Ship progression in Incursions

Planning ahead

Unless you are already heavily invested into a certain race or weapon system, it might be a good idea to think of which logistics ship, strategic cruiser or pirate faction battleship you'll want in the end, rather than what your first incursion ship should be.

Depending on the race, training for strategic cruisers will make quite some progress towards being able to fly logistics as well, or the other way around if your goal is to fly logistcs. That said, most strategic cruisers pale in comparison to the pirate faction battleships who remain the epitome of incursion boats.

Synnergy

You should also consider secondary value of whatever you train, perhaps you can find an end-of-the-line ship that not only furthers your goals for incursions but other goals as well given the skills you'll end up training for it. If you already know that you like smaller ships, or have plans for diving into a wormhole in the future, it would make much more sense training into a strategic cruiser than a pirate faction battleship.

So take some time to consider which racial ship line, what racial weapons would benefit you doing missions, exploration, PvP or whatever else you'd like to do in EVE.

Starter ships

The starter ships are pretty skill intensive, requiring you to have at least a couple of months worth training to get the recommended skills to effectively fly them.

Recommended battleships

Races	Ship	Description
		The Maelstrom can easily lead into the Machariel, retaining the projectile skills and Minmatar skills, but requires Gallente battleship. Minmatar in general also offers the Loki and Sleipnir as well as the Scimitar for logistics.
		The Rokh can train into a Vindicator, retaining the hybrid skills, but forced to train both Gallente and Minmatar battleships. It can also train into the Nightmare, retaining the Caldari battleship skills, but forced to crosstrain into lasers. Caldari also offers the Basilisk for logistics.
		The Hyperion can easily lead into the Vindicator, retaining the hybrid skills and Gallente skills, but it would require you to also train Minmatar battleship.

Logistics

Races	Ship	Description
		The Scimitar is a logistics ship, the core of fleet defense. It does not rely on energy transfers to be cap stable and can therefor be fully operational on its own. The bonus to tracking links makes it an enormous asset on the field, on top of the repairs it supplies.
		The Basilisk is another logistics ship, but unlike the Scimitar, it needs someone to exchange energy transfers with to be effective. With good skills it can provide energy transfers to the fleet or field one more shield transporter for extra repping power.

Moving on to high-end ships

Command Ships

Very few Command Ships have the range and utility needed to make them good for incursions in general, suffering the same problems as most ships with medium weaponry. But for the most part they can be fitted quite nicely for vanguards and in some cases even for assaults.

While better than standard battleships for vanguards, they are nowhere near as good as pirate faction battleships and usually suffer in terms of utility slots and small drone bays. That said, they could serve as a nice option for people who either have no interest in battleships or for those who already trained and flies Command Ships for other purposes, outside incursions.

Races	Ship	Description
		The Vulture is a solid ship for both vanguards and assaults, capable of performing well even as a sniper. Lots of utility midslots and good range projection with railguns.
		The Astarte has some amazing damage projection capabilities for vanguards, although it is severely lacking in terms of of range and tank for assaults and up, due to lack of midslots.
		The Sleipnir stands out with exceptional tracking, range and good damage capabilities for vanguards, although it is a bit lacking in range and cannot really perform well in assaults.

Strategic cruisers

Being cruiser hulls some strategic cruisers suffer from the same ailments as other ships with medium weaponry, but can often compensate by using long range weapons since the loss of pure tracking is often offset by the lower signature of medium weapons. They are also perfect for the Nation Consolidation Network assault sites, where the fleet splits up and parts of the fleet go through a gate only allowing cruiser-sized hulls.

While strategic cruisers cannot match the prowess of the pirate faction battleships, they perform above that of regular battleships. So if you like smaller, agile ships, strategic cruisers might be the answer you're looking for. Keep in mind that most public communities settle for one or two strategic cruisers, mostly a Loki for the long webs. As such it's less of an appealing option to fly strategic cruisers outside our community.

Races	Ship	Description
		The Legion combines powerful short range capabilities with instant-swapping long range capabilities due to how crystals work. Ideal ship if you prefer smaller, more agile ships to the bulkier battleships.
		The Loki combines multiple webs with extreme tracking which makes it very useful. It also has the option to fit for longer webs, which isn't always needed but makes a world of difference when it is.
		The Proteus doesn't stand out quite as much as the Legion and Loki, but it's still a solid choice for people who like small ships. Due to range issues it's often forced to use railguns.
		The Tengu is not something you'd ever train into for the sake of doing incursions, but it can still be useful if you have good skills and it's fitted properly with railguns. While missiles could work, they are less than ideal.

Pirate faction battleships

These ships are good ships all around, regardless of which type of site you do. Their slot layout is good, plenty of midslots, their ship bonuses are often purely offensive, making them ideal for incursions where tanking bonuses are highly overrated.

Races	Ship	Description
		The Machariel combines a flexible engagement range for autocannons with a high rate of fire. Fit for long range the impressive alpha is unmatched. It also has enough midslots to fit for any occasion.
		The Nightmare has very good damage at any range due to fast-swapping crystals and compensates for the innate low tracking of lasers with the ship's tracking bonus. It also has plenty of utility midslots available. Has some cap issues.
		The Vindicator is a brawler without match, both in terms of damage and incredibly strong webs. Despite appearances, it is also a very potent sniper when fitted with railguns, and tech two ammo makes it possible to use blasters at medium range.