Ships & Modules

The Zealot is good at applying tons of damage from far away, but sucks at tackle and sucks at taking care of frigates on top of it.

The Pilgrim is good at sneaking up on people and neuting/TDing them down, but it's not very good at tanking or at being fast (or getting out when things get tough). It can handle frigates alright because of drones.

If your gang is going to be toting around T2 cruisers, there's no harm in having a Falcon with you for jams, or a Rapier or Huginn to do what neither Zealot or Pilgrim do: webs.

Also, for fast tackle, possibly some interceptor or AF of some kind.

Frigates can't take much punishment, but are pleasantly inexpensive enough to learn the ropes on. T1 cruisers are also useful platforms to learn on. They obviously are not as "strong" as their T2 counterparts, but they can help you get a feel for the environment.

While learning the strengths and weaknesses of the hulls, also learn the other tools you have at your disposal: directional scan, or d-scan, setting up safe points, tactical warp-ins on gates, stations, etc.

Thanks. Yeah pvp is one aspect I haven't really explored due to my low skill points, but as Ive upped my core skills I've recently felt comfortable going out there to learn(um die). I won't be fitting any t2 ships yet to go get blown up, but I would rather fly a cruiser than a frigate. How are the amarr frigates, namely the retribution and crusader? And what about using a mixed bag of cruisers and frigates? I have alot of my points in armor tanking and my laser skills, so I would like to utilize that at the moment. Sol is racist so I don't see him flying anything Minmatar in the near future ;p

maller/prophecy/harbinger/omen

mix in some t1 frigs youll have plenty of fun.

I'm firstly going to back up what these other guys have said regarding LEARNING to pvp in frigates. If you don't like T1 frigs, fair play to you - they're ultimately weak and vulnerable unless you have masses of them. T2 frigates on the other hand are brilliant ships - they're more powerful and more forgiving The retribution is a favorite ship of mine - medium pulses, AB and a solid tank make it a very effective slugger with a small sig radius. I must admit that I havn't flown it since it got the boost in the latest patch but I can't wait to! It'l make an excellent little sol-mobile with the ability to fit a point.

The other tech 2 frigates are also good fun - interceptors are always useful in a small gang, cov-ops are good to have too, especially if you're looking for people inside sites or at SS's. Bombers add some heavy DPS to fast fleets which usually lack it. As for EA frigs.... well... um. I guess they can lend some ewar to a small gang - but they seem to be the least useful of the lot.

To your original point regarding cruisers and small gangs, there are a good number of set-ups available but the most important things are to use ships that complement each other (tacklers + heavy DPS or kiters and interceptors), aren't too niche (i.e fail in lots of different circumstances) and also to have pilots that know how to fly the ships to their full potential and who know their place/role within a fleet.

If you're looking for some tactical info on PVP, see the agony empire tutorials on youtube, or even better, take one of their classes. Best of luck to you!