Ships & Modules

As anyone who's not been hiding under a rock knows, battleships got hit with a nerf to their warp speeds a while back, and now only warp at 2 AU/s. Battlecruisers warp at 2.5 AU/s, and cruisers warp at 3. This obviously upset a lot of people as it made it harder to move anywhere quickly in a battleship and it's gotten to the point where battleships are now perceived as worthless for roaming.

I used to think that battleships could use a little buff to their warp speed. But then I came up with an unconventional Orca fit for hauling and it changed my thinking. I realize now that battleships do not need a buff to their warp speeds. Yes, the lower speeds are a pain, but like everything else in EvE, performance is all about choices.

Let's look at what it takes to make a battleship warp like a battlecruiser. It's actually pretty simple, requiring only one module and two rigs:

1x 100MN AB
1x T2 Warp Speed Rig
1x CPU Rig

Pulse the AB while aligning from full stop to warp and you should* always hit warp at the end of your AB cycle. If you have Afterburner V, that's 7.5 seconds into warp, with 2.5 AU/s warp speed. Not too shabby for a battleship. The CPU rig offsets the CPU penalty from the Warp Speed rig leaving you with roughly the same CPU, one remaining rig slot, and 175 calibration (assuming a vanilla T1 BS).

If you want to warp more like a cruiser, all you need is a second warp speed rig. 7.5 seconds into warp, 3 AU/s warp speed. Or, if you don't like the CPU penalty, use a mid-grade warp speed implant and a cheap warp speed lowslot mod instead of the second rig for the same effect without the hit to your CPU.

Yes, you have to make some sacrifices to achieve this, and this particular method has limitations in nullsec due to the lack of a MWD or MJD to get out of bubbles. If this is a problem, fit a MWD instead and you'll still hit warp in 10 seconds (or faster if your in a sufficiently nimble ship to not benefit from this technique). Okay, not as fast, but still better than before. But the bottom line is that you can still make battleships roam (almost like) cruisers if you're willing to make some fairly minor fitting sacrifices.



Now, compare this to what it takes to make a battleship apply damage like a battlecruiser. You'd need at least three modules, probably more. Some combination of tracking mods, target painters, implants, and or rigs. All of these come at the expense of DPS, tank, and/or mobility.


See where I'm going with this?


You can still roam in battleships at cruiser-like speeds. You just have to make certain fitting choices to be able to do it. Rather like you can still hit smaller targets with battleship-sized weapons or hit targets at obscene ranges or hit targets for obscene damage, you just need to make certain fitting choices.

Would I roam with a group of nothing but battleships? Heck no. I wouldn't have done that even before the warp speed changes. You'd probably never tackle anything and you'd be vulnerable to frigates and cruisers. But does it make sense to fit one or two battleships for good warp performance and bring them along on cruiser roams? I certainly don' see why not. Their DPS, range, durability, and ewar resistance should be a welcome addition to any cruiser gang. Just don't expect them to perform like battleships fit for full-on brawling or fleet sniping because they won't. Rather like cruisers won't function well as long-point kiters if they're fit with high DPS, short-range weapons.


Don't give up on roaming battleships. Give up on your notion of how ships should be fit and look at how they can be fit.



*I say "should" because heavily plated fits may not accelerate quickly enough. Everything I've tried has worked though.

That's one option, yes. I was exploring more cost-effective alternatives.


This is true. But in that case, the number of sacrifices you'd have to make almost certainly wouldn't justify the end goal.

My point was that you have to sacrifice surprisingly little to make battleships viable roaming platforms. Ones that are fully insurable (unlike T2/T3 cruisers), provide options not generally available to smaller platforms, have exceptionally large capacitors, and possess proven staying power.

I'm not saying we should all fit our battleships for roaming all the time. I'm saying that we shouldn't write them off as roaming platforms entirely simply because you have to make some small fitting sacrifices in order to do it.

I can respect that. This is is mostly subjective after all, and everyone's needs are different.

