So I had my missioning Arbitrator popped by Ashen Shugar the other day after stumbling stupidly into lowsec after a cheaper set of drones. He was flying a Gnosis fitted with Heavy Ion Blasters. My ship lasted all of 10 seconds.
I’d not been aware of the Gnosis before as it was a special release but can now be picked up for only 55M on the market.
Gnosis bonuses seem huge:
Role Bonus:
25% bonus to Medium Energy Turret, Medium Hybrid Turret and Medium Projectile Turret damage
25% bonus to Heavy Missile and Heavy Assault Missile damage
50% bonus to Drone hitpoints and damage
37.5% bonus to Core and Combat Scanner Probe strength
• Can fit Warfare Link modules
It looks like it should be a monster for both PVP and PVE however it doesn’t feature much in ship discussions I’ve read. So, what are it’s major drawbacks?
I was using drones on my Arbitrator doing the last chapter of the Blood Stained Stars epic. I feel with the 50% drone bonus I’d get with the Gnosis it would be a better buy at 50M to continue with than replacing the Arbitrator at 34M, particularly if I get into higher levels of PVE.
Thanks, I’ll take a look at those recommendations. The Gnosis was flown by Ashen Shugar (18,000 kills!)
so I’m sure experience and piloting has more to do with success than ships. Kevin
can i just point out how nice it is to see a thread by someone who just got popped in a one sided fight that not only realized what his mistake was but then also went to the forums asking for legit advice and then went on to not call the guy who ganked him names or claim he was killing eve but said this
The Gnosis is a BattleCruiser, not (just) a cruiser like the Arbitrator. (Raw HP before skills and whatever of a Gnosis is 12k and and Arbi gets 4,2k) Fight a Gnosis in a T1 BattleCruiser and the odds are more or less even.
What is good with a Gnosis:
Some player think it is an Alpha/Newbie ship and engage carelessly, great for a nasty surprise You have to zoom in on the Gnosis and identify the weapons or or check the pilot on Z-Kill to get an idea what you are up against. A Gnosis can be fittet for anything. Great for more nasty surprises Gnosis is great for omni tanking, no resist holes ever! With the boni to drones and weapons plus six low-slots the Gnosis can reach high DPS numbers More important for running away than for fighting but still quite useful: The Gnosis aligns fast for a BC The large cargo hold makes the Gnosis champion of cap boosters.
What are the cons of the Gnosis and how to counter it: It is slow, so slow. Even some Battleships are faster. Some playes don’t even bother with an afterburner or a micro-warp-drive and go straight for a micro-jump-drive. Your chances to controll the fighting range when going one on one with a Gnosis are good but prepare for some jump’n’ around. No bonus to tracking and/or weapon range. Where T1 BattleCruisers sport a buff to weapon range the Gnosis has a bonus to scanner strength. That makes the “sitting duck” problem even worse. Not enough drone bay: That drone damage bonus on top of the weapon bonus looks nice on paper. But once your one flight of medium drones are shot down that sweet DPS is gone. When fighting a Gnosis using medium drones shoot them down ASAP, there is only one flight of light drones a backup. Gnosis is a bait ship. When going for a Gnosis I either get to shoot down a PVE player or I get the full “drop around the clock plus cloaky falcon nearby” treatment. Serves my right when not bringing freinds I guess
Don’t forget it hasn’t got any faction based bonuses, those are the only bonuses, so whereas an Amarr Battlecruiser might have 5% to Medium Energy Turret damage per level in Amarr Battlecruiser, Gnosis just has a flat 25% which works out the same.
Of course having that 25% in every single turret / launcher type makes the Gnosis extremely flexible, but not necessarily more powerful than other ‘normal’ Battlecruisers.
As others have mentioned, some of the other choices have more specific / dedicated bonuses that make them outclass the Gnosis.
Still a great ship though, I flew one for ages, and the lack of skill requirements and flexibility make it a superb beginner Battlecruiser.
The biggest con to the Gnosis, is the its LACK of speed.
Lacking a Micro Jump Drive… you aint going anywhere fast… ever. And its balanced slot layout is good and bad. You can do a lot of things, but nothing well… as others have stated.
If it were faster I would say it was a Minmatar ship.
Also, looking at the arbitrator-fit, no wonder it melted.
No resistances, no repair. Just pure buffer. A blaster-Gnosis will chew right through the passive regen you have and with almost no resistances to speak of, you eat the full damage.
Yes, of course. I hadn’t included the fact the Gnosis has no faction based bonuses. I assume though that as I have Drone Interfacing V I’ll get both that and the Gnosis bonus?
Yes. But trust me, for drone oriented stuff youd better off with amarr/gallente BC. Gnosis can field whole 5 mediums, while Prophecy can field 3 heavies with ton of extra backup and myrm can field 4. As other peeps already said - jack of all trades, master of none.
P.S. regarding your fit - do not neglect resists. You fit will melt to anything as it has pathetic EHP due to lack of resists.
Again, there are other faction Drone boats that have a 10% Drone damage bonus per level in that ship type, making them equal to the Gnosis.
Myrmidon for example:
SHIP BONUSES
Gallente Battlecruiser bonuses (per skill level): 10% bonus to Drone hitpoints and damage
7.5% bonus to Armor Repairer amount
Role Bonus:
• Can use one Command Burst module 12.5% bonus to Drone microwarp velocity
50% bonus to Command Burst area of effect range
With other bonuses that perhaps make specializing in a specific Drone boat better than going for the Gnosis (the extra 12.5% to Drone microwarp velocity for example).
The Gnosis is an excellent Swiss Army Knife ship but not always the best choice available.
yes you will get both bonuses but there are other ships in the game that get faction bonuses of = or greater value. what is nice about the gnosis is that it gives those bonuses right off the bat and you don’t need to train any skills outside of that. It makes it a good ship for new players tbh.
always love seeing new players actually trying to learn the game. if you have any questions about anything else in eve you can feel free to mail me in game i’m always happy to help
Lugh,
Thanks and greatly appreciated. I have a background in software development (old neck beard).
I sometimes feel Eve’s learning curve is just as steep. I’ll take you up on your offer.
Regards
Some player think it is an Alpha/Newbie ship and engage carelessly, great for a nasty surprise
It is slow, so slow. Even some Battleships are faster. Some playes don’t even bother with an afterburner or a micro-warp-drive and go straight for a micro-jump-drive. Your chances to controll the fighting range when going one on one with a Gnosis are good but prepare for some jump’n’ around.