Beginner's Guide to Caldari Combat Ships

Let's get to combat!

This guide is centered on Caldari ships (missiles/hybrid turrets & shields).

If you're new to Eve you likely went through the tutorial, so we'll pick up from there, give you some more information, and help you align with getting into our corporation. First up, let's set some goals:

• Missiles vs Turrets: Determine if you want to be PVP or PVE focused (if you know).  Generally speaking, missiles are seen as less favorable for PVP due to the delay in the time it takes for missiles to hit their target - this isn't always the case but if you intend to PVP and are indifferent to the two weapon systems, go with turrets. Turrets hit instantly.  Both weapon systems work well for PVE (though missiles can provide very easy or lazy PVE options).  Missiles don't take energy to fire and always hit targets in range (though they may do much less damage than intended against fast targets).  You can also pick your damage type when using missiles.  These are substantial benefits to using missiles.

       Whichever weapon system you choose, just stick with it until you're in a cruiser.  This will give you a true understanding of the weapon system and propel you into additional game content quicker.

       Blaster ammo:  antimatter (close range/high dps), iron (mid-range)  Later use: void (close range/high dps), null (mid-range)

       Railgun ammo: antimatter (close range/high dps), iron (mid-range)  Later use: javelin (close range/high dps), spike (mid-range)

       Missiles: avoid training defender and auto-targeting missiles until you have a specific need for them, later.

• Cruiser: You need to be able to at least fly a cruiser to get into Rubber Bullet Inc.  This ensures you have some basic understanding of the game, have worked on some skills, earned some isk, and are willing to stick with the game if we provide you with more in-depth game content.  You'll want to work toward a cruiser skill of 4 as soon as possible.  Your ideal ships will be the Caracal (missiles) and Moa (hybrid turrets).  We will not be covering Electronic Warfare or Logistics in this guide.

       Your ship progression will look like this, depending on your weapon system choice.  (Note: you can always train the other weapon system later, but training both initially will delay your ability to engage with most of Eve.)

       Merlin > Cormorant > Moa (turrets)

       Kestrel > Corax > Caracal (missiles)  **swap out your Merlin starter ship for a Kestrel as soon as possible**

       You'll find frigates improve with each skill you train.  Destroyers excel at killing frigates but move very slow.  Cruiser are a big step up in survivability and damage.

• Core Skills:  Starting out, every player sprints to get the biggest ship possible.  This often results in crazy setups, lost ships and grinding level one missions/mining to buy a new ship.  Our advice to you is that you take some time to improve your fitting skills as you improve your damage, shield and piloting skills. When you get to flying a cruiser, the difference in being able to fit one module can be a 24% increase in shield or a 10% bonus in damage.  These single modules can make a big difference in how fast you make money and can make missions much easier.  Consider level 2 in a skill as "prerequisite" and level 3 in a skill as "ok" and level 4 in a skill as "good for now" until you get further into the game.

      The follow lists will help guide you.  The skill descriptions have been greatly simplified.

Core Skills:

Turret Skills:

If you compare hybrid and missile skill lists, you will notice turrets has a slight edge over missiles in training time.

• Gunnery II is required for weapon upgrades for missiles and turrets.
• To train Guided Missile Precision, you'll need to train Missile Launcher Operation V (about a week) while Gunnery V for turrets isn't needed right away.  GMP isn't immediately needed, but it will be very important if you intend to PVP with missiles.
• Training turrets will require training two different sizes of turrets (we skipped training rockets on the missile side).

This completes this beginner's guide to Caldari combat ships.  You should have joined the RUBUL public channel for our corporation by now (or should do so now).  Within that channel, you will have access to veteran advice and our recruitment officers and be able to ask questions.  Having experienced pilots to ask for advice is pivotal to your success in Eve - make good use of this resource! 

Some after-thoughts...

The above goals and skill lists will help you choose the right direction for you.  No one in our corp is going to tell you what you need to do with your character (we only offer advice, based on what you tell us you want to do) -- this is very different from other corps.  We do not force "doctrines" (required ships and fittings) on pilots.  We're happy to provide ship setups as advice and only require doctrines for organized fleet actions.

Once you are in a cruiser you will have access to a good foundation for making entry-level isk to open up other aspects of the game and meet that prerequisite for joining Rubber Bullet Inc.  After you have joined our corporation, you will have access to fleet PVP, intel, organized events, wormholes, integrated industrial support, corporate discounts, and so on.  View missions as a catapult into other endeavors and understand that the rewards for combat scale exponentially with risk.

Next steps for you?

• Read about NPC damage types and how to set resist modules: link
• Read about transversal velocity and signature radius to maximize your turrets' ability to apply damage: link
• Ask about how to get a level 2 combat agent (sooner the better - save yourself some grinding/time)
• Talk to a recruitment officer about submitting an API key to finalize your recruitment.
• Plan out your next steps for character growth.
• Learn a little about how the market works (even if you aren't going to be a trade tycoon).
• Ask about how to avoid common scams and being "ganked" in hi-sec.
• PVE Combat:
  

  Level 1 mission Level 2 mission Level 3 mission Level 4 mission Incursions Level 5 mission Null belts

  t1 frigate, t1 destroyer t1 destroyer, t1 cruiser t1-2 cruiser, t1-2 battlecruiser t2-3 cruiser, t1-2 battlecruiser, or battleship t3 cruisers, logistics with multiple battleships (fleet) carrier with multiple battleships (fleet) t2-3 cruiser, battlecruiser, battleship, or carrier

  *don't rush into bigger ships without solid core skills.
  

26.4.15 Edit: Updated transversal velocity and signature radius link