Ships & Modules

I know, there is no "best" in Eve, but I still want your opinions:

If I want to shell out some serious isk for a top-of-the-line nano cruiser, what is the best one to train for? I am looking for a nano-kiting outside of web/scram range strategy for very small gangs (from solo up to 4 people max). Vaga is generally considered to be the best nano-HAC, right? And the Cynabal is a better version of the vaga, correct? Can I do better than the Cynabal? Another faction cruiser maybe? Or do any of the t3's perform well as a nano-boat? (and if so are they actually better than the Cynabal?) Or is the Cynabal the top of the food chain in this area?

Thanks for your time and opinions!

If you are looking for better than a cynabal, Tengu is probably the best. The sliepner can also do nano quite well.

IMO the Loki isn't as fast or agile as it should be, and on top of that it struggles applying dps at range even when compared to a vagabond or cynabal. It is a shame you can't really get any solid nano shield loki fits with long range webs, that don't seriously sacrifice dps and/or tank.

Nano? If you mean something fast and agile, fun to fly, which is capable to fly 3 km/s w/o overload or snakes, sure Cynabal.
If 2 km/s is enough, a wide variety of ships will fit the requirements.


The best and the only left

Considering (when discussing Tech III) you have some coin to spend, it's not completely off to mention the Machariel.

Not the same speed as a Vaga or Cyna, but faster than a Cane (and thus well above the median) over the same agility as a Vaga, ontop of better reach, more damage, drones, access to point-range neuts and a number of selections in your slots - all the goodies that come from going up a size without any related drawbacks (barring signature, which can be important, and possibly tracking if your skillpoints are not up to level or you are not yet proficient in the art of nano tactics).

The main upside is that you buy yourself the performance buffert you need for a small gang, since we're looking at a significant increase in average damage across the spread of situations you'll find yourself in (raw damage + lower falloff in key positions), leaving room for your friends to use support-ships while you maintain the output level to break tank. You could shift a friend over from a Vaga/Cyna or Curse into a Scimi or Claymore/Loki/Rapier.

I'm not saying it's better - but if you discuss Cynabals and Lokis, it should get an honourable mention.

ed. This is if we are talking a about a small (~5) group of well funded and experienced individuals ofc, then 2x Mach, 1x Scimi, 2x Loki is definately a much stronger concept than 4x Cyna and 1x Scimi, for example. Bonuses, natural scouts, neuts, double the conventional tank, optimals (damage, point and web) in the 40-50km range with damage potential (but tackling issues) up to even rival Drakes.

That's just looking at options with "standard nano", then you have more recent evolutions of interest, like "Drake 3.0" or "Crucifixion Tengu" concepts to look into.

Good luck in your endeavours .

The Nano Curse as a Nano Boat might not be as fast but can pretty much Alpha the Cynabal and Vega's Capacitors and make there weapons useless.

Not the best but definitely dangerous especially in a Nano Gang.

That wasn't a troll. Nanocurse with TD is kinda a goofy fit though.

There is something about 425mm's loaded with Barrage backed by 2 TE's having a Falloff of about 14km that just makes me smile.

TD Fits are for solo hunting with a Curse. In very small Nano Fleets engaging few targets TD's can be helphul. As you directly scale up the size of the fleets you start to focus on Energy Neutralizers more then TD's as they can no longer stem the tide of the DPS heading your way.

Curses do not scale well with numbers, TD Curses Scale worse. A TD Curse is a solo or small team affair compared to a small fleet Curse. TD's are what make a Solo Curse Dangerous to well tanked Cynabals, Vega's and Nanocanes that would otherwise force you from the field with there DPS. They are however get less useful as the number of targets increase.

The cynabal is the most obvious choice. Fitted with 720's (which fit pretty easily tbh) and a RF disruptor, you can dominate most other ships. Throwing in a loki booster alt and snake set will make it all the better. That said I actually prefer the recons and recon like ships. You could use a gunboat loki instead with the web bonus. You'll have less tank than the cynabal (4 mids and one is a web) but greater dps. Thanks to the web, it's easier to keep targets where you want them in relation to you. It is more expensive however.

You can also hop into an actual recon. Both the rapier and the curse are extremely powerful ships solo/small gang. Although both do far less dps than the loki or cynabal, their ability to dictate the nature of a fight and escape at will should things go badly are unmatched. That said, the rapier is the better choice for small gangs. The dual webs they typically fit will immobilize the target but won't do you much good at breaking their tank. On the other hand, the curse's neuts aren't as good at immobilizing them but are highly effective at disabling any active tanking mods such as hardeners and even the ever present DCII. As such the curse is the superior solo ship. Should you opt for the curse, a talisman set is preferable to the snake set. MWD's don't work without cap after all.

That is about the range a Bonused TD from a Curse will put Falloff on a Cynable with 425mm Auto's w/ Barrage and 2 TE's.