EVE Online Rookie Guide – A Beginner’s Guide to EVE

EVE Online has a reputation for having a steep learning curve, and this reputation is well earned. While newer, more detailed tutorials have made easing into the enormous world of EVE less frightening, the sheer volume of information contained in these tutorials can bewilder even the savviest capsuleer. Without a proper introduction, many rookies make mistakes that can slow their progress or frustrate them into quitting. This guide aims not to replace the information contained in those tutorials, but to outline thse common mistakes, point out important bits of information that may seem obvious but are often overlooked, and to help rookie players start their path to riches and greatness with as much smoothness as possible.

Character creation in EVE Online can be daunting. There are a lot of choices and not many explanations. Don’t be alarmed. This has less bearing on your future in EVE than you would think, and is largely for flavor and feel. Your faction may have some bearing on the future of your career – for example, the Caldari have access to good miners earlier than the other factions and some minerals can only be found in Amarr space – but nothing is set in stone. Your best bet is to listen to the short introduction for each race, read the descriptions of the bloodlines, and choose what appeals to you most, either as a career path or for roleplay. Another important note is that while people can see your character portrait, more often they will see your ship, which you never exit, so don’t stress overmuch over your appearance.

After character creation, you will find yourself in a shiny new ship near a station deep within the territory of the faction that you chose. You will soon be taken through a simple to tutorial that will explain to you most of what you need to know to pilot your new ship – however, there are some things that will help you through these first few missions. The most important thing that you should know starting out is that the right button is your best friend. Right clicking is space will bring up a menu of options including all of the stations, planets, asteroid belts and stargates in the system. This menu will also contain any locations for whatever mission you are currently on and allows you to place bookmarks if you need to return somewhere quickly. Right-clicking on an object will allow you to target, orbit, approach and lock on to whatever you have clicked on. Though the left button is useful, if you are ever in doubt, use the right one. In addition to this, make sure that you click and familiarize yourself with everything on your HUD. The tutorial will take you through this, but it is important to emphasize this – you will want to know where your cargo, scanner, shields and fittings are.