The Frigates of EVE Online, page 2
Instead, they focused on producing an incredibly vicious electronic attack frigate specialized in capacitor warfare. After stripping out the Crusader’s weapons disruption hardware, engineers at Viziam were left with almost half the vessel’s interior space to work with, and managed to squeeze in enough energy neutralization and vampire hardware to make the Sentinel a genuine threat even to battleship-class vessels.
While marginally slower due to increased mass from additional onboard hardware, the Sentinel still vastly outpaces its intended targets, which are vessels of larger class and design. After a number of brutal engagements with the Republic Fleet during the initial deployment of the Sentinel as part of Amarr Navy integration, Matari officers and commanders have significantly adjusted their engagement guidelines in an attempt to counter the Sentinel. Whether or not this will lead to a long term counter for this adaptable vessel is still yet to be seen.
Crucifier Navy Issue
With half the drone capacity and a third less operating bandwidth, the Crucifier Navy Issue focuses more on outright energy weapon damage and disruption of hostile tracking systems than versatility.
While less flexible in terms of its capability to field drones, the Crucifier Navy Issue benefits from a second layer of 200 mm Amarr Navy tungsten carbide armor plating, which doubles the effectiveness of its outer hull in providing protection for the sensitive electronic countermeasures hardware inside.
Born of an era that has seen repeated crises for the Empire over the course of the last decade, the Crucifier Navy Issue is the first frigate of Imperial design to ever be drafted for capsuleer use first, with traditional navy use as an afterthought.
While almost identical to the regular Crucifier, save for several small tweaks to focus its subsystems more toward weapons disruption at close range, the Crucifier Navy Issue is considered far more valuable by independent capsuleers, and sells on the open market for considerably more than the standard hull variant.
“The Crucifier is old hat. A frigate for an era now consigned to the history books. A simple glance over her service record for the last fifty years shows that we should have reviewed her suitability for flight status four decades ago.
This is unacceptable, and I will not tolerate the officers and engineers of my navy resting on their laurels while those animals across the border in their so-called Republic bolster their fleet. We can ill afford another Mekhios. I expect results, gentlemen.”
Kezti Sundara
Grand Admiral, Amarr Navy
AