Skills & Navigation

📅 Progression Guide¶

The Venture — every legend started with one ship

Week 1 — The Foundation¶

Complete all 5 career agent mission chains — free ships, ISK, skills
Train the Magic 14 to level 3 — don't rush, queue is passive
Do the Sisters of EVE epic arc ("The Blood-Stained Stars") — 40+ missions, great ISK and standings, unlocks better agents
Explore the market — understand supply/demand basics
Join a new player friendly corporation — EVE is better with others

Month 1 — First Real ISK¶

Train to fly a Drake or Vexor (your race's best early PvE ship)
Run L2 then L3 missions for steady ISK
Set up basic PI on 2–3 planets — passive income running in background
Learn to scan — even basic exploration pays well
Save 50–100M ISK as a reserve — you will lose ships

Month 2–3 — Choosing Your Path¶

Path A: Mission Runner - Train to T1 Battleship → L4 missions - Research best LP stores for your faction - Target 50–80M ISK/hour

Path B: Drone Farmer - Train Vexor Navy Issue / Ishtar - Join a null-sec corporation - Rat anomalies for 80–150M ISK/hour

Path C: Trader - Train Trade skills - Start with 50–100M ISK capital - Focus on Jita margins

Path D: Explorer - Train Covert Ops ship - Head to null-sec or wormholes - Scan and hack for variable but excellent ISK

Path E: PvP Fighter - Join Faction Warfare or a PvP-focused corporation - Fly cheap frigates, die a lot, learn constantly - Move to HACs and T3 cruisers as skills allow

Month 4–6 — Serious Wealth¶

First Marauder or T3 Cruiser — your earning power triples
Start manufacturing or PI at scale
Consider joining a null-sec alliance for ratting in carriers
Begin accumulating wealth for PLEX (paying subscription with ISK)

1 Year+ — The 1%¶

Carrier/Dreadnought capable
Multiple income streams running simultaneously
Billions in reserve
Possibly running your own operation, corporation, or trading empire

🖥️ Understanding the UI & HUD¶

The Rifter — learn your HUD here

EVE's interface is complex but completely customisable. Spend time on your UI setup — it pays dividends for thousands of hours.

Essential HUD Elements¶

Overview¶

The overview is your radar — it shows everything around you. Configure it immediately.

Right-click the Overview tab → Open Overview Settings
Create multiple tabs:
PvE — show NPCs, structures, gates, stations, wrecks
PvP — show all players, drones, missiles
Travel — show only gates and stations
Mining — show asteroids, gas clouds, ice fields

Bracket Settings¶

Alt+Shift+B toggles brackets. In busy systems, turn off excess brackets to reduce visual noise.

D-Scan (Directional Scanner)¶

V — the most important button in EVE. D-Scan shows everything within 14.3 AU in your chosen direction. Use it constantly.

Set range to max (14.3 AU) for general awareness
Narrow the angle to 5° to pinpoint ships at specific structures
Scan every 3–5 seconds in dangerous space

Local Chat¶

The Local channel shows every player in your current system. Watch it constantly. Neutrals and reds appearing in local = danger. In wormhole space, there is no local — you don't know who is with you.

Probe Scanner¶

Alt+P — opens the scanning interface for exploration sites and cosmic signatures.

Ship HUD¶

Your ship's capacitor, shields, armour, and hull are shown on the HUD circle. Learn to read it at a glance — your cap dropping means you're in trouble.

Recommended UI Layout¶

+---------------+-----------------------------+-----------+
|   Chat/Local  |        Main View            | Overview  |
|               |                             |           |
|               |                             |           |
|               |                             |           |
+---------------+-------------+---------------+-----------+
|  Selected Item / Info       |   Inventory / Fitting     |
+-----------------------------+---------------------------+

Overview — top right, always visible
Local — bottom left
Selected Item — bottom centre-left
Inventory — bottom right (collapsed when not needed)
D-Scan — learn to open/close quickly with V

HUD Customisation Pro Tips¶

Resize the HUD ring — right-click the HUD → resize. Smaller frees screen space for the overview
Lock windows — right-click window title → lock. Prevents accidental closing in combat
Transparency sliders — under Escape → Display & Graphics → Window Opacity. Raise it so the background is more visible
Overview presets — download community presets from EVE forums. Don't build your first overview from scratch
Camera settings — set "Track Selected" on but reduce "Camera Shake" to zero. Shake is disorienting in fleet fights
UI Scale — if on 4K, scale the UI up under Display settings
Compact mode on most windows saves significant screen real estate in combat

⌨️ Essential Shortcuts¶

The Drake — master shortcuts and it becomes unstoppable

Memorise these. They will save your ship and your life.

