Battlecruisers
| Ship Types |
|---|
| Small |
| Medium |
| Large |
| Capital ships |
| Non-combat |
| Ships by faction |
Battlecruisers are larger, slower and have more slots than cruisers, but they're smaller than battleships and fit the same medium-sized weapons that cruisers use. They occupy a position between cruisers and battleships analogous to destroyers' position between frigates and cruisers, although battlecruisers are much more versatile and widely-used than destroyers.
T1 Battlecruisers
Combat Battlecruisers
In PvP combat battlecruisers represent a good balance between DPS, tanking, agility, speed and cost (they cost much less to lose than a battleship). Battlecruisers can be fitted for long or short range PvP combat. In large-scale alliance battles in nullsec they are often part of each side's 'support fleet', defending the main battleship fleet from attack.
In PvE battlecruisers are the standard tool for completing Level 3 combat missions. Several battlecruisers can mount passive shield tanks ideal for PvE combat; the Caldari Drake can mount an absolutely exceptional passive shield tank.
Combat battlecruisers also have the ability to fit a single Command Burst, which can give extra bonuses to your fleet.
Prophecy: Can tank better than some battleships. Usually bait. Low DPS.- Harbinger: High DPS, can tank well. Can be fast when it isn't loaded down with armor plates. Very cap-dependant, since it uses lasers.
Ferox: Hybrid turret gunboat. Very long range with railguns. Popular for larger fleets because it offers a lot of DPS and Tank for its price.- Drake: Amazing passive shield tank for PvE combat, however low DPS with Heavy missiles. Alternatively, good PvP DPS when fitted with Heavy Assault Missiles. Often bait in PvP.
Brutix: Blaster gunboat, high point-blank DPS, usually not well tanked. Sometimes mounts a PvP shield buffer tank for speed and to clear lowslots for damage mods.- Myrmidon: Versatile drone boat. Usually mounts an active armor tank. Can also mount a passive shield tank.
Cyclone: Respectable missile DPS, bonuses for active shield tanking.- Hurricane: High projectile DPS and high speed. Viable with autocannons, popular with artillery. Can mount an active armor tank, buffer armor or shield tanks, or even a passive shield tank.
Drekavac: Heavily armored, and if given time can ramp up to exceed battleships in DPS. Three utility high slots for neutralizers, nosferatus, Smartbombs, or even remote armor repairers.
Attack Battlecruisers
Each empire has one battlecruiser capable of mounting battleship-sized (i.e. large) weapons (as opposed to the medium-sized weapons normally mounted by battlecruisers). These ships can therefore deal almost as much damage as a battleship, but with a much weaker tank, and are often referred to as "tier 3" battlecruisers (not to be confused with Tech 3 Strategic Cruisers; the "tier" nomenclature is a relic of the way ships were designed before the tiericide).
- Oracle: Battleship-sized laser platform. Commonly used as either a sniper, or a structure bashing ship. Slower than other attack BCs, but ironically also the best in nanogang combat.
- Naga: Ultra-long-range railgun platform. Generally sacrifices all conventional defenses to potentially reach 300km range. Easiest battlecruiser to fit for sniper combat.
- Talos: Battleship-grade blasters on cruiser-grade armor. Risky to use in close range, but extremely high damage.
- Tornado: Despite its bonuses implying it be an autocannon platform, almost exclusively used with 1400mm artillery. Extremely popular suicide ganking ship due to extremely high alpha damage.
Empire Faction Battlecruisers
Each empire has one faction battlecruiser based on a combat battlecruiser. Empire faction battlecruisers can be obtained through LP stores. Their base HP is 50% more than their corresponding T1 hull. Many other values (like speed and fitting space) are usually also increase.
T2 Battlecruisers
Command Ships
Command ships are battlecruisers with exceptional tank, stronger DPS, and a significant bonus to the effectiveness of Command Burst modules. They can fit 2 Command Burst modules simultaneously, more than any sub-capital ship. Each race's bonus applies to two of the burst types.
- Absolution: Bonuses to Armor and Information command bursts
- Damnation: Bonuses to Armor and Information command bursts
- Nighthawk: Bonuses to Information and Shield command bursts
- Vulture: Bonuses to Information and Shield command bursts
- Astarte: Bonuses to Armor and Skirmish command bursts
- Eos: Bonuses to Armor and Skirmish command bursts
- Claymore: Bonuses to Shield and Skirmish command bursts
- Sleipnir: Bonuses to Shield and Skirmish command bursts
The effects of the links are only passed on to fleet members.
Rare and Unique Battlecruisers
- Gnosis: A Jove battlecruiser given to all subscribed players on Eve's 10th anniversary. It has no skill requirements, and so can be flown by a brand new pilot. It has very broad bonuses, meaning it can be fitted with any weapon system and can fill a wide variety of roles.
