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Recommended Core Skills

Attributes Calculator

Intelligence
Perception
Charisma
Willpower
Memory

Setting these attributes to your character’s current attributes sets the skill points per hour in the various skill group tables below, under the Burn Rate column.

New characters tend to do well with high Perception and Intelligence scores. This is because Perception and Intelligence are primary skills for the essential combat and piloting skills. When starting a trade-focused character, then there is value in starting with high Charisma and medium Willpower and Memory.

Skill Benefit/Why Burn Rate
Gunnery Skills Uses Perception and Willpower.
Missile Skills Uses Perception and Willpower.
Drone Skills Uses Perception and Memory.
Navigation Skills Uses Intelligence and Perception.
Skill Benefit/Why Burn Rate
Fitting Skills Uses Intelligence and Memory.
Capacitor Skills Uses Intelligence and Memory.
Armor Tanking Skills Uses Intelligence and Memory.
Shield Tanking Skills Uses Intelligence and Memory.
Tackling Skills Uses Intelligence and Memory.
EWAR Skills Uses Intelligence and Memory.

Other Skill/Attributes Mapped

Charisma is often considered a less important skill. In combat, nobody cares if you’re polite or well-groomed. In interactions between players, its your own Charisma that matters. When you hover over Charisma in the table below, it will show the other skill group areas that involve Charisma.

Skill Benefit/Why Burn Rate
Corporation Management Memory / Charisma
Drones Memory / Perception
Electronics Intelligence / Memory
Engineering Intelligence / Memory
Gunnery Perception / Willpower
Industry Memory / Intelligence
Leadership Charisma / Willpower
Mechanic Intelligence / Memory
Missile Launcher Operation Perception / Willpower
Navigation Intelligence / Perception
Science Intelligence / Memory
Social Charisma / Intelligence
Spaceship Command Perception / Willpower
Trade Charisma/ Memory

Accelerating Skill Learning

You can compress the time required train these skills by investing in implants for Intelligence, Memory, Perception and Willpower. The minimum level if implants you should install are +3 . This will keep skill training times reasonable. You need only a bit of Cybernetics to be able to use these. If you plan in going to low-sec or nullsec, then better go cheap. For this reason, some players advise waiting six months before going to those areas…so you have some skills under your belt and are better able to afford losing your implants.

Armor Tanking Skills

If you want to fit armor buffer tanks or active armor tanks you’ll want to train armor support skills and be able to fit T2 armor tanking modules. Armor tanking is popular for PvP.

To fit T2 modules, train Mechanic and Hull Upgrades to level V. This is the Armor Tanking Certification-Improved.

Amarr. Because most Amarr ships favor an armor tanking approach, Amarr pilots must become proficient at armor taking skills. Specifically, Amarr pilots should train as quickly as possible to fit Tech II armor tanking modules. A Tech II tank is more than 40% more effective than a Tech I tank – a huge competitive advantage.

Gallente. Because most Gallente ships favor an armor tanking approach, Gallente pilots must become proficient at armor taking skills. Specifically, Gallente pilots should train as quickly as possible to fit Tech II armor tanking modules. A Tech II tank is more than 40% more effective than a Tech I tank – a huge competitive advantage.

Uses Intelligence and Memory.

Skill Benefit/Why Burn Rate
Mechanic (V) Fit Armor Repairers.
Hull Upgrades (V) +5% armor hit points; fit Active Armor Hardeners and Plates.
Repair Systems (IV for T2 or V) -5% repair systems duration; fit effective Armor Repairers

Train these skills to Level III as required.

Skill Benefit/Why Burn Rate
EM Armor Compensation (III) +3% Active Module; +5% Passive Module; Energized Adaptive Nano Membrane effectiveness
Explosive Armor Compensation (III) +3% Active Module; +5% Passive Module; Energized Adaptive Nano Membrane effectiveness
Kinetic Armor Compensation (III) +3% Active Module; +5% Passive Module; Energized Adaptive Nano Membrane effectiveness
Thermic Armor Compensation (III) +3% Active Module; +5% Passive Module; Energized Adaptive Nano Membrane effectiveness

Astrometrics

Have Astrometrics to level 4 and all of the other three scanning support skills to level 3. To be certain, have Astrometric Rangefinding, Astrometric Pinpointing and Astrometric Acquisition to level 3 each. You are not looking for the ability to just scan, you need to be able to scan quickly too. There is more to be said about these skills in the “Scanning Your Ass Off” section.

