I. INTRODUCTION
1. To get things started...
2. Version history
3. Terminology
4. The anatomy of a blueprint
5. Obtaining a blueprint
6. Using your blueprints
II. NAVIGATING THE INTERFACE
1. Jobs
2. Blueprints
3. Corp Blueprints
4. Installations
III. RESEARCH
1. Introduction to research
2. Vital skills
3. Material Research
4. Time Efficiency Research
5. Copying
6. Invention
IV. MANUFACTURING
1. Introduction to manufacturing
2. Vital skills
3. Getting started in manufacturing
I. INTRODUCTION
1. To get things started...
This guide was written by GC13. Do not try to steal it and post it as
your own. If you want to post this guide on your site, then feel free to.
However, e-mail GC13 to tell him you're doing it (make sure to include
"Science and Industry Guide" in the subject). Not only can he then verify
that you are giving him credit for his work, but he can also e-mail you every
time the guide is updated (nothing annoys GC13 more than out of date copies of
guides floating around the internet).
f you have any questions or corrections, then e-mail GC13 (again, make sure to
include "Science and Industry Guide" in the subject).
This guide is also hosted at some of GC13's webspace, and can be downloaded as
a PDF or an HTML file at http://evefiles.mysterious-mysteries.com .
2. Version history
01-10-2007: Some Invention information clarified, re-inserted the language
warning that the interface can only see previously used blueprints, removed
reference to BPCs with unlimited runs.
10-15-2006: Added preliminary Invention section, made various editations, and
reflected changes made in recent patches.
07-07-2006: Made final corrections and modifications and added formula for
mineral cost in manufacturing. Final planned editation until the Kali
expansion.
04-23-2006: Added note about blueprints with different Base Time Wasteage
Factors. Reflected fact that it is now possible to cancel jobs. Covered
roles needed to perform research/manufacturing jobs for your corporation.
02-23-2006: Added the first data about Tech 2 research and production.
Various clarifications.
02-03-2006: Added information on obtaining blueprints, and a general section
on using them. Added Deliver to the list of terminology.
01-25-2006: Guide is put up, basically complete but lacking information about
Tech 2 production.
3. Terminology
First off, some simple terminology that will be used throughout the guide:
BPO: Blueprint original. Can be improved with research, and never runs out
of licensed production runs.
BPC: Blueprint copy. Cannot be improved with research, and has a limited
number of production runs.
Licensed production runs: How many more times a blueprint can be used to
produce an item.
Lab slot: Any assembly line used for Material Research, Time Efficiency
Research, or Copying.
Factory slot: An assembly line used for Manufacturing.
ML: Material Level. Increased by performing Material Research. Also called
"ME" for Material Efficiency.
PL: Productivity Level. Increased by performing Time Efficiency Research.
Run: A single usage of a blueprint, be it increasing the ML or PL by 1,
copying it once, or manufacturing one run's worth of items (this is shown
under the blueprint's Attributes tab by the name of "Produces:") with it.
Job: What gets submitted to the assembly lines. Consists of a certain number
of runs, ranging from one and going to as many runs as you can complete in
thirty days (the time limit for a job). A job can be canceled once you
accept the quote the installation gives you. However, this results in you
losing everything except for the blueprint (no partial progress is given to
research or construction, and minerals spent on construction are lost), so be
very careful.
Deliver: Finishing a job. When a job is finished, the blueprint and finished
goods are still nowhere to be found until you go to the Jobs tab of the
Science and Industry interface, find the "Ready" job, and deliver it. This
will place the blueprint and the goods in your hangar at the station you
installed the job at (or, in the case of a job using your corporation's
blueprint, will put the blueprint back where it started and will place the
goods where you told it to put them).
4. The anatomy of a blueprint
Attributes:
Manufacturing Time: The amount of time it would take somebody with level 0 in
the Industry skill to build one run with this blueprint.
Manufacturing Time (You): How long it would take you, with your current
Industry skill level, to build one run with this blueprint.
Material Level: How many levels of Material Research that have been done on
this blueprint.
Wastage Factor: The extra minerals it takes to make items with this blueprint,
expressed as a proportion of what a perfect build would require.
Research Material Time: How long it would take someone with level 0 in the
Metallurgy skill to perform one level of Material Research on this blueprint.
