User:Miranda mclaughlin/Caldari Ships 101 Update

Class Information

This is a syllabus for a class provided by EVE University. This section contains information about this class and its contents. General Information includes materials to create a proper class listing on the EVE University forum. Additional resources and teaching tips are listed under Notes for the Teacher.

General Information

This class provides an overview of all Tech I Caldari spacecraft, with guidelines for how to fly them well. This should be helpful for all aspiring Caldari pilots but also for anyone who simply wants to know about the strengths and weaknesses of Caldari ships.

• Duration: 120-150 min [?]

Class contents: Topics covered:

• General Caldari characteristics
• Caldari T1 Subcapital ships overview
• Basic skills valuable for Caldari pilots
• Q&A

Student requirements:

• Mumble registration and access - make sure you have Mumble sorted out and operational well before the class begins. Use this guide for set-up: http://wiki.eveuniversity.org/Mumble
• Access to the Class.E-UNI in-game chat channel

If there are questions about Tech II ships or fitting options, I'd be happy to talk about those after the class, but the focus will be on Tech I ships and the basics.

Notes for the Teacher

Required materials:

• Class.E-UNI chat channel, to receive questions and post relevant links

Keep the lecture moving forward briskly - there is a lot of content to cover here, and it's easy to go over two hours if your pace is slow.

It may save you time if you can find a volunteer to link ships as you mention them.

If there is time you can touch on the subject of T2 ships, perhaps in the Q&A session afterwards.

Class Contents

Introduction

• Welcome to Caldari ships 101.
• First we will discuss a basic overview of the strengths and weaknesses of Caldari, and the general ship design philosophies.
• Then we will dive right in and discuss every T1 sub-cap Caldari ship. Keep in mind that we are not going to go deep into Caldari ship theory crafting here, this is an overview class so we will just skim the surface.

General Information

General Characteristics

• Black/grey in color
• Angular shape
• Avian themed names (relevant exceptions are Caracal, Ferox, Naga, Scorpion, and Rokh)
• Almost Exclusively shield tanked
• Primarily missile and hybrid weapons
• ECM racial EWAR
• Popular bonuses of shield resistances, weapon range, and kinetic missile damage
• Excellent damage projection and damage type selection of missiles coupled with advantages of shield tanking makes superb PvE ships
• Slowest base speeds of all of the races, somewhat offset by use of shield tanks
• Tend to have larger range than other races, occasionally at the cost of damage potential
• High CPU / Low PG ??????????

Shield Tank

• Provides protection at the cost of increased signature radius
  • Does not affect speed or agility like armor tanking
• Three main types
  • Passive tanking
    • Great for PvE
    • Reduces reliance on capacitor
  • Active tanking
    • Useful for PvE and small-gang PvP
    • Able to react to damage spikes
    • Less efficient than active armor tanking
  • Buffer tanking
    • Used for fleet PvP
    • Allows logistics time to save you

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Checkpoint -----

Missiles

• Any damage type
  • Caldari missile ships often have damage bonuses specifically for kinetic missiles
• You don't have to worry about tracking, optimal and falloff
  • Same damage at any range
• Damage can greatly reduced by target's speed and size
• Don't use capacitor to fire
• Very easy to use weapon system
• Can match damage type to enemy's weakness
  • Extremely useful in PvE when you know the enemies' weaknesses going in
• Can be somewhat problematic in long range PvP due to travel time issues
• 10 second reload time

Hybrid turrets

• Blasters for short range, railguns for long range
  • Blasters: compared to other turrets, shortest range, highest potential DPS
  • Railguns: compared to other turrets, longest range, possibly lowest DPS
• Caldari hybrid platforms usually have range bonuses
  • Can potentially favor sniping with rails
  • Can also be used to mitigate blasters' really short base range, however
• Always use kinetic/thermal damage
• Use some capacitor to fire
• Ammo is on a sliding scale from high damage/short range (Antimatter) to low damage/long range (Iron)
• T2 hybrids can use T2 ammo types as well
  • Railguns
    • Spike -- Ridiculously long range
    • Javelin -- Close range, higher damage than regular ammo
  • Blasters
    • Null -- Longer range than regular ammo
    • Void -- Close range, higher damage than regular ammo

