HeadStart is a column aimed at helping the stream of new players adapt better to the game, avoid common pitfalls and get addicted to ever faster.

Having been playing EVE Online for a few months now, I’ve found that there is an enormous amount of information to absorb and, despite my best efforts, I still feel like I’m only scratching the surface in many areas. That being said, there are certain things which would have been useful to know before I got into Eve. Tasked with coming up with the five most helpful advice to new players to know, here is my take on it:

Join a corporation

If there’s one thing that I stress that any newbro does once they start playing is joining a corporation. Play through the starter agents. Figure out the things you enjoyed most, and go find a corp which can help you do more of that.

Nothing generates more fun in this game than being able to do all the crazy stuff in it with other people. Don’t hesitate, dive in.

Setting up Local and Using D-Scan

I don’t think that proper use of the local window can ever be stressed enough unless you’re in a wormhole. There is nothing more important on your overview than setting up local and being able to flip D-Scan to see who’s in the same system as you. In fact, if you’re a new-bro reading this now, stop. Load EVE. Set ‘Compact Member List’ in the chat window and tick the color tag options in the overview settings for neutrals and make sure the local window has its own spot on your overview where it is always visible. This WILL save your life.

Don’t be afraid to spend ISK

At the start, I thought that the 10 million I had earned was a small fortune. In reality, though, it isn’t worth much at all, it’s also not doing anything. When you first start out in the game, there’s so much to discover and that money sitting in your wallet is just going to hinder you in that regard. I wish I weren’t as afraid to splash my ISK on different things to really see what EVE had to offer.

Don’t stick to just one thing

One of the things that that usually contributes to player burnout is sticking to one thing. You don’t have to pour excessive amounts of SP into multiple careers but being able to have secondary activities to keep things fresh is important to having fun.

I burnt myself out mining too much when I first started playing, and I regret not having some alternatives to break the monotony of staring at rocks.

Setting up PI ASAP

I feel that PI is one of the most underrated activities in EVE, certainly not for the sheer fun of it, nor for wearing out your left mouse button, but for making ISK.

There’s a lot of potential for ISK making for a new bro due to its low skill point entry and how passive it is, particularly if you’re just sticking to P1 production. You have to pay for those Incursuses and Ventures that you keep losing in some way…

So there they are, the five things I wish I had known before I got into EVE Online. Of course, there are a bunch of other things I could have mentioned. Such as never go to Tama.

– Curt