Research Material Time (You): How long it would take you, with your current
Metallurgy skill level, to perform one level of Material Research on this
blueprint.
Research Copy Time: How long it would take someone with level 0 in the Science
skill to make a blueprint copy from this blueprint with the maximum number of
allowed licensed production runs.
Research Copy Time (You Per Single Copy): How long it would take you, with
your current Science skill, to make a blueprint copy, per production run in
the job you have installed.
Produces: What you get when you perform a single run of this item in
Manufacturing. Expressed as "Item name [number of items]". Most items only
give one item per run, but most ammunition give one hundred.
Copy: Whether or not this item is a blueprint copy. Blueprint copies cannot
be used in lab slots.
Research Productivity Time: How long it would take someone with level 0 in the
Research skill to perform one level of Time Efficiency Research on this
blueprint.
Research Productivity Time (You): How long it would take you, with your
current Research skill level, to perform one level of Time Efficiency Research
on this blueprint.
Productivity Level: How many levels of Time Efficiency Research that have been
done on this blueprint.
Licensed Production Runs Remaining: How many more runs of Manufacturing this
blueprint can be used for. Says "Infinite" for BPOs and a few very, very old
BPCs.
Bill of Materials:
Skills: Lists any skills you need to perform either manufacturing or research
(specific to the tab) on this blueprint. Tech 1 stuff does not have any skill
requirements, while Tech 2 requires level 5 in the job-specific skill
(Metallurgy for Material Research, Research for Time Efficiency Research,
Science for Copying, and Industry for Manufacturing) as well as certain skill
levels in R&D skills applicable to that blueprint.
Materials: Lists what it takes to perform one run of manufacturing or research
(again, specific to the tab) on this blueprint (note that only tech level 2
blueprints need any materials to be researched). Unless you have Production
Efficiency 5, it will display two values: "You" and "Perfect" here. The "You"
value shows what it would take you to make a single run with the blueprint,
while the "Perfect" value shows what somebody with Production Efficiency 5
needs. Note that this value's name refers to your skills, and not the
Material Level of the blueprint.
Tech 2 production will require R.Dbs for research and copying, R.A.M.s for
manufacturing, and various consumer goods for both. Various components are
used in constructing T2 ships, and Morphite and various reactions (produced at
starbases with moon materials) can also be used to manufacture any T2 stuff.
5. Obtaining a blueprint
The easiest and most common way to get a blueprint is to buy the un-researched
BPO off of the market. You can easily get any tech level 1 blueprint this
way, and there is an unlimited stock of them. Certain blueprints are not sold
by NPCs in certain regions, so the blueprint may be marked up by a player
reseller depending on where you are. A good way to be safe is to buy the
blueprints for ships in a region belonging to that ship's race (buy Caldari
blueprints in Lonetrek or The Forge, for example).
If there are no NPC blueprint sellers in your region and you want to find out
for certain where you can buy a given blueprint, go to the Item Database at
www.eve-online.com/itemdatabase and find the blueprint you want (either by
navigating to it starting with the Manufacture and Research category, or going
to the item you want to build then clicking on the link to the blueprint).
Once at the blueprint's entry, click on the NPC Market tab to be shown what
NPC corporations are buying and selling the blueprint. Once you know who is
selling it, you can search for the corporation in-game using the Corporation
search feature available on the People and Places button. Check the
corporation's Settled Systems tab to find the station nearest you, then fly
there to claim your blueprint.
You can get BPCs for special ships (such as the Worm or the Caldari Navy Raven
to name two) from agent offers (for the faction navy ships), or from doing
certain complexes or killing special random NPC pirate spawns (for the pirate
faction ships like the Worm).
There is also the possibility of buying off of escrow. Usually you'll just
find short-run BPCs for ships (and sometimes ammo), but it's worth a shot if
you want to make yourself or a friend a ship, but don't want to buy the BPO
for it. To tell if a blueprint on escrow is a copy or an original, first
right-click the entry and Inspect Merchandise. Don't bother using Show Info
on the blueprint, as it won't give you information about that specific
blueprint. Instead, look at the values in the columns on the table that
popped up. A copy will have "No" in the "Original" column and a numerical
value in the "BPRuns" column. Likewise, an original will say "Yes" in the
"Original" column and have "Unlimited" written in the "BPRuns" column. Also
make sure you check the Material Level and Productivity Level columns to see
if the seller is telling the truth about the research he's done. Be very wary
of scams; people will often try to pass copies as originals, or tech 1
blueprints as tech 2 blueprints that have been "accidentally" priced cheaper
than they normally go for. If you don't take the time to check the
information, you may fall for an easily-avoidable scam.
