EVE New Citizens Q&A

For other new players who want a quick reference:

Minmatar Cruiser bonuses (per skill level):
5% bonus to Rapid Light Missile, Heavy Missile and Heavy Assault Missile Launcher rate of fire
7.5% bonus to Target Painter effectiveness

http://wiki.eveuniversity.org/Bellicose

This is a toughie though to answer your question....

Bellicose has quite a respectable performance. The reason it excels at frig support is that it can most easily take out the biggest threat to frigates, other frigates and drones. ROF means target swapping quicker, and the painter means hits harder. Other cruisers have more difficulty with this. Using a drone boat for the role, well drones can be taken out. it is also more durable than a frigate.

The reason people say it is "horrible" simply has to do with the rather weak meta for how eve players operate. Rock paper scissors and all that. People also focus on the solo tackle, press F1, etc. to rely on full alpha to take out small targets. Kiting is the biggest issue for damage evasion, but ideally tackle frigs would web, or yourself can be right in thick. Missiles care not about tracking. Simple matter of numbers vs tactics and people not considering "effective" damage output.

It really does get into a big discussion of mechanics and the combat meta. Overall, it isn't the hull, it is how people play that is the issue. I find it a very fun ship like a more brawler version of a caracal with better damage application.

target painters are nice and can improve damage on a target. That said frigate weapons hit small targets the best, so I'm not sure that it is a great frigate support ship. Also it doesn't get a range bonus so it isn't really a long range combat ship as the description implies.

looking at it quickly in EFT it doesn't look like a horrible ship, but doesn't really look like a great ship either. has less launcher damage than a caracal, but a bigger drone bay. but I think I'd rather have the caracal for the missile velocity bonus. Although as gang size goes up sometimes it is nice to have a ship that is similar but has another bonus like target painting.

of course the tech 2 versions of the bellicose are very nice as they have the web range bonus as well.

Bellicose is great for solo simply because a lot of people underestimate it. Also its not bad per say and well i really can shred frigates if you know when and where missiles will work.