Newbs in space! (low-sec to be specific)

[Thrawn]

Figured I'd just start a new topic for this.  So obviously a newer player isn't going to run out to 0.0 and start shooting down everyone he sees.  But how about other stuff like mining or ratting/salvaging etc...

Is it worthwhile for a newer player like myself to attempt any PvE stuff in space lower then .5 or would it just be suicide?  I really want to start pushing myself out into low sec so I don't become too stuck in Empire.

[Slayerik]

Ill talk to you more about, but the short of it is YES, get on to low sec! gotta run

[ajax34i]

The better quality agents and rats are in low sec, so yes, you'd be making a lot more money PvE'ing in low sec compared to empire.

However, there's low sec and there's low sec.  You have to learn the map a little and identify the bottleneck (gateway to 0.0) systems, as well as the gatecamp hot spots etc.  There's lowsec that's out of the way that's rarely frequented by pirates, and there's lowsec that has a permanent camp shooting everything and everyone.

You also have to think in terms of losing ships, and whether the money you make covers the constant loss (say, if you lose a ship to being ganked every 2 hours on average, do you make more than the ship costs in 2 hours? and is it more profitable than in high sec where you don't lose the ship?).  To minimize losses you have to do stuff like bring extra spare ships, create safespots to run to, keep an eye on the local window, check everyone who jumps in, etc.  Plus, think ahead about how you'll move your loot or minerals out of the system in order to sell it; industrial ships are slow and vulnerable to attack.

[dwindlehop]

Honestly, with a little more training, I'd ninja rat in 0.0 before I ratted in lowsec. It's safer.

Obviously, you need a ship+skills that can take down the decent BS spawns. So do that first. Personally I'd be tempted to do an assault frigate if I had to do it all over again, but a BC is a safe choice.

Any crap NPC 0.0 system is going to be empty 90% of the time. 9.99% of the time, it'll be some joker traveling through. The small remainder will be dangerous. Basically, learn about safespots, find a decent system (Syndicate perhaps, or Curse), and start chewing through rats. If someone comes into the system, safespot. You'll safespot every time if you do it as soon as local ticks up.

You can do the same in lowsec, but there's more traffic in most lowsec. Plus, the income is much higher in 0.0, so even with a duty cycle of 80 or 90% you're going to make more money.

The issue with 0.0 is moving around. Staying in one system, especially a deserted station system, is pretty safe. Now, if you loot some great stuff, you have a problem, but that's a great problem to have. Alt or a friend to scout out the route will see you in safely most times, though.

[dwindlehop]

Also, and this is not to be sniffed at, it's more fun to figure out how to make a fit to take down higher level rats with low sp. Once I got it down pat I pretty much stopped as it was boring.

[Endie]

Once Tri leave Providence, go there.  The truesec, except around Paxton's space, is pretty poor, which means that, although you can get true sansha spawns and there are plenty of BS spawns, there are also a lot of BC and cruiser/frig spawns that a new player can handle easily enough.  It's Not Red Don't Shoot space, so if you keep an eye on local you should be fine in most systems that aren't on the main travel loop through the region.

I mention it a lot, since I cycle a lot of my alts through Provi corps since you can get easy jump clones that way.  I'll do that with The Groundskeeper soon.

[ajax34i]

[...] most systems that aren't on the main travel loop through the region.

How would one go about figuring out what these "main travel loops" are?  A newbie would be unfamiliar with the layout of any region, as well as what's "the usual" for wars and movement.  Is it just a matter of plotting a route between the region-to-region bottleneck systems, in order to get the line drawn across the map?  Should local stations be included in the path, or "known" (not to a newbie) alliance home base systems?  Or is it a matter of having the map show "pilots in space"?

[Endie]

[...] most systems that aren't on the main travel loop through the region.

How would one go about figuring out what these "main travel loops" are?  A newbie would be unfamiliar with the layout of any region, as well as what's "the usual" for wars and movement.  Is it just a matter of plotting a route between the region-to-region bottleneck systems, in order to get the line drawn across the map?  Should local stations be included in the path, or "known" (not to a newbie) alliance home base systems?  Or is it a matter of having the map show "pilots in space"?

If you look at the maps to be found here, you'll see pretty quickly where the main entry points to empire and Catch are in Provi, and how you would get between them.

This is another, better map of the region, but which is a little more obtuse when it comes to making the main thoroughfare obvious.

[Slayerik]

You can also look at your map (which can provide so much info, learn to use it often) and look for number of jumps in the last hour. Some places will literally be dead, and pretty safe to use.

[Thrawn]

You can also look at your map (which can provide so much info, learn to use it often) and look for number of jumps in the last hour. Some places will literally be dead, and pretty safe to use.

Hm, maybe I'll do a bunch of flying around in a frigate to get a feel for it next week since I have off.  Then maybe even try some low sec mining or mission running if I get more comfortable moving around lower sec solo.

[Polysorbate80]

I made an alt and ran it out to X-R3NM for shits & giggles this morning; there were signs of earlier fighting at the entry to 0.0, but it was quiet past that.  Also, the sheer number of haulers I ran into in the low-sec prior to that leads me to think it's a relatively safe run most of the time?

I wasn't real impressed with the regional market, do most people manufacture their own junk or drag in their own modules?

[dwindlehop]

Carrier jumps in mods and ships usually. If you live real near empire trucking in your own is ok. Helps if you have blue camps on the pipe.