Mining Laser Range

A typical high-sec asteroid belt contains ~100 asteroids evenly distributed along a minor arc with a radius of 25 km. The warp-in point  for the asteroid belt is located at a point equidistant from the arc - this would be the center of a circle if the arc were to extend 360 degrees.

A Modulated Strip Miner II (MSMII) has a range of just under 15km. A player would have to move their barge ~10km from the warp-in point to be in range of the asteroids. To avoid having to move into range every time a belt is mined players typically bookmark locations within range and then jump to these bookmarks rather than the warp-in point. This method still requires the player to move their craft one or two more times within the belt to be in range of all the asteroids contained therein. Ideally, a miner wouldn't have to move their craft at all in order to access all of the asteroids in the belt. This can be achieved.

With a Low-Grade Harvest implant set the range of a MSMII can be extended from 15,000 m to 20,074 m

The calculation for the full set is as follows:

total bonus = (1+(set bonus x alpha bonus) x (1+(set bonus x beta bonus) x (1+(set bonus x gamma bonus) x (1+(set bonus x delta bonus) x (1+(set bonus x epsilon bonus)

 = (1+((1.1^5) x 1.25 x 1.01) x  (1+((1.1^5) x 1.25 x 1.02) x  (1+((1.1^5) x 1.25 x 1.03) x  (1+((1.1^5) x 1.25 x 1.04) x  (1+((1.1^5) x 1.25 x 1.05)

= 1.338299872 x

Therefore the Range of the MSMII becomes:

= 15,000 m x 1.338299872 = 20,074 m

These are the stats on the implant set:

Low-grade Harvest Alpha: 1% Bonus to range, 10% bonus to all other Harvest implants. +2 bonus to Perception. (slot1) <28,350 LP, 18,900,000 ISK, Limited Ocular Filter - Beta>

Low-grade Harvest Beta: 2% Bonus to range, 10% bonus to all other Harvest implants. +2 bonus to Memory.(slot2) < 37,800 LP, 25,200,000 ISK, Limited Memory Augmentation - Beta>

Low-grade Harvest Gamma: 3% Bonus to range, 10% bonus to all other Harvest implants. +2 bonus to Willpower.(slot3) <56,700  37,800,000 (Limited Neural Boost - Beta)>

Low-grade Harvest Delta: 4% Bonus to range, 10% bonus to all other Harvest implants. +2 bonus to Intelligence.(slot4) <94,500 LP, 63,000,000 ISK, Limited Cybernetic Subprocessor - Beta)>

Low-grade Harvest Epsilon: 5% Bonus to range, 10% bonus to all other Harvest implants. +2 bonus to Charisma.(slot5) <170,100 LP, 113,400,000 ISK, Limited Social Adaptation Chip - Beta>

Low-grade Harvest Omega: 25% Bonus to all other Harvest implants.(slot6)  <321,300 LP, 214,200,000 ISK, Hardwiring - Inherent Implants 'Highwall' HX-1>

Total Cost = 708,750 LP, 472,500,000 ISK, Implants (~27,000,000 ISK)

The cost of this set makes it inaccessible to most players.

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However, the Orca and Rorqual can also modify your laser range.

These ships can fit a Mining Foreman Link - Mining Laser Field Enhancement II 

On an Orca this module affects mining laser range in the following way:

= (1+((module base modifier x Mining Foreman Mind-link bonus x Warfare Link Specialist bonus x Mining Director bonus x Industrial Command Ship bonus)/100))

= (1+((5.625 x 1.5 x 1.5 x 5 x 1.15)/100))

= 1.727734 x

The extended range for a MSMII is therefore 15,000 m x  1.727734 = 25,916 m

When a Rorqual is in siege mode the module affects mining laser range like so:

= (1+((module base modifier x Mining Foreman Mind-link bonus x Warfare Link Specialist bonus x Mining Director bonus x Capital Industrial Ship bonus)/100))

= (1+((5.625 x 1.5 x 1.5 x 5 x 1.5)/100))

= 1.949218

The  range of a MSMII becomes 15,000 m x 1.949218 = 29,238 m

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If however you are both rich and lucky then you will benefit from both the implant set and either ship.

