Welcome, new resident of New Eden, to the ultimate EVE Online guide - a project two years in the making that draws on the expertise of over 130 veteran EVE players. Using their experience and insights, we’ve taken this game’s notorious learning curve, flattened out the parts that can be flattened, and built chairlifts, cable cars, funiculars, and escalators for the parts that can’t. This guide will cover almost every aspect of the game, and either explain what you need to know or link to relevant further reading - all compiled from the expert knowledge of our community of real EVE players. Strap in!
About this EVE Online guide
Designed to take you from newbro to new pro, this EVE guide can be split into three broad sections:
What is EVE Online?
What (really) is EVE Online?
Is EVE Online still a difficult game to learn?
Why play EVE Online?
The beauty of EVE
EVE as a playground for creativity
How EVE changes people
How to play EVE Online?
Getting started in EVE Online
Discovering your EVE Online role
Areas of space
EVE Online’s story and lore
Corps and alliances
Ships, structures, weapons, and modules
What can you do in EVE Online?
EVE Online tools, resources, and communities
Official and unofficial EVE Online events
EVE forever, EVE everywhere
Each of those broad sections is split into further subsections, embedding player-made graphics, videos, and resources to illustrate its lessons while linking out to shorter, specialised guides and resources. That way, a game with a reputation for inaccessibility can be digested in manageable chunks.
Furthermore, while some parts of this EVE guide deal with more advanced gameplay, we’ve endeavoured to avoid jargon wherever possible. We’ve all been in the situation in which we’re trying to research something complicated, but each explanation introduces further unknowns. So theoretically the most difficult word you’ll come across in this guide is ‘funicular’. Still, if you do come across any language you don’t understand, consult our comprehensive EVE Online glossary, which demystifies over 200 EVE terms.
What (really) is EVE Online?
“EVE never fails to amaze me.” - FUN INC
Yes, EVE Online is a massively multiplayer space-opera sandbox. Yes it’s a persistent sci-fi universe known for its giant PvP wars*. And yes, it’s the deepest gamer-led economy ever to have existed. But to truly understand what EVE Online is, you need to ask its players. That’s what we did, and their answers ranged from ‘poetry in motion’ to ‘brutality, gamified’. Here are a few of our favourites:
“EVE is a living galaxy of intrigue, where every warp holds promise or peril. It’s a playground for dreamers, schemers, and adventurers, where alliances are forged, fleet battles shake the stars, and each individual story is carved into the cosmos, one triumph or betrayal at a time.” - Wadd Enderas
“EVE is not a game; it is a world. Life in EVE is richer than in any other game I know. Just like the virtual galaxy it simulates, its constellation of players is filled with meaningful relationships. You can make real friends and enemies, learn real skills, and suffer real losses.” - Luka Zaharin
“EVE Online is the game you love most but still don’t recommend to your friends, since you know the rabbit hole they’ll descend into if they decide to play. It’s the kind of game you’ll never master, but that will never stop you trying.” - Osckx
*Of the many impressive EVE Online facts, the one you’re most likely to have heard is that the game holds Guinness World Records for its gigantic, expensive space battles. This is true, and they’re glorious. However, when asked what non-EVE players don’t understand, many veterans answer that they cherish the quieter moments just as much, if not more, than these standout mega conflicts. Understanding EVE’s less-obvious appeal means getting over the first notorious hurdle.
Is EVE Online still a difficult game to learn?
For most games, two years and 130 players’ expertise would be excessive, but EVE Online is not ‘most games’. Referring to one of the most famous EVE Online new player experience memes, here’s CommanderA9:
“There’s a reason that in the old days, the EVE learning experience was called the ‘learning cliff’, because it hanged people, left them out to dry, or ravaged new pilots. Only the strong, truly dedicated, or utterly crazy survived it. Those that made it were cutting-edge capsuleers.”
Many of those that helped us create this EVE Online guide are those same tenacious capsuleers, who’ve forged their skills in Doomsday fire and supernova. Fortunately, thanks to continued efforts from CCP Games, EVE Online is nowhere near as difficult (to learn) as it once was. Commander A9 continues:
“The learning experience today is much more immersive, engaging, and educational for brand-new pilots, who no longer require as much intervention from developers or more senior capsuleers to understand the game’s basics.”
There’s another lesson hidden in that infamous two-decade-old meme: there’s a reason, despite the steepness of its educational incline, that EVE Online still grabs headlines while POTBS (Pirates of the Burning Sea, in case you were wondering) has been consigned to the depths. And that reason? If you hike, climb, and scramble your way to the summit, the view from the top is magnificent.
Why play EVE Online?
