Exploration for Free

I just learned that on launch day, Dominion is giving me a few (somewhat) free skills. I knew the skill requirements for making use of exploration sites were getting lowered, but I just ran a skill check against the exact changes and it looks like I’ve already got all the training I need! I’ll consider this my Christmas gift from CCP (or an apology for the month I spent on Learning skills).

Exploration has always been my first love and interest in New Eden, but diving deep into it has sadly been put off for the last many months for more PVP focused training. I don’t regret it, as I feel to simply survive in the black I need to be able to pull my weight in combat. Plus, to hang with the corp—which is fully PVP focused—I need to be able to contribute DPS when needed.

Don’t get me wrong. I fully plan to become a formidable PVP pilot and I know I’m going to enjoy it once my teeth sink in. It’s more about what I’m going to be doing while there isn’t a fight around. Right now, it’s ratting, and while it has it’s ups, most of the time it feels like little more than your average grind.

So, since I’m still a few weeks away from tech II blasters, and a month or so from assault frigs, interceptors, and interdictors, I was ready to accept I’d be ratting for quite a while longer before I start probing Providence. Now I don’t need to take more than a few days away from combat training and can still be ready to put on the explorer hat come December. Hell yes.

Here are all of the skill requirement changes coming (according to these patch notes) in case anyone else wants to see what Santa CCP might be bringing them:

• Hacking will now have the following prerequisites: Science level 3 (from level 5), Electronics Upgrades level 2 (from level 5), Electronics level 1 (from level 2) and Engineering level 1 (from level 2)
• Archaeology will now have the following prerequisites Science lev 3 (from level 5), Survey level 3 (from level 5) and Electronics level 1
• Salvaging will now have the following prerequisites Mechanic level 3, Survey at level 3 and Engineering level 1
• Cloaking has the following prerequisites Electronics lev 4 (was 5)
• High Speed Maneuvering will now have Navigation at level 3 and Afterburner at level 3 as its prerequisites (instead of all at level 4)
• Tactical Shield Manipulation has Engineering at level 3 as its prerequisites (instead of level 4)
• Trajectory Analysis has Gunnery at level 4 as a prerequisite (instead of 5)
• Bomb Deployment has Missile Bombardment at level 4 as a prerequisite (instead of level 5)
• Mining Upgrades now has Mining at level 3 as a prerequisite (instead of 4)
• Thermodynamics has Engineering at level 5, Energy Management at level 3 (instead of 5) and Science at level 4