Four more Frigates to unfairly judge based on enigmatic personal preferences born of daily use over an extended period of time, time once again. If you didn't catch the gist of that, in other words we have four more Frigates to review. Once again, and totally up-front, these reviews are solely based on my own personal opinions based on daily use over the past years of playing Eve.
I am, if anything, brutally honest. But fortunately the Navy Frigates represent the very best group of Frigates in Eve today. So these reviews will mostly be kind. Awww.
The Caldari Navy Hookbill
(8/10) The Hookbill and I have a long and storied history together. There are times when I seem to excel at flying the damn thing, and other times when it dies easily in a fire. I honestly have no idea what the difference between those two states of being might be. It perplexes me to no end. I am vexed. I am also currently on a rather long hiatus from flying the ship, a hiatus which will be coming to an end next week as I've fit up a few to undock in once more.
Don't get me wrong, I like the Hookbill. Dual webbed, 10mn AB, Light missiles or rockets, dual tanked, shield tanked, shield boosted, armor rep, mwd, the sky is truly the limit on how you choose to die in one of these things. It gets knocked down a peg or two in my book for once again representing the kind of ship that I will attack in almost anything else. The Hookbill, or HB as I often type it in chat, is not a ship that invokes much fear. That is both its strength and its weakness.
Strength: Versatility Weakness: Versatility
The Federation Navy Comet
(10/10) The Comet is one of my two go-to daily PvP ship, the ship I grab when I don't specifically have another ship that needs to be flown. The Comet is perfectly adapted to today's low sec environment. It is tough, moderately quick, with nice damage projection (in both rail or blaster configurations) and decent survivability. There is no other Frigate I won't engage when I am flying my Comet, a fact that is only shared by the next ship on this list. I may not win every one of those engagements, and I don't, but I go into each of them confident that I have a chance of winning.
I've fought 7-1 odds and cleared the field in my Comet. I've scored solo victories against every other Frigate in the game at one point or another. And probably all of the AFs as well. I've tackled Cruisers, Battleships, and every sort of thing in-between. The Comet is supremely gifted at being generally decent, and in the right hands, can be a force to be reckoned with. I prefer the rail fit variation, but I also fly the blaster one. Both are good for different reasons, but you will explode more often in the blaster fit.
Strength: Damage Projection & Survivability Weakness: Speed
The Imperial Navy Slicer
(10/10) My other go-to daily PvP ship is the fantastic to fly Slicer. Which is probably the most fun you can have in a ship. Seriously, if I wasn't trying so hard to bring diversity to my daily rounds, I'd fly the Slicer and Comet all the time. Both are more expensive than T1, but they both bring value worthy of their price tags. The Slicer is like the Jet Fighter of Eve, fast and furious for a little ship. Depending on your fit the little sucker can match any other ship in speed and damage projection.
The Slicer has one major downside, it is Amarr. And as such, it will kill you every so often from lack of cap. The Slicer is not intended for long, protracted fighting. Eventually all your mods will shut down and those bastards will get their webs on you! Most of my non-blobbed to death Slicer deaths have been from cap failure.
Strength: Speed Weakness: Cap
The Republic Fleet Firetail
(9/10) About a year ago I went thru a period of time when the FT was my go-to daily PvP choice and it rocked. I scored an awful lot of kills in it and it became a real joy to fly. At some point late last year, the FT became a death-trap for me. Since then, every single time I fit one up to fly, I get blobbed to death in it. Or have a Moa suddenly drop on me, or some other horrible fate. I'm convinced the darn thing is cursed.
But you shouldn't let my curse stop you from flying one. They are great little low sig radius ships that can do a lot of damage in a variety of ways. They are, truly, the direct descendant of the Rifter legacy.
Strength: Versatility and Sig Radius Weakness: Tank
Yes I know some of this series will most likely change next week, but then again, nothing really changes in Eve. The core remains the same. The details move around, and new things are introduced, but Eve remains a game of knowledge and odds. Especially in PvP. Know your enemy and weigh the odds.
That will never change.