Fitting ships: Difference between revisions

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[[Category:Guides]]

[[Category:Fitting]]

These are basic guidelines for fitting ships. These are not rules: Eve University only uses rules about what modules you can fit and which ships you can fly during wartime. (Note that although they only apply during wartime, they are strictly enforced when they do apply. You can find them [[Ship Requirements and Restrictions|here]].) Unlike the rules about wartime fitting, these are just guidelines. They are designed to help you until you know when you can ignore them.

These are basic guidelines for fitting ships. These are not rules: Eve University only uses rules about what modules you can fit and which ships you can fly during wartime. (Note that although they only apply during wartime, they are strictly enforced when they do apply. You can find them [[Ship Requirements and Restrictions|here]].)

Unlike the rules about wartime fitting, these are just guidelines. They are designed to help you until you know when you can ignore them.

==Fit for a purpose==

Generally, the more tasks you want a fit to do the worse it performs at each particular task. Some ships have very specific uses: a Bantam (the Caldari mining frigate) is not very helpful in either pve or pvp combat. But even a combat ship will almost certainly need different fits for pve and pvp, because, for example, in pvp you usually receive a lot more damage in a much more limited time than in pve, and enemy players, unlike npcs, need to be [[Tackling 101 Guide|prevented from warping away]]. Even within pvp the same ship can have one fit for close-range brawling in a small gang and a completely different fit for fighting at longer ranges in a large fleet.

Generally, the more tasks you want a fit to do the worse it performs at each particular task. Some ships have very specific uses: a Bantam (the Caldari mining frigate) is not very helpful in either pve or pvp combat.

But even a combat ship will almost certainly need different fits for pve and pvp, because, for example, in pvp you usually receive a lot more damage in a much more limited time than in pve, and enemy players, unlike npcs, need to be [[Tackling 101 Guide|prevented from warping away]]. Even within pvp the same ship can have one fit for close-range brawling in a small gang and a completely different fit for fighting at longer ranges in a large fleet.

Of course, there are dangers in over-specialisation too, especially when you're not working with other players. If you're going to exploit a low-class wormhole while solo you want your ship to deal and tank damage, launch probes, and maybe cloak so that you can hide if you see a gang of enemies on your [[Directional Scanner Guide|directional scanner]].

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==Consider your ship's bonuses==

Every ship comes with per-level bonuses, which often point towards the uses that the ship was designed for. The Caldari [http://wiki.eveonline.com/wiki/Blackbird Blackbird], for example, gets a 15% bonus to ECM Target Jammer strength and a 10% bonus to ECM Target Jammer optimal range for each level its pilot has in the Caldari Cruiser skill. These bonuses suggest that it's best fit as an electronic warfare platform which fights well at long range. Sometimes it's okay not to take advantage of a ship's bonuses: the Amarr [http://wiki.eveonline.com/wiki/Punisher Punisher], for example, is sometimes fitted with projectile weapons rather than lasers because it has a cap use bonus for lasers rather any damage or rate-of-fire bonuses -- and projectile weapons don't use cap anyway. Generally, however, you should work with your ship's bonuses.

Every ship comes with per-level bonuses, which often point towards the uses that the ship was designed for.

The Caldari [http://wiki.eveonline.com/wiki/Blackbird Blackbird], for example, gets a 15% bonus to ECM Target Jammer strength and a 10% bonus to ECM Target Jammer optimal range for each level its pilot has in the Caldari Cruiser skill. These bonuses suggest that it's best fit as an electronic warfare platform which fights well at long range.

Sometimes it's okay not to take advantage of a ship's bonuses: the Amarr [http://wiki.eveonline.com/wiki/Punisher Punisher], for example, is sometimes fitted with projectile weapons rather than lasers because it has a cap use bonus for lasers rather any damage or rate-of-fire bonuses -- and projectile weapons don't use cap anyway. Generally, however, you should work with your ship's bonuses.