“EVE didn’t just change my life—it completely transformed it.” - Rixx Javix
Of all the games in all the galaxy, why EVE Online? We asked the players, and their answers were heartfelt, surprising, and personal. While their manifold responses were individual, recurring themes cropped up again and again: adventure, freedom, camaraderie, challenge, depth, variety, thrill, consequence, realism, and glory.
But how does the game achieve this? What is it about EVE Online that gives rise to this level of profundity? Two years of being embedded in the EVE creator community has made several aspects of the game stand out to us that aren’t always obvious without hands-on experience:
EVE is beautiful to look at
EVE Online launched in 2003, which leads many to the mistaken assumption that it’s not much of a looker. But take the example of just one of its astronomical bodies, arguably the most basic, and look at how pretty they can be in these planet screenshots or these cinematic videos of planet flybys.
There’s plenty more where that came from. Check out our gallery of prize-winning EVE Online screenshots, which is composed of jaw-dropping shots of everything from war to nebulae. Just watching the galaxy pass you by can be an exquisite experience, as shown in these EVE time-lapse videos. Here’s one of our favourites:
But we’d be remiss to talk about the beauty of EVE Online without discussing our mega reward of the same name. The grand winner was Rixx Javix, and his video says more than we ever could.
EVE is beautiful to listen to
From the resonant charge and release of a stargate to the glorious ‘whoosh’ of a warp drive, the game’s soundscape is special, too. For Luka Zaharin, the beep boops of the login screen set off a powerful emotional reaction: “It’s the sound of internet spaceship adventures, friendships, and rivalries. I feel kinda silly talking about a video game like this, but I must admit it’s true.”
It’s telling that when we challenged our community to create atmospheric EVE Online ASMR, they each chose to focus on totally different parts of the game. Consider listening to FirestormGamingTeam's ominous Amarrian station ambience recording as you continue this EVE Online guide.
EVE fuels creativity
CCP Burger, CCP Games’s Creative Director, describes himself as a janitor in the true sandbox of EVE. But once they’re in the sandbox, it’s up to players what they construct. Every year, we ask players about their proudest achievements, and every year we learn about innovative new ways that people have built their spacefaring lives in the New Eden sandbox.
The creativity inspired by EVE is not confined to the game’s boundaries. Here’s some player-made propaganda that illustrates our point:
And that’s not to mention the EVE Online limericks, memes, photo-essays, and all-the-art. There’s something about the game that makes its players want to go above, to infinity, and beyond. Case in point, when we challenged creators to mock up a new supercapital ship design, Sturmer not only designed and modelled it, but 3D-printed it:
EVE is a storyteller’s delight
“EVE Online is more than an MMORPG. It’s a boundless universe teeming with stars to chart, rivalries to forge, and empires to build. Beneath its vast mechanics, however, lies its true essence and power: it is the ultimate sci-fi stage for immersive roleplay. A well-placed scram and web, and your audience is captive, yours to command.” - Lumin
Lumin takes a decidedly more dedicated roleplaying approach than many EVE players - look no further than the TTRPG-style EVE mini game he created. But as CCP Burger has said: all players are roleplayers, even those who don’t realise it. We’re all telling ourselves stories when we’re gaming, and EVE makes for an especially epic stage.
Players write gripping fanfiction:
Once upon a time in New Eden! Our flash-fiction competition winners
Tales of love in eternal darkness! Romantic EVE Online fanfiction
They create cinematics that would put Hollywood to shame:
And perhaps greater still, using their in-game choices as their pens and New Eden as their pages, players write stories in the stars that blur the lines of fiction and non-fiction and shape EVE’s persistent galaxy:
EVE changes people
As well as unlocking new in-game lives filled with galactic domination, subterfuge, and cunning, countless players report that playing EVE has changed their lives outside of the game in ways they never anticipated. It has:
Aided their careers by teaching them to code systems that are now used by millions, as per Chingy Chonga.
Helped them become experts in scam avoidance while providing lessons in fiscal responsibility and the importance of standing up for one’s friends, as per CommanderA9.
Taught them to be more focused and confident while providing the reassurance of a digital home, as per Limal.
Gave them the tools that have shaped them: strategic thinking, empathy, diplomacy, programming, budget management, and multiple languages, as per Sturmer.
Kept them afloat when they were drowning, giving them an escape from dark times - "the community is more amazing than anything else I have experienced in my life, period”, as per alligator023.
Connected them with people from all over the world, while helping them to improve their teamwork, creativity, friendship, management, "and, of course, Excel” skills as per orik Kado.
Helped them to develop their interpersonal skills, while improving their speed of thought, real-life strategising, and problem-solving abilities, as per FUN INC.
