Irae Ragwan
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Posted - 2010.09.08 00:14:00 -
[1]
 Originally by: TGO
I understand that there are enough int/mem skills to fill out a year... but if i do that i won't get to actually use any t2 ships at all for at least one year..
It's a tradeoff and a decision you'll have to make. Taking a split-remap early on (such as int/perc) will give you an "i can fly t2" character in 6-7 months. His general combat, fitting, and nav skills will be just shy of terrible and he won't survive long without a large gang, but if you're just trying to meet some assanine fleet ship requirements then that's a good way to get there quickly.
On the other hand, you can use dedicated remaps (int/mem) to cover all core and minor drone skills: ***note: use a larger portion of the remap for memory if you're planning on going full-bore with drone skills*** and perc/wp to then backfill ship and weapon skills later on. This puts off your shiny ship piloting for a long time (comparatively), but in return your total training time to a near-perfect skill-set to utilize the ship is not as hefty.
It's been a little more than a year or so since I put my last alt into training, but I seem to recall the overall time gap being something in the neighborhood of 3-4 months. That was on a skill plan that lasted for two years or so. I made the long-term decision and now i'm only 6-months and change out of a perfect pilot rather than 9 or 10. Of course, in my case, I had a perfectly useful main and another alt already avalible for use. I didn't have to worry about my new character being playable for the first year or more. I just set the skill plan in motion, updated the queue as needed, and played other characters. Were I to be stuck with one character (or a main character I just didn't want to play), I probably would have made a diffirent decision. There is certainly plenty to be said for just planning roughly a year of skill training without regard to attributes and training what you want to with the optimal remap.
Just bear in mind, chances are good you'll waffle on the exact use of your new character at some point or another. Remaps tailored to a particular mix-match of skills (the 'little bit of everything approach') can quickly land you using an inefficient train because you changed your mind. With the training-by-attribute approach, you're more focused on getting skills that are generally applicable to any ship upfront (the int/memory core skills), so it's pretty difficult to waste training time there. At worst, you would do something like train armor tanking skills, then realize you want to fly a shield tanked ship. Even then, however, you've done nothing but expand your possible ship choices and delay your goal by a few days rather than months on a il-fitting remap.
TLDR: I've used both approaches, but I prefer the long-term approach now. It's faster overall, it gives more room to be indecisive about your ultimate goal, and it prevents you from flying a ship with poor skills out of impatience and boredome.
PS: If you're really looking to knock time off the process, farm up some money and buy a ready-made character from the bazaar with isk. A couple billion can net you a character with perfect learning skills and a free remap to start you off with. Of course, it's really not the same as creating and growing (so to speak) your own character over time, but if you want faster results that is certainly the way to go.
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