Hey all. Big fan of Eve. I’ve been used to running level 1-2 missions with frigates and destroyers of all kinds, but lately have been trying out ships with lower EHP, lower DPS, but with more speed and a smaller signature - AND IT IS AMAZING!!!
Never did I think a Jackdaw or Assault Frigate with 5-8k EHP or less, could survive against cruisers, battlecruisers and battleships. But with signature tanking and speed tanking, it is really fun and it keeps you at the edge of your seat.
I ran Blockade with Jackdaw and it was AWESOME! I like manual piloting and spiral flight paths. So fun! I’ve been wary of using lower dps ships on level 3 and 4 missions, but not anymore! Opens up a lot of options for me.
So far I’m loving the Condor (level 2s and some 3s), Crow, Jackdaw, Hookbill a lot in level 3s and 4s, even with 400 or less DPS, and its also super fun.
What small ships do you all enjoy for PVE, that can take on bigger challenges?
Retribution is fun, too. I ran the Amarr epic arc with one last weekend.
The Crow is … … I don’t think a word other then “amazing” is appropriate. Winmatar’s ceptor is a bit faster then the crow, but the Crow is missiles, and missiles is win.
A brawling fit flycatcher also is fairly awesome. More or less like a brawking Hawk with more damage but less active tank capability and more damage incoming due to the larger signature… and a fifth mid, which opens up so many “options” the hawk doesn’t have, and the hawk also is quite CPU constrained which the Flycatcher has much less issues with. Among the dessies, I like the flycatcher most.
Then … there’s also the … stealth bomber. For null sec belt ratting, once the belts are chained, a bomber is clearly the best of the sub-cruiser class. Torpedoes nuke those NPC battleships so hard, with the TP bonus you can just drop rage torps on the rats, which you’re in range to use in a matter of seconds due to the microwarp moving you there quickly, so you can have marauder grade damage without needing to siege.
Haha. I hated it at first, but if you have the speed, you can easily control the different groups. I like to grab a group at a time, and spiral out at a distance. Then move back in slowly in the opposite way and knock them out 1by1.
Theres 1-2 others I’ve seen that make Blockade look like a level 2 mission. I gotta remember the names. lol.
The beauty of Eve Online is that there are so many ways to do things. I’m sure there are other ships that can easily beat Level 4 blockade. Regular Raven with dual prop can do it I think. But yeah, cruise missiles seem to be the key to defeating long ranged battleships.
Great response! I’m starting to try out Torps - less range, but more dmg than cruise missiles if its bigger targets. Hell yeah!
I’ve been loving the Jackdaw and even with a <10k EHP tank, it can easily speed tank with just an AB and barely gets damaged in some of the harder level 3 missions and DEDs 1-5
I’m sticking to Caldari for the next year so I’m learning each ship so I have a full collection. Next is Hookbill and Manticore - so fun!
Newly buffed Vengeance also performs pretty well.