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Capital Ship Basics

Capital Ship Basics

Capital Ships

Overview

Capital ships are used very frequently in Minmatar Fleet Alliance. We are one of the few alliances that isn't afraid of losing them. We will drop capitals in almost every situation where they help — even with limited intel.

This guide is the entry point for capital pilots. It covers our philosophy, how capital escalations work, and many of the other things you need to know before picking a hull.

Philosophy

Many alliances use capitals strictly as a strategic asset, largely something you use when you have intel on the fight and are confident that you're going to get them out.

We do not. Our philosophy is different.

We are a young alliance focused on growth and learning. As such, capital ships are just like any other ship for us — they're ammo to learn with and have fun with. The majority of the time, we go into a fight with no expectation of extracting.

Reading that is probably a bit alarming. "Wait, they're wanting me to feed tens of billions every single week?" Yes, but with a caveat: this is our alliance philosophy, therefore it's our duty to build an ecosystem where you can very easily generate enough ISK to pull that off.

Escalation Chains

Most of our capital usage is an escalation chain, not a pre-staged capital blob.

Typical flow:

  1. Subcapital fleet finds or takes a fight, often supported by carriers and a FAX.
  2. Enemy drops dread to kill our FAX.
  3. We answer with more dreads.
  4. They answer with more dreads.
  5. An extremely bloody fight occurs.

FAX, HAW dreads, and carriers usually start the chain. Anti-capital dreads escalate the chain.

Roles

Role Ship Class Who Flies It Recommended Ships
FAX Force Auxiliary Carrier Mains and dedicated alts Apostle, then Ninazu
AC Anti-capital dreadnought Mostly alts Revelation, RNI, or Zirnitra
HAW High Angle Weapons dreadnought Mostly alts Phoenix Navy Issue, Moros Navy Issue, Naglfar Fleet Issue
BLAP BLAP dreadnought Mostly alts Any dread, really
Carrier Carrier Mains and dedicated alts Archon, Nidhoggur, Thanatos

Income

Generating enough income to support your capital feeding habit is the most important thing you can learn, and it starts before you ever sit in your first dread.

Key considerations:

  • Capitals generally need a wallet of 10B before starting
  • Capitals typically cost you 1–3B after insurance and SRP
  • Capitals are generally used on alts (2–3 accounts)

Most capital pilots have three accounts, on average. The thing that people often miss is that once you start the road for capital ships, you need to leverage all of your accounts for income.

This continues to scale, even if you're someone like Casper Sullivan or Flooded who is running 10–15 accounts.

Once you've learned how to make ISK with multiple accounts, you're able to feed tons of capitals every single week without even caring.

Training Path

  • Dreadnoughts. Best trained on alts. Start with the Revelation, cross-train into laser battleships.
  • FAX. Best trained on mains and alts. Start with the Apostle. Add a Ninazu if you want a cheaper active hull for starting escalations.
  • Carrier. Best trained on mains and alts. Start with the Nidhoggur or Archon.

Once you've trained your skills, join the Capitals tribe.

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