Friggz
Dirt Nap Squad
Dirt Nap Squad.
44
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Posted - 2013.03.22 14:36:00 -
[1] - Quote
o/ I like flying cloaky stuff myself. Welcome to eve.
CovOps are the best scouts in the game, for several reasons.
They can fit a cloaking device and warp while cloaked. They have the fastest base warp speed of any ship in the game at 13.5 AU a second, whereas most ships are 3-6 AU. This allows them to stay ahead of the fleet easily. They have specific bonuses to probe launchers which are used to find ships and anomalies. As a frigate, the ship is extremely agile and fairly cheap compared to other T2 ships.
There are several downsides, however. A CovOps is not a combat ship and lacks any kind of offense or defense. You can act as a warp in spot for a friendly ship in order for them to disable the enemy you've found, but you likely won't be able to do it yourself. Because you are basically useless in combat you won't get on many killmails, although you'd still be a large asset to any gang, particularly pirates trying to catch explorers and mission runners.
Most of the time though, CovOps are simply dual-boxed. I'd imagine it's quite rare to have someone flying just that ship as it would get old very quickly not being involved in any fights.
A more militant version of the CovOps is the Stealth Bomber. This ship can cloak and warp cloaked like the CovOps but can equip battleship sized torpedo launchers. They specialize in high alpha damage surprise attacks. These ships can also be used as scouts but they aren't as good at it as the CovOps ships are. They don't have the warp speed bonus but still go 6.0 AU which is pretty good. They don't have the bonus to probing but they have a utility slot you can offline a prober in for when your fleet needs it. You can still cloak and warp cloaked so you can still act as a warp in, or scout a gate, or get enemy ship numbers. Also, you can actually participate in the battle. Like the CovOps you aren't likely to be disabling ships on your own, but bomber tackles aren't entirely unheard of. Usually when it's done the bomber will tackle for just long enough for other ships to get on grid and apply more tackle, then escape. Note however that bombers are usually best in fleets specifically designed to use them, although one or two tops in any gang as a scout may be alright with the FC. The main downside to a bomber is a complete lack of defenses and lower speed and agility compared to other ships in it's class. They are designed to deal massive surprise damage and then escape, not to go toe to toe. Perhaps the most frightening ability a bomber has is the bomb launcher which can deal AoE damage in a 15m radius. Groups of co-ordinated bombers have destroyed entire fleets with bombing runs. The bomber also earns the distinction of being the only frigate in the game that is a legitimate threat to a Capital ship as groups of them with recon support can and have destroyed carriers.
The Next step up from that is Recon cruisers. They can also cloak and warp cloaked, but also come equipped with powerful E-war to either tackle the enemy or disable them. When you are trying to catch someone unawares and tackle them, the Recon is typically the best ship for the job. They are balanced by having below average DPS, but excel in fleet support. Very rarely will an FC turn away a Recon, usually only if the fleet is highly specialized and Recons don't fit into the doctrine. Otherwise a recon in a mixed gang is usually viewed as force multiplier and definitely worth bringing along.
The theoretical last step is Black Ops Battleships but their use in battle is... a bit controversial right now. Some swear by them, others feel they are overpriced pieces of crap. Outside of battle they can be used to drop Recons, Stealth Bombers, and other Black Ops ships into battle for surprise attacks, then escape before the enemy can respond. If you are serious about flying cloaky stuff, this might be a route you want to go, as several corporations specialize in these kind of attacks.
There are also Covert Reconfig T3s, but these are a bit complicated to get into and are 'end game' ships you don't need to worry about right now.
My advice: Train up your Covert Ops skill for now. It's used for both bombers and CovOps ships and is the fastest cloaky to get into. At that point you can either get your probing skills up or torpedo skills depending on if you want to try a bomber or a CovOps. In my opinion, probing skills are worth having even if you decide not to fly a CovOps full time, but it's a matter of priority for a new player. Ultimately I think you'll be happier in a bomber where you can actually fight, too. Then again the bomber is my favorite ship in game, so I'm
Once you are comfortable in CovOps or Bombers and have your support skills maxed and you know what you are doing, then you can look into recons. A recon ship is a lot more expensive than a bomber or CovOps, so you don't want to rush into them until you are ready.
Good luck.
Re-elect Trebor Daehdoow for a stronger CSM 8. |