Tutorial - New Player Experience - until Aug 2018

Blockade Runners

Blockade Runners are Tech 2 industrial ships, specialized for travel through dangerous areas of space. Though they can carry only relatively small amounts of cargo (compared to other industrial ships), they are some of the fastest and most agile ships in EVE, and can fit covert ops cloaking devices, making them very hard to catch by enemy pilots.

Cargo

Most blockade runners can carry around 4000-6500 m³ of cargo (depending on fit), which is slightly less than the fast Tech 1 industrial ships. Additionally, every blockade runner can be fit for maximum cargo space, allowing them to carry just over 10,000 m³ (so that they can carry a packaged cruiser), but at the cost of reduced agility and/or speed.

Blockade runners are immune to cargo scanners (so others players cannot tell what you are transporting - although this can be a double-edged sword, as they may assume that, since they can't scan you, you're likely carrying something valuable!), but can still be scanned for contraband by NPC customs ships.

Speed and agility

Blockade runners are the fastest industrial ships by quite a margin, both at sub-light speeds and in warp. In sub-light, they can do at least 200 m/s, and can top 300 m/s when fit for speed (which is comparable to a fast cruiser). In warp, blockade runners are some of the fastest ships in EVE: when fit for speed, they can reach over 9 AU/s, meaning they can easily outrun any ship save for speed-fit interceptors and the Leopard.

In addition to their speed, blockade runners are also very agile. Even when fit to maximise cargo space, they can align and warp in 5 seconds (assuming the propulsion module is not active); speed-fit blockade runners can align in 4 seconds (or even 3 seconds for some extreme fits, which is as agile as a frigate). Reducing align time is, however, heavily dependent on having good navigation skills or fitting implants.

Tank

Given that blockade runners are designed to fly quickly and stealthily, it's not surprising that their tanks are relatively weak. They have around 8-15k effective hit points (EHP), which is roughly comparable to the Tech 1 bulk transports. On the upside, their signature radius is around 110m, half of the Tech 1 industrials', which makes them harder to lock on to or hit with weapons. Nonetheless, blockade runners are fragile for their size; most cruisers with a similar signature radius have 4-10x as much EHP.

Cloak

Blockade runners can fit covert ops (CovOps) cloaking devices, which means they can warp while cloaked. They can also use covert jump bridges (created by Black Ops battleships).

Ship comparison

There are four different blockade runner ships, one from each race. All have two high slots, a total of six medium (M) and low (L) slots (the Crane has 4M/2L, the Viator and Prowler have 3M/3L, and the Prorator has 2M/4L), and two medium rig slots. They are rather expensive ships, costing around 100M ISK (not including fittings).

Race	Ship	Description
		The Prorator is the most flexible of the blockade runners. While it has the lowest base cargo capacity, its four low slots means it can be easily customised between speed and cargo capacity, but its overall stats are somewhat average.
		The Crane is the toughest of the blockade runners, with over 15k EHP (about 50% more than the other ships). While it has the highest base cargo capacity, there is not much room for customisation as it only has two low slots, and its align time tends to be higher than the other ships'.
		The Viator is a middle-of-the-road ship, with average tank and speed. However, its signature radius is the highest of the blockade runners, about 15% larger than the Prowler's.
		The Prowler is the fastest blockade runner at sub-light speeds, reaching 350 m/s with good skills (about 40% faster than the other ships). It also has the smallest signature radius, but its cargo capacity tends to be a bit below average.

A long, long time ago...
The blockade runners were rebalanced in the Kronos expansion. Before then, only the Prowler had two high slots (the other ships only had one), making it the preferred ship for flying in wormhole space. Additionally, only the Viator and the Prorator could be easily fit to carry 10,000 m3 (i.e. a packaged cruiser) of cargo.

Skills

Prerequisite skills

In order to fly a blockade runner you need:

• <Racial> Industrial V (e.g. [[Skills:Amarr Industrial V]] (Amarr Industrial) to fly the Prorator)
• Transport Ships I (6x) (which also needs Industry V (1x))

Performance skills

These skills increase the performance of your blockade runner, and are listed roughly in order of their importance (although every pilot should decide what they value most!).