Allowed them to forge new connections, talk to strangers, speak up, and combat their shyness, as per Mismoboy.
Improved their familial relationships, confidence, and school work, as per JHenckes.
Afforded them a new creative career, allowed them to meet thousands of people and open doors for fellow creatives, as per Rixx Javix.
Educated them on economics, markets, and real-life trading, as per ErsecondPL.
Had a "massive butterfly effect" on their life, affecting stress management, professional and personal relationships, knowledge of technologies, and continuous self-improvement, as per Squizz Caphinator.
Getting started in EVE Online
We’ve answered ‘what is EVE?’ and we’ve made a pretty strong case for ‘why EVE?’. Those were the easy parts. Now let’s talk ‘how to EVE’. As mentioned, EVE Online is a lot more accessible than it used to be, but it’s still no cakewalk.
First things first: sign up. We’ve got a walkthrough that will take you through the absolute basics: which platforms to play on, the differences between Alpha and Omega accounts, important decisions in character creation, in-game currencies to know, and, how to benefit from a referral code. It’s written for total beginners and has been incorporated into the official EVE Academy, so we don’t recommend skipping it:
One of the most heavily emphasised points in that walkthrough is not to skip the in-game tutorial. But the tutorial doesn’t cover everything. You’ll want to take heed of these…
If you don’t, you’ll make any number of common beginner errors and lose even more ships and ISK than you otherwise would. Learning from others’ errors is cheaper and less painful. Don’t trust us? Trust these folks instead: EVE Online lessons learned the hard way.
You’ve now packed your school bag, learned your ABCs, and completed your pre-term reading. At this point, the best teacher is hands-on experience. However, unless you choose the particulars of that hands-on experience wisely, you’ll end up with a Miss Trunchbull instead of a Miss Honey. We’re not alone in recommending the Bloodstained Stars mission chain, better known as the Sisters of EVE Epic Arc, as your first true test. Its gradually escalating difficulty, variety of challenges, and generous rewards make it an excellent starting point. But remember what we said about cakewalking and learning from others’ errors, by which we mean, take the following guide with you:
Discovering your EVE Online role
In EVE, if you try to master everything, you’ll master nothing. We won’t say ‘pick a lane’, as overcommitting can lead to burnout, but at least pick a multi-lane highway.
If you’ve followed the in-game tutorials and career agent missions, you’ll be in the early stages of forming your in-game identity. Those career agents will introduce four generalist career paths: explorer, soldier of fortune, enforcer, and industrialist. But those are only the beginning; late-game EVE is about blazing your own path through the stars. You’ll eventually find or create your own niche role, perhaps as a combat pathfinder, space janitor, teacher, Incursion Fleet Commander (FC), or even as a scammer. Here are some early-game ISK making activities, courtesy of Highspeedlimo:
You can always start alt accounts or reinvent yourself further down the line, but to excel in your eventual specialisation, you’ll want to train the right skills. Skills are an essential component of EVE Online, and we highly recommend you read the comprehensive skills guide below to make sure you don’t get your skill books muddled with your skill injectors - that sounds painful.
As the guide explains, there are certain universal skills that will be useful regardless of career. Buy yourself some time by training those while you go backpacking around New Eden trying to find yourself.
Areas of space
While some players remain forever nomadic, most eventually lay down roots. Where you choose to live will likely reflect your career and identity. While most careers aren’t limited to a particular area of space, they’ll take different forms depending on the system they’re in. Mining in Highsec is very different to mining in Pochven.
Players unsurprisingly disagree about the best areas of EVE space in which to live. For a detailed overview of every option in New Eden and beyond, we recommend the following space guide, which explains each region’s key characteristics, idiosyncrasies, opportunities, and threats, as well as key tips from players who’ve made those areas their homes:
Most new players will choose to live in Known Space, better known as K-Space and further broken down into Highsec (safest), Lowsec (decidedly less safe), and Nullsec (good luck). If you’re just getting started and want to know which K-Space activities to engage in first, these are the options recommended by veteran players:
If you’d prefer a trial by fire and want to step into the unknown, then J-Space (also known as Wormhole Space or the Anoikis pseudo-galaxy) awaits. We have a similar list of the best starter activities in J-Space. To survive there, it’s essential to understand how the wormholes that define and connect the region work. We’ve created a dedicated wormhole navigation guide for those who want to get to grips with that. It contains wormhole identification videos as well as tips on scanning, bookmarking, local threats, and learning how not to overload holes. In the meantime, here’s a quick wormhole identification cheatsheet from yan57436:
There are also smaller regions with unique purposes, such as Pochven, Abyssal Deadspace, Jove Space, and Zarzakh. Some of these cannot be permanently inhabited and others can only be visited in extraordinary circumstances.
