Amarr Basic Ship and Skill Overview: Difference between revisions

The Amarr Empire is one of the four playable factions and, like the others, has a distinct line of ships with specific quirks and abilities.

== General Traits ==

* '''[[Armour tanking]]'''.  Amarrian ships have high base armour, and several ships have direct bonuses to armour resistances: for example, the Punisher, Maller, Prophecy, and Abaddon. Armor tanks use up low slots, can slow ships down, and are hungry for powergrid, but they leave mid slots free, require relatively less CPU, and (in active tanks) place comparatively lower burdens on the capacitor than shield tanks

* '''[[Turrets#Energy turrets|Energy turrets]]'''.  These are the standard for the majority of Amarrian damage-dealing vessels.  Energy turrets (more usually "lasers") offer a reliable combination of range and damage when compared with projectile or hybrid turrets. Their ammo, energy crystals, can be swapped out instantly. Tech 1 crystals last forever, and faction and Tech 2 crystals wear out only slowly. On the other hand, energy turrets use a great deal of capacitor to fire, tend to have comparatively poor tracking speeds for their size, and can only ever deal thermal and EM damage, which can make it impossible to hit some enemies' weaker damage resistances.

** The short-ranged energy weapons, pulse lasers, have long ranges compared to projectile autocannon and hybrid turrets but lack the raw punch of hybrid blasters or the selectable damage and forgiving falloff of autocannon.

** The long-ranged energy weapons, beam lasers, have reliable DPS, but are shorter-ranged than hybrid railguns or projectile artillery, and lack the selectable damage and alpha strike potential of artillery.

* '''[[Drones]]'''. The Amarr ship line-up comes second only to the Gallente in terms of drone bays, bandwidth, and ships with drone bonuses. Amarr drone ships tend to have slightly larger drone bays than their Gallentean counterparts, which means more tactical flexibility and drone replacement, but also tend to have less drone bandwidth, which means a lower DPS cap. These differences even out at the battleship level, as the Armageddon and the Dominix match in these respects.

* '''Large capacitors.''' Amarr pilots rely heavily on their capacitors; lasers are heavy on the capacitor to such a degree that many Amarrian hulls have a bonus that decreases capacitor usage of energy turrets. Amarr hulls tend to have larger capacitors than the hulls of the other empires and many Amarrian pilots prioritize capacitor skills.

* '''[[Capacitor warfare]]'''. The Dragoon and the Armageddon have bonuses that make them particularly effective with energy neutralizers used to drain targets' capacitors. These synergise well with the naturally strong capacitors found on Amarr ships, and with the use of drones, which require no capacitor. Amarr proficiency with capacitor warfare continues in T2 ships with the Black Ops {{sh|Redeemer}} and the widely-feared {{sh|Curse}} and {{sh|Pilgrim}}.

* '''[[Electronic warfare#Weapon disruption|Weapon Disruption]]''' is the Amarr EWAR specialism. Weapon disruption can cut the ranges and tracking speeds of turrets, or the ranges and precision of missiles. It is situationally powerful, but not as universally powerful as ECM or sensor dampening: different modules must be fitted to disrupt turrets or to disrupt missiles, which reduces tactical flexibility.

* '''Low speeds'''. Amarr ships tend to have low base speeds for their size and class, often fit armour plates which further reduce their speed and agility, and often use low slots for tank or damage rather than speed modules. Given the high low slots, Amarr ships ''can'' sometimes be speed-fitted, but at the cost of tank and damage.

* [[Missiles]]. No ''Tech 1'' Amarr ships focus on missiles, but there is a line of ''Tech 2'' Amarr ships with missile bonuses: the {{sh|Vengeance}}, {{sh|Malediction}}, {{sh|Heretic}}, {{sh|Sacrilege}}, and {{sh|Damnation}}. These are not a concern for Amarr pilots who are just starting out, but dedicated Amarr pilots might find themselves training into them one day.