Finally, there is a trading channel for blueprints.
In order to obtain a tech level 2 BPO, you need to participate in the BPO
lottery. I won't go into any sort of detail here, as there is an excellent
guide to this (and the R&D agents which facilitate it) on the Eve forums at
http://myeve.eve-online.com/ingameboard.asp?a=topic&threadID=86084 . Still,
let it suffice to say that a very limited quantity of tech level 2 BPOs are
distributed via this lottery, meaning they are very expensive to purchase (the
only way to get them is in the lottery, or to buy them from people who won the
lottery).
6. Using your blueprints
As with most things in Eve, right-clicking on your blueprints opens many
doors. Right-clicking on any blueprint gives you the option to initiate any
job with the blueprint. Once you choose the kind of job you want to start, it
will then ask you to choose which assembly line you want to use. If the
installation you want to use is at a station, you need to choose an
installation at the same station the blueprint is in. If the installation is
at a starbase, you can choose any starbase in the same solar system as the
blueprint, so long as you are allowed to use that starbase and your blueprint
is located in your corporation's hangar at a station.
It doesn't matter if you are using the blueprint while it's in your Items
window at a space station, in your Assets window, or in the Science and
Industry window: you need to right-click the blueprint to do anything with it.
It is also worth noting that after you submit a job, the server has marked
down when the job will finish, and improving your skills (such as Industry for
a manufacturing job) will not affect the time to finish that job.
II. NAVIGATING THE INTERFACE
The Science and Industry window has a lot of people confused, but at its heart
it is very simple and intuitive. This interface is used to review what
research and manufacturing jobs you have done, are currently doing, or are
finished and waiting to be delivered.
TAB 1: Jobs
Here you have a few filtering options. The default should be on the "show
less options" choice, which allows you to sort by the kind of Activity the job
is, the State the job is in, and the Owner of the job. Selecting "show more
options" opens up the ability to sort by the Creator, the Range, and the
From/To dates (From Date and To Date do not seem to work at the moment).
These options give you great power in sifting through your past and current
projects.
Activity allows you to choose whether you want to search for projects in
Manufacturing, Material Research, Time Efficiency Research, Copying, or All
activities.
State allows you to choose between Pending, In Progress, Ready, Delivered, or
Any Active state. Pending projects are still in the queue, and work has not
started on them yet. Projects that are In Progress are just what they say
they are. Projects that are Ready are finished, and waiting for you to
Deliver the blueprint and/or product. The Delivered option will show all
projects that you have completed, and serves as a useful history tool.
Owner allows you to sort between jobs that are being done by you for you
("Me"), and by you for your corporation ("My Corporation"). Any job you start
using a blueprint you use that is being stored at one of your corporation's
hangars (but NOT your own hangar at a station where your corporation has an
office) will show as being owned by "My Corporation".
Range allows you to choose whether you want to see jobs from the current
station, solar system, constellation, or region.
From Date and To Date is useful for checking old jobs starting at the from
date and ending at the to date (make sure you set State to Delivered though).
Once you find a job, clicking on it will display at the bottom of the screen
the Activity, State, Time Till Completion (to the second), Output Location
(where you installed the job), and Output Type (what you get when it is done,
such as "1 unit of Rifter"). For research jobs, it will show at the right
the starting and ending ML (listed as ME) or PL, or how many copies with how
many runs you are making.
TAB 2: Blueprints
For those with the Scientific Networking and Supply Chain Management skills,
this is where the investment in those skills pays off. When you first open up
the Blueprints tab, you are greeted with a list of the stations in the region
that you have blueprints at. The bar for each station shows the station's
name along with how many blueprints you have there and how many jumps away it
is.
Expand a station to be greeted by a full list of all of your blueprints there.