ECM

• Caldari racial EWAR type
• Chance based -- succeeds or fails
• Requires lots of attention to manage properly
• If successful, prevents enemy from locking anything for duration of module cycle (usually 20 seconds)
• Can be very annoying to fight against
  • Can deter fights as other pilots don't like facing ECM
• Does not work well on ships without a bonus to it
  • Typically fitted on specific Caldari hulls
• Medium range -- longer on some ships and with good skills)
• Uses a lot of mid slots
• Doesn't require lots of training to get off the ground -- good role for a new pilot in a Uni warfleet

Caldari Ships

Frigates

Ibis

• Rookie (Or "Noob") ship
• Free ship you get whenever you dock in a station that you don't currently have a ship in
• Recently buffed, is semi-useful in combat now

Bantam

• The mining frigate
• Can be a good hauler
• Can carry and use one light drone
• Not much use in combat

Heron

• Exploration frigate
• Increased probe strength make it the ship to start in for probing/exploration
• Usually not the ship to use to run the sites it finds due to weak combat strength
• Can carry and use one light drone
• Large cargo hold

Kestrel

• Missile ship
• Good cheap L1 mission boat -- keep range and kite the enemy
• Can deal high damage, but has a weak tank
• Hard to fit fully, especially with low fitting skills
• Sometimes used to 1v1 in PvP by kiting your opponent
• Relatively large cargo hold

Griffin

• Caldari EWAR Frigate
• Utilizes ECM
• Very effective for its cost
• Very useful in Uni fleets
• Can carry and use one light drone
• Small tank, high priority target

Condor

• "Tech 1 Interceptor"
• Fastest Caldari Frigate
• 4 mid slots make it a very effective tackler

Merlin

• Hybrid Ship
• Recently buffed
• One of the strongest Tech 1 frigates in game right now
• Good tank -- has a bonus to shield resists
• Strong either as a combat ship or as a tackler

Destroyers

• Destroyers are a little larger than frigates but fit frigate sized weapons
• . . . lots of frigate sized weapons, with tracking bonus: antifrigate ship

Cormorant

• Hybrid Turret Ship
• Good for running L1 missions quickly
• Good salvage ship for Level 1, 2 and 3 missions
• Can be set up as a mini-sniper due to its optimal range bonuses

Corax

• Uses missiles, 7 launchers with 3 missile/rocket bonuses.
• Low-skill sniper with small tank.

Cruisers

Osprey

• Mining cruiser
  • Bonus to mining laser yield
• "Tech 1 Logistics Cruiser"
  • Bonuses to shield transporters
• Large cargo hold
• Can carry and use four light drones
  • Usually either scout drones for anti-rat defence, or mining drones for greater yield
• Not used in combat as a logistics cruiser often (possibly will change with upcoming buff), but good for repairing a POS

BlackBird

• Caldari EWAR Cruiser
• Utilizes ECM
• Very popular and useful in Uni fleets
• Weak tank
• High priority target for enemies
• Optimal range can be pushed beyond 70km with good skills and equipment; up to nearly 100km with rigs

Caracal

• Missile Ship
• Difficult to fit fully
• Good for L2s
• Can fit a passable passive tank
• Can be fit as an excellent Anti-Frigate ship in PvP with Rapid Light Missile Launchers
• Fairly slow for a cruiser

Moa

• Hybrid Turret Ship
• Low DPS
• Frequently rail fit for long range
• Good tank
• Slow
• A blaster-fit Moa can be very strong in PvP, but it's lack of speed will mean it needs help getting in range

Battle Cruisers

• Unlike other races, Caldari pilots can probably get away without training drone skills while flying cruisers; but both battlecruisers can field a full flight of light drones
• So when you move to BCs, buff the drone skills up

Ferox

• Hybrid Turret Ship
• Frequently uses rail guns for long range
• Can be fit with blasters, but the Gallente Brutix does it better due to ship bonuses
• Can fit ganglinks in high slots

Drake

• Missile Ship
• Shield resistance bonus makes for fantastic PvE passive-regen tank or great PvP buffer tank
• Possibly the best L3 mission ship in game
• With the right skills can deal passable PvP DPS, especially with Heavy Assault Missiles
• Often used as "obvious" bait ship
• Can fit ganglinks in high slots

Naga

• Newer "Rank 3" Battlecruiser
• Hybrid Turret Ship
• Fits Battleship-sized weapons on a Battlecruiser-sized hull
• Typically fit as a sniper with little tank
• Currently one of the premier snipers in the game

Battleships

• As with any race, pilots shouldn't move into BSs before they have the skills needed to extract good performance from them
  • T2 tanking
  • T2 light and medium drones (yes, even for Caldari pilots)

