Travel fits
There are three fundamentally different possible goals in fitting a ship specifically for travel: speed, tank, or safety. Each has pros and cons associated with them. In some situations, cargo space permitting, it may be beneficial to carry fittings for all three and swap depending on what you expect to find along your route of travel.
Fitting for increased travel speed
If your only concern is to get to your destination as fast as possible, not having any war targets or pirates to worry about nor carrying too many expensive modules, you can focus exclusively on moving quickly. This entails cutting down the "align time"—that is, the time it takes your ship to align to its warp target and enter warp—and increasing warp speed itself.
Usually increasing warp speed tends to cut down on travel time the most, since you spend more time in warp than you do aligning. So if you're forced to choose between the two, it tends to be more beneficial to focus slightly more on increasing warp speed than reducing align time. Within reason, most of the time you can improve both. Depending on the ship you're moving, re-rigging your ship might not be a practical option and then the modules suggested will be your focus, as you can easily refit your lows, mids and highs before and after moving.
One of the major drawbacks of this style of fitting is that it reduces low slots that may be used for armor or structure tanking. In particular, astronautic rigs and Nanofiber Internal Structures will reduce, respectively, the total armor and structure hit points on a ship.
Reducing align time
Reducing the align time of a ship to less than 2 seconds enables it to "insta-align" and avoid being tackled in most circumstances; bubbles in nullsec space will still prevent warp, and ships boosted to very high sensor strengths to achieve "insta-lock" might still catch such a ship, as at sub-two-second intervals the exact outcome begins to depend on the internet connections of the target and attacker, and on server ticks rather than normal time.
The align time of a ship is based on the ship's mass and agility as well as agility and inertia bonuses from skills, modules, rigs and implants. Bonuses relevant to align time are either referred to as agility (a positive value) or inertia (usually a negative value, unless referred to as "inertia modifier"—then it's positive), which for all intents and purposes in EVE are the same.
Skills
Several skills affect your align time, starting with the most relevant skills:
Skill | Bonus |
---|---|
Evasive Maneuvering (2x) | 5% improved ship agility for all ships per skill level |
Spaceship Command (1x) | 2% improved ship agility for all ships per skill level |
There are also special case skills, for certain ships fits with specific modules.
Skill | Bonus |
---|---|
Advanced Spaceship Command (5x) | 5% Bonus per skill level to the agility of ships requiring Advanced Spaceship Command [1] |
Armor Layering (3x) | 5% reduction to armor plate mass penalty per level [2] |
Amarr Hauler (4x) | 5% bonus to ship inertia modifier per level [3] |
Caldari Hauler (4x) | 5% bonus to ship inertia modifier per level [3] |
Gallente Hauler (4x) | 5% bonus to ship inertia modifier per level [3] |
Minmatar Hauler (4x) | 5% bonus to ship inertia modifier per level [3] |
ORE Freighter (9x) | 5% bonus to ship inertia modifier per level [3] |
Modules & rigs
While there are several modules that reduce inertia, some are stronger than others, leaving you with these modules as well as the one rig that helps reduce align time.
Inertia Stabilizers II (-20% inertia modifier, +11% signature) | ||
Nanofiber Internal Structure II (-15.75% inertia modifier, -20% structure HP) | ||
Low Friction Nozzle Joints II (-14% inertia modifier, -10% armor hp [1]) |
- ^ The armor hit point penalty of Astronautic Rigs can be reduced by training the Astronautics Rigging (3x) skill.
Implants
For pilots who are constantly concerned with alignment time, there are also implants that help reduce your align time, such as the Eifyr and Co. 'Rogue' Evasive Maneuvering EM-7 and the Nomad set.
