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Guide: Implants and Jump Clones, Part 2

Creating Jump Clones

As was mentioned in part one of this guide, each character is entitled to one medical clone, plus one jump clone per level of Infomorph Psychology trained.  However, these additional jump clones are not created automatically and do not appear out of thin air.  They have to be created by the player.  There are two ways to go about it.

Characters that live entirely in high-sec and never venture into low- or null-sec have only one option for creating jump clones: increasing standing with the in-game NPC corporations.  To create a jump clone requires an +8.0 standing with such an NPC corporation.  Even more than this, it requires +8.0 standing with the right NPC corporation.  Not every NPC corporation in New Eden offers jump cloning services; in particular, virtually none of the care-bear-oriented mining and transport companies do.  If you have a character that is 100% oriented in this direction, that's going to limit your options.

If you already have +8.0 standing with a corp, then finding their cloning stations is very easy with Grismar's EVE Explorer.  The process is as follows:

1. At the top left, select "show stations" from the drop-down;
2. then in the first query line just below, in the middle drop-down, select "with service...";
3. in the third dialogue box on the same line, type "cloning";
4. click "run query" but ignore the result;
5. in the new query line, in the middle drop-down, select "owned by corp with name containing...";
6. and in the third dialogue box on the same line, type the name of the corp you have +8.0 standing with;
7. click "run query" again.

You'll be presented with a list of systems and stations where jump clone services are offered.  You can even enter the system name you're starting from in the box for that toward the right side and it will tell you exactly how many jumps each possibility is from where you are.  It's an extremely handy tool.

If you don't have a potential corp picked out yet, you can use the same tool to make finding one a little bit easier.  Follow the procedure above, but instead of entering "owned by corp with name containing..." in the top line, enter "owned by faction with name containing..." instead.  Enter the faction ("Caldari State", say) and you'll be presented with a comprehensive list of all of that faction's cloning stations.  The list might be quite long, but it'll give you somewhere to start from.  Pick one of the corps, then you can use EVE's in-game Agent Finder to search for the mission types with that corp that appeal to you.

If you're a dedicated miner or industrialist, this will be a bit trickier: you'll be nudged toward the faction R&D corps for your needs.  If you're more combat-oriented, this choice is much easier: the faction navies all have multiple jump cloning stations and offer Security missions that will get you up to the required standing.

Any way you go, though, plan on spending a lot of time.  +8.0 standing is going to require multiple L4 missions and L4 storyline missions to achieve.  It's going to be quite a grinding slog, and this +8.0 requirement is why EVE Survival talks about how to blitz every mission in the game.  Do keep in mind, though, that your storyline missions may grant you the right to jump clone in an associated NPC corp long before you can in the corp you're trying for.


Once you have the +8.0 standing though, the process for getting a jump clone is quite simple:

1. Dock in a station with the relevant cloning facility;
2. select the "Medical" button from Station Services (it's the one with the red cross on it);
3. select the "Jump Clone" tab;
4. select "Install".

You'll be asked if you agree to a 100,000 ISK payment for the creation of the clone.  Say "yes" and you're all set.

Players in sovereignty null-sec space with access to a player-owned station with cloning services have it even easier.  They follow the same process for creation of the jump clone but obviously do not need to do the standings grind first.  Very occasionally, you will hear offers of "free port" null-sec stations that offer this service to anyone, for an ISK fee.  These offers are even occasionally legitimate.  However, test first using an inexpensive alt in a low SP clone, flying a noob ship.  Fly the alt to the station in question and confirm that you can dock there before committing a more expensive ship or pod.

Between these two options, most often in low-sec, is the opportunity to use a friendly Rorqual or Titan pilot to create a jump clone.  These two ships are capable of fitting a mod called a Clone Vat Bay.  As long as that mod is fitted, it will store a friendly player's jump clone.  As long as that mod is active, the player with jump clones installed on that ship can jump to them.

The procedure for creating such a jump clone is a little bit different.

