Waking Up In The Starter System
You start EVE Frontier alone in a quiet starter system, far from the madness of the wider cluster. The game walks you through a New Player Experience designed to teach you how to survive before the universe starts trying to kill you.
Across this intro, you’ll learn four core pillars: Piloting, Base Building, Industry, and Combat. Instead of dumping menus on you, the tutorial pushes you to do things step by step, so you actually understand how to survive once you leave the starter system.
Your main goal early on is simple: build your first real Ship, the Reflex. Using loot from Wrecks, Ore from Asteroids, and Deployable Structures like Refineries and Printers, you’ll manufacture the Reflex hull that lets you jump out of the Starter System and into the real Frontier.
A video guide is also available below:
EVE Frontier | 'Getting Started' Tutorial | Cycle 5: Shroud of Fear
Step 1: Scavenge Wrecks For Fuel And Loot
Right after Character creation, you spawn in space flying a Wend, your tiny Starter Ship. A tutorial prompt immediately points you toward nearby Wrecks scattered around the system.
Those wrecks are your first payday: they hold Ore and Fuel you need for your first deployables and to keep your ship running. To find them easily, zoom out or press F2 to switch to the Tactical Camera, which clearly highlights wreck icons around you.
Click a wreck icon to select it; it will be outlined in orange when targeted.
Move into range using WASD or by right‑clicking the wreck and choosing Approach.
Once you’re close, press F to open cargo, then hit Loot All to dump everything into your inventory.
Repeat this on nearby wrecks until you’ve stocked up on fuel and materials. When you’re done, open the fuel panel on your HUD and load the proper fuel into your Wend so your capacitor and warp drives stay online.
If you want to familiarize yourself with the UI, you can visit this help center page for a detailed breakdown.
Step 2: Find Asteroids And Start Mining
With Fuel in your tanks, the tutorial moves you into Navigation and Resource gathering. Mining is one of the Core money-makers and building blocks of Frontier life.
Asteroid fields are where you’ll get the raw Ore that eventually becomes Minerals, Structures, Weapons, and Ships. To find them:
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Press F3 or select the System Camera to bring up all Warpable locations in the System, including Asteroid Fields. Note that the asteroid field icons looks like this:
Pick an Asteroid Field and Warp to it to set up your first real mining run.
Once you land:
Locate a point of interest and approach it.
Once your ship reads the signature you were approaching, lock an Asteroid as a Target.
Make sure your Small Cutting Laser is loaded with a Synthetic Mining Lens so it can mine.
Right‑click the Small Cutting Laser in your Fittings Widget, select the Charge Slot, and load the correct Mining Charges.
After that, start cycling the laser and watch ore trickle into your hold.
Step 3: Drop Your First Portable Base
Once you’ve mined enough Ore, the tutorial unlocks your first real base‑building step: constructing a field Refinery.
Open your Inventory through the Terminal to see what Ore and Materials you’ve gathered so far.
Press B or click the Build icon at the top of the screen to open the Building Menu.
In the Core tab, select and place a Field Refinery in space near your ship.
The Field Refinery lets you turn raw Ore into usable materials, and specifically lets you refine Water Ice into D1 fuel to power your Ship. If you’re short on Feldspar Crystals to build your Refinery, you can go ahead and mine Char in the Inner Derelict Quarry for Feldspar Crystals.
As you progress, you’ll unlock more portable structures like printers and storage that expand your base and become the foundation of your early operations. Nearly everything you build starts here: Ore from rocks, Salvage from wrecks, and a Refinery to turn it all into something useful.
Step 4: Watch Your Fuel And Capacitor
Fuel is your ship’s lifeblood; no fuel means no warp and no escape. You can always see your ship’s fuel at the bottom-right of the screen.
Your Capacitor (white bricks) spends Fuel (orange tab) whenever you Mine, Warp, or Fight.
As long as there is Fuel in your fuel bay, your Ship automatically refills the Capacitor; when fuel runs out, regeneration stops, and you’re stuck.
Before you step out from your base for Mining, Exploration, or Combat, always double‑check you have enough Fuel for the full round trip. Good Fuel management is the difference between smooth progress and drifting helplessly in deep space.
Step 5: Grow Your Base
Once your first Structures are online, it’s time to expand. You’ll add more Deployables that handle Manufacturing, Storage, and Ship Fitting.