Propulsion modules
If your align time is high enough, there's also the option to use propulsion modules such as Afterburners (cycles as fast as 7.5 seconds) and Microwarpdrives (cycles in 10 seconds) to reduce your align time. By pulsing the module once (activating it and then immediately deactivating it), you can align in 7.5–10 seconds flat as long as you start your align from a standstill (as when you've just jumped through a gate). This option is more suitable for larger, bulkier ships that simply cannot drop their align time far enough to matter, or for other reasons need their fitting room for other things. This can allow them to combine a decent align time with a proper tank, for example.
Using an afterburner in this fashion requires you to use a size-appropriate afterburner, 1MN for frigates, 10MN for cruisers, 100MN for battleships. Note that Capital ships such as the Orca and Bowhead can't align fast enough with undersized 100MN afterburners, but can still use undersized 500MN MWDs for a 10-second align.
Friendly webs
Another option is to have a friend or an alt to web your ship as it starts aligning, dropping its maximum speed and making it align almost instantaneously. This can be extremely useful for very slow aligning ships like freighters. It does require some effort and planning, however, as some gates are pretty large, so the webbing ship needs to either be really fast to close the distance, or have a web range bonus like the Hyena or Cruor. You also need to either be in a corp with friendly fire enabled, or set up a friendly duel between you and your alt in order to be able to web yourself safely without CONCORD intervention (highsec) or security status loss and gate gun intervention (lowsec).
Increasing warp speed
There are implants, modules and one type of rig that can help boost your ship's warp speed.
Modules & rigs
When it comes to modules and rigs, there are three low slot modules and one rig that increases warp speed. The modules increase warp speed by raising the base AU-per-second warp speed by a flat, fixed number, while the rig has a normal percentage-based bonus.
Limited Hyperspatial Accelerator [1] (+0,2 AU/s, cheap) | ||
Experimental Hyperspatial Accelerator [1] (+0,25 AU/s, affordable) | ||
Compact Hyperspatial Accelerator [1] (+0,3 AU/s, costly) | ||
Hyperspatial Velocity Optimizer II (+25% warp speed, +10% signature) |
Implants
There are also implants that help increase your warp speed, such as the Eifyr and Co. 'Rogue' Warp Drive Speed WS-6 and the Mid- and High-grade Ascendancy set.
Ships with a high native warp speed
The fastest warping ship in the EVE Universe is the Leopard (20 AU/s) followed by the interceptors and Covert Ops frigates (8 AU/s base speed). There's also the Dramiel (7.5 AU/s base speed); thanks to having 3 rig slots instead of just the two slots of T2 frigates, it can actually sport the highest possible warp speed amongst the frigates, clocking in at 13 AU/s with 3 x Small Hyperspatial Velocity Optimizer II rigs compared to the T2 frigates' 12.2 AU/s. This is thanks to the Angel Cartel bonus to warp speed, which all Angel ships have.
Those speeds can then be further augmented by the above mentioned Ascendancies-implants, making it possible for the Leopard to reach a staggering 32.4 AU/s, the Dramiel to hit 21.1 AU/s and Interceptors to hit 19.7 AU/s. You could even take it further and sacrifice tank or align time to push even further with hyperspatial accelerators.
Fitting enough tank not to be worth ganking
If you're in high security space and not at war, the only real threat to your ship comes from suicide gankers. To remedy this, you can up your tank to the point where it's not financially efficient to gank you for profit. This will drastically reduce the chance of someone bothering to destroy your ship.
Below are some examples of suitable modules for this task.
Improving your hull tank
Perhaps one of the easiest and least skill-intensive ways to buff your tank is to add a Damage Control II and try to increase your structure points as much as you can with Reinforced Bulkhead II modules and Transverse Bulkhead II rigs.