==Don't mix tanks==

If you're going to tank (and not all fits include a tank) either [[Shield tanking|shield tank]] or [[Armour tanking|armor tank]]. Don't shield tank and armor tank in the same fit. Most of the time a tank takes up a substantial proportion of your powergrid, your CPU and either your midslots (for a shield tank) or your lowslots (armor tank). If you fit a shield tank, you can put useful things (damage modules, speed and agility modules &c) in your lowslots, and if you armor tank you can put useful things (tackling modules, electronic warfare modules, propulsion modules &c) in your midslots. If you mount two tanks, even if they're both buffer tanks, your ship won't be very useful except as a target.

If you're going to tank (and not all fits include a tank) either [[Shield tanking|shield tank]] or [[Armour tanking|armor tank]]. Don't shield tank and armor tank in the same fit.

Most of the time a tank takes up a substantial proportion of your powergrid, your CPU and either your midslots (for a shield tank) or your lowslots (armor tank). If you fit a shield tank, you can put useful things (damage modules, speed and agility modules &c) in your lowslots, and if you armor tank you can put useful things (tackling modules, electronic warfare modules, propulsion modules &c) in your midslots.

If you mount two tanks, even if they're both buffer tanks, your ship won't be very useful except as a target.

==Don't mix guns==

If you have a rack of exactly identical guns on your ship, they will all have precisely the same optimal and falloff ranges, and exactly the same tracking. This means you only have to worry about getting your ship to one ideal range and keeping the enemy's angular velocity below one value. Furthermore, you can group identical weapons so that they can all be activated or reloaded or unloaded at once, which reduces the micromanagement required in combat. Grouping isn't always the best option, especially if you learn to [[Overloading|overheat]] your guns using the Thermodynamics skill, but it's a good way to start. (There are, however, cases where having mixed guns due to fitting reasons can squeeze a bit more DPS from your ship.)

If you have a rack of exactly identical guns on your ship, they will all have precisely the same optimal and falloff ranges, and exactly the same tracking. This means you only have to worry about getting your ship to one ideal range and keeping the enemy's angular velocity below one value.

Furthermore, you can group identical weapons so that they can all be activated or reloaded or unloaded at once, which reduces the micromanagement required in combat. Grouping isn't always the best option, especially if you learn to [[Overloading|overheat]] your guns using the Thermodynamics skill, but it's a good way to start. (There are, however, cases where having mixed guns due to fitting reasons can squeeze a bit more DPS from your ship.)

Missiles are a little different, because they aren't affected by tracking and have a simpler kind of range, but the same principle often applies to them. Note that 'don't mix guns' doesn't mean you shouldn't put missile launchers in extra highslots if all your turret hardpoints are full and you want more dps (as in, for example, a Rifter with three autocannons and a missile launcher) -- though there are other options for spare highslots, such as neuts/NOSes, salvagers, tractor beams, remote repair modules and drone link augmentors.

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==Bigger guns are not necessarily better==

Bigger guns do more dps, assuming they hit, but they track ~~worse~~ and they use up more powergrid and CPU. So, for example, there are three kinds of medium-sized autocannon (the short-ranged kind of projectile weapon): [http://wiki.eveonline.com/wiki/Dual_180mm_Autocannon_I Dual 180mm], [http://wiki.eveonline.com/wiki/220mm_Vulcan_Autocannon_I 220mm] and [http://wiki.eveonline.com/wiki/425mm_Autocannon_I 425mm]. The 425mm autocannons do a bit more damage, but the 220mm autocannons have much more forgiving fitting requirements (especially if your fitting skills -- see [[#Train fitting skills|below]] -- need more training). On some ships it may be that fitting a rack of 425s would use up so much powergrid and CPU that you wouldn't be able to fit a tank. In that situation, fitting 220s would be better because, even though you would do a little less damage per second, your ship would survive longer and so apply more total damage.

Bigger guns do more dps, assuming they hit, but they [[Gunnery_Guide#Tracking|track]] targets more slowly and they use up more powergrid and CPU.

