Saturday, January 24, 2026

Making a living in EVE Online: Part 1 — Quick wins and survival habits

Most new pilots hit the same moment: you finally have some ISK, you lose a ship, and suddenly you’re doing mental math at every undock.

This post is here to break that cycle. The goal isn’t to get filthy rich on week one. Though THAT would be fun. Right?


The goal is simpler—and way more important: you learn to stop being broke forever. 

That means you learn a couple of income loops that are predictable, and you adopt a few survival habits that keep your wallet alive even when your ship goes BOOM!! Because it will.


The 3 Core Rules (the ones that actually matter)

Most newbie  (or is it newbro now?) ISK problems aren’t “income problems.” 

They’re habit problems.

If you only take three things from this post, take these:

  1. Don’t die with loot. If you’re carrying value, your ship is now a piñata.
  2. Bank often. Dock, dump, go back out. Don’t let a “just one more site” ruin your sortie.
  3. Fly cheap. Your ship should be replaceable after one good run (two max).

Everything below is just different ways to earn while following those rules. Here's the quick overview before we dive deep in each of these ISK-making tracks.


The 5 Starter ISK tracks ( you may want to pick two to start)

You don’t need to do everything at once. Think of these as five starter “money lanes” you can mix and match depending on what you enjoy and how much risk you want.

  • Track 1 — The runway (free money + momentum): Career Agents, AIR goals, and other early rewards that give you ships, modules, and a few million ISK to get moving.
  • Track 2 and 2B — Exploration basics (+ event sites): Fast ramp, low startup cost. Scan, hack, cash out. Event sites are the “bonus round” when they’re live.
  • Track 3 — High-sec mining: Steady, predictable income. Great as a baseline while skills train and you learn the game.
  • Track 4 — L1–L3 missions + salvage: Structured, repeatable cashflow. Missions pay reliably, and salvage turns “okay money” into “actually decent money.”
  • Track 5 — Basic hauling (low collateral, smart picks): Logistics for profit. Safest early version is hauling your own loot; courier contracts only if you keep it conservative.

Quick warning before you push forward: this post quite long and somewhat dense (but in a good way).


[Disclaimer: This isn’t the definitive newbie guide to EVE Online, and I’m not pretending it is. It’s the result of my research and my own “returning to EVE” experience, written to help me make sense of the early game and build solid ISK-making habits again.

I’m sharing it because if it helps me get sharp, it’ll probably help other new (or returning) pilots too. If you’ve got better approaches, edge cases, or corrections, I genuinely want to hear them, consider this a living guide.]



TRACK 1: The free money you shouldn’t skip

Start HERE!: EVE Academy (Learn all the basics!) and EVE University

Before you start optimizing “ISK/hr,” make sure you’ve collected the early-game runway CCP basically hands you.

Career Agents are the big one. They’re not glamorous, but they pay out solid early ISK and give you useful ships/modules. If you’re new enough that you’re still figuring out why your guns aren’t firing, Career Agents are your “get stable” button.

Then you’ve got the AIR Career Program / Daily Goals. The ISK is modest, but the real value is that it keeps you moving forward and throws skill points and rewards at you while you’re learning. It’s a nice background drip that adds up.

And if you want something that earns while you’re in-station or half-distracted, Project Discovery is a weird little side hustle. Totally optional, totally safe. Not “rich quick,” but it’s profit while you’re fitting, watching a show, or taking a break.

If you do those, you’ll stop feeling like every ship loss is a financial catastrophe.


TRACK 2: Exploration (fast ramp, low startup cost)

Start HERE!: EVE Academy / Careers / Explorer 

If you want the quickest “real” ISK ramp as a newbie, exploration is usually it. The startup cost is low, the skills are useful forever, and the income can jump dramatically as you learn where to go and when to cash out.

What you’re doing is simple: you scan signatures, run relic/data sites, hack containers, and sell the loot.

Where new explorers go wrong isn’t scanning. It’s greed.

They finally get a decent haul, and instead of docking, they say: “Just one more site.” That’s when EVE turns you into content.

So your exploration loop should look like this:

  1. Go out with a cheap T1 exploration frigate
  2. Run a few sites
  3. The moment you’re carrying “enough to hurt,” you dock and sell or stash
  4. Repeat

That’s it. That’s the whole trick.

The bare minimum explorer fit (don’t overthink it)

You don’t need a novel’s worth of modules. You need the basics: a probe launcher, analyzers, a prop mod, and a plan to leave when things feel wrong.

A short checklist helps here:

  • Core probe launcher + probes
  • Relic analyzer + data analyzer
  • Afterburner or MWD (mobility is life)
  • The rest: scanning help or basic survivability/escape tools (cheap)

Exploration is one of those careers where habits beat fits. A flawless fit won’t save you if you keep carrying 80M in loot because you’re feeling lucky.

A quick reality check

Yes: high-sec exploration can feel underwhelming compared to what you hear from EVE veterans.

That doesn’t mean high-sec exploration is bad. It means you should treat high-sec exploration as training wheels and “starter cash,” then learn to explore quieter pockets away from major routes. Even staying in high-sec, simply getting away from trade hub gravity makes a difference.