1. Join a fleet with the pilot of the friendly Rorqual or Titan, and travel to the system where the ship is;
2. warp to the location of the ship within that system;
3. the Titan or Rorqual pilot will need to activate the mod, then select the friendly pilot and grant him access to the Clone Vat Bay;
4. you will be asked if you want to install a jump clone on this ship;
5. say "yes";
6. dock up your ship.

At that point, within your own jump clone menu, you'll be presented with that ship as a jump cloning option.  More on that in a second.

This is the jump cloning option most used by NPC null-sec residents, low-sec residents, and even many sov residents.  It is also available to high-sec residents through services occasionally advertised on the EVE Online forums.  While "free ports" offering these services are sometimes a scam, jump clone creation through this process almost never is.  The Rorqual pilot (and it's invariably a Rorqual pilot) expects to be paid ISK for your clone before he'll create it and will go to various lengths to ensure the safety of his expensive ship... but is still (slightly) risking that expensive ship to provide the service.  As a result, scams of this type are quite rare and are quickly discovered when they do happen.

Before creating a jump clone in a ship, make sure that you have the right to jump to that clone immediately, but that will be covered more extensively in...


Managing Jump Clones

As stated in part one of the guide, each character is entitled to one jump clone per level of Infomorph Psychology, plus one medical clone.  That creates the possibility for as many as five jump clones plus the active medical clone.  Each character may activate a jump clone every 24 hours.  When a jump clone is activated, that 24 hour timer is also activated and the character cannot be jump cloned again until the timer runs out.(1)  As a result, players will have to engage in a certain amount of jump clone management.

Each station that the player has docking rights at may store a single jump clone.  Therefore, the first decision the player will need to make is to pick a number of locations to store these clones.  There are three basic strategies involved:

• storing all jump clones within relatively close proximity to each other, with different specialties for each clone; or,
• more general clones scattered more widely; or,
• some mix of the two strategies above.

If the character is relatively static in terms of movement around the galaxy, then all of that character's jump clones can be stored in close proximity.  If the character lives in or near NPC space, all of the clones might even be stored in the same system.  Residents of null-sec space will have a trickier job since each system may contain a maximum of one station, and many null-sec alliances are forced to deal with relatively widely-scattered systems.  Therefore, jump clone management is something the player has to manage in much the same way that he or she manages ships.

Of course, if the player sticks to relatively simple, generic implants for each clone, the magnitude of this problem is greatly reduced.  But of course doing so reduces the advantages of having jump clones in the first place unless those jump clones are going to be widely scattered.  The major exception is the commonly used "training clone."  A training clone is defined as one that has the most expensive attribute enhancers that the player can afford.  Training clones are usually either kept in high-sec or in some other relatively safe haven.  The general intent of a training clone (usually fitting +5 attribute enhancers) is that the player will rarely if ever un-dock in such a clone and will jump to that clone when the player expects not to play EVE for a greater or lesser length of time.  Training clones are quite often kept far away from the rest of a character's clones.

The specific differences between more generic clones and more specialized clones and strategies for using one's jump clones will be discussed in part four of this guide.  For the purposes of this part, though, it can usually be safely assumed that widely separated clones will tend to be more generic, with the exception of specialized clones for specific purposes, such as the training clone above, a blank clone used for cynos or scouting enemy territory, a clone stored in a research or industrial hub with implants specific to those tasks, et cetera.

That brings us to the more specialized clones that most players will eventually begin to produce, and where jump clone management skills most come into play.  Since the 24 hour timer will prevent jumping from clone to clone rapidly, it's important that a new transition to a jump clone be done with a great deal of forethought and planning.  It is quite typical, for instance, for PvP-oriented players to have an armor-specific clone and a shield-specific clone (if not more than one of each).  If the FC for a given CTA declares that an armor fleet will be taken out, then four hours later another FC declares the next CTA will be shield, the player involved has quite a problem.

