V. Important Missions

Important Missions are special missions from Storyline Agents. For every sixteen (16) completed missions, you receive a message from a storyline agent, and a mission offer. These missions generally have a significant effect on your standing with your faction compared to regular missions, and often reward you with valuable implants.

Turning down missions detracts from your chance of an Important Mission. Specifically, if you have done 8 successful missions, then turn down the next one, you only count as having done 7 successful missions. Also note that this value only resets after having done a storyline; if you do 18 missions, then do a storyline, you'll still have to do 16 more for the next storyline.

VI. Agent Levels and Quality

There are four current agent levels in EVE, ranging from 1 to 4. There are also forty Quality levels, from -20 to 20. Every regular agent in EVE has both values, with the exception of Tutorial, Event and Storyline agents.

Agent Levels in particular dictate the agent's overall quality, as well as the difficulty of the missions provided. A level 1 agent will give out missions suitable for new pilots in frigates, while level 4 missions are extremely difficult to do alone, with many requiring small groups of people to do. While it is possible to solo level 4 missions, it requires significant amounts of experience and expensive ships and modules.

Many missions are available from multiple levels of agents. However, a level 1 variant is always significantly easier than a level 2 variant, so be careful when trying out higher-level agents and receive a familiar mission. Also, a ship that can easily tackle level 2 missions can still run into trouble with level 3 agents, and as such it's a good idea to test the waters whenever you go up a level. Conversely, the rewards of doing missions for a higher-level agent are that much higher, both in terms of monetary rewards, as well as increased amounts of loyalty points.

Generally, it is recommended that you take either destroyers or cruisers into level 2 missions, battlecruisers into level 3, and either battleships or tech 2 ships into level 4.

The quality of an agent affects the amount of cash and loyalty points you receive per mission, as well as standing increases per finished mission. Quality of an agent rises with increased standing and mission skills, in the form of "effective standing". Good standing and skills can effectively double the quality of a q20 agent.

VII. Skills

A number of skills affect missions and standing in EVE, and all have Charisma as their primary attribute, and Intelligence as a secondary.

Social
The basic Social skill, and a prerequisite for all other Social skills. Gives a 5% bonus to standing increase with the corporation and agent, as well as the residing faction if you are doing an Important/Storyline mission.

Connections
Instant 4% standing increase to friendly NPC corporations. Note that a "friendly" NPC corporation is any corporation in a faction (i.e. Gallente/Caldari) with which you have positive or neutral standing.

This is subject to diminishing returns however; let's say you have a standing of 0.0 with a corporation. Consider that the maximum standing you can have with them is 10.0. The game applies the 4% to the difference between your current standing with all friendly NPC corporations and 10.0. So at 0.0 standing you will gain an actual increase of 0.4. If you already have a standing of 5.0 with a particular corporation you will gain a 0.2 net standing increase by training up a level of Connections (4% of 5.0 = 0.2).

Criminal Connections
Works like Connections, only with Pirate Factions such as Guristas and Sansha's Nation.

Diplomacy
Works like Connections, only for hostile NPC corporations.

Fast Talk
Works like Connections, only for Concord and therefore your overall Security Status

Negotiation
Provides a flat increase of 5 on agent quality per skill level.

Bureaucratic/Military/High-Tech/Financial/Political/Labor/Trade Connections
These skills give a 5% increase to Loyalty Points received per mission for every level trained. Note that each agent division has two Connections skills assigned to them: for example, Internal Security has Military and Bureaucratic Connections. These skills stack, so if you have both relevant skills trained to level 4, you have a 20% bonus from both, for a total of a 44% bonus on received LP.

These skills are not sold by NPC's, but are given out in agent loyalty offers and can cost up to 100m from players.

DED Connections
Each level increases the bounty received from killing NPC Pirates by 1,500 isk. *This skill is not active, and may change before it becomes live*

VIII. Appendix A - Division and Mission Types

Administration: 50% Kill, 50% Courier
Advisory: 34% Kill, 66% Courier
Archives: 5% Kill, 90% Courier, 5% Trade
Astrosurveying: 40% Kill, 30% Courier, 25% Mining, 5% Trade
Command: 97% Kill, 3% Courier
Distribution: 5% Kill, 95% Courier
Intelligence: 85% Kill, 15% Courier
Internal Security: 95% Kill, 5% Courier
Legal: 50% Kill, 50% Courier
Manufacturing: 5% Kill, 95% Courier
Marketing: 5% Kill, 95% Courier
Mining: 5% Kill, 85% Courier, 10% Mining
Production: 5% Kill, 95% Courier
Public Relations: 34% Kill, 66% Courier
R&D: 0% Kill, 50% Courier(S), 50% Trade
Security: 90% Kill, 5% Courier, 5% Trade
Storage: 5% Kill, 95% Courier(L)
Surveillance: 95% Kill, 5% Courier
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Kill: Kill one or more NPCs
Courier: Move or Deliver cargo (usually less than 2k m3)
Courier(L): Move or Deliver large cargo (upto 20k m3)
Courier(S): Move or Deliver cargo (requires specialized science skills)
Trade: Purchace items on the market and then deliver
Mining: Retrieve ore/minerals