Cruisers - EVE University Wiki (2024)

Cruisers are EVE's medium-sized ships, larger than frigates and destroyers but still much smaller, faster, and nimbler than battlecruisers and battleships. Cruisers mount medium-sized weapons and modules. Tech 1 cruiser hulls cost around 10 million ISK and tend to be the first major financial step up from frigates for new pilots.

There are five classes of Tech 2 cruisers, which are more powerful, more focused on a particular role, and much more expensive than their Tech 1 equivalents:

• Recon Ships: advanced force-multiplying electronic warfare platforms
• Heavy Assualt Cruisers: powerful damage-dealers
• Heavy Interdiction Cruisers: super-tacklers
• Logistics Cruisers: remote repair platforms
• Flag Cruiser: specialty fleet command ship

Cruisers also have a tech 3 variant, strategic cruisers.

T1 Cruisers

Each race has four tech 1 cruiser hulls, divided into several roles. One is an EWAR cruiser, one fills a logistics role, one is a tankier combat cruiser, and another is a speedier attack cruiser.

In PvP some tech 1 cruisers, such as the Gallente Thorax and the Minmatar Rupture, can bring surprising amounts of DPS to a fight. The electronic warfare cruisers can also be important in PvP, as they are slightly tougher ewar platforms than their frigate equivalents and in some cases can produce better ewar (the Caldari Blackbird, for example, can mount ECM with a longer range than the Griffin ECM frigate). In PvP, cruisers can also fit tackle to provide some secondary tackling that's harder to scrape off than Tech 1 tackling frigates.

Tech 1 cruisers are the ships most commonly used to run Level 2 missions.

Electronic warfare

•  Arbitrator: Versatile. Bonuses for tracking disruptors, and drones (for mining and damage-dealing). Can be used in fleet PvP, solo PvP, and PvE combat.
•  Blackbird: Bonuses for ECM. Powerful in a fleet, little or no tank. Often called primary. Can jam at much greater ranges than its T2 versions, the Rook and Falcon, but has much lower jam strength, fewer slots and can't warp cloaked like the Falcon can.
•  Celestis: Bonuses for sensor dampening. Can be useful in a fleet. Rarely primaried.
•  Bellicose: Bonuses for target painting and missiles.

Logistics

•  Augoror: Remote armor repair and energy transfer. Designed for cap chaining.
•  Osprey: Remote shield boosting and energy transfer. Designed for cap chaining.
•  Exequror: Remote armor repair and repair drones. Designed for local cap regeneration.
•  Scythe: Remote shield boosting and repair drones. Designed for local cap regeneration.
•  Rodiva: Single-target spooling armor repair. Designed for local cap regeneration.

Attack cruisers

•  Omen: Respectable damage-dealer. The Arbitrator is usually a better PvP choice since it can get equivalent buffer and DPS, while offering more versatility with varying drone types and some ewar.
•  Caracal: Missile ship. Good mission-runner. Unspectacular damage-dealer in PvP, but its ability to mount an impressive shield tank, microwarpdrive and rapid light missiles that apply damage well to small targets makes it a popular choice for PvP fleets.
•  Thorax: Fast PvP gunboat, usually fits blasters. Very high DPS with good skills and fitting.
•  Stabber: Very fast skirmisher. Sees limited use in PvP and PvE.
•  Stormbringer: Unique Vorton turret that hits multiple targets per cycle. Bonused for Shield resistance. Has extremely long range.
•  Vedmak: Fast skirmisher, with the Triglavian spooling weapon damage.

Combat cruisers

•  Maller: Can mount a massive tank (and is often used as bait in PvP).
•  Moa: Tanks well, designed to fight at range with railguns.
•  Vexor: Versatile. Bonuses for hybrid turrets and drones. Drone bonuses make it good for PvE and PvP combat. Can match the Thorax for DPS, but it is less commonly used in this role than the Thorax and is, therefore, less obvious when the enemy looks for a high DPS, low tank ship to primary.
•  Rupture: Useful in PvP and PvE. Potentially very high DPS, like the Thorax. Can fit a decent PvE armor tank, or a PvP buffer armor tank, or a nimble PvP buffer shield tank.

Empire Faction Cruisers

Each empire faction has two faction cruisers: one based on a T1 combat hull, the other based on a T1 logistic hull but now bonused for DPS. They can be bought through LP.

