Spaceships of Eve Online

Eve Online, a science fiction-themed massively multiplayer online game, features a wide variety of spaceships. Ships are organized into different classes based on size, characteristics, and intended role, with each class containing several ships (and variations thereupon). All vessels in-game are scaled to one another; some of the capital vessels, such as the Titan, are orders of magnitude larger than some of the smaller ships.

Ship characteristics
Each spaceship within the Eve universe has a different set of characteristics and can be fitted with different combinations of modules subject to their fitting requirements. With the notable exception of module slots, almost all of these characteristics may be further modified by modules and skills. In many cases, there are skills pertaining to a certain aspect that will affect every ship the player pilots.

Module slots
Each ship has three different types of standardized hardpoints, sorted by power rating (high-powered slots, mid-range slots, and low-powered slots). Generally speaking, offensive weapons and mining equipment are fitted to high-powered slots (which may also require an available turret or launcher hardpoint). Mid-powered slots are generally used for sensor boosters, propulsion-based modules, shield-affecting modules, and electronic warfare items. Low-powered slots are used for additional armor, armor repair units, cargohold expanders, and weapons upgrade and assistance modules.

Ships tend to have similar slots across classes; more powerful ships generally have more modules. It should be noted that more available slots does not necessarily guarantee more powerful weaponry; larger ships may have fewer slots, but have a significantly larger power grid and CPU, allowing much more powerful weapons to be fitted.

Rig slots
Rig slots, also called upgrade hardpoints, are special passive modules that upgrade a ship's performance in one area while (usually) penalizing it in another. For example, while the Bay Loading Accelerator I item increases the rate of fire of any mounted missile launchers, it increases the CPU requirements of the launchers. Generally speaking, training a higher skill level in the specific area will reduce the penalty.

Rigs are special in that, once fitted to a ship, they cannot be removed again. Repackaging a ship will destroy any rigs fitted, and they will never be found in the wreck of an obliterated vessel. Rigs thus function in a manner similar to implants: once "plugged in", they are removed from the game as a tangible commodity and remain a part of the ship until it is destroyed or repackaged.

Apart from requiring a free rig slot, every rig also has a certain calibration cost, varying from 50 to 300 points, which may be thought of as the rig version of power grid. Tech 1 ships generally (with the exception of pods, shuttles, rookie ships and freighters, which may not be customized with rigs at all) feature three rig slots and 400 calibration points, with faction ships having the same amount of slots, but only 350 calibration points. Tech 2 ships come with 400 calibration points, but only two rig slots.

Shuttles

 * The shuttle is the smallest ship type. It is agile, fast, and cheap, but suffers from poor defenses and a minuscule cargo capacity, and cannot be fitted with modules. Shuttles are the only ships that require no factional ship command skills to use.

Rookie ships

 * New players begin the game in their race's rookie ship, fitted with a very basic gun turret and mining laser. Although technically considered Frigate-class vessels, rookie ships are weaker and less customizable than regular frigates.

Frigates

 * The frigate class of ships consists of light and fast, but comparatively fragile ships. Players start with the ability to fly basic frigate-class ships. Generally frigates lack the durability or damage output of larger ship classes and are at most able to fit three to four small weapons. However, frigates are significantly faster and more difficult to hit than larger ships, and in large numbers, frigates can become dangerous to larger ship types.

Destroyers

 * Designed specifically for anti-frigate warfare, destroyers excel at mounting and utilising large numbers of low-powered small weapons, and eliminating small, agile targets. However, they are incapable of dealing significant damage to larger ships, as their defenses are too weak to survive engagements with larger ships, and they can be targeted by larger weaponry more easily.

Cruisers

 * Medium-sized vessels designed to perform a broad variety of functions, cruisers are larger and slower than frigates or destroyers, but are significantly more durable. Their increased power systems allow them to mount medium-sized weapons.

Industrial ships

 * Industrial ships are designed for cargo transport, and not combat. They are large, slow, and almost completely defenseless, but have large cargo holds.


 * The Orca, a sub-capital industrial ship, is the most recent addition to the Eve universe. It combines abilities of a capital industrial ship with the gang assistance of a command ship.

Battlecruisers

 * Battlecruisers fall between cruisers and battleships and are mostly designed with combat in mind. They are more durable, and capable of a larger damage output than a cruiser; however, they are also larger and slightly slower than cruisers and therefore easier targets for battleships and other large ships.

Battleships

 * Battleships are a fleet mainstay, and most experienced players will own at least one. Although they are slower than many combat-oriented ships, they are significantly more durable, and mount impressive firepower in the form of large weapons systems.