TRACK 2B: Event sites (when they’re live, they’re real money)

Whenever CCP runs an event (Winter Nexus being the most recent event), you should at least look at the sites via The Agency. The Agency is your go-to hub for finding things to do in EVE—asteroid belts, signatures, anomalies, and agents. If there are any live events running, you’ll also see them featured on the Agency’s Home tab. 

Event sites tend to be very accessible and can pay well for the effort, especially for new players who don’t have the skills for higher-tier activities yet.

The mistake here is the same as exploration: staying out too long with loot, or pushing into content you’re not ready for.

So the newbie approach is:

  • stick to the high-sec versions at first,
  • treat loot like loot (bank it),
  • and don’t “force” a site that feels spicy.


TRACK 3: High-sec mining (steady, safe-ish, predictable)


Start HERE!: EVE Academy / Careers / Industrialist / Miner

Mining is not the fastest ISK/hr in the early game, but it’s one of the most reliable ways to keep a steady flow of money while your skills train. It's also great for those doing in corps, and enjoying a good chat with corpmates.

The Venture is built for exactly this: it’s a newbie entry ship (2 skills, 25min to train both) that makes mining straightforward and affordable.

Mining (EVE Wiki) is best used in this series as your “baseline income.” It’s what you do when you want predictable progress and a low-stress session.

Here’s the part newer players miss: high-sec mining is not risk-free. If you mine half-AFK, you can absolutely get popped. So treat it like everything else in EVE—pay attention, fly cheap, bank regularly, don’t haul your entire net worth in one trip.

If you end up loving mining, great. If you don’t, also great. It’s a tool in the toolbox, not a religion.


TRACK 4: L1–L3 missions + salvage (the structured, dependable path)

Start HERE!: EVE Academy / Careers / Enforcer / Mission Runner

If exploration feels chaotic and mining feels sleepy, mission running is the “I want structure” option.

Missions pay out in a few ways at once—direct rewards, bounties, loot, and LP (which becomes more important later). Early on, the main value is consistency. You can log in, run missions, get paid, and improve your ship step by step; or even get better, bigger ships—ooh, that Cormorant!

The secret sauce for starter ISK isn’t missions alone, though. It’s missions plus salvage.

Salvage is one of the best early multipliers because you’re turning wrecks into additional income. A simple destroyer makes a great early salvaging boat because it can fit multiple salvagers (and tractor beams if you want).

Here’s the mission + salvage rhythm that works really well early:

Run missions quickly for a bit, then do a dedicated salvage pass. Don’t try to “salvage everything immediately” unless you enjoy doubling your mission time for pennies. Batch it.

The only bullets you really need for salvage

  • Run a few missions first (bookmark wreck fields if you want)
  • Swap to a salvage destroyer
  • Hoover the field, sell loot + salvage
  • Bank it, repeat

That loop alone can carry a new player’s ship replacement costs comfortably.


TRACK 5: Basic hauling (small, smart, low-collateral)


Start HERE!: EVE Academy / Careers / Industrialist / Hauler

Hauling is where newbies either learn good logistics habits… or learn what “collateral” means the hard way.

Courier contracts can be fine, but you must treat collateral as “money you are willing to lose.” Because if you fail the contract, you lose it. Full stop.

So in this post, we’re not doing “space trucking hero.” We’re doing “basic hauling that doesn’t turn you into a cautionary tale.”

The safest early hauling is simply hauling your own loot intelligently—moving exploration loot or mission loot to where you’ll sell it, in smaller loads, with frequent banking.

If you do courier contracts early, keep it conservative:

  • high-sec routes only,
  • low collateral (painful to lose, but not quit-the-game painful),
  • and be suspicious of “amazing payout” contracts.

A lot of scams and gank setups are basically just greed traps wearing a contract UI.


Your first-week plan (simple, effective, repeatable)

You don’t need five income streams at once. That’s how people end up doing none of them well.

Do this instead:

Days 1–2: build runway
Do Career Agents, collect early rewards, get a few ships/modules in the hangar. 

Days 3–5: pick two loops
Pick one “active” loop (exploration or missions) and one “steady” loop (mining or salvage). You’ll learn faster and you’ll earn more. 

Days 6–7: add one logistics habit

Start hauling your own loot in smaller chunks, or try very conservative courier contracts if you like that style.

👉 That way, you can quickly find out, what career track best fits you preferences and likings.

But, and this is important one, if this plan doesn’t fit how you play, disregard it completely. 

The only goal is simple: find one or two loops you can repeat, and keep yourself funded. And as long as your having fun doing that, you're all set!


What success looks like after going through the motions laid out above

If you follow the loops and the three rules, you’ll reach the point where:

  • you can buy your next ship and fit without panic,
  • you can buy skillbooks without stalling out,
  • you can lose ships and keep playing,
  • and you’re ready for my next post on serious ISK-making, because you have options—not desperation.

Additional Resources (EVE University Wiki | Bless them!)

Track 1: The Runway (free money + momentum)

Track 2 & 2B: Exploration basics + event sites

Track 3: High-sec mining

Track 4: L1–L3 missions + salvage

Track 5: Basic hauling (low collateral, smart picks)

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Making a living in EVE Online: Part 1 — Quick wins and survival habits

Most new pilots hit the same moment: you finally have some ISK, you lose a ship, and suddenly you’re doing mental math at every undock. This...