Shortcut	Action
`V`	Directional Scan (D-Scan)
`F1–F8`	Activate module slots 1–8
`Ctrl + Click`	Lock target
`Ctrl + Shift + Click`	Lock all targets of same type
`F`	Focus fire on selected target
`R`	Orbit selected target
`Q`	Approach selected target
`E`	Keep at range (set distance first)
`W`	Warp to selected object
`A`	Align to selected object
`D`	Dock / Jump (when at station/gate)
`S`	Stop ship
`Ctrl + Space`	Stop ship (emergency)
`Z`	Warp to safe spot / bookmark

Camera & Interface¶

Shortcut	Action
`Alt + F9`	Toggle UI on/off (screenshot mode)
`Alt + Shift + B`	Toggle brackets
`Alt + P`	Probe Scanner
`Alt + D`	Directional Scanner window
`Alt + F`	Fleet window
`Alt + C`	Character sheet
`Alt + A`	Assets window
`Alt + M`	Mail
`Ctrl + Tab`	Cycle through open windows
`Escape`	Settings menu
`Ctrl + Shift + F9`	Reset UI layout

Combat¶

Shortcut	Action
`F1`	Activate weapon 1
`Ctrl + F1`	Toggle autorepeat on weapon
`Shift + Click module`	Overload module (extra power, risks damage)
`T`	Target selected
`Backspace`	Unlock all targets
`Ctrl + W`	Warp away immediately

Pro Shortcuts¶

Shortcut	Action
`Alt + Click system`	Open system info
`Ctrl + Click system (map)`	Set destination
`Shift + Click (market)`	Buy/sell multiple
`Ctrl + Click (inventory)`	Select multiple items
`Ctrl + A`	Select all in inventory
`Middle mouse button drag`	Rotate camera
`Scroll wheel`	Zoom in/out
`Hold C + drag`	Cockpit view rotation
`Ctrl + Click (overview)`	Lock target directly from overview
`Shift + F1`	Overload high slot rack
`Alt + Click station`	Dock immediately
`Ctrl + B`	Open bookmark list
`Ctrl + Shift + X`	Open probe scanner (alternative)

📚 Skills & Skill Planning¶

The Tengu — the reward for months of training

How Skills Work¶

EVE skills train in real time — even when you're offline. Each skill has 5 levels, and each level takes longer than the last. Level 5 of a skill can take weeks. Skills are permanent once trained.

Attributes & Implants¶

Skills have two associated attributes (e.g., Perception + Willpower for combat skills). Higher attributes = faster training.

Implants — plug into your head and boost attributes or give specific bonuses. Lost when your pod is destroyed.
Learning implants (slots 1–5) — boost training speed. Worth using in high-sec where your pod is safe.
Standard implant set for new players: +3 to all five attributes (~5% training speed boost)
Slot 6–10 implants — specific combat/industry bonuses (e.g., +5% shield HP, +3% weapon damage)

Skill Priority for All New Players¶

Week 1 — Survive and earn - Learning skills (Cybernetics to 3 for implants) - Navigation (Afterburner, Microwarpdrive to 4) - Shield/Armour basics to 3 - Your race's weapon system to 4 - Spaceship Command to 4

Month 1 — Efficiency - All core skills (the "Magic 14") to 4 - Mining skills if you plan to mine - Trade skills if you plan to trade - Electronic systems basics

The Magic 14 — Core Skills Every Pilot Needs¶

These 14 skills benefit every single playstyle. Train them all to at least level 4:

Energy Grid Upgrades
Engineering
Shields (Shield Management, Shield Operation)
Mechanics
Hull Upgrades
Navigation
Afterburner
Evasive Maneuvering
Warp Drive Operation
Electronics Upgrades
CPU Management
Power Grid Management
Thermodynamics (overloading)
Capacitor Management / Capacitor Systems Operation

Skill Planning Tools¶

EVEmon — desktop skill planner, shows training time for any plan
PyFA — ship fitting tool that shows exact skill requirements
EVE Skillboard — share your skills publicly
Omega Queue — plan years of skills in advance

Remap Strategy¶

Character attributes can be remapped once per year (plus one free remap for new accounts). Before a major skill training block, remap your attributes to match the primary/secondary attributes of those skills. A well-planned remap can save weeks of training time.

➡️ Ships & ISK