Open Build Mode again and head to the Core tab. To build the next wave of Structures, you’ll need:
50 Feldspar Crystals (Char) – from the Inner Derelict Quarry
50 Hydrated Sulfide Matrix (Comet) – from the Outer Blue Drift
50 Platinum‑Palladium Matrix (Slag) – from the Inner Derelict Quarry
Warp to the appropriate Asteroid formations, mine what you need, then use the Personal Assets window to warp back home once you’ve gathered everything. Back at your base, build:
Field Printer – for manufacturing.
Field Storage Unit – for storing ore, modules, and materials.
Refuge – for ship storage and fittings.
Drop these structures close together so you can interact with all of them without burning extra fuel repositioning your ship.
Step 6: Craft Modules And Components
With Ore refined and Structures deployed, your next job is to start manufacturing Modules and Ship parts. Use the Portable Printer to access the manufacturing interface.
Here you can build Weapons, Mining Cutters, Mining Crystals, and eventually the Reflex hull itself. To prepare for the Reflex, queue up the manufacturing job and check its required materials:
Reinforced Alloys
Hydrocarbon Residue
Nomad Program Frame (covered later)
From here, your short‑term goal is clear: gather and build these components so you’re ready to construct the Reflex as soon as everything is in place.
Step 7: Fight Feral Drones For The Nomad Frame
You are armed with a mining laser, which can mine asteroids as well as shoot NPCs; now it’s time to fight. Open the System Camera with F3 and warp to an asteroid field.
If you already have 5x Fossilized Electronics, you can skip this step and go straight to Step 8.
When you land:
Approach points of interest, similar to step 2 in an attempt to locate Feral Drones
Lock drones by pressing X or by right‑clicking and selecting Lock Target.
Fire your mining laser using its assigned hotkey in the Ship Fitting widget.
Stay within 15 km by using the WASD controls; this keeps your gun tracking properly.
Watch your hull HP beneath the Armor indicator and trigger your Hull Repairer when needed. Fuel and Capacitor management still matter here; avoid pointless Warps and unnecessary Module spam so you don’t run dry mid‑fight. Keep clearing Drone sites until you loot 5× Fossilized Exotronics; this completes the requirement for building the Nomad Program Frame.
Step 8: Build Your First Reflex
Once you have your Fossilized Exotronics and other materials, head back to base. Use the Field Printer to manufacture the Nomad Program Frame along with any remaining components you still need for the Reflex hull.
When the Reflex job finishes:
Click the Output and choose your Refuge as the delivery location.
Right‑click the Reflex in storage and select Board to take control of your new ship.
This also tucks your old Wend into the Refuge, giving you your first “real” ship and marking the moment you’re ready to graduate from the starter phase.
For more detailed information, you can refer to the Manufacturing article.
Step 9: Fit The Reflex For Real Space
With the Reflex built, it’s time to kit it out for its first real outing beyond the starter system. Open the Fittings window through the Terminal to view its slot layout.
The Reflex offers:
2 High Slots
4 Mid Slots
1 Low Slot
1 Engine Slot
At the Portable Printer, manufacture a Sojourn Engine along with any other modules that boost your survival or damage output. If you’re low on materials, you can always hop back into the Wend to do more mining runs before finalizing your fit.
Before you attempt any interstellar jump, it’s strongly recommended to:
Fit tanking modules (defensive tools).
Fit two autocannons with ammo so you’re not helpless if something hostile appears on the other side.
A solid early‑game loadout makes your first steps into the wider Frontier far less punishing.
For more detailed information, you can refer to the Ship Fittings article.
Step 10: Pack Up And Jump Into The Frontier
Once you’re happy with your Reflex and your cargo holds are loaded with fuel and valuables, it’s time to move on. Start by dismantling your starter base.
Right‑click each deployed structure and select Dismantle to Cargo Container.
This spawns a container within 3 km holding the materials used to build that structure; scoop them up so nothing goes to waste.
⚠ Important: If you dismantle a structure while a refining or manufacturing job is still running, everything in that job is destroyed permanently. Always make sure every job is completed and delivered before you start tearing your base down.
With your ship ready:
Open the Map via the Terminal and look at the bubble around your current system; that’s your jump range.
Pick a system, right‑click it, and choose Jump using Jump Drive.
The jump consumes fuel, so make sure your fuel bay is full, and you have extra in your inventory before you commit. Once you land in your first new system, you’ve officially left the starter phase and stepped into the true Frontier.
The Frontier awaits.