Hi I’m a relatively new player to eve online and I’m interested in starting PvE. I’m a Caldari race Alpha player (though I have been considering buying Omega) and wanna know some good beginner fits, ships, and strategies for anomaly (combat site) PvE.
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Welcome to New Eden!
You have quite a few options, but I’ll focus on Caldari ships and a few generalities.
The Caldari are split between using hybrid turrets (electromagnetic direct fire guns) and missiles. Training either is a good investment. Don’t just focus on the skills that unlock new weapons, the basics - such as Motion Prediction, or Missile Bombardment are extremely useful for increasing effectiveness of a weapon.
Do the Career Agent missiles. They are good for familiarising you with the mechanics of flying and living in New Eden. They also give you a few useful ships - a small mining ship, a basic fast hauler and a combat frigate and a little cash. The frigate will be adequate for running level 1 missions and the combat sites in the higher security areas.
You are not going to be an instant indomitable, universe changing pilot from the get go - there’s a lot of learning, both in terms is skills that improve the ship you and in your knowledge of how the world works and the role you want in it. Eve isn’t about instant gratification.
You may also find reaching out to to @Billy_Sanchezo worth your time - he’s followed a similar path to that you intend to walk - a good Caldari Hybrid focuses Alpha pilot.
So, ships.
A good line for a turret focused pilot is start with a Merlin - a close in combat frigate, the Cormorant is a destroyerr focused on very long range combat; you learn to fly at range and select targets carefully to prevent enemies closing you down. The Moa is the Caldari turret cruiser and the Ferox it’s Battlecruiser counterpart.
Look at the bonuses each hull gives you and fit accordingly: range bonuses mean you should think about exploiting it’s ability to fight beyond the reach of your opponent, a good shield bonus (the Merlin) means it’s a brawler. Fit to do huge damage at close range and go kill things.
You’ll tend to shield fit all of these, and when you are in cruisers you’ll want drones for handling small fast ships that get under your guns.
Don’t forget the basic engineering skills - they enable you to fit more power and CPU demanding modules that allow you to be more effective.
Eve University is a good source of information on all ships, fittings and how Eve generally works.
Good luck and feel free to reach out to me in game if you have any questions.
4 Likes
Pick anything that shoots and has bonuses to missiles bring ammo type to which rats are weakest stay as far as you missile /targeting range allows and spam missiles at the enemies
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Thanks for the details. I was wondering what’d be a good frigate for missiles though? I figure long range combat will be much more effective against the rats since a large group can quickly eat at your EHP. Also I know of eve university already and it’s great but unfortunately it can be hard to find specifics
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I had fun running missions in this ship.
Also, look at the Condor and Kestrel and fit for tank and damage.
[Caldari Navy Hookbill, *Simulated Caldari Navy Hookbill]
Co-Processor II
Damage Control II
Missile Guidance Computer II
Adaptive Invulnerability Field II
Caldari Navy Small Shield Extender
EM Ward Amplifier II
1MN Y-S8 Compact Afterburner
Light Missile Launcher II
Light Missile Launcher II
Light Missile Launcher II
Small Core Defense Field Extender I
Small Polycarbon Engine Housing I
Small Anti-Thermal Screen Reinforcer I
Caldari Navy Scourge Light Missile x949
Caldari Navy Inferno Light Missile x500
Missile Range Script x1
Scourge Light Missile x3836
Missile Precision Script x1
Caldari Navy Nova Light Missile x500
Caldari Navy Mjolnir Light Missile x488
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Hi
Here you go, starter fits, nothing T2, all T1 stuff, super low skills needed. 1st fit is a Gnosis, this ship is actually a special newbie ship specifically made for new people and it in itself does not require anything beyond basic lvl 1 skills to fly it. The modules in the fit will of course require their own skills.
On the Gnosis, do not run microwarpdrive and shield booster at the same time, you will run out of capacitor within a couple minutes. You can run all the otehr stuff though. Also any targeting Computer in upper slots I put in there, is there only for passive bonus, do not activate it. It gives + 2 targets for targetting, since your targetting skills are probably pretty low too.
I highly recommend you start with the Gnosis, then move onto the otehr ones as your skills progress.
