very important for combat pilots while Memory and Intelligence are very important for industrialists)
 
* You know what '''the skills are for a given role or category''' (for example, Battlecruiser skill is a combat oriented skill in which perception and willpower are important)
 
* You know what '''the skills are for a given role or category''' (for example, Battlecruiser skill is a combat oriented skill in which perception and willpower are important)
Line 347: Line 424:
 
* You are sure that the plans you have made are suitable for what and how you want to play the game and it '''includes a majority of core skills''' needed to pilot the ships you want.
 
* You are sure that the plans you have made are suitable for what and how you want to play the game and it '''includes a majority of core skills''' needed to pilot the ships you want.
  
=== New Player Strategies ===
+
=== New player strategies ===
 
 
 
New players get 3 initial remaps to spend, one normal remap and 2 bonus remaps. This might sound like a lot, but that's still 4 months per remap, and that's assuming you don't want to keep a bonus remap for next year.
 
New players get 3 initial remaps to spend, one normal remap and 2 bonus remaps. This might sound like a lot, but that's still 4 months per remap, and that's assuming you don't want to keep a bonus remap for next year.
  
While making a skill plan in EveMon and getting it to calculate your remaps for you sounds good in theory, a new player is still exploring the game and your interests will change as you discover new aspects. Nonetheless, there are some fairly safe initial strategies to use.
+
While making a skill plan in EVEMon and getting it to calculate your remaps for you sounds good in theory, a new player is still exploring the game and your interests will change as you discover new aspects. One strategy is to continue with the default remap which should be fine for a new player. Nonetheless, there are some fairly safe initial strategies to use.
  
 
At the beginning of the game, almost all players will need skills from:
 
At the beginning of the game, almost all players will need skills from:
Line 368: Line 444:
 
* Trade (Charisma / Willpower)
 
* Trade (Charisma / Willpower)
  
If you look at these skills you'll see that two attributes crop up more than any others: Intelligence and Perception. Willpower and Memory are secondary attributes for several things (with the exception of Drones) and Charisma isn't required for any major skill groups unless you're a trader. Note that Willpower is the primary attribute for several skills in the Spaceship Command tree, but only for ''advanced'' ship skills, which at this point you'll be training rarely compared to the basic ship skills. As such, a good strategy is to keep your initial remap for a few weeks and train basic skills in all of the main skill groups you need, including Social and Trade. Unless you're going to be a hardcore trader (in which case stop reading here and consult a more detailed guide for traders), you should then spend a remap to place all of your attributes in Intelligence and Perception. More combat oriented pilots should put a few more points in to Perception and more industrial pilots should invest a little more in Intelligence. This remap should serve you well for most of your first year, at which point you should have seen enough of the game to reliably make your own long term skill plans.
+
If you look at these skills you'll see that two attributes crop up more than any others: Intelligence and Perception. Willpower and Memory are secondary attributes for several things (with the exception of Drones) and Charisma isn't required for any major skill groups unless you're a trader. Note that Willpower is the primary attribute for several skills in the Spaceship Command tree, but only for ''advanced'' ship skills, which at this point you'll be training rarely compared to the basic ship skills. As such, a good strategy is to keep your initial remap for a few weeks and train basic skills in all of the main skill groups you need, including Social and Trade. Unless you're going to be a hardcore trader (in which case stop reading here and consult a more detailed guide for traders), you should then spend a remap to place all of your attributes in Intelligence and Perception. More combat-oriented pilots should put a few more points into Perception and more industrial pilots should invest a little more in Intelligence. This remap should serve you well for most of your first year, at which point you should have seen enough of the game to reliably make your own long term skill plans.
  
== Specialization ==
+
=== Specialization ===
 
While training lots of skills to level III will give you many bonuses and a lot of options in a short time, being mediocre at many things is fun, but not very efficient. You can only have one ship in space at a time, so while being able to fly a [[Retriever]] and a [[Hurricane]] is nice, you can't mine and do level 3 missions at the same time, meaning that whichever you're currently doing you're not using a lot of your skill points. On the other hand, if you'd focused fully on mining or combat, you could be flying a [[Hulk]] or a [[Maelstrom]] instead and making a lot more ISK at your chosen activity (at the expense of not being able to do the other at all). This principle also applies within professions - having mediocre skills in a [[Drake]] and [[Hurricane]] is nice, but you can only fly one at a time. Variety is the spice of life, and being able to play several aspects of the game makes it much more fun, but be aware that when joining a non-training corporation, they will probably want you to have a "specialization" of some sort, be it EWAR, damage dealing in a particular ship, logistics, mining or manufacturing.
 
While training lots of skills to level III will give you many bonuses and a lot of options in a short time, being mediocre at many things is fun, but not very efficient. You can only have one ship in space at a time, so while being able to fly a [[Retriever]] and a [[Hurricane]] is nice, you can't mine and do level 3 missions at the same time, meaning that whichever you're currently doing you're not using a lot of your skill points. On the other hand, if you'd focused fully on mining or combat, you could be flying a [[Hulk]] or a [[Maelstrom]] instead and making a lot more ISK at your chosen activity (at the expense of not being able to do the other at all). This principle also applies within professions - having mediocre skills in a [[Drake]] and [[Hurricane]] is nice, but you can only fly one at a time. Variety is the spice of life, and being able to play several aspects of the game makes it much more fun, but be aware that when joining a non-training corporation, they will probably want you to have a "specialization" of some sort, be it EWAR, damage dealing in a particular ship, logistics, mining or manufacturing.
  