A classic progression of Amarr [[mission]] ships would be to train the Punisher and {{sh|Coercer}} for Level 1 missions, the {{sh|Omen}} or {{sh|Arbitrator}} for L2s, the {{sh|Harbinger}} for L3s, and finally the {{sh|Apocalypse}} for L4s.  Amarrian laser ships are more restricted when running missions and [[ratting]] than the other races. Within Amarr space, against the Blood Raiders and Sansha's Nation factions, Amarrian ships are probably the most effective of all (as is typical with the other empires). However, lasers only do thermal and EM damage, so other typical NPC enemy factions are tougher for lasers. This is a concern for some Eve University pilots who want to try mission-running close to home, as the University is based in Caldari space where Guristas are the common faction.

In Wormholes, the Harbinger can run C1 and C2 combat sites, although it may have trouble with either range or tracking due to the variety of sleeper hulls that can orbit either close or far. Like the other turret-based BCs, the Harbinger does much better in fleets than solo for wormholes. C3 wormholes can also be done in a Harbinger with a fleet of sufficient size.

Amarr ships are also highly popular with armour [[Incursions|incursion]] fleets, especially the {{sh|Paladin}} and {{sh|Legion}}. While not technically an Amarrian ship, the {{sh|Nightmare}} is one of the most sought after ships for shield incursion fleets and uses energy turrets, so is a natural progression for an Amarr pilot willing to cross-train.

'''PvP'''

Exceptional tanks, large capacitors, and reliable damage and range make some Amarrian ships a firm favourite in armour fleets, though fits with shield tanks or alternate weapon systems also see some use. At the basic level, Amarr ships tend to stick to the formula of lots of armour for defence and lots of lasers for damage with fewer atypical ships than in other races' line-ups. As a result, Amarr are sometimes said to be the simplest race to fly. There are some good candidates for 'breaking the mould' even for a new player (a {{sh|Punisher}} fitted with projectile turrets is a classic), but they are more skill intensive and often require cross-training.

In frigate hulls, the Punisher or Executioner are typically used for tackling, and the Crucifier for EW. The Arbitrator makes an excellent DPS-and-EWAR boat, the Omen is a focused damage-dealer, and the Maller's massive potential tank makes it great (if obvious) bait. In battleship hulls, the {{sh|Armageddon}}, {{sh|Apocalypse}}, and {{sh|Abaddon}} all have their uses.  The Apocalypse can be used as a sniper (sometimes with a very weak tank to maximize damage potential) and the Abaddon's bonus to armor resists grants it gigantic tank, making it one of the most survivable battleships when supported by [[Logistics|logistics]], although a combination of (relatively) weak capacitor and no cap use bonuses can make it power-hungry. The Armageddon's bonus to energy neutralizers makes it the best base T1 capacitor warfare platform in the game.

== Skills ==

Amarr ships share many core skills with the ships of the other three main factions. Very new pilots should consider EVE University's [[Short Skill Plan]]; relatively new pilots should consider [[The Magic 14|the 14 skills which affect every ship]], the [[Fitting skills|fitting skills]] which make it easier to fit modules onto ships, and the [[Support skills|support skills]] which underpin much of your ship's performance. For longer-term training, EVE University's [[Pyramid Skill Plan]] offers one useful way of conceiving of your goals.

Cross training into or out of Amarr can be quite skill intensive. The easiest prospect is probably [[Gallente Basic Ship and Skill Overview|Gallente]], as the two ship lineups share armour tanking, gunnery, and drone synergies. A combination of Amarr and Gallente ship skills also opens up the popular [[Pirate_Faction_Ship_Overview#Servant_Sisters_of_EVE|Sisters of EVE ships]]. Pilots cross-trained for Caldari ships will be able to make good use of the niche set of T2 Amarr ships with missile bonuses.

Little more than slower, armed shuttles, corvettes (or "noobships") are the basic frigates that new pilots start with. You can acquire a new corvette at no cost (together with a civilian weapon, a civilian mining laser, and one unit of Tritanium) by clicking on the "Board my corvette" button available in the station menu when you're docked up. On their own, corvettes are useful for little other than basic errand-running, though since the ship is free a corvette can be spawned as a makeshift small station container when no other containers are available.