Therefore, do not jump to a jump clone unless you're reasonably sure that you'll be happy in that clone for at least 24 hours.  Once that clock starts ticking, there's no going back.  So if you think these sort of "mix and match" CTAs might take place, it's a smart idea to go ahead and have a generic clone or two even if you choose to specialize the others.

As you start accruing jump clones, it's a good idea to have a basic plan for what your goal for each clone is, and to write that goal down.  Just some short notes will be fine.  Assume that a given character has Infomorph Psychology III and therefore has three jump clones and a medical clone.  Write down what all four clones are going to be doing, to wit:

• Clone #1: training clone, +5s, stored in high-sec
• Clone #2: mostly clone for null-sec frig PvP, +1s and 3% CPU implant only
• Clone #3: Drake clone, +3s plus 1-3% shield-specific hard-wirings
• Clone #4: armor clone for armor HAC gangs, +2s and armor hard-wirings

You can write down general locations for where you'll keep each clone, but don't bother writing specific locations.  The clones will likely be moving around too much.

When you jump away from a specific jump clone, you MUST not have a jump clone already stored in that station.  If you attempt to jump away from a station where you already have a clone stored, the game will warn you that doing so will destroy your current clone.  Therefore, before jumping to a new clone, you must do one of two things:

• either move to a station with no jump clone currently stored; or,
• jump to the jump clone stored in that station.

If you do the latter, the two clones will swap: you'll shift to the one in storage and the one you're in will be moved to storage.  If you do not wish to jump to the clone in the station you are currently docked in, you must travel to another station first before you clone jump, or destroy your current clone during the jump.  For this reason, it's ironically a good idea not to store a clone in your main home station unless you have to.  If you get camped into that station and there is a jump clone already stored there, there's no clone jumping out without destroying one of your clones.

For each jump clone, you'll need to judge whether you're likely to encounter PvP in that clone and if so, how likely you are to be able to extract that clone if your ship is destroyed.  This is mostly a problem for full-time PvPers in null-sec.  It is somewhat difficult to lose a clone in low-sec and even more difficult to lose one in high-sec.  As your ship is being destroyed, spam warp to any celestial you like and it's almost certain that you'll escape.  Hell, if nothing else have a destination set at all times and click the Autopilot button once as soon as you enter structure.  If possible, your pod will immediately warp away once your ship is destroyed.

This judgment of how likely you are to lose each clone will help you decide -- along with your finances, of course -- what level of attribute enhancers should be installed in each clone.  Only those attribute enhancers in your current clone will assist with training speed.  Hint: do not install more attribute enhancers in a clone than you need.  It is aesthetically pleasing, but unnecessary, to have a "full set" of attribute enhancers in every single clone.  When the clone is created, plug in the ones you need, plugging in the others only as your training plan changes.

Similarly, once you set a strategy for each clone, you'll have to decide how much ISK to devote to each clone.  Treat this the same as any other economic decision with un-docked assets: how much can you afford to lose?  Specific strategies around cost-effective clones will be discussed in part four of the guide but if you can make a clone more survivable with the expenditure of some ISK, it's usually a smart idea to do so.  It's an investment in your own flying abilities.  And for strict PvEers, expensive implants can in due course pay for themselves.

The process for jump cloning is quite straight-forward:

1. Eject from your current ship (the game will not permit you to jump clone while in a ship);
2. click on your character sheet in the Neocom;
3. if you are currently training a skill, select Skills, then click the "Open Training Queue";
4. pause your current training (the game will not permit you to clone jump while a skill is in training);
5. select "Jump Clones";
6. decide on which clone you wish to jump to;
7. either right click that clone and click "Jump" from the context menu, or click on the right-facing arrow next to that clone, then select the "Jump" button right underneath; then,
8. go back to your Training Queue and click the "Apply" button to reactivate your training queue, if desired.

After you jump, you will vanish from your current location, appearing at your new location almost instantly.  The 24 hour clock will start.  IF the clone you're jumping to is stored in a Rorqual or Titan with an active Clone Vat Bay, you will appear in space in a random location somewhat near -- but well off-grid from -- the host vessel.  You'll then have to warp your pod from there to wherever you like.