•  Augoror Navy Issue: Extremely thick armor and powerful lasers.
•  Omen Navy Issue: Improved laser range lends well to kiting combat styles.
•  Caracal Navy Issue: Loses the Caracal's range for improved application. Left in an awkward spot as its cruiser-sized missiles don't generally have serious application issues.
•  Osprey Navy Issue: More expensive but more effective alternative to the Caracal. Slightly slower but more durable, and very efficient at Overheating.
•  Exequror Navy Issue: Higher-damage Thorax alternative. Does not gain improved application though, so more attention to accuracy is required.
•  Vexor Navy Issue: Formerly the standard subcapital PvE ship, now a solo PvP localtanked hybrid turret and droneboat. Once again similar to the Thorax but with a much greater emphasis on its drones.
•  Scythe Fleet Issue: Fast and evasive and oddly bonused to either autocannons or missiles. Similar to the Caracal when using missiles and similar to the Stabber when using autocannons.
•  Stabber Fleet Issue: A direct upgrade to the Stabber but an even rarer ship to see.

Pirate Faction Cruisers

Pirate faction cruisers cover a wide range of specializations. They all gain bonuses from two empire cruiser skills. Their blueprint copies can drop from certain NPCs or be obtained through the faction's LP.

•  Ashimmu: Webs for application, and effective lasers and cap warfare. Can either be a pure neutralizer/drone boat, or use nosferatus to power its lasers.
•  Cynabal: Extremely fast projectile weapon skirmisher and kiter. Increased warp speed.
•  Gila: Solid missiles, extremely powerful and durable drones, and thick shields. One of the most popular and effective PvE ships across all regions of space and targets.
•  Orthrus: One of the most powerful and dangerous kiting ships. Fast, very powerful missiles, and very long ranged tackle to hold and kill enemies from beyond their retaliation range.
•  Phantasm: Another solid kiting ship, making use of the Sansha Afterburner bonus to stay evasive.
•  Stratios: The big brother to the Astero. A CovOps-cloaking exploration cruiser which is also an extremely dangerous solo hunting ship. Very large drone bay.
•  Vigilant: A supercharged Thorax, and little brother to the Vindicator. Able to effectively immobilize enemies, and shred them with blasters.

T2 Cruisers

Every T1 cruiser hull has a corresponding T2 hull which is even more focused on its specific role. As you need the T1 skill at level five, T2 cruisers can take a long time to train into.

Recon Ships

Main article: Recon Ships

Recon Ships are tech 2 electronic warfare cruisers. These come in two varieties, combat recons and force recons. Force recons can fit a covert ops cloak and therefore can warp cloaked, while combat recons are generally better in actual combat, either because they have stronger tanks, more damage, or better range for their electronic warfare systems. Combat recons are also invisible to D-scan at all times, and Force Recons are also able to light both standard and Covert Cynosural Fields.

In either case, whether through covert cloaking or D-scan invisibility, Recon Ships give their enemies no advance warning of their presence before they enter a fight.

Amarr

Drones for DPS, well-bonused neutralizers and nosferatus in the highs, tracking disruptor bonus for reducing incoming damage.

•  Pilgrim: (Force) Shorter neutralizer range than the Curse, but able to fit a more comfortable armor tank.
•  Curse: (Combat) Very long-ranged high-power energy neutralizers. However, its odd slot layout (5-6-4) means that it is very commonly shield-tanked.

Caldari

Caldari recons only have bonuses to ECM, but consequently can mount the strongest ECM in the game.

•  Falcon: (Force) Weakly armed, but combines ECM with covert cloaking.
•  Rook: (Combat) Supplements its ECM with 5 missile launchers.

Gallente

Extremely long-ranged warp disruptors and scramblers (at Recon 5, can project a T2 Scram 18km or a T2 Disruptor 48km without overheating), and increased Sensor Dampener strength.

•  Arazu: (Force) Able to scram or disrupt enemies from ridiculous range, and then light a cyno to call in an allied ambush.
•  Lachesis: (Combat) Very effective when shield-tanked with its 7 mid slots, a nightmare of a ship used either by or as an answer to, small PvP gangs.

Minmatar

Extremely long-ranged webs (at Recon 5, can project a normal web out to 40km without overheating), and bonuses to target painter strength.

•  Rapier: (Force) Similar to the Arazu, able to apply webs from ridiculous range and then light a cyno for backup.
•  Huginn: (Combat) Fits projectile weapons (rather than the Rapier's missiles), and thus able to bring much more damage along with its webs and target painting.