So, for example, there are three kinds of medium-sized autocannon (the short-ranged kind of projectile weapon): [http://wiki.eveonline.com/wiki/Dual_180mm_Autocannon_I Dual 180mm], [http://wiki.eveonline.com/wiki/220mm_Vulcan_Autocannon_I 220mm] and [http://wiki.eveonline.com/wiki/425mm_Autocannon_I 425mm]. The 425mm autocannons do a bit more damage, but the 220mm autocannons have much more forgiving fitting requirements (especially if your fitting skills -- see [[#Train fitting skills|below]] -- need more training). On some ships it may be that fitting a rack of 425s would use up so much powergrid and CPU that you wouldn't be able to fit a tank. In that situation, fitting 220s would be better because, even though you would do a little less damage per second, your ship would survive longer and so apply more total damage.

(This does not mean that you should fit frigate-sized guns on a cruiser. Downsizing within the available medium or large guns is often wise, but downsizing from large to medium guns, or from mediums to smalls, usually isn't, unless you're fitting a bait ship or certain kinds of drone boat fits.)

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==Try fits outside the game==

There are a number of programs which let you try out out a fit hypothetically, outside the game. The most popular is the Eve Fitting Tool, which you can acquire [http://www.eveonline.com/ingameboard.asp?a=topic&threadID=548883 here]. EFT can tell you about the performance and fitting requirements of a particular fit. If you import your character's skills into it it can give you numbers accurate for your character. This lets you check that you can fit everything you want on to a particular ship before you buy the ship and modules. EFT's numbers aren't always perfectly accurate, and it's possible to be caught up in the numbers so that you forget the practical realities of piloting in Eve -- EFT can import your character's skills but it can't factor in your own piloting skills and experience. Nevertheless, it's a very useful tool.

There are a number of programs which let you try out out a fit hypothetically, outside the game.

The most popular is the Eve Fitting Tool, which you can acquire [http://www.eveonline.com/ingameboard.asp?a=topic&threadID=548883 here]. EFT can tell you about the performance and fitting requirements of a particular fit. If you import your character's skills into it it can give you numbers accurate for your character. This lets you check that you can fit everything you want on to a particular ship before you buy the ship and modules.

EFT's numbers aren't always perfectly accurate, and it's possible to be caught up in the numbers so that you forget the practical realities of piloting in Eve -- EFT can import your character's skills but it can't factor in your own piloting skills and experience. Nevertheless, it's a very useful tool.

==Steal other people's ideas==

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==Fitting modules (don't overuse them)==

There are some low-slot modules which increase your powergrid or CPU, and so are sometimes called 'fitting modules'. Co-processors increase your CPU by 7%, and Reactor Control Units increase your powergrid by 10%. There is also the Micro Auxiliary Power Core, which is designed specifically for frigates: rather than giving a percentage increase to powergrid, it gives you a flat increase of fifteen MW. Finally there's the Power Diagnostic System, which increases your powergrid by 5%, and also gives bonuses to your shields and capacitor. There are also rigs that can make fitting easier.

There are some low-slot modules which increase your powergrid or CPU, and so are sometimes called 'fitting modules'. Co-processors increase your CPU by 7%, and Reactor Control Units increase your powergrid by 10%. There is also the Micro Auxiliary Power Core, which is designed specifically for frigates: rather than giving a percentage increase to powergrid, it gives you a flat increase of fifteen MW. Finally there's the Power Diagnostic System, which increases your powergrid by 5%, and also gives bonuses to your shields and capacitor. There are also rigs and [[Implants#Skill_Hardwirings|hardwiring implants]] that can make fitting easier.

It is sometimes necessary to use a fitting module or a fitting rig, but if you have a fit that requires more than one it's often a bad sign, and it may mean that you need better fitting skills.