Implant set and an Orca: 15,000 m x 1.727734 x 1.338299872 = 34,683 m

Implant set and a Rorqual: 15,000 m x  1.949218  x 1.338299872 = 39,129 m

* These calculations take into account the changes made up to Crucible 1.1, Build 329614

Mining Efficiently

Why mine ore? The aphorism "time is money" holds true in EVE, especially when mining. This activity is an epitomic "grind" where your investment in time is directly related to your productive output. Nonetheless this activity can be immensely profitable when done efficiently. Moreover, it can be done with almost no risk to your ships or clones.

What ore should I mine? Currently the most profitable ore to mine is Prime Arkonor. It has an ISK to volume (m³) ratio of 371:1. The value of ore depends on the type and amount of constituent minerals in the ore, the market value of each mineral type, the volume of a single unit of ore and the amount of ore needed to refine (batch size). Ore value is based on volume because mining lasers extract a fixed amount of ore per laser cycle.  (A caveat to this method of valuation arises when considering the utility of unrefined ore for missions. i.e. some unrefined ores are required to complete missions and are therefore sold in mission hubs for a cost above the market value of the constituent minerals.)

In high-sec space the most profitable ore is Viscous Pyroxeres which has a value of 162 ISK/m³.

If you accept this premise (method of valuation) then it logically follows that you would want to maximize the volume of ore you can mine in a given amount of time.

Where should I mine? The most profitable ores are found in null-sec, wormhole space and complexes. Mining in these locations requires security support to defend vulnerable mining fleets from NPC pirates and roving PVP gank squads. Additionally, mining in remote areas typically necessitates transportation of the minerals to lucrative high-sec markets. 

*The builds described in this post are designed to be implemented in the relative security of high-sec space (1.0-0.5) - the so called "kingdom of caring." They are therefore not intended to be used during Hulkageddon or in any hostile territory.

Who should mine? Mining efficiently requires patience and a long term outlook to profit. Mining is only part of the value chain in production. An efficient miner will want to make the most of their mining activity by manufacturing T1 goods (at the very least). Being detail oriented, systematic and methodical will greatly help you in the planing and execution of any mining operation.

How? - And now we come to the purpose of this post.

Doing It Right

To get the highest volume per laser cycle requires working in a team. The most efficient mining vessel is the Hulk. In high-sec it will be paired with an Orca. In 0.4 space or less the Hulk will be paired with a Rorqual.

This is not always possible or practical, but when it is, mining is very efficient.

The Hulk

To use a Hulk effectively, train the following skills to level five:

Exhumers, Mining Barge, Mining, Astrogeology, Mining Upgrades, Energy Grid Upgrades, Drones Rigging, Astronautics Rigging, Electronics, Engineering, Mechanic, Targeting, Long Range Targeting, Energy Management, Energy Systems Operation, Drones, Drone Interfacing, Mining Drone Operation, Combat Drone Operation, Scout Drone Operation, Gallente Drone Specialization, Shield Operation, Tactical Shield Manipulation, Shield Management, Hull Upgrades, Warp Drive Operation, Evasive Maneuvering,, Refining, Refining Efficiency, (ore type) Processing, Cybernetics, Industry. 

*tech II mining crystals can require metallurgy 4, the Hulk further requires science 4 and spaceship command 4.

Additionally, in order to refine your ore with 100% efficiency in a NPC station you need to have a standing greater than or equal to 6.67 toward the corporation that owns the station. 

Not all stations have a high base refining efficiency. It is possible to refine 100% of the minerals from an ore at a high sec station that has a base refining efficiency of 50% if you have refining 5, refining efficiency 4 and the ore specific processing skill at 1. <www eve-wiki.net/index php?title=Refining>

The skills listed above increase the volume of ore mined per cycle for both lasers and drones, allow for the use of specific mining modules, mining rigs, defensive drones, mining drones and implants, and improve the ability of the ship to withstand attacks or escape if necessary.

THE BUILD: The volume per cycle for a Hulk is maximized by fitting two tech II mining laser upgrades, three tech II strip miners each using a tech II mining crystal, and a medium tech II mining drone augmenter rig. The utility of the Hulk is increased with the addition of a medium tech II cargohold optimization rig and mid-slot shield modules.

THE MATH (Lasers): 3 strip miners each with a base volume of 360 m³ per 3 minute cycle are affected by skills in the following way: Mining 1.05 per level @ L5 = 1.25x, Astrogeology 1.05 per level @ L5 = 1.25x, Mining Barge 1.03 per level @ L5 = 1.15x, Exhumer = 1.03 per level @ L5 = 1.15x. The yield is further modified by the 2 tech II Mining laser upgrade modules by a factor of 1.09 * 1.09 = 1.1881x and by the use of tech II  mining crystals = 1.75x. Implants modify the yield like so: Michi Mining Excavator (slot 7) = 1.05x and Hardwiring - Inherent implants 'Highwall' HX-2 (slot 10) = 1.05x. (The yield and cycle time will be improved by the Orca or Rorqual pilots skills, this is covered in their section.)