See Guide

There are only 4 scanning skills in the game. To evaluate a character’s ability to scan use a simple rule of thumb.

Skill Benefit/Why Burn Rate
Astrometrics (IV) 1x probe per level
Astrometrics Acquisition (III) -10% Scan Time
Astrometrics Rangefinding (III) +10% Scan Distance
Astrometrics Pinpointing (III) -10% Deviation
Racial Frigate (V) Access T2 scanning ships

Capacitor Skills

Caldari and Minmatar. These pilots don’t depend on capacitor power as much as other races do, but it’s still very important, especially for active tanks, for running propulsion modules and for capacitor warfare. You’ll want Energy Systems Operation at level V and Energy Management to level IV at least. Cap Boosters are useful in some PvP fits, so you’ll want to be able to fit the best with Energy Grid Upgrades IV.

Amarr and Gallente. Capacitor is life – without energy in your capacitor, you can’t run active modules, your defenses degrade, and you end up stripped of your ship, floating in space in a pod. Amarr pilots depend on capacitor energy to run active armor tanks and to fire lasers, and as a result, they must develop several capacitor management skills. You’ll want Energy Systems Operation at level 5 and Energy Management to level 4 at least. Cap Rechargers or Cap Boosters are prevalent in most PvP fittings, so you’ll want to be able to fit the best with good Energy Grid Upgrade skills, 4.

Uses Intelligence and Memory.

These are all the skills you need to optimize the size, recharge rate and efficiency of your capacitor:

Skill Benefit Burn Rate
Energy Systems Operation (V) -5% capacitor recharge time; fit Capacitor Boosters.
Energy Management (IV+) 5% capacitor capacity
Energy Grid Upgrades (IV) -5% some components; fit Cap Rechargers and Power Diagnostic Systems.
Energy Emission Systems -5% capacitor need of energy emission weapons; fit Nosferatu energy weapons.

Drone Skills

If you fly any ship bigger than a frigate you will want drone skills. To be most effective, you will need to get Tech II drones, which means investing even more time and effort in drone skill development. T2 light drones are a great help in Level 4 missions, where they make short work of frigates which scramble your valuable battleship, stopping you from warping out if the mission goes wrong.

If you plan to fly the skill-intensive Typhoon you will want T1 heavy drones, and good drone support skills—and T2 heavy drones in the long term.

Uses Perception and Memory.

Skill Benefit/Why Burn Rate
Drone (V) number of drones you can operate; Key for almost all pilots that want to fly a cruiser or larger. Gateway skill for other neat drone skills. No excuses!
Scout Drone Operation (V) +5km range
Combat Drone Operation (IV) +5% dmg for small/medium drones
Drone Durability (IV) +5% shield, armor, hull
Drone Interfacing (IV) +20% drone damage/mining yield; every level is like another drone
Drone Navigation (IV) +5% Microdrive
Drone Sharpshooting (IV) Drone Optimal Range
EW Drone Interfacing (I+) Increases range of all drones
Electronic Warfare (IV) -5% ECM needs

To get Tech 2 drones, you’ll need some of the four racial ‘Drone Specialization’ skills. Minmatar and Gallente are the most important (Small, Medium, Heavy):

Try to use small (S) drones against frigates, medium (M) against cruisers and heavy (H) or sentry (L) drones against battleships.

Race Dmg Type Speed/ Track Damage Names (S, M, H, L)
Amarr EM 2nd (Fast) 4th (Lowest) Acolyte, Infiltrator, Praetor, Curator
Caldari Kinetic 3rd (Slow) 2nd (High) Hornet, Vespa, Wasp, Warden
Galliente Thermal 4th (Slowest) 1st (Highest) Hobgoblin, Hammerhead, Ogre, Garde
Minmattar Explosive 1st (Fastest) 3rd (Low) Warrior, Valkrie, Beserker, Bouncer

EWAR Skills

Electronic Warfare is a major part of fleet and small gang combat operations, especially in the UNI. Because most of our opponents have higher skill levels than the typical Eve University pilot, we must neutralize their natural advantage – and EWAR is an effective way to do this. An experienced pilot, even with tens of millions of skill points and a host of powerful faction ship modules, can do nothing if they can’t target anything. With the right combination of EWAR, you can practically turn off an opponent’s ship. Combined tackling and Electronic Warfare can render even the sturdiest tank and most ominous firepower absolutely useless.

