Eight kills away from my 5,000th and I thought I'd take a moment and look at the Top Ten ships that I've used to explode people with. I've registered at least one kill with 138 different ships in Eve, at least according to one kill-board (I haven't looked at them all and they don't all keep track anyway), so I obviously enjoy variety. But what are the Top Ten?
Number 10: Dramiel (90 Kills, 22 Losses)
The Dramiel remains one of my favorite ships in Eve. And while it has gone in and out of favor more times than John Travolta, it has always been a consistently beautiful, deadly and versatile little death machine. A bugger to fly right and a challenge to fit, the Dram nevertheless achieves a good balance between other ships in the same class. The only reason I don't fly it more is the same reason I don't fly the Daredevil more - it is hard to get good fights in it. Flying one is like wearing a "kick me" sticker on your back. Which, even so, is fun to do sometimes. I especially enjoy the dual prop version.
Number 9: Hawk (93 Kills, 19 Losses)
I imagine most of these kills most have happened awhile ago, since me and the Hawk are not friends right now. I don't know why exactly, but we tend to let each other down a lot in fights. This is probably more about me than him, perhaps our styles don't match as well as they should? I'll keep trying, but for some reason I feel I should do better in this ship than I end up doing. This may be unfair.
Number 8: Hurricane (94 Kills, 14 Losses)
I started my Eve career as Caldari, which used to mean more than it does these days. So the Drake was my primary BC back in my Null days. I didn't start flying the Cane until more towards the tail end of that phase, so much of these kills happened in NPC space and the early start of my Low Sec career. I love the Cane and just flew one again last week until it got caught coming home in a gate camp. I believe that Cane was over two years old. It is the only ship on this list that I do not have at least one fitted right now in my hangar. I'll be fixing that as soon as I go shopping again.
Number 7: Daredevil (110 Kills, 27 Losses)
My favorite ship in Eve. If I was forced to fly only one ship it would be the Daredevil. The only reason I don't fly it more often, as I said above, is the challenge of getting good fights in it. Nothing clears local out faster than me popping on-grid in one of these (ok maybe the Sentinel lol). I had a good run in one yesterday until I forgot to rep and went into a fight with a blaster Comet already damaged, close fight, but I really needed that extra damage back.
Number 6: Kestrel (115 Kills, 32 Losses)
I bet almost all of these kills occurred in a very short period of time. There was a time, almost two years ago now, when you saw a lot of Kessies in Low Sec. You don't see as many today and it really isn't the ships fault, but things have moved away from them a little. Today is more about extremes and the Kessie is not an extreme kind of ship. Its day will come around again.
Number 5: Tristan (174 Kills, 114 Losses)
I love the fact that I have so many losses in this ship, it speaks so well to the incredible versatility of the Tristan. I bet that about half of those losses came from attacking ships that I had no business attacking with a Tristan. It does such a good job of Hero Tackle against bigger, meaner ships like Battleships and Battlecruisers and others. I can remember many times taking it in to hold targets for our gangs, holding out just long enough for someone else to get point. Such a great little ship. My favorite T1 Frigate right now. So versatile.
Number 4: Drake (338 Kills, 42 Losses)
I have 4 fitted Drakes in my hangar right now that haven't seen action in a long long time. Almost all of these kills came from my days in Null when the Drake was my go-to ship in many fleets. This was right at the start of the Drake Swarms, during the time when "can I bring a Drake" was a joke. It is sad what has become of it since those glory days, but it remains in my hangar waiting for its revival. I may fly some just for old-times sake this week.
Number 3: Slicer (351 Kills, 83 Losses)
The Slicer and the next ship on this list are my work horses these days. I love flying them both and they represent the two sides of that extreme balance I was talking about earlier. The Slicer represents the speed and distance side of the equation, a versatile and adaptable speedster that is surprisingly tough when it needs to be. The Slicer is an amazing ship and I love flying them. So much fun.
Number 2: Comet (402 Kills, 95 Losses)
And the Comet is the other side of that equation. Tough, dependable, versatile, a typically close-range fighter with the ability to project death at distance if need be. Fitted with blasters or rails the Comet is a beast that fits into a wide variety of situations and target selections. This is why it is so reliable a choice to undock in, because the target window is so wide. Whenever I feel the need to just get some fights, the Comet is typically my choice.
Number 1: Sacrilege (412 Kills, 17 Losses)
The Beast. Most of these kills came from a short period of time when I camped an entire system in Low Sec with this ship. I was on the verge of quitting Eve and my play-time was extremely limited, so I would log on for very short bursts of time and attack everything that was in that system with me. At stations, on gates, in belts, in missions, wherever and whoever was there I attacked them. Despite the fact that certain people thought I fitted it poorly, it sure racked up a lot of kills and died surprisingly seldom. Which is all that really matters. Funny, that stretch of time and the reaction of certain people to it, was ultimately what brought about Stay Frosty.
It won't be long and the Sac and the Drake will slip from this list. As they should. Who knows what other ships will take their place among the top ten during the next 5,000 explosions?
Just for yucks, here is the remaining list of ships in order of total kills: Condor (85), Astero (82), Crow (82), Broadsword (82), Nightmare (72), Caracal (71), Atron (68), Tormentor (68), Vagabond (65), Sentinel (63), Firetail (55), Manticore (54), Rokh (52), Stabber Fleet Issue (49), Breacher (48), Taranis (47), Enyo (44), Harpy (42), Merlin (42), Thorax (41), Slasher (41), Incursus (40), Hookbill (39), Worm (38), Rapier (38), Vengeance (36), Ares (35), Tempest (35), Zealot (35), Rifter (34), Moa (32), Wolf (32), Brutix (29), Svipul (28), Algos (28), Jaguar (28), Executioner (28), Sleipnir (27), Exequror (26), Sabre (25), Scorpion (25), Rook (24), Abaddon (24), Harbinger (23), Thrasher (22), Punisher (22), Ishkur (22), Devoter (19), Tornado (19), Vexor (18), Garmur (17), Corax (17), Flycatcher (15), Coercer (15), Myrmidon (14), Curse (14), Tengu (14), Cyclone (13), Succubus (13), Cynabal (13), Maller (11), Pilgrim (10), Retribution (10), Venture (10), Maulus (9), Osprey Navy (9), Nighthawk (9), Blackbird (9), and then a whole bunch with less than 10 kills each. Pretty much every ship below BS in Eve I've gotten at least one kill with. Except for the Crucifier and the Omen, which have yet to register a kill to one loss. Weird.