Keep in mid these are starter ships, don’t go and do level 4 security missions in them or you will lose them. At the beginning, until your skills are a bit better even some level 3s will get rough and you can lose your ship.
Just put them in the ingame simulator, you’ll get a red or green/blue check at the top, if its red it means you do not have the skills for some of the modules, hover mouse over it to see which ones, it will tell you, then select the module, and hit “show info” on it, then go to the requirements tab, that will tell you which skills you need to train to be able to use a particular given module.
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[Gnosis, *Simulated Gnosis]
Pro-Nav Compact Missile Guidance Enhancer
Mark I Compact Power Diagnostic System
Mark I Compact Power Diagnostic System
Crosslink Compact Ballistic Control System
Crosslink Compact Ballistic Control System
Crosslink Compact Ballistic Control System
Large Compact Pb-Acid Cap Battery
Medium C5-L Emergency Shield Overload I
Astro-Inertial Compact Missile Guidance Computer
Limited Adaptive Invulnerability Field I
50MN Cold-Gas Enduring Microwarpdrive
Medium Micro Jump Drive
Prototype ‘Arbalest’ Heavy Assault Missile Launcher I
Prototype ‘Arbalest’ Heavy Assault Missile Launcher I
Prototype ‘Arbalest’ Heavy Assault Missile Launcher I
Prototype ‘Arbalest’ Heavy Assault Missile Launcher I
Prototype ‘Arbalest’ Heavy Assault Missile Launcher I
Automated Targeting Unit I
Medium Core Defense Field Extender I
Medium Core Defense Operational Solidifier I
Medium Warhead Rigor Catalyst I
Republic Fleet Valkyrie x5
Salvage Drone I x5
Missile Precision Script x1
Caldari Navy Inferno Heavy Assault Missile x3000
.
[Caracal Navy Issue, *Simulated Caracal Navy Issue]
Mark I Compact Power Diagnostic System
Crosslink Compact Ballistic Control System
Crosslink Compact Ballistic Control System
Crosslink Compact Ballistic Control System
Upgraded EM Ward Amplifier I
Large F-S9 Regolith Compact Shield Extender
Medium C5-L Emergency Shield Overload I
Limited Adaptive Invulnerability Field I
10MN Monopropellant Enduring Afterburner
Prototype ‘Arbalest’ Rapid Light Missile Launcher
Prototype ‘Arbalest’ Rapid Light Missile Launcher
Prototype ‘Arbalest’ Rapid Light Missile Launcher
Prototype ‘Arbalest’ Rapid Light Missile Launcher
Prototype ‘Arbalest’ Rapid Light Missile Launcher
Prototype ‘Arbalest’ Rapid Light Missile Launcher
Medium Warhead Rigor Catalyst I
Medium Warhead Calefaction Catalyst I
Medium Semiconductor Memory Cell I
Caldari Navy Inferno Light Missile x2280
.
[Drake, *Simulated Drake]
Type-D Restrained Shield Power Relay
Crosslink Compact Ballistic Control System
Crosslink Compact Ballistic Control System
Crosslink Compact Ballistic Control System
Astro-Inertial Compact Missile Guidance Computer
Large F-S9 Regolith Compact Shield Extender
Upgraded EM Ward Amplifier I
Limited Adaptive Invulnerability Field I
10MN Monopropellant Enduring Afterburner
Medium Micro Jump Drive
Prototype ‘Arbalest’ Heavy Assault Missile Launcher I
Prototype ‘Arbalest’ Heavy Assault Missile Launcher I
Prototype ‘Arbalest’ Heavy Assault Missile Launcher I
Prototype ‘Arbalest’ Heavy Assault Missile Launcher I
Prototype ‘Arbalest’ Heavy Assault Missile Launcher I
Prototype ‘Arbalest’ Heavy Assault Missile Launcher I
Small Tractor Beam I
Medium Core Defense Field Purger I
Medium Core Defense Field Purger I
Medium Warhead Rigor Catalyst I
Hobgoblin I x5
Missile Precision Script x1
Caldari Navy Scourge Heavy Assault Missile x3600
.
