- 1.1 Skills available to Alphas
- 1.2 Alpha skill point accumulation
- 1.3 Gameplay
- 1.3.1 Combat
- 1.3.2 Industry
- 1.3.3 Exploration
Alpha clone
Compared with Omega characters, Alpha characters are limited in the following ways:
- They may only train certain skills
- They may train for free up to a maximum of 5 million skill points.
- They may add skill points to skills in the Alpha set up to 20.5 million skill points with skill injectors.
- They take twice as long to train skills
- They pay an additional 2% tax on any industry job (e.g. manufacturing or research)
- They cannot accept any Level 4 or Level 5 missions from agents.
- If you are logged into the game with an Alpha character you may not log in simultaneously (multibox) with any other character (on any account)
Arms Race Clone Skill Training
Skills available to Alphas
The set of skills that Alpha characters may train limits them to:
- Combat ships up to battleship size, as well as basic haulers.
- Most Tech 2 modules are usable but not all.
- "Navy" ships of Battleship size and below are usable, but not Tier 2 variants.
- Battleship weapons, EWAR, most remote assistance modules, drones, harvesting modules, scanning modules and some others are limited to T1 and meta.
Expand the table below to see which skills you can train as an Alpha, and to what maximum level. For a list of skills you start the game with, see starting skills.
Group Skill Cap Points Armor Armor Layering 1 750 EM Armor Compensation 2 2828 Explosive Armor Compensation 2 2828 Hull Upgrades 5 512000 Kinetic Armor Compensation 2 2828 Mechanics 5 256000 Remote Armor Repair Systems 3 16000 Remote Hull Repair Systems 2 2828 Repair Systems 5 256000 Thermal Armor Compensation 2 2828 Corporation Management Corporation Management 1 250 Drones Amarr Drone Specialization 2 7071 Caldari Drone Specialization 2 7071 Drone Avionics 4 45255 Drone Durability 4 226274 Drone Interfacing 3 40000 Drone Navigation 4 45255 Drone Sharpshooting 4 45255 Drones 5 256000 Gallente Drone Specialization 2 7071 Heavy Drone Operation 3 40000 Light Drone Operation 5 256000 Medium Drone Operation 4 90510 Minmatar Drone Specialization 2 7071 Repair Drone Operation 2 4243 Electronic Systems Electronic Warfare 4 90510 Propulsion Jamming 4 135765 Sensor Linking 3 24000 Target Painting 3 24000 Weapon Disruption 4 135765 Engineering Advanced Weapon Upgrades 3 48000 CPU Management 5 256000 Capacitor Emission Systems 4 90510 Capacitor Management 4 135765 Capacitor Systems Operation 3 8000 Electronics Upgrades 5 512000 Energy Grid Upgrades 5 512000 Energy Pulse Weapons 2 2828 Power Grid Management 5 256000 Thermodynamics 4 135765 Weapon Upgrades 5 512000 Fleet Support Leadership 3 8000 Gunnery Controlled Bursts 4 90510 Gunnery 5 256000 Large Energy Turret 4 226274 Large Hybrid Turret 4 226274 Large Projectile Turret 4 226274 Medium Artillery Specialization 3 40000 Medium Autocannon Specialization 3 40000 Medium Beam Laser Specialization 3 40000 Medium Blaster Specialization 3 40000 Medium Energy Turret 5 768000 Medium Hybrid Turret 5 768000 Medium Projectile Turret 5 768000 Medium Pulse Laser Specialization 3 40000 Medium Railgun Specialization 3 40000 Motion Prediction 4 90510 Rapid Firing 4 90510 Sharpshooter 4 90510 Small Artillery Specialization 3 24000 Small Autocannon Specialization 3 24000 Small Beam Laser Specialization 3 24000 Small Blaster Specialization 3 24000 Small Energy Turret 5 256000 Small Hybrid Turret 5 256000 Small Projectile Turret 5 256000 Small Pulse Laser Specialization 3 24000 Small Railgun Specialization 3 24000 Surgical Strike 4 181019 Trajectory Analysis 4 226274 Missiles Cruise Missiles 4 226274 Guided Missile Precision 3 40000 Heavy Assault Missile Specialization 3 40000 Heavy Assault Missiles 5 768000 Heavy Missile Specialization 3 40000 Heavy Missiles 5 768000 Light Missile Specialization 3 24000 Light Missiles 5 512000 Missile Bombardment 4 90510 Missile Launcher Operation 5 256000 Missile Projection 2 5657 Rapid Launch 4 90510 Rocket Specialization 3 24000 Rockets 5 256000 Target Navigation Prediction 3 16000 Torpedoes 4 226274 Warhead Upgrades 3 40000 Navigation Acceleration Control 3 32000 Afterburner 3 8000 Evasive Maneuvering 3 16000 High Speed Maneuvering 3 40000 Navigation 4 45255 Warp Drive Operation 3 8000 Neural Enhancement Biology 3 8000 Cybernetics 3 24000 Infomorph Psychology 1 250 Production Industry 5 256000 Mass Production 3 16000 Resource Processing Gas Cloud Harvesting 2 1414 Mining 4 45255 Mining Upgrades 4 181019 Reactions 1 250 Reprocessing 3 8000 Salvaging 3 24000 Rigging Armor Rigging 3 24000 Astronautics Rigging 3 24000 Drones Rigging 3 24000 Electronic Superiority Rigging 3 24000 Energy Weapon Rigging 3 24000 Hybrid Weapon Rigging 3 24000 Jury Rigging 3 16000 Launcher Rigging 3 24000 Projectile Weapon Rigging 3 24000 Shield Rigging 3 24000 Scanning Archaeology 3 24000 Astrometric Acquisition 2 7071 Astrometric Rangefinding 2 11314 Astrometrics 3 24000 Hacking 3 24000 Survey 3 8000 Science Science 4 45255 Shields EM Shield Compensation 2 2828 Explosive Shield Compensation 2 2828 Kinetic Shield Compensation 2 2828 Shield Compensation 4 90510 Shield Emission Systems 3 16000 Shield Management 4 135765 Shield Operation 4 45255 Shield Upgrades 4 90510 