EVE Online’s story and lore
EVE’s overarching lore is rich and storied, filled with ancient conflicts and even more ancient mysteries and lost empires. Here’s FirestormGamingTeam's recap of the core lore. But the minutiae of EVE’s obscure lore is just as impressive as its grand narratives. Consider how the Zephyr - one of hundreds of EVE ships, but the only solar-wind-powered ship - isn’t picked up by the scans of Sleeper drones, which were created by a mysterious, technologically advanced race presumed to have gone extinct in millennia past.
EVE Online’s empires and factions
Gallente, Amarr, Caldari, Minmatar. For some players, choosing an origin faction isn’t important. After all, all factions’ ships can be skilled into eventually and your in-game actions can always change your faction standings. For others, it’s everything. If you thought that WoW’s ‘For the Horde!’ vs ‘For the Alliance!’ rivalry got heated, then you’ve never seen a Minmatarri scorned.
There’s no simple answer to which EVE faction is best to join, although two clear frontrunners emerge when it comes to which EVE empire would be the best to live in. Each faction has deep lore of its own, as well as distinctive philosophies, aesthetics, weapon preferences, and ship design. Oh and they’re locked in age-old struggles. We pitted them against each other in a series of EVE Online faction propaganda contests.
The Amarr Empire
As you might gather from greybill's divine propaganda below, the Amarr Empire is deeply religious, and its subjects follow the strict edicts of their empress. Their unique branch of theocratic imperialism is steadfast in bringing wayward souls into the light - the scorching light of their holy fire. They’re EVE’s largest empire, and take up 40% of empire K-Space.
The Minmatar Republic
Slaves of their arch-nemeses the Amarrians for seven centuries, the Minmatar are fierce, independent, and ingenious. What they lack in technological means, they make up in passion, resilience, and duct tape. Their scattered tribes are distinct, but should the day come that they unite under one banner, New Eden shall tremble in its grav-boots.
The Gallente Federation
The Gallente are - in theory - the galaxy’s closest approximation to utopians, committed to democratic standards and ideals of exploration. In practice one might compare their entertainment mega-complexes to haystacks of vice and wealth inequality which possibly conceal the odd utopian needle. Here’s a piece of propaganda by Miyoshi, painting a more benign picture Gallenteans would prefer you see:
The Caldari State
Small but economically powerful, the Caldari are corporate capitalists - ordered, authoritarian, and regimented. Once part of the Gallente Federation, they’re now its greatest antagonist. Theirs is an individualistic libertarian order that’d make Ayn Rand blush, in which wealth, assets, and governmental duties are divided between mega corporations made of thousands of smaller companies. Here’s another stunning piece of propaganda from Miyoshi composed of Caldari’s razor-sharp ship designs:
For a real flavour of life under these great empires, check out the faction fanfiction stories below. There’s one for each of the big four, each a winner of a separate fanfiction competition:
Other important NPC factions
The choice of allegiance has been further complicated by players of a piratical nature now being able to align themselves with the Angel Cartel and Guristas Pirates in Faction Warfare (more on that later). Here’s one last piece of propaganda, courtesy of greybill, showing the persimmon skies of Angel Cartel’s home region of Curse:
The Angels and Guristas may be the biggest pirate clans, but they’re not the only ones. Here’s a great video from FirestormGamingTeam on the Blood Raiders:
And here’s a helpful infographic from JHenckes summarising all of the main criminal factions:
And what about ‘the goodies’? Well, given the secretive motives of ‘humanitarian’ organisations like the Sisters of EVE and the ruthless actions of CONCORD (best understood as in-game police), one might say that there aren’t any. But here’s mypets's graphic on the less obviously bloodthirsty organisations:
And that’s not to mention the player-led organisations that have taken lore into their own hands. Our favourite example is the Sixth Empire, led by EVE Online’s very own space pope, who’s famously conducted real-life weddings of EVE players. He works for NASA in his ‘meat life’, and makes for a terrific interviewee:
Corps and alliances
“Joining a corp and going on a roam completely changed EVE for me.” - FUN INC
The Sixth Empire is one example of a player-run alliance, itself made of smaller, player-run corporations, more commonly known as corps. Corps are the EVE Online equivalent of guilds in fantasy MMORPGs. NPC empires are one thing, but it’s player-run corporations and alliances that really make the galaxy go round. After all, it was not EVE’s fixed lore that led Andrew Groen to write two volumes of narrative EVE Online history in Empires of EVE. Instead, it was the player-made lore, the conflicts and machinations of corps and alliances fighting multi-year wars for galactic supremacy. You don’t get that in Stardew Valley.
