Align to Gate! Updates for Skills & NPE | EVE Online

Align to Gate! Updates for Skills & NPE

2021-08-24 - By EVE Online Team

New and experienced Capsuleers,

A brand-new Capsuleer training experience for rookie pilots in EVE Online is now available for testing on the Singularity test server! In addition, Skill Plans are also being introduced, alongside other updates to the skills system, to help new and established pilots plan their skill progression to achieve their interstellar aims. Both features are still being polished, so log in to Singularity today to give us feedback on them!

New players can now arrive in New Eden and get their initial Capsuleer training from the Association for Interdisciplinary Research (AIR), be recruited and ally themselves with established player corporations, then start the path to advancement via certified Skill Plans to get started on career paths outlined in EVE Academy, or custom Skill Plans devised by players themselves.


New Player Experience

This major update to EVE’s new player experience is the first step towards an improved introduction to New Eden for all Capsuleers. By investing in improvements to this gateway segment of every new player’s journey into EVE, more Capsuleers will join and remain in the EVE universe. They will be as ready as ever to be recruited, trained, and integrated by veteran Capsuleers, so be sure to read the development blog on the new player experience changes for full details of the update.

The Association for Interdisciplinary Research (AIR) is a new corporation that is focused heavily on research and development of new technologies across multiple industries.

AIR’s new Capsuleer training program will deliver waves of new pilots into New Eden, providing established player corporations and alliances a fresh stream of potential candidates for recruitment and training. AIR’s new and improved tech is top secret, of interest to many other parties in New Eden and could be at risk.


Skill Plans

Get ready to streamline and simplify your progression through EVE’s many skills and advancement avenues with Skill Plans! This feature allows you to build a list of skills, without needing to buy and inject them first. A Skill Plan is an ordered list of skill levels with specific goals which you can create and keep track of to follow your training as you aim for your desired experiences and challenges in EVE. Check out the Skill Plans development blog for full details on this new feature.

One major benefit of Skill Plans is that they enable players to share lists of skills with each other. The sharing of such plans and interaction with them in the EVE Online client is now possible. You will be able to share any Skill Plan in a chat, EVE Mail, corp bulletin, etc., just like a ship fitting.

You can set up to five milestones in a Skill Plan, indicating specific sub-goals within it, and a milestone will be completed as soon you train all the skills required for the item or skill in question.

The introduction of the Skill Plans means that the skills window will be changing. It will be removed from the character sheet panel and will receive a new, fully separate window, accessible directly from the NeoCom menu.


Align to Gate

The updated new player experience and the new Skill Plans are – as stated above – now on the Singularity test server, ready to be put through their paces thoroughly by all! The NPE and Skill Plans are both a work-in-progress, so there will be elements of both that will need polishing and optimizing before release. To that end, EVE’s meticulous and detail-oriented community are invited to test the above to within an inch of their existence, ensuring that all potential kinks can be ironed out for release! Please remember to provide feedback on the NPE forum thread and the Skill Plans forum thread.

As well as improving the whole epic EVE Online experience for new pilots from the moment they enter New Eden and set goals, to achieving milestones and training to be who they want to be in EVE, the revamped new player experience and Skill Plans feature offer experienced Capsuleers and established corporations a great opportunity.

With these updates and the initial launch of EVE Academy, new Capsuleers are introduced to the wonders of EVE and the various paths they can take to make their mark. It will be a great time to start playing EVE and as the word spreads, through communications, the community, and increased marketing, New Eden will see an influx of new players flying through its gates. It will be a great time to mobilize and bolster the ranks of your organizations with fresh recruits, primed for training, ready to be given glorious purpose and ambition with your guidance! Content creators, don’t miss your chance to create essential material for fresh pilots! For fellow established EVE players now is a great time to get ready for recruiting. There will be many opportunities in the coming months to show off your content and corporations!

Be sure to also keep an eye on Twitch and YouTube for some exciting and related material coming soon.