The hum of the refinery is a lonely sound. It’s the sound of potential, of raw cosmic matter being broken down into the building blocks of empire. Out there, beyond the station walls, legends are made in flashes of laser fire and the silent, cold expanse of shattered hulls.
But in EVE Online, legends are forged in silence, on spreadsheets, and with the patient, meticulous work of industry. They don't sing songs about the industrialist who funded an alliance war, but every fleet commander knows our name when their ships are replaced without delay. This is your calling. This is your path. In 30 days, you will not just make 500 million ISK; you will build the foundation of an economic engine that can fuel any ambition.
The EVE Online Industrialist's Creed: Mindset Over Machinery
Before you even look at a blueprint, understand this: industry in EVE Online is not a get-rich-quick scheme. It is a game of margins, volume, and patience. The difference between bankruptcy and profit is often a fraction of a percentage point, multiplied across a thousand units. You are not a crafter; you are a logistician, a market analyst, and a risk assessor. Your battlefield is the market window, your weapons are buy and sell orders, and your armor is a well-calculated spreadsheet.
The goal of 500 million ISK in 30 days is ambitious but achievable. It won't be done by building Titans on day one. It will be done by mastering the fundamentals, exploiting consistent demand, and thinking like a tycoon. This guide assumes you are starting fresh, with minimal capital and skills, and will show you how to scale efficiently.
Phase 1 of EVE Industrialist's Path : Foundation Week (Days 1-7)
Your first week is about learning the ropes, training critical skills, and generating your first seed capital without significant risk.
Skill Training Plan (The First 24 Hours):
Your initial skill queue is sacred. Every minute counts. Focus on unlocking the ability to run multiple jobs and reduce your time and material costs. These are your absolute priorities:
- Industry (Level 4): A 16% reduction in manufacturing time. Non-negotiable.
- Mass Production (Level 4): Allows you to run 5 jobs simultaneously. This is your first major multiplier for income.
- Advanced Industry (Level 3): A further 9% reduction in all manufacturing time. Efficiency is profit.
- Metallurgy (Level 3): For quicker reprocessing yield calculations.
- Science (Level 4): Unlocks the path to blueprint research later.
Your First Venture: Ammunition and Charges
Why ammo? The profit margin per unit is small, but the transaction volume is immense. Ammo is the single most consumed item in New Eden. Every PvP and PvE pilot needs it, constantly. It's a firehose of consistent demand.
- Blueprint: Start with a Tritanium Magazine Railgun Charge S Blueprint Original (BPO). It's cheap and readily available on the market.
- Materials: The primary material is Tritanium, the most common mineral. You can buy it cheaply in bulk or mine it yourself in high-security space to truly start from scratch.
- Execution: With Mass Production IV, you can run 5 jobs at once. Each job produces 100 units of ammo. One cycle of 5 jobs produces 500 rounds. Run this constantly. Your initial profits will be slim, maybe only 5-10% after market fees, but you are converting mineral isk into a value-added product and, crucially, generating liquidity.
As you queue your first jobs, remember the words of a Thrall Nation industrialist: "From my experience, ships and ammo have very low (if any) profit margin if you want to manufacture them locally - let the freighter owners import them from hi-sec. There is profit to be made in building Drones and common modules... There is a lot of profit to be made in building rigs..." . He's right, but for now, we use ammo for its unparalleled liquidity, not its stellar margins. You are building a war chest.
Phase 2: Expansion Week (Days 8-14) - The Journeyman
With a few million ISK earned from ammo and your core skills training, it's time to diversify and scale.
Skill Training Plan (Week 2):
- Supply Chain Management (Level 3): Allows you to start jobs 15 jumps away. This is critical for sourcing materials from cheaper regions without having to move your character.
- Laboratory Operation (Level 4): For faster blueprint copying and research.
- Mass Production (Level 5): A total of 6 concurrent jobs.
- Advanced Mass Production (Level 1): 7 concurrent jobs. Every additional production line is a direct increase to your income.
Diversifying Your Portfolio: Drones and Basic Modules
Now you start targeting better margins. Use your ammo profits to invest in new BPOs.
- T1 Drones (Hobgoblin I): Like ammo, drones are consumable. They get destroyed in combat constantly, creating a steady demand. The margin is typically better than basic ammo.
- Essential Modules (1MN Afterburner I, Standard Missile Launcher I): These are core fittings for countless ship designs, from new player frigates to doctrine-fit destroyers. Their demand is reliable.
The System Cost Index (SCI) - Your Secret Weapon:
This is where most new industrialists fail. The cost to install a manufacturing job is not fixed. It is determined by the System Cost Index (SCI), a dynamic value based on the industrial activity in that system over the past 28 days.