Another aspect of specialization is training all of the skills to use a ship effectively, and to high levels. Let's take the [[Drake]] for example. The minimum requirements to fly one and shoot missiles out of it is {{sk|Caldari Cruiser|III}}, {{sk|Caldari Battlecruiser|I}}, {{sk|Missile Launcher Operation|III}} and {{sk|Heavy Missiles|I}}. However, if you train only these skills and try to fly a Drake, it will perform abysmally. Many extra skills are required to fly a ship effectively, such as fitting and capacitor skills, tanking skills, weapon skills, drone skills and the specific ship skill (in this case {{sk|Caldari Battlecruiser}}). Even with all of these trained to level III, you will still frequently be beaten in PvP by a pilot who has properly specialized in the ship and trained these skills to IV or V and trained for Tech 2 modules and weapons.
+
Another aspect of specialization is training all of the skills to use a ship effectively and to high levels. Let's take the [[Drake]] for example. The minimum requirements to fly one and shoot missiles out of it is {{sk|Caldari Cruiser|III}}, {{sk|Caldari Battlecruiser|I}}, {{sk|Missile Launcher Operation|III}} and {{sk|Heavy Missiles|I}}. However, if you train only these skills and try to fly a Drake, it will perform abysmally. Many extra skills are required to fly a ship effectively, such as fitting and capacitor skills, tanking skills, weapon skills, drone skills, and the specific ship skill (in this case {{sk|Caldari Battlecruiser}}). Even with all of these trained to level III, you will still frequently be beaten in PvP by a pilot who has properly specialized in the ship and trained these skills to IV or V, and trained for Tech 2 modules and weapons.
 
 
== Ways to Plan ==
 
  
Here are three ways to organise your skill training around a particular focus or goal. These are certainly not the only ways to plan skill training - they're offered here only as examples.  
+
== Ways to plan ==
 +
Here are three ways to organize your skill training around a particular focus or goal. These are certainly not the only ways to plan skill training - they're offered here only as examples.  
  
 
# Training in short spurts designed to get the prerequisites to use a particular ship or module. These spurts are unlikely to ever be much more than a few weeks or a month long.
 
# Training in short spurts designed to get the prerequisites to use a particular ship or module. These spurts are unlikely to ever be much more than a few weeks or a month long.
 
#* This method gives you the regular gratification of being able to use shinier stuff, but is probably an inefficient way to use your attributes and may miss important [[Support_Skills|support skills]] that would make your ships and modules much more powerful.
 
#* This method gives you the regular gratification of being able to use shinier stuff, but is probably an inefficient way to use your attributes and may miss important [[Support_Skills|support skills]] that would make your ships and modules much more powerful.
 
# Training in several-month-long stints designed to allow you to fly a particular ship or class of ships at peak or near peak performance, with all the relevant skills at IV or V. Several such stints can be combined to make a skill plan that lasts a year or more.
 
# Training in several-month-long stints designed to allow you to fly a particular ship or class of ships at peak or near peak performance, with all the relevant skills at IV or V. Several such stints can be combined to make a skill plan that lasts a year or more.
#* This method will make you a more reliable pilot, but requires more patience and dedication, and research to find out which support skills you need.
+
#* This method will make you a more reliable pilot but requires more patience and dedication, and research to find out which support skills you need.
# Training in blocks each lasting a year or more, organised around the year-long time limit on neural remaps, and designed to eventually create a highly-skilled character.
+
# Training in blocks each lasting a year or more, organized around the year-long time limit on neural remaps, and designed to eventually create a highly-skilled character.
 
#* So you might remap to boost Intelligence and Memory, then only train skills that rely on those two attributes for a year or more, before remapping to Perception and Willpower and focusing on skills that require those two attributes for another year.
 
#* So you might remap to boost Intelligence and Memory, then only train skills that rely on those two attributes for a year or more, before remapping to Perception and Willpower and focusing on skills that require those two attributes for another year.
 
#* This method uses your attributes very efficiently, resulting in an overall shorter training time. But it's also very boring since your character will probably be quite useless, with big holes in their skillsheet, for a year or more.
 
#* This method uses your attributes very efficiently, resulting in an overall shorter training time. But it's also very boring since your character will probably be quite useless, with big holes in their skillsheet, for a year or more.
  