Mining barges

 * Designed specifically for efficient mining, mining barges are not race-specific but instead are badged as being created by Outer Ring Excavations ("ORE"). Mining barges are unarmed, though their large drone bays allow them to deploy a small number of combat drones that provide adequate defense in high-security systems. Mining barges are unique in that they are the only ships capable of fitting high-powered strip mining modules and ice miners.

Faction ships
There exist ships that are specific and unique to certain NPC factions. Faction ships are generally superior to their Tech I counterparts, though not necessarily better than similar Tech II. Requirements for piloting a faction ship tend to be much less than flying a Tech II counterpart vessel.

There are very few in-game sources for Faction Ships and their blueprints - Agents, Faction Spawns and Complexes. Due to this, many faction vessels are relatively rare. This scarcity often leaves Faction ships significantly more expensive than Tech II vessels.

Those faction ships that do not belong to one of the four Empire navies require ship command skills from more than one race.

Tech II ships
"Tech II" refers to ships and equipment that are upgraded, and more powerful versions of standard ships and equipment. Tech II ships are similar in appearance to their parent class, differing in the addition of extra slots, bays, or engines, and in the colour of the ship's skin. Tech II vessels have much improved capabilities and usually fill a highly specialized role. They require extensive specialization to fly or build, and supply is limited by the number of blueprints available and by rarer raw materials required to construct them. Examples of this class include Stealth Bombers, assault ships, transport ships and interceptors.

Tech II blueprints used to be made available only through a lottery system, however a newer process known as "invention" has made Tech II ships more readily available and less rare.

Tech III ships
"Tech III" ships were introduced to the Eve universe in the patch of March 10, 2009. They are modular in nature with each racial Tech 3 ship being able to be constructed from a hull and a choice of five subsystems in up to five sections (eg. propulsion, offense, electronics). The manufacturing of these new ship relies on materials discovered in new areas of space which will be accessed only by unstable wormholes guarded by new "Sleeper" NPCs.

Capital ships
Capital ships are very large ships designed for major operations found typically in medium to large sized player owned corporations. While a solo pilot may find a role for a freighter in trading, most capital ships are highly impractical for use without the support of other players. The combat-oriented capital ships are best used for fleet operations and suffer from substantial vulnerabilities if not properly supported. Motherships and titans, the two largest ship classes, are unable to dock in normal stations due to their size.

Freighters

 * Freighters possess the largest cargo holds of any ship class in the game, but are very large and travel very slowly, taking minutes on average to cross systems. Freighters are also entirely unarmed with no room for modification or expansion.

Jump Freighters

 * Jump Freighters are an increased form of Freighter. They are significantly faster and more agile, but lose a large portion of cargo bay in exchange for a jump drive, allowing it to jump between systems without the use of a stargate.

Capital Industrial Ship

 * Capital Industrial Ships are designed to assist mining operations and the movement of ore. The Rorqual has the ability to compress ore, making it smaller to transport, and give out bonuses to other miners nearby; and may also deploy a ship maintenance and clone bays once anchored.

Dreadnoughts

 * Dreadnoughts are combat behemoths, capable of mounting capital-sized weapons. Dreadnoughts are also vastly more durable than even the toughest battleships and heavy assault ships. They are designed for extended sieges of static installations, such as starbases or player-corporation owned stations.


 * Dreadnoughts also have the ability to enter siege mode, rendering them unable to move and effectively eliminating their tracking rate, but multiplying their offensive capabilities by five and defensive capabilities by four.

Carriers

 * Carriers are employed primarily to deploy super-heavy combat drones known as fighters, and also support allies with bonuses to remote repairing. Carriers can operate the fighters remotely and assign them to other commanders, allowing them to fill a role away from the immediate frontline. Carriers may enter triage mode, similar to the siege mode of dreadnoughts, to greatly increase their defenses and logistical capabilities, in exchange for their offensive power. Carriers carry a ship maintenance bay, and a small corporate hangar for storage.

Motherships

 * Motherships are similar to, but considerably larger than, carriers and are the second largest ships in the game. Motherships offer all the same features as a carrier, but in considerably greater amounts, and are completely immune to almost all forms of electronic warfare. Motherships contain a ship and items hangar, and can fit cloning vats. Motherships, along with Titans, are the only ships that cannot dock at a regular station, and so must dock at a Player Owned Station or permanently remain in space.

Titans

 * Titans are the largest ships available and are immune to any electronic warfare. They are the only ships capable of creating jump portals through the use of a Jump Bridge Array. Although their offensive power is overshadowed by Dreadnoughts, they are the only ship capable of utilizing doomsday devices - area-of-effect weapons that inflict heavy amounts of damage on every ship within a large radius, but prevent the Titan from jumping out of the solar system for 10 minutes, and take an hour to recharge.