Welcome to EVE. Look around and take it all in. It is incredibly beautiful, isn't it? When you are finally able to stop looking at everything around you, do the tutorial missions. The tutorial missions are the easiest and quickest way for you to get to know the very basics of EVE. Please, please take advantage and complete the tutorial missions. Those who came before did not have the benefit of such an extensive tutorial to welcome them to EVE.
Once you have completed the A New Life tutorial, do all the starter career tutorials. These will introduce you to most of the careers in EVE. The other great thing about doing all these tutorials is that afterwards you should be very close to having the funds needed to buy your next ship.
When all the tutorials are done, then explore, explore, and explore some more. EVE is more and more unforgiving the further you get into it. To do things becomes more expensive and any mistake can be extremely costly. So it is best to make mistakes at this stage rather than later. Don't worry about losing the first few ships; a free rookie ship will be supplied for you in that event.
Tip
The golden rule of EVE
Do not fly anything that you cannot afford to lose. If it took every ISK you have to buy and equip a ship, do not undock in it. EVE will always find a way for you to lose that ship, so you have been warned. Don't do it. Only fly it once you are able to immediately replace that ship and equipment when lost.
Like everything else in EVE , the amount of skills available is staggering. You can be constantly training and never completely train all the skills in EVE to their maximum level. Before you are able to fly that shiny new ship or equip a new piece of equipment onto your ship, you need to have the skill to use it. Skillbooks cost ISK to purchase and the skill takes time to train. Simple, right? You will soon learn that nothing is ever simple in EVE!
In your first days there are a few skill groups that you should focus on.
These groups, as shown in the previous screenshot, are as follows:
Electronics
Engineering
Mechanics
Navigation
Spaceship Command
These skills will ensure you're using your ships and equipment as efficiently as possible at this early stage of things.
But there are still so many skills in each of those groups, how do you know which ones to train first? Well, CCP has provided a handy tool to help you with that.
The certification planner, as shown in the following screenshot, is a recent addition to EVE. It can become your best friend as you navigate the maze of skills available in EVE. Think of the certificates as a grouping of necessary skills to achieve competence in a given area. For example, the Core Capacitor basic certificate represents a basic competence in managing the energy capacitor of a ship. There are four levels of certificates for each certificate group: basic, standard, improved, and elite.
Tip
Check all skill prerequisites manually
CCP, to the best of their abilities, have covered all the prerequisites for a skill in the certification planner. However, it is reasonable for them to have missed a few here and there. Therefore it is very helpful to get into the habit of checking the skill prerequisites of everything. You can check the prerequisites for everything in EVE by clicking on the blue i icon, and then selecting the prerequisites tab.
In your first days in EVE, it is best to get all the certificates in the Core group up to at least Standard level. This will ensure you are able to use most basic ship equipment without many complications.
The speed at which you are able to train a skill is determined by your attributes. When you create a new character in EVE, it is given a balanced distribution of its five attributes: intelligence, perception, charisma, willpower, and memory. Most skills dealing with mining or production depend on intelligence and memory, while most combat-related skills depend on perception and willpower. Skills that involve the EVE market and interaction with NPCs fall on the charisma attribute. Keep in mind though, that intelligence, memory, perception, and willpower are considered primary attributes while charisma is more of a secondary attribute.
When your character is new, you are given two free neural remaps that you can use immediately. After the first two, you will be able to remap once a year. It is a good idea to remap your attribute points to maximize the two primary attributes for your chosen career. In this way you are minimizing the amount of time needed to train for skills required for that career. If you decide to change your career, then remap your attributes accordingly. Just keep in mind that after the initial two, you have to wait a full year before you can remap again. It may be best to read Chapter 2, When I Grow Up I Want to be a (Wealthy) Miner through to Chapter 6, Playing the Market first to get an idea of what you may want to do before your first neural remap.