Ships & Modules

Hi, i'm a complete newbie, and i don't understand how you tank a ship.

I mean, okay i know you go in the fitting panel and all. But what should you fit ? I know that there are differents ways to tank, that can mostly be listed as buffer, active, and avoidance (not taking damage by kiting, speed tanking, orbiting under guns, etc.).

Problem is that i don't know how resists compares to actual hp. Is it best to have a good buffer/regen, or have better resists ? Is there some kind of balance to aim for ? How does EHP works ?

In what kind of situation should i favor resist over raw hp/regen, or the opposite ?

Thanks for your answers o/


PS : if i made some errors, it's because i'm not a native english speaker. Feel free to be a grammar nazi, i need to learn.

Generally speaking you will want resists over more buffer if you have logistics along, as their reps will be much more effective if you have high resists. You will still want a buffer so the logi's can start repping you before you die, but the emphasis is on high resists.
If you don't have logi along higher EHP will let you last longer even if your resists are lower.

Buffer and resists/buffer is almost always preferred in gangs, as when you're fighting another gang they will most likely be able to alpha you through your rep cycles.

Active tanking can be a good strategy when you are flying solo, and choose your fights so you can tank the incoming damage for a long enough period that the hp your reps add will most likely be more than if you fit a buffer. An XL-ASB tank is a great example of this as it will in most circumstances provide more hp than another buffer module would.

Edit for clarity:

This was refering to pvp, in pve you will always want an active tank high enough to tank the incoming damage.

It's hard to explain since there are many things to consider (though try those articles, wherever you can find them).

I suggest you to get a fitting program, either EFT aka EVE Fittig Tool or PYFA. Play around with them and you'll be able to compare different fits. I started with google-ing existing fits to figure out why do people use them and how exactly they work (after flying for a few days with low-SP fits that can be found in EVE University Wiki... and not only there tbh).

Also, since I mentioned EFT and all... I'd like to suggest you to stay away from faction/deadspace/officer stuff. For now.

The problem is that there is no answer without context. Your ship, your friends (if any), and your enemies all matter to properly answer the question.

The best thing any new player can do is join a good corp with the same goals as you, ie PVE, PVP, industry, etc. They will guide you and you will learn a LOT quicker. Sadly RVB is not that great a place to get advice\guidance for new PVP'ers. Maybe it used to be, but that is not the case now, my opinion anyway, experiences will vary I am sure.
Maybe look at Agony and eve uni to get some PVP experience\guidance.
I am sure DCM will pop his head at some stage and recommend FW also :)

Do you ever mix that above Raven in traditional pve encounters along-side something like a Naga? Or are you sharing it purely in the interest of mechanics examples?

Well I won't get into fits, but I will try to help.

You seem a little confused on what type of tanking different modules affect.

You are right about active tanking or buffer tanking. these are your two basic types.

Buffer tanking is the easiest to fit be it armor or shield. your ehp is your buffer. EHP is effective HP. this is basically your actual armor, shield, and hull, HP added together assuming your enemies will target the weakest resist.

There are two ways of increasing your ehp. raw buffer in the way of shield extenders, armor plates, and reinforced bulkheads. The other is by increasing your resists. Higher resists raise your EHP as more damage is absorbed.. A ship with 20% resists and massive raw HP can have the same EHP as a ship with 80% resists and a much smaller raw HP. Effective HP is the raw incoming Damage that is required to reduce your ship to space dust. Whether the damage is absorbed by raw HP or by resists does not make much difference. If you have logi or some sort of RR/shield rep on you resists are better as they will not only extend the life of your raw EHP but reduce the incoming DPS making it easier for the logi to keep up.

An active tank will generally also want high resists but has much less EHP(buffer) These ships rely on shield boosters or armor repairers(won't get into hull tanking at the moment) to repair the damage as it comes in rather than having a large buffer that takes time to burn through. For an active tank the higher your resists the easier it is the keep your tank full. A shield tank with high resists and a large booster can be more effective than a shield tank with low resists and a X-large booster. Both are still active tanks.

In PVP you generally want to buffer tank. That is get your EHP as high as possible, and generally unless you know the other side is in all amarr ships with lasers you want to omni tank. Which is having resists fairly equal across the board leaving no resist hole for them to exploit. This with either armor or shields using rigs, extenders, armor plates, shield or armor hardeners, etc. In PVP either the fight is over before your reps get a chance to cycle or the incoming DPS is much more than your reps can handle.

In PVE you generally will use an active tank. most missions and other PVE activity the incoming DPS is lower but the fight lasts a lot longer. new NPC will spawn as others are killed off keeping the DPS on you for a long time. In this situation a buffer tank no matter how big it is(usually over 100,000 ehp for a BS) will get worn down before the NPC's are gone. An active tank will repair this incoming damage as it happens keeping your smaller EHP from getting reduced. As long as you have cap you can continue to repair incoming damage. the trick is finding the balance between repairing power and how long your cap will last. This is different for every ship. Generally an active tank that is cap stable, (can continue to run nonstop without draining cap) will not provide enough repair to overcome incoming DPS in many missions and DED sites.

There is one more option with shield tanking, and that is a Passive shield tank. This is very similar to a buffer tank in that it has high ehp, but shields unlike armor will regenerate over time on their own. This regen is slow on most ships but a select few have a high enough shield regen that if it is enhanced can produce an effect much like a shield booster without needing cap to sustain it.

This is what the drake is famous for. The larger capacity a shield has the more HP it will regen as shield regen is generally a % of the over all capacity. There are also modules that directly affect the recharge rate of shields. The famous drake fit involves using 3 large shield extenders and a few active shield hardener (invulnerability II) modules, combined with shield recharge rigs and modules. It is easy even with low skills to get a drake up to 100,000 ehp with a passive shield recharge over 100 hp/second. Considering that an unmodified X-large shield booster I gives is 450 hp every 5 seconds, 600hp/5 sec for TII and 600hp/4secs for Caldari Navy X-large booster, having a drake with 100 hp/sec regen or 500 hp every 5 seconds is very impressive. With max skills I think you can get it close to 200hp/sec. A Drake can tank level 4 missions no problem, but has trouble applying enough DPS to clear the missions quickly.

There is also speed tanking, i.e. reducing incoming DPS by being harder to hit. But that involves far more skill than just fitting the right modules.

Basics of tanking: Shield tank, unless you fly in a fleet with logi

Advanced tanking: Put at least one oversized ASB on everything

Thanks CCP