EVE Online Minmatar Ships - Not as perfect as they seem

Minmatar Republic ships are often described as “flying space debris” and their design philosophy as “duct-tape and rust” but don’t let their scrapyard looks deceive you! Minmatar ships are among the fastest and most versatile spacecrafts in New Eden.

Table of contents

• EVE Online Minmatar Ships - What they can boast about
• EVE Online Minmatar Ships - Some of the drawbacks you need to know about  
• Frigates
• Destroyers
• Cruisers

EVE Online Minmatar Ships - What they can boast about

Minmatar ships are usually have fastest base speeds in every ship class and when fitted for speed and inertia they can easily kite any foe on the battlefield because its usually minmatar ships that control the range.

Most minmatar ships can be fitted in more ways than any other races’ ships which makes Minmatar far less predictable in PvP making it harder for the enemy to adjust fast. But such versatility comes at a cost, capable Minmatar pilot must have skills for both types of tanking, drones, missiles and projectile turrets if he wants to dominate the battlefield but in the end you will end up with a pilot that can cooperate in any kind of fleet with good understanding of all aspects of combat.

Minmatar ships also often have a spare high-slot for utility modules such as secondary weapons or energy drain weapons, are harder to lock due to smallest signature radius and thanks to high scan resolution can lock onto targets fast. Combination of those small things make Minmatar ships one of the mostly picked crafts for PvP.

EVE Online Minmatar Ships - Some of the drawbacks you need to know about  

Minmatar ships, however, come with few major drawbacks. Their low sensor strength make them very susceptible to ECM jams and their low capacitors make it hard to fit a proper active tank. Minmatar racial e-war is also the weakest of the bunch, Target Painting which increases target signature is rarely use as it does not give as perverse advantage as, for example, ECM jams. Minmatar ships usually also have pretty low EHP when compared to other races’ ships.

Minmatar combat vessels use projectile weapons that, unlike other turrets, don’t use capacitor to fire and can deal any type of damage. Just as with any other turrets, projectile turrets come in two types; short range Autocannons with amazing tracking speed and high dps and slow long range Artillery that has probably the highest alpha-damage potential of all the turrets.

Below we will go briefly through all the tech 1 minmatar combat ships beginning with frigates (excluding rookie ship).

Frigates

Breacher:
This tech1 long range missile boat is rarely used (unlike its Tech 2 counterpart) since its not as effective as missile ships of other factions such as Caldari Kestrel

Burst: 
Burt is your first minmatar logistic ships designed for remote shield repair. Makes for a capable logistics training ship, especially for those that plan on using Scythe and Scimitar in the future.

Probe:
Probe is a standard Tech 1 exploration frigate. Good for newbies wanting to train probing in high-security system. Thanks to hacking and archeology cycle time bonuses and four medium slots it's a very capable entry-level exploration ship. Unfortunately small capacitor limits the MWD usability.

Rifter:
Iconic Minmatar combat frigate. Great for Tech 1 mission running and small-scale pvp brawl, not as good at tackling as Slasher or Merlin but thanks to a balanced slot layout: 4 high, 3 mid, 3 low, you can fit this legendary ship in various ways.

Slasher:
Most likely fastest tackle frigate, thanks to damage and tackle bonuses and balanced layout Slasher can do way more than just tackle making it perfect for small scale pvp fights.

Vigil:
Tech 1 EWAR ship of the Republic. Altho it’s the fastest standard T1 frigate making for a decent tackler with 5 mid slots the target painter bonus is basically a waste since stacking the painter effects has diminishing returns. Rarely used.

Destroyers

Talwar:
Rocket/light missile boat designed to fight friagets or other destroyers. Thanks to unique bonus to signature radius increase when using MWD its the fastest destroyers. Destroyers are not really used outside PvE, except for talwars, a fleet of those destroyers can make a quick work of carrier fighters or tackle down enemy frigates really fast. Thanks to rockets and light missiles Talwars are effective at short/mid range and able to deal any kind of damage possible.

Thrasher:
The original Minmatar destroyer, effective anti-frigate ship used to plow through Level 1 missions, rarely seen in pvp or fleet warfare. It’s pretty cheap and can deliver quite a punch so often used by suicide gankers.

Cruisers

Bellicose:
Minmatar EWAR cruiser with target painter bonuses. Not really used much for pure electronic warfare. Fortunately enough Bellicose has a secondary combat bonus for Rapid Light missiles, Heavy Assault Missile Launchers, and Heavy Missiles. This unique combat capability compensates for inferior EWAR capabilities.

Rupture:
This rusty flying brick is favorite mission runner of many Minmatar pilots. Thanks to flexibility of tanking options (good as active armor tank or buffer shield tank), artillery bonuses and large drone bay Rupture can plow through level 2 missions like a hot knife through butter. Due to its versatility Rupture is also commonly used in PvP.

Scythe:
First “real” logistics ship. Bonuses to shield repair give Scythe cap self-sufficiency up to 3 medium shield transporters.

Stabber:
Fastest T1 cruiser in New Eden but with limited grid and CPU as well as drone bay. Treated more like a “big frigate” than a cruiser. Good practice vessel for speed tanking, amazing anti frigate setup, and only cruiser capable of tackling often used for solo PvP skirmishes.