Abyssals
If you are a three day old new player, don't read this. Yet! :D
Abyssal game play is some of the hardest content in eve, and I include that alongside doing solo pvp. It's seriously hard on the upper end. However, starting abyssals at Tier 0 only requires a properly fitted T1 frigate and that you be generally familiar with PvE mechanics, just doesn't make a ton of isk.
Abyssal tiers scale extremely fast in difficulty and investment levels, unlike almost every other form of tiered PvE activity. It is suggested that you be very familiar with your current tier of abyssal before moving up a tier.
Difficulty
T0 - aka tranquil, easy, like stepping out your door. Like a Level 1 mission. Punisher, condor, nearly any t1 frigate.
T1 - aka calm, Like walking down the street. Level 3 mission difficulty. Many navy or t2 frigates have options here!
T2 - aka agitated, Like doing a good jog down the street. Level 4 mission difficulty. Need good skills and can solo in a very few frigates. Or start triple boxing frigates.
T3 - aka fierce, You're running a marathon now somehow! And I have 20 minutes to finish. Several decent navy, pirate, or t2 cruiser can speed run these all day.
T4 - aka raging, There are other professional runners in this marathon! STILL 20 minutes?!? Several T2 cruisers with good skills and a touch of bling do these.
T5 - aka Chaotic, Is this Olympics suddenly? T4 was so easy! Starting down to a few groups of frigates and even fewer cruiser options doing these.
T6 - aka Cataclysmic, WHO THE FUCK IS SHOOTING WHILE I'M TRYING TO RUN HERE?!?! Need a ton of isk, max SP, with very very few, very blingy ships generally.
It escalates that fast. In T6, you EXPECT to die every so often. That's how hard it is.
Weather
Weather is the term for the plus and negative of each of the sites. They apply to all ships in the site, so the enemies as well as you, so can be a positive to you! These range from -30% to -70% negatives, and 50% in the positives.
Dark - Turret range penalty, but 50% more velocity, which cuts both ways, easy to run out of bounds, easy to run condor t0.
Electrical - EM resist penalty, bonus to cap regen, easy to run with punishers t0, most popular ones to run so most expensive to run.
Exotic - Kinetic resist penalty, bonus to scan resolution. Lots can run parts of these, the bonuses don't help a ton though.
Firestorm - Thermal resist penalty, but 50% more armor hp that also helps the enemy. The hardest to run, but are also the cheapest.
Gamma - Explosive resist penalty, but 50% more shield hp that also helps the enemy. Great for passive fits.
To read these, if you get a "Raging Exotic Filament", that is a T4 Exotic aka kinetic resist penalty, so need REALLY strong kinetic resists and do kinetic damage in these. The enemies are unique to that type as well.
https://caldarijoans.streamlit.app/Abyssal_FAQ has more precise details. https://janice.e-351.com/a/eimgYh has a break down of the cost of the different filaments, live.
Starting out
The usual recommendation for new players is to start at t0, see how they like it, then start fitting for the tier above and run the ones below it. So fit for T2, run T1. On the high end, fit for T5, run T4. From t0-t3, flying to the exit can is usually fine, you'll survive. At t4+ and above, you have to pay attention to clouds and pylons.
The key is to go 'fast'. You want to kill everything in a hurry. People die in abyssals not because of tank, but always because they didn't kill enough fast enough. You think it's about tanking the site, nope, it's always the DPS race versus the SHORT 20 minute clock. So work on Murder Faster.
You need replacement ships reserved. If you are short on money, this is NOT the activity for you.
You used to be able to run things on a test site, but that is now gone: Singularity is down for good
Note: If you're looking for pricing on abyssal modules, https://mutaplasmid.space/appraisal/ makes that easy, you sell these on contracts. But for better guide, look at the contract pricing.
Thanks to Fim Astatru, Hokaba Michael, and Qazska for the help on the text, but the real expert is Caldari Jones and the Abyssal lurkers discord, talk to them! #new-player-questions regularly confuses min-max PVPers that don't understand that button pushing matters more than just skill points, ships, fits, and isk.
What you have to know beforehand
Before you start doing abyssals, you need to have really good button pushing skills and some isk as a buffer. You will lose ships in abyssal space. IF you don't have money, this is NOT the content for you!
You also need good PVP knowledge. This could be ratting knowledge but you have to hold 10 things in your head at once:
Your position and speed
What is your range to your tar get
Who is the biggest threat
Where are the pylons/clouds and what types are they. https://wiki.eveuniversity.org/Abyssal_Deadspace has some details on these.
What your ammo and heat levels are at
What your shields/armor are at
Are your drones okay
Are your weapons being effective
Are you able to get to the bio cache in time (And only going for the biocache on the gate!)
Can you finish this in 20 minutes
Don't compare yourself to others. It's in the Golden Rules
If you can do this, and press buttons on your ship, then maybe you have a shot?
You have three types of ships - Cruisers, Destroyers, Frigates
Frigates, you need 3 filaments to enter, designed to be three players, get 3x the loot.