Skills
Only one skill improves your structure hit points, but another indirectly helps by allowing you to fit modules that improve structure hit points:
Skill | Bonus |
---|---|
Mechanics (1x) | 5% bonus to structure hit points per skill level. |
Hull Upgrades (2x) | Hull Upgrades IV enabled the use of the Damage Control II and Transverse Bulkhead II modules. |
Modules & rigs
The following modules and rigs help improve your structure hit points or resists:
Damage Control II (60% overall structure resists) | ||
Reinforced Bulkhead II (+25% structure hp, -11% cargo capacity, +5% agility) | ||
Transverse Bulkhead II (+25% structure hp, -10% cargo capacity) |
If you're fitting for a structure tank while simultaneously going for align time, it's usually worth avoiding the Nanofiber Internal Structure II (since it reduces structure hit points) and favor the Inertia Stabilizers II module instead.
Implants
There is also an implant called Inherent Implants 'Noble' Mechanic MC-8 which further increases your hull hitpoints by up to 6% for the most expensive variant.
Improving your armor tank
Fitting an armor tank can be a little bit more skill-intensive, especially in a passive resist setup, since the efficiency of passive resist modules relies heavily on your armor compensation skills. A setup with active hardeners would potentially give you higher resists, but would take up too many modules, leaving scarcely few slots for actual armor plates.
As such, it might not be something you'll be doing as a young capsuleer, but for pilots with high armor support skills flying certain ships (with more armor than structure hit points) it might be slightly stronger than the structure approach mentioned above.
Skills
There is one skill improving armor hit points directly:
Skill | Bonus |
---|---|
Hull Upgrades (2x) | 5% bonus to armor hit points per skill level |
There are also special case skills for certain modules, such as the Multispectrum Energized Membrane II module or any of the other passive resist membranes.
Skill | Bonus |
---|---|
EM Armor Compensation (2x) | +5% bonus to EM resistance per level for Armor Coatings and Energized Membranes |
Thermal Armor Compensation (2x) | +5% bonus to thermal resistance per level for Armor Coatings and Energized Membranes |
Kinetic Armor Compensation (2x) | +5% bonus to kinetic resistance per level for Armor Coatings and Energized Membranes |
Explosive Armor Compensation (2x) | +5% bonus to explosive resistance per level for Armor Coatings and Energized Membranes |
Modules & rigs
There are several modules either increasing the raw armor hit points or various armor resists:
Implants
There are also implants that help increase your armor hit points, such as the Inherent Implants 'Noble' Hull Upgrades HG-10 and the Genolution Core Augmentation CA-4 implant as well as the Low-, Mid- and High-grade Slave set.
Improving your shield tank
The skills to use a proper T2 shield tank aren't quite as demanding as armor, and since there aren't any passive omni-tanked shield modules, you're often better off using active Multispectrum Shield Hardeners. You can fit for anti-gank by using a MSH as well as a thermal and kinetic hardener or amplifier, since the strongest gankers are Gallente in the current meta. Use the rest of the midslots for as many shield extenders as possible and an afterburner or microwarpdrive to cut then align time down.
One of the great pros of shield tanking is that low slots remain free, allowing you to fit for speed, cargo or another layer of tank as your preferences and needs dictate.
Skills
Skill | Bonus |
---|---|
Shield Management (3x) | 5% bonus to shield hit points per skill level |
Shield Upgrades (2x) | Shield Upgrades I is required for tech one and meta Shield Extender and Amplifier modules, while Shield Upgrades IV is required for tech two variants. |
There are also special case skills for certain modules, such as the EM Shield Amplifier II module or any of the other passive resist amplifiers. None of these skills are required to fit the modules, but they will improve their efficiency.
Skill | Bonus |
---|---|
Shield Operation (1x) | Shield Operation IV is required to train the compensation skills that boost amplifier modules. |
EM Shield Compensation (2x) | +5% bonus to EM resistance per level for EM Shield Amplifiers |
Thermal Shield Compensation (2x) | +5% bonus to thermal resistance per level for Thermal Shield Amplifiers |
Kinetic Shield Compensation (2x) | +5% bonus to kinetic resistance per level for Kinetic Shield Amplifiers |
Explosive Shield Compensation (2x) | +5% bonus to explosive resistance per level for Explosive Deflection Amplifiers |
Modules & rigs
There are several modules either increasing the raw shield hit points or various shield resists:
Implants
There are also implants that help increase your shield hit points, such as the Zainou 'Gnome' Shield Management SM-7 and the Genolution Core Augmentation CA-3 implant as well as the Low-, Mid- and High-grade Crystal set.
