EVE New Citizens Q&A

I have been playing Eve about 2 months now and have been flying Frigates and Destroyers. I really enjoy the frigates but turn to a destroyer when I need to deal with lots of NPC frigates. I basically run solo missions for fun and small profit in high-sec space. I am part way through the SOE Epic Arc and the next mission is "Burning Down the Hive". I've read all I can find about the fit & tactics that I need to complete this mission. From what I can see, I can complete the mission solo with a kiting approach in a frigate and/or pick up some help to make it a easier run. I'm not sure a cruiser or destroyer would be a big help. I have done some L1 missions and 1 or 2 L2 missions. I can see that a ship upgrade is in not too distant future.

I have just reached an ISK level where I could afford to buy & fit a cruiser with a bit left over. However it would not be enough to replace a cruiser if I lost it. So, by the "Only fly what you can afford to lose" rule, I am not quite ready for a cruiser.

My training has reached the 1.5m SP level and I have made good progress towards the skills need for Cruisers. I think I am ready skill wise but don't know for sure. I am working through the certificate tool and have researched skill paths for guidance.

I think the guidelines for timing the addition of a new class of ship are:
1) Do I have the skills [both direct & support] to allow it?
2) Do I have the ISK reserves to buy the ship, fit it and still have enough to do it again if the need arises?
3) Do I really need the bigger ship [I've read the "bigger is not always better" mantra]?

Are there any other things to consider when trying to gauge the right time to pick up the next class of ship?

That is pretty much it. Remember that an important part of the "bigger is not always better" factor is the way weapons are balanced. Cruiser sized weapons will struggle against frigates unless you know how to use them carefully. If you are fighting a large number of frigates, then you are probably best off in a frigate or destroyer. The exception being if you fit light drones or light missiles to your cruiser.

First of all:

Don't fly if you can't afford to loose it =/= Don't fly if you can't afford to replace it.

The difference is that you are fully allowed to undock anything you can properly fly (so not the minimum required skills etc) if you are fully aware and agreed with the possibility of it being destroyed.

Plenty of people who fly capitals, (jump)freighters or even supers without the wallet balance to replace them the moment they get killed. The difference is that they still doing the right thing as long as they are okay with the risk of being destroyed and don't whine if that happens.

But as when you should advance:

Really, when you think you are ready and you find out that you should (say missions become too hard for your destroyer to do them > maybe time to upgrade to cruisers).

Just keep in mind, you NEED those core skills, you need the support skills and MOST important if ship needs cruiser at level 1, it doesn't mean training it to level 1 makes you a competent cruiser pilots. I highly suggest that all the skills you require to have, take them to 4 (doesn't take too long, will benefit you majorly).

Other then that, your 3 points make up the most important things.

LvL2 in a Destroyer, 3 in a Cruiser / BC and 4 in a BC or BS.

You sound like a careful player who has taken notice of whats said around the place. You are not trying to scramble into a Raven after month 2 and i therefor applaud you.

In fact i'd like to buy you the cruiser, get in touch. Really no strings.

Larger ships tend to take more damage so as written above, concentrate first on tank. After you find yourself easily tanking the missions then reduce tank and add more dps.

This.

Though be aware, some people will just make it THEIR way of playing to show you how wrong your fit was.

A couple general tips:

-- You can't go wrong with having access to cruisers. Eventually, they can put a dent in basically anything, you can fit them to zap the hell out of frigate-sized ships or load them heavy to whittle down battleships. Sort of the swiss army knife of ship classes, you're under no obligation to actually use them if you enjoy small ships but being able to access them dramatically expands what you can do in groups and solo.

-- Your first cruiser is doomed. Within a few missions, you're going to try to fly it like a frig or a destroyer, realize too late that it's slow as all hell by comparison, and vanish in a spray of beautiful fireworks. don't let it get you down.

-- If you're fine with going back to the destroyer, you're under no obligation to necessarily have a backup cruiser on tap. If you've got the spare cash, buying a new type of boat just to mess around until it blows up with no intention of replacing it is entirely legit. Just be willing to sink the cash, due to the aforementioned doomed nature of the cruiser.

Summary: nothing wrong with just going for it and seeing what happens, just don't get too attached to your ships or isk, ever.