THE MATH (Drones): 5 x Mining Drone II each with a base yield of 25 m³ per 1 minute cycle are affected by skills in the following way: Drone Interfacing 1.2 per level @ L5 = 2x, Mining Drone Operation 1.05 per level @ L5 = 1.25x. The medium tech II Drone Mining Drone Augmenter modifies drone yield by a factor of 1.15x. The drones must move within range of their target then mine for one cycle then move back to the Hulk to disgorge the ore from their cargohold. This takes time. The further your target asteroid is from you the more time the drones waste during flight. This wasted time can be accounted for with a variable called the Estimated Travel Fraction (ETF). It is based on an average asteroid distance of 13 km and a round trip time of 2 minutes 3 seconds (the time taken depends on the Drone Navigation skill) = 60 second mining cycle/123 second round trip = 0.4878x

Without the intervention of an Orca or Rorqual the Laser cycle is 3 minutes. The Drone cycle is calculated per 1 minute once the ETF is factored in. Thus in a 3 minute period there is one laser cycle and 3 ETF drone cycles.

(3 x 360 x 1.25 x 1.25 x 1.15 x 1.15 x 1.1881 x 1.75 x 1.05 x 1.05) + (5 x 3 x 25 x 2 x 1.25 x 1.15 x 0.4878)

 This polynomial resolves to a volume of 5,115.7475 + 525.9093 = 5,641.6569 m³ but due to rounding is actually 5640 m³ per 3 minutes or 112,800 m³ per hour.

If you're in null-sec mining Prime Arkonor this results in a value of 371 x 112,800 = 41,848,800 ISK/hour.

If you're in high-sec mining Viscous Pyroxeres this results in a value of 162 x 112,800 = 18,273,600 ISK/hour.

However, reality is different from this scenario because asteroids can be exhausted partway through a laser cycle- wasting the remainder of that cycle. This happens frequently when mining the high-end variants of an ore because they  tend to be smaller. Moreover, the miner, if working alone, would have to stop every time their cargohold was full to deliver the ore to a station which would require waiting for the drones to return and then waiting for the gates and then waiting to enter or leave stations and then waiting for the girl guide selling cookies at your front door. Mmmm cookies, Nom Nom Nom, but I digress... 

If you don't want to waste time that could be spent mining by hauling many small loads of ore then conscript a corp-mate or just get another account. But then to be fair you would have to split the ISK/hour across each contributing account, after all the accounts could be used elsewhere making ISK some other way in order to buy the ships, modules and ammo that I sell.

To encourage cooperative play (or multi-boxing) CCP has provided a bonus to mining fleets in the form of a direct increase to yield and more importantly a reduction in laser cycle time (the second bonus doesn't affect drone cycle time) Thus we come to the section on the Orca and Rorqual.

The Orca

To use an Orca effectively, train the following skills to level five:

Leadership, Wing Command, Fleet Command, Mining Foreman, Mining Director, Spaceship Command, Industrial Command Ship, Mining Barge, Astronautics Rigging, Electronics, Engineering, Mechanic, Targeting, Long Range Targeting, Energy Management, Energy Systems Operation, Drones, Drone Interfacing, Combat Drone Operation, Scout Drone Operation, Gallente Drone Specialization, Shield Operation, Tactical Shield Manipulation, Shield Management, Hull Upgrades, Warp Drive Operation, Evasive Maneuvering, Cybernetics, Industry. 

*Prerequisites for the Orca not mentioned above - Mining 4, Astrogeology 3, Science 4.

The Orca can operate in high-sec despite being labeled a capital ship. This ship plays a logistics role in the mining operation by serving as a large cargohold for the fleet. Miners with the appropriate standings which are close by can directly drop ore into the Orca corp hangar. The Orca pilot can also make good use of a small tractor beam II to collect ore 'jet cans' without moving at all. 