Reducing inflated align times
Most of the armor- and structure-tanking modules increase your align time, making you turn and handle like a brick with align times pushing 15+ seconds. See propulsion modules and friendly webs above for more information on how to mitigate this without sacrificing too much of your tank.
Fitting for safe travel in hostile space
This method relies on fitting an Improved Cloaking Device II and a microwarpdrive to allow you to be cloaked while aligning, minimizing the time you're actually visible on grid. This is commonly referred to as the MWD + cloak trick, see cloak trick or Seamus Donohue's video for more information.
In order to use the microwarpdrive and cloak you'll need to train High Speed Maneuvering III (5x) and Cloaking III (6x) and use the appropriately sized microwarpdrive for your ship class. Frigates use the 5MN variant, cruisers the 50MN variant and battleships the 500MN variant. While there are 50,000MN variants for capital ships, certain ships like Orcas and Bowheads can only fit "undersized" 500MN Microwarpdrives due to powergrid restrictions. As such, they are limited to using them only as a means to align in 10 seconds flat (see above). They cannot combine their microwarpdrive with a cloak to do this trick, as they will simply not be able to accelerate fast enough.
The main risk of this method is messing up the cloak and getting locked before you manage to get your cloak up: a target-lock on a ship prevents cloaking. It's also possible for people to burn towards your location and decloak you before you've managed to align. Having a Warp Core Stabilizer I or two might save you from a lone enemy with just a Warp Disruptor, but for that to be useful you'll need to be able to warp away before anyone else shows up with a second or third point, or a Warp Scrambler.
Using dedicated ships for moving around
If you're not bound to a specific ship but can setup dedicated ships for flying back and forth in the universe, you have plenty of options that can be either faster, safer, more convenient or just cheaper. This is very convenient if you have ships staged in two or more different regions or areas in space, as hopping into a shuttle or an interceptor will quickly and effortlessly allow you to move between them.
Below are a few examples of ships that can be used.
Shuttles
This ship is available to all pilots, regardless of clone state. |
Shuttles have innate interdiction nullification, which means that they totally ignore the effects of warp disruption bubbles in nullsec space. Combined with their fast warp speed and low price in most markets, this makes them fantastic choices for moving swiftly through potentially dangerous areas of nullsec. They are only at risk from dedicated remote-boosted "insta-lock" fits and from smartbombs, two tools which will only be employed by the most dedicated gatecampers. The main drawback to using a shuttle is the extremely cramped cargo space of 10m3.
Getting the shuttle to less than two second align time only requires Navigation II (1x) and Evasive Maneuvering III (2x), something new players start with already. Shuttles have no skill requirements and pilots need not stick to their own original faction's shuttle; whatever is cheapest will do.
5 AU/s warp speed. < 2 sec align time Up to 786 effective hit points. Up to 625 m/s speed 10 m3 cargo capacity. |
Very wealthy pilots who are frequently in a hurry can consider using the Leopard to improve warp speed to20 AU/s warp speed.
Frigates
This ship is available to all pilots, regardless of clone state. |
While interceptors, covops ships and shuttles are better for moving safely and quickly, basic T1 frigates also have their uses as cheap, usually-ignored ships with more cargo space than a shuttle.
The travel-fit Atron below is one example. This fit only requires you to train a Evasive Maneuvering III (2x) and if you don't already have it, Gallente Frigate I (2x) which in total is less than 9 hours worth of training. This makes it a very accessible method of moving around.
