Caracal

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Caracal
Caracal
Caldari State
Caldari State
Standard Cruisers
Caracal Class
RELATED UNI-WIKI REFERENCES

The Caracal is a powerful vessel that specializes in missile deployment. It has excellent shield defenses, but poor armor plating. Its missile arsenal, when fully stocked, is capable of making a piece-meal of almost anyone.

SHIP BONUSES

Caldari Cruiser bonuses (per skill level):
5% bonus to Rapid Light Missile, Heavy Missile and Heavy Assault Missile Launcher rate of fire
10% bonus to Heavy Missile and Heavy Assault Missile max velocity

Required Skills
Training Time what's this?
19h 15m 30s
Estimated training time only for the listed skills based on zero implants and without neural remaps.
Grouping
▪ Variations
Cerberus
Cerberus.jpg
CornerT2s.png
Cerberus
Heavy Assault Cruisers Caracal Class
Icon hi slot.png6 (6/0) Icon mid slot.png5 Icon low slot.png4
Icon powergrid.png820 MW Icon cpu.png535 tf
Icon velocity.png220 m/sec
Icon capacity.png650 m³
, Caracal Navy Issue
Caracal Navy Issue.jpg
CornerTFs.png
Caracal Navy Issue
Faction Cruisers Caracal Class
Icon hi slot.png6 (6/0) Icon mid slot.png6 Icon low slot.png3
Icon powergrid.png900 MW Icon cpu.png465 tf
Icon velocity.png210 m/sec
Icon capacity.png450 m³

Ship Attributes

Fittings
Powergrid
powergrid
630 MW
CPU
cpu output
430 tf
Capacitor
capacitor
1,250 GJ
High
high slots
5
Launchers
launcher slots
5
Turrets
turret slots
0
Medium
medium slots
5
Low
low slots
4
Rig
rigs
3
 
medium
Calibration
calibration
400
Navigation
Max Velocity
max. velocity
230 m/sec
Inertia Modifier
inertia modifier (agility)
0.47
Warp Speed
inertia modifier (agility)
4 AU/s
Base Time to Warp
base time to warp
7.76 s
what's this?
Base Time to Warp is essentially the time needed for this ship to align and accelerate until it reaches 75% of its top speed and goes to warp. The time displayed here is the base calculated time with no account for any warp related skills, modules or any other effects.
Drones
Drone Capacity
drone capacity
10 m³
Drone Bandwidth
drone bandwidth
10 Mbit/sec
Targeting
Max Tgt. Range
max. targeting range
57.50 km
Max Locked Targets
max. locked targets
6
Gravimetric Sensor
Gravimetric sensor strength
16 points
Sig. Radius
signature radius
125 m
Scan Res.
scan resolution
270 mm
Structure
Structure Hitpoints
structure hitpoints
1,400 HP
Mass
ship mass
11,910,000 kg
Volume
ship volume
92,000 m³
Cargo Capacity
cargo capacity
450 m³
Armor
Armor Hitpoints
armor hitpoints
1,200 HP
Armor Resistances
EM
electromagnetic resistance
50
THR
thermal resistance
45
KIN
kinetic resistance
25
EXP
explosive resistance
10
Shields
Shield Capacity
shield hitpoints
1,700 HP
Shield Resistances
EM
electromagnetic resistance
0
THR
thermal resistance
20
KIN
kinetic resistance
40
EXP
explosive resistance
50


Summary

The Caracal is a Tech 1 cruiser with bonuses to missile rate of fire (and therefore DPS) and missile range. It is a popular ship both for PvE combat in Level 2 missions and for various kinds of PvP combat.

As a mission-runner, the Caracal does well in Level 2 missions because it can rapidly destroy packs of frigates. The fully-selectable damage of missiles makes it more flexible in tackling missions than its Caldari turret equivalent, the Moa. A mission-running Caracal can run an active or passive shield tank.

In PvP, a Caracal fitted with Rapid Light Missile Launchers can put out serious damage against frigates and destroyers, and makes a fine entry-level "anti-tackle" cruiser. Fitted with Heavy Assault Missiles or Heavy Missiles, it can put out respectable general-purpose DPS for a T1 cruiser hull. These qualities make it a popular ship for both fleets and small gangs. It is also a viable solo PvP ship, and in this role it usually takes advantage of its range and kites.

Skills

The Caracal is a forgiving ship which can be basically effective in the hands of a new pilot, and it is often a Caldari pilot's first step up from frigate- and destroyer-sized hulls. A character who has completed the EVE University Short Skill Plan will be able to get use out of the Caracal.

The ship's performance can, however, be significantly boosted by further skill training, which can provide an edge in PvP or strengthen a PvE pilot as they progress towards the logical next step of the Drake. General fitting skills and support skills will help the Caracal as they help any ship, and the following skills are particularly notable:

Tactics

PvE

  • Kite any rats! Use your missile range to keep the frigates away from you while you pick them off with your missiles. It is possible to Alpha strike a rat frig with ordinary light missiles. If there are rat destroyers and cruisers with the frigates, then take out the frigates first, then the destroyers, then isolate and take out the cruisers. Use an afterburner to stay out of the rats' effective range but inside your missile's optimal. Train your missile skills to increase optimal.

PvP solo

  • The Caracal has nice bonuses for missiles and is decently fast, so it is a very good kiting ship. With the HAM tweaks, it's good for taking out smaller ships (without using light missiles) that can catch it, while still being able to put a lot of DPS onto larger ships that can't catch it. Basically, you just want to kite away from them, maybe heat your MWD initially if they warp in close/you are on a gate or station, then turn it off as it will burn out quite fast if you don't pay attention. Depending on your missile and cruiser skills you'll want to keep them from 20-30 KM away with HAMs. When you are running low on cap, simply pop a booster charge and keep burning along.
  • Your goal is to avoid getting scrammed at all costs, so try to hit smaller ships that can catch you first and deal with bigger ships later. If there is a big ship that can hit you from afar giving you trouble (for example Abaddon), pull a lot of range (at least 100 KM) and try to split smaller ships off for easy kills.

PvP fleet (Large)

  • If you are Rapid Light fit, focus on enemy destroyers, frigates, and possibly drones (if necessary). If you intend to target enemy interceptors, you will require more levels of Caldari Cruiser and/or Missile Projection, as the base speed of light missiles is too low for them to catch up with an interceptor. Both of those skills increase your missile velocity (while piloting a Caracal). A missile velocity of over 5000m/s should allow them to catch up with most interceptors.
  • If you are Heavy Missile (HML) or Heavy Assault Missile (HAM) fit, attack the target your FC calls primary. If you are using HAMs but it would be unsafe to get into range to use them on the designated primary, simply switch to attacking smaller ships such as frigates until such a time as you can damage the primary target.

Small Gang

  • If you are kiting, small gang tactics are going to be pretty similar to solo tactics, except that you will likely want to burn in the same direction and be aligned to the same thing as your fleetmates. There are all sorts of small gang compositions that you can try out. For instance: 2-5 Caracals, 1 Bellicose. In this example, the Caracals apply DPS while the Bellicose supports them with Target Painters and help tackle.

Notes

The Caracal is named after a medium-sized wild cat species that is widespread in parts of Asia and Africa. It is fast and agile, and hunts chiefly at night.

Patch History