The first method is good for new players since it offers the interest of regularly being able to use new equipment. Avoiding long-term planning when you're new can actually be a good thing, since you may change your mind about your long-term career goals in Eve. Deciding that actually you want to be a small ship, Gallente-flying manufacturer and explorer just after you've remapped for a two-year long Amarr-focused battleship fleet PvP skillplan is very inconvenient!
+
The first method is good for new players since it offers the interest of regularly being able to use new equipment. Avoiding long-term planning when you're new can actually be a good thing, since you may change your mind about your long-term career goals in EVE. Deciding that actually you want to be a small ship, Gallente-flying manufacturer, and explorer just after you've remapped for a two-year long Amarr-focused battleship fleet PvP skillplan is very inconvenient!
 +
 
 +
The second and third methods are more useful for older players who have a clear and fixed idea of what they want to do. The third method in particular is very boring and is best suited to alts which are being skilled for a specific purpose (such as piloting supercapital ships) or to older characters who already have a good grounding in support skills and skills that let you do entertaining things while you chew through a list of month-long level V trains.
  
The second and third methods are more useful for older players who have a clear and fixed idea of what they want to do. The third method in particular is very boring, and is best suited to alts which are being skilled for a specific purpose (such as piloting supercapital ships) or to older characters who already have a good grounding in support skills and skills that let you do entertaining things while you chew through a list of month-long level V trains.
+
== See also ==
 +
* The [[Support skills]] article for a discussion of particular skillsets
 +
* The [[Skill trading]] article on the usage of skill injectors and extractors
 +
* The [[Magic 14]] article lists fourteen fundamental skills which apply to every single ship that a player can pilot in Eve
 +
* [https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1EVVw0iD5EWh9QyuL6KdZzKceYIvmo8Wni2RkcbCuWMo SP Rate Calculator] (Google Spreadsheet)
 +
* [[Skillbook Program|E-Uni Skillbook Reimbursement Program]]
  
=See Also=
+
{{GettingStartedNav}}
* The [[Skill_Tree_Maps|skill tree maps]] page to get a visual representation of the skill trees
 
* The [[Support Skills|support skills]] page for a discussion of particular skillsets
 
* The [[Skill_trading|Skill trading]] page on the usage for skill injectors and extractors
 
* The [[The_Magic_14|Magic 14]] page lists fourteen fundamental skills which apply to every single ship that a player can pilot in Eve
 
  
 
[[Category:Skills]]
 
[[Category:Skills]]

Latest revision as of 10:19, 7 March 2024

20th Anniversary Eagle Logo.png EVE University offers
a class on:

Skills in EVE govern the abilities of your character. They determine which ships you can fly, what modules you can use, the effectiveness with which you can use those ships/modules, and much more. This is a guide to learning those in-game skills, explaining the mechanics that govern skill training, and making suggestions for training strategies.

Overview

Skills are a significant part of what defines a character and what they can do. If you want to fly a ship, use modules on that ship, mine, trade, and so much more, you'll need to have trained specific skills for that. Additionally, training skills improve your performance (your ships will fly faster, your guns will do more damage, you will pay lower taxes, and so on). Some skills affect multiple areas of the game, but most are specialized. This has two major effects:

  • It doesn't take too much time to become proficient in one area of the game (say, flying missile frigates), as a finite number of skills improve your performance in that particular area. This also means that young characters (who have not been playing for as long) can quickly "catch up" to older characters in specific areas of the game.
  • Conversely, it takes much more time to become proficient in many (or even all) areas of the game; training every skill in the game to the maximum level would take around two decades of continuous training. In other words, older characters will be proficient in more areas of the game when compared with younger characters.

Fortunately, skills are cumulative, and once you have invested time (skill points) into a skill you will never lose them (unless you choose to extract them using a Skill Extractor). This means that you can continuously improve your character's proficiency in one or several areas of the game, depending on your goals. The unique skill system of EVE Online allows you to train skills in real time, even when logged off. You should always have a skill in training.

As of 10 July 2023 there are 466 different skills in EVE, with a total of 2,211x training time multiplier, and a total of 566,016,000 skill points. Every Omega.png Omega clone character can potentially learn every skill, but it would take over 23 years of skill training even with 32 points at all attributes, or 3,462 Large Skill Injectors, to achieve.

Alpha clone characters are limited to 172 different skills and a total of 20,443,992 skill points, while they also have extra restrictions of skill levels they can reach on each skill. Additionally, Alpha clone characters will have their training queue disabled once their trained skills plus their unallocated skill points reached 5,000,000 skill points, they cannot unpause it to train more skills, but still can apply unallocated skill points to skills. Alpha clone characters are also able to use a Daily Alpha Injector that gives 50,000 skills points.

It would be easy to get lost, but thankfully skills are divided into groups:

Category Description
Armor Skills to improve your ship's armor
Corporation Management Skills to create and manage player-run corporations
Drones Skills to use and improve any drones that you use
Electronic Systems Skills relating to electronic warfare
Engineering Skills to improve your ship's CPU, powergrid, capacitor, and to perform capacitor warfare
Fleet Support Skills to form fleets with other players, and to make Command Bursts more powerful
Gunnery Skills to use and improve turret-based weapons
Missiles Skills to use and improve missile-based weapons
Navigation Skills to make your ship faster and more agile, and to use propulsion modules
Neural Enhancement Skills related to using implants, jump clones and medical boosters
Planet Management Skills related to Planetary Industry
Production Skills needed to manufacture modules, ships, and more
Resource Processing Skills needed to mine raw materials, refine them, and salvage components from destroyed ships
Rigging Skills to make rigs fit to your ship more effective, and needed to manufacture rigs
Scanning Skills needed to find objects in space using scan probes, and to hack into secure containers in exploration sites
Science Skills related to research and invention
Shields Skills to improve your ship's shields
Social Skills to improve your standings with NPCs and to improve the rewards from running missions
Spaceship Command Skills required to fly certain all classes of ship
Structure Management Skills required to anchor and control various deployable structures, such as Upwell structures.
Subsystems Skills required to use and improve the subsystems on Strategic Cruisers
Targeting Skills to lock more targets, faster, and at longer ranges
Trade Skills to improve trading on the EVE market

It would not be practical to go into detail describing all these skills on one page; there is therefore a separate page for each section of skills (linked above). Furthermore some of these sections have corresponding Skill Tree Maps.

