Mission running

Mission Running, an Eve profession

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WORK IN PROGRESS

A mission runner is a player who talks to NPC Agents who assign them tasks to be done in exchange for ISK and Loyalty points. Combat missions also provide bounties and loot. At high levels mission running can be very lucrative, with missions paying into the millions of ISK in bounties and rewards per hour spent running. As corp members, since mission cash rewards and bounties are taxable, mission runners usually contribute directly to the corporate wallet.

Agents are NPCs in the employ of various NPC corporations or agencies. When you went through the tutorial you met some agents, and ran some missions. (You did do the tutorial, right?)

Choosing an agent

There is much to consider in choosing an agent (or agents) to run missions for. The corporation the agent works for and the faction which the corporation is a part of can be important. You can even run missions for NPC pirate corporations if you want

As you successfully run missions for an agent your standing with that agent will increase. Your standing with the agent's corporation will also increase. For every 16 missions you complete for an agent you will be offered a storyline mission which will increase your standing with the faction your agent belongs to. (Be aware that storyline mission often lower your standing with other factions.)

Agents have two numbers associated with them, a Level, and a Quality Level. Higher Level agents offer tougher missions, and greater rewards, than lower Level agents. Within a Level higher Quality Level agents offer better rewards than lower Quality agents. Level ratings run from 1 to 4. Quality Level runs from -20 to 20. Level is more important than Quality Level, a Level 2, Quality 20 agent is inferior to a Level 3, Quality -20 agent.

Higher level agents require a higher standing with their corporation before they will even talk to you. At first you can probably only receive missions from lowly Level 1 agents. As you complete missions for them your standing with their corporation will improve, allowing you to access higher Level agents (and harder, more profitable missions.) For this reason, you will want to find a corporation with agents of various levels so that you can climb the corporate ladder, getting better missions from higher level agents as standing with their corporation increases.

Agent Divisions

Each Agent works in a specific department. Which department they work in determines the type of mission they can assign a mission runner to perform. Agents can assign courier, combat, trade or mining missions. Depending on their department an agent can assign, one, two, three or all of these mission types to players.

Courier missions consist of taking cargo from station A to station B. (In the case of Storage Department agents the cargo can be quite large, up to 20K m3) Combat missions require you to kill one or more NPCs, and occasionally retrieve some item from them and receive the largest rewards of any of the mission types. Mining missions require you to mine (or purchase) specific amounts of ore or minerals. Trading missions require you to purchase items from the market and deliver them somewhere.

The chances of receiving a mission of the different types from an agent in a certain department is shown in the following table.

Department	Courier	Combat	Mining	Trading
Accounting				100%
Administration	50%	50%
Advisory	66%	34%
Archives	90%	5%		5%
Astrosurveying	30%	40%	25%	5%
Command	3%	97%
Distribution	95%	5%
Financial	50%	50%
Intelligence	15%	85%
Internal Security	5%	95%
Legal	50%	50%
Manufacturing	95%	5%
Marketing	95%	5%
Mining	85%	5%	10%
Personnel	20%	80%
Production	95%	5%
Public Relations	66%	34%
R&D	50%			50%
Security	5%	90%		5%
Surveillance	5%	95%

No matter what type of agent or agents they may run missions for, social skills will be important to a mission running character.

• Social increases the loyalty points rewarded by an agent by 5% per skill level.
• Negotiation increases the ISK rewarded by an agent by 5% per skill level.
• Connections and Diplomcy affect your standing with a corporation, which in turn affects which agents you have access to.

Any mission runner will want these skills to at least level 4.

In addition there are specialized skills which improve loyalty point rewards from agents in specific departments.

• Bureaucratic Connections affects
  • Administration,Archives, Financial, Internal Security, Personnel, Storage
• Financial Connections affects
  • Accounting, Distribution, Financial, Legal, Marketing, Public Relations
• High Tech Connections affects
  • Advisory, Archives, Intelligence, Manufacturing, Surveillance
• Labour Connections affects
  • Astrosurveying, Manufacturing, Mining, Production, Personnel
• Military Connections affects
  • Astrosurveying, Command, Intelligence,Internal Security, Security, Surveillance
• Political Connections affects
  • Administration, Advisory, Command, Legal, Public Relations, Security
• Trade Connections affects
  • Accounting, Distribution, Marketing, Mining, Production, Storage

Skills for mission runners

Depending on the type of missions you are running, the skills required vary. Combat missions are the most skill intensive of the mission types. A combat pilot needs all the basic Eve skills. They need to be able to effectively fit a ship, (Engineering, Electronics, Mechanics and those kinds of skills), effectively deal damage (Gunnery, Missiles and/or Drone skills), and they need to be able to tank. As your skills improve they should allow you to gradually take on harder and harder missions as you gain access to better and better agents.

WORK IN PROGRESS