[Drake Navy Issue, *Simulated Drake Navy Issue]
Type-D Restrained Shield Power Relay
Crosslink Compact Ballistic Control System
Crosslink Compact Ballistic Control System
Crosslink Compact Ballistic Control System
Large F-S9 Regolith Compact Shield Extender
Astro-Inertial Compact Missile Guidance Computer
Upgraded EM Ward Amplifier I
Limited Adaptive Invulnerability Field I
10MN Monopropellant Enduring Afterburner
Medium Micro Jump Drive
Prototype ‘Arbalest’ Heavy Assault Missile Launcher I
Prototype ‘Arbalest’ Heavy Assault Missile Launcher I
Prototype ‘Arbalest’ Heavy Assault Missile Launcher I
Prototype ‘Arbalest’ Heavy Assault Missile Launcher I
Prototype ‘Arbalest’ Heavy Assault Missile Launcher I
Prototype ‘Arbalest’ Heavy Assault Missile Launcher I
Prototype ‘Arbalest’ Heavy Assault Missile Launcher I
Small Tractor Beam I
Medium Core Defense Field Purger I
Medium Core Defense Field Purger I
Medium Warhead Rigor Catalyst I
Caldari Navy Inferno Heavy Assault Missile x4200
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Those ships are good in theory but they’re all very expensive. Can you give me some ideas for a ship (with fitting) that costs no more than 15M? I’ll definitely keep those fits in mind though for when I have much more money.
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Your early Caldari missile frigate is the Kestrel. Beyond that is the Corax destroyer, but that thing is so hard to get fitted properly that you are better off skipping it and going straight for the cruiser sized Caracal. Which has far better passive tank, better DPS, better stand-off range… generally a real upgrade. However expect to spend 20-30m on a decent Caracal fit. With the fits that are capable of punching up and handling L3s to be near 30m in price.
2 Likes
Hmmm
The tutorial missions alone should have provide you with 30-50 Milion ISK depending on how it went and how much you managed to get for the stuff you didn’t use. Also, you should have ended up with at least a kestrel you can use, albeit, an unfit or very poorly fitted one.
Pass that, there are level 1 security missions that will easily let you complete them in a beginning frigate and make the ISK to buy some ships. I know that 50 or 100 mil sounds like a lot to you, but really it isn’t. You should be very easily able to make it on lvl 1 and lvl 2 security missions within a couple hours.
the fits I posted above do start at around that, 50 mil then go up from there. That said, here are some super cheap ships and fits for you.
lets start off with the Kestrel. 2 versions. The rocket is a short range but better tanked one, the light missle has less tank but is long range so you won’t get hit as much in the 1st place.
then there is the Caracal, its also super cheap at 33 mil and you can advance to level 3 missions in it, but not all, so be careful or you may lose it. Stick with level 2s for a bit while your skills go up and you learn a bit more how the game works.
The missile Kestrel and the Caracal have a shield booster, this will let you replenish your shield. Do not run it at all times, you have limited time to use it as it uses a lot of capacitor and you have low capacitor skills. But you don’t need to run it at all times, remember, these are long range ships which means you can kill things before they can even hit you. Just maintain your distance.
the AB (afterburner) and the shield hardener you run always while in combat, never stop. When you fight you can orbit things and shoot them from whatever range you desire, in a brawler fit like that rocket kestrel you orbit close, like 5000 m or even less, in a missile ship you can orbit far, 25km, 30km, 40 km, depends how far you can shoot your missiles, missle range is another skill, or actually 2 skills, 1st is flight time 2nd is velocity, it is the combination of the 2 that gives your missiles and rockets their range.
If you do not have the ISK for these, do, or repeat the tutorial missions until you do. You can do each tutorial from any career agent only once, but there are many career agents for you to choose from. Open the agency, select agents, caldari for faction, career agents. this will bring up a list of them.
the Kestrels are good for level 1 security missions, maybe some level 2 but will require more skills. unfortunately, the Caldari starting destroyers are complete crap and its better to just skip them and move straight onto cruisers from frigates. So the next fit after the kestrels is a very basic Caracal. Its 33M, you should easily be able to make that on the L1 missions like I said and in it, you can do up to lvl 3 missions. Later on once you get some tech 2 modules on it, you can use it to do all L3 missions, or switch to Navy Caracal, or just go straight for a Drake or Navy Drake.
