Setting up a new market trader in EVE Online can be overwhelming and confusing. This guide outlines how to effectively grind the correct standings for your low-skilled NPC station traders, and explains why high standings are important.
Brokerage Fee
The Broker Relations skill decreases brokerage fees from 3% to 1.5% at Level 5.[1] You can further reduce the Brokerage Fee to 1% if you raise the base faction and corporation standing to 10. [2] Effective standings are not considered.
=3%-(0.3%*brokerRelationsSkill)-(0.03%*baseFactionStanding)-(0.02%*baseCorpStanding)
Achieving a high standings is easy, but time consuming. The method is to chain agent missions as quickly as possible and trigger storyline missions for the appropriate corporation.
Storyline missions are triggered after the completion of every 16th[3] mission, and provide a larger faction and corporation standings increase. The closest storyline agent to the agent who gave you the 16th mission is triggered.
If you chain level 4 missions, you’ll get a level 4 Storyline mission when it triggers, providing a larger standing increase than if you chain level 1’s. You may need to grind standings first, to unlock level 4 agents.
This can be done in a low-skill sunesis
[Sunesis, Level 1 Security] Damage Control II Type-D Restrained Shield Power Relay Type-D Restrained Shield Power Relay Type-D Restrained Shield Power Relay 5MN Y-T8 Compact Microwarpdrive Medium F-S9 Regolith Compact Shield Extender Medium F-S9 Regolith Compact Shield Extender Small F-S9 Regolith Compact Shield Extender Small Core Defense Field Purger I Small Core Defense Field Purger I Small Core Defense Field Purger I Federation Navy Hobgoblin x8 Inertial Stabilizers II x4
Or, if you want to go wild, a 438 dps, <2s align time Mekubal:
[Mekubal, Storyline farm] Domination Tracking Enhancer Domination Gyrostabilizer Domination Gyrostabilizer Domination Nanofiber Structure Gistii A-Type 5MN Microwarpdrive Dread Guristas Multispectrum Shield Hardener Gistum C-Type Medium Shield Booster 200mm AutoCannon II, Hail S 200mm AutoCannon II, Hail S 200mm AutoCannon II, Hail S 200mm AutoCannon II, Hail S Auto Targeting System I [Empty High slot] Small Projectile Burst Aerator I Small Polycarbon Engine Housing I Small Hyperspatial Velocity Optimizer I Genolution Core Augmentation CA-1 Mid-grade Nomad Beta Mid-grade Nomad Gamma Mid-grade Nomad Delta Mid-grade Nomad Epsilon Inherent Implants 'Squire' Capacitor Systems Operation EO-603 Eifyr and Co. 'Rogue' Evasive Maneuvering EM-705 Inherent Implants 'Squire' Capacitor Management EM-805 Eifyr and Co. 'Gunslinger' Surgical Strike SS-905 Hail S x100000 Nanite Repair Paste x100
Trade Hub Factions and Corps
| Market | Faction | Corp |
|---|---|---|
| Jita | Caldari State |
Caldari Navy |
| Amarr | Amarr Empire |
Emperor Family |
| Rens | Minmatar Republic |
Brutor Tribe |
| Hek | Boundless Creation |
|
| Dodixie | Gallente Federation |
Federation Navy |
Another method to trigger storyline missions quickly is to chain Distribution missions. The rewards are not as high as security missions, but can result in triggering the storyline mission sooner than running security missions.
A max-cargo blockage runner is suitable enough to be able to carry 2 level 4 distribution missions’ cargo at a time.
[Crane, Crane] Expanded Cargohold II Expanded Cargohold II 10MN Afterburner II Caldari Navy Medium Shield Extender Caldari Navy Medium Shield Extender Pithum B-Type EM Shield Amplifier Interdiction Nullifier I Covert Ops Cloaking Device II Medium Cargohold Optimization II Medium Cargohold Optimization II
And a Raven for if the triggered storyline mission is a security one.
[Raven, Torp] Ballistic Control System II Ballistic Control System II Ballistic Control System II Capacitor Flux Coil II Capacitor Flux Coil II 500MN Quad LiF Restrained Microwarpdrive Domination Large Shield Booster Multispectrum Shield Hardener II Multispectrum Shield Hardener II Republic Fleet Large Cap Battery 'Inception' Target Painter 'Inception' Target Painter Torpedo Launcher II Torpedo Launcher II Torpedo Launcher II Drone Link Augmentor II Torpedo Launcher II Torpedo Launcher II Torpedo Launcher II Large Capacitor Control Circuit II Large Hydraulic Bay Thrusters I Large Core Defense Operational Solidifier II Imperial Navy Acolyte x5 Caldari Navy Vespa x5 Genolution Core Augmentation CA-1 Genolution Core Augmentation CA-4 Genolution Core Augmentation CA-3 Genolution Core Augmentation CA-2 Mid-grade Crystal Epsilon Inherent Implants 'Squire' Capacitor Systems Operation EO-603 Zainou 'Deadeye' Missile Projection MP-703 Inherent Implants 'Squire' Capacitor Management EM-803 Zainou 'Deadeye' Rapid Launch RL-1003
Finding the right mission hub
I recently found myself trying to find the perfect location to chain level 4 distribution missions to raise my Caldari State standings. Instead of doing a couple of hours of research, I turned to Claude and spent a couple of days developing an Agent Finder tool.
