I decided to give EVE Online a try. Now this is an interesting game - a lot of depth to how you can customize your ships. The missions get repetitive, but other aspects of the game provide a refreshing break to the over self-awareness of World of Warcraft (took me a year to figure out that game is no more than a grind).
Within 2 weeks, I managed to work my way up through a low end to high end frigate, destroyer, and then a cruiser. I've purchased a battle cruiser, and it will take a few days to skill up to it. I have around 290K skill points. It's easy to get the skills up in 2 weeks, since they train while you aren't playing. Getting the money to make use of them (buying ships, etc.) is another story. Play too much and you end up with a lot of money you can't do anything with because you don't have the skills trained up yet.
I figured I'd do a breakdown of the level 2 missions, just to get a feel for how many there are:
Note that mission rewards vary each time you get them from a given agent, but the loyalty points for a particular agent are always the same, and usually higher with a higher quality agent.
My difficulties are as follows (does not consider going through low security zones):
These scores are based on fighting with skills and a ship that can barely handle a difficulty 10 mission.
Missiles
When a target uses missiles, the following can be expected:
Base Tactics
I have been using a Vexor for these missions. I currently am using 3 medium drones. I finally invested into a Medium Armor Repair and 400mm armor, for which I had to give up one short range gun (I'm now using 2 250mm's and 1 Dual 150mm). I usually load up the 250's with iridium and take on enemies at range at about 34km, which is good since my drones can be commanded up to 35km away. This setup has helped me get through the level 2 missions much easier, in addition of course to the skillups along the way. Right now, I'm at about 290K, and can almost take Human Cattle 4, the only 10 in this list.
When I'm dealing with missilers, I ALWAYS take them out first. I try to keep moving away from any other craft that might contribute additional projectile damage while I take out the missilers. Once they are clear, I can breathe easier and take out the rest of the targets.
When it comes to defense, I'll use my Medium Shield Booster if my shields are dropping. But if I'm in a heavy fight and will inevitably get dropped down to armor, I mostly ignore the Shield Booster and turn on my Medium Armor Repair. It repairs a lot more for less cap, so I can stay alive longer that way. This is especially important when attempting Human Cattle 4.
When I want to go for maximum damage (and when the enemies start at around 15-20km away), I load up uranium in my long range guns and iridium in my medium range gun and engage at 18km. Otherwise, I use iridium in my long range and iron in my medium range and fight at 34km (my medium range gun can't reach that far at first but can help damage enemies that are starting to close in).
The trick to doing these missions for the first time is knowing what to take out first. When you have 8 enemies swarming around you and you are getting hit with a bunch of missiles, you have to figure out quickly who is firing them. That's why I listed the targets that use missiles in the mission walkthrough. Hopefully it helps. Not knowing what to target fast enough to take them out has made me run from many a fight, except for Human Cattle 4, which I sadly could not run from and got blown up - my first ship loss. I lost my Y-S8 afterburner in that fight. Arrgh!
It also helps to know what kind of damage the enemies do and what they are weak against so you can fit resistances and weapons accordingly (although I didn't really get into that until I started level 3 missions).
Ship and Skills Setup
My ship setup to beat a 10/10, barely:
Note: I just realized that 2 150mm Railguns do more damage than a single Dual 150mm Railgun, with the same range and better tracking, so I'll be switching those out. With the spare power grid, I'll be able to put my Small Remote Armor Repair I back on in the 5th hi slot, too. A word of caution though - two small guns use more activation cost to fire than a single larger gun. So in those battles where keeping your cap means life or death, it may be better to just let your drones kill the close targets instead of wasting cap trying to hit them.
I've been playing the game 6 months now, and looking back, if I had this build to do over again, I would have pushed Drones up to 4 and replaced the Overdrives with a couple of resistance mods in my low slots to help with armor tanking.
Overall ship stats:
My skills (290K):
My attributes:
I also have an implant that increases my ship's agility by 3%
This was my ship and skill setup at the point I felt I was ready to move on to level 3 missions, after successfully, FINALLY, beating Human Cattle 4 solo!
Minmatar Stabber setup
I recently tried Minmatar level 2 missions in a Stabber with the following setup:
Naturally, I worked with the best variations I could get my hands on, and used tech II when I could (I have 6 million skill points now). I use the 650mm's for long distance and the 250mm and assaults for orbitting frigs. Kiting was easy, since the ship is so fast - I could keep enemies at 25km range and just open up with all weapons except the 250mm.