OK, so here are the fits. Do the tutorials, for initial kestrels.
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[Kestrel, *Simulated Kestrel]
Crosslink Compact Ballistic Control System
Crosslink Compact Ballistic Control System
Medium Azeotropic Restrained Shield Extender
Small C5-L Emergency Shield Overload I
Limited Adaptive Invulnerability Field I
1MN Monopropellant Enduring Afterburner
‘Arbalest’ Rocket Launcher I
‘Arbalest’ Rocket Launcher I
‘Arbalest’ Rocket Launcher I
‘Arbalest’ Rocket Launcher I
Small Semiconductor Memory Cell I
Small Capacitor Control Circuit I
Small Warhead Calefaction Catalyst I
Caldari Navy Inferno Rocket x1800
.
[Kestrel, *Simulated Kestrel]
Crosslink Compact Ballistic Control System
Crosslink Compact Ballistic Control System
Small Azeotropic Restrained Shield Extender
Small C5-L Emergency Shield Overload I
Limited Adaptive Invulnerability Field I
1MN Monopropellant Enduring Afterburner
Arbalest Compact Light Missile Launcher
Arbalest Compact Light Missile Launcher
Arbalest Compact Light Missile Launcher
Arbalest Compact Light Missile Launcher
Small Semiconductor Memory Cell I
Small Capacitor Control Circuit I
Small Warhead Calefaction Catalyst I
Caldari Navy Inferno Light Missile x1600
.
[Caracal, *Simulated Caracal]
Mark I Compact Power Diagnostic System
Crosslink Compact Ballistic Control System
Crosslink Compact Ballistic Control System
Crosslink Compact Ballistic Control System
Upgraded EM Ward Amplifier I
Large Azeotropic Restrained Shield Extender
Medium C5-L Emergency Shield Overload I
Limited Adaptive Invulnerability Field I
10MN Monopropellant Enduring Afterburner
Prototype ‘Arbalest’ Rapid Light Missile Launcher
Prototype ‘Arbalest’ Rapid Light Missile Launcher
Prototype ‘Arbalest’ Rapid Light Missile Launcher
Prototype ‘Arbalest’ Rapid Light Missile Launcher
Prototype ‘Arbalest’ Rapid Light Missile Launcher
Medium Semiconductor Memory Cell I
Medium Capacitor Control Circuit I
Medium Core Defense Capacitor Safeguard II
Caldari Navy Inferno Light Missile x2000
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And @Fluffy_Moe beat me to it and gave a better answer. From experience with supplying fitted Amarrian corporate ships that a good, T2 fitted Frigate can easily be less than 10m ISK. A T2 fitted destroyer about 15m ISK.
There are two further issues to consider:
Missiles have flight time, normally of several seconds, and thus can lead to a situation where you fire a second volley of missiles not knowing that the first volley - that hasn’t arrived yet - will kill the target. It just feels horribly wasteful
Turrets apply immediately so will not fire a wasted shot.
The fundamental difference in flying style between turret and missile ships is that with a turret ship you need to be very aware of your angular speeds as that directly affects the ability to hit the target. It’s a useful thing to appreciate as at some point you will want to use turrets (because you want to do something different).
Missiles always hit, so you only need to think about selecting the appropriate missile and not wandering out of range.
And it’s quite easy, especially with destroyers, for your range with any weapon system to exceed your targeting range. As I recall (from shattered old memories) you can build a rail Cormorant that can apply good damage with an optimal range of almost 80km, twice the targeting range. You can easily have the same problem on many hulls unless you train your targeting skills well (always a good idea - they benefit everything).
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For missions i personally would not use rapid lights. Go for regular light missiles as the reload time might mean lossing your ship or not.
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Not really. They’re dirt cheap, the cost is negligible. In fact, lots of turret ammo without any misses costs more then the missles with their misses for doing the same content. If you want to talk expensive ammo try a Vedmak or Leshak, those prices will make your head spin, I paid 75 mil for ammo for 2 solid sittings for L4s and it still doesn’t cut into the profit enough for me to even consider. Everytime I go do a mission or anom or whatever I have around 15-20 mil worth of ammo with me.
