Eve Online Guide

When you start out in Eve Online, it is often very hard to figure out what the different types of ships does, and which ships you should get. Even for an experienced player, it can be hard to find out what the Eve Online ships offer you as a player and to your corporation. Some ships will be restricted to you for a long time if you are new, but many ships can be obtained and flown within some weeks or months from when you start out. But it is important to train the correct skills for the ship you want to get, and therefore know what type of ship you want to fly before you start training the skills.

We will help you get an overview over the different ships you can get in the game, and what types of activities you can get. We will generally not go into detail about the different ships within each category of the Eve Online ships, only cover the categories, and you choose the ship you feel fit your demands. Usually you want to get the ship for your race, but most races have the same types of ships within each eve online ship category, so there is generally only minor differences between the races. To the right you can see a picture of all the ships found, and the sizes of them.

Assault Ships

The Assault ships are rebuilt versions of the tech 1 frigates, and are user for all out combat. You generally don’t have space for much tank on these ships, and have to make sure your enemy don’t hit you, or that you kill the enemy before he kills you. They are some of the quickest ships of all the eve online ships, and are very popular for pirates and other PvPers. They are usually equipped with the weapons which they get bonuses for. If you fly one of these, you have to make sure you stay out of web-distance, as getting webbed usually result in a very quick death. It is possible to do at least level 3 missions with these, but usually you don’t want to, because they don’t deliver the DPS you really need, and it’s not suited for tanking. However, they can be very nice to use if you need to do some level 1 and level 2 missions for some new corporation before you get up to level 3-4. The small gun-size suits the level 1 and 2 missions very good compared to the bigger eve online ships you will use for level 3-4 missions.

Battlecruisers

These ships can be compared to big cruisers. They have medium sized guns, and often a lot better tank than most of the cruisers. However, their size makes them slow compared to cruisers. Many use battlecruisers both for PvE and PvP because of their lower price, lower requirements and generally good DPS and tank. All level 3 and many level 4 missions can be done with a battlecruiser of your choice (based on race). If you need to get a bigger ship than a cruiser, and you don’t have the skills or money to get a battleship, battlecruiser is a very good choise, and many stick with their battlecruisers even when they can get a battleship.

Battleships

The battleships are the bread and butter for any eve online player, and probably one of the most used ships in Eve Online. They are the best tier 1 ships you can get, and can be fitted both for maximum DPS and maximum tank. If you are a combatoriented pilot, one of the first big milestones will be getting a battleship. Battleships are used for large scale PvP and for running level 4 missions. They can be used alone and in gangs, however, using them alone in PvP might not always be wise, since they are slow, have big guns, and can get problems with small PvP-oriented ships like assaultships. Most battleships do have drones to counter these situations, but make sure you can afford to lose it if you go out with your battleship to PvP.

Capital Industrial Ships

There are two capital industrial ships you can get, the Orca and Rorqual. Both of these ships are used for mining operations, and if you don’t mine, or don’t plan on doing it on a large scale, don’t even think about trying to get one of these. They are not used for mining themselves, but used as supportships for mining operations, to transport and boost other miners around in mining barges and exhumers. The Orca is however used a bit as a hauler, and with the right fitting can be a nice alternative to the freighters. Only one in each mining operation should use these ships, so generally you will not see a lot of these eve online ships. They are skillintensive, and require a lot of industrial and leadership-skills to fly well.

Carriers

The carriers are, as the name says, not a battleship. It is a fleet-ship, and should not be used alone for ratting and other solotasks. The carrier is a capital ship, which means it will require a lot of ISK and a lot of skills to get one and to fly one. Carriers are for experienced pilots, and their strength is that they use drones, and especially the fighter drones which carriers are the only ships who are able to use. The figther drones can actually warp around within the system, making them very lethal and very dangerous. The carrier pilots are a valuable asset to a fleet, because they can dish out a lot of DPS, and can also do supportroles as repairing and capacitor-boosting. The carriers themselves can not fit any weapons, which is why they should be used in a fleet with protection from other eve online ships.

Command Ships

The command ships are the backbone of any lethal eve online fleet. These ships boost the other ships in their fleet with their gang modules, making their fleed comrades more effective and lethal in combat. They can also deal damage themselves, and each race have two different types of command ships. One type is purely for fleet support, while the other is a more balanced ships with more dps which can also be used solo. The eve online ship command ship is a Tech 2 type of the battlecruisers, and a very popular companion in a fleet. It can be a very nice next step when you have mastered the battlecruisers, which also can fit gang modules, but not to the extent the command ships can.

