Happy reading and fly dangerous!
Why become a Pirate?
I could go on and on about how Piracy and PVP in general is the best part of EVE online but to be quite honest I think it would be best to hand it over to Tim Curry and his muppet friends...
First things First:
+ JOIN A PVP CORP:
I cannot stress this enough. Joining a corp that is willing to take on and train new players is the best overall move you can make to enrich your playing experience and increase your familiarity with the game. Join the recruitment channel in game, to do this, click that little speech bubble icon in the top right corner of the chat box and type "recruitment" and then hit the join button.
+ GET INVOLVED:
Try and get involved in any PVP activity you can in your new corp. Go on roams with them and try and learn the general procedures involved in operating in a pirate fleet. Learn to configure your overview and autopilot settings and try grasp concepts like aggression timers, sentry gun aggro, safe spot usage, target scanning and anything you can.
+ SUPPLEMENT YOUR READING:
The bottom line is that you can spend all year studying PVP theory in EVE but it will only supplement the experience you gain first hand in the field. The following guides and tutorials are best used in this manner:
Read the stuff
Try it out
Learn from the experience.
Have fun!
Resources:
+ RIFTER PVP GUIDE:
This is a must-read in my opinion; the beginner's PVP bible. It is a well written guide covering everything from skill plans to ship fittings to combat strategies and target selection. The scope of the guide offers information for both the complete novice and intermediate-skilled pilots alike.
Credits: Wensley
+ BEGINNERS GUIDE TO PIRACY:
This guide is great because it encompasses almost everything asociated with piracy, in and out of combat. I couldn't possibly summarise all the topics covered, I can only suggest you enjoy reading it for yourself. This is another must-read for the serious-minded.
Credits: Skira
+ PIRATE 101:
This is a great video outlining some of the asociated risks with becoming a Pirate and how to deal with them properly. Detailed information on game mechanics such as GCC, sentry gun aggro and entering high sec is given here in addition to various other pointers.
Credits: Two Ghosts, Ridley Tree
+ NEWBIE GUIDE TO NINJA SALVAGING:
This video helped me and my corpmates accumulate almost our entire ISK savings within EVE in our early days. Not only is ninja salvaging THE best way to make ISK for newer players, it is also in my opinion a form of Piracy and at times can be one of the most fun and profitable. You will need access to high sec space to do this but the skill training required is only a couple of days, making it an ideal proffession for an alt. Be patient with learning to probe down the mission runners and you shall be rewarded.
Credits: Thedarksnw
+ DIRECTIONAL SCANNING:
This is a brief tutorial but probably the best starting point for the beginner, giving you the the basic concept behind using the scanner to narrow down a target location. Using the directional scanner is an easy enough concept to understand but using it efficiently can take a lot of practice. Directional scanning is best practiced once you have configured your overview settings for PVP.
Credits: Phil Miller
+ OVERVIEW SETTINGS:
http://www.sendspace.com/file/x1uszf
These are the settings used by myself and countless others. They will make your life a lot easier once you get used to the different tabs and will help avoid confusion by clearing out all the 'crap' and giving you only the relevant information during engagements. Highly reccommended.
Credits: Laamir
...MORE TO COME