Likewise the flight time thing is way overrated, and OP was asking for PVE ships, sorry but PVE is all about missles and drones, there are numerous excellent reasons why this is the meta and not turrets. Don’t get me wrong, turret ships have their uses, but overall Missles + drones is the best way to go, if you side track to turrets you’re just wasting training time, especially for new players where it counts the most. Later on it won’t make much of a difference because you’ll have all 3 to whatever degree you want anyways and for whatever you want.
Turrets are better suited for PvP, and even then, really just large fleets where tidi is an issue. Small or even mid scale missles and drones are doing just fine. Take for example a HAM Loki.
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Yeah, I have this problem ^^
My guns don’t reach out to 80km, but my lock range is limited to 39km, so Lead is the best ammo I can use for long range firing ^^
Then use an ammo that shoots into your targeting range ?
Last time I checked, I got only 10M for the 5 (?) career agents. plus a few ships, among them a destroyer
I’m an Amarrian pilot.
Ammunition: That’s for heathens.
May His light shine upon you.
There is no right way or wrong way to run missions. You may be most familiar with Missiles and Drones - I’m a turret focused pilot, and the differences between the turret types and the flying styles you need are appreciable and to me, interesting. You don’t fly an artillery ship the same way you fly a beam laser fitted ship. Fly them right and you don’t get misses. It’s a different experience and set of skills.
Missiles have finite range, so do turrets.
Turrets have application issues against small fast targets, much like missiles.
“Better?” depends. “Different?” yes.
Oh, and I also fly missile boats and drone carriers.
The first rule if Eve - play it how you want to play it. Fly what you want to fly. There is no score only your personal enjoyment.
If you want to fly a long range missile boat - you choice.
If you want to fly a brawling pulse lasers ship - likewise.
Neither is right. Neither is wrong.
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You are of course correct. I myself do content in a Vedmak just for the funzies, ran a bunch of 6/10s yesterday, I’m just saying that is the meta, and that meta has some excellent reasons behind it that are very valid.
2 other things I am saying:
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OP asked for PvE and is Caldari, hence natural extensions into the meta.
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I still remember how retardedly difficult it was to play without full lvl 5 cap, navigation and all the rest of support skills and unfortunately most turrets except for Arties and ACs require a ton of cap thus making the overall fits less effective.
I myself started Gallente many many moons ago, so I remember missioning in a T1 catalyst with railgun sniping fit doing 79 DPS … Heheh and I remember how they cut into the ship tank, mobility, etc. because of teh cap use the most. I really wish back then I’d have started Caldari, or at least Min for the ACs.
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Me too, but I haven’t done them for a long long time and there have been a ton of changes since then. Not sure how much you can get now. But I do remember I sold off all the industrial stuff after the industrial missions, all the explo frigs, basically everything I could sell I sold, except the catalyst. Then I repeated it like 2 more times to get more catalysts and sell more stuff, which I am not sure you can do now.
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the career are available for 3 agents per empire, so total is 120 M .
Any ship with combat bonuses is a good ship for missioning, ofc there are better and bit worse ships but thats the general idea. You make and break a ship by fitting it “correctly” or “wrong” but aslong you have full rack of identical weapons, proper tank, afterburner(later maybe mwd/mjd) and some dmg modules you should be just fine.
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I’ll iterate on that full rack of identical weapons to be more precise. One rack primarily of a certain weapon is easier to know your engagement range, fitting needs per gun, and as all are of a specific weapon type it is easier to boost performance with specific modules in the lows, mids, and rigs. To say nothing of grouping for alpha damage. Though sometimes splitting the guns into a pair or trio of groups is better. Especially early on when the majority of what you are facing is ships in the frigate and destroyer range.
Proper tank is also a funny one to say because of how tanking strategies can change enormously between ranged kiters/snipers and a brawl setup on the same exact ship. Better rule of thumb for PvE is that the larger your applicable damage to NPCs is the less tank you actually end up using to finish sites. Same generally goes for the distance between you and the NPCs because most rats have a really hard time hitting anything at 50-60K+ because of fall-off. Adding speed on top of that further messes up their damage application.
Roll those factors together and moving at speed at a distance while utilizing drones and missiles that apply fully to any targets within range being boosted by damage low slots and you have the classic PvE setup.
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