The more miners there are in your operation the more effective an Orca is. It provides a direct boost to yield by way of the Mining Foreman skill 1.02 per level @ L5 = 1.1x. With the use of a Mining foreman Mindlink implant this bonus is superseded by a flat 1.15x bonus. The Orca can also affect yield by reducing the need for miners to move. It does this by extending the range of mining lasers used in the fleet. The greatest utility of an Orca is in reducing the time it takes for a laser cycle to complete. Increasing the number of  laser cycles per unit time directly increases the ore volume extracted per unit time. Cycle time is reduced with a module called the Mining Foreman Link - Laser Optimization II. This module provides an initial command bonus of -2.5x and is modified in the following ways: Warfare Link Specialist 1.1 per level @ L5 = 1.5x, Industrial command Ship 1.03 per level @ L5 = 1.15x, Mining Director 2 per level @ L5 = 5x (the notation means 100% increase in effectiveness per level *this is only evident after level 2), the Mining Foreman Mindlink implant also increases the Link effectiveness by 1.5x (in addition to its other bonus). 

Cycle time is reduced in this way:

((2.5 x 1.5 x 1.5 x 5 x 1.15)/100) = 0.3234375 (This value is -1% of the command bonus)

Laser Optimization bonus = 1/(1-0.3234375) = 1.4781x

Altogether the Orca adds a factor of 1.4781 x 1.15 =  1.6998x to each mining laser (but not to drones)

Therefore between one Hulk and one Orca the yield is a volume of (5,115.7475 x 1.6998) + 525.9093 =  9,220 m³ per 3 minutes (due to rounding)  = 184,400 m³ per hour.

If you're in null-sec mining Prime Arkonor this results in a value of 371 x 184,400 =  68,412,400 ISK/hour.

If you're in high-sec mining Viscous Pyroxeres this results in a value of 162 x 184,400 = 29,872,800 ISK/hour.

The Rorqual

When in siege mode this very expensive ship provides an improved bonus to mining foreman gang links relative to the Orca - 10% per level for the Rorqual vs. 3% per level  for the Orca.

I won't offer any suggestions for a Rorqual build or training regimen. If you have made it this far you know youll have to train every skill to 5 just to have a fighting chance.

The optimization is affected as follows:

((2.5 x 1.5 x 1.5 x 5 x 1.5)/100) = 0.421875

Laser Optimization bonus = (1/(1-0.421875)) = 1.729729x

When combined with the Mining Foreman Mind-link the bonus becomes (1.729 x 1.15) = 1.9891x

There you have it. A Rorqual can nearly double a Hulks already prodigious productivity.

Between one Hulk and one Rorqual the yield is a volume of (5,115.7475 x 1.9891) + 525.9093 =  10,700 m³ per 3 minutes (due to rounding)  = 214,000 m³ per hour.

If you're in null-sec mining Prime Arkonor this results in a value of 371 x 214,000 =  79,394,000 ISK/hour.
A Rorqual can't enter high-sec.

Material Efficiency Research

The amount of minerals and materials you will need to execute one run of a blueprint depends on (1.) your production efficiency level - which should be at level 5 before you attempt to compete in the marketplace (2.) the efficiency of the installation - as far as I know all high-sec stations have an installation efficiency of 1 whereas POS assembly arrays can have efficiencies greater than 1 meaning they are relatively inefficient. (Advanced Large, Medium & Small Ship Assembly Arrays have a Base Material Multiplier of 1.1 and Rapid Equipment Assembly Arrays have a Base Material Multiplier of 1.2 (3.) the Material Level of the blueprint. By researching the blueprints Material Efficiency you can  reduce the amount of materials needed - sometimes this will make enough of a difference in a competitive market to give you an edge.

HOW MUCH OF A DIFFERENCE DOES RESEARCH ALLOW FOR? As the following examples show, its not always the same, and it isn't necessarily very much.

Example One.At PE 5 an unresearched Scorch Bomb BPO (ME 0) requires 11081 Isogen, 358 Megacyte, 59649 Mexallon, 2333 Nocxium, 616637 Pyerite, 1503325 Tritanium, 1437 Zydrine. Once researched up to ME 50 (Waste Factor 0.2%) it requires 11080 Isogen (99.99%), 357 Megacyte (99.72%), 59648 Mexallon (99.99%), 2332 Nocxium (99.95%), 616627 Pyerite (99.99%), 1502345 Tritanium (99.93%), 1436 Zydrine (99.93%). The difference is so marginal that ME research does not significantly effect the amount of minerals needed to execute one run.