You can solo these, but requires a pretty good ship, it's much much easier with three ships.
You can do t0 as a single player easily, t1 with some struggle, and there are VERY few fits that can do t2 solo. If you can triple box (must be 3 omega or three different players), t2 gets very easy (see below for a hookbill that can do this) or t3 and above doing hawks.
Lots of combos can do t5s if you are multiboxing. 2 Retris and a deacon is one, hawks is common, worms can do SOME. Some even do t6!
Destroyers, you need 2 filaments to enter, designed for two players, get 2x the loot.
The rooms are a LOT more varied, and honestly it can be really tough. We don't really suggest the destroyer ones anymore because they are just so uncertain. The kiki used to be strong, but the recent nerf hurt these a lot.
Cruisers, you only need 1 filament to enter.
These ships require precise ships that match the weather and difficulty.
You need to know the clouds and the pylons beforehand. But once you get the hang of it, it's host most people do abyssals.
These can be T3/T4 easily, some t5 with some bling, and a lot of bling and skill for t6.
And again, there are kill rooms that can murderzone you regardless, so have to absorb a loss.
Pandemic Horde Specific tutorial
This is a tutorial from Fim Asatru on general abyssal for newish players. It's easy to get into, the fit is below. You do need 2 other people to do these with you, though. You can try to recruit people in game or friends. Something you can consider.
With my good skills and 2 other newbies, we were able to complete one in about 10 minutes. costs around 84k for the filaments, make around 12 mil a run, so maybe 72 mil total, so 24 mil an hour per player due to good skills? Can be lower around 5-7 mil an hour. But can go up as your skills get better.
To enter, you need 3 pilots in their own fleet/squad. Everyone needs to set their safety yellow in the top left corner of their capacitor.
These are doing darks because they are cheap, the bonuses match up to the ship, and a lot of enemies use turrets, so helps you.
If you are going to run in null sec, make sure to make a 'deep safe' before starting. And you never warp there directly, you always warp to another safe first that leads to a gate. A deep safe is one that is more 19 au (celestial + sites 4 au from celestials) from any other object in system. Incursions make these easy, you just bookmark different sites in the incursion. Or you can run an abyssal at downtime.
You also disconnect your API from zkill if you can, if you run these professionally, because otherwise people might target you.
Thanks to Fim Asatru for this tutorial!
Suggested guides
Anyway, I'm just going to do a couple links here, will try to expand while I go.
https://discord.com/invite/ppk7B7Y - The Abyssal Lurkers Discord.
https://forums.eveonline.com/t/abyssal-resources-webapp-from-caldari-joans/383504 Abyssal Lurkers webpage
https://caldarijoans.streamlit.app/Tier_1_Solo_Frigates - to do tier 1s, you need 3 filaments to do frigate ones.
https://caldarijoans.streamlit.app/Starter_Abyssal_Fits
https://wiki.eveuniversity.org/Alpha_to_Omega_abyssal_track
DO NOT PAY ATTENTION TO ACEFACE. He will get you killed. Read the comments first.
Mostly, check youtube with the tier (and ship) you want to run: https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=eve+online+abyssal+t3
Note, Warn Michael from Eveo discord said:
Torvald and Caldari Joansmake good trustworthy vids
There is an abyssal discord with WAY more information as well.
Running Abyssals
The key is to get a deep safe. If you don't do this, people can probe you down and overwhelm you with catalysts, even in high sec. Null is almost safer for this because it's easy to blend in with a deep safe. :)
This is 19 au from any gate for large systems. Or more than 19 au from ANYTHING for small systems. This doesn't stop them from probing you down, just makes it less likely to happen.
To get these is very doable with certain conditions:
Find a system with an incursions, and make bookmarks at different of the sites in the system. These are not restricted to the 4 au from a celestial
Run an abyssal at downtime. This might get patched out at some point.
Ask a friend. Don't ever mention what system you're going to run in.
Make sure to remove your ESI from zkill and do NOT add your losses. Or people will locator agent you.
Also, make sure to always warp to a DIFFERENT safe spot than your deep safe, I like warping to a safe near a gate, so it looks like you jumped out a gate. Doesn't have to be far.
T0 Amarr
This is a fit to run a t0 elec filament. Note, you need 3 of the correct difficulty and weather. any variation and you generally die, usually because of lack of DPS.
