Ships & Modules

Topic says it all, can't find a single good thread about this that takes into account recent changes. Let me know your opinion!

Are we talking cruiser class hulls as a whole or just the T1 lineup?

Without some more guides to base off of, opinions are going to be vague at best. Thanks to tiericide the T1 cruiser line ups are pretty decent across the board. That said there are of course different meta strategy for each hull/race that tends to stack them better or worse against each other.

And that is before even mentioning skill layout or pilot style.

For my personal opinion I like the gal lineup a bit better for the drone option. Particularly sentry vex.

From my experience, a Stabber's got a much more forgiving engagement envelope than a Thorax, and can be useful against a wider range of targets, as well as being more resistant to capacitor warfare. A blaster Thorax has to get up close and personal, while a rail Thorax can run into problems with transversal.

As far as the heavy cruisers go, I don't have much experience with the Rupture, but the Vexor can throw a hideous punch, and can set you up for that punch in a number of different ways.

Gallente typically have better paper-DPS numbers with short-range weapons, but have trouble applying it, and everything has decent Kin/Therm resistances. Also, the typical Gallente armor tank makes for a slower ship, adding to your difficulties in applying DPS.

Minmatar typically fight in falloff (go to the Eve Uni Wiki for a brief explanation of terms and the basic math behind gunnery), have lower paper-DPS numbers, but, with selectable damage types, have similar, or even better, DPS application. They also have better base speed, making catching your opponent a bit easier.

The above was for short-range guns.

For long-range guns (they recently received a nice bump), the general rule is that "KITING" (fighting outside of web range, but inside of Warp Disruptor, or 'point' range) is preferred. This involves fitting for speed, and a shield tank, with most of your powergrid devoted to large guns.

Surprisingly, Gallente ships stack up fairly well in this regard, particularly the Thorax, but don't underestimate the Vexor, either. That said, Minmatar ships, once again, with their higher base mobility, make dictating range to your opponent easier.

Railguns (Gallente) do better DPS, and, with better tracking, apply it a bit easier, too. However, Artillery (Minmatar) have the highest alpha (damage inflicted in a single strike, or 'volley') at all levels, with selectable damage types, and thus have better capability of hitting your enemy's weak spot.

Feel free to mix-and-match, too. Nothing says you can't shield tank short-range ships, and a shield-tanked Vexor is the highest-DPS cruiser in the game, fully capable of absolutely melting bigger ships under the right circumstances.

Gallente tend to be a bit more skill-intensive, requiring good Drone skills, in addition to tanking and Gunnery, with Minmatar requiring Missiles on selected hulls.

HAVE FUN!

TL;DR - Gallente have better DPS, but more difficulty applying it. YMMV (your mileage may vary, use the above at your own risk, if you undock in something you can't afford to lose, you will surely lose it).

T1 minmatar is weak atm. There are some bright spots in the T2 line up, but honestly if I had to pick where to start RIGHT NOW gallente is what I'd suggest. Hybrids+ drones are stronger in a lot more areas than projectiles and missiles are.


You CAN make minmatar work but it takes a lot of time to kill something when you have lower ehp, paper dps, and you are fighting in deep falloff.


Don't let anyone tell you what to fly though, most ships are much more balanced than they were before ccp got to teiracide. Be a snowflake and learn your ship and you might just surprise people.












RIP winmatar

The best cruiser offerings of Minmatar are most certainly the Stabber Fleet and the Scythe fleet. The former still excels as a low-sig, afterburning, active-armor brawler. Anyone who tells you the Stabber Fleet is **** doesn't know what they're talking about. And the latter, well the Scythe Fleet can do just about anything -- incredibly versatile and does well in a lot of roles.

However, Gal totally wins in the T1 line-ups of both races -- Minnie is incredibly weak right now. I attribute this mostly to the increase of general speed in all non-Minnie races, the insane dps of blasters and also the TE nerf.

Gall by far have the best tank/gank ratios between the two.

Minnie are way more versitile.

Minnie can get close enough numbers to tank/gank as Gall but that then put then in direct conflict within the prefered gall engagment boundaries.

I agree with previous posters that the minnies are nowhere near as strong v the other races after the T1 rebalances given the huge speed/damage increases the other have gotten. Very few of the minnies had these increased.

Having said that some of the arguement around fighting deep falloff etc are not as convicning as minnie have always done that. One of if not the biggest strength for minnie was the GTFO factor allowing you to escape and evade an engagement that wasn't going your way. Minnie damage was very rarely the biggest in any of the classes. But now the 'speed/mobility advantage' is vastly reduced, sometimes even gone, that GTFO factor is much much lower.

For a newer played I say the FOTM is Gallente and it will be easier to play within the current metagame if you pick them. If you want to learn more about the game pick minnie. My personal preference is minnie/amarr (cos I don't like the weird techno-organic look to the gall ships, apart from incursus/comet)

Gallente, mainly for the Vexor and the Ishtar. If there were ever jack of all trades ship, it's these two.

The most important thing I've learnt in EVE so far is that never believe anything about spaceships at face value on the forums.

Form your own opinions, they are the only ones that matter to you anyway.