Attribute Enhancers

Attribute enhancers have one and only one function: to speed up the training of skills based on that attribute.  They come in varieties from +1 to +5 for each attribute.  Each attribute has a base score of 17, and each character has 14 additional points that they may assign to any attributes they like, with a maximum of 10 per attribute.  The attribute enhancer score for each attribute is added to that, with a maximum of 5 per attribute.  Skills are trained based on a factor based on double the primary attribute for that skill plus the secondary attribute for that skill.

For instance, all T1 ships and most weapons are based on the Perception (primary) and Willpower (secondary) of the character.  If the character is maximized for training these skills, with +10 added to Perception and +4 added to Willpower, the character will have a Perception of 27 and a Willpower of 21.  This makes the training factor 75: twice Perception plus Willpower.  If the character has +4 implants on each, that increases the training factor to 83.  If +1s are used instead, the training factor is 77.

In actual practice, each +1 on the secondary attribute adds 30 SP/hour and each +1 on a primary attribute adds 60 SP/hour.  Or if you prefer looking at it this way, each +1 added to an attribute speeds training by 16 minutes per day for each +1 on the secondary attribute and 33 minutes per day for each +1 on the primary attribute.  These effects stack.  Therefore, using +4 implants for both primary and secondary attributes instead of +1s speeds training by 270 SP/hour, or makes training faster by 2 hours, 27 minutes per day.

Particularly early in an EVE pilot's career, this is important.

Each attribute enhancer goes in a slot specific to that attribute:

• Slot 1: Perception, called by the game an "Ocular Filter";
• Slot 2: Memory, called by the game a "Memory Augmentation";
• Slot 3: Willpower, called by the game a "Neural Boost";
• Slot 4: Intelligence, called by the game a "Cybernetic Subprocessor"; and finally,
• Slot 5: Charisma, called by the game a "Social Adaptation Chip".

As noted above, each attribute enhancer comes in flavors from +1 to +5:

• +1, called by the game with the prefix "Limited";
• +2, called by the game with the prefix "Limited" and the suffix "- Beta" (dash Beta);
• +3, called by the game with the suffix "- Basic" (dash Basic);
• +4, called by the game with the suffix "- Standard" (dash Standard); and,
• +5, called by the game with the suffix "- Improved" (dash Improved).

Therefore, a +5 Willpower implant is a "Neural Boost - Improved" and a +2 Perception implant is a "Limited Ocular Filter - Beta".

It is not necessary to match levels of attribute enhancers, nor is it necessary to use all five types in each jump clone.  Nor is it necessary to use any attribute enhancers at all: the jump clone will come with none!  But fitting them will greatly speed training.  The down side is that once fitted, removing an implant will destroy it.

Searching for attribute enhancers on the market is as simple as either:

• using the Browse interface, selecting "Implants", and then "Attribute Enhancers", then selecting one based on the slot it uses; or,
• using the terms above to search for the implants you like.

For instance, if you want +4s for both Perception and Willpower, use the search function to search for "- Standard" and you'll be presented with all of the +4 options.  Simply select the Ocular and Neural implants, and you're done.

As noted above, it's smart to use the best attribute enhancers you can afford based on your budget and the likelihood of the clone being destroyed.  As I write this guide (October 2012), attribute enhancer implants are at historic low prices, with +4 "Standard" implants costing only 13-14 million each.  As a result, there's very little reason not to go ahead and use them if you can at all afford them.  Again, though, there's no reason to use all five all the time.  Start with the ones you need for your current training plan, buying the others if you care to but only plugging them in when they're actually needed.

Finally, there are a large number of specialty implants for slots one through five that act as both attribute enhancers and skill hard-wirings.  These will be discussed in detail in part three of this guide.


But that concludes part two...


(1) Editor's note: this, in the writer's opinion, is the silliest and most pointless timer in EVE Online.
Source: Guide: Implants and Jump Clones, Part 2