Bork Day 8 (miner headache)

Yeah, it is a pun. I had a long hard think today about how to proceed. I need to get to Level 2 missions. If I didn't have the rules I'd have bought a destroyer by now for the L1 missions, but since building a ship is a major undertaking, I am going to skip the destroyer all together, for now.

Actually, let me pause there. Why not skip the destroyer? Salvaging. A basic destroyer makes a great starter salvage boat, and building a Noctis right now is a distant pipe dream. However, my time in game does impose some restrictions (because of my rules) especially in terms of time. So...

Next up will be a cruiser, and more specifically, an Arbitrator. Yep, it is a drone boat and I have opted to focus on drones. Why? Mining. I will need to be able to fly a mining barge down the road and drones are going to be my only defense, so that will be my main focus. I'll need to get the BPO for a drone of some kind (probably the Hobgoblin I) to supply ammo. I can diversify later, but right now, to keep the building machine grinding forward I need to deal with drones.

Still with me? Now the painful part... a BPO for an Arbitrator is 81.7 million isk and I am sitting at 2.7 million.... Ouch!

Drone base

Bork Day 7 ("I hate Monday." - Garfield)

So this update is going to be a little dull. I've burned through a lot of energy after this last week playing this way so I am being mellow. Nice thing about eve, mining is a mellow thing to do. So while I sit here and grind up a few asteroids in a belt a couple systems away (mmmm.. Kernite) I figure this would be a good time for a recap as well as a bit of 'what is next'.

Yes, another cheesy star shot... still waiting for it to set. :)

As mentioned before, I have a Magante, a Nereus, and a Venture now. These will be used for mission running, hauling, and mining respectively. In reality I have kind of hit the first real plateau here in that I need skills trained to do stuff as well as more isk for blueprints. Given the very diverse spread of skills needed in the first week, I really am a weak character overall.

I need isk. However, with my current game-play 'rules' I can only get it missioning and ratting. There is more isk in Level 2 missions, but that will require a cruiser and skill points. So, for the next couple days I am going to train mostly weapons and shield skills while I sort out what I am going to for a cruiser.

Up front I prefer shields and that is most likely where I am going to focus. Missiles are also a bit of an easy button and given my restrictions and I need to favor ease over raw power. So, initially I am looking at getting a Caracal (yes, that makes another race to train), but I have a few days to figure that one out. I am also considering drones, but I need to look in to their replacement build costs before I do that. I also am considering going to guns (since capacitor can be the enemy)  but that will also require a cost analysis.

One other thing that I was hoping for, but has not happened, is shield and armor resist drops of some kind but the rats. Other than a couple EM ward types NOTHING else has dropped... and that sucks.

I am also looking at building the rigs I need, and those require salvage... another item that I need to build. I looked at Tractor beams as well, but their cost is currently prohibitive in terms of Megacyte.

Well, almost doe with a load. I will follow up tomorrow. Fly Safe!

Bork Day 6b (weekend)

Noooooo! I am 2 Zydrine short, even after melting everything down. ARGH!

More LSD, but, without further delay:

So while that is cooking I'm looking for a Venture BPC (since the BPOs don't spawn in NPC high-sec). I'm guessing Zydrine will be a problem again... yeah.... sigh. I might wait a day or two before I go for more.

More LSD (Low Sec Diving) and I ran until I was no longer welcome (by rats, not the locals)... and that took a long time. I ended up with 45 Zydrine after my crappy reprocessing skills, but that will last me a little while. I also picked up 5 more Mining I drones as well as 5 Hobgoblin I drones. I should note that all the Zydrine comes from Jaspet, so that is something I'll probably train in the future just for a slightly better yield as it is currently one of the hardest things for me to get.

Well, time for bed, but before I go, the Nereus and the Venture are finished. Self-built in under a week. I will admit that the update will slow down at this point. I need to mine even more as well as train up skills to be better at what I do. Level 2 security missions are next, but I really need rigs, which means I need a Salvager I. 

Tune in next time folks..

Bork Day 6a (weekend)

Came across a blue wreck and found this...

Free stuff is free stuff. Actually once I melt this stuff down I'll have enough Zydrine to build my industrial (once I get the BPO)

For not using the market I find I am constantly out of money. The big reason is that a BPO is about 10 times more expensive than the item it makes. So my journey to get a Nereus BPO will cost me 3.1 million isk for a ship that is only 300-400 thousand isk.

There have been some pretty sites today though:

Right now I am heading back to my main area to see how much more mining I need to do to build my Nereus. Hopefully not too much. Between the blue wreck I found and melting down the duplicate implants I have earned during missions, I should only need the basics. 

Bork Day 5b (weekend)

Picked up a Station Container Blueprint so I can start to sort out the junk, things are getting a little messy. Unfortunately I missed the part requiring Industry to be trained to 4, so it'll be a couple days before I can build it (doh).

But, after several delays, it is finally done!

Of course, its first operations are mining (in fairness, I am waiting for the missile skill to train).