Tactical Shield Manipulation 4 181019 Thermal Shield Compensation 2 2828 Social Connections 2 4243 Criminal Connections 2 4243 Diplomacy 3 8000 Distribution Connections 2 2828 Mining Connections 2 2828 Negotiation 2 2828 Security Connections 2 2828 Social 3 8000 Spaceship Command Amarr Battlecruiser 4 271529 Amarr Battleship 4 362039 Amarr Cruiser 4 226274 Amarr Destroyer 4 90510 Amarr Frigate 4 90510 Amarr Hauler 1 1000 Caldari Battlecruiser 4 271529 Caldari Battleship 4 362039 Caldari Cruiser 4 226274 Caldari Destroyer 4 90510 Caldari Frigate 4 90510 Caldari Hauler 1 1000 Gallente Battlecruiser 4 271529 Gallente Battleship 4 362039 Gallente Cruiser 4 226274 Gallente Destroyer 4 90510 Gallente Frigate 4 90510 Gallente Hauler 1 1000 Mining Frigate 4 90510 Minmatar Battlecruiser 4 271529 Minmatar Battleship 4 362039 Minmatar Cruiser 4 226274 Minmatar Destroyer 4 90510 Minmatar Frigate 4 90510 Minmatar Hauler 1 1000 Spaceship Command 4 8000 Structure Management Anchoring 1 750 Targeting Long Range Targeting 3 16000 Signature Analysis 3 8000 Target Management 4 45255 Trade Broker Relations 2 2828 Marketing 2 4243 Trade 3 8000 Alpha skill point accumulation
Alpha clones can train up to 5 million skill points for free using the Skill Queue, as long as the skills are in the set outlined above. Beyond this 5M limit, they can continue gaining new skills from the Alpha set, but must do so by directly applying "Unallocated SP". In this way Alphas can gain up to 20 million SP worth of skills, which would mean training every Alpha skill to it's maximum rank.
It's important to note that "Unallocated SP" count toward the 5 million limit for free training. This means that if an Alpha clone has 4M SP already trained in skills, and 500K SP of "Unallocated SP", they can only look forward to 500K more SP worth of free training, not 1M. This is vital to keep in mind if your goal is to get as many SP as possible into your Alpha for free.
If you wish to maximize the total amount of SP an Alpha can train for free, you should avoid any SP going into "Unallocated SP" until after you have already trained to the 5M limit. Specifically, this means that any non-expiring SP in your Redeem window or the AIR Career Program should be left there while you are training towards 5M. Redeeming them early means they eat into your free 5M, while redeeming them after will mean they contribute to your maximum potential of 20M SP as a free Alpha.
The same logic of course applies to Daily Alpha Injectors and any other form of skill injection. Because injectors apply points directly to "Unallocated SP", you should wait to reach your 5M limit of free training before using such items.
Gameplay
While they are well suited for getting introduced to EVE Online, Alpha characters should be seen more as an "indefinite trial" rather than as a "free-to-play" option.
Combat
Alpha characters are perfectly viable in low-level PvP and PvE, and in support roles in larger-scale PvP (such as EWAR or tackle for a fleet). However, their performance will not be on par with Omega characters once the latter has trained the skills to start using Tech 2 modules and ships.
Industry
Alpha characters can mine (ore or gas) in a Venture (but not use more advanced mining ships), and can perform basic (only Tech 1, no invention) manufacturing. While they will not be as efficient as an Omega character (who have access to more advanced ships and skills which improve mining and manufacturing efficiency, and are not subject to the addition 2% tax levied on Alpha characters), they can nonetheless participate in basic industry. They can salvage wrecks, but they cannot, however, do Planetary Industry.
Alpha characters can trade, but they will pay higher taxes on their transactions and have fewer options at their disposal (e.g. they can only sell items located within 5 jumps, whereas an Omega character has the option to train skills allowing them to sell items anywhere in the current region). Alphas can have 1 active contract at a time (i.e. they can create 1 contract, but have to wait for it to be fulfilled before creating another), but they can accept contracts.
Basic hauling is an option for Alpha characters as they have access to haulers.
Exploration
Alpha characters can do basic exploration.
Choice of race
Alpha clones can train into any race's ship or weapon skills; they are not limited to training their own race's skills. In fact, Alpha clones of all races can train into the same Alpha skill set. However, the Alpha's starting racial skills count toward the free training skill limit while in Alpha clone state.
Omega clone
Omega clones may use any skill, ship and item in the game. Additionally, you may log into the game with more than one account at a time (multiboxing), but only as long as all the accounts being logged in have Omega status.
External links
- Dev Blog: Introducing Clone States (August 2016)
- Dev Blog: Clone States - Post CSM Summit Roundup (October 2016)
- Patch Notes for the Ascension expansion (November 2016)
- Forum Post: [December] Defender Missiles (November 2016)
- EVE Support page for Alpha and Omega clones
- EVE Support page for Alpha Clones and Omega Clone lapsing - Quick Facts
- Dev Blog: Clone States - The Next Steps (December 2017)