Recommended skills

New pilots might want to consider some of the following lists of skills:

  • The Short Skill Plan: a quick route into basic functionality in a wide range of effective Tech 1 frigate, destroyer, and cruiser hulls
    • EVE University does not require any particular skill training pattern from its members, but the Short Skill Plan is designed in part to make a character ready to participate usefully in many types of University fleet
  • Basic Skills: easily-accessible skills which can be quickly trained to medium levels
  • Support Skills: not necessarily required for specific ships/equipment, but very helpful
  • Fitting skills: make it easier to fit everything you need onto any ship
  • The Pyramid Skill Plan: a way to conceive of and plan longer-term training and specialization once pilots have a clear sense of what they might want to do in New Eden

Be aware too of "The Magic 14", 14 skills which benefit any ship you fly. These are not a skill plan, but they are skills worth training to medium levels in the medium term, and to level V in the long term.

Skillbooks

To learn a skill (unless it's part of your starting skills), a pilot must acquire and inject the relevant skillbook.

Acquiring skillbooks

If you are a member of EVE University, the Skillbook Program will reimburse the cost of any skill which is NPC-seeded and costs no more than 3.5 million ISK. See the linked page for details.

Pilots who completed the starter missions from the career agents will have already been given some useful skillbooks.

The main way to acquire other new skillbooks is from the market. Pilots can browse the available skillbooks under 'Skills' in the Browse tab, or just search for a particular skill. Most skillbooks are sold by NPC corporations for a fixed price.

The NPC sell orders can be distinguished in two ways: they have a uniform price, and they have nearly a year's worth of time listed in the 'Expires In' column. (The maximum amount of time a player can put a sell order up for, by contrast, is 90 days.)

Players also sometimes put up sell orders for NPC seeded skillbooks. If the order is priced below the NPC price, the player is probably selling off books they bought in error; if the order is above the NPC price, the player is probably hoping to trick someone into buying. It is good practice to check the NPC price before buying an NPC-seeded skill from a player sell order.

Some skillbooks are not directly seeded onto the market. Instead, they are acquired through the Loyalty Point (LP) stores of NPC corporations or from exploration sites. These tend to be more advanced skills, such as Small Autocannon Specialization, which lets you use T2 small autocannons. Some players trade in these skills by finding them or buying them from LP stores where they have LP and then putting them up on the regular market for a profit. Depending on how hard it is to obtain these skills outside of the market, buying them from players selling them on the regular market can often be the simplest option.

Updates in 2019 opened up another way to acquire skillbooks. Any skillbook which is available via an NPC-seeded sell order can instead be purchased and immediately injected via the Character Sheet skill page. Injecting skills directly from the character skill interface can be done anywhere, and is thus a useful option for pilots living in wormholes and other logistically challenging places; to counterbalance this convenience, the price of taking this option is 30% higher than the standard NPC price, so pilots who can easily access NPC skill markets should continue to take that option if ISK is an issue.

Injecting skillbooks

Once you have acquired a skillbook, you can "inject" a skillbook.

Right-clicking on a skill in a hangar or cargohold, also gives you an 'Inject skill' option. Injecting a skill shunts the skill from the skillbook into the Skills list on your Character Sheet (and destroys the skillbook), but doesn't actually start training -- effectively it stores the skill at 'level 0'.

Injecting is useful if you've bought a skill that you have the intent to train, but don't actually want to start training it right away or have yet to meet the requirements to train: once it's injected, you don't need to worry about keeping the skillbook with you, and there's no risk that you'll lose the skillbook if you fly into dangerous space and lose your ship. The same is true and useful for jump clones -- you can jump to a clone in hisec or a trade hub, acquire and inject the skill there, and then (after the jumpclone waiting period) jump back to your main clone somewhere in more dangerous space, where you can train the skill at your leisure. Note that you can inject a skillbook without knowing all the prerequisites to actually start training the skill.

Training skills

You can train a skill by dragging and dropping it into the training queue, or by right-clicking on it in your Skills list. The first skill in your training queue is the one training at the moment, once fully trained the next one starts automatically training. Unallocated skill points earned through various ( skill injectors, daily rewards, or AIR daily rewards), can be applied to a skill in the training queue. Two options are possible :

  • To apply to a single skill, right click on a skill in the training queue and select "apply skill points".
  • To apply all your unallocated skill points to your training queue, click on the "+" button on the right side of the total training time.

Skill point can be applied to skills already partially trained or injected.

