Caldari Cruisers Guide

Why would you run T0s in Caracal?

Well, good question, and I wouldn't - but it's a first step. Other missile ships do not have 'clean' progression, and I tried Abyss in Caldari Cruisers, going up step by step. Feel free to skip whatever step you don't like.

Running this one, given you have decent skills (and decent skills are generally needed - aim for IV in whatever looks like it fits) is super easy. Orbit cache (you might send drones to kill it), web stuff, shoot stuff, done. Fit is cap stable, and should have no issues at all in T0. Along the way start upgrading your fit towards T1 - when you feel like you're ready, go to T1 :)

Notable spawns:

• Ephialtes - will stay out of your web range - ram it. Just like that, Approach it with everything on, web it, kill it.

• Skybreaker - will mangle your drones if you are too close. Recall drones, web it, kill it.

• Orange cloud of Cap Issues - if you're inside you need to watch your cap. And do not run your Shield Booster all the time.

• White cloud of zoooom - while inside, you will not be able to recall your drones - they will fly past you. And you might run into the wall.

Below you can see my stats in Pyfa when I was running that ship.

But it is bad!

This is just an evolution of T0 fit. It does have some upgrades though:

• Faction Drones and Ammo - as we need DPS. As much DPS as possible*

• Faction Shield Booster - it's better, and we need it for T2 anyway (edit: in the end I decided for different T2 fit. Sorry!)

• T2 rigs - as we need PG

It does need more time per run - assume that you need 50%-100% more to complete a run than T0s. So if you get T0 runs over 10:00 - get better missile skills, or you'll race the clock.

It flies almost the same as T0, with one exception - way less cap. It HAS TO be cap stable, to make easier runs - but if you encounter Neuts (rare in T1, but can happen) or Orange Cloud start switching your booster on and off - you'll need it anyway for higher tiers

Profitabliy: Not greatest. It is less profitable than T0 fit, if you collect only Bioadaptive Caches. Treat it as training exercise - we'll get to better runs later :)

Notable spawns:

• Leshak - orbit at 10km, and he won't hit you. Will move around, watch for red wall.

• Vila whatever - ignore swarmers completely, they can't hit anything.

• Karybdis Tyrannos - orbit at 15km and shoot with all you got.

• Tessera (drone BC) - will try to kill your drones. And it will do it fast. Do not send out drones.

• 3x Devoted Hunter - stay at range. They will hurt a bit, but if you remove them fast it will be ok.

• Attacker Marshal - will not break your tank. Uses missiles, so get close to web it - but keep moving fast.

• Devoted Knight - Neuts. Orbit at 20, so neuts are not so bad.

• Photic Abyssal Overmind - Drone BS. Will hit hard, but misses a lot - try to orbit them at 5km

• Cynabal - Neuts, Webs, and brings friends. Stay at 20km, shoot, when he gets close and webs you - web him back

Navy Caracal? Why is that?

Well, we need to reach DPS target, and normal Caracal was not enough. Fit is also a bit different:

• Deadspace Shield Booster. It's pricy, but I felt like it's needed (it should be possible to run without it, but I tend to patch my bad skills with ISK).

• Thermal rig instead of EM. Two reasons - first, EDENCOM ships deal Thermal damage, and they are not affected by turret penalty. Second - it aligns better with next steps, as EM will always be our worst resist.

• T2 Launchers - DPS!

Which missiles?

Good question! I didn't knew it myself before I started T2s. There are 2 options:

• Navy missiles + Rage against BSes - that seems to be good option, but eats a lot of ISK from every run

• Rage missiles only - the most "paper DPS", but worse application. But we have web, so maybe application is good?

There was no other way to be sure, than to test it! So I did - 20 runs of each method, to compare average run times and average ammo cost. TL;DR: Use Navy Missiles, and swap to T2 when appropriate.

Notable spawns:

• Devoted Knight & 4x Devoted Hunters - will break your tank if you're not fast. Load Faction ammo, shoot Knight first

• 3x Cynabals - looks scary, but they will come close, and you're quite resistant to Neuts, so take them one by one and it's good. You will be webbed to stop though.

• Arrester Marshal - will web you and hit you hard. It is the perfect justification of Thermal rig - it 'almost' breaks your tank. Overheat if needed.

• 2x Tessera + 4x Webbing Tessellas - you should not approach them, let Tesselas come to you and kill them first. If you get 4x webbed between two Tessera, you'll have a problem

• Harrowing Vedmak + a lot of Damaviks - Vedmak will try to kite you. Either pilot to web it, or overheat your web to get more range

Cerberus. Big leap in investment - T3 variant is almost 500M.

General strategy: Remove biggest threats, go to biocache (optional - drop MTU and send drones for side loot), loot, go towards gate. Ideally you want to be at gate when killing last enemies. Some tend to stay just outside of your web range, so chasing them around might be necessary - it's faster to move towards enemy to web it that to linger at the gate for longer. Additionally it's beneficial to loot biocache on the way towards larger enemies, as it saves time by not needing to go back, and you generally need to approach at an angle anyway.

Notable differences:

• More tank and more DPS - check skills in fit above for what I had when I did my runs

• Less capacitor excess - you need to manage your cap well. Switch Booster off if not needed, let capacitor recharge between rooms

• Way more range. No more hugging before you shoot - with 30km HAM range you can attack way sooner

• Drones are useless - send them out, but don't count on any meaningful DPS

Configurations:

Fit has Webifier in cargo. The base idea was to have it in two main configurations:

• Web + Hardener - for Exotics. Since Exotics pay better - it's the main mode.

• Double Web - for Darks (lower tank requirements, but web efficiency is lowered)

Notable spawns:

• 3x Starving Leshaks - potentially a kill room. Other Unista lost that Cerberus in such room, not known for now what the proper strategy should be. Recommendation - take Javelin Missiles to be able to stay outside ot Neut Optimal range (30km).

• 3x Cynabals (out of which 2 are Elite) - that did break my tank. I popped Blue Pill, and it was ok. Keep in mind that drawbacks (application and capacitor) might cause different problems, but I'd rather have cap management issues with lower DPS, than lose the ship completely. Pre-rolling Blue Pill is possible, but seems... excessive.

  • Angel room - after few more encounters, it's perfectly doable if you keep your target priorities right (Cynabal before Elite Cynabal, Elite Hunters if in range before Cynabals, Furies). Do not approach them straight on, it's better to go 'sideways' and remove one from distance

• 3x Marshal - They hit a lot. Overheat booster as needed, orbit them at longer distance, kill one fast - after one is dead (Neuting ones are priority) it becomes easy

• 3x Leshak - not dangerous, but they 'startburst' from initial location. Close distance fast, kill the one running away from you if possible.

• Karen - hits hard, so as always - keep transversal up

• Sansha room - Neuts are absolute priority. Devoted Knights with few Smiths will drain you very fast, you should prioritize them and stay at range initially

• That's a fit that I made initially for T5s. But I found my T5 fit for fraction of the price, so I might test this one out in T6 Exotics. It has pontential.