It shows their picture, gives the item name, tells what group (Frigate
Blueprint, Missile Blueprint, etc...) the blueprint is in, whether or not the
blueprint is a copy, its Material Level and Productivity Level (ML and PL),
and (if the blueprint is a copy) how many runs are remaining on the copy.
The bottom of the screen tells you how many manufacturing and research jobs
you can have active at any given time, as well as the range on your remote
manufacturing and researching ("limited to stations" or "limited to 5 jumps"
for instance).
You can start any job on any blueprint here by right-clicking on it just as
you would at a station and choosing the kind of job you want to start. From
there, it will prompt you to pick an installation (more information on that at
the Installations tab), how many runs you want the job to go for, and allow
you to change the input and output hangars.
Note that any blueprint that has not been used (copying, research, or
manufacturing) cannot be "seen" by this tab, so they cannot be used remotely
until you have been at the same station as the blueprint, right-clicked on it
and chosen an activity to use it for, and gotten the game to try to send you
to the quote screen. Note that this means it works just fine even if you
choose an installation in a different system (which will make the blueprint
viewable by this tab, but cannot start a job); all that matters is that it try
to generate a quote.
Also note that (so long as you have Scientific Networking for research jobs,
or Supply Chain Management for manufacturing jobs) you can do the same thing
by locating your blueprint via the assets window, and right-clicking on it
from there. You still need to be in the same region as the blueprint to start
a job, however.
TAB 3: Corp Blueprints
This tab functions exactly like tab 2, except it shows blueprints in hangars
rented by your corporation. Any jobs you start up from this tab (or, to be
more precise, any jobs started up when the blueprint is in a corporate hangar)
will show up under "My Corporation" for the "Owner" sorting option.
In order to start jobs for your corporation, you need the "Rent Factory Slot"
role for Manufacturing jobs, or the "Rent Research Slot" role for any of the
research jobs. The "Factory Manager" role is also necessary. The minerals
the manufacturer wishes to use must also be in a corporate hangar that the
manufacturer has full access to (both query and take).
TAB 4: Installations
When you want to use a blueprint, you will inevitably be sent here to select
the assembly line you want to use for the job you have chosen to perform.
Here you will find two of the same options that you also found on Tab 1, and
some new ones. The Activity and Range options are the same as they were
before. You can use the Location option to indicate whether you only want
assembly lines located in stations, in assembly arrays, or either. You can
select whether you want the assembly line to be Public, Personal, or belonging
to your corporation. Finally, you can choose what Production Category and
Production Group you want to be able to build. A Production Category is
something broad, like Ships, while a Production Group is more specific, like
Cruisers. All stations can Manufacture almost everything you could want, so
simply selecting "All" will suffice for now (they can't produce everything,
however; you need special facilities to manufacture things such as Titans, for
instance).
After you have queried the database for a list of installations meeting your
specification, you can select a station with the assembly lines on them in the
top table, and a list of the assembly lines at that installation will appear
in the table in the lower portion of the window. You can sort the assembly
lines by time until the slot's queue is empty (basically, this is how long it
would take a job installed in that slot to even get started), install cost
(the base fee you pay regardless of how long you are using the slot for),
hourly rate, time multiplier, and material multiplier. At any given
installation, the fees and multipliers should all be the same. Also, all
stations should have a 1.0 time and material multiplier. Starbase structures
have bonuses here, and will show up as a number below 1.0. A 0.9 time
multiplier, for instance, means it only takes 90% as long to do the same job.
The three research options only require that the slot be able to make
Blueprints, so you can filter out all the Manufacturing lines but show all
three kinds of Research assembly lines by choosing "All activities" along with
the "Manufacture and Research" Production category and the "Blueprints"
production group.
You can only use a blueprint in an installation on the same space station the
blueprint is located at (or, in the case of a starbase installation, at a
starbase in the same system that the blueprint is located in your corporate
hangars at a space station or when the blueprint is at the starbase itself).
Very often people experience a problem on the Installations tab where after
choosing an installation, they do not see a list of assembly lines. This is
usually because the portion of the window devoted to installations is
stretched to take up almost the entire window, and the assembly lines section
(which should normally be below the installations list) doesn't have any room
to be displayed. To fix this, simply go down to the point on the window where
it stops listing installations, left-click (before you click, your cursor
should be changed to two arrows, one pointing up and the other pointing down)
and hold, then drag the segment's border upwards. A list of assembly lines
should become visible.
III. RESEARCH
1. Introduction to research
What is research, exactly? It does not really produce anything itself, yet is
very valuable for those who do the production. Research is the fine, fine art
of making it quicker, cheaper, and easier to manufacture the goods that the
manufacturers (of which you may be one) build. Every blueprint benefits from
being researched, and important blueprints can be heavily researched, then
copied and distributed to corporation members and allies. All you need for
this is one skill (Science), and an assembly line of the appropriate type.
Are you interested? Then read on.
There are four ways you can use a lab slot on a blueprint: Material Research,
Time Efficiency Research, Copying, and Invention. The first two improve a
blueprint original, the third duplicates it, while the fourth can actually
turn a tech one blueprint copy into a tech two blueprint copy.
Material Research
Improves the Material Level of a blueprint, making it cost fewer
minerals to build with.
Time Efficiency Research
Improves the Productivity Level of a blueprint, decreasing the
amount of time it takes to make an item.
Copying
Duplicates a blueprint, leaving you with the original you copied,
and a copy with a limited number of runs, and a Material Level and a
Productivity Level equal to those of the original.
Invention
Required datacores and a data interface, and has a chance to turn a
tech one BPC into a tech two BPC.
2. Vital skills
While you only need a single skill at level one (the generic "Science" skill)
to operate a lab slot, there is a variety of skills that makes your research
faster and easier, or lets you use more lab slots simultaneously.
Science (Rank 1)
5% reduction in time it takes to copy a blueprint per level.
*No prerequisites.
You need Science at level 1 to use any lab slots at all, though it
does not give any bonus to maximum research jobs after that. Any
dedicated researcher will want to raise it to level 4, as that is a
prerequisite for Metallurgy.
Metallurgy (Rank 3)
5% reduction in time needed to conduct Material Research per level.
Requires Science to be at level 4.
A very important skill considering the importance of Material
Research. It is highly recommended to take this skill to level 4 or
5.
Research (Rank 1)
5% reduction in time it takes to conduct Time Efficiency Research
per level.
Requires Science to be at level 3.
Not as important as Metallurgy, given the lower level of importance
placed on Time Efficiency Research. Still, if a researcher plans on
performing Time Efficiency Research, then taking Research to at
least level 3 is recommended.
Laboratory Operation (Rank 1) and Advanced Laboratory Operation (Rank 8)
Both allow the operation of one extra lab slot per level.
Laboratory Operation requires Science to be at level 3.
Advanced Laboratory Operation requires Science to be at level 3 and
Laboratory Operation to be at level 5.
Very important for a researcher. Laboratory Operation at level 4
should be enough for the needs of most researchers, but busy ones
always have the option to advance it to level 5 and take a few
levels of Advanced Laboratory Operation.
Scientific Networking (Rank 3)
Allows the operation of lab slots from ranges greater than just the
station you are currently in. At level 1, the range is any lab in
the same solar system as you. At level 2, the range changes to any
lab within five jumps of your present location. After that, the
range continues to double until at level 5 you can operate any lab
in the region.
Science needs to be at level 3 and Laboratory Operation needs to be
at level 4.
This is a skill with a non-essential function, and a hefty 6.75
million ISK price tag. Still, it can be very convenient, as it
allows you to locate all of your blueprints at a station in
low-security space (with lower lab fees and shorter queues), where
you can research them remotely and then make copies to take from the
station if you need to manufacture with the blueprint.
3. Material Research
Most of the research performed on blueprints is Material Research (which is
why almost all Material Research assembly lines, even those in the depths of
low-security space, have a queue at all times). Quite simply, Material
Research makes a blueprint cheaper to build with. Every blueprint has a
"wastage factor" which increases the mineral cost to manufacture items with it
beyond the mineral cost listed on the eve-online.com item database (which
lists the perfect mineral requirements). For almost all blueprints, the base
wastage factor is equal to 0.1, meaning that it takes 10% extra minerals to
manufacture the item (note that some blueprints have a base wastage factor of
0.05).
So if material research is so great, how are you supposed to get any important
research done with these long queues? Well, unfortunately the only option you
have at this time is to select the slots with the shortest queues and let your
job wait its turn in line. If you don't want to do the research yourself,
there's also the option of buying researched BPOs or BPCs from other players,
but this means you'll pay a premium for the research. Still, it can be worth
it if you want a blueprint in action immediately. Other options are hiring
somebody with a laboratory array at a starbase to do it, or later launching
your own starbase (this would cost hundreds of millions of ISK though, so is
not for new players).
Material Research decreases the wastage factor. The formula for the reduction
means that your returns decline quickly. First, the formula for determining
the blueprint's wastage factor:
Wastage factor = Base Wastage Factor / (1 + ML)
This means at a Material Level of one, you've already cut the wastage factor
in half. By the time you are up to 4 ML, your wastage factor is only 0.02.
Once you get up to 9, it's only 0.01. Note that in order to halve the wastage
factor again, you need to double the current ML and add one.
For instance at a ML of 9, you are only wasting 1% of the perfect mineral
requirements. To only be wasting 0.5% of the perfect mineral requirements,
you need to add another 9+1 to the ML, for a final ML of 19. The math here
holds true, since 10% / (19+1) = 0.5%.
Note that those first nine levels of Material Research saved you an average of
9% / 9 levels = 1% per level. Those next ten levels (on their own) only saved
you another 0.5%, divided by ten, for a total of 0.05% per level (or: 1% of
what your first level of Material Research saved). These declining returns
mean that after researching the first few levels on a blueprint and
drastically lowering your mineral costs, you are left researching several
levels (very easily twenty or more) to make one run of the blueprint cost one
less unit of tritanium to build. Just be aware of this when deciding how long
to research your blueprints.
In addition to the rapidly declining gains, there is a very finite amount of
good that any amount of research you can do. Why research the ML to 100 when
the blueprint is perfect (no more minerals can be saved) at a ML of 21?
To find the ML of a blueprint past which there is no gain to be had from doing
Material Research, go to the Item Database on the official web site and look
at the mineral requirements. These are the amount of minerals it takes to
make an item with Production Efficiency 5, and a blueprint with a perfect ML.
Take that number, divide by 5, and round down. That is the highest level that
Material Research can have any effect on the blueprint's waste material usage.
You can use this same principle to find the ML at which any mineral has zero
waste.
Desired ML = (Amount of specific mineral at perfect build) / 5 (round down)
For instance, to make one run of Small Lead Charge S takes 106 tritanium, 1
mexallon, and 2 isogen. 106 / 5 = 21.2. Rounded down, that equals 21: that
blueprint's perfect level of material efficiency.
(Note that the actual formula requires you to multiply by the base wasteage
factor and then multiply by two. For most items this means you divide by
five, but those items with a BWF of 0.05 require you to divide by ten.)
4. Time Efficiency Research
Time Efficiency Research is often neglected. For instance, many of the
blueprint copies you find on escrow have a ML above 20, yet their PL is still
zero. It is also very easy to find an open assembly line for Time Efficiency
Research (though in high-security space it will still be expensive, since the
costs for all lab slots at the same station are the same) at any time and any
place you choose. This is a bonus you should take advantage of: Time
Efficiency Research works exactly like Material Research, except it reduces
the time to manufacture (though its level for "perfection" would be
different). Also, the "base time wastage factor" for most blueprints is 0.25,
meaning each blueprint takes 125% as long to manufacture with as it
theoretically should.
Time Wastage Factor = Base Time Wasteage Factor / (1 + PL)
Since the Productivity Level formula is the same as the Material Level formula
(except with a different Base Wastage Factor), the declining returns are
exactly the same: in order to halve the time wastage factor again, you need to
double the current PL and add one.
For tech 2 missiles, the base time wasteage factor is equal to 1/249, meaning
there is almost nothing to be gained by performing Time Efficiency Research on
them. Components required for tech 2 production use 1/14, and there are a few
other blueprints that use different numbers. Still, most blueprints use 1/4
(or 0.25).
For the curious, it may be interesting to know that while time waste can be
expressed in the same terms as material waste, it is actually stored by the
game as the proportion of the base time (in this base, "base time" actually
means time to build at a PL of zero) that is a result of waste. For most
items this is 0.2.
5. Copying
When you copy a blueprint, you choose how many copies you want to make, and
how many licensed runs you want to make. The end result when you deliver the
job will of course be equal to the number you put into the "copies" box, and
each of them will show as having a number of "licensed production runs
remaining" equal to the number you put in the "licensed runs" box.
Unlike a blueprint original, which can be used any amount of times (they
always show "Infinite" for "licensed production runs remaining"), a blueprint
copy will disappear when it has no production runs left (though this was not
always the case; BPCs with zero runs remaining still exist). Also, a
blueprint copy cannot be put into a lab slot, so you can neither improve its
ML and PL, nor can you copy it.
While this limits BPCs, it also makes them very valuable. You can copy
blueprints and give the BPCs to lower-level members of your corporation so
that they can build with them, and you do not need to worry about them running
off with a valuable BPO. Also, copying and selling ship blueprints on escrow
is very popular (as escrow is flooded with these at any given time).
6. Invention
Invention is the process through which a scientist can take a BPC for a tech 1
item (125mm railgun i, for instance), use some new items called "datacores"
(more on them in the next paragraph), and turn it into a BPC for the
corresponding tech 2 item (in our example it would become a BPC for a 125mm
railgun ii). If there are multiple tech 2 versions of an item (ships being
the guilty party here), the version that is given with a successful usage of
Invention would be determined randomly.
So what are these Datacores? They are just a new way of spending those research
points you have accumulated with your R&D agents. It is a tradeoff; you can
still hold onto hope that you will win a tech 2 BPO, or you can reduce your
chance at winning and get a sure thing in the form of Datacores which are
needed for Invention. Every item being Invented needs two kinds of Datacores,
one kind for each of the skills needed to build the tech 2 item. In the case
of our 125mm railgun, we would need Datacores from an Electromagnetic Physics
agent and from a Mechanical Engineering agent.
BPOs do not become involved in Invention at all. You cannot use a tech 1 BPO
(except to make BPCs with), and you cannot get a tech 2 BPO through this
procedure (the tech 2 lottery remains the only way of doing that).
Unlike all of the other science and industry options, Invention involves
chance. That is to say, you are not guaranteed a tech 2 BPC automatically
when you start an Invention job. Improving your skills and adding actual
examples of the tech 1 item to be used up by your Invention job (adding a
better tech 1 item gives a better improvement, for instance a 125mm prototype
i gauss gun will give you better odds at succeeding than adding a 125mm
'scout' i accelerator cannon) can make success more likely, but cannot give
you a 100% chance.
You also have the option of using another new item: a Decryptor. Decryptors
are also consumed at the end of a job, but modify the job somehow, with
bonuses and penalties to the job.
The final new item being used for Invention is the Data Interface. There are
twelve different Data Interfaces, and they mix a race (Amarr, Caldari,
Gallente, Minmatar) with an item-type ("regular" for Inventing modules, "ship"
for Inventing ships, and "tuner" for Inventing rigs). To use these, you will
need the correct racial encryption skill ("*Race* Encryption Methods").
When the job is done, everything except your Data Interface is used up and if
you are lucky you have a brand new tech 2 BPC to build with or sell. The ML,
PL, and number of runs on your tech 2 BPC will be based on the numbers on your
tech 1 BPC, but will be much worse.
And so, the things affecting the odds of a successful Invention are these:
*Your skill level in the R&D skills that you needed the Datacores for.
*Your Racial encryption skill level.
*The tech one item you use in the job.
*The decryptor used in the job.
IV. MANUFACTURING
1. Introduction to Manufacturing
Manufacturing itself is rather straight-forward. You acquire a blueprint,
whether it be a copy or an original, get the minerals needed to make the items
you want to build, and then get a manufacturing assembly line to make the
stuff with.
The formula for mineral cost is as follows:
Mineral cost = Base cost + (Base cost * Mineral wasteage factor) +
(Base cost * (0.25 - (0.05 * Production Efficiency)))
(Note that "base cost" refers to the pre-waste cost listed in the Item
Database at www.eve-online.com.)
The factories round down any decimal value in "Mineral Cost" that is less than
0.5 to zero. This is done for each run individually, so ten runs with a
Zydrine waste of 0.1 per run will waste zero Zydrine, not one unit. Likewise,
any decimal value 0.5 and above is rounded up to one. This means 6.5 wasted
units of Mexallon become 7, and 9.374 wasted units of Isogen are turned into
just 9.
2. Vital Skills
Like Research, only a single skill is needed to use a factory slot (the
Industry skill). Still, there are other skills that make an manufacturer's
life easier, most important among them being Production Efficiency.
Production Efficiency (Rank 3)
4% reduction per level for material costs for manufacturing.
Requires Industry to be at level 3.
No matter how hard you look, you cannot find a more important skill
for manufacturing to get to level 5 than Production Efficiency.
Taking this from level 0 to level 5 means you can make 125% the
product with the same amount of materials as you made before, and
makes manufacturing much more profitable. Try to have this at level
4 at the very least before you do any major manufacturing.
Industry (Rank 1)
4% reduction in manufacturing time per level.
*No skill requirements
You need Industry at level one to be able to use a factory slot,
though advancing it beyond one does not give any further bonus to
the amount of factory slots you can operate at once. Aside from
using it as a prerequisite for more important skills, there are no
pressing reasons to raise Industry. Still, the time saved by
increasing Industry can be helpful, and it's only a rank 1 skill.
Mass Production (Rank 2) and Advanced Mass Production (Rank 8)
Both allow the operation of one extra factory slot per level.
Mass Production requires Industry to be at level 3.
Advanced Mass Production requires Industry to be at level 3 and Mass
Production to be at level 5.
Like Laboratory Operation is for a researcher, Mass Production is
important for the manufacturer. It is up to the individual
manufacturer to decide how many factory slots they need to be able
to use at once.
Supply Chain Management (Rank 3)
Allows the operation of factory slots from ranges greater than just
the station you are currently in. At level 1, the range is any
factory in the same solar system as you. At level 2, the range
changes to any factory within five jumps of your present location.
After that, the range continues to double until at level 5 you can
operate any factory in the region.
Industry needs to be at level 3 and Mass Production needs to be at
level 4.
Just like Scientific Networking, this skill is an expensive
convenience. While it is not a requirement, it can save a
manufacturer from having to do a lot of flying if their main
manufacturing area is not close to their main area of operations.
3. Getting started in manufacturing
Though the rest of this guide covers the information about the actual workings
of Science and Industry in Eve, many budding industrialists are still at a
loss for how they should actually step into the wide world of manufacturing.
This question is usually asking "what should I start by building?"
The first thing to cross most people's minds when wondering what to build is
most likely going to be ships. Any of the main combat frigates are certainly
popular ships, and can sell well if put up for sale in a well-populated area.
Still, ships tend to have lower margins of profit than many modules have (with
Production Efficiency at 5, and with a well-researched BPO with a ML of 20 you
can expect a 20% margin of profit on a frigate, while many modules can pull in
a 100% margin).
A good idea is to search the market, making extensive use of the "Market
History" tab for a given item, and finding items with a good volume number
(which tells you how much they are traded) and with prices you can effectively
compete with. It can be a lot easier to view the Market History as a table,
but the default is as a graph (there is a button in the window to change it).
During your searching, you will likely find that many items are being
frequently sold at a value near or even below the value of the minerals that
make up the item. This is because people receive these items as loot from
killing NPCs, and you will not make a profit from manufacturing them. Other
items, however, will have a high volume and will have very good prices. These
are the items you want to build.
Also, a problem that a lot of people new to manufacturing seem to have is a
very bad one for their finances: they are under the illusion that any minerals
they mine themselves rather than buy off of the market are free. This is not
the case, however; those minerals "cost" you what you could have sold them on
the market for. Whether you're making the items for your own use, for a
friend or a corporation member, or to sell, this doesn't change at all. When
manufacturing, always check the prices in the region to see if it is cheaper
for you to buy from someone else (and if they are close enough to you to be
convenient, given the price gap).
Finally, remember that you don't need to service a main hub (Jita, Rens, or
Oursulaert). People are willing to pay a premium in order to have their stuff
(especially ammunition) sold to them where they will use it rather than five
jumps away. Find a system with a lot of good agents and try selling there.
Don't forget the Market History though.