Medium Shield Extender I
Small Shield Extender I
Compact EM Shield Amplifier
Type-D Restrained Inertial Stabilizers
Type-D Restrained Inertial Stabilizers
Type-D Restrained Inertial Stabilizers
Small Hyperspatial Velocity Optimizer I
Small Hyperspatial Velocity Optimizer I
Small Hyperspatial Velocity Optimizer I
- Relevant information: 7,85 AU/s warp speed.
- This fit is designed for minimum skill requirements and cost. You could improve this slightly by upgrading modules for more tank or get Small Hyperspatial Velocity Optimizer II rigs to bump up the warp speed to 8,69 AU/s.
< 2 sec align time
Up to 3,670 effective hit points.
145 m3 cargo capacity
1 - 2 million ISK cost
Sunesis
This ship is available to all pilots, regardless of clone state. |
With the release of the Sunesis, pilots have a slightly more expensive but significantly improved option to take over a travel-fit Frigate. While it still does not have bubble immunity, the Sunesis gains additional durability (it can potentially survive 3 full volleys from a smartbombing battleship), a full 600 m3 cargo bay, and doesn't even require frigate skill training.
This fit does still require Evasive Maneuvering III (2x).
Medium Shield Extender I
Medium Shield Extender I
Small Shield Extender I
Small Shield Extender I
Inertial Stabilizers II
Inertial Stabilizers II
Inertial Stabilizers II
Damage Control I
Small Hyperspatial Velocity Optimizer I
Small Hyperspatial Velocity Optimizer I
Small Hyperspatial Velocity Optimizer I
- Relevant information: 7,06 AU/s warp speed.
- This fit is designed for minimum skill requirements and cost. You could improve this slightly by upgrading modules for more tank or get Small Hyperspatial Velocity Optimizer II rigs to bump up the warp speed to 7.63 AU/s.
- If you have Evasive Maneuvering V, an Inertial Stabilizer can be replaced with an Expanded Cargohold II, increasing capacity to 765 m3.
< 2 sec align time
Up to 9,742 effective hit points.
600 m3 cargo capacity
10 million ISK cost
Fleet Interceptors
This ship is restricted to pilots in the Omega clone state. |
Fleet interceptors can mount an Interdiction Nullifier, an active module which grants them temporary immunity to warp disruption bubbles. They can be fit to align in less than two seconds with hyperspatial rigs to improve its already impressive warp speed.
Shuttles, with their innate interdiction nullification, offer a vastly cheaper, less skill-intensive, and less cognitively-demanding option: a shuttle pilot simply warps around ignoring bubbles, while an interceptor pilot must actively manage the Nullifier and its cooldowns. The main advantages of using an interceptor over a shuttle are (1) more cargo space and (2) a basic tank: a proper fit can mount enough of a tank to survive a few smartbombs.
Due to fitting limitations the Crow is not recommended (it has too few low slots for this use), so the recommended fits only feature the Ares, Malediction and Stiletto. The Stiletto requires Spaceship Command IV to keep align time under 2 seconds and the Malediction needs Power Grid Management V and Shield Upgrades V to fit the second shield extender.
Interdiction Nullifier II
Medium Azeotropic Restrained Shield Extender
Medium Azeotropic Restrained Shield Extender
EM Shield Amplifier II
Damage Control II
Inertial Stabilizers II
Inertial Stabilizers II
Inertial Stabilizers II
Small Hyperspatial Velocity Optimizer II
Small Hyperspatial Velocity Optimizer II
Interdiction Nullifier II
5MN Microwarpdrive II
Medium F-S9 Regolith Compact Shield Extender
EM Shield Amplifier II
Damage Control II
Inertial Stabilizers II
Inertial Stabilizers II
Inertial Stabilizers II
Small Hyperspatial Velocity Optimizer II
Small Hyperspatial Velocity Optimizer II
Interdiction Nullifier II
Medium Shield Extender II
Small Shield Extender II
Small Shield Extender II
Multispectrum Shield Hardener II
Inertial Stabilizers II
Inertial Stabilizers II
Inertial Stabilizers II
Small Hyperspatial Velocity Optimizer II
Small Hyperspatial Velocity Optimizer II
A long, long time ago... |
---|
Fleet interceptors used to have innate interdiction nullification, as shuttles now do (at the time of writing, late 2021). This made them a popular choice for safe nullsec travel. |
Hecate
This ship is restricted to pilots in the Omega clone state. |
For really paranoid capsuleers moving about in high- or low-security space, there's the Hecate which can sport a "true insta-warper" fit with a sub-1-second align time. This is in part due to the low innate agility of the Hecate as well as the agility-bonused tactical Propulsion Mode and adequate low slots. This fit obviously lacks the bubble-immunity and speed of the shuttle, but has a higher cargo hold capacity.