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
 [[Category:Guides]]
 [[Category:Fitting]]
-These are basic guidelines for fitting ships. These are not rules: Eve University only uses rules about what modules you can fit and which ships you can fly during wartime. (Note that although they only apply during wartime, they are strictly enforced when they do apply. You can find them [[Ship Requirements and Restrictions|here]].) Unlike the rules about wartime fitting, these are just guidelines. They are designed to help you until you know when you can ignore them.
+These are basic guidelines for fitting ships. These are not rules: Eve University only uses rules about what modules you can fit and which ships you can fly during wartime. (Note that although they only apply during wartime, they are strictly enforced when they do apply. You can find them [[Ship Requirements and Restrictions|here]].)
+Unlike the rules about wartime fitting, these are just guidelines. They are designed to help you until you know when you can ignore them.
 ==Fit for a purpose==
-Generally, the more tasks you want a fit to do the worse it performs at each particular task. Some ships have very specific uses: a Bantam (the Caldari mining frigate) is not very helpful in either pve or pvp combat. But even a combat ship will almost certainly need different fits for pve and pvp, because, for example, in pvp you usually receive a lot more damage in a much more limited time than in pve, and enemy players, unlike npcs, need to be [[Tackling 101 Guide|prevented from warping away]]. Even within pvp the same ship can have one fit for close-range brawling in a small gang and a completely different fit for fighting at longer ranges in a large fleet.
+Generally, the more tasks you want a fit to do the worse it performs at each particular task. Some ships have very specific uses: a Bantam (the Caldari mining frigate) is not very helpful in either pve or pvp combat.
+But even a combat ship will almost certainly need different fits for pve and pvp, because, for example, in pvp you usually receive a lot more damage in a much more limited time than in pve, and enemy players, unlike npcs, need to be [[Tackling 101 Guide|prevented from warping away]]. Even within pvp the same ship can have one fit for close-range brawling in a small gang and a completely different fit for fighting at longer ranges in a large fleet.
 Of course, there are dangers in over-specialisation too, especially when you're not working with other players. If you're going to exploit a low-class wormhole while solo you want your ship to deal and tank damage, launch probes, and maybe cloak so that you can hide if you see a gang of enemies on your [[Directional Scanner Guide|directional scanner]].
@@ Line 11: / Line 15: @@
 ==Consider your ship's bonuses==
-Every ship comes with per-level bonuses, which often point towards the uses that the ship was designed for. The Caldari [http://wiki.eveonline.com/wiki/Blackbird Blackbird], for example, gets a 15% bonus to ECM Target Jammer strength and a 10% bonus to ECM Target Jammer optimal range for each level its pilot has in the Caldari Cruiser skill. These bonuses suggest that it's best fit as an electronic warfare platform which fights well at long range. Sometimes it's okay not to take advantage of a ship's bonuses: the Amarr [http://wiki.eveonline.com/wiki/Punisher Punisher], for example, is sometimes fitted with projectile weapons rather than lasers because it has a cap use bonus for lasers rather any damage or rate-of-fire bonuses -- and projectile weapons don't use cap anyway. Generally, however, you should work with your ship's bonuses.
+Every ship comes with per-level bonuses, which often point towards the uses that the ship was designed for.
+The Caldari [http://wiki.eveonline.com/wiki/Blackbird Blackbird], for example, gets a 15% bonus to ECM Target Jammer strength and a 10% bonus to ECM Target Jammer optimal range for each level its pilot has in the Caldari Cruiser skill. These bonuses suggest that it's best fit as an electronic warfare platform which fights well at long range.
+Sometimes it's okay not to take advantage of a ship's bonuses: the Amarr [http://wiki.eveonline.com/wiki/Punisher Punisher], for example, is sometimes fitted with projectile weapons rather than lasers because it has a cap use bonus for lasers rather any damage or rate-of-fire bonuses -- and projectile weapons don't use cap anyway. Generally, however, you should work with your ship's bonuses.