Covert Ops

The covert ops ships are one of the scouts and spies of the eve online universe. They are Tech 2 ships of frigates, and they come in two types. One type is the stealth bombers, secretly lurking around hidden from anyone, trying to take out a ship in one blast. The other type is the astrometrics ship, specialised for scanning down ships and hidden locations with black holes, asteroids or rat bases. Both of these types are great both solo and in a fleet. The special thing with the covert ops ships, is that they can use the Covert Ops Cloaking Device II, which makes them invisible even while warping, allowing them to work in complete secrecy. If you are interested in the exploration-aspect of the game, covert ops is a great eve online ship to get, as they are not very expensive, and you can get them within a month with the right skills trained.

Cruisers

Another bread and butter ship in eve online is the cruiser, often the second type of ship you will buy when you start out playing the game. They are medium sized ships with low skill requirements and quite low prices, allowing you go fly a ship with more tank, dps and space when the frigate you use for your level 1 missions doesn’t get the job done any more. Cruisers come in all varieties, and you find both mining ships and combat ships within the realm of cruisers. Cruisers is very popular for PvP for their price and quite good damage, and they can be used for all level 2 and many level 3 missions. Cruiser is a natural milestone in any eve online players progress, for both industrial, mission runners and PvPers.

Destroyers

Destroyers are one of the shipclasses left a bit behind, because most people prefer to jump from frigates to cruisers when they are able. Destroyers are an upgrade of the frigates, with lots of small guns, which will make your level 1 and 2 missions very easy. If you feel your frigate isn’t tough enough for what you want to do, a destroyer can be a nice step before you upgrade to a cruiser. They are also nice to use if you need to do level 1 missions later, since they have a lot of damage to dish out, compared to most frigates. A very popular use of destroyers is to use them on a second account or as a hauler for missions. They can fit a lot of high slot equipment, which means a lot of salvagers and tractor beams.

Dreadnoughts

These big ships is not something you use alone. The dreadnoughts have massive damage on single targets, allowing them to destroy stationary or slow targets very quickly. They use very large guns, so they are usually not effective against small targets, but very good against other capital ships, fleets of battleships and player owned starbases (POS). This is something most large corporations want in their fleets, but it is very expensive and you need to train a lot of skills to be able to take this out for a spin.

Exhumers

If you are a miner, the exhumers are the best eve online ships. These are specialized mining ships, tech 2 versions of the more basic mining barges, and important to any industrialist in Eve Online. Exhumers comes in three different editions, specialized for one type of mining. The Skiff is specialized for the valuable Mercoxit ore, found in lawless 0.0 space, the Mackinaw is used for ice mining and the big mightly Hulk is used for all the other types of ore. If you want to make the most money you can mining, you need to get a Hulk, or another of the exhumers. They are the Eve Online ships of choice when it comes to mining. They are quite skill intensive, and you have to have some cash to get one, but it is worth it if mining is your thing.

Freighters

As you might know, Eve Online is a massive universe, with thousands of player supplying and distributing goods. The freighters are the backbone of this industry, hauling massive amounts of resources around. They are slow, expensive and require a lot of skills, but if you need to get large quantities of good from A to B, there is no better way. If you want to be a trader, or maybe even a miner, this is a very handy eve online ship to have.

Frigates

Frigates are the first ship you will buy when you start out. They are small, don’t cost a lot and very easy to learn to fly (when we talk about skills), so they are the ship very many choose to fly. They are great for your first mining expedition, mission (level 1) or combat in PvP, and there are even frigates for exploration. The low price and low skill requirements also makes them very popular to PvP with, and can be deadly to much larger ships in a gang. Frigates are one of the most important classes of eve online ships, so love them or hate them, you probably will see them a lot.

Heavy Assault Ships

These heavy fighters called the Heavy Assault Ships are specialized Tech 2 ships, based on cruisers, used for combat. They can dish out a lot of damage, and is a natural target for any combat oriented pilot after using a cruiser, battlecruiser or battleship for a while. As with cruisers, they have a lot of different bonuses, but they are all used for fighting alone, in a fleet or in a gang. The Heavy Assault Ships are also knows as HAC.

Heavy Interdictors

These fleet ships are very specialized, and if you want a specialized ship to do some electronic warfare for your corporation, the heavy interdictors can be a nice choice. Their strength comes in their ability to fit Warp Disruption Field Generator I, which makes other ships unable to warp away, making them very dangerous in lowsec territory or 0.0. Heavy Interdictors are also known as HICs or hictors.