I had to warp out of Murderer Brought to Justice and Human Cattle 5 part 2, but I'm happy with how it performed. It was nice being able to reload missiles and projectiles depending on the damage I needed to do (Fusion for explosive, Phased Plasma for thermal, Titanium Sabot for kinetic, and EMP for em).
Missions
Please note that these missions descriptions are as of 1/4/2006 and could change due to subsequent patches. In addition, some missions may have random elements and may have a slightly different target list than what I have here. Use this guide at your own risk.
Oh, and for some reason, EVE's in-game browser doesn't support these links, so you'll have to scroll down to find the mission - sorry. I was at least nice enough to alphabetize them. I put the Human Cattle chain at the very bottom.
2/10 Eliminate the Pirate Campers (Serpentis Version)
3/10
Fight for the Establishment (Storyline)
3/10 Seek and Destroy
3/10 The Serpentis Spies
4/10
Avenge a Fallen Comrade
4/10 The Drone Infestation
4/10 Gone Berzerk
4/10 Intercept
the Saboteurs
4/10 The Kidnapping (Storyline)
4/10
Save a Man's Career
4/10 The Score
5/10 Eliminate the
Pirate Campers (Thukker version)
5/10 Sabotage the Supply Line
5/10
Sabotaged
6/10 Angel Surprise (3/10 first wave)
6/10
The Hidden Stash
6/10
The Seven's Brothel
6/10
Preliminary Strike
6/10 Silence the Informant
7/10 Murderer Brought To Justice
7/10
Mercenary Assassination (Storyline)
7/10 Double Agent (Storyline) - 5 encounters,
7/10 worst one
7/10 The Blockade
8/10 Stop the Thief! (new with Revelations)
The Roving Rogue Drones
Chains:
6/10
Human Cattle(1 of 5)
1/10 Human Cattle(2 of 5)
8/10 Human Cattle(3 of 5)
10/10 Human Cattle(4
of 5)
8/10 Human Cattle(5 of 5)
Reward 63000, bonus 100 small arms, 68 LP (Quality 0 agent)
Difficulty: 4/10 - high quantity of enemies but they go down quickly
Your goal in this mission is to simply destroy a Habitation Module. Four groups of ships are here, and all will agro if you attack the habitation module. I usually clear groups 1-3 and let group 4 come after me as I attack the module.
Group 1:
This group agros you when you first arrive. Use your drones, since they wil be too close for guns.
Group 2:
Group 3:
This group is nearest the habitat module.
Group 4:
Don't let the numbers scare you, they go down pretty fast, and start 60km away if you are attacking the habitat module when they agro.
(This mission has changed since Revelations was released, it is now a much harder multiple wave encounter, these notes are invalid)
Reward 52000, bonus 44000, 45 LP (Quality 0) or 85 LP (Quality 17)
Difficulty: 4/10 - all targets are very fast and orbit close but go down fast. Drones do most of the work.
This mission involves 5 waves of attacks, mostly Serpentis Watchmen. The next wave spawns when the current wave is wiped out. 1 Protector joins at the end - he is the toughest.
The waves:
After all waves are down, return to turn in your mission. All of this happens usually within 100km or so of an existing stargate, so others can easily witness your battle or even join in to help.
Reward 94000, bonus 89000, 86 LP (Quality 0)
Difficulty: 4/10 - the missile batteries can cause you some trouble if you don't take them outside of 30km
The main goal is to destroy the Drone Silo. You could just rush in, destroy it, and leave if you wish, as long as you're willing to take a pounding from Group 4 until it explodes. All drones in the area will agro when you attack the Silo, so be warned.
Group 1:
He's a toughie, and agros you when you arrive. he can't seem to hit much outside of 10km, though.
Group 2:
Group 3:
Group 4:
This group is close to the Silo that you must destroy. I usually take the batteries first outside of 30km. The drones will come after me, but they go down easily.
If I'm grinding through standing, I just rush to the Silo, destroy it and leave.
Reward 55000, bonus 51000, 93 LP (Quality 13)
Difficulty: 2/10 - almost a 3/10 but I needed an easiest one, so what the hey
This is a quick kill mission. You just need to kill 2 pirates.