Scorpion

• ECM fleet battleship
• Frequently armor tanked to keep the midslots clear
• 8 mid slots allow it to fit a massive ammount of ECM
• Lowest BS DPS in the game
• Very useful in fleets
• Frequently primary target for enemies

Raven

• Missile Ship
• Possibly the best L4 mission running BS in the game
• Can use any type of missiles; bonus isn't specific to kinetic
• Passable active tank
  • Large shield boosters for permanent boosting
  • X-L boosters for burst tanking (Pulsed)
• Rare in PvP, but not useless

Rokh

• Hybrid Turret Ship
• Shield resistance bonus and range bonus
• Commonly a PvP sniper
• Very good tank
• Low DPS with rails, but extremely long range
• When operating with sniper BSs from other races with shorter optimals, can switch to shorter range, higher DPS ammo to increase damage

Industrials

Badger Mk 1 and Badger Mk 2

• Badger Mk 2 has the highest possible tank of Tech 1 Industrials with 6 midslots

Skills for Caldari Ships

• This advice touches on only the essential skills – you should develop your own specific skill development plan using a tool like EveMon or EveHQ – but these guidelines should give you some ideas

• Ranks in Parenthesis indicate skill's Training Time Multiplier

Ship Command Skills

• Obviously these are needed to fly Caldari ships
  • You should train each to Level 4, or Level 5 if you intend to specialize in that ship type (or want to fly Tech 2 ships of that size)

• Caldari Frigate (2X)
• Destroyers (2X)
• Caldari Cruiser (5X)
• Battlecruisers (6X)
• Caldari Battleship (8X)
• Caldari Industrial (4X)

Fitting Skills

• These are cruicial to being able to fit your ship to it's maximum capability

• Engineering (1X) -- 5% Bonus to ship's Power Grid per skill level.
• Electronics (1X) -- 5% Bonus to ship's CPU per skill level
• Weapon Upgrades (2X) -- 5% reduction per skill level in the CPU need of weapon turrets and launchers. (Level 4 required for T2 gyrostabilizers and heat sinks)
• Advanced Weapon Upgrades (6X) -- 2% reduction per level in Power Grid need of weapon turrets and launchers (Requires Weapon Upgrades at 5)

Capacitor Skills

• Caldari pilots don't rely on capacitor as much as some other races do, but they're still important, especially for active shield tanks

• Energy Systems Operation (1X) -- 5% reduction in capacitor recharge time per skill level
• Energy Management (3X) -- 5% bonus to capacitor capacity per skill level
• Energy Grid Upgrades (2X) -- 5% reduction in CPU needs of modules that require Energy Grid Upgrades to fit (i.e. Cap Rechargers and Power Diagnostic Systems)
• Energy Emission Systems (2X) -- 5% reduction in capacitor use of energy emission weapons per skill level (i.e. Neut's and Nos's)

Navigation Skills

• Very important skills, can make a noticeable difference in the speed and agility of your ships

• Navigation (1X) -- 5% bonus to ship velocity per skill level
• Acceleration Control (4X) -- 5% Bonus to Afterburner and MicroWarpdrive speed boost per skill level
• High Speed Maneuvering (5X) -- 5% reduction in MWD capacitor usage per skill level
• Evasive Maneuvering (2X) -- 5% improved agility for all ships per skill level
• Afterburner (1X) -- 10% bonus to AB duration per skill level
• Fuel Conservation (2X) -- Reduces capacitor requirement of AB's
• Spaceship Command (1X) -- 2% improved agility per skill level
• Warp Drive Operation (1X) -- 10% reduction in capactior need of initiating warp (Don't forget this skill! It's a good idea to get it to at least 3)

Missile Skills

• Crucial for Caldari pilots, as missiles are their signature weapons

• Missile Launcher Size Specific Skills (2X-7X) -- Allow you to use missile launchers of that size, and add damage to that size launcher as well
• Missile Bombardment (2X) -- 10% more flight time for all missiles per level (effectively a range increase)
• Guided Missile Precision (5X) -- Target signature radius has 5% less influence on the damage of your guided missiles per level. (key for attacking smaller ships)
• Missile Projection (4X) -- 10% increased missile velocity per level (Effectively another range increase)
• Rapid Launch (2X) -- 3% reduction in fire time per skill level (DPS Increase)
• Target Navigation Prediction (2X) -- 10% reduction per level in the influence of target's velocity on your damage (useful for attacking faster ships)
• Warhead Upgrades (5X) -- 2% more damage per level (DPS Increase)