Many different paths lead to players joining and establishing corps. They’re to make friends and wingmates, unite behind shared visions and greater objectives, wage war, ensure there’s always someone who’s got your back when enemies lurk around every asteroid belt, and embark on all manner of hijinks and chicanery.
For a better understanding of what corps do and how they work, we have two video recommendations. The first is a highly accessible conversational overview by Sturmer, which will be understandable no matter your level of EVE knowledge:
The second comes from Wadd Enderas. While still beginner-friendly, it’s intended as actionable advice. It shows the in-game UI and walks viewers through everything from the variety of corps on offer and how to sign up to them to how corporation projects (goals set by corps) work:
Many corps are keen to acquire new members, though some will be picky about who they let through the door. That pickiness could stem from espionage concerns or just whether initiates will be the right vibe.
Finding the right corp or alliance can supercharge your EVE learning. Many of them will go above and beyond, showing new players the ropes, giving them ships and resources, taking them under their wing, and training them to be literal masters of their crafts. Others will throw them into the abyss and shout: ‘sink or swim!’
There are corps and alliances for every playstyle, in various shapes and sizes. We asked our community for recommendations:
Rixx Javix recommends Stay Frosty - a non-aligned Lowsec piracy corp focused on small fleet and solo PvP excellence that puts on weekly roams and the annual FF4A event (more on that later).
Brother Grimoire recommends The Pirate Playhouse - a low-tax piracy corp with frequent NPSI roams (more on those later too)
TheGreatestBanana12 recommends the alliance, Pandemic Horde - a dominant force in Nullsec, specialised in bringing new players into PvP.
FirestormGamingTeam recommends Silent Company (SiCO) - another new-player-friendly alliance focused on helping new players find their place in the galaxy.
Limal recommends Novus Ordo - an alliance that combines combat (including ganking) with roleplay and pushes players out of their comfort zones.
Salartarium recommends Safety.Net - an alliance considered by some as the ganking boogeymen of Highsec. If you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em.
There are plenty more recommendations where those came from. Check out these links for more: corps, corps and alliances, and EVE’s biggest alliances. Joining a corp isn’t permanent, so don’t stress too much about your choice, but do follow greybill's advice for finding a good match:
“Be sure about what activities they do and whether you want to do them too.
“Double check their active timezone. You can use tools like DriftingLoot.com to see when they acquire PvP kills, although given it’s killboard information, it won’t shed any light on PvE-focused corps in Highsec.
“Read through official forums and r/evejobs and simply contact interesting groups.
“Talk to people via voice comms and see if ‘the vibe’ is right.
“Don't be afraid to move on if it doesn't work out. Life is too short to not have fun in a video game.”
That said, your first experiences with a corp will likely have a major and lasting impact on your EVE experience. Much like the Hotel California, you can check out any time you want but you can never leave. It’s also a totally viable option to just go it alone:
Those who decide not to sign a pledge of corporate allegiance can still complete player-set missions through EVE’s latest game-changing feature: freelance jobs. Unpledged pilots can find camaraderie too through open fleet-ups. One of the best ways to do so is in an NPSI (Not Purple, Shoot It) group or roam. FUN INC is one of EVE’s greatest NPSI advocates, and organises popular, regular events. Here’s their sales pitch:
“New to EVE Online and want to get into PvP (player versus player) combat? NPSI is here for you. NPSI, or Not Purple Shoot It, means fleeting up with the mentality of ‘if you're not with me, then you're against me’. This means that anyone in your fleet is friendly, and anyone not in your fleet is a valid target.
“NPSI allows you to get to know people and learn new skills, it’s the most accessible PvP content in EVE Online. [Some] NPSI fleets are advertised on NPSI Community Gateway, and by checking the calendar, you can see what PvP content is available.
“On the day of the roam, you head to a channel in-game, and when prompted by the Fleet Commander (FC), type ‘x’ into the public channel to receive an invite to the fleet and to roam under that FC. Follow the orders of the FC, and go and kill stuff!”
Ships, structures, weapons, and modules
To join a fleet, one needs a ship. And let’s face it, flying around in the pinnacle of future tech is a large part of EVE’s appeal. At the time of writing, No Man’s Sky has 21 unique flyable ships, Elite Dangerous has 43, Star Citizen has 196, and - by our count - EVE Online has a whopping 427, each of which can be customised in numerous ways to radically change its purpose.