With this tool you can filter it down to be a hyper-focused representation of what you are searching for. For example, you could filter it down to Caldari State, Level 4 Distribution missions, with a storyline agent in-system, and a minimum of 2 agents per station, to see that there are five such systems.
Reprocessing Tax
Reprocessing Tax in an NPC station is by default 5% of the adjusted value of the output materials. The adjusted value can be called via the ESI and imported to a spreadsheet for lookup.
Training the Connections skill to 5 (and having at least +0.001 base standing with the NPC corporation) will result in an effective standing of 2 and therefore lower the reprocessing tax to 3.5%. Achieving a 6.67 effective standing reduces this to 0%. [4]
Effective Standing
=ROUND(baseCorpStanding+(10-baseCorpStanding)*(4%*connectionsSkill),2)
Tax Calculation
(If base standing = 0.00, effective standing = 0.00)
=ROUND(
IF(baseStanding=0,0.05,
LET(
rawEff,baseStanding+(10-baseStanding)*0.04*connectionsSkill,
eff,ROUND(rawEff,2),
IF(eff<=0,0.05,IF(eff<6.67,0.05*(1-eff/6.67),0))
)),4)
Achieving 1% brokerage fees and 0% reprocessing tax widens your trade margins significantly. A well situated Jita reprocessing trader can spend upwards of 5b ISK per month on reprocessing fees alone, so eliminating those costs is essential.
Alternative Method for Faction Standing
For a large increase in faction standing, run the Blood-Stained Stars Epic Arc. This can be repeated once every 90 days and will take a few hours. This can be run in the same sunesis detailed above, though some missions may require warping out to repair, so upgrading the modules to T2 is advised. A second Sunesis is required for Our Man Dagan (for the extra DPS), so you may decide to use something faster for the whole Arc, such as, a Dramiel or the Mekubal I linked earlier.
[Dramiel, SoE Arc] Counterbalanced Compact Gyrostabilizer Nanofiber Internal Structure II Gyrostabilizer II Compact Multispectrum Shield Hardener Republic Fleet Small Cap Battery Gistii A-Type 5MN Microwarpdrive Domination Small Shield Booster 'Arbalest' Rocket Launcher I 200mm AutoCannon II 200mm AutoCannon II Small Capacitor Control Circuit II Small Capacitor Control Circuit II Small Hyperspatial Velocity Optimizer I Warrior II x4 Hail S x5040 Caldari Navy Nova Rocket x945 Eifyr and Co. 'Rogue' Evasive Maneuvering EM-703 x1 Eifyr and Co. 'Gunslinger' Surgical Strike SS-902 x1 Inherent Implants 'Squire' Capacitor Management EM-803 x1 Expanded Cargohold II x2
[Mekubal, Storyline farm] Domination Tracking Enhancer Domination Gyrostabilizer Domination Gyrostabilizer Domination Nanofiber Structure Gistii A-Type 5MN Microwarpdrive Dread Guristas Multispectrum Shield Hardener Gistum C-Type Medium Shield Booster 200mm AutoCannon II, Hail S 200mm AutoCannon II, Hail S 200mm AutoCannon II, Hail S 200mm AutoCannon II, Hail S Auto Targeting System I [Empty High slot] Small Projectile Burst Aerator I Small Polycarbon Engine Housing I Small Hyperspatial Velocity Optimizer I Genolution Core Augmentation CA-1 Mid-grade Nomad Beta Mid-grade Nomad Gamma Mid-grade Nomad Delta Mid-grade Nomad Epsilon Inherent Implants 'Squire' Capacitor Systems Operation EO-603 Eifyr and Co. 'Rogue' Evasive Maneuvering EM-705 Inherent Implants 'Squire' Capacitor Management EM-805 Eifyr and Co. 'Gunslinger' Surgical Strike SS-905 Hail S x100000 Nanite Repair Paste x100
Additionally, the Angel Sound Angel Cartel Epic Arc can be run to gain either Minmatar, Amarr, or Angel standings, or the Smash and Grab Guristas Epic Arc for Gallente, Caldari, or Guristas.
This Stiletto fit runs Angel Sound with ease, though I have not tested it yet on Smash and Grab.
[Stiletto, Angel Arc] Counterbalanced Compact Gyrostabilizer Counterbalanced Compact Gyrostabilizer Caldari Navy Power Diagnostic System 1MN Y-S8 Compact Afterburner Republic Fleet Medium Shield Extender Caldari Navy Stasis Webifier Domination Thermal Shield Amplifier 200mm AutoCannon II 200mm AutoCannon II Interdiction Nullifier I Small EM Shield Reinforcer II Small Low Friction Nozzle Joints II Inherent Implants 'Squire' Power Grid Management EG-601 Barrage S x2400 Hail S x2640 Nanite Repair Paste x50
- [1] Broker Relations Skill | https://wiki.eveuniversity.org/Skills:Trade#Broker_Relations
- [2] Brokers Fee and Sales Tax | https://support.eveonline.com/hc/en-us/articles/203218962-Broker-Fee-and-Sales-Tax
- [3] Storyline Missions | https://wiki.eveuniversity.org/Missions#Storyline_missions
- [4] Reprocessing Tax | https://wiki.eveuniversity.org/Reprocessing
Updated 16 March 26