 ==Don't mix tanks==
-If you're going to tank (and not all fits include a tank) either [[Shield tanking|shield tank]] or [[Armour tanking|armor tank]]. Don't shield tank and armor tank in the same fit. Most of the time a tank takes up a substantial proportion of your powergrid, your CPU and either your midslots (for a shield tank) or your lowslots (armor tank). If you fit a shield tank, you can put useful things (damage modules, speed and agility modules &c) in your lowslots, and if you armor tank you can put useful things (tackling modules, electronic warfare modules, propulsion modules &c) in your midslots. If you mount two tanks, even if they're both buffer tanks, your ship won't be very useful except as a target.
+If you're going to tank (and not all fits include a tank) either [[Shield tanking|shield tank]] or [[Armour tanking|armor tank]]. Don't shield tank and armor tank in the same fit.
+Most of the time a tank takes up a substantial proportion of your powergrid, your CPU and either your midslots (for a shield tank) or your lowslots (armor tank). If you fit a shield tank, you can put useful things (damage modules, speed and agility modules &c) in your lowslots, and if you armor tank you can put useful things (tackling modules, electronic warfare modules, propulsion modules &c) in your midslots.
+If you mount two tanks, even if they're both buffer tanks, your ship won't be very useful except as a target.
 ==Don't mix guns==
-If you have a rack of exactly identical guns on your ship, they will all have precisely the same optimal and falloff ranges, and exactly the same tracking. This means you only have to worry about getting your ship to one ideal range and keeping the enemy's angular velocity below one value. Furthermore, you can group identical weapons so that they can all be activated or reloaded or unloaded at once, which reduces the micromanagement required in combat. Grouping isn't always the best option, especially if you learn to [[Overloading|overheat]] your guns using the Thermodynamics skill, but it's a good way to start. (There are, however, cases where having mixed guns due to fitting reasons can squeeze a bit more DPS from your ship.)
+If you have a rack of exactly identical guns on your ship, they will all have precisely the same optimal and falloff ranges, and exactly the same tracking. This means you only have to worry about getting your ship to one ideal range and keeping the enemy's angular velocity below one value.
+Furthermore, you can group identical weapons so that they can all be activated or reloaded or unloaded at once, which reduces the micromanagement required in combat. Grouping isn't always the best option, especially if you learn to [[Overloading|overheat]] your guns using the Thermodynamics skill, but it's a good way to start. (There are, however, cases where having mixed guns due to fitting reasons can squeeze a bit more DPS from your ship.)
 Missiles are a little different, because they aren't affected by tracking and have a simpler kind of range, but the same principle often applies to them. Note that 'don't mix guns' doesn't mean you shouldn't put missile launchers in extra highslots if all your turret hardpoints are full and you want more dps (as in, for example, a Rifter with three autocannons and a missile launcher) -- though there are other options for spare highslots, such as neuts/NOSes, salvagers, tractor beams, remote repair modules and drone link augmentors.
@@ Line 25: / Line 39: @@
 ==Bigger guns are not necessarily better==
-Bigger guns do more dps, assuming they hit, but they track worse and they use up more powergrid and CPU. So, for example, there are three kinds of medium-sized autocannon (the short-ranged kind of projectile weapon): [http://wiki.eveonline.com/wiki/Dual_180mm_Autocannon_I Dual 180mm], [http://wiki.eveonline.com/wiki/220mm_Vulcan_Autocannon_I 220mm] and [http://wiki.eveonline.com/wiki/425mm_Autocannon_I 425mm]. The 425mm autocannons do a bit more damage, but the 220mm autocannons have much more forgiving fitting requirements (especially if your fitting skills -- see [[#Train fitting skills|below]] -- need more training). On some ships it may be that fitting a rack of 425s would use up so much powergrid and CPU that you wouldn't be able to fit a tank. In that situation, fitting 220s would be better because, even though you would do a little less damage per second, your ship would survive longer and so apply more total damage.