(Removed in Dragon release, no replacement yet)
Reward 63000, bonus 92 small arms, 71 LP (Quality 3)
Difficulty: 4/10 - large waves, fast ships, drones will do most of the work
Three waves will come at you, each new one after the last one is destroyed:
Reward 79000, bonus 100 small arms, 147 LP (Quality 16)
Difficulty: 6/10 - the 2 Protectors will work your shields down fast
This is the mission where you have to defeat a few guards and then destroy a warehouse and loot a container with a large-sized cargo.
Group 1:
They agro when you arrive. The Protectors are the most dangerous part of this mission. They will work your shields down fast and they take a small while to kill.
After the guards are down, destroy the warehouse, loot the cargo containers (you'll probably have to leave some of the other container behind) and do your turnin.
Reward 48000, bonus 53000, 37 LP (Quality -18)
Difficulty: 4/10 - medium target quantity, some take a little while to kill
This missions involves warping to four different locations, taking out some enemy ships, and looting them for viral agents. The mission warns about interceptors as support ships, but I had no problems taking the ships at about 15km. I suffered no cap drains, webbings or warp scrambles. Frankly, I don't even know which of the ships are interceptors because they never got close enough to do anything to me.
Waypoint 1 (4/10):
The frigates stay at about 9-12km out. The transport ship is slowest and should be taken out last.
Waypoint 2 (3/10):
Waypoint 3 (3/10):
Waypoint 4 (3/10):
On every transport, you will find some viral agent and some contraband. DO NOT take the contraband back with you. You'll be fined for its possession.
Reward: 49000, bonus 64 small arms, 68 LP (Quality 17)
Difficulty: variable, see below (for shield tankers, 8/10)
There are three varieties of encounters for this mission. You will be tasked to destroy one of the following:
Difficulty 3/10:
Difficulty 4/10:
Difficulty 7/10:
Difficulty 7/10:
The Pirate escorts are very nasty on a shield tanker. Take extra EM resist with you. It will also help to cut across 45 degrees and fly at full speed to keep your transversal up. It will reduce the damage you take.
Reward 71000, bonus 100 small arms, 143 LP (Quality 17)
Difficulty: 6/10 - 4 missile users and many fast light gunners
This is an intense mission involving a fight with over a dozen enemies. They are all grouped in the same place and will agro when you approach.
The difficult part about this mission (as with any mission involving missilers that agro you from a distance) is that you will suffer vollies of 4 missiles every 5 or 6 seconds until you manage to start destroying the missilers. Distance will not help you here, since they can fire the missiles from about 36km out. Close to 18km or so and use your guns to maximum effect.
Reward 59000, bonus 55000, 51 LP (Quality 0)
Difficulty: 4/10 - the boss uses missiles but goes down fairly easily
Group 1:
These agro you when you arrive.
Group 2:
A little tougher, but again, easy fight.
Group 3:
To get the reports required to complete the mission, destroy the Cargo Bay.
Reward 81000, bonus 79000, 144 LP (Quality 18)
Difficulty: 5/10 - one of the encounters works your shields down fast
In this mission you rendezvous with a disabled armada of starships that you are meant to assist. Why they are all red to you, I don't know, but when you arrive, you receive a transmission and three more waypoints, each leading to a kill encounter.
Waypoint 1 (4/10):
When I did this mission, I found the goal item off a drop from one of these kills.
Waypoint 2 (5/10):
Waypoint 3 (4/10):
Disappointingly, this encounter wasn't all that difficult. Just keep your distance and send in your drones to help.
(This mission has likely changed since Revelations, you may want to ignore these notes)
Reward 27000, bonus 37000, 33 LP (Quality 0 agent)
Difficulty 4/10 - due to fast targets that orbit closely, difficult to take in a cruiser with medium turrets, the drones do most of the work.
This is a simple mission where you warp in and just need to take out some Serpentis pirates:
They all orbit within 3km and are very fast, but don't last long in a fight. They can still work your shields down pretty well though, although it's unlikely they will get to your armor. Use your drones.
Reward 50000, bonus 58000, 59 LP (Quality 0)
Difficulty: 3/10 - possibly a Watchman will spawn after you start
This is a simple kill mission
Group 1:
This group agros you when you arrive.