[Punisher, HateLesS' Day1 electrical Abyss]
Small I-a Enduring Armor Repairer
Extruded Compact Heat Sink
Damage Control II
Extruded Compact Heat Sink
Small I-a Enduring Armor Repairer
1MN Y-S8 Compact Afterburner
Small Compact Pb-Acid Cap Battery
Small Focused Modal Laser I
Small Focused Modal Laser I
Small Focused Modal Laser I
Small Focused Modal Laser I
Small Energy Locus Coordinator I
Small Auxiliary Thrusters I
Small Energy Collision Accelerator I
Imperial Navy Multifrequency S x4
Imperial Navy Xray S x4
Imperial Navy Standard S x4
Imperial Navy Microwave S x4
T0 Caldari
The NBI Condor we give out in Newbeans now:
[Condor, NBI Condor ABYSS]
Ballistic Control System I
Ballistic Control System I
Parallel Enduring Target Painter
Small Clarity Ward Enduring Shield Booster
1MN Monopropellant Enduring Afterburner
Small Compact Pb-Acid Cap Battery
TE-2100 Ample Light Missile Launcher
TE-2100 Ample Light Missile Launcher
TE-2100 Ample Light Missile Launcher
Small Warhead Flare Catalyst I
Small Capacitor Control Circuit I
Small Warhead Calefaction Catalyst I
Scourge Light Missile x1144
Tranquil Dark Filament x6
T2 Dark Meta times three
You need three players to do this one, but this can do T2 Dark. If you cannot do three accounts, you need two friends to run them. See Fim Asatru's video above.
Need the anchor to have 3 Agitated Dark Filaments.
[Caldari Navy Hookbill, T2 Dark Meta v3]
Ballistic Control System II
Ballistic Control System II
1MN Y-S8 Compact Afterburner
Small Compact Pb-Acid Cap Battery
Small Shield Extender II
Cap Recharger II
Small C5-L Compact Shield Booster
Arbalest Compact Light Missile Launcher
Arbalest Compact Light Missile Launcher
Arbalest Compact Light Missile Launcher
Small Polycarbon Engine Housing I
Small Polycarbon Engine Housing I
Small Polycarbon Engine Housing I
Caldari Navy Scourge Light Missile x2000
Beyond T2 -- The Gila
If you start to go up in tiers, it gets more expensive and i do NOT recommend these for new players.
https://abysstracker.com/fit/6580 has the povertila, to quote:
Takeda Sanjo — 2023/05/2023 on eveo discord
Always get them started with the Povertila, you can make decent bank with low SP in T4 exotics with that tbh
If they are doing exotics, just swap the EM rig for a Therm. The EM rig is only included as the fit is suppose to also do T3 Electricals.
Tbh the other tiers people will just figure out as they gain experience
I'm sure @Somtaaw probably has good experiance with a passive Gila, and i'm just being a bit... Zealous.
Tbh when I first started I did use a passive gila setup in t4 gammas, I just cringe from the memory :KEK:
Povertilla
And a gila fit that was shared with me, not sure the weather or difficulty but ... that's what abyssal lurkers is for. This is an 'active' fit', requiring cap to run.
[Gila, Abyssal Gila v2.0]
Drone Damage Amplifier II
Drone Damage Amplifier II
Drone Damage Amplifier II
10MN Monopropellant Enduring Afterburner
Shield Boost Amplifier II
Medium Shield Booster II
Large Compact Pb-Acid Cap Battery
Multispectrum Shield Hardener II
Multispectrum Shield Hardener II
Rapid Light Missile Launcher II
Rapid Light Missile Launcher II
[Empty High slot]
Rapid Light Missile Launcher II
Rapid Light Missile Launcher II
Medium Core Defense Operational Solidifier I
Medium Capacitor Control Circuit II
Medium Core Defense Operational Solidifier I
Hammerhead II x10
Scourge Fury Light Missile x1000
Mjolnir Precision Light Missile x1000
Guristas Nova Light Missile x1000
This fit was shared with me as well, but is 'slow'. Cap usage is minimal, but can be vulnerable to neut pressure.
[Gila, T5 Exotic (Passive)]
Imperial Navy Drone Damage Amplifier
Caldari Navy Shield Power Relay
Caldari Navy Shield Power Relay
Republic Fleet Shield Recharger
Federation Navy 10MN Afterburner
Thukker Large Shield Extender
Thukker Large Shield Extender
Thukker Large Shield Extender
Thukker Large Shield Extender
Drone Link Augmentor II
Rapid Light Missile Launcher II
Rapid Light Missile Launcher II
Rapid Light Missile Launcher II
Rapid Light Missile Launcher II
Medium Core Defense Field Purger II
Medium Core Defense Field Purger II
Medium Core Defense Field Purger II
Vespa II x2
Zainou 'Deadeye' Rapid Launch RL-1003
Mid-grade Nirvana Alpha
Mid-grade Nirvana Beta
Mid-grade Nirvana Delta
Mid-grade Nirvana Epsilon
Mid-grade Nirvana Gamma
Mid-grade Nirvana Omega
Zainou 'Gnome' Shield Management SM-705
Zor's Custom Navigation Hyper-Link
Zainou 'Gnome' Shield Operation SP-905
Agency 'Overclocker' SB3 Dose I
Caldari Navy Scourge Light Missile x20
Nanite Repair Paste x100
Scourge Fury Light Missile x2060
And if you are impatient, don't have a wallet ready to spend, and are short on money, this is the wrong activity for you. Why not check out the Beginner Activities.