In order to achieve the low align time you'll need Spaceship Command V (1x), Evasive Maneuvering V (2x) as well as Cybernetics III (3x) for the implant.
Multispectrum Shield Hardener II
EM Shield Amplifier II
Republic Fleet Medium Shield Extender
Republic Fleet Medium Shield Extender
Shadow Serpentis Inertial Stabilizers
Shadow Serpentis Inertial Stabilizers
Shadow Serpentis Inertial Stabilizers
Shadow Serpentis Inertial Stabilizers
Small Hyperspatial Velocity Optimizer II
Small Hyperspatial Velocity Optimizer II
Small Hyperspatial Velocity Optimizer II
- Relevant information: 7,82 AU/s warp speed.
- The Multispectrum Shield Hardener II module is there to add to your buffer landing on a gate with smartbombers on it, for travel through low security space.
- This fit requires that you use the following (or better) implant:
Eifyr and Co. 'Rogue' Evasive Maneuvering EM-704
< 1 sec align time
Up to 14,556 effective hit points.
450 m3 cargo capacity
600+ million ISK cost
Covert Ops
This ship is restricted to pilots in the Omega clone state. |
Ships capable of fitting the Covert Ops Cloaking Device II module [1] [2] can be useful in moving about in hostile space. They can remain cloaked even in warp, assuming you don't let anything get too close, only very briefly appearing on grid and in the directional-scanner when they switch from gate cloak to Covert Ops cloak.
Covert Ops frigates, Blockade Runners, and T3 cruisers using the right subsystem, can fit Interdiction Nullifiers. Due to a recent patch [3], a Nullifier CAN be activated "whilst cloaked from a stargate jump" (meaning, a gate cloak). Simply click the nullifier, then jump. Other cloaking ships—and Nullifier-fitted ships which are mismanaged or unlucky—will still be caught by bubbles in nullsec.
Experienced gatecampers know, when they see or suspect a cloaked target is present, to spread around the outside of the bubble and launch their drones to increase the chance that something will get close enough to the cloaked ship to de-cloak it. Very dedicated bubble set-ups might also have items jettisoned at the bubble's edge along likely entry vectors to help de-cloak targets who are pulled out of warp. Sovereign nullsec systems might also be set up by their owners with Mobile Observatories, which have a chance to de-cloak a ship when its cloak stabilization timer has run out.
None of these facts mean that cloaked ships are a bad choice, but pilots should not make the mistake of assuming that their stealth is a total defense.
Covert Ops frigates are often favored for travel via wormholes, given the fickle nature of wormholes, the value of remaining unseen and the bonused ability easily to scan down a new "door" should the old one close on you.
3 - 12 AU/s warp speed.
|
- ^ Astero, Blockade Runner, Covert Ops, Etana, Prospect, Force Recon, Stealth Bomber, Strategic Cruiser, Stratios, Victorieux Luxury Yacht.
- ^ The Covert Ops Cloaking Device II (aka. Covops Cloak) requires Cloaking IV (6x) to use.
- ^ https://www.eveonline.com/news/view/patch-notes-version-19-04#2021-05-18.1