Group 2:
It is possible after you start that another Watchman will spawn close to where you encounter Group 1.
Reward 42000, bonus 81 small arms, 53 LP (Quality 0)
Difficulity: 3/10 - targets go down easily, just a large number of them, and one cruiser
A simple kill mission.
Group 1:
This group agros you when you arrive at about 15km out. The distance makes it easy to destroy them before they can even get to you.
Group 2:
Take these at a distance and you'll be fine. For some reason, my transactions log listed the names of these mobs differently, hence the names in parentheses.
Reward 90000, bonus 78000, 77 LP (Quality 0 agent)
Difficulty 6/10 - you could be in trouble if you agro too many things at one time.
There are 3 primary encounters in this mission. Two of them can end up being a single encounter if you aren't careful.
Group 1: When you first warp in, you are attacked by:
Take out the Sentry first, then the Death Dealer, then the Grunt. Keep an eye on where the Dealer and Grunt come from - occasionally another Grunt or Dealer will spawn there and immediately agro you.
Group 2: The next group is far down at the bottom. I recommend you approach them first and stay away from Group 3 until they are cleared.
Note: since the 1/11 patch, there are only 2 spawns here. This makes the whole mission easier, of course.
Take out the Death Dealers first. Note: Sometimes this group will have 4 Death Dealers, or may only have 1 Dealer and 3 Grunts. The more Dealers there are, the harder this encounter is.
Group 3: This group agros if you approach within 35km.
A random two of the following are here:
If you attack group 3 before clearing group 2, you may agro both groups. If you get too close to group 3 while fighting group 2 (within 35km), group 3 will join the fray as well, likely forcing you to warp.
This mission will take you about an hour, especially if you plan to loot your kills from part 2.
Reward 155000, bonus 171000, 292 LP (Quality 17)
Difficulty: 6/10 - tricky spawn timing in part 2 can make for some very hard fights if you aren't careful.
Part 1 - about 15 minutes
Two sets of drones are in part 1.
Group 1:
This group agros you when you arrive.
Group 2:
This group is a little farther away, and usually won't agro during your fight with group 1 as long as you keep your distance.
I assume you can't use the Acceleration Gate in part 1 until you have cleared out all the drones.
Part 2 - about 35 minutes, with looting
This part of the mission is made up of a bunch of Mercenaries. Most use missiles and can fire from 36km (the Elite Fighters can shoot farther).
Group 1:
This group usually agros when you arrive. I hear you can fly up and to the right to possibly avoid agroing them. However, once you agro them the first time and clear them out, slowly 1 Fighter or Elite Fighter will repeatedly spawn where they came from and come after you, so be wary as you approach the other groups, and be prepared for one of these spawns to enter the fight.
Group 2:
This group is way up top and will agro from about 80km, so take them out next. Otherwise, they could easily agro you while you are approaching other groups.
Group 3:
Group 4:
After you've cleared all the groups, loot your way back to the Acceleration Gate, clear out any spawners, and proceed to part 3.
Part 3 - about 5 minutes
Only one group here, fairly easy.
Once Josh is destroyed, you are finished. I hear if you destroy the buildings as well, you may get some interesting items.
(This mission has a new and much nastier form since Revelations, notes here are current)
Reward ??, bonus 55 ??, 59 LP (Quality 17)
Difficulty: 8/10 - a LOT of damage here, harden thermal!
This mission lands you within range of the Thief and 10 missile escorts. Quite a nasty encounter for a level 2 mission. You better bring extra thermal hardening with you.
Human Cattle (1-5)
This chain of missions will be the ultimate test of your ability to handle level 2 missions. If you can comfortably solo these missions, especially 4 and 5, you should be ready to move up to a bigger ship and take on the lower end level 3 missions.
If I want one thing to come out of these walkthroughs, it's for those of you new to level 2 missions to read this and realize that if you get the Human Cattle chain on your first day at level 2, decline it!!! You will get it again eventually. If you think you are ready for the challenge, though, then missions 1 and 3 will give you a taste of what you're up against. If you can't handle mission 3 without warping away, then don't do mission 4. Mission 4 is a ship killer. Mission 5 is actually slightly easier than 4.
Reward 142000, bonus 112000, 206 LP (Quality 17)
Difficulty: 6/10 - Missile Batteries hit hard but are stationary - you can attack being in range of only one at a time.
