Turrets
Most pilots use at least one of Eve's three kinds of turret-mounted gun. This page explains the kinds of turret and ammunition available in Eve.
Overview
There are three kinds of turret in Eve: hybrid turrets, projectile turrets and energy turrets. Each type can be further broken down into a set of long-ranged guns which deal high damage-per-shot ('volley', 'alpha') but low damage-per-second (DPS), and a set of short-ranged guns with lower alpha but high DPS. Hybrid turrets, for example, are either railguns (long-ranged) or blasters (short-ranged).
Tech 2 guns, particularly large and medium ones, require considerable training time. The long-ranged and short-ranged varieties of Tech 2 guns require separate skills -- returning to hybrid turrets, for example, you need Small Blaster Specialization to use small T2 blasters but Small Railgun Specialization to use small T2 railguns.
Each of the three kinds of gun has its own kind of ammunition (using the term in a broad sense -- lasers load crystals), which comes in small (S), medium (M), large (L) and Extra Large (XL -- for capital ships) sizes.
Tech 2 guns can use Tech 2 ammo, of which there are four kinds for each of the three kinds of gun: two varieties of Tech 2 ammo for Tech 2 short-ranged guns and two for Tech 2 long-ranged guns.
Faction ammo is also available (for example, Republic Fleet Fusion S instead of normal Fusion S). Faction ammo is expensive but gives you more DPS. Generally speaking it is useful in PvP but rarely cost-effective in PvE. University pilots are allowed to use faction ammo during wartime, unlike other faction equipment, and if they are flying as damage-dealers and can afford it, they are encouraged to load it.
Hybrid Turrets
According to Eve's fluff, hybrid turrets fire charges at the enemy using magnetic fields -- using energy, like lasers, but firing solid projectiles, like projectile guns, hence their hybridity.
In practice this means that they use capacitor when they fire (like lasers, though they are less cap-hungry than lasers). Pilots who use hybrid turrets will want to have good capacitor skills and to train Controlled Bursts to support their guns' requirements. Hybrid turrets also have to be regularly reloaded with fresh ammunition (like projectile guns).
Hybrid turrets can only do kinetic and thermal damage.
The two kinds of hybrid turret are:
- Blasters, which have (very) short ranges and deal (very) high DPS; and
- Railguns, which have (very) long-ranges and deal less DPS.
Many Gallente ships and some Caldari ships use hybrid turrets as their primary weapon. The Gallente ships tend to be more suited to blasters and the Caldari ships more suited to railguns, but this is not a hard-and-fast rule, as any pilot who flies a sniping rail'thron or a blaster Rokh will tell you.
Hybrid Ammo
There are eight kinds of standard Tech 1 hybrid ammo. They all do a mixture of kinetic and thermal damage (the proportion varies).
Each ammunition type has a different range modifier, does a different amount of damage and uses a different amount of your capacitor when fired. The better the range, the lower base damage the ammo deals, creating a sliding scale from short-ranged, high-damage Antimatter to long-ranged, low-damage Iron.
This table lists the standard Tech 1 kinds of hybrid ammo, from shortest-ranged to longest. You can also see the different ammunition types' effects on your turrets' cap requirements. (The range modifiers in these tables apply to optimal range.)
| Name | Range Mod. | Cap. Need Mod. |
|---|---|---|
| Antimatter | -50% | 0% |
| Plutonium | -37.5% | -5% |
| Uranium | -25% | -8% |
| Thorium | -12.5% | -40% |
| Lead | 0% | -50% |
| Iridium | 20% | -24% |
| Tungsten | 40% | -27% |
| Iron | 60% | -30% |
The two Tech 2 ammunition types for blasters are Null and Void (har har). Void comes with very high damage, but heavy penalties to range and tracking speed; Null comes with increased range but a moderate penalty to tracking speed. Void is rarely used, while Null is sometimes loaded by blaster-equipped pilots who can't get close to their target or who need to skirmish.
The two Tech 2 ammo types for railguns are Spike and Javelin. Javelin lets railguns pretend to be blasters: it has a much shorter range and considerably higher damage, with a small penalty to tracking and to your ship's top speed. Spike is an extra-long range ammo, with an 80% range bonus but very large penalties to tracking speed.
Projectile Turrets
Projectile turrets are Eve's most low-tech weapons (and the ones which can be most accurately called guns). They work like real-life guns.
Projectile turrets don't use up any capacitor when they fire (like missile launchers), but they must be regularly reloaded with fresh ammunition.
Unlike the other two kinds of gun, projectile turrets can do all four different kinds of damage depending on the ammunition they're loaded with.
The two kinds of projectile turret are:
- Autocannon, which have short ranges and deal high DPS; and
- Artillery, which have long ranges and deal less DPS.
Note that one of the kinds of large (battleship-sized) autocannon is called 'repeating artillery'. These are nevertheless autocannon.
Of all the kinds of long-ranged turret in the game, artillery turrets tend to have the best alpha strike. Autocannon, and to a lesser extent artillery, have very long falloff ranges and it's more viable to use projectile turrets in their first falloff range than it is to use lasers or hybrids in their falloff.
Most Minmatar ships use projectile turrets as their main weapon.