Types of ship
Ships can be broken down by size and class, as per this graphic made by CMDR Henckes:
At the largest end, there are titans - capital-class ships that few players will ever own. It takes great wealth and coordinated planning just to build one. So you’re better off learning about smaller ships first, for which we suggest watching this video on destroyers or Luka Zaharin's excellent frigate overview:
When you’re ready to learn more, watch Nth Dimensional's hour-long guide explaining the best ship size for any occasion. And as anyone who’s ever overloaded a wormhole’s mass limit will tell you: no, bigger isn’t always better.
If you manage to get your hands on an impressive ship and you want to take it on a joy ride, think twice. There’s a reason that EVE’s two most popular mantras are: ‘ships are ammo’ and ‘don’t fly what you can’t afford to lose’.
Ship fitting
As mentioned, every ship can be customised in numerous ways. We’ve produced a detailed ship-fitting guide that will teach you everything you need to know to apply pre-made fits or create your own from scratch in order to craft the perfect ship for your intended purpose:
If you’d like to start with the easier route - you should - we’ve got a range of pre-made fits available for different ships:
Modules and weaponry
If you thought that 400+ ships was a lot, you’ll be pleased to know that there are only a few thousand modules if you include their individual variants. For an at-a-glance view of your options, use these downloadable cheat sheets, created by FirestormGamingTeam, ThePunisher99, and Rixx Javix, respectively: module tiers, weapon and ammunition systems, and the best weapons for kiting (long-range combat) vs brawling (short-range combat). Alternatively, for a brief overview of the important bit - how to directly make your enemies explode - here’s Sturmer:
“Welcome to the world of EVE Online weapons, explained for rookies! 🚀 In EVE Online, there are five* core weapon platforms to get acquainted with:
“Lasers (pew-pew-pew, with light beams): These use lenses to change their range, and they consume your ship's energy. Amarr’s ships are famous for them.
“Blasters and Railguns (swoosh-swoosh, with accelerated metal): These fire metal projectiles using magnetic energy. They require ammo and a bit of energy. Gallente and Caldari are fans.
“Drones (bee-boo-beep 01019101 zoom zoom): Think of them as space mosquitoes – small, but deadly if ignored for too long. They’re popular with several races, especially the Gallente.
“Missiles (Pheew... KA-BOOM): These travel slowly towards targets and explode on impact. No energy is needed, and you can choose the damage type. However, their effectiveness reduces against smaller targets. Caldari adores them.
“Projectiles (Tra-ta-ta-ta, like a space UZI): These fire bullets without using energy and offer some choice in damage type. Minmatar are the undisputed masters here.
“*This is a basic guide. EVE also has unique capital ship weapons and electronic warfare modules that can be considered weapons too.”
EVE Online skins: cosmetic ship upgrades
With every recent expansion, CCP Games has increased the number of ways in which players can also personalise the look of their ships, both through standard skins and the ability to make their own individual, fleet, and corp skins using SKINR. We regularly run SKINR design contests with cash prizes. For a taste of what SKINR can do, check out some of our winners:
Here’s one we love from Angel lineman:
EVE Online skins: cosmetic structure upgrades
You’ll find NPC-run structures and stations throughout the galaxy. In addition, players can own and manage their own structures, conveniently named Player-Owned Structures (POS). From the Mercenary Den to the Astrahus Citadel, these structures serve many purposes and the differences in the effort levels required to construct one are just as extreme as for ships.
The majority of POSs are designed by the NPC faction, the Upwell Consortium, and are known as Upwell Structures. For a deeper dive, Kane Carnifex has produced a video explaining them, but we’ll leave you with this great cheatsheet made by orik Kado:
As per ships, they can be visually customised via SKINR, leading to glorious eyesores like this:
What can you actually do in EVE Online?
If we’ve got you dreaming of owning your own starbase, you’re going to need to learn how to manage your money. Fortunately, we have a guide for that:
Everything you buy in EVE should be seen as an investment. Be sure to spend your ISK wisely:
The good news is that there are near-endless ways to make money in EVE. Most of them involve combat.