Training Time Multipliers

So, how is the time it takes you to train a particular skill calculated? The number of skill points necessary to train a skill is determined by the skill's rank, also known as its training time multiplier, while the rate at which you get new skill points is determined by your attributes.

The base numbers of skill points (SP) required to train a skill with a training time multiplier of 1x (like Navigation, for example) go like this:

Skill Points
Level Total SP Level SP Percentage
I 250 250 0.09765625%
II 1,414 1,164 0.4546875%
III 8,000 6,586 2.57265625%
IV 45,255 37,255 14.552734375%
V 256,000 210,745 82.322265625%

When training from one level to the next you start with the skill points you accumulated training the previous level - so, for example, if you start training Navigation IV, you will already have 8,000 SP in the skill and will need to train 37,255 more SP to move from III to IV.

If a skill has a training multiplier higher than 1, the number of SP required for each level is multiplied by that number. So, for example, Evasive Maneuvering has a training time multiplier of 2x, and you need to accumulate 500 SP (250 x 2) to train it to I, 2,828 SP to train it to II and so forth.

The better the benefits of a skill or the equipment it lets you use, the higher its training time multiplier, or 'rank' as it's sometimes called, tends to be. Amarr Titan, for example, has a x16 training multiplier -- you need to accumulate 4,096,000 SP to train it to V.

[math] \displaystyle \text{ SP } = 250 \times \text{ multiplier } \times \sqrt{ 32^{ ( \text{ level } - 1 ) } } [/math]

Attributes

Every EVE character has five attributes. These are:

  • Intelligence
  • Perception
  • Charisma
  • Willpower
  • Memory

These attributes determine how quickly you train the various skills in the game. They do not influence anything else about your character. Since time is perhaps your most valuable asset in EVE, understanding attributes and optimizing them for your character's plans is absolutely vital. In order to view your attributes, open your character sheet and select "Attributes". The five attributes for your character will be listed there.

By default, your character has a score of 20 in all attributes (except Charisma, with a score of 19).

Effects on skill training

Every skill has a primary and a secondary attribute: Navigation, for example, lists Intelligence as its primary attribute and Perception as its secondary attribute. When you start training a skill, you can calculate the time needed (in minutes) thus:

[math] \displaystyle \text{ t } = \frac { \text{ SP needed } - \text{ Current SP } } { \text{ Primary Attribute } + ( \text{ Secondary Attribute } / 2 ) } [/math]

In general, the skillpoints accumulate at a rate equal to

 [Omega Clones] SP/minute =        Primary_Attribute + 0.50 × Secondary_Attribute
 [Alpha Clones] SP/minute = 0.50 × Primary_Attribute + 0.25 × Secondary_Attribute

It's not necessary to know the mathematics involved here, but the important thing to note is that your score for a skill's primary attribute will affect its training time twice as much as your score for its secondary attribute. You can find your attribute scores on your character sheet in the Attributes section.

A default character (assuming it is an Omega.png Omega clone) with no modification to their ability scores gains between 29 and 30 skill points per minute (1740 to 1800 SP per hour). If the character is an Alpha clone, they only gain half (15 points per minute) as many skill points. An Omega character with neural remap focused on specific skills and +5 implants (see details below) can have 32+26/2=45 skill points per minute, 2700 SP/h, 64800 SP/day, 1.944M SP/month (per 30 days). See the following table for a breakdown of major options:

Training Speed
Clone Type Attributes Implants Skillpoints
Primary Secondary per minute per hour per day per 30 days
Alpha 20 20 None 15.00 900 21.60K 648.0K
Alpha 20 20 +3 17.25 1,035 24.84K 745.2K
Alpha 27 21 +3 21.00 1,260 30.24K 907.2K
Omega 20 20 None 30.00 1,800 43.20K 1.296M
Omega 20 20 +3 34.50 2,070 49.68K 1.49M
Omega 20 20 +5 37.50 2,250 54.00K 1.620M
Omega 27 21 +5 45.00 2,700 64.80K 1.944M


If you want to know your exact Skillpoint rate, you can use this calculator.

Each attribute is associated with skills for particular spheres of activity. Generally, the groups of skills are associated with particular attributes as follows - with some exceptions:

Skill Groups and Associated Attributes
Group (# of skills) Attributes (Primary, Secondary)
Armor Intelligence, Memory
Corporation Management Memory, Charisma
Drones Memory, Perception
Electronic Systems Intelligence, Memory
Engineering Intelligence, Memory / Perception, Willpower
Fleet Support Charisma, Willpower
Gunnery Perception, Willpower
Missiles Perception, Willpower
Navigation Intelligence, Perception / Intelligence, Memory
Neural Enhancement Intelligence, Memory / Charisma, Willpower
Planet Management Intelligence, Memory / Charisma, Intelligence
Production Memory, Intelligence / Intelligence, Memory
Resource Processing Memory, Intelligence / Intelligence, Memory
Rigging Intelligence, Memory
Scanning Intelligence, Memory
Science Intelligence, Memory / Memory, Charisma
Shields Intelligence, Memory
Social Charisma, Intelligence
Spaceship Command Perception, Willpower (beginner) / Willpower, Perception (advanced)
Structure Management Memory, Willpower / Memory, Charisma
Subsystems Intelligence, Memory / Perception, Willpower
Targeting Intelligence, Memory
Trade Charisma, Memory / Willpower, Charisma / Charisma, Willpower

As a rough summary:

  • Perception and Willpower are very important for combat pilots since they help you train skills that let you use better ships and weapons, and use your ships and weapons better.
  • Memory and Intelligence are very important for industrialists, and still quite important for combat pilots (they're useful for drone skills, fitting skills and tanking skills).
  • Charisma is important for traders and mission-runners, and anyone who's training in Leadership skills.