+Bigger guns do more dps, assuming they hit, but they [[Gunnery_Guide#Tracking|track]] targets more slowly and they use up more powergrid and CPU.
+So, for example, there are three kinds of medium-sized autocannon (the short-ranged kind of projectile weapon): [http://wiki.eveonline.com/wiki/Dual_180mm_Autocannon_I Dual 180mm], [http://wiki.eveonline.com/wiki/220mm_Vulcan_Autocannon_I 220mm] and [http://wiki.eveonline.com/wiki/425mm_Autocannon_I 425mm]. The 425mm autocannons do a bit more damage, but the 220mm autocannons have much more forgiving fitting requirements (especially if your fitting skills -- see [[#Train fitting skills|below]] -- need more training). On some ships it may be that fitting a rack of 425s would use up so much powergrid and CPU that you wouldn't be able to fit a tank. In that situation, fitting 220s would be better because, even though you would do a little less damage per second, your ship would survive longer and so apply more total damage.
 (This does not mean that you should fit frigate-sized guns on a cruiser. Downsizing within the available medium or large guns is often wise, but downsizing from large to medium guns, or from mediums to smalls, usually isn't, unless you're fitting a bait ship or certain kinds of drone boat fits.)
@@ Line 31: / Line 47: @@
 ==Try fits outside the game==
-There are a number of programs which let you try out out a fit hypothetically, outside the game. The most popular is the Eve Fitting Tool, which you can acquire [http://www.eveonline.com/ingameboard.asp?a=topic&threadID=548883 here]. EFT can tell you about the performance and fitting requirements of a particular fit. If you import your character's skills into it it can give you numbers accurate for your character. This lets you check that you can fit everything you want on to a particular ship before you buy the ship and modules. EFT's numbers aren't always perfectly accurate, and it's possible to be caught up in the numbers so that you forget the practical realities of piloting in Eve -- EFT can import your character's skills but it can't factor in your own piloting skills and experience. Nevertheless, it's a very useful tool.
+There are a number of programs which let you try out out a fit hypothetically, outside the game.
+The most popular is the Eve Fitting Tool, which you can acquire [http://www.eveonline.com/ingameboard.asp?a=topic&threadID=548883 here]. EFT can tell you about the performance and fitting requirements of a particular fit. If you import your character's skills into it it can give you numbers accurate for your character. This lets you check that you can fit everything you want on to a particular ship before you buy the ship and modules.
+EFT's numbers aren't always perfectly accurate, and it's possible to be caught up in the numbers so that you forget the practical realities of piloting in Eve -- EFT can import your character's skills but it can't factor in your own piloting skills and experience. Nevertheless, it's a very useful tool.
 ==Steal other people's ideas==
@@ Line 45: / Line 65: @@
 ==Fitting modules (don't overuse them)==
-There are some low-slot modules which increase your powergrid or CPU, and so are sometimes called 'fitting modules'. Co-processors increase your CPU by 7%, and Reactor Control Units increase your powergrid by 10%. There is also the Micro Auxiliary Power Core, which is designed specifically for frigates: rather than giving a percentage increase to powergrid, it gives you a flat increase of fifteen MW. Finally there's the Power Diagnostic System, which increases your powergrid by 5%, and also gives bonuses to your shields and capacitor. There are also rigs that can make fitting easier.
+There are some low-slot modules which increase your powergrid or CPU, and so are sometimes called 'fitting modules'. Co-processors increase your CPU by 7%, and Reactor Control Units increase your powergrid by 10%. There is also the Micro Auxiliary Power Core, which is designed specifically for frigates: rather than giving a percentage increase to powergrid, it gives you a flat increase of fifteen MW. Finally there's the Power Diagnostic System, which increases your powergrid by 5%, and also gives bonuses to your shields and capacitor. There are also rigs and [[Implants#Skill_Hardwirings|hardwiring implants]] that can make fitting easier.
 It is sometimes necessary to use a fitting module or a fitting rig, but if you have a fit that requires more than one it's often a bad sign, and it may mean that you need better fitting skills.