• Evasive Maneuvering (2x) increases your ship's agility by 5% per level. This is vital for decreasing your align time, and should be trained to at least level IV.
• Transport Ships (6x), increases the warp speed for blockade runners by 5% per level. At high levels, your blockade runner will be able to outrun nearly every other ship in EVE.
• Spaceship Command (1x) increases your ship's agility by 2% per level. Train this to level V to eke out that last bit of align time.
• Acceleration Control (4x) increases the speed boost you get from afterburners and microwarpdrives by +5% per level. Very useful for escaping from a bubble in nullsec.
• Navigation (1x) increases your ship's sub-light speed by 5% per level.
• Warp Drive Operation (1x) decreases the amount of capacitor needed to enter warp by 10% per level. This can ensure that your capacitor is not completely drained when you warp a long way and may need to run your shield hardeners or microwarpdrive at the other end!

Fitting skills

These skills are either needed to fit modules on your ship, or to improve your ship's fitting attributes. Again, they are listed in rough order of importance.

• Cloaking IV (6x) to fit CovOps cloaking devices, which is an absolute necessity for blockade runners. Needs CPU Management IV (1x).
• High Speed Maneuvering I (5x) to fit a microwarp drive, which, again, is a cornerstone for flying blockade runners. Needs Afterburner III (1x).
• Power Grid Management (1x) improves your ship's powergrid by 5% per level. The Crane needs this trained to level V in order to be able to fit a microwarp drive, whereas the Prowler needs level IV and the other blockade runners level III.
• Hull Upgrades II (2x) to fit Expanded Cargohold II modules. As an extra bonus, also increases your ship's armor by 5% per level.
• Astronautics Rigging I (3x) to fit all the frequently used blockade runner rigs. Needs Jury Rigging III (2x) and Mechanics III (1x).
• Tactical Shield Manipulation IV (4x) to fit Tech 2 shield hardener modules (Tech 1 modules only need level I).
• Warp Drive Operation I (1x) to fit Hyperspatial Accelerator and Warp Core Stabilizer modules.
• Electronic Warfare IV (2x) to fit a ECM Burst II module (the Tech 1 module only needs level I).

Modules

Rigs

• Hyperspatial Velocity Optimizer I: +20% warp speed, -10% CPU
• Auxiliary Thrusters: +7.25% speed, -10% armor
• Low Friction Nozzle Joints: -11.7% agility, -10% armor
• Polycarbon Engine Housing: -9.1% inertia, +5.5% speed, -10% armor
• Cargohold Optimization: +15% cargo, -10% armor

Low

• Nanofiber Internal Structure I: +7.85% velocity, -13.1% inertia, -15% structure (+9.4%, -15.8%, -20% for Tech II)
• Inertia Stabilizers I: -16.7% inertia, +10% sig radius (-20%, +11% for Tech II; use meta 4)
• Hyperspatial Accelerator: +0.2-+0.3 au/s warp speed
• Expanded cargohold: +17.5% cargo, -25% structure, -15% max velocity (+27.5%, -20%, -10% for Tech 2)

Medium

• Shield Hardeners: +50% resistance (+55% for Tech II)
• Adaptive Invulnerability Field: +25% resistance (+30% for Tech II)
• ECM Burst: chance to jam any targets within 5km with strength 6 (6km strength 7.2 for Tech II)

Fitting

Fitting strategies for max cargo, align time, warp speed.