It should be obvious that raising your attribute scores, particularly for skill groups you intend to spend lots of time training, is a very good idea. Ways to do this are discussed later in this guide.

General training strategies

EVEMon

EVEMon is a third party software tool that allows you to make plans on your character's skill training (as well as monitor and plan many other things).

EVE-Skillplan

EVE-Skillplan is a web based and responsive skill planner to plan and share your training using your favorite devices - PC/Mac, tablet or smartphone.

Planning ahead

When you first start playing EVE, you may have little idea of what skills you will be needing next week, let alone next month. But after your first few weeks, you will start to form a picture in your mind of what sorts of things you want your character to be able to do, and consequently which skills you'll need. The specific training strategies listed elsewhere in this guide work much better when used together with a long term strategy.

How many levels?

As you train higher and higher levels in a skill, you get less benefit for the time invested.

Surgical Strike, for example, gives you a 3% bonus to all turret damage per level - very useful for anyone who uses turrets as their primary weapon system - and has a 4x training time multiplier. You can get your first 3% bonus in a trivially short amount of time: even with basic attribute scores, training Surgical Strike to Level I takes 40 minutes or so. However, with the same basic attribute scores training Surgical Strike from Level IV to V would take nearly 25 days -- and you would still only get 3% more turret damage for your trouble!

For a new character, it is therefore often most efficient to train a useful skill that has a high training multiplier to III or IV and then move on rather than taking it to V straight away. As a rule of thumb, if you use a skill at all it's probably worth training it to III, and if you use a skill regularly it's worth training it to IV.

When your character is older you may well reach a point where you have fewer things you want or need to train - at this point, it may be worth revisiting some skills you left at IV and taking them to V.

There are, however, some skills which it's worth training to V quite early on in your capsuleer career. For combat pilots Navigation, which we used as an example previously on this page, is one such because:

  • it has a low training time multiplier (1x)
  • it affects a very fundamental aspect of the performance of all of your ships (speed)
  • with a substantial bonus (5%)

There are a number of other skills with a similar combination of quick training times and significant, widespread bonuses which are well worth training to V quite early.

Another class of skill which you may find yourself training to V are the so-called 'blackmail' skills which are prerequisites for particularly desirable equipment. On the way to training to fly the Wolf, for example, you would need to train Minmatar Frigate V, Mechanics V and Power Grid Management V. Similarly, on the way to deploying Tech 2 Hobgoblin drones you would need to train Light Drone Operation V and Drones V.

Some skills are worth training to V because of a combination of several of the above reasons. Drones V for example lets you use a full flight of five drones, which is useful on any ship with a drone bay of 25m3 or more - and it's a prerequisite for the excellent Tech 2 drones.

Boosting your Attributes

This section of this guide deals with strategies to help you train skills faster.

Effectively, all of the methods discussed below improve your training times by boosting your character's attributes. This boosting usually comes at a cost of something else; other attributes, money, or time.

Implants

Another way to increase your character's attributes is by plugging implants into your head. The first five numbered slots on your character sheet's Augmentations window are for attribute enhancers, implants which each give a bonus (from +1 to +5) to one of your five attributes. Unfortunately, if your pod is destroyed all your implants in the clone piloting it are destroyed as well.

The +1/2/3 implants are relatively cheap and you only need to train Cybernetics I to use them, so it's worth investing in these as soon as you can as, even with the smaller bonuses, they reduce training time by a significant amount. Storyline missions sometimes offer an implant as a reward so if you're running missions you may find yourself collecting some implants. Members of EVE University can also take advantage of the Implant Program to buy significantly discounted +3 implants.

Do note that there are also slot 1-5 implants (sometimes known as Pirate Implants) that also provide other bonuses, in addition, to attribute increases. While these are usually more expensive, do check the markets carefully, as sometimes some "Low-Grade" ones, which are +2 to an attribute, are occasionally less expensive than the equivalent +2 implant ("Limited <type> - Beta"). See the list here.

If you're podded any implants you are wearing will be destroyed - you can set up a jump clone with cheaper implants, or no implants at all, and jump into it when you want to PvP to lower the amount of ISK you're putting at risk.

Since the more powerful +4 and +5 implants can be quite expensive, particularly for a newer pilot, one common trick is to arrange your skill plan so that you're only training skills that rely on the same two attributes, and then only plug in attribute enhancers for those two attributes. This way you only have to pay for two implants rather than four or five.

