EVE Echoes Beginner’s Guide - Handy Tips and Tricks to Help You Get Started
EVE Echoes is a huge game, with a staggering amount of content and things to do, as well as a living and breathing economy that will draw you in and never let you go if you let it. In fact, the game is so deep and complex, that one of its main drawbacks is that it might spoil other titles for you, at least if you’re into these kinds of space sandbox sims.
However, this variety doesn’t come without a cost. Namely, you have to put a lot of effort into learning a ton of different systems if you want to progress in EVE Echoes. And while the wealth of knowledge that you’ll need is far too large to condense into a single article, we wanted to create an EVE Echoes beginner’s guide with the absolute minimum that you need to know in order to get a decent start in this game.
If you’re a newcomer and are interested in getting into EVE Echoes, then this article is for you.
Choose the Faction That You Like the Most
EVE Online is all about making decisions that may affect your experience greatly down the line, and EVE Echoes mirrors this type of game design to a certain degree. Luckily, when it comes to the first big decision that you’ll make in this game, which is choosing your starter faction, it doesn’t really affect anything other than your starting location.
If you’re just starting out and want to know what the best EVE Echoes civilization is, then there’s really no true answer here other than “the one you like the most”. At some point down the line, you’ll be able to acquire starships of any faction, which is the largest difference between each faction at the beginning. Other than that, each faction also has their own tenets, principles, beliefs, cultures, and ways of life which, for roleplaying purposes, may play a larger role in your decision. As such, we recommend just choosing the faction that resonates with you the most.
Feel free to read our EVE Echoes factions guide to learn more about each major group in the game. Furthermore, if you don’t want to choose, you can simply play EVE Echoes on PC with BlueStacks, and use the Instance Manager to play on 4 different accounts at the same time, therefore letting you play on all factions simultaneously. Check out our PC setup guide for EVE Echoes to learn more.
Play Through Both the Initial and the Advanced Tutorials
It’s difficult to put the massive scope and depth of EVE Echoes in a single article, which is why this guide is only touching upon the basics of the basics—or in other words, the bare minimum to know in order to get started.
Luckily, EVE Echoes has a comprehensive tutorial process that takes you through many different mission types and menus and will give you a hands-on explanation of how to actually play the game. In fact, there are two types of tutorials: The beginner tutorial that you play as soon as you start the game, and the Advanced Tutorials, which not only explain more mechanics but also require you to complete optional encounter missions in exchange for valuable rewards.
Starting in EVE Echoes can be quite perplexing and confusing, but the tutorials will always keep you focused on an objective, and teach you lots of useful things while you’re at it.
Complete Encounters to Progress and Collect Rewards
Nevertheless, the tutorials won’t always be there to hold your hand, especially in the case of the Advanced Tutorials. In fact, some of these tutorials often require you to achieve certain milestones or to complete certain prerequisites, in order to give you additional rewards. Luckily, the Encounters section has a veritable ton of different missions that you can complete on a daily basis. Specifically, you can accept and complete up to 40 of these every day, which you definitely should try to do since Encounters shower you with awesome rewards upon completion.
If anything, Encounters also give you a taste of every type of mission in the game. From transporting missions, and exploration missions, to transfer mining, and combat missions. We recommend doing a few of these Encounter assignments as soon as they become available just to see what EVE Echoes is all about.
Pay Attention to the Faction Icons in Combat Missions
Despite the factions not affecting much for the players much, the same doesn’t apply when it comes to Encounters. Specifically, paying attention to the opposite factions before accepting Encounter tasks can give you important insights about the enemies that you might run into, especially in combat missions. Furthermore, when you’re accepting an Encounter that is put forward by any of the four major factions, these count toward the story objectives for the respective faction, which in turn contributes to unlocking new starships and items.
Always check the factions involved in any Encounter before accepting them, as these can help you to know who you’re helping, and will lead to awesome prizes down the line.
Always Consider the System and Sector Security Levels
Whatever you decide to do to make a name for yourself in EVE Echoes, you will inevitably find yourself cruising through space more often than not. In fact, whenever you’re not in a station conducting trades or taking up new assignments, you’ll probably be in space working on completing a mission. This is why you need to always know about the concept of system security and what it means to you as a freelancing space adventurer.
Luckily, this term is quite straightforward and easy to understand: The security level of a system refers to the repercussions suffered by players who attack other players within the said system. These security levels are separated into three main color-coded numerical ranges:
- 0.6 – 1: Green security, also known as “High Sec”.
- 0.3 – 0.5: Yellow security, also known as “Low Sec”.
- -1 – 0.2: Red security, also known as “Null Sec”.
In a nutshell, the higher the number of the security level, the more secure the sector or system. Case in point, at Green security levels, players can’t attack other players. Meanwhile, in Yellow “Low Sec” systems, players can openly attack others, but not without suffering serious repercussions and penalties, which most players won’t want to risk. Lastly, Null Sec is where all safeties are off and players can freely attack others without consequences.
No matter where your travels take you, remember to steer clear of Null Sec systems unless you have a group of allies watching your back. And don’t forget: All ship losses are permanent, so think twice before attacking someone that might bite back harder than you expected.
While this introduction barely skims the surface on all the things that you’ll find along your travels in EVE Echoes, we believe you have the absolute minimum needed to get a decent start. By working through the tutorials and getting acquainted with the encounters menu, you’ll be able to make steady progress in this game and get steady access to all the different starships and technologies.
