Overview
What’s the fastest ship in EVE? While I’m not sure about that, I am sure that the Crow is up there. It gives the the thrill to be able to dodge missiles and bullets and the ability to make someone really steamed when you bump them from jumping out of the next system.
While it is expensive, the role that it fills in fleets is important, such as catching up to targets and holding them in place, without running a great risk of having the tackler blown up. The Crow really is just a tackler, do not look for it to go solo and take on battlecruisers or crashing a gate camp.
[Read more of this post →]
Overview
The Caracal is the only cruiser class ship that is symmetrical in the navy. The good thing about this ship is its 5 heavy missile capabilities; 5 on a cruiser is pretty good.
This ship is a step between the Kestrel and the Drake. I would suggest you skip buying a destroyer and save up for this ship. And this is a pretty speedy ship too when you are picking up the loot!
For The Beginners
5 - Assault Missile Launcher I, Bloodclaw Light Missile
2 - Damage specific shield hardeners
3 - Large Shield Extender I
2 - Shield Power Relay I
---
2 - Hobgoblin I
Purpose: Solo, PvE, level 2 missions
The ship’s bonus to kinetic damage is often overlooked. If the bonus is 5% per level, then if caldari cruiser was at level 4, the ship recieves a 20% extra damage boost. When it’s that situation, try to use kinetic missiles.
When you fly this puppy, turn on the shield hardeners at all times, and only pulse the shield booster every once in a while when the shield comes down. The capacitor is not stable but with good management, this ship can last for quite a while.
Sit and grab aggro, 2 small drones can take care of most frigates in level 2 missions, so focus on taking out other larger ships first if there are any.
The reason I chose to use assault missile launchers is because most L2 missions have mostly frigates, so light missiles will not have any trouble hitting them. The lower powergrid requirements of these launchers also allows for a much fuller tank with 3 large shield extenders.
If you do encounter a mission with a few cruisers, drop a large shield extender and it is possible to squeeze 2 heavy launchers one.
For The Intermediates
5 - Heavy Missile Launcher I, Scourge Heavy Missile
1 - Sensor Booster I
1 - Photon Scattering Field I
1 - Heat Dissipation Field I
1 - Invulnerability Field I
1 - Large Shield Extender I
2 - Ballistic Control System II
---
2 - Hobgoblin I
Purpose: Small/medium fleet, PvP, gate camping or roaming ops DPS support
Now in a fleet, you should see a few of these ships as they are good assets to the team. Sniper Caracals should be dishing out damage while remaining relatively far away to be safer. Not a lot of skills are demanded either. Just some missile skills and shield skills along with the basic fitting skills.
At a gate camp, park the Caracal out about 50km away from the gate, that way at the furthest any other ship is going to be 65km away from you. With some decent skills the missile should reach that range, and possibly past 100km.
Keep all of the modules on and lock everyship that comes thru, the sensor booster allows you to lock quicker and from longer away.
When doing a roaming op, do not try to be the hero and warp in as soon as the fleet does. Stay behind just a second or two and warp anywhere from 30km to 50km away, dependent on skills, and upon arrive your position will be advantageous.
You shouldn’t be targeted because your back far and warped in after the engagement began.
For The Advanced
5 - Heavy Missile Launcher II, Scourge Heavy Missile
1 - Medium Shield Booster II
3 - Damage specific shield hardeners
1 - Large Shield Extender II
1 - Co-Processor II
1 - Power Diagnostic System II
---
2 - Hobgoblin II
Purpose: Solo, PvE, level 3 missions
The ship isn’t the toughest ship, but it has a rigorous tank for some level 3 missions and can provide an adequate amount of firepower as missile skills are developed and refined.
T2 equipment is quite critical for this ship to run some L3 missions because possible encounters are with battlecruisers and the extremely rare battleship.
Grab aggro, let loose the drones, and launch missiles at cruisers and then frigates. Always be moving to ensure some of the incoming damage is reduced. The range of the missiles should be at least 90km by this time, so warping in at range is not a bad idea.
Some missions are just no possible, like blockade for example.
Summary
The Caracal is a good ship to fly for PvE content, and can provide adaquate DPS support in larger gangs. The two major downsides are that between DPS and tank, one must be sacrificed for the other to gain, and CPU and powergrid could be issues if the skills are not trained up.

Technical Information
* 5% bonus kinetic missile damage per skill level
* 10% bonus to missile velocity per level
* Default targeting range is 57 km with 6 locked targets
* Velocity is 187 m/sec with 10 m3 of drone capacity
* Shield hit points is 1563 and recharges in 1250 seconds
* Power grid is at 530MW, 2350ft of CPU, and 400 calibration points
* There are 5 high slots, 5 medium slots, 2 low slots, and 3 rig slots
* 5 slots for launchers and 0 for turrets
Questions, suggestions, comments, or complaints?