The advantage of implants is that they require minimal training time (Cybernetics only), giving you an immediate boost to training time which can quickly add up to months of time saved. The disadvantage is their cost, coupled with the fact that they are lost if your pod is killed.

Neural remaps

Neural remapping doesn't let you boost your attributes overall, but it lets you take points away from one base attribute score and add them to another. The remap interface can be accessed through the Attributes tab of your Character Sheet.

Remapping can have long-term consequences. Make sure you know what you're doing!

There are a number of rules governing remapping:

  1. You start with a "normal" remap. The normal remap takes a year to replenish after use.
  2. You start with two 'bonus' remaps. Bonus remaps are gone forever after use, they will never replenish!
  3. If you have both normal and bonus remaps available then the normal remap will be used first.
  4. Once you have used your normal remap and bonus remaps you must wait for the yearly timer to expire to remap again, so plan carefully!
  5. You start with 20 points for Intelligence, Perception, Willpower and Memory; You start with 19 points for Charisma.
  6. An attribute's base score may not be raised above 27 or lowered below 17.
  7. Your total base attribute points are 99, and 14 of them can be remapped.
  8. Any points taken off one attribute must be added to another -- your remaining unmapped points must be 0 when you finish remapping.

The common strategy for remapping is to put together a long-term skill plan that majors on skills that use a particular two attributes, and then remap so that you denude all your other attribute scores and pump up those two attributes.

If you create a long skill plan in EVEMon, you can use one of the options of its 'Attributes Optimizer' function (available via the Skill Planner) to calculate which arrangement of attributes would be best for the first year of your plan. However, if you're new to the game your future career plans are quite likely to change as you explore the game, so making a year long plan after a few weeks isn't very realistic. Be frugal with your remaps for a little while until you get an idea of what you want to do.

Cerebral Accelerators

Cerebral accelerators are consumed like boosters and give temporary bonuses to all five of a character's attributes, speeding up their skill training time. These can be acquired through certain in-game events (like the Crimson Harvest) or by buying EVE starter packs. Accelerators acquired through in-game events can only be activated for a limited time (usually a little after the end of the in-game event), after which they will have no effect. Accelerators acquired through starter packs can only be used by characters younger than a certain age, limiting their use to brand-new characters.

Name Bonus Duration Total SP Source
Basic 'Radiance' Cerebral Accelerator +4 24 hours 8,640 Crimson Harvest
Potent 'Radiance' Cerebral Accelerator +8 17,280
Blood Raider Cerebral Accelerator +10 21,600
Advanced Blood Raider Cerebral Accelerator +12 25,920
Extended 'Radiance' Cerebral Accelerator +6 3 days 38,880
Copper Ouroboros Accelerator +10 12 hours 10,800 Shadow of the Serpent
Silver Ouroboros Accelerator 3 days 64,800
Gold Ouroboros Accelerator 5 days 108,000
Compact Cerebral Accelerator +9 14 days 272,160 Starter Packs
Standard Cerebral Accelerator +3 35 days 226,800 Commissioned Officer Edition

The duration of boosters is extended if you have trained the Biology skill, by 20% per level trained; if you train Biology to level V, the duration of a booster is therefore doubled. For example, with Biology V trained, a Blood Raider Cerebral Accelerator will last 48 hours instead of the 24 shown in the table above.

Further suggestions

Appropriate remapping

Neural remapping is essential for mid- or long-term planning (compiling mid or long term skill plans can be made using external tools such as EVEMon) and can help you cut several days or weeks of the training time needed to finish such a plan. Please remember that a fresh character is given only two chances to remap and after you used both remap, the next remap will only be available after one year of playtime, so use them carefully.

As a note, new players are not recommended to use their second remap within their first weeks of playing, the reason for this is that most skill plans made by that time will change based on what you (will) know and learn during the time you spent playing EVE Online.

After you know what you are planning for, and can make at least a mid- or long-term plan for things you want to do in EVE (which would probably be a several months or a year skill plan), you can begin to calculate an appropriate remap for the plan, this can be done using the help of EVEMon's attribute optimizer or by common sense. You can try to experiment with changing the remaps on the EVEMon attribute simulator and see which skills are affected positively (trained quicker) and which skills will take longer to train using that remap, skills that took longer to train (because of a higher multiplier or if you are training these skills to higher levels) would be affected much more by appropriate remaps in the long term rather than skills in which can be trained quickly. Several things you need to know before you decide to remap your attributes (since later on, you will only have the chance to do this once a year):

  • You know which attributes are important to any given skill categories (for example, Perception and Willpower are very important for combat pilots while Memory and Intelligence are very important for industrialists)
  • You know what the skills are for a given role or category (for example, Battlecruiser skill is a combat oriented skill in which perception and willpower are important)
  • You have at least a plan for what you will be doing in Eve for the next six months or a year and can plan it accordingly.
  • You know that remaps can only be done once a year and that it will affect your training time greatly.
  • You are sure that the plans you have made are suitable for what and how you want to play the game and it includes a majority of core skills needed to pilot the ships you want.

New player strategies

New players get 3 initial remaps to spend, one normal remap and 2 bonus remaps. This might sound like a lot, but that's still 4 months per remap, and that's assuming you don't want to keep a bonus remap for next year.