• Cargo fits always need all cargo expander IIs + 1 cargo rig to >10000m3.
• ECM bursts are questionable - only in low-sec, and only if you absolutely know what you are doing!
• Put in a note to pilots to play around with their low slots and rigs to keep their align time (depending on their skills) just below an integer (align time rounds up!).
• While inertial stabs increase sig radius, the difference for enemy locking time doesn't make that big a difference (about 0.2-0.3s). You have the sig radius of about a cruiser.
• MWD to get out of bubbles
• Probe launcher for finding shortcuts and travel through WH space

Fits

Cruiser carrier

Crane: Cruiser carrier

EFT

[Crane, Cruiser carrier]
Covert Ops Cloaking Device II
Core Probe Launcher I, Core Scanner Probe I

Experimental 10MN Microwarpdrive I
EM Ward Field II
Adaptive Invulnerability Field II
Adaptive Invulnerability Field II

Expanded Cargohold II
Expanded Cargohold II

Medium Cargohold Optimization I
Medium Polycarbon Engine Housing I

Core Scanner Probe I x8

FITTING DIFFICULTY

EVE VERSION

KRON 1.0

ALPHA CAN USE

UNSET

EFT

SKILLS

NOTES

RECOMMENDED SKILLS

• Cloaking IV
• High Speed Maneuvering I
• Power Grid Management V
• Hull Upgrades II
• Astronautics Rigging I
• Tactical Shield Manipulation IV

NOTES

• This fit allows you to carry packaged cruisers (10,000m3), but has a reasonably long align time (7s at low skill levels, can be reduced to 5s with Evasive Maneuvering V).
• It warps at a good 6.3 au/s (with low skills) and a brisk 7.5 au/s at Transport Ships V.
• The Crane is the toughest of the blockade runners, this fit has 14k EHP even with low skills. You can swap out the second Adaptive Invulnerability Field for an ECM Burst, but make sure you understand how it works before you use it!
• In order to reach 10,000m3 cargo, you must fit two Tech 2 expanded cargoholds and one Tech 1 cargo rig.
• The Poycarbon Engine Housing rig is a good all-round solution, but can be swapped for a Hyperspatial Velocity Optimizer rig to trade align time for warp speed (up to a blistering 9 au/s with Transport Ships V).
• The Crane is tight on power grid, and needs Power Grid Management V to fit the microwarp drive (which is very useful to get away from gatecamps and bubbles).
• The shield modules can be downgraded to Tech 1 if you don't have Tactical Shield Manipulation IV.
• The probe launcher is useful for finding wormholes to use as shortcuts (and is obviously mandatory for operation in wormhole space).

Fast transport

Crane: Fast transport

EFT

[Crane, Fast transport]
Covert Ops Cloaking Device II
Core Probe Launcher I, Core Scanner Probe I

Experimental 10MN Microwarpdrive I
EM Ward Field II
Adaptive Invulnerability Field II
Adaptive Invulnerability Field II

Nanofiber Internal Structure I
Nanofiber Internal Structure I

Medium Cargohold Optimization I
Medium Hyperspatial Velocity Optimizer I

Core Scanner Probe I x8

FITTING DIFFICULTY

EVE VERSION

KRON 1.0

ALPHA CAN USE

UNSET

EFT

SKILLS

NOTES

RECOMMENDED SKILLS

• Cloaking IV
• High Speed Maneuvering I
• Power Grid Management V
• Hull Upgrades II
• Astronautics Rigging I
• Tactical Shield Manipulation IV

NOTES

• This is a fast ship for carrying small to medium cargo (6181m3) through low- and null-sec. It has a reasonable align time (6s at low skills), which can be reduced to a nigh uncatchable 4s with Evasive Maneuvering V and Spaceship Command V). It's also rather fast at sublight speeds: 265 m/s, or 1507 m/s with the MWD on (train Acceleration Control and Navigation to get this even higher).
• It warps at a fast 7.6 au/s (with low skills) and a blistering 9 au/s at Transport Ships V.
• The Crane is the toughest of the blockade runners, this fit has 14k EHP even with low skills. You can swap out the second Adaptive Invulnerability Field for an ECM Burst, but make sure you understand how it works before you use it!
• Carry two Expanded Cargohold modules with you when you travel, so that you can refit your ship to carry larger cargo if necessary.
• You can vary the low-slot modules and rigs to get your align time down to the next integer value (remember to round up!), depending on your skills. It may be a good idea, however, to keep one cargo rig to make your ship as flexible as possible.
• The Crane is tight on power grid, and needs Power Grid Management V to fit the microwarp drive (which is very useful to get away from gatecamps and bubbles).
• The shield modules can be downgraded to Tech 1 if you don't have Tactical Shield Manipulation IV.
• The probe launcher is useful for finding wormholes to use as shortcuts (and is obviously mandatory for operation in wormhole space).

