Ships & Modules

Well, the Loki and Tengu are T3s, not BCs.

However, I would say that it kinda depends on what you plan to do with them.

The Drake can do all of those well if properly skilled though, so it's a good ship to have.

Drake most definitely for PvE nothing else really compares especially with T2 Fury Missiles for popping Battleship Spawns.

For PvP it is a toss up between the Drake and the Hurricane. 720mm Whelp Cane is good for fleets but Drakes have longer range and better Resists for RR in situations where you are not being alpha'd. Shield Hurricane does better for Nano work and has 2 Neuts / High DPS but the Drake has a good speed / tank / range / DPS ratio in small gangs that are not particular to need a certain speed and agility. On a Brawling level they are about equal between the 1600mm Armor Cane and HAM Drake.

The Harbinger doesn't really measure up to well. It isn't as quick for nano work and doesn't have a very stable Capacitor for Shield Kiting. As an Armor ship it is an average brawler but can fit a medium cap booster and neut which isn't bad.

The Myrm takes a bit more skill then the Drake to be PvE capable. It's Drones take a while between targets and it's guns don't really get to Missile Ranges with effective DPS but it does have a good tank. For PvP it's greatest use is a Duel / Triple Rep Active Tank that makes it a hell of a Brawler inside of Scram Range with powerful Reps and good EHP but T2 Heavy Drones are required to get the Good DPS. As a Shield Ship it is slightly Sub Par though. All around not a bad option to have but IMO not a priority as it needs good core skills. The best 1v1 Brawler inside Scram Range for sure though.

Personal opinion: Core Skills > Drake > T2 Shield Skills > T2 Heavy Missiles + lvl 4 Missile Support Skills, Hurricane, Projectiles.

Then focus on the other Battlecruiser weapons and skills.

Hurricane ? Explain why please (and of course T3 is better - if you have endless isk)

and thank you Alara - good thoughts

(also curious - Gila vs. Ishtar - thoughts ?)

For baiting and killing Mission Runners out of an Orca:
Plated Hurricane with dual Neuts.

For suicide ganking: Tornado with 1400MM and max Gyrostabs.

Don't really PVE, so not sure about that one.

In my experience the drake is far-and-away the best PvE-combat T1 battlecruiser. The nighthawk, also a battlecruiser I suppose, is better but way more expensive. I would often see nighthawks solo ninja-raiding C3 & C2 anoms.

Whether the drake or hurricane is the best T1 PvP battlecruiser is always gonna be debated and people's views will vary with their experience and how they like to fight. 'cane gives you speed and inyaface projectile DPS while drake gives you tank (yes, speed if you want to nanofit) and slightly more sedate missile DPS. Drakes currently seem to be very popular for setting up hot-drops.

For other non-combat PvE roles I find hurricanes to be fantastic. I have a bundle of utility 'canes, including dedicated w-space gas site harvesters and dedicated can-crackers for mag / radar sites. They are cheap, can carry some GTFO drones, are fairly fast and manoeuverable, can fit fairly generous sets of equipment (including 3 x T2 analyzers / code-breakers, cloak and probe launcher for my w-space can-crackers), and expand up to reasonable cargo hold volumes.

Before I discovered (and could afford) tengu, sleipnir, and nighthawk I used the drake an awful lot ... but the hurricane has always been my first love.

pve? drake
pvp? drake
exploration? drake
hauling? cane

A triple-rep AC Myrm with t2 heavies is a really nasty customer. I have enjoyed Myrm PvE a great deal as well. For all-around versatility and ease of access, you can't beat the Drake. Not to mention a HAM/MWD Drake can be a great surprise for PvP.

Drake is what you get out most from, oif you look for all 3 areas, Hurricane is probgably the most versatile when it comes to PVP, but harbinger and myrmidon can be fun as well. I'd say go for what race you like the most, al have draw backs (except for Drake? :D )

One of the most common fallacies in this game is when people stare themselves blind on class and race. It's especially common among new players with a background in other games that have more imposing race-class choices. The only thing that matters in EVE is training time and cost.

Let me give you a more specific example. The day you can use a Myrmidon (Gallente BC) with solid skills you are also only days away from using a Dominix (Gallente BS) with good skills. So, while i think Alara did a good job outlining the different races' BC and their general traits, they need to be understood against the background that you can fly or train anything in this game. There are no exclusive choices.

This also mean that while a Myrm struggle somewhat in the common damage-projection game of mission-running the Dominix is easily equal to the Drake for most intents and purposes even before you spend the training time to cross into appropriate BS-size turrets. This, because already the Myrm have the ability to use BS-sized drones with some limitation. This also mean that once you can use Sentries or Heavy drones, you can use them on ships interchangably.

Now, this is no scruff at the Drake - it's an exceptionally good BC, but you should consider your choices based on what you enjoy to fly, what training into that give you and how your training fare from there. With Caldari, taking the step from Cruiser to BC is huge, while the step from BC to BS is not that awe-inspiring. Comparatively, races like Minmatar and Gallente - who have excellent Cruisers - do not see the same progression going to BC, but see more progression going to BS. This also mean that their BC tend to be more specialised while their BS tend to be more general purpose; meaning that for baseline things like mission-based PvE, players in those races tend to fly their BS.

For Caldari, it's their BS that are highly specialized (even more so than the BC of other races).

I should end on the note that i'm not necessarily saying that the balance of class or race doesn't matter, and it's also always important being mindful of the differing perspectives on training-time between a new and an experienced player. All i'm saying is that you shouldn't let your choice of class or race keep your sights limited to what's right in front of you. This game does not have a given progression even if it may seem like that if/when you start running combat-missions in empire (which i presume is still the most common choice among new players).