EVE Evolved: Trade hubs of New Eden - Amarr and Gallente

Last week, I took a look at a few of the biggest Caldari and Minmatar trade hubs in EVE Online and how to best put them to use. I examined the phenomenon that is Jita and how Motsu persists as a trade hub due to the presence of mission-runners. I went on to look at Hek and Rens, trade hubs which service the two most populated Minmatar regions and provide a handy trade route for pilots to make a profit on. This week, I complete the picture with a look at four of the biggest Gallente and Amarr trade hubs.

Knowing all of the major trading stations can be of benefit to any pilot, whether you're just looking for a good deal on a new ship or trying to forge profitable trade routes. For traders, listing products in an alternate hub needn't take much extra time or effort. With good trade skills, you can adjust market orders remotely from several jumps away. You can make a short autopilot route that goes close enough to each station you're trading in and adjust your prices frequently.

In this final part of a two-part series on EVE's biggest trade hubs, I look at the biggest Amarr and Gallente trade hubs, what can be found there and how to use them to your advantage as a trader.

Dodixie IX - Moon 20 - Federation Navy Assembly Plant:

Located in the massive region of Sinq Liason, the Dodixie trade hub erupted to supply mission-runners and has grown into the most popular hub in the Gallente Federation. The mission hub status of Dodixie is due to the presence of a level 4 quality 13 "Command" agent for the Federation Navy and the fact that the surrounding systems are all high security space. The agent gives out mostly kill missions and pilots can run them safe in the knowledge that they'll never need to go into low security space.

Dodixie is a good place to get anything you need, from ships and ammo to modules, salvage and minerals. It has a high availability of Tech 2 and 3 ships and is also the primary source of Federation Navy items due to the presence of a navy loyalty point store. The markets are usually packed and there's typically several hundred people in the system, making Dodixie possibly the second biggest trade hub in EVE.

Oursulaert III - Federation Navy Testing Facilities:

Oursulaert in the Essence region is one of the oldest Gallente trade hubs. At 12 jumps from Jita, it's far enough away that pilots here will pay a little extra rather than flying to Jita. Traditionally, Oursulaert has been a great place to get bulk volumes of minerals and a decent place to buy and fit out a new ship. Its selection of Tech 2 ships is a little more limited than Jita or Dodixie and the prices are a little higher. In all the times I went to Oursulaert to restock on ships and modules for faction warfare, I also found it to be often lacking in Amarr equipment.

Today, most Tech 1 and 2 equipment is available but the selection of named gear is poor and you'll pay over the odds to build a Tech 3 Strategic Cruiser here. The system is home to a few hundred pilots at a time and traders will find the markets less competitive than the main hubs. Profit to be had here is a little higher than normal but the volume of sales will be understandably much lower than Jita.

Villore VI - Federal Defence Union Logistic Support:

As the primary faction warfare staging point for the Gallente Militia, the citizens of Villore have a constant need for new ships to PvP in. Villore goes through a high volume of common PvP ships, modules and ammo every day. This creates opportunities for traders to test the market and find out what they can make money from. Although it's only three jumps from Dodixie, the fact that Villore is in a different region works to the trader's advantage.

Since pilots can't see the Dodixie market without jumping to another system, a lot of them won't bother to compare prices between the two systems. The market is constantly stocked with all the essential Tech 1 and 2 modules for PvP, including weapons, microwarpdrives, tackling gear and electronic warfare equipment. The availability of Tech 2 ships is low and inconsistent but the markets are flooded with cheap Tech 1 frigates and cruisers of all kinds.

Amarr VIII (Oris) - Emperor Family Academy:

Amarr is the home system of the Amarr race and one of the oldest trade hubs. Being 9 jumps from Jita, Amarr is close enough to be extremely well supplied but far enough that people are still willing to buy locally. The market is like a little Jita, with an ample supply of everything. Availability of Tech 1 and 2 ships is extremely good, with all races and varieties present. Tech 3 ship and subsystem supplies are also considerably better than some other trade hubs and almost as good as Jita. Prices are reasonable on most goods, with only a small mark-up over Jita prices.

This trade hub is home to a few hundred people at a time and there's an understandably high demand for Amarr ships and equipment here. Traders would do well to take a short detour to Amarr as part of their daily rounds. Listing a portion of your product here for sale, especially if it's Amarr, will increase your sale volumes considerably. Competition on the Amarr market can be fierce but not as bad as Jita.

Summary:

Whether you're a new player just looking for a better deal on a new ship or an experienced trader looking to offload more goods per week, knowing all of the trade hubs discussed in this series can be a big benefit. While the trade hubs covered in these two articles are the main centres of economic activity in EVE, they certainly aren't the only ones. There are many smaller market centres strewn throughout New Eden wherever pilots congregate. In particular, the size of Amarr, Khanid and Ammatar space has led to smaller hubs opening in systems like Agil, Jarizza and Tash-Murkon Prime. Systems bordering well-traveled 0.0 entryways and war-zones are also particularly hot centres of commerce, from Esa in the south to Orvolle in the north-west and others.

Brendan "Nyphur" Drain is an early veteran of EVE Online and writer of the weekly EVE Evolved column here at massively.com. The column covers anything and everything relating to EVE Online, from in-depth guides to speculative opinion pieces. If you want to message him, send him an e-mail at brendan.drain AT weblogsinc DOT com.