Dang it, those ship reviews. Time to get back to the basics and what I love doing!
I have been thinking about a newer format to analyze the ships. At first my mentality was leaning very heavily on the PvE perspective, but now as I advance my career in EVE, I want to expand my knowledge to include PvP content as well.
So after some days of hard thinking, I have come up with a solution.
All reviews will include the following:
- A general overview on the ship that lists its most common role and some more uncommon roles.
- A beginners suggested setup with explanations and complementary usage methods.
- An intermediate suggested setup with explanations and complementary usage methods.
- An advanced suggested setup with explanations and complementary usage methods.
The builds mentioned will be utilizing equipment that should be trained for by the pilot. This makes it simple to read and easy to understand.
Questions, suggestions, comments, or complaints?
—
Also, there is only a few more hours until the screenshot contest is over! Hurry!
Overview
The Incursus is one of the top dog fighting frigates in the galaxy. Its most common role is to be used as an up-and-close blaster boat for quick skirmishes. It can be spotted most often in Gallente space, more so in Gallente low sec. Sometimes this ship is also used by a pilot for completing errands for one’s agent.
The low cost, ability to be disposable, and usability of the Incursus makes it a great choice for aspiring pirates. One weakness the Incursus does suffer from is the fact that it is a little harder to fit a full rack of neutrons without sacrificing for other modules.
For The Beginners
3 - Light Electron Blaster I, Antimatter Charge S
1 - 1MN Afterburner I
1 - Warp Scrambler I
1 - Stasis Webifier I
1 - Small Armor Repairer I
1 - Damage Control I
---
1 - Hobgoblin I
Purpose: Solo, PvP, 1v1 engagements
This build for the Incursus should cost less than $500,000 ISK when fully T1 assembled.
Cheap but effective, that is the name of the game. The capacitor is not stable, meaning the armor repairer should only be pulsed on and off while the guns, warp scrambler, and damage control should be kept on at all times in battle.
Usage is simple. When a potential target is spotted, engage in a tight orbit of about 500m away by activating the afterburner only while trying to getting in range.
Activate the scrambler, webifier, guns, and deactivate the afterburner as the battle begins. Repair only as needed at around 40%-50% in armor.
For The Intermediates
3 - 125mm Railgun I, Antimatter Charge S
1 - 1MN Afterburner I
2 - Cap Recharger II
1 - Small Armor Repairer II
1 - Magnetic Field Stabilizer I
---
1 - Hobgoblin I
Purpose: Solo, PvE, level 1 missions
The capacitor is again not stable, meaning the armor repairer and afterburner should only be pulsed on and off while the guns are kept on at all times in battle.
The optimal range of the guns should be between 4km and 5km with antimatter ammo so an orbit of 4km or so should be good enough to avoid some damage while dishing out plenty to take care of pretty much all level 1 missions.
The variations can include another cap recharger instead of the afterburner, or an armor hardener instead of the magnetic field stabilizer if tanking is a big concern.
For The Advanced
1 - Light Neutron Blaster II, Null S
2 - Light Ion Blaster II, Null S
1 - 1MN Afterburner I
1 - Warp Scrambler I
1 - Stasis Webifier I
1 - Small Armor Repairer I
1 - Damage Control I
---
1 - Hobgoblin II
Purpose: Solo, PvP, 1v1 engagements
This setup is almost the same as the first one but takes more skill to master as the T2 ammunition used will really skew the tracking speed of the guns.
Survivability is longer than a lot of T2 fitted frigates. When using null ammunition, the range of the guns are increased so orbit can be a little faster and out farther.
T2 hybrid ammo reduces the guns’ tracking speed so it is critical to shut off the afterburner once in range. If the range is not needed, I would suggest using antimatter ammunition as it keeps good tracking.
Engage in an orbit of about 1km away. Shoot and repair when armor reaches lower levels.
Sometimes the neutron can be swapped to match the ion blasters and then the repairer upgraded to T2, but I find the small increase in repair amount is not worth the amount of damage dealt that is sacrificed.
Summary
The Incursus is a good and cheap ship that has a lot of untapped potential. Tracking may be a small issue but otherwise it puts out a fair amount of DPS for a basic frigate.

Technical Information
- 10% bonus to small hybrid turret falloff
- 5% bonus to small hybrid turret damage
- Default targeting range is 37.5 km with 3 locked targets
- Velocity is 334 m/sec with 5m3 of drone capacity and 5Mbit/sec drone bandwidth
- Armor hit points is 368
- Power grid is at 34MW, 110ft of CPU, and 400 calibration points
- There are 3 high slots, 3 medium slots, 2 low slots, and 3 rig slots
- 0 slots for launchers and 3 for turrets
Questions, suggestions, comments, or complaints?