Cruiser carrier

Prowler: Cruiser carrier

EFT

[Prowler, Cruiser carrier]
Core Probe Launcher I, Core Scanner Probe I
Covert Ops Cloaking Device II

Experimental 10MN Microwarpdrive I
Adaptive Invulnerability Field II
Adaptive Invulnerability Field II

Expanded Cargohold II
Expanded Cargohold II
Expanded Cargohold II

Medium Cargohold Optimization I
Medium Polycarbon Engine Housing I

Core Scanner Probe I x8

FITTING DIFFICULTY

EVE VERSION

KRON 1.0

ALPHA CAN USE

UNSET

EFT

SKILLS

NOTES

RECOMMENDED SKILLS

• Cloaking IV
• High Speed Maneuvering I
• Power Grid Management IV
• Hull Upgrades II
• Astronautics Rigging I
• Tactical Shield Manipulation IV

NOTES

• This fit allows you to carry packaged cruisers (10,000m3), but has a reasonably long align time (7s at low skill levels, can be reduced to 5s with Evasive Maneuvering V).
• It warps at a good 6.4 au/s (with low skills) and a brisk 7.5 au/s at Transport Ships V.
• This fit is moderately tough for a blockade runner, with 10k EHP even with low skills. Note that the Prowler has a naturally high shield EM resistance, so you don't need to fit an EM shield hardener to maximise your EHP.
• In order to reach 10,000m3 cargo, you must fit three Tech 2 expanded cargoholds and one Tech 1 cargo rig.
• The Poycarbon Engine Housing rig is a good all-round solution, but can be swapped for a Hyperspatial Velocity Optimizer rig to trade align time for warp speed (up to a blistering 9 au/s with Transport Ships V).
• The shield modules can be downgraded to Tech 1 if you don't have Tactical Shield Manipulation IV.
• The probe launcher is useful for finding wormholes to use as shortcuts (and is obviously mandatory for operation in wormhole space).

Fast transport

Prowler: Fast transport

EFT

[Prowler, Fast transport]
Core Probe Launcher I, Core Scanner Probe I
Covert Ops Cloaking Device II

Experimental 10MN Microwarpdrive I
Adaptive Invulnerability Field II
Adaptive Invulnerability Field II

Expanded Cargohold II
Nanofiber Internal Structure I
Nanofiber Internal Structure I

Medium Hyperspatial Velocity Optimizer I
Medium Cargohold Optimization I

Core Scanner Probe I x8

FITTING DIFFICULTY

EVE VERSION

KRON 1.0

ALPHA CAN USE

UNSET

EFT

SKILLS

NOTES

RECOMMENDED SKILLS

• Cloaking IV
• High Speed Maneuvering I
• Power Grid Management IV
• Hull Upgrades II
• Astronautics Rigging I
• Tactical Shield Manipulation IV

NOTES

• This is a very fast ship for carrying small to medium cargo (6415m3) through low- and null-sec. It has a reasonable align time (6s at low skills), which can be reduced by either fitting a third Nanofiber Internal Structure, or training skills (down to a nigh uncatchable 4s with Evasive Maneuvering V and Spaceship Command V). It's also very fast at sublight speeds: 328 m/s, or 1846 m/s with the MWD on, even with low skills (train Acceleration Control and Navigation to reach speeds of nearly 2500 m/s with the MWD).
• It warps at a fast 7.6 au/s (with low skills) and a blistering 9 au/s at Transport Ships V.
• Carry three Expanded Cargohold modules with you when you travel, so that you can refit your ship to carry larger cargo if necessary.
• You can vary the low-slot modules and rigs to get your align time down to the next integer value (remember to round up!), depending on your skills. It may be a good idea, however, to keep one cargo rig to make your ship as flexible as possible.
• The shield modules can be downgraded to Tech 1 if you don't have Tactical Shield Manipulation IV.
• The probe launcher is useful for finding wormholes to use as shortcuts (and is obviously mandatory for operation in wormhole space).