In this mission, you have to retrieve a Data Chip from a Habitation Module. However, there are a few guards lying in wait for an unwary pilot to wander too close.
When you first arrive, the Sentry Drones will agro you, and you are in range of the Missile Batteries. IMMEDIATELY move away from the Batteries! Use your afterburner if you have one. It will make kiting and firing back at the Sentry Drones easier, too.
Once the Sentry Drones are clear, approach one of the Missile Batteries to about 40km and shoot at it with your long range guns. If you have to move much closer than this to take them out, be prepared to use a Medium Shield Booster and Medium Armor Repair to keep yourself alive, because they will all be firing at you. If you can send your drones out 40km to attack the the Batteries, all the better. Just try to avoid being in range of more than one Battery at a time.
Once the Batteries are down, approach the Habitation Module, loot its chip, and return to your agent.
One mission down. Not so bad, right?
Reward 34000, bonus 40000, 58LP (Quality 17)
Difficulty: 1/10 - courier mission.
All you need to do here is take the Data Chip to another station to be analyzed. The most important part of this mission is to remember that you have to move the Data Chip from Items to your ship before you undock!!!
Another mission down. This is easy!
Reward 200000, bonus 177000, 285 LP (Quality 17)
Difficulty: 8/10 - after the first wave of missilers is taken down, a larger number of missilers spawn
In this mission, you'll warp to an area inhabitated by a few Caldari Navy ships.
It may be best to lead these away from the center of the battlefield because of the second spawn that will occur. After some experimentation, it appears that the second spawn arrives about 7:30 minutes from the moment you agro the first wave. So kill them quickly and get your shields and cap back before wave 2 arrives.
When the second spawn appeared, they were 60km out. Had I fought the first wave in the center, they would have immediately been within range of me, and the fight would have been a lot harder.
Second wave:
The big danger of these encounters, naturally, is all the missiles being used. Your shields will be worked down fighting the first wave, so recover what you possibly can before the second wave appears. When I fought them, I went for maximum damage and loaded up my long range guns with uranium, medium range with iridium and taking them at 18km range. It's important to take missilers down as fast as you can.
Don't be ashamed to warp away and come back if the second wave is too much to handle. This encounter is not easy.
Note: If you had a hard time with this mission (meaning you had to warp away, even after trying this mission multiple times), then it is very likely that you aren't ready for mission 4. Consider yourself warned.
Reward 149000, bonus 130000, 258 LP (Quality 17)
Difficulty: 10/10 - there is a warp scrambler here. If you can't take this fight, you will lose your ship.
This is it. The level 2 ship killer. Many players will tell you that level 2 missions don't have warp scramblers. They are wrong.
When you warp in, all you'll see is an innocent looking acceleration gate. No targets are around. Then, suddenly, the following wave spawns:
They appear scattered, about 17-25km out.
It is imperative that you go for maximum and efficient damage in this encounter. You're going to be hit with volleys of 6 missiles every 11 seconds or so, and your shields will be down after only a few of these. If you can't take down at least a couple Fighters very quickly, you will likely lose this encounter, and your ship, because the interceptor may be warp scrambling you. That means if you need to warp away, you can't.
To make the encounter more difficult, the Interceptor may also be webbing you, so you have a limited amount of time before the Fighters get too close for your guns to handle them. At that point, it will be your drones' task to take out the Fighters. The Interceptor moves very fast, so don't expect to outrun its webbing effect for long. To inflict maximum damage on the Fighters, ignore the ones that are too close and shoot at the ones that are just outside your optimal range. Save the close ones for last. Remember, it is imperative that you take down any given Fighter quickly. It would be best to kill Fighters before they get close at all - that way your guns can fully work with the drones to take them out. So target the closest fighter outside of optimal range, kill it, and target the next closest one outside of optimal range. Repeat. Targetting the farther ones also makes you more likely to hit them because they are heading straight at you instead of orbitting. Remember that.