Gunnery Skills

• These are key for Caldari Pilots' other main weapon system -- hybrid turrets

• Gunnery (1X) -- 2% increase in all turrets rate of fire (DPS increase; also, Rank 5 is required for large guns and all Tech 2 guns)
• Hybrid Turret Skills (1X-5X) -- Allow you to use hybrid turrets of that size, and add damage to that size turret as well
• Motion Prediction (2X) -– 5% bonus to weapon turret tracking speeds per level
• Rapid Firing (2X) –- 4% bonus to weapon turret rate of fire per level
• Sharpshooter (2X) –- 5% bonus to weapon turret optimal range per level
• Surgical Strike (4X) -– 3% bonus to damage of all weapon turrets per level
• Trajectory Analysis (5X) –- 5% bonus to weapon turret falloff per level
• Controlled Bursts (2X) –- 5% reduction in capacitor need of weapon turrets per level

Shield Tanking Skills

• Most Caldari ships are shield tanked, making these skills very vital to your survival

• Shield Upgrades (2X) -– 5% reduction in Power Grid needs of shield mods per level, i.e. shield extenders and rechargers (Level 4 unlocks Tech 2 Large Shield Extenders)
• Shield Operation (1X) -– 5% reduction in shield recharge time per level (Higher level unlock larger Tech 2 shield boosters)
• Shield Management (2X) -– 5% bonus to shield capacity per level (Level 5 unlocks Tech 2 Shield Boost Amplifiers)
• Tactical Shield Manipulation (4X) -– Reduces chance of damage penetrating the shield when it falls below 25% by 5% per skill level, with 0% chance at Level 5 (Level 4 unlocks Tech 2 Shield Hardners)
• Energy Grid Upgrades (2X) –- 5% reduction in CPU needs of modules requiring Energy Grid Upgrades per level, i.e. shield power relays (Level 4 unlocks Tech 2 Shield Power Relays)
• Shield Compensation (2X) – 2% less capacitor need for shield boosters per level (Crucial for active shield tanks)

Drone Skills

• If you’re in any Caldari ship bigger than a cruiser you will want good drone skills
• To be most effective, Tech 2 drones are vital

• Drones (1X) –- Can operate 1 drone per level [Crucial to have this at 5!]
• Scout Drone Operation (1X) –- Extend drone control range by 5km per level (Level 5 is needed for Tech 2 scout drones, very important!]
• Combat Drone Operation (2X) –- 5% bonus to drone damage of light and medium drones per level
• Drone Durability (5X) – 5% bonus to drone shield, armor and hull HP per level
• Drone Interfacing (5X) – 20% bonus to drone damage and mining yield per level (HUGE bonus to your drones’ effectiveness!)
• Drone Navigation (1X) – 5% increase in drone MWD speeds per level
• Drone Sharpshooting (1X) – Increases drone optimal range each level

• For Tech 2 Scout Drones, you’ll need Drones and Scout Drone Operation at Level 5, and at least Level 1 in the racial drone skill for the drones you want, i.e. Gallente Drone Specialization

• ECM Drones can also be very useful, especially if you’re flying solo or in a small gang with no dedicated ECM ship. To fly them, you need:
  • Electronic Warfare to Level 4 (2X – 5% less capacitor need for ECM and ECM burst systems per level)
  • Drones to Level 5
  • Electronic Warfare Drone Interfacing to at least Level 1 (5X – 3km extra range for your drones per level)

Other Useful Skills

• Long Range Targeting (2X) – 5% bonus to targeting range per level [Very helpful given the long range of missiles]
• Mechanics (1X) – 5% bonus to structure hit points per level (Yay extra HP!)
• Hull Upgrades (2X) – 5% bonus to armor hit points per level (Extra HP is never bad, and Level 5 allows you to fit all of the Tech 2 armor mods; key for the few Caldari ships that are armor tanked)
• Rigging Skills (2X or 3X) – Allow you to fit your own rigs on your ships and reduce the drawbacks associated with them per level

Class Wrap-up

• Thanks for attending this class!
  • I would appreciate any feedback from people on how to improve the class -- post in the class thread, evemail me, &c
• Questions? [You can cover T2 Caldari ships briefly here, or save them for a Caldari 201 class]

Resources

Link to Pre-made slideshow [1]