Industrial Ships

Many new players thinkt he the industrial ships are used for mining or other industrial activities. That is however wrong, as the industrial ships are used for transportation, it is a hauler. Industrial Ships is a natural ship to get for anyone who want to be a trader or industrial player, like manufactoring or mining, but can also be used for picking up loot from missions. They are a very important part of the industrial system of eve online, because of their low price, low skill requirements and that they are faster than freighters (they are still slow). A industrial ship is a natural eve online ship to get if you want to do any industrial work, or even for carrying your stuff around if you are a combat pilot.

Interceptors

The interceptors is a very nice eve online ship for anyone who want a electronic warfare ship for their gang or corp. Interceptors are used for tackling, which means stopping ships from getting away. They are small and very quick, and have large bonuses to warp scrambling and speed reduction (webbing). This is a natural PvP ship, as the strengths of these ships is not something needed for PvE operations.

Interdictors

The interdictors are a smaller type and more specialized type of the heavy interdictors. Their task is to stop other players from being able to warp away, and are able to make a warp disruption bubble, preventing all ships in an area from warping away. They are small and fragile, but an important port of any PvP gang or corporation. A great ship to be able to fly if you want to be part of PvP operations.

Logistics

The logistics are the healers of the eve online ships. They are Tech 2 variants of Cruisers, are their task is to boost armor, shield or energy reproduction of their fleet members. They are good for both level 5 mission running and for PvP, however, they can quickly be called out as primary target for larger fleet battles because of their function. If you want to be a teamplayer and enjoy the game without having the biggest guns in the fleet, a logistics ship can be a good alternative for you.

Marauders

The marauders are tech 2 types of battleships, making them some of the most lethal of the eve online ships. They have large bonuses for damage, and can also put up a massive tank, making them ideal for mission running. However, their large signature radius and high prices makes them unsuitable for PvP. If you want one of the best ships for mission running and other PvE activites, marauder might be one of the ships you should be training to get.

Mining Barges

The mining barges are the first very specialized mining ships you can get in Eve Online. They come in three types, Procurer, Retriever and Covetor. Because of the retrievers double mining income, you should wait with buying your first mining barge until you get that, because the Procurer is not a very big improvement compared to the mining cruisers, and you can get the Retriever quite quickly after you can get the Procurer. The Retriever and Covetor is natural ships for anyone who want to be a miner, before you move on the the exhumers. They are generally quite cheap, and doesn’t require a lot of skills to get, at least not the Retriever.

Recon Ships

There are two types of recon ships, which is Tech 2 cruiser ships. The first type is force recon ships, which is used to warp cloaked, take out any enemies quickly and cyno and area, making other ships able to jump in behind enemy lines. The other type is combat recon ships, which is used as electronic warfare ships, designed to destroy the logistics of other enemy ships. The recon ships is a great step for any Eve Online pilot, allowing you to be a great asset to your corporation or fleet.

Rookie Ships

The Rookie Ships is the first ship you start out with, and the ship you get if you lose any other ships. It’s generally a good idea to get out of your rookie ship as quickly as possible, getting a frigate instead, as the frigates are better in all aspects compared to the rookie ship. It is also called the newbie ship or noobship.

Shuttles

Shuttles is a very cheap ship, with one purpose, get you from A to B. It is not possible to fit any modules to a shuttle, and you can only carry very small items in the shuttle. They are very cheap and sold on most stations around the universe. You should not fly one in low security space, and you should not do anything but moving between stations or carrying small items for courier missions with them.

Titans

Titans are the gigant ships in Eve Online, and most players will never see one. They require years of training and many billions of ISK to build, and are only used by the large corporation out in 0.0. Titans are not built by individuals, but as large projects by corporations, and actually building them takes weeks too. You probably don’t need to even think about training for a titan, and if you do, you probably know more about them already than what I do. This is the largest Eve Online Ships made (so far).

Transport Ships

Transport ships are specialized industrial ships, which is used for transportation in dangerous areas. They are quicker, safer and stronger than their tech 1 counterparts, but require a lot more skill. Each rase has two types of transport ships, one blockade runner and one deep space transporter. The Blockade Runners are built to be able to withstand a gatecamp or attack, while the Deep Space Transporters are used in safe space, with larger cargo capacity than the industrial ships. If you need to transport goods outside of the safe highsec space, you might consider training for a transport ship.