EVE New Citizens Q&A

If you are looking to boost most say command ships but can be done in t3s.

The short answer is that it depends.

For small-gang fights, you want to put yourself in a ship that is common in your fleet. For instance, if you're leading an RLML Caracal fleet, you want to be flying one of them as well, or at least something similar. Doing so allows you to get a better feel for what the rest of the fleet is capable of doing - I've seen fights where the FC is calling primary targets they can hit with their ship, but the rest of the gang is out of range, and they have no clue why the primary isn't dying.

Doing this also helps you avoid being primaried, at least at first. Eventually, if you regularly lead, your common opponents will figure out that you should be primaried at the start of a fight, meaning even if you're flying a common ship in the fleet, you may want to overtank it a bit (or a lot, depending on the circumstances).

Also, something very important - it's very difficult to FC from ships that require intense focus, like Curses or other Recons, or from ships that won't be locking up enemy or primary ships, like Logistics. You should fly as simple a ship as possible to fly, ideally something that requires no more thought than "Approach, F1", leaving your mind free to issue orders and maneuver the fleet as required.

For larger fights, the rules are a little different, where FCs like to use cloaked eyes that can't be primaried to survey the field without risk of detection, but that's outside my wheelhouse.

Really good advice from J'Poll and Sakura there!

For small fleet roams, my observation is fly something that a) doesn't stand out and b) is comparable in capability to the rest of the ships in your group.

As your experience increases, and your ability to manage your own ship -and- the rest of your fleet improves, you may find that other capabilities are what you need. I know one FC who rarely shows up on killmails...because he is usually in a cloaky equipped with combat probes, scouting and punting his gang onto targets. Just one example...the key is to start as they've suggested then find through experience what really works -for you-.

Good hunting!

Player skill matters more than ship selection for FCing.

In large fights, you want to be in something cloaky, so you can watch the battle from 100km away while being mostly invincible. Someone that's much less important to the battle can fit warfare links.

In small fights, I feel the Damnation is unmatched. It can pack a monster tank, covers all of the fleet boosting requirements, and isn't worthless as a combat ship.

Just be aware, however, that the most important part of being an FC is selecting targets for the fleet and trying to ascertain your rivals' strategy. An FC can prevent a quarter trillion ISK loss if they realise that three enemy carriers repairing a POS are bait *before* ordering TItans to jump in and Doomsday them all. The hardest part of FCing is knowing when to run away.

If you're interested in commanding PvP fleets, it's best to blend in with the fleet. You don't want to be commanding a fleet of atrons while you are flying a Megathron Navy issue (you will be primary target). It's also a bad idea for an FC to be a logistics pilot for the fleet (to much work for the FC); it has been done before, but not the greatest idea. You want to blend in with the crowd, so it's usually best to fly a damage dealing ship.

As for FC'ing mining fleets or any other non-PvP fleet, I have no clue.

Going to take a little different approach here from the above. As was noted the best ship for an FC is based on the type of fleet you are flying. With that said, if you want to FC ... go do it. I am going to assume your group has some type of Fleet Board, so put up a T1 Frigate Roam and let people know your a new FC. People show up in cheap ships, you go out and have fun. Only way to learn to FC is to FC.

Your pod is your command ship. Get use to it.

Red vs Blue

In Red vs Blue, anyone can form up a fleet and FC it. Probably a nice place to learn.

Best FCs are the ones who can get their fleet mates to re-ship when the opposition will not leave the grid/field. Motivate & cheer-lead.