Combat activities in EVE Online
As we’ll explain below, there isn’t always a clear delineation between PvP and PvE in EVE, so expect some crossover in the subsequent subsections. Unless you choose to go your whole career as a solo pilot, you’ll eventually fly in a fleet. To make sure you don’t make any fleet faux pas, read this:
EVE PvP
EVE Online is arguably best known for its PvP; for the Guinness World Record smashing battles, for the innovative tactics of fleet combat, and for ‘the shakes’ experienced during your first PvP kills. Before you get to that level, you’re going to want to familiarise yourself with the PvP options available. We’ve got just the dedicated guide for navigating and excelling in each of them:
As you’ll see, the options are numerous. A great low-risk place to start is Faction Warfare and Insurgencies. That said, you might not have the choice of when and where to start fighting other players. Even in Highsec, where CONCORD police PvP combat, the risk of ganking is ever-present. Our members joined forces to put together a gank-survival masterclass:
When you’re ready to take your skills up a notch and master the battlefield, read these high-level EVE PvP tips. We’ve also got a selection of ship fits for multiple combat styles and scenarios that will go a long way to helping you triumph:
Some of those fits - and others linked throughout this EVE Online guide - have been chosen by CCP to be included in-game as community fittings. That means you can equip them easily, as explained in the ship-fitting guide in the previous section.
EVE PvE
What about PvE combat? Once more, there are many options, from new-player-friendly dungeon-like activities such as Homefront Operations to the high-end PvE challenges found in Abyssal Deadspace. We’ve laid out your options in the following PvE guide:
We’ve got more CCP-approved ship fits for the main activities necessarily involving or likely to involve PvE combat too:
Non-combat activities in EVE Online
You’ll have noticed that we included mining, gas harvesting, and exploration fits under combat activities above. Just as PvE activities can quickly become PvPvE activities, so can non-combat activities quickly become combat activities. Don’t expect to mine asteroids AFK for hours and return to find your ship unscathed. Always keep your guard up.
Whether you’re a trader, courier, or a planetary industrialist (see above for a great video guide from JAKEL33T or read even more planetary industry tips), almost every in-game activity can lead to PvP or PvE combat. But if you’re looking for an EVE Online pursuit that isn’t primarily combat-focused, then we’ve got plenty of resources for the most popular alternatives.
Many new players start with one of EVE’s more relaxing activities: mining. Start with these beginner-friendly mining tips. You’ll likely soon want to move onto mining’s more lucrative sister activity: gas harvesting, aka ‘huffing’. We have a gas harvesting how-to too, which includes some tips for staying safe. However, if you’re really keen on avoiding combat, then you might want to try an advanced gas harvesting technique that avoids engagement with the hostile NPC ‘rats’ that flock to the sites - see our ninja huffing guide.
Exploration is another hugely popular career. Exploration requires pilots to get very well-acquainted with ‘EVE’s most important tool’: the D-Scanner. We’ve got a list of top-tier D-Scanning tips that’ll serve you well. Combine that with a knowledge of the other forms of scanning, and you’ll have sturdy exploration foundations. You then need to know what you’re searching for, be it rogue drone relic sites, covert sites, or one of the many other cosmic anomalies and signatures found out in space:
It’s not only the greatest warriors that make a name for themselves in EVE Online. There are countless impressive peaceful EVE Online stories. One of EVE’s most well-known icons is the record-breaking explorer-cartographer Katia Sae - the first to travel to each of EVE Online’s systems without dying.
Unlike Han, Katia never shot first. They stepped away from the warring factions and sought their destiny amid the cosmos. Yet even if you’re not pulling the trigger, you may still want to play your part in the grand wars of EVE. Be it through espionage, deep-space reconnaissance, salvage, couriering, or stocking the markets, there are a great many non-combat ways to support the war effort.
EVE Online tools, resources, and communities
Whichever career you opt for, there are always tools for the job. EVE has a thriving third-party tool ecosystem, built to make players’ lives easier and more enjoyable as well as giving them an edge over other un-tooled players. As well as tips for using some of EVE’s most popular tools, like Pathfinder and Tripwire, we’ve put together a list of the most highly recommended third-party tools, which one veteran player called a “trove of knowledge”:
If you haven’t found what you’re looking for there, we have even more third-party tool recommendations. In those lists, you’ll find tools that’ll help with nearly every activity in EVE, from trading to exploration, from combat to corporations. And there’s one humble tool that every good player can’t do without: Microsoft Excel. They don’t call it spreadsheets in space for nothing, you know.
At Fanfest 2023, CCP announced a partnership with Microsoft to make Excel integration far easier. Following the launch of that integration, we put together a list of tips for EVE x Excel excellence:
Many of the tips included are keyboard shortcuts for optimising your Excel usage. The same strategy can be applied to great effect with in-game keybinds:
There’s also our aforementioned EVE Online glossary - the internet’s most comprehensive. It’s a great companion for your adventures, fleet ups, and further research so we recommend bookmarking it:
Friendship is the best ship in EVE Online, and it’s by joining communities that you’ll take your skills to the Bob-tier level (Bob is EVE’s unofficial in-game deity). Many of the best communities straddle that blurry line between roleplay and reality, and we have recommendations for some of the finest:
The internet is awash with great EVE Online content. With dedicated and learned creators sharing their expertise on their YouTube channels and websites (check out Sturmer's Kekbur for some excellent EVE insights and interviews, for instance), your next step upon completing this EVE Online guide should be to seek creators who specialise in the EVE activities that interest you most. Here are some great starting points:
There are countless Discord communities for corps, alliances, NPSI, and more that you should find and join too. Start by signing up to the Just Discord, and saying hello in our friendly EVE Online channel.