While making a skill plan in EVEMon and getting it to calculate your remaps for you sounds good in theory, a new player is still exploring the game and your interests will change as you discover new aspects. One strategy is to continue with the default remap which should be fine for a new player. Nonetheless, there are some fairly safe initial strategies to use.

At the beginning of the game, almost all players will need skills from:

  • Navigation (Intelligence / Perception)
  • Electronics, Engineering and Mechanics (Intelligence / Memory)
  • Spaceship Command (Perception / Willpower)

Combat oriented pilots will also need:

  • Gunnery and/or Missiles (Perception / Willpower)
  • Drones (Memory / Perception)

Miners and Industrialists will need:

  • Resource Processing, Science and Production (Intelligence / Memory)

Traders will need:

  • Trade (Charisma / Willpower)

If you look at these skills you'll see that two attributes crop up more than any others: Intelligence and Perception. Willpower and Memory are secondary attributes for several things (with the exception of Drones) and Charisma isn't required for any major skill groups unless you're a trader. Note that Willpower is the primary attribute for several skills in the Spaceship Command tree, but only for advanced ship skills, which at this point you'll be training rarely compared to the basic ship skills. As such, a good strategy is to keep your initial remap for a few weeks and train basic skills in all of the main skill groups you need, including Social and Trade. Unless you're going to be a hardcore trader (in which case stop reading here and consult a more detailed guide for traders), you should then spend a remap to place all of your attributes in Intelligence and Perception. More combat-oriented pilots should put a few more points into Perception and more industrial pilots should invest a little more in Intelligence. This remap should serve you well for most of your first year, at which point you should have seen enough of the game to reliably make your own long term skill plans.

Specialization

While training lots of skills to level III will give you many bonuses and a lot of options in a short time, being mediocre at many things is fun, but not very efficient. You can only have one ship in space at a time, so while being able to fly a Retriever and a Hurricane is nice, you can't mine and do level 3 missions at the same time, meaning that whichever you're currently doing you're not using a lot of your skill points. On the other hand, if you'd focused fully on mining or combat, you could be flying a Hulk or a Maelstrom instead and making a lot more ISK at your chosen activity (at the expense of not being able to do the other at all). This principle also applies within professions - having mediocre skills in a Drake and Hurricane is nice, but you can only fly one at a time. Variety is the spice of life, and being able to play several aspects of the game makes it much more fun, but be aware that when joining a non-training corporation, they will probably want you to have a "specialization" of some sort, be it EWAR, damage dealing in a particular ship, logistics, mining or manufacturing.

Another aspect of specialization is training all of the skills to use a ship effectively and to high levels. Let's take the Drake for example. The minimum requirements to fly one and shoot missiles out of it is Caldari Cruiser III, Caldari Battlecruiser I, Missile Launcher Operation III and Heavy Missiles I. However, if you train only these skills and try to fly a Drake, it will perform abysmally. Many extra skills are required to fly a ship effectively, such as fitting and capacitor skills, tanking skills, weapon skills, drone skills, and the specific ship skill (in this case Caldari Battlecruiser). Even with all of these trained to level III, you will still frequently be beaten in PvP by a pilot who has properly specialized in the ship and trained these skills to IV or V, and trained for Tech 2 modules and weapons.

Ways to plan

Here are three ways to organize your skill training around a particular focus or goal. These are certainly not the only ways to plan skill training - they're offered here only as examples.

  1. Training in short spurts designed to get the prerequisites to use a particular ship or module. These spurts are unlikely to ever be much more than a few weeks or a month long.
    • This method gives you the regular gratification of being able to use shinier stuff, but is probably an inefficient way to use your attributes and may miss important support skills that would make your ships and modules much more powerful.
  2. Training in several-month-long stints designed to allow you to fly a particular ship or class of ships at peak or near peak performance, with all the relevant skills at IV or V. Several such stints can be combined to make a skill plan that lasts a year or more.
    • This method will make you a more reliable pilot but requires more patience and dedication, and research to find out which support skills you need.
  3. Training in blocks each lasting a year or more, organized around the year-long time limit on neural remaps, and designed to eventually create a highly-skilled character.
    • So you might remap to boost Intelligence and Memory, then only train skills that rely on those two attributes for a year or more, before remapping to Perception and Willpower and focusing on skills that require those two attributes for another year.
    • This method uses your attributes very efficiently, resulting in an overall shorter training time. But it's also very boring since your character will probably be quite useless, with big holes in their skillsheet, for a year or more.

The first method is good for new players since it offers the interest of regularly being able to use new equipment. Avoiding long-term planning when you're new can actually be a good thing, since you may change your mind about your long-term career goals in EVE. Deciding that actually you want to be a small ship, Gallente-flying manufacturer, and explorer just after you've remapped for a two-year long Amarr-focused battleship fleet PvP skillplan is very inconvenient!

The second and third methods are more useful for older players who have a clear and fixed idea of what they want to do. The third method in particular is very boring and is best suited to alts which are being skilled for a specific purpose (such as piloting supercapital ships) or to older characters who already have a good grounding in support skills and skills that let you do entertaining things while you chew through a list of month-long level V trains.

See also