Heavy Assault Cruisers

Heavy Assault Cruisers (commonly called "HACs") are extremely straightforward but powerful ships. They combine moderately high damage with extremely tough shields and armor and can be used easily as fleet-issue short-ranged brawlers or long-ranged snipers. They are often slower than tech 1 cruisers, but still far faster than battlecruisers or battleships.

Besides their obvious PvP applications, some HACs are also useful PvE ships because they combine substantial tanks and DPS with unusual mobility. This can be useful in, for example, running exploration sites in lowsec or nullsec, where pilots might need to make a quick getaway.

Heavy Assault Cruisers can use the Assault Damage Control module, an alternative to the regular Damage Control which provides lower passive resistances but can be activated once every 2.5 minutes to provide around 9-11 seconds of near-invulnerability.

Amarr

•  Zealot: Versatile laser ship. Does well at close or sniping ranges, buffer-tanked or active-tanked. Effective as a sniper in mid-sized gangs, however somewhat slower than other sniping cruisers.
•  Sacrilege: Extremely durable, but the slowest of the HACs and its missiles suffer from short range and low damage output. However, it has effectively 3 utility/EWAR Mid slots and is also one of the few ships effective in Dark Abyssal Filaments.

Caldari

•  Cerberus: Long range missile boat. Highest theoretical DPS of any sniping HAC, but kinetic-locked and suffers from delayed-damage and possible reduced application. Occasionally used in Wolf Rayet Wormhole Systems to terrifying effect.
•  Eagle: Hybrid turret gunboat, sniping with railguns or unconventionally fit with blasters. Longest range of any sniping HAC, very durable, and popular in large fleets where it works like a more advanced and expensive Ferox.

Gallente

•  Ishtar: After the rework of the Vexor Navy Issue, the Ishtar stepped in as one of the new mainline PvE drone cruisers. Large drone bay, high bandwidth, extended drone control range, and solid defenses (shield or armor) give it great flexibility in target or engagement choices.
•  Deimos: Able to attain the highest close-range DPS of any HAC; however the extremely short range of its blasters combined with its suboptimal tank (compared to other armored HACs) earn the ship its nickname, the "Diemost."

Minmatar

•  Muninn: After the Uprising update, its role changed from a high alpha artillery platform to a missile boat with excellent survivability thanks to its unusual bonus to both shield and armor resistances.
•  Vagabond: Built off of the Stabber hull and thus the fastest of the HACs. Excellent autocannon damage projection for small gang combat, and able to handle Electrical Abyssal Filaments with ease. However, its relatively thin shields will quickly collapse if it is held down and focused.

Triglavian

•  Ikitursa: Expensive, but extremely thick armor, high speed, and extended Entropic Disintegrator damage ramp. Begins with unimpressive damage, but slowly overtakes the damage of most battleships. Efficient at destroying structures, and hostile capital ships, as its cruiser signature makes it resistant to fighter damage. Near-undisputed king of Abyssal PvP, but severely vulnerable to electronic warfare.

Heavy Interdiction Cruisers

Main article: Heavy Interdiction Cruisers

The role of Heavy Interdiction Cruisers ('HICs' or 'hictors') is heavy tackle. They have an extra 20% resist to increase their tank and are capable of fitting the Warp Disruption Field Generator, a module which can either project an Interdiction Field around the ship or be focused into an "infinity point", a single-target warp disruptor or scrambler that no number of Warp Core Stabilizers can resist.

In Wormhole space, HICs can also use the unique Zero-Point Mass Entangler module to nearly immobilize themselves but reduce their mass to that of a shuttle, for use in rolling Wormholes.

•  Devoter: Armor tank, and a better one than the Phobos, but 1 less midslot, which is significant in High and Lowsec where HICs usually fit sensor boosters to help them catch fast targets.
•  Onyx: Shield tank. Lower tank and speed than the Broadsword, but a lot more CPU, letting it fit a probe launcher. Additionally, in empire where HICs usually fit sensor boosters, it has a very hard time properly plugging its EM resist hole.
•  Phobos: Armor tank. The Devoter tanks better, but the Phobos has an extra midslot, making it better at catching fast targets in Empire with an extra sensor booster.
•  Broadsword: Shield tank. Better speed and resists than the Onyx, at the price of CPU for utility mods.

Logistics Cruisers

Logistics Cruisers are extremely powerful remote-repair cruisers, intended to provide powerful support and sustenance to allied fleets. All of these ships also have very high damage resistances, small signature radii, and extended range, making them difficult targets to destroy.

