How Tech 2 Blueprints get invented
The industrial world in EVE is not well known to many players, but Tech 2 (T2) ships and materials are commonplace in New Eden due to indyfolk.
I previously wrote about How Tech 2 things get built, and one of the questions I received was about how the T2 blueprints were made.
Here is an explanation of how T2 blueprint are created. We’ll go step by step through the basic invention process. As EVE Online is a exceedingly complex game, there are many variations and exceptions to the basic process of invention that won’t get into here.
The basic process: use a blueprint copy, which is made from a blueprint original, to invent a Tech 2 blueprint.
To do this you will need several things; skills, blueprints, datacores, a place to invent, and maybe some decryptors.
Skills: There are a few basic skills like Science and Mechanics that you need, but there are 20+ Science skills that are needed to do invention. They aren’t cheap, the basic NPC price for the skills is 15 million ISK, but you can often find them cheaper, especially some the skillbooks that drop from exploration. In the end, you will need them all, and in most cases trained up to level 3.
Blueprints: Invention is based on blueprint copies, usually referred to as ‘BPCs’. You can buy BPCs off of contracts or make BPCs from Blueprint Originals (BPOs).
Most BPOs are bought off the NPC market can range widely in price. A Adaptive Invulnerability Field I BPO is 750,000 ISK, while a Keepstar BPO is 700,000,000,000 ISK. Generally, the bigger and more powerful an item, the higher the BPO cost.
Making a BPC from a BPO is fairly straightforward, and only requires minimal skills and a little time. Like most things in EVE, there are skills and implants and other factors that speed up the process, but we won’t dive into that here.
It’s important to note that only attribute of the BPC that matters is the number of runs, which reflects the number of invention runs that the BPC can be used for. The other attributes (ME & TE) don’t matter.
Datacores: Datacores are items that mainly drop from exploration sites, can be purchased from loyalty point stores, and are generally available on the market. There are 20+ types of datacore and each invention will require two different types of datacores. The types needed for the inventions, varies with the end item. For example, a Warp Scrambler II requires Graviton Physics and Electromagnetic Physics, but a 150mm Railgun II requires Plasma Physics and Quantum Physics. In short, you’ll need them all.
Place to invent: Invention require Research services in an location. While Invention can be done in NPC stations, there is significant bonuses to doing it in engineering citadels, like Raitaru dedicated to research purposes.
Decryptors: The one optional part of invention are decryptors. Decryptors are found in exploration sites and are used to improve the outcome of the invention process in various ways. They aren’t required, but in some cases they are exceedingly useful.
Yes, it takes some investment in skill points and ISK to get started on T2 invention. No way around this.
That was a wall of text. Let’s get to some pictures.
This is a very simple invention of a module BPC into a T2 version.
Inputs on the left, the BPC from the sorted list below, results on the right.
The results area shows us a few critical things.
% Success Probability: This is important if you have a limited number of BPCs or the BPC itself is expensive. Or if you are in a hurry to get the T2 BPCs and want a lower chance of failure. This random roll can be extremely frustrating.
Runs: All T2 BPCs have a limited number of runs. Runs are the number of times a BPC will allow you to build an item.
ME/TE (Material Efficiency/Time Efficiency): The higher the ME of the BPC, the lower the amount of materials needed to build an item. The impact of ME can be significant when material costs are high and you want your production cost to be low. The higher the TE of the BPC, the faster the item will be built. As time is money, this is often a concern for profit focused industrialists.
After you start an invention, all you can do is wait and hope for the best. The Random Number Fairy controls all fate in EVE and industry is no different.
OK, let’s tackle the only real choice in invention, decryptors.
Decryptors raise or lower sever factors: the chance of success, the final ME, the final TE, and the number of runs.
Many industrialists swear by the Parity Decryptor for everything. I use several types of decryptors, depending on the situation. This is just my opinion on how to use them, others might vociferously disagree.
Parity Decryptor: The parity decryptor is especially great for ships and other inventions that have a low number of runs by default. Without a decryptor, inventing a T2 ship results in only 1 run which isn’t great. A parity decryptor adds 3 runs to any successful run AND improves the ME and TE.
Process Decryptor: The process decryptor is good for invention of items with high material costs where material efficiency (ME) matters. A process decryptor can give you ME5, which is the highest you can get on a T2 BPC. I tend to use these on expensive builds like Black Ops Battleships, Marauders, and some of the Capital Ship modules. Process decryptors are fairly cheap in comparison to others, so the the increase in material savings can increase profits even in lesser value items where base invention results in enough runs for your purposes.
Attainment Decryptor: Attainment decryptors are more of a special case when you really, really want the invention to complete. With a +80% to success, this really helps, but the -1 ME does need to be taken into account.
Optimized Attainment Decryptor: When you absolutely need the invention to succeed, you want the Optimized Attainment Decryptor. It’s the most expensive decryptor because of the +90% success bonus and overall boost to most attributes. Because of it’s cost, I rarely use it. And, it doesn’t guarantee success…
Storytime: Back when Rodiva and Zarmazd (T1 & T2 Triglavian logistics ships) were released, I wanted to build one of the first ones. I paid an exorbitant cost for the Rodiva BPCs and failed the invention 3 times before success. In each case I used the Optimized Attainment Decryptor. At the time, the cost of the Rodiva BPCs was over 250 million each, so the final Zarmazd ended up costing me around a billion ISK.
I do use the other blueprints on occasion, such as the lower cost Symmetry Decryptor when I want a few more runs and a little more ME from a medium cost item.
Often, it makes sense to not use a decryptor at all. For lower cost T2 modules, it can be difficult to use decryptors and remain profitable. You can simply set up multiple inventions runs, make an offering to Bob and hope the Random Number fairy is kind.
That’s it. That’s how T2 blueprints are invented. Pretty much every T2 item in the game is the result of an industrialist painstakingly taking the time to invent the BPC.
If you want to build T2 items and don’t want to go through this, you can buy your blueprints off of contracts. You might pay a little more, but most things are available.
There are many exceptions and side cases I didn’t get into, so if you have questions, my contact info is at dunkdinkle.com. Or simply chat with indyfolk in your group, I’m sure they would be happy to share their ideas and methods.
Lastly, next time you wonder why the cost of a T2 item is so high, please remember what it takes to create them.
