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EVE Evolved: Exploration -- Loot and plunder!

Brendan Drain — Sun, 11 Jul 2010 18:00:00 EST

Filed under: Sci-fi, EVE Online, Game mechanics, Professions, PvE, Hands-on, EVE Evolved

Exploration is one of EVE Online's most lucrative and enjoyable PvE professions, combining complex probe-scanning with mission-style combat. Through exploration, you'll find hidden sites across New Eden, packed full of NPCs to kill and loot to grab. Exploration is a casual PvE element that spans all skill levels, with new players able to get involved from their first week in the game. In last week's first part of this guide to exploration, I explained how new players can get into the lucrative profession and examined one of the most popular scanning techniques.

A wide range of hidden sites spawn across EVE, just waiting for a lucky traveller to scan them out. Tucked away in the depths of space, you'll find hidden asteroid belts, hacking database, archeological relics, salvaging fields and unstable wormholes. Those looking for riches will be pleased to find cosmic anomalies full of NPCs to kill and dungeon-like military complexes with a chance to drop rare and expensive loot.

In this guide, I look at the different types of site you can find via exploration, what loot you can expect to find in each of them and what kind of challenge you'll face.

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EVE Evolved: Exploration -- Loot and plunder! originally appeared on Massively on Sun, 11 Jul 2010 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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EVE Evolved: Exploration -- The basics

Brendan Drain — Sun, 04 Jul 2010 18:00:00 EST

Filed under: Sci-fi, EVE Online, Game mechanics, Professions, PvE, Hands-on, EVE Evolved, Guides

When we talk about EVE Online, it's often about PvP or the latest political intrigue in the sandbox. Less talked about is the game's core PvE gameplay, which for many players is the entire scope of their interests. I've covered a number of great ways to make ISK in previous guides, from my three-part series on trading and extensive four-part guide to research to the similarly thorough three-part guide to mission-running. Most recently I tackled the age-old art of asteroid-belt ratting in nullsec. Another of EVE's most popular PvE pastimes is exploration, where players scan out hidden mission-like sites hoping to strike it rich.

Exploration is one of those things that spans players of all skill levels, with new players able to make a useful contribution and group up with older veterans. Within a week of starting the game, new players can be locating hidden complexes, doing battle with the local NPCs and hopefully finding some valuable loot. Although exploration sites use the same deadspace dungeon and combat mechanics as missions, there are a few key differences. While missions can be created at will by going to an agent NPC, exploration sites spawn randomly in space and have to be manually scanned down using probes.

In this week's first part of the EVE Evolved guide to exploration, I look at the ships and equipment you'll need, and the scanning techniques typically used to find hidden exploration sites.

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EVE Evolved: Exploration -- The basics originally appeared on Massively on Sun, 04 Jul 2010 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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EVE Evolved: One account is good enough

Brendan Drain — Sun, 30 Aug 2009 18:00:00 EST

Filed under: Sci-fi, EVE Online, Game mechanics, Guides, Professions, PvP, Tips and tricks, PvE, Opinion, Hands-on, EVE Evolved

In a typical MMO, players will have one main character that they dedicate most of their time and effort to. They may also have alternate characters on the same account that they use to try out different classes or starting areas. EVE Online is different in that it's not really feasible to play multiple characters on the same account. While each EVE account has three character slots, only one can be actively training skills at one time. Taking a break to train up another character means losing training time on your main one. And since any character can learn any skill, it's often better to just train those skills on your main character rather than making a dedicated alt for it. Many players suggest getting a second account but is that really necessary? And what do you do with those two extra character shots on your account?

In this article, I look at some nifty things you can do with your main account's two extra character slots without paying for a second account.

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EVE Evolved: One account is good enough originally appeared on Massively on Sun, 30 Aug 2009 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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EVE Evolved: A guide to probing in Apocrypha

Brendan Drain — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 20:00:00 EST

Filed under: Sci-fi, EVE Online, Expansions, Game mechanics, Guides, Professions, Making money, Endgame, Tips and tricks, PvE, Hands-on, EVE Evolved

Several years ago, CCP released a new upgrade for EVE Online's standard system scanner. Scanner probes were deployable tools that could be used to find ships, drones and a few hidden complexes lost in the vastness of space. The system was later expanded to provide an awesome exploration experience - combat encounters, dungeons and rich asteroid belts were strewn throughout space for some lucky explorer to find.

With EVE's latest expansion, the exploration system received a complete overhaul. A new scanning system was devised, complete with new probes and probe launchers. As if that wasn't enough, a new "True Exploration" mechanic was introduced with the appearance of wormholes all throughout space. Many wormholes lead to one of the 2500 new star systems that aren't on the main system map, each of which contains lucrative but dangerous sleeper NPCs that drop components for tech 3 ship production.

In this article, I delve into the new probing system with complete strategies that have been proven to work. Read on to get an edge on wormhole exploration.

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EVE Evolved: A guide to probing in Apocrypha originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 16 Mar 2009 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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EVE Evolved: Apocrypha expansion preview

Brendan Drain — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 19:30:00 EST

Filed under: At a glance, Sci-fi, Galleries, Screenshots, EVE Online, Expansions, Game mechanics, Patches, Previews, PvE, Hands-on, EVE Evolved

As March 10th draws ever closer, EVE Online's Apocrypha expansion is coming more and more into focus. Information on the new game mechanics and content is being released in the form of developer blogs and the official expansion page complete with screenshots and artwork is already up. Most importantly, a test version of the expansion is live on Singularity, EVE's main test server. Like any good journalist, I took my camera crew onto the test server to get some pictures of Apocrypha in action. What I found blew me away, literally.

In this gallery article, I take a visual sneak peak at parts of the impressive new Apocrypha expansion with a whopping 37 screenshots. In each screenshot, I talk about all of the new additions to the game.

EVE Apocrypha preview gallery > >

Gallery: EVE Apocrypha Preview

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EVE Evolved: Apocrypha expansion preview originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 02 Mar 2009 19:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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