But this does bring up a good point, what is next? I think for now more missions, enough material for a second Magnate, and then on to an Industrial, I am thinking a Nereus because of the drone bay.

Bork Day 5a  (weekend)

Some ups and downs. I had to make another LSD (Low Sec Dive) but I came away with two very good things. First I've mined enough Zydrine that I can now finish the Magnate. Second, some unlucky soul I warped in on mining panicked and bolted but forgot his mining drones. Thanks man, I'll use them well!

On another note I was planning on picking up the Miner I laser blueprint, but I've picked up two EP-S Gaussian Scoped Mining lasers from mission loot. If you are new to EVE and are mining but not in a barge and don't have Tech2 Mining lasers, get some EP-S models. FOr some reason the cost of them is never bad, but they have a 16km range and high yield.

I'm also training Light Missiles and building both launchers as well as ammo. My biggest headache is only being able to mine 158.8m3 per trip in the Imparitor and living mission paycheck to mission paycheck.

I have about 200,000 isk currently.

Bork Day 4

Oops.

Yeah, this little tin can has, er had, thin skin.Both guns survived at least, so I an not out anything major.

Thanks CCP, I feel so special. (just kidding)

Off to go get a Magnate BPO now that I have more than 3 million isk (finally). I am going to try to get it started before I go to bed.

Special parking award by CCP:

Time to melt down the loot (not all loot was melted at this point)

And now we have... not quite enough... eh.. time for bed. Tune in tomorrow.

Bork Day 3B

Borkinator 1!!!!

Armed with 2x Dual Light Pulse Laser I s and their Standard S crystals, a 1mn Afterburner, a Civilian Shield Booster, 100mm Rolled Tungsten Plate, and a Damage Control I (plus a Hobgoblin I) I can finally start doing missions and win! I am finally on the path to building a Magnate frigate!

At this point I have 59,000 isk.

Bork Day 3

Jaspet, well Zydrine, was today's big hunt. I flew through about 20 systems looking for a mining anomaly that would have some Jaspet or better. I found five such anomalies, but other adventurous players had already mined out all the good stuff. (Bonus point to the guy that left 3 Omber in the single asteroid left behind, well played!)

So after heaping helping of that frustration, I grabbed another rookie ship and risked a run in to Low-sec. I grabbed four load of Jaspet which yielded a total of 8 Zydrine (twice what I need for now) and I have my two lasers cooked. I can finally shoot people with a real gun!

As I write this I am racing around collecting stuff I forgot in other places and waiting for the crystals to finish being made (note to self: train Mass Production). More tomorrow, weekend, here I come!

Half of today's gameplay

Bork Day 2C

So, a follow up on finding Megacyte, this is going to be my answer to it. Reprocessing. Here is a 5mn Microwave drive from a belt rat, if you look at the picture, you'll see that it will yield 4 Megacyte, but I will only get 50% back, so I get 2. I did do a little testing and I found that the amount you get rounds down, so there is no point in reprocessing something that only yields 1 Megacyte. 

Bork Day 2B

So I tried another L1 mission, but I got Smuggler Interception. Not something to do with a Rookie ship. Maybe I need to build more parts first.

Bork Day 2

Minerals. Since I am building a lot of my own equipment up front, I will need minerals. These I will get from two major sources. First, I can mine asteroids and refine them. Second, I can loot ships and reprocess the junk in to the base minerals, 

For the bulk of the materials I need, high-sec mining will be fine. Tritainium, Pyerite, Mexallon, and Isogen are all readily available in high-sec asteroid belts (0.5 or higher). Just to give you some perspective, the Magnate that I am going to build, those four materials account for 99.69% of the mass. 

There are four remaining materials I am going to needed on a semi-regular basis. Those are Nocxium, Zydrine, Megacyte, and Morphite.

Noxcium and Zydrine can both be found in low-sec space (0.2 or lower in either Hemorphite or Hedbergite ore) and racing in to low-sec this early on could prove challenging, not only because of other players, but the belt rats are very nasty as well. However, you can sometimes find small random spawns in high-sec spaces which should provide enough for most small projects. 

Megacyte can be found in Bistot or Arkonor ore in null-sec space (-0.6 and -0.7 respectively). Not only is this going to be dangerous to do but a single 100 unit load to refine or either ore is 1600m3 which right now would be almost 10 loads in my little rookie ship. More than likely the only source I will have for this material early on is going to be from reprocessing loot, but even then, the cheap garbage loot I am going to be getting. For my Magnate frigate, I only need 4 units of Megacyte. 

Morphite is going to have to come from reprocessing loot. The only other source of Morphite is to mine Mercoxit ore using special lasers and you need to go all the way to deep null-sec (-0.8 or lower). Just to add insult to injury, 100 units of Mercoxit has a volume of 4000m3.

The rare stuff was much easier to get in the past because Rogue Drones used to drop compounds that could be refined in to the rarer materials. This was affectionately called 'drone poop' but was removed from the game because it was a better source of rare materials than actually mining them with a barge, the process being referred to as 'gun mining'. 

