(Caldari) Frigate to start with in FW

New Citizens Q&A
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Hi everyone, guess this is the right section in the Forum to post.

I’ve started again with EVE, this time i thought it would probably an good idea to focus from Beginning in PvP, FW to be specific.

The last days i’ve mainly gathered Loyality Points and made at least some Safespots :smiley: , so i’ve some kind of Foundation to work with, also i’ve mainly skilled Support Skills, but now it’s getting time to for some decision, so long text, short question. Which Ship is probably the most educational to work with at the Beginning?

Actually i can’t decide between the following 3(4) ships.

Kestrel/Merlin: Most likely brawlers, i see the merlin a bit more flexible, but actually i think the most i’ll learn from these are, which target can i engage and some kind of piloting skills to keep it in range, or at least keep the weapons of them out of range :wink:

Condor: Probably the “easiest” Choice, with MWD it should be able also to flee if i engaged accidently someone which i shouldn’t engage, but not much dps, nor flexibility. Point, orbit/keep at range, wait until
it explodes. If i make some mistake i’am death i guess.

Heron: Yeah you read right, but it has probably for my needs the best options. It has Drones, Can use Rockets/Hybrids (probably i’ll start with one of them and use NOS or something like that) and it has some options in the mids like ecm, double web, disruptors or probably sensor dampeners (never used them, so no idea if this is an option at all).

So i tend actually to skill hybrids and ecm/drones as next. But i’am quite uncertain about this, probably the condor is an much more enjoyable choice, then i should focus on light missiles and prop probably…

And yes, probably i’am wrong with all of the above… but i’am still learning :slight_smile:

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Most educational is to try all 4 ships. One skill unlocks all the ships, and the same skill(s) unlock the long and short range of the frigate weapons, so the game is designed to let you experiment, really.

But, you have some misconceptions:

  1. MWD drains your available capacitor fast; you get a lot of speed out of it, but only for a short time.

  2. You don’t flee by getting some separation between you and the enemy, you flee by warping away (to a random planet or to a safe spot). All ships can warp away, unless they are warp-disrupted, hence the need to fit a warp disruptor or warp scrambler module if you’re going to PVP. An enemy can warp disrupt you from long range (20+ km); an enemy with a warp scrambler has a short (7+ km) range but can also force your MWD off.

  3. What you can actually fit on the ship is limited by its available power grid and CPU, and these are designed to support the ship’s purpose. So, not enough power for heavy duty guns on the Heron or Condor, and not enough CPU for jamming or other support modules on the Kestrel / Merlin.

  4. Brawl vs. long range kiting is a choice, you make it when you fit the ship. Fit short range weapons (rockets, blasters), and support your weapons with some (shield) defenses so you can survive the brawl, and/or webifiers etc. Use the MWD to get in range fast, catch them with the webber and a warp scrambler, and blap. Or, fit long range weapons (light missiles, rail guns), a long range warp disruptor, and AB+MWD to ensure you have speed superiority, and kite them at long range (18-20 km) to whittle them down.

  5. If you’re going to be solo, you have to do all tasks: tackle (warp disrupt/scramble), apply serious DPS, and tank (speed + shield or armor repair). It’s very hard to do this on a single ship in EVE, the ships are designed to lack in one area or another on purpose. FW militias have channels, why not get together with other FW players and fleet up, attack the enemies in a group rather than solo? This will give you the chance to learn, as you won’t always be the primary target for the enemy, and also because you can focus your ship on just one task, and master that aspect of the game, before switching to the next.

  6. Electronic Warfare (ECM, dampeners, energy neutralization) is powerful, but the ships that can apply e-war jammers are designed to be weak in the DPS department, and killing the enemy is the best way to get rid of their threat, better than jamming them. Thus, electronic warfare is typically done as part of a fleet (you jam, your buddies apply the DPS), rather than solo.

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kestrel and merlin are going to be the main combat frigs. Condor is a good tackle frig I wouldn’t really want to solo much with it, but if you are in a fleet it might make sense.

Suitonia loves the kestrel and has made some videos showing what it can do.


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Thanks for these guys, guess i’ll skill for kestrel first. Seems to be the most viable choice.

it seems also that, at least in FW, nobody want to engage it in the pocket :slight_smile: So its quite an confortable plex boat to get some ISK.

@Memphis_Baas yeah i try actually solo, i’ve tried fleet some years ago, but it wasn’t fun at all for me. But small gang could be some option i think, especially in the beginning.

At least i get more and more calm in the fights with every loss, so probably there’s some hope that i use more of the options of the ship in the next fight.