The Tech 2 Logistics Cruisers follow the same rules as their Tech 1 forms: Amarr, Gallente, and Triglavians repair Armor, Caldari and Minmatar repair shields; Amarr and Caldari ships rely on a Capchain, Gallente, Minmatar, and Triglavians rely on local cap regen. This means that Amarr and Caldari logistics cruisers are more vulnerable to ECM but that they are extremely resistant to Energy Neutralizers and can also send capacitor support to their allies; while the Gallente, Minmatar, and Triglavians are more vulnerable to Energy Neutralizers, and generally need to sacrifice some of their tank to maintain cap stability. The major functional difference between Tech 1 and Tech 2 Logistics Cruisers is that Tech 1 Logistics Cruisers are intended to only use 3 Medium Remote Repair modules, while Tech 2 Logistics cruisers are intended to use 4 Large Remote Repair modules.

The Zarmazd (Triglavian Logistics Cruiser) uses very different principles than other logi ships. In standard Triglavian fashion, the Zarmazd can only fit a single large armor repair module, but in exchange that module gains effectiveness the longer it is focused on a single target. To be precise, the Zarmazd's single Heavy Mutadaptive Remote Armor Repairer scales from the strength of 2 Large Remote Armor Repairers, up to the strength of 5 Large Remote Armor Repairers, over a 90-second ramp time. This makes the Zarmazd a good secondary logistics ship, but not good as a fleet's only logistic ship. Furthermore, also in standard Triglavian fashion, the Zarmazd also has multiple utility High slots (and thus can fit additional Small Remote Armor Repairers, Remote Capacitor Transmitters, or anti-Drone Smartbombs), and has a large drone bay and enough bandwidth to use multiple Heavy Drones.

Logistics Cruisers are much, much more heavily affected by the level of their ship skill than any other ship type. The Logistics Cruisers skill reduces the capacitor cost of remote repair modules by 15% per level. However, because the bonuses from multiple levels of a single skill are added together, this means that going from Logistics 0->I, gives only 15% reduced capacitor costs (100% -> 85%), but going from Logistics IV->V gives 37.5% reduced capacitor costs (40%->25%). For this reason, it is a generally accepted practice that any pilot intent on flying a Tech 2 Logistics Cruiser should have the Logistics Cruisers skill trained to IV at the absolute minimum, and V as soon as possible.

•  Guardian: Heavy armor, tiny signature, designed for capchain.
•  Basilisk: Heavy shields, designed for capchain.
•  Oneiros: Moderate armor, designed for local regen, bonus to Repair Drones and Remote Tracking Computers.
•  Scimitar: Moderate shields, designed for local regen, bonus to Repair Drones and Remote Tracking Computers.
•  Zarmazd: Heavy armor, designed for local regen. Single repair module that ramps up over 90 seconds. Multiple Utility high slots, and large drone bay for combat drones.

Flag Cruisers

Main article: Monitor

Flag Cruisers are the seats of fleet commanders, they have no combat ability but are exceptionally durable, allowing FCs to command their fleet without the risk of being headshot (the action of killing enemies FC first).

Monitor is the only Flag Cruiser. It can equip a target painter with essentially zero-strength and ridiculous range, allowing FCs to sign their name on enemies' kill mails.

•  Monitor

Strategic Cruisers

Main article: Strategic Cruiser

Strategic Cruisers, or T3 Cruisers, are advanced and highly customizable ships that in many cases are more comparable to Battlecruisers than cruisers. Their choices in subsystems allow them to fill similar roles to almost any other type of cruiser or battlecruiser, potentially fill multiple roles at the same time, and reconfigure themselves to completely change roles, in space, using a Mobile Depot.

•  Legion: Thick armor, choice between lasers and a mix of missiles and drones. Energy Neutralization as EWAR of choice
•  Tengu: Thick shields, choice between missiles and railguns. Extreme damage with Heavy Assault Missiles, but is mostly locked to kinetic damage. ECM as EWAR of choice
•  Proteus: Blasters and armor. Unpopular due to strange subsystems, but has a niche use in cloaky smartbombing. Warp Disruption as EWAR of choice
•  Loki The most popular and versatile of strategic cruisers. Shields or armor, projectiles or missiles. Stasis Webification as EWAR of choice

Rare/Unique Cruisers

•  Adrestia
•  Bestla: Prize ship for Alliance Tournament XVIII
•  Etana
•  Guardian-Vexor
•  Mimir
•  Moracha
•  Opux Luxury Yacht
•  Rabisu
•  Vangel