Cruiser carrier

Viator: Cruiser carrier

EFT

[Viator, Cruiser carrier]
Covert Ops Cloaking Device II
Core Probe Launcher I, Core Scanner Probe I

Experimental 10MN Microwarpdrive I
EM Ward Field II
Adaptive Invulnerability Field II

Expanded Cargohold II
Expanded Cargohold II
Expanded Cargohold II

Medium Cargohold Optimization I
Medium Polycarbon Engine Housing I

Core Scanner Probe I x8

FITTING DIFFICULTY

EVE VERSION

KRON 1.0

ALPHA CAN USE

UNSET

EFT

SKILLS

NOTES

RECOMMENDED SKILLS

• Cloaking IV
• High Speed Maneuvering I
• Hull Upgrades II
• Astronautics Rigging I
• Tactical Shield Manipulation IV

NOTES

• This fit allows you to carry packaged cruisers (10,000m3), but has a reasonably long align time (7s at low skill levels, can be reduced to 5s with Evasive Maneuvering V).
• It warps at a good 6.3 au/s (with low skills) and a brisk 7.5 au/s at Transport Ships V.
• This fit is average for a blockade runner, with 8600 EHP even with low skills.
• In order to reach 10,000m3 cargo, you must fit three Tech 2 expanded cargoholds and one Tech 1 cargo rig.
• The Poycarbon Engine Housing rig is a good all-round solution, but can be swapped for a Hyperspatial Velocity Optimizer rig to trade align time for warp speed (up to a blistering 9 au/s with Transport Ships V).
• The shield modules can be downgraded to Tech 1 if you don't have Tactical Shield Manipulation IV.
• The probe launcher is useful for finding wormholes to use as shortcuts (and is obviously mandatory for operation in wormhole space).

Fast transport

Viator: Fast transport

EFT

[Viator, Fast transport]
Covert Ops Cloaking Device II
Core Probe Launcher I, Core Scanner Probe I

Experimental 10MN Microwarpdrive I
EM Ward Field II
Adaptive Invulnerability Field II

Nanofiber Internal Structure I
Nanofiber Internal Structure I
Expanded Cargohold II

Medium Hyperspatial Velocity Optimizer I
Medium Cargohold Optimization I

Core Scanner Probe I x8

FITTING DIFFICULTY

EVE VERSION

KRON 1.0

ALPHA CAN USE

UNSET

EFT

SKILLS

NOTES

RECOMMENDED SKILLS

• Cloaking IV
• High Speed Maneuvering I
• Hull Upgrades II
• Astronautics Rigging I
• Tactical Shield Manipulation IV

NOTES

• This is a fast ship for carrying small to medium cargo (6598m3) through low- and null-sec. It has a reasonable align time (6s at low skills), which can be reduced by either fitting a third Nanofiber Internal Structure, or training skills (down to a nigh uncatchable 4s with Evasive Maneuvering V and Spaceship Command V). It's also rather fast at sublight speeds: 246 m/s, or 1476 m/s with the MWD on, even with low skills (train Acceleration Control and Navigation to get this even higher).
• It warps at a fast 7.6 au/s (with low skills) and a blistering 9 au/s at Transport Ships V.
• Carry three Expanded Cargohold modules with you when you travel, so that you can refit your ship to carry larger cargo if necessary.
• You can vary the low-slot modules and rigs to get your align time down to the next integer value (remember to round up!), depending on your skills. It may be a good idea, however, to keep one cargo rig to make your ship as flexible as possible.
• The shield modules can be downgraded to Tech 1 if you don't have Tactical Shield Manipulation IV.
• The probe launcher is useful for finding wormholes to use as shortcuts (and is obviously mandatory for operation in wormhole space).

