Missiles: Difference between revisions

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FoF missiles are rarely useful, but they can help if you can't target because of [[EWar_101_Guide#Electronic_Counter_Measures_.28ECM.29|ECM jamming]] or (more rarely) [[EWar_101_Guide#Remote_Sensor_Dampening_.28damps.2C_RSD.29|sensor dampeners]], particularly if you only have a few enemies (the fewer enemies you have, the better the chance that your FoFs will hit the one you want them to hit).

==~~Usage Notes~~==

==Missiles' Role==

===PvE: Dominance===

Missiles, on Caldari ships, are very popular for PvE combat. Unlike almost all other weapon systems in Eve they can not only switch betweeen any of the four damage types, but also purely deal only one damage type. It is therefore very easy to target [[NPC_Damage_Types#A_brief_Summary_of_NPC_Damage_Types|the weaknesses]] of NPC enemies with missiles.

[~~quick~~ to train ~~and selectable damage types~~]

Furthermore, missiles are simple to use: with no falloff they are either in range or out of range and, while target speed and signature speed can affect their damage, they don't require that pilots think about tracking and angular velocity.

T2 missile launchers can also be more quickly trained than T2 turret, since T2 turret skills have hierarchical prerequisites and T2 missile skills don't. So, for example, you need to have four levels in [http://wiki.eveonline.com/en/wiki/Medium_Blaster_Specialization Medium Blaster Specialization], among other skills, before you can train [http://wiki.eveonline.com/en/wiki/Large_Blaster_Specialization Large Blaster Specialization], while you don't need T2 Heavy Missile skills to train [http://wiki.eveonline.com/en/wiki/Cruise_Missile_Specialization Cruise Missile Specialization]. It's probably inaccurate to say that missiles are plain ''better'' than guns for PvE, but guns may require more training time to become as good.

===PvP: The Delayed Damage Problem===

~~[notes on both sides~~ of the ~~debate~~, and a ~~hopefully balanced ruling]~~

Missiles take time to travel to their target, while gun turrets deal damage as soon as they fire (assuming they hit). This means that, particularly in large fleets, long range missiles can arrive too late, after the volley damage from all the turret ships has already destroyed the primary target. In long-range battles between similarly-sized large fleets, missile ships are often therefore asked to shoot the enemy's support ships rather than following the primary and secondary targets.

This has given rise to the belief that missiles are useless in PvP, which isn't true. Short-ranged missiles which don't have much travel time anyway suffer from less from delayed damage, which explains the prevalance of HAM Drakes, torp Ravens and torp Typhoons (the latter in RR gangs, since Ravens don't armor-tank well). Gangs of stealth bombers can achieve impressive ganks using torpedoes, and the AML Caracal is very good at killing frigates or forcing them away from a fleet. Missiles aren't useless in PvP, though they perhaps have more specialized and niche applications than standard gun turrets.

==Missile Skills Summary==

@@ Line 138: / Line 138: @@
 FoF missiles are rarely useful, but they can help if you can't target because of [[EWar_101_Guide#Electronic_Counter_Measures_.28ECM.29|ECM jamming]] or (more rarely) [[EWar_101_Guide#Remote_Sensor_Dampening_.28damps.2C_RSD.29|sensor dampeners]], particularly if you only have a few enemies (the fewer enemies you have, the better the chance that your FoFs will hit the one you want them to hit).
-==Usage Notes==
+==Missiles' Role==
 ===PvE: Dominance===
+Missiles, on Caldari ships, are very popular for PvE combat. Unlike almost all other weapon systems in Eve they can not only switch betweeen any of the four damage types, but also purely deal only one damage type. It is therefore very easy to target [[NPC_Damage_Types#A_brief_Summary_of_NPC_Damage_Types|the weaknesses]] of NPC enemies with missiles.
-[quick to train and selectable damage types]
+Furthermore, missiles are simple to use: with no falloff they are either in range or out of range and, while target speed and signature speed can affect their damage, they don't require that pilots think about tracking and angular velocity.
+T2 missile launchers can also be more quickly trained than T2 turret, since T2 turret skills have hierarchical prerequisites and T2 missile skills don't. So, for example, you need to have four levels in [http://wiki.eveonline.com/en/wiki/Medium_Blaster_Specialization Medium Blaster Specialization], among other skills, before you can train [http://wiki.eveonline.com/en/wiki/Large_Blaster_Specialization Large Blaster Specialization], while you don't need T2 Heavy Missile skills to train [http://wiki.eveonline.com/en/wiki/Cruise_Missile_Specialization Cruise Missile Specialization]. It's probably inaccurate to say that missiles are plain ''better'' than guns for PvE, but guns may require more training time to become as good.
 ===PvP: The Delayed Damage Problem===
-[notes on both sides of the debate, and a hopefully balanced ruling]
+Missiles take time to travel to their target, while gun turrets deal damage as soon as they fire (assuming they hit). This means that, particularly in large fleets, long range missiles can arrive too late, after the volley damage from all the turret ships has already destroyed the primary target. In long-range battles between similarly-sized large fleets, missile ships are often therefore asked to shoot the enemy's support ships rather than following the primary and secondary targets.
+This has given rise to the belief that missiles are useless in PvP, which isn't true. Short-ranged missiles which don't have much travel time anyway suffer from less from delayed damage, which explains the prevalance of HAM Drakes, torp Ravens and torp Typhoons (the latter in RR gangs, since Ravens don't armor-tank well). Gangs of stealth bombers can achieve impressive ganks using torpedoes, and the AML Caracal is very good at killing frigates or forcing them away from a fleet. Missiles aren't useless in PvP, though they perhaps have more specialized and niche applications than standard gun turrets.
 ==Missile Skills Summary==