Projectile Ammo
There are eight kinds of standard Tech 1 projectile ammo. The picture here is more complicated than with hybrid ammo: projectile ammo does a wider range of damage types and does not present a gradual exchange of damage for range.
Projectile ammo can be split into three tiers, short-ranged (EMP, Fusion and Phased Plasma), medium-ranged (Titanium Sabot and Depleted Uranium) and long-ranged (Proton, Nuclear and Carbonized Lead). All ammo within each tier has the same range and tracking modifiers, but the different types offer different kinds of damage. The medium-ranged tier (Titanium Sabot and Depleted Uranium) has a significant tracking speed bonus.
This is summarised in the following table (in the damage types column capitals indicate that the majority of the damage is this type).
| Name | Range Mod. | Tracking Mod. | Damage Types |
|---|---|---|---|
| EMP | -50% | 0% | EM/exp/kin |
| Fusion | -50% | 0% | EXP/kin |
| Phased Plasma | -50% | 0% | THERM/kin |
| Titanium Sabot | 0% | 20% | KIN/exp |
| Depleted Uranium | 0% | 20% | exp/kin/therm |
| Proton | 60% | 5% | em/kin |
| Nuclear | 60% | 5% | EXP/kin |
| Carbonized Lead | 60% | 5% | KIN/exp |
The two Tech 2 ammunition types for autocannon are Barrage and Hail. Barrage has a tracking penalty but a 50% falloff increase, and is popular with ships like the Vagabond which like to skirmish in falloff range. Hail has large penalties to optimal and falloff ranges, and to tracking, and it also slows the rate at which your capacitor recharges, but it deals very high damage. In practice the range and tracking speed drawbacks mean that Hail rarely offers more DPS. Barrage does roughly equal amounts of explosive and kinetic damage, while Hail does a lot of explosive damage and a little kinetic on the side.
The two Tech 2 ammunition types for artillery are Quake and Tremor. Quake, much like Javelin for hybrids, lets artillery pretend to be autocannon, with high damage but much-reduced range and penalties to tracking, ship speed and capacitor recharge rates. Tremor has a dramatic 80% range bonus, but a very significant penalty to tracking. Both do a mixture of explosive and kinetic damage.
Energy Turrets
Energy turrets -- lasers -- fire beams of light to damage the enemy.
Unlike the other two kinds of turret, lasers don't use traditional ammunition. They do need to be loaded with focusing crystals, but the standard Tech 1 crystals never break or run out, allowing lasers to be fired indefinitely.
The flip-side of this is that lasers use up a lot of capacitor when they fire, even more than hybrid turrets. Lasers are usually fitted on Amarr ships, which have large capacitors and often bonuses which reduce lasers' capacitor requirements, but training in capacitor skills and Controlled Bursts is still an absolute necessity for Amarr pilots.
Lasers can only do electromagnetic and thermal damage. These are usually the weakest natural resists of shields but the highest natural resists of armor.
The two kinds of laser are:
- Pulse lasers, which have short ranges and deal high DPS; and
- Beam lasers, which have long ranges and lower DPS.
Most Amarr ships use lasers as their primary weapon.
Laser Crystals
Although they don't require ammunition, lasers must still be loaded with focusing crystals. Standard Tech 1 crystals are never used up and never break down, so lasers never have to be reloaded. And crystals can be swapped rapidly, letting pilots alter their guns' range very quickly.
There are eight kinds of standard Tech 1 crystal. They all do a mixture of electromagnetic and thermal damage (the proportion varies), apart from Radio crystals which only deal electromagnetic damage.
Each crystal has a different range modifier, does a different amount of damage and has a different modifier to lasers' capacitor use. The better the range, the lower base damage the ammo deals, creating a sliding scale from short-ranged, high-damage Multifrequency to long-ranged, low-damage Radio.
| Name | Range Mod. | Cap. Need Mod. |
|---|---|---|
| Multifrequency | -50% | 0% |
| Gamma | -37.5% | -15% |
| X-Ray | -25% | -25% |
| Ultraviolet | -12.5% | -35% |
| Standard | 0% | -45% |
| Infrared | 20% | -35% |
| Microwave | 40% | -25% |
| Radio | 60% | -15% |
The Tech 2 crystals for lasers gradually get damaged over time and will finally disintegrate.
The Tech 2 crystals for pulse lasers are Conflagration and Scorch. Conflagration does more damage at the cost of half the range, half the tracking speed and 25% more capacitor requirement. Scorch has a 50% range bonus but a tracking penalty. Conflagration is little used but Scorch is very popular.
The Tech 2 crystals for beam lasers are Aurora and Gleam. Gleam deals good damage but has a much shorter range, a penalty to tracking, and a penalty to the ship's maximum shield hitpoints. Gleam also increases the ship's signature radius. Aurora comes with a massive 80% range bonus but low damage and a heavy penalty to tracking speed.
See Also
- Turret Damage for the mathematics of gunnery. You can also try the information on CCP's own wiki.
- This wiki's Gunnery Guide for less mathematical discussion of gunnery.
- Missile Launchers and Drones for Eve's other main weapon systems.
- NPC Damage Types for more information about the different kinds of damage (this is still relevant to PvP even though it's directed at NPC damage dealing).