The Crucifier and Arbitrator are the two Tech 1 ewar ships in the Amarr lineup. Both rely on tracking disruption, which shuts down turret-based targets rather effectively, but are useless against missile-wielding enemies (i.e. most Caldari Pilots)

Uses Intelligence and Memory.

Skill Benefit/Why Burn Rate
Weapon Disruption (IV) -5% capacitor need for tracking disruptors per level, and allows you to fit different TD's.
Long Distance Jamming (IV) -10% bonus to optimal range of TD's.
Turret Destabilization (IV) -5% to strength of TD's per skill level.
Frequency Modulation (IV) -10% to falloff range for TDs per skill level.
Electronics Upgrades (III) Fit Signal Amplifier module; increases the range at which they can target and damp enemy ships.

Fitting Skills

Skill Benefit Burn Rate
Engineering 5% powergrid output
Electronics +5% CPU output
Weapon Upgrades -5% CPU needs of weapon turrets and launchers. Also gets you T2 gyrostabilizers.
Advanced Weapon Upgrades (to level III) -2% powergrid needs of weapon turrets and launchers.

Gunnery Skills

There are several skills key for using your weapons effectively. Minmatar should master projectile. Gallente should master hybrid turrets. Amarr should master energy turrets. Caldari players should improve their turret (hybrid) skills, just to be safe, as they are primarily missileers.

Uses Perception and Willpower.

To maximize your the effectiveness from your guns, train the following to Level IV or V:

Skill Benefit/Why Burn Rate
Gunnery +2% ROF (required for T2)
Small Turret (Hybrid/Projectile/Energy) +5% Small Turret damage
Medium Turret (Hybrid/Projectile/Energy) +5% Medium Turret damage
Large Turret (Hybrid/Projectile/Energy) +5% Large Turret damage
Motion Prediction +5% Turret Tracking Speed
Rapid Firing +4% Rate of Fire
Sharpshooter +5% Optimal Range
Surgical Strike +3% Damage
Trajectory Analysis +5% Accuracy Falloff
Controlled Bursts* -5% Capacitor Requirement

* Minmatar can ignore Controlled Bursts. Projectile turrets have negligible capacitor requirements. Controlled bursts is critical for Amarr, who culturally view their energy weapons as a means of keeping units on the front lines longer when fighting inferior races.

In the medium term pilots should look towards training T2 guns for more DPS. In the case of the Minmatar autocannon, an extra tactical option with T2 Barrage ammo.

Missile Skills

Missiles are probably the signature Caldari weapon.

Besides the skills which let you use missiles and their launchers themselves, Eve has a number of support skills which make your missiles more effective. Any pilot serious about using missiles should train these skills to IV in the long run.

Uses Perception and Willpower.

Skill Benefit/Why Burn Rate
Missile Launcher Operation (MLO) +2% ROF; makes other skills available
Missile Bombardment +10% flight time for all missiles (range).
Rapid Launch (needs MLO II) -3% re-fire time (DPS increase).
Target Navigation Prediction (needs MLO II) -10% influence of target's velocity on damage, for all missiles (guided and unguided). Also great for hurting smaller ships.
Missile Projection (needs MLO III) +10% missile speed (range)
Warhead Upgrades (needs MLO IV) +2% more damage per level. Another useful DPS increase.
Guided Missile Precision Target (needs MLO V) -5% less Sig radius influence damage of guided (light, heavy and cruise) missiles per level. Great when you want to hurt smaller ships.