Thankfully, the Fighters don't have projectile weapons, so when they do get close, all you'll be taking from them is continued missile damage. The Interceptor, however, has projectile weapons and will be orbiting your ship quickly and firing at you while you take out the Fighters. Hopefully, by the time you take down the Fighters, you'll have enough armor and cap left to withstand the Interceptor until it explodes. With my build, I barely have enough cap recharge to keep my armor level steady at a very low level as the Interceptor picks away at me. Your drones are about your only option with the Interceptor once it gets close, unless you have short range guns. It will shield tank for a while but will eventually run out of cap. The fight with the Interceptor can last as long as it takes to destroy the 5 Fighters.
This mission is a hard exercise in dealing damage and maintaining your health. I warped in with my long range guns loaded with uranium and my short range loaded with iridium, to do maximum damage out to 18km or so. I did NOT use my afterburner - I needed the cap! I recommend 400mm armor plating and a Medium Armor Repair for this mission alone. Use the Medium Shield Booster at your own risk - it sucks cap faster and repairs less. I realized eventually that all the missions become easier having this equipment. If your drone skill is high (4+), you might even be able to go with 800mm armor and lesser guns for more tanking power, and let your drones do most of the work. But I imagine if your drone skill is that high, you probably have already moved on to level 3 missions anyway, unless you haven't raised the rest of your skills yet.
Once the wave is down, pat yourself on the back for defeating the toughest level 2 mission I've seen, and do your turnin.
Reward 210000, bonus 193000, 242 LP (Quality 0)
Difficulty: 8/10 - the first encounter of part 1 can work your shields down hard.
This mission will take you about an hour. The first part is the most difficult (Update: now that the Support Frigates in the second part will web and fire their guns, I believe that the second part is now the hardest). The second part can be hard if you don't go after the correct targets first. The third part is, just, well, annoying.
For stage 1, harden kinetic/thermal. For stage 2 and 3, harden EM/thermal. If you can handle all the kinetic damage of stage 1, you could just harden EM/thermal for the whole thing.
Part 1 (8/10)
When you first warp in, you are attacked by the following wave:
Group 1 (8/10):
When you first warp in, immediately start moving away from the rest of the deadspace so you don't wander too close to any of the other enemies while you're killing this wave. Destroy the Soldiers, then the Griffins. If you aren't fighting efficiently, you may need to warp away and come back. Once you beat this encounter, the rest are easier.
Group 2 (7/10):
Keep this target at range at about 34km or so (afterburner helps) and send in your drones, supporting with your long range guns. The occasional missile that hits you isn't so bad, but if you get closer than 30km, the Moa will start firing its guns and take your health down even faster. This target takes a while to kill, so do what you can to keep your health higher.
Group 3:
Take these at range as well (34km or so). The Soldiers go down fast. The Detective has a nasty gun much like the Moa's, and will start firing when it gets within 30km of you.
Group 4:
Take the Scouts out first. The Crucifiers and Executioners are harmless outside of 12km.
Part 2 (8/10)
In this deadspace, you will be attacked by the following enemies:
Note: The Amarr Delta frigates can now damage you and will web you (new with Bloodlines patch), so they are now a priority target! I believe it may now be best to take out the Support Frigates first, since they cause the bulk of the damage.
The frigates will orbit you at close range, and the Support Frigates will web you. Meanwhile, the guns will be firing at you from up to 60km away. I believe it may be best to take out the Support Frigates first, then take out a couple of the towers, then send drones after the Soldiers. As the Soldiers are being damaged, go after the third gun. If you allow yourself to be damaged by everything for too long, your shields and armor will get eaten up, so it's important to take targets out quickly.
You may get different ships other than the Soldiers - but the Support Frigates and Sentry Guns are constant.
Update: I just tried this in a Minmatar Stabber, which had 3 short range weapons (inluding light missiles) and 3 medium range artillery guns. Putting the artillery on a tower and the short range weapons on a Support Frigate on warp-in worked pretty well, but I still had to warp out after they were destroyed. When I came back, I could finish the wave easily.
Part 3 (6/10)
When you warp in, you'll see a huge armada of warships in the distance (130km), inside a large green cloud. Also, you'll notice an acceleration gate there. Fortunately, you don't need to use that gate or fight the armada. However, there is one target nearby you must defeat:
This frigate will orbit you quickly, web you, may warp scramble you, and pick away at you with its projectile weapons and missiles. Send in your drones.
Once the frigate is destroyed, you will get your mission complete message, and can return to your agent.
Keep note of this place, though. It might be interesting to find out what is past that acceleration gate (actually, it doesn't work - drat)...