I agree that solo battleships or purely battleship gangs are somewhat at a disadvantage for a number of reasons. Sub-warp mobility, lock speed, damage application against smaller targets, etc.

But fitting a few battleships for warp mobility to fly along with a cruiser gang? I think that'd be pretty potent.

I stated this pretty clearly in my post. Battleships need support to operate effectively, but my point is that they can still be used effectively in roaming ops.

Imagine, if you would, having one or two of the following 'Geddons along on a T1 cruiser roam:

[Armageddon, Roamageddon]

Pseudoelectron Containment Field I
Drone Damage Amplifier II
Drone Damage Amplifier II
Drone Damage Amplifier II
Large Ancillary Armor Repairer, Nanite Repair Paste
Energized Adaptive Nano Membrane II
Energized Adaptive Nano Membrane II

100MN Afterburner II
Warp DIsruptor II
Heavy Capacitor Booster II, Navy Cap Booster 400

Heavy Unstable Power Fluctuator I
Heavy Unstable Power Fluctuator I
Heavy Unstable Power Fluctuator I
Heavy Unstable Power Fluctuator I
Heavy Diminishing Power System Drain I
Heavy Diminishing Power System Drain I

Large Hyperspatial Velocity Optimizer II
Large Hyperspatial Velocity Optimizer II


EDIT: As per discussion below, dropped the Sensor booster and the CPU rig, and dropped the Damage Control down to a Meta 3. This leaves you with a utility mid, a utility high, and an empty rig slot, but not much grid or CPU.


Drones to suit and you've got a utility high slot with enough room for a medium remote rep or cap transfer. Requires no implants to fit. This fit will align in 7.5sec from a standstill (with Afterburner V) and warps at 3 AU/s so it can keep up with T1/faction cruisers, sports a solid tank and buffer, can project cap warfare up to 35km (with Amarr Battleship IV) and damage out past 50 (assuming sentry drones), does good DPS against a variety of targets, costs about as much as a HAC, and, unlike a HAC, is fully insurable. It's only real weakness, and it is a significant one, is it's low sub-warp speed due to only having an afterburner. But given it's ability to project damage and cap warfare at 30+km, and the fact that this fit is specifically designed to be supporting smaller, faster vessels, that lack of mobility suddenly becomes far less of an issue.

What it gives up to be able to keep pace with cruisers is (judging by common 'Geddon fits I see) is not having an explosive hole (no explosive resist armor rig), some local tank (no armor repper rigs), some cap warfare endurance (no egress rigs), and/or sub-warp mobility (no MWD). These are not insignificant losses, but when you consider what the cruiser gang as a whole gained by sacrificing those things for a warp speed fit on one or two ships, it seems to me that the sacrifice is well worth it.

Warp acceleration is a function of top warp speed. Increasing your speed increases your acceleration.

Been doing this from day one of the changes.

Best way to go about this is to go with a set of mid grade ascendancies and a WS-615.

This alone gets you up to 2.91AU/sec.

A single t1 hyperspatial will bump you up to 3.5

You can get 3.05 without the WS-615 but I like moving faster than cruisers and causing all sorts of confusion.

I had considered Ascendancies, but I was turned off by their price. They are certainly an option though. Slap a WS-615 in your head with the fit I have above and you'll be able to keep up with HAC gangs. That would open some eyes....


How much do you "gimp" your fir in order to maximize your DPS? Or improve your damage application? Or tackle?

Not every ship has to be able to do everything all of the time in order to be effective. Ships do zero damage with horrible application if they are still 3 systems away from the fight. It's all about making choices. Warp-speed fit battleships are one choice I feel people too-often overlook because of attitudes like yours.

And why Machariel has bonus for speed and acceleration? Because they are two different things.

You wacky Goon you.


(DISCLAIMER: I'm not a "Grr Goons" guy. You are wacky and you happen to be a Goon, so there you have it.)