Official and unofficial EVE events
To round off this up-to-date EVE Online guide, we’d like to share EVE’s best recurring events. Hopefully they’ll inspire you to get involved, reap the generous rewards, and show you what the EVE community is all about. Here’s a breakdown:
There should be something there for everyone. Those interested in the official events should check out GM Week, Capsuleer Day, Crimson Harvest, or Winter Nexus, as seen in Recios EVE's screenshot below:
Those interested in seeing what players themselves put on should look at Frigate Free 4 All (FF4A), any of these great player-run events, or the annual Luminaire Snowball Fight, as seen in FUN INC's timelapse below:
Competitive combatants might want to get involved with some of EVE’s PvP tournaments, starting perhaps with the latest awesome solo tournament put on by Luka Zaharin Frigates on Fire. Once they’ve honed their skills, they should look towards EVE’s foremost official esports event: the Alliance Tournament. Check out lesson six of our EVE Online masterclasses if you’re considering competing, or watch these amazing fan trailers to feel the hype:
And those who want to get their boots on Icelandic ground for the biggest IRL EVE event of the year should look to the legendary EVE Fanfest:
EVE forever, EVE everywhere
Congratulations, you’ve made it to the end of our comprehensive EVE Online guide. You should now be well on your way to making your permanent mark on the galaxy. And when we say ‘permanent’, we mean it. CCP Games has a mantra: EVE forever. They want the game to outlast the developers and to forever evolve. It’s a lofty goal, but one that’s not taken lightly by CCP or the players. Here are three essays from our community members (orik Kado, Zap, and Salartarium) on what they want EVE to look like in 2033:
It was 2023 when we challenged our community to write those essays, and in the two years since, CCP has already taken strides in some of the directions hoped for. Not least is the expansion of the EVE universe into other genres: as well as multiple mobile games, an upcoming card game, and upcoming hardcore survival MMO EVE Frontier, we’ll soon be graced with the FPS game EVE Vanguard. Watch awesome player-made EVE Vanguard gameplay montages or read these 66 high-level EVE Vanguard tips if you’re going to get involved. And then there’s the much-anticipated War for New Eden board game, which will be released in the month following this guide’s publication.
CCP has never been short of ambition. 23 years after EVE Online’s original release, it’s clear that’s paid off. Bring that same ambition with you, and your experience will have no limits. Shoot for the stars.
“Get ships. Lose ships. Get more ships. Lose more ships. This game is all about learning! You will get blown up a lot, but you'll have a lot of fun while exploding. Getting absolutely demolished is a pleasure in this community.” - Duraj
Acknowledgements
We’d like to give a huge thank-you to everyone who’s shared their wisdom and expertise in these resources and guides over the years. We can’t tag everyone’s who’s contributed, but in addition to those tagged above, we’d like to give a special shoutout to some other members who’ve gone the extra mile:
Schadsquatch, Swagger Olacar, EVEIL, Melicien Tetro, CMDR I.N.K.V.I, Salartarium, CommanderA9, Kraken, ErsecondPL, Jaques Ufaltred, ShoMenao, Sumfin7, Lumin, Juno Tristan, Eaglefirefly, Kshal Aideron, Amoni P, Cpt Armarlio, James , SLOWCommunity, Celltear, Arirana, Bubba_EvE, Shanna Alabel, PandoraRupture, Rdog , I-401, ThatGuyToxic, Kaptin_Tiberius, Squizz Caphinator, KAZO+AR, Eyekenspel, Mismoboy, Aenoa Exhulis, TheHumanDecoy, Heretical Coffee, Ashterothi, Recios EVE, Limal, Kane Carnifex, CMDR Henckes, TheGreatestBanana12, JHenckes, Luka Zaharin, Hunter, Dydo, CelestialFlea, orik Kado, greybill, Brother Grimoire, MacGybo, Ben Rush, Rushlock, Highspeedlimo, DamianWarlock, Ethan Richards.
Don’t forget to sign up to Just EVE Online to enter our rewards, many of which are beginner-friendly. Some text has been edited for brevity, clarity, or spelling, punctuation, and grammar. You can find the original wording in the links throughout the article. Additional image credit: Razorien on Flickr.
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