How does one find open invention slots in Eve?

Question

In Eve, open invention slots are perhaps the rarest production style slot that a player can utilize. This is because invention gives players access to far more powerful, and profitable tech level 2 items. Many Players knowing this, actively hoard or guard every slot that they can. To the point where almost no easy to find public invention slot is available, anywhere.

The big problem for me and my tiny corporation is that we don't know where to go or where to find an open invention slot. I assume that an open slot must be available somewhere deep in null-sec space, but I don't know how to go about finding it.

Does anyone have any techniques, tools, or strategies to help find open invention slots?

Answer 1

Short of building and maintaining a POS, you can use this search tool to find all stations in the EVE universe with particular characteristics.

You will probably need to use in-game tools to identify stations with spare slots, but this should at least make finding the stations a bit easier.

Answer 2

I just use the "Choose Installation" button in the invention screen. Set the "Range" dropdown to "Current Region", and you'll get a list of all stations that have invention slots in that range. I see five stations in Heimatar RIGHT NOW with open, "Now" invention slots.

In the longer term, it's not really necessary to worry about it. Wait times of a day or less are fine, once you've got your invention station stocked with the datacores and decryptors and T1 BPCs and and and. Once you've got your groove going, you'll have a supply of blueprints at your manufacturing station, and only pick up more BPCs from the invention station every few days, and all your slots will stay nice and full.

The real obstacle for the T2 industrialist is COPY slots. For those, I ended up building an alt, and sending him off to various stations in lowsec in obscure regions, and making sure he makes a LOT of copies at a time. I let him back into civilization every two weeks or so :)

Oh, and as a last resort, diversify. There are some nice profitable T2 modules, and manufacture times on those things are LONG... like, a day and a half for producing 10 cruiser guns. Things that take a long time to build, you don't mind if they also take a while to invent.

Answer 3

Build a pos , its not that hard , there even some moons in 0.3 and lower with some moon materials that will cover the feul cost of your tower, our corp(4 man) does the same, always free slots.