- Action: Open your map, navigate to the Industry view, and show the SCI. You want to base your operations in a system with a low SCI. A difference of 0.5% might seem small, but over hundreds of jobs, it saves you tens of millions of ISK. Set your home in a quiet system with a good selection of factories, not a trade hub like Jita.
Phase 3 of of EVE Industrialist's Path: Optimization Week (Days 15-21)
You now have multiple product lines running. Week 3 is about optimizing your inputs and outputs to squeeze every last ISK of profit from your operation.
Skill Training Plan (Week 3):
- Advanced Mass Production (Level 4): For a total of 10 concurrent manufacturing jobs. This is a huge power spike.
- Industry (Level 5): Maximum 20% time reduction.
- Advanced Industry (Level 4): 12% time reduction.
- Trade Skills (Accounting, Broker Relations): To reduce your market tax burden when selling your goods.
Mastering the Market:
You are no longer just a manufacturer; you are a trader.
- Buy Low, Sell High: Don't just buy minerals at market price. Place buy orders in your quiet system. You will pay 10-15% less than the immediate sell order price by being patient and letting the market come to you.
- Sell Smart: Likewise, don't just sell your goods in your manufacturing system. Haul them (or pay a courier service to haul them) to a major trade hub like Jita, Amarr, or Dodixie. The sell price will be significantly higher, enough to cover the shipping costs and taxes and still net a larger profit.
- Use Tools: Websites like Adam4EVE or Eve Guru are indispensable for comparing regional prices and identifying profitable opportunities.
The Power of Research:
A Blueprint Original (BPO) starts with Material Efficiency (ME) and Time Efficiency (TE) ratings of 0. Researching ME reduces the amount of materials required per run. Researching TE reduces the manufacturing time. A BPO with ME 10 can be over 100% more valuable than a ME 0 BPO because it saves so much on material costs. Start researching your most-used BPOs now; it's a long-term investment that will pay dividends for the rest of your career.
Phase 4: Mastery Week (Days 22-30) - The Tycoon
The final push. You are now a proficient industrialist. It's time to engage with the more complex and highly profitable end of the market.
Skill Training Plan (Week 4):
- Advanced Mass Production (Level 5): The pinnacle - 11 concurrent jobs.
- Supply Chain Management (Level 5): 25-jump remote management.
- Start Planetary Interaction (PI) Skills: To eventually produce your own P1 and P2 materials for T2 production.
The Golden Goose: Tech 2 Small Rigs
Tech 1 production is a volume game. Tech 2 production is a margin game. Small T2 Rigs are the perfect entry point. They are always in demand for fitting tight spaces on ships, the materials are relatively straightforward, and the profit margins can be 30% or more.
- The Process: T2 manufacturing requires Invention. You use a T1 BPC (from your copied BPOs), along with Data Cores and other materials, in an invention job to (hopefully) create a T2 BPC. This adds a layer of RNG, but the profits are worth it.
- Example: Look at Small EM Shield Reinforcer I invention and production. Research the required materials (e.g., Mechanical Parts, R.A.M.- Starship Tech) and calculate the cost versus the sell price in Jita.
The 500 Million ISK Calculation:
How do we reach the goal? It's not one magic item. It's the sum of your entire operation.
- 11 Manufacturing Lines: Running constantly on 1-day jobs.
- Product Mix: A blend of high-volume ammo/drones and high-margin T1 modules and T2 rigs.
- Margin: Assuming an average net profit of 15% across your entire operation.
- Daily Turnover: With 11 lines, you can easily produce millions of ISK worth of goods per day. A conservative estimate of 30-40 million ISK in profit per day over the final two weeks will easily push you past the 500 million ISK goal.
A Glimpse into the Future: The 2025 Landscape
CCP's 2025 roadmap promises enhancements to sovereign space customization and player-driven content through "Freelance Projects," which could create new, sustained demand for ships and modules. The savvy industrialist stays informed and adapts to these macro-economic shifts.
EVE Online - From Humble Refinery to Industrial Powerhouse
In thirty days, you will have transformed. You will no longer see a asteroid belt as just rocks; you'll see it as potential Tritanium. You won't see a battle report as just losses; you'll see it as demand for new ships. You will have built a self-sustaining economic engine.
The path is laid out before you:
- Train the core skills to multiply your output.
- Start with high-liquidity items like ammo to generate cash flow.
- Diversify into steady-demand items with better margins.
- Optimize your location and market operations to maximize profit.
- Graduate to high-value T2 production to secure your wealth.