Example Two. At PE 5 an unresearched Ultraviolet L BPO requires 2 Isogen, 19 Megacyte, 3 Nocxium, 103 Pyerite and 4 Zydrine. After being researched up to ME 21 (Waste Factor 0.5%) it required 2 Isogen (100%), 17 Megacyte (89.47%), 3 Nocxium (100%), 94 Pyerite (91.26%) and 4 Zydrine (100%). Despite having a lower ME of 21 vs 50 and a correspondingly higher Waste Factor of 0.5 vs 0.2 the Ultraviolet L benefited more from ME research than the Scorch Bomb. Therefore you can not expect when researching a  a BPO that based on previous results your researched input requirements will change in the same ways - especially for very different types of items.

So now for the million ISK question and the point of this post. If you can't predict in advance what the benefit of research will be - how can you nonetheless know what the benefit of research will be? This is especially important when deciding what to manufacture in the first place...you have to know what the actual input costs will be in order to compare any two items. The solution is very simple - search the contracts window for researched BPOs, view the contract and then correlate the ME# with the mineral or material requirements.

I have a very large spreadsheet that compares the market value with the mineral value of hundreds of different items so that I can determine the margin of return on building any of these items. Ideally you want to build items with the highest margins, few competitors in your trade center and reasonable volumes.

A brief note about selling - train Accounting to level 5 - this will reduce the transaction tax YOU pay when SELLING an item. (caps because in the real world tax is paid by the purchaser when buying.) Also, when selling items on the market to existing buy orders use the "simple view" window because you are taxed but not subject to a brokers fee. When selling onto a Market at prices above the highest buy order you must use the "advanced view." This will subject you to a brokers fee that depends on the skill Brokers Relations and on your Faction, Corporate and Personal Standings. With BR 0 and standings of 0 you are assessed a 1% Brokers fee. Training Brokers Relations to level 5 reduces this fee to 0.75%. With high standings I've read this fee can be further reduced to 0.3%.

A Guide to Titan Construction in EVE Online.

Have you ever asked yourself "How are Titans Built" only to find that this information is really hard to come by? Then perhaps you will find this Guide on Titan Super-capital Construction useful.

How to Build a Titan

Form an Alliance (Requires one or more corporation)

*The more corps and members there are the more tax and material for construction and more ships for defence of alliance assets and sovereignty.

*The executor corporation in the alliance pays the upkeep costs for sovereignty structures and the setup cost (1 Billion isk <one-time fee>) and monthly cost of maintaining the alliance  (2 Million isk per member corp / month) – consider implementing transfer payments from the member corps to the executor to cover these costs

*forming an alliance requires empire control 5

Anchor, Fuel, and Online a Large POS Tower within 100 km of an unoccupied moon

*Set the password and configure who can access the tower and who triggers automatic defences

*Large Caldari towers: 30 minutes to anchor, 30 minutes to online, 2.75M mw, 7500 cpu, 8000 m³ to haul (req. Industrial), 4 fuel blocks per hour = 2880/month @50m³ ea =144000 m³, 50,000 m³ strontium bay = 16,666 units,  110,000 m³ fuel bay.

*more difficult to defend in null sec compared to faction towers b/c of bonuses and reliance on missile batteries but the Caldari tower has sufficient cpu for 1.) the Capital Ship Assembly Array, 2.) the Capital Ship Maintenance Array, 3.) the Corporation Hangar Array and for 4.) some electronic warfare countermeasures which assist in defence  

* Given the vast expense of titan manufacturing the alliance shouldn’t try to be frugal when purchasing a tower -  the cost of a good faction tower is relatively minor in comparison to the many other expenses incurred throughout this project. Moreover, it won’t be feasible to upgrade your POS once the project is underway – so get it right the first time.

Anchor and Online a Territorial Claim Unit within 300 AU of a star (but more than 50 km from a POS)

            *5 minutes to anchor, 8 hours to online, 84 M isk / 14 day billing cycle upkeep fee (6 M isk/day), 5000 m³ to haul (req. Industrial)

            *anchored in a claimable nullsec system (one that is not currently claimed.)

            *a tcu can be anchored next to a pos but a pos cannot be anchored next to a tcu – therefore you must choose the right type of pos first because upgrading the pos after anchoring a tcu is not possible without first unanchoring the tcu (which is really bad because it forfeits all strategic levels built up within the system)

Anchor an Infrastructure Hub within 100 km of a planet that is not orbited by a conquerable station or an outpost

            *1 hr to anchor, 1 hr to online, 750,000 m³ to haul (req. Freighter)

Maintain Sovereignty for 7 days

* This increases the strategic index for the system to Level One and therefore permits the installation of a necessary hub upgrade: the Supercapital Construction Facility Upgrade.