Cruiser carrier

Prorator: Cruiser carrier

EFT

[Prorator, Cruiser carrier]
Covert Ops Cloaking Device II
Core Probe Launcher I, Core Scanner Probe I

Experimental 10MN Microwarpdrive I
EM Ward Field II

Expanded Cargohold II
Expanded Cargohold II
Expanded Cargohold II
Expanded Cargohold II

Medium Cargohold Optimization I
Medium Polycarbon Engine Housing I

Core Scanner Probe I x8

FITTING DIFFICULTY

EVE VERSION

KRON 1.0

ALPHA CAN USE

UNSET

EFT

SKILLS

NOTES

RECOMMENDED SKILLS

• Cloaking IV
• High Speed Maneuvering I
• Hull Upgrades II
• Astronautics Rigging I
• Tactical Shield Manipulation IV

NOTES

• This fit allows you to carry packaged cruisers (10,000m3), but has a reasonably long align time (7s at low skill levels, can be reduced to 5s with Evasive Maneuvering V).
• It warps at a good 6.3 au/s (with low skills) and a brisk 7.5 au/s at Transport Ships V.
• The Prorator has the weakest tank of the four blockade runners; this fit has 7100 EHP with low skills.
• In order to reach 10,000m3 cargo, you must fit four Tech 2 expanded cargoholds and one Tech 1 cargo rig.
• The Poycarbon Engine Housing rig is a good all-round solution, but can be swapped for a Hyperspatial Velocity Optimizer rig to trade align time for warp speed (up to a blistering 9 au/s with Transport Ships V).
• The shield modules can be downgraded to Tech 1 if you don't have Tactical Shield Manipulation IV.
• The probe launcher is useful for finding wormholes to use as shortcuts (and is obviously mandatory for operation in wormhole space).

Fast transport

Prorator: Fast transport

EFT

[Prorator, Fast transport]
Covert Ops Cloaking Device II
Core Probe Launcher I, Core Scanner Probe I

Experimental 10MN Microwarpdrive I
EM Ward Field II

Nanofiber Internal Structure I
Nanofiber Internal Structure I
Nanofiber Internal Structure I
Expanded Cargohold II

Medium Hyperspatial Velocity Optimizer I
Medium Cargohold Optimization I

Core Scanner Probe I x8

FITTING DIFFICULTY

EVE VERSION

KRON 1.0

ALPHA CAN USE

UNSET

EFT

SKILLS

NOTES

RECOMMENDED SKILLS

• Cloaking IV
• High Speed Maneuvering I
• Hull Upgrades II
• Astronautics Rigging I
• Tactical Shield Manipulation IV

NOTES

• This is a fast ship for carrying small to medium cargo (5315m3) through low- and null-sec. It has a reasonable align time (6s at low skills), which can be reduced by either fitting more Nanofiber Internal Structures, or training skills (down to a nigh uncatchable 4s with Evasive Maneuvering V). It's also rather fast at sublight speeds: 265 m/s, or 1525 m/s with the MWD on, even with low skills (train Acceleration Control and Navigation to get this even higher).
• It warps at a fast 7.6 au/s (with low skills) and a blistering 9 au/s at Transport Ships V.
• Carry three Expanded Cargohold modules with you when you travel, so that you can refit your ship to carry larger cargo if necessary.
• You can vary the low-slot modules and rigs to get your align time down to the next integer value (remember to round up!), depending on your skills. It may be a good idea, however, to keep one cargo rig to make your ship as flexible as possible.
• The shield modules can be downgraded to Tech 1 if you don't have Tactical Shield Manipulation IV.
• Thanks to its four low slots, the Prorator is the most flexible of the four blockade runners, as you can swap out a Nanofiber Internal Structure for, say, a Warp Core Stabilizer for an extra layer of defence.
• The probe launcher is useful for finding wormholes to use as shortcuts (and is obviously mandatory for operation in wormhole space).