One alternative solution to mining I will have to look in to is WH mining. I am not even sure if I could get away with it, but rushing in to a WH, finding the needed asteroids, and mining the ore before the sleeper spawn (or bad guys find me).

Uncle Bork Day 1B

Ok, I need to figure out a good first Frigate. Right now it appears to be the Amarr Magnate. Why? It has drones, missiles, and turrets. All around optional ship. If you are reading this and wonder why? I need versatility, even if it means mediocrity. It also has the largest default cargo hold, and mining is going to be a thing when playing this way.

Sure, it ain't pretty, but it works.

So, how much for the BPO? 2,775,000 isk... ouch. So, this is NOT going to be my first build.

sigh

Tonight I mine Kernite. Tomorrow I figure out the Level 1 Security Mission ship... using the Imparitor... argh!!!

Bork Day 1 Highlights

• Flew in a pod to a second station and grabbed a second Imparitor so I can get another gun and another miner. 
• I need starter equipment and I don't think I can pull off an L1 Security mission with 2x Civilian Gatling Lasers and no repper, so I am going to look for a few belt rats (I don't even have enough isk to pay collateral on Distribution missions)
• OH! The Imparitor has a drone bay and some nice soul left a blue wreck in a belt with a Hobgoblin (that I can't use yet). But that will set the training queue for tonight, Drones 3 is just over 4 hours and then in need Light Drone Operations (which I need to buy)
• Ok, about an hour in and I have 59,000 isk. I need that drone book, and it is 50,000 isk 2 jumps away. Up, up, and away...
• OK, going to see what the distribution agent will offer. 
• Good news, no collateral. Bad news, the starter ship is so small I need to make three trips to complete the mission. I'll finish this one and look for another option. This does however point the way to my first manufacturing item, Expanded Cargohold I. (yeah, not a lot of fanfare at that one is there, but since mining might actually be a 'big ticket' early on, I might have to bite the bullet)
• Going to try a level 1 security mission.. in an Imparitor, with civilian weapons, and no repper. Warp out 1 (I am in to hull and there are no player stations in this system...grrr)
  I finished it, but no loot dropped (which sucks)
• Picked up a BPO for the expanded cargohold I, now to get the materials and a place to build it. 
• I need Isogen (10) and Nocxim (1) per unit. Where do I find that?
• Isogen = Kernite hunting!
  Nocxium = Pyro!.... I can do this! All hail Amarr space!
• While mining I found I need to defend myself... so I am basically back in a stock rookie ship (corvette) with one miner and one laser. Tomorrow I'll have a drone!
• I need to be able to do level 1 security missions, so on that note I need a repper, real lasers, basic crystals, and a 1mn afterburner.... oh crap... rigs.. no idea what rig need... hmmm.....
• having done some mining (and not much) I have enough for 7 expanded cargohold I units... OH    Yeah!
• I just fired off the build order.... 2 hours... I need to sleep. 

Welcome to the first night. Tomorrow I'll be working getting the parts needed for security missions. I also applied to a corp that is doing this, so I might be part of a group playing this way... if they'll have me)

I need to mine more while I figure out what ship I need next... something with drones.

First kill

Sunrise on a new adventure!

Uncle Bork is now in the pilot seat. A default Amarr pilot that skipped the tutoirals. I have 5000 isk in my pocket and an Imparitor. I am sitting in Amarr trade hub and haven't trained anything yet.

RULES

• All ships and equipment must come from loot, mission rewards, or be player made. 
• No new player Experience, no Career Agents, no SOE arc.
• The only thing that can be purchased are skill books, corporation creation fees, applicable taxes, clone charges, and BPOs. (BPCs only if not seeded on open high-sec market).
• Loot can be sold on the market, but you may not buy equipment off the market. 
• You can collect LP all you want, but you may not use the Loyality Point store (so it is worthless)
• Implants may only come from mission rewards or loot. 

Here we go!

Mining notes

OK, you're new and you want to mine. I have watched a couple other Youtube videos while mining and I noticed that the player ignored the 'better' mining lasers.

If you are a new Alpha and you want to mine, the assumption is to use the Miner I. With training, you could eventually get to the Miner II (I think, I need need to be an Omega for that though). But, but... there are better lasers you can user RIGHT AWAY!

Civilian Miner - You get 6m3 a minute (I mention this here because people keep using them, get rid of them!)

Miner I - you get 40m3 a minute (range 10km)

Gallente Mining Laser - 45m3 (range 10km)

Particle Bore Compact Mining Laser - 50m3 (that is 25% more per minute that the Miner I)(range 11km)

EP-S Gaussian Scoped Mining Laser - 50m3 (that is 25% more per minute that the Miner I)(range 16km)

ORE miner - 65m3 a minute (range 16km) - Expensive and power intensive

Gallente Lasers can be found on market because players doing missions against Gallente NPCs. The ORE lasers come from null sec and are VERY expensive (250 million+ isk each).

The EP-S is cheap on the market, almost as cheap as the Miner I (people don't know what they are worth and be they time they figure it out they are using Tech II)

So, get a good laser early and earn 25% more almost instantly.