Install a Supercapital Construction Facility Upgrade in the Infrastructure Hub

            *This upgrade has a 14M isk/14 day billing cycle upkeep cost

            *200,000 m³ to haul

            **see note below regarding installation of this upgrade.

Anchor and Online a Capital Ship Assembly Array next to your POS

(req. anchoring 1), 10 minutes to anchor, 3 minutes to online

*1 build slot, 850,000 m³ to haul (req. Freighter), 1,000,000 mw/2000 cpu, 155,000,500 m³ construction bay – needs to be within range of a corp. maintenance bay to receive the completed job (less than 3km).

Anchor and online a Capital Ship Maintenance Array next to your POS

(req. anchoring 1), 10 minutes to anchor, 3 minutes to online

*needs to be “in range” of the Assembly Array (less than 3 km)

*1,000,000 mw/0 cpu

Anchor and Online a Corporation Hangar Array next to your POS

            *use it to store construction materials and a couple extra weeks of tower fuel

            100,000 mw/150 cpu

Anchor and Online Electronic Countermeasures outside your POS force field.

            (req. anchoring 4)

            * the defence of the tower will depend primarily on player ships – the ewar measures are meant primarily to disable smaller assailants – dreadnoughts are immune to electronic countermeasures.

??? - Place the blueprint in your corporation hangar array and place the materials in your corporation hangar array. Choose the assembly line (your Capital Ship Assembly Array) and accept quote. - ???

**If using a vanilla BPO for the Avatar (with no production efficiency), construction will require 47 days (6-8 weeks) to complete from pre-assembled components - The BPO will cost 67,500,000,000 isk to acquire.

**one level of ME research will reduce incompetence waste by 50% but will take 7 months to complete for the Avatar.

**Capital Ship Assembly Arrays are primary targets for attack. Consider waiting until you have a cynosural field inhibitor (requires sovereignty strategic level 3 <35days>) before building the Assembly Array. “The "cyno jammer" renders normal cynosural fields impossible to generate, making capital ship movement into that system nearly impossible. Any attackers that wish to use capitals will need to destroy the cyno jammer device before proceeding.” – costs 20M isk a day in upkeep fees.

**Monitor/Camp your Stargates, POSs and Sovereignty Structures.

**one or two battleships with energy transfer loadouts will speed up fitting modules to the capital ship (b/c it requires 95% cap to online modules)

**IHUB upgrades “ are sold by NPCs throughout high-security space. The low level military and industry upgrades are small enough to fit into an industrial, but as the level increases, they become so large that only freighters can carry them. All of the strategic upgrades are so large that either a jump freighter or freighter is required, depending. The costs of the upgrades vary significantly as well, ranging from 50mil ISK to 250mil ISK, apiece.”

**“Once you are in your system, deliver the upgrade to the IHUB in space, right click on the IHUB to access the hub management, drag your upgrade onto the menu, and confirm that you are sure you want to install it. Voila! Strategic upgrades take place immediately, while the others require until downtime to take effect.”

< http://www tentonhammer com/eve/guides/politics/claiming-space-2 >

“1: 7 days. Supercapital construction facilities.

2: 21 days. Cynosural navigation.

3: 35 days. Advanced logistics network, cynosural suppression.”

**To pay for this crazy expensive project :

1.) install other upgrades in the IHUB primarily the Pirate Detection Array and secondarily an Ore Processing Array to source minerals close to the construction.

2.) engage in planetary interaction on all the planets in your system

3.) mine your moons for valuable materials

4.) run complexes that spawn in your system

Research on capital ships and capital ship components consumes a lot of time. For instance, blueprint components can need around 18 hours per level of MEincrease, whilst increasing the ME level on a Leviathan, the Caldari titan will take almost 8 months per level. It is with these times in mind that increasing skills such as metallurgy (to cut down the time the ME research takes) and using POS labs for research(giving a flat reduction to the time it takes to research based on the lab type) can prove very beneficial.

Once built, titans can be stored in a Capital Ship Maintenance Array with sufficient free space. Otherwise it will remain in space (disappearing after 15 minutes if not being agroed.)