The Beginner's Guide to Building Capital Ships in Eve Online

Large Space Going Vessels

Capital hips are the large workhorses of the Eve Online universe. They can be freighters, jump freighters, carriers, dreadnaught or Titans. (Titan class ships are currently the only type of ship capable of carrying Doomsday devices.)

The one thing all Eve Online capital ships have in common is their large size. They are not intended to be the fastest ships in the galaxy, but they can either do a lot of damage or carry a lot of cargo depending on your needs. The carrier, while capable of defending itself, fits more into a category of ship that carries a special kind of cargo that makes it one of the largest threats in the space lanes.

The Knowledge You’ll Need

Once a player has gathered together the needed materials and Isk to build a capital ship, he must have the appropriate skill levels. The skills required according to the Eve Online wiki are:

• Mechanic V
• Industry III
• Production Efficiency V
• Manufacturing (Skill Level Varies by the type of ship you want to build.)

Skill Levels of Manufacturing Required

• Freighters – I
• Carriers and Dreadnaughts – III
• Capital Industrial Ships – IV
• Titans – V

Jump Freighters ad Freighters require the same level of manufacturing skill to produce. Jump Freighters sacrifice cargo space for additional engine power and greater speed. They will not hold as much cargo as their larger frigate cousins.The skills required to pilot each ship depend on the specific type of ship and the player’s race.

Building Costs

• 

  Freighters: 800-900 Million Isk

• Jump Freighters: 4 Billion Isk

• Carriers: 700-900 Million Isk

• Dreadnaughts: 1.4 to 1.6 Billion Isk

• Titans: More than 17 Billion Isk

• Motherships: Approximately the same cost as Titans

There are the most common types of capital ships that players will make. Players can also make the Rorqual and Motherships if they so desire. The Titans are by far the largest type of capital ship in the Eve Online universe.

Capital Ships Canot Be Stored in Other Capital Ships

The size of these ship means that you cannot store them in other ships, even if a titan should, at least in theory, have enough storage space to hold some of the freighters. Smaller ships may be carried within capital ships. This is the primary purpose of carriers, to bring smaller ships into the fight.

Jump-Ship Capabilities

Most of thee ship come equipped with their own jump engine. The only exception is the larger freighters which must use the normal warp gates. In fact, capital ships cannot use jump gates. All you need is the correct type of fighter for your racial faction. The fuels are listed below.

• Amarr: Helium Isotopes
• Caldari: Nitrogen Isotopes
• Gallente: Oxygen Isotopes
• Minmatar: Hydrogen Isotopes

Differecnes Between Building Capital Ships and Other Types of Ships

Other than their size, the major difference is the amount of hit points these structures have. The toughest battleship may have 10,000 hit points while the smallest freighter starts at 15,000. (Although the shields and the weaponry available on the battleship will sometimes give the battleship more than enough of the power it needs to take out a small freighter.)

It should also be noted that a player with Caldari Titan V will only be able to pilot Caldari Titans. The same holds true for all other racial skills. You must learn the proper racial skill for the larger capital ships tied to a specific faction. The Doomsday weapons for each faction, nice though they are, can only be fitted on a Titan of the proper faction. (Keep in mind that a battleship with enough shields can sometimes survive a shot from one of these weapons. Some Megathron builds are known to withstand Doomsday weapons.)

Because of their size and space lane regulation, most capital ships, with the exception of frigates, cannot use jump gates. Because most of these ships have their own jump engines, this does not present a huge obstacle to their use.