So later today the skill Minmatar Cruiser V completes and as it does I will lay claim to the Quadfecta of Tech II cruiser access. I still need tech II medium projectiles but that is next and followed by Minmatar battleships and large projectiles, but that is another post.
I was going to write a piece about the best/favourite ships in each class (and I still might someday) but that is too mundane for post #1988 so I had another thought, a question to ask and answer:
What's the skill that has given the best bang for the effort to train now that I have access to all four race's cruisers and frigates?
My answer has to be Battlecruisers V.
Why? Well, for a single race pilot the skill is nice to start with as it improves performance of your workhouse ships (Tech I battlecruisers) AND it opens up the way to the very useful and powerful Command Ships class. Its worth the ~25 days to train as is.
But once you start to crosstrain, this skill keeps giving immediate benefits. For example, all the tech I battlecruisers require their racial cruiser skill to III to fly, but derive all their bonuses from the Battlecruiser skill. This means you need a short couple days to train a new race's frigate skill to IV and cruiser skill to III and you get two fully bonused new battlecruisers opened to you.
Similarly, if you take the time to train another race's cruiser skill to V, you not only get access to their Tech II cruiser variants that you have trained for your primary race, you also get their Command Ships when you have Battlecruisers V. It feels like they require no extra training at all.
So in essence, in the long term, that 25 or so days to train Battlecruisers V is a huge win. Compared to trying to crosstrain other race's carriers, each one requiring racial Battleship to V. *groan*
Now, you could argue my assertion by pointing out that other skills have similar crosstrain benefits, such as Assault Ships, Recons, Heavy Assault Ships, etc in that they come for free in the new race as the basic frigate and cruiser skills are brought to V. However I counter that by pointing out that they do not benefit Tech I ships in any way unlike Battlecruiser V which is a staple skill of the newb and vet alike. Only Destroyers has similar properties but for much less powerful tech I and tech II hulls.
So readers, what skill do you think is the best reward for investment?
Posts
Oh that HAS to be advanced weapon upgrades V (including THE normal weapon upgrades V). Being able to fit the things you want to fit, on ANY hull. . .
ReplyDeleteYeah, I have to agree with Joost, though you make a pretty good argument as well for Battlecruisers V.
ReplyDeleteFox example, all the tech I cruisers require their racial cruiser skill to III to fly,
ReplyDeleteCouple of typos here:
For
battlecruisers not cruisers
Otherwise yeah you make a good case. If I had to pick a different skill I'd say Targeting. It's one of the first things I train on any new alt. By default the game let's you target just two things at once and that's horrible.
Fixed typos. :P
ReplyDeleteI'd go for important support skills first (because no matter what ship you're flying, there's no such thing as having too much PG/CPU/cap/tank), followed by the non-racial ship skills. So yeah, Battlecruisers, AFs, and so on.
ReplyDeleteBattlecruisers are useful, but I personally prefer the speed and agility of cruiser hulls. I trained all racial cruisers to 5 with t2 weapons, then got Logi, HAC, and Recon to 5 with HIC at 4 currently.. I can be helpful in every fleet, and it is never boring! Of course, without maxed support skills, you can't really benefit from T2 cruisers.
ReplyDeleteI think for a new player BC can be good, but current fleet doctrines (in DC at least) de-emphasize BC in favor of BS and cruiser hulls.
AWU 5, BC 5, Logi 5, Recon 5.
ReplyDeleteLogistics 5, though. If you are even a little serious about flying a logistics ship, you absolutely need this skill; it practically doubles your effectiveness in (what is in my opinion) the greatest class of force-multiplying support ships in EVE.
ReplyDeleteAfter that, I'd say Racial Cruiser 5, Battlecruisers 5, and Recon 5. Cruiser 5 opens up everything; between the other two, Recon makes a bigger difference, but you'll probably use BC more.
AWU 5 isn't nearly as useful as most people make it out to be. I trained it and I am glad I did, but I made out just fine before I got it.
For this hi-sec carebear/lo-sec target, the answer is clearly BC 5. The Command Ship (useful for making L4s a bit more interesting) then was icing on the cake.
ReplyDeleteI would have to say the Weapon Support Skills. Motion Prediction, Surgical Strike, Missile Bombardment and Warhead Upgrades to name a few; in conjunction with the Weapon Upgrades and Advance Weapon Upgrades Skills will provide benefits to almost any ship.
ReplyDeleteFor me it was getting three of the four racial cruisers to 5, which opened up Recons and HAC's.
ReplyDeleteNever-you-mind that I can barely afford them. :)
Followed by BC 5 which allows me to brawl with greater confidence in lolsec (no, that's not a typo).
As true as that is for FiS, the stationside set loves Margin Trading V and Production Efficiency V, I think.
ReplyDeleteIn many ways it depends what type of player you are. I'm going to go off the deep end and say Social V. Sure it's not sexy and it doesn't give you anything directly, but standing is something that is useful to most players at some point. Paying less taxes at a station, setting up a new jump clone or just accessing a new agent, all these things and the envy of your corpsmates. A short train to V, it's something that will continues to be benefit a char over time... well till you forget to update your clone and get podded.
ReplyDelete