The Crucifier is the Amarr EWAR frigate and works great as an extremely cheap long range EWAR platform for very new pilots.

The Inquisitor is the Amarr logistics frigate. It acquired this role in the Retribution expansion.

=== Cruisers ===

The Augoror is the Amarr logistics cruiser. It is one of the two armor logistics cruisers, the other being the Gallente Exequror. While the Exequror is bonused for more of a solo role, the bonus to Energy Transfer amount on the Augoror means it works best when paired with one or more other logistics ships with an Energy Transfer bonus.

The Maller was buffed in the Retribution patch to have a bonus to medium laser damage rather than a capacitor use bonus. It can obtain a good tank while retaining decent DPS. However, due to the lack of a capacitor use bonus, for PvE, an Omen might be a better choice for lower skilled players. The Maller is likely to become much more popular in PvP.

The Omen is one of the two dedicated DPS cruisers. It is more adept at speed tanking than the Maller because of the lower signature radius and higher base velocity.

The Abaddon has a bonus for laser damage and armor resistances, but the normal bonus for laser capacitor use is conspicuously missing. This makes the Abaddon a "high skill" ship because it requires good core skills to keep its lasers firing while powering its tank. The bonus to tank and the high damage makes the Abaddon a popular PvP ship, where its difficulty staying cap stable is also not so much of an issue.

The Apocalypse has a bonus to optimal range that with the Amarr ability to switch crystals instantly can be turned into a damage bonus quite easily. Pulse laser Apocalypses with T2 Scorch ammunition are able to deliver good damage at a decent distance and the tracking bonus can allow it to hit smaller ships quite well. Apocalypses are also well suited to beam laser sniper fits, making the hull surprisingly versatile for any Amarr ship. The Apocalypse does not have the raw firepower of the Abaddon however but is an easier ship to skill for.  

While previously all Amarr battleships were fairly similar, the Armageddon's new face makes it an entirely different beast. With the bonus to cap warfare range, the Armageddon is now the premier T1 neuting battleship, whilst still being able to put out a very respectable amount of DPS through its drones.

[[Haulers]] are useful to transport large amounts of cargo, but they are vulnerable to suicide ganks in highsec, and piracy in lowsec. For war time hauling, a hauling alt is recommended. See the [[Creating an Alt Hauler]] article for more information.

Although lacking the cargo capacity of the [[Bestower]], it is significantly faster, more agile, and more flexible with five low slots that can be swapped between nanofibers, expanders, or warp core stabilizers as needed. It can easily be expanded to hold 8000 {{m3}}, the max needed for [[Making Money with Hauling - Level 4 Cargo Missions|running L4 distribution missions]], while still having three nanofibers for an under eight second align, or a nanofiber and a couple of stabs if the mission takes you into lowsec.

==Energy Turret Tips==

Since ammo crystals can be swapped instantly, you should feel able to shift rapidly between crystals as the situation demands. You will want to swap crystals in and out to keep up with the ranges of your targets: lasers have little falloff range, which means little margin for error at the edge of your range. The Tech 1 crystals offer a three-way trade-off of range, damage, and capacitor use: short-ranged crystals do high DPS and are cap-hungry, long-ranged crystals do low DPS and are cap-hungry, and mid-ranged crystals do moderate DPS and are gentler on the capacitor.

Of the Tech 2 beam laser crystals, Gleam only offers a small boost over comparable faction ammo and see only limited use, but Aurora offers a massive range bonus and is popular for PvP sniping fits.

Small drones should be used against frigate-sized enemies, medium drones should be used against cruiser-sized enemies, and heavy drones should be used against battleship-sized enemies.  Sentries are mostly meant for battleship-sized enemies, but if smaller enemies are far enough that tracking and signature radius isn't an issue, they can deal relatively well with those too.

All four races' drones are viable in PvE and you should select drones that deal the damage type which your target NPCs are weakest.  

Keyboard / auxiliary mouse button shortcuts are recommended for drone management. Shortcuts can be set for attack and return to drone bay commands. One group of drones in the drone window can be designated as your "favorite", and a button can be assigned to the command "launch favorite group of drones".

[[Category:Ships]]