Research agent
Research Agents
You always wonder what about all the research agents in EVE can do? Well it's simple. You can get Datacores from them used in invention. Here comes the story:
First thing you need to do is to train the right skills.
Skills you must have:
- Science - Level 5
- Laboratory Operations - Level 5
- Research - Level 5
- Research Project Management - Level 4 or 5 depending on your dedication, and how many agents you want to work simultaneously.
In order to do all the things above you must spend time and money. Supposing you start the game now you will need about 3 months of training to get all the skills above to the right level. If you started the game for a while you will need less time of training depending on your career dedication (your starting attributes), implants you use, etc. Also the financial part is very important, especially because you will need about 40 million ISK to buy these skills.
The next step is to choose one field of research, each field being represented by a special science skill:
- Amarrian Starship Engineering
- Caldari Starship Engineering
- Gallente Starship Engineering
- Minmatar Starship Engineering
- Astronautic Engineering
- Electromagnetic Physics
- Electronic Engineering
- Graviton Physics
- High Energy Physics
- Hydromagnetic Physics
- Laser Physics
- Mechanical Engineering
- Molecular Engineering
- Nanite Engineering
- Nuclear Physics
- Plasma Physics
- Quantum Physics
- Rocket Science
As you can see there are many fields of research, so you have many opportunities. Remind that the level trained for each of these skills will give you the correct level of R&D agent(s) that will agree to work with you, so train these skills to the highest level possible.
Now you have complete all these requirements and you're ready to go. Not so fast! You must find R&D agent(s) who wants working with you. Where you can found all those agents? Every race possess its own research corporations, which are the following:
The Amarr Race:
- Carthum Conglomerate
- Viziam
- Khanid Innovations
The Caldari Race:
- Ishukone Corporation
- Kaalakiota Corporation
- Lai Dai Corporation
The Gallente Race:
- Creodron
- Duvolle Laboratories
- Roden Shipyards
The Minmatar Race:
- Boundless Creation
- Core Complexion
- Thukker Mix
Now depending on your standing towards these corporations you can access a R&D agent(s) of a certain level and quality. Your goal is gain access to the highest level and quality R&D agent(s) you can. In order to do that you must run some missions for these corporation to increase your standings with them. to make it more fast it's preferable to have some good social skills (Social, Connections and Diplomacy), so train those to the highest level possible. Also is good to know that Research Corporation have very few agents who provide combat missions (you already know that combat missions brings more standings points than the others), so finding them will not be an easy task. But always remember to run missions for the highest level and quality agent(s) you can, so don’t spend time with level 2 agent(s) when you can increase your standing faster with level 3 agent(s).
Now that you find a suitable R&D agent(s) you can start working for him/them. Working with these agents will generate RP (Research Points) depending on the field of research you choose and the level of your agent. It's very important to know that basically the RP are generated on a daily basis, so each day your total RP will increase by a set amount. Maximizing this amount is the key to accumulating lots and lots of RPs, which gives you a better chance for the big prize! Certain fields have a multiplier that will increase the RP for that field. For example the Starship Engineering is a research fields a multiplier of 3x for all RP generated.
When you get ready to select a field, the best way is to look at the description in the info box for the research agent that you are interested in working with. This will have all the information regarding the different fields that agent can research.
Now back to the RP you must know that basically the RP that you will accumulate are based on only three factors: effective quality of the agent, your science skill level, and the agent level.
RP/day = Field multiplier*((1+(EQ of agent/100))*((My skill+Agent Lvl)^2))
Note: you can run missions for each R&D agent only once per day. Completing the missions will give you the same amount you gain per day with that agent as reward.
Once you gained a certain amount of RP with your agent you can trade them in against Datacores. Just start a conversation and click the appropriate option.