Given the long range of most Caldari PvE missile fits, missile users also benefit from training Long Range Targeting

Type Launcher Damage
EM Explosive Kinetic Thermal
Rocket Rocket Launcher Gremlin Phalanx Thorn Foxfire
Light Missile Standard Missile Launcher or Assault Missile Launcher Sabretooth Piranha Bloodclaw Flameburst
FOF Light Missile Standard Missile Launcher or Assault Missile Launcher Seeker Exterminator Serpent Firefly
Heavy Missile Heavy Missile Launcher Thunderbolt Havoc Scourge Widowmaker
FOF Heavy Missile Heavy Missile Launcher Stalker Eradicator Hydra Hellhound
Heavy Assault Missile Heavy Assault Missile Launcher Torrent Fulmination Terror Hellfire
Cruise Missile Cruise Missile Launcher Paradise Devastator Wrath Cataclysm
FOF Cruise Missile Cruise Missile Launcher Hunter Obliterator Dragon Phoenix
Torpedo Siege Missile Launcher Mjolnir Bane Juggernaut Inferno
Citadel Cruise Missile Citadel Cruise Launcher Thunar Catastrophe Rajas Sol
Citadel Torpedo Citadel Torpedo Launcher Doom Thor Rift Purgatory

Caldari. These are essential skills, even though Caldari ships aren’t the nimblest around. Even if you stick to the bigger ships, having a more agile/quicker than expected battleship can save your life.

Amarr. Amarr pilots neglect navigation skills since armor buffer tanks tend to hurt mobility, they are rather important, particularly if you want to fly any tech 2 frigates. Even if you stick to the bigger ships, having a more agile/quicker than expected battleship can save your life.

Uses Intelligence and Perception.

Skill Benefit/Why Burn Rate
Navigation +5% sub-warp ship velocity
Acceleration Control +5% Afterburner and MicroWarpdrive speed boost; key to skirmish/kiting tactics in PvP
Afterburner key for T2 afterburners's
Fuel Conservation -10% Afterburner Capacitor usage: PvP combat frigate fits & deadspace mission fits
High Speed Maneuvering -5% MWD capacitor usage; key to skirmish/kiting tactics in PvP
Evasive Maneuvering +5% Agility
Spaceship Command +2% Agility

Shield Tanking Skills

If you want to fit shield tanks—either buffer tanks, passive regen tanks or active tanks—you’ll want to train good shield support skills and be able to fit T2 shield tanking modules. The ‘X Shield Compensation’ (Explosive Shield Compensation, Thermic Shield Compensation &c) skills aren’t as useful as their armor counterparts and you can leave them.

Uses Intelligence and Memory.

Skill Benefit/Why Burn Rate
Shield Operation (V) -5% shield recharge; helps passive tanks; biggest T2 shield boosters
Shield Upgrades (IV) -5% powergrid need for some shield modules; easier fitting; for T2 Large Shield Extenders
Tactical Shield Manipulation (IV) -5% pass-through damage when shields <25%; T2 shield hardeners
Shield Management (IV+) +5% shield HP; V for T2 Shield Boost Amplifiers, but level V may be a long-term rather than a short-term goal.
Energy Grid Upgrades (IV) for passive regen tanks; lets you use T2 Shield Power Relays
Shield Compensation (IV+) -2% capacitor use by shield boosters; a must for active shield tanking

Tackling Skills

All PvP combat pilots need to train up on tackling skills. These are the skills you need to prevent a target from escaping. These are usually the first combat skills learned by new pilots, because they are easy to master, and because they are highly valued, especially in fleet.

Skill Benefit/Why Burn Rate
Energy Emission Systems(IV+) Fit energy neutralizers. This is particularly valuable for Amarr pilots looking at the T2 Curse, Pilgrim, and Sentinel. (Also in Capacitor and Shield Tanking, above.)
Propulsion Jamming (IV+) -5% capacitor needs for Warp Scrambler and Stasis Web. Needed to fit effective scramblers, disruptors and webbers

If you ever plan to venture into 0.0 space, you might also consider training Anchoring to Level II or more. This skill is used to deploy various items in space, including mobile warp disruptors – you’ll need this to set up warp disruption bubbles in null-sec space. By the way, Anchoring is also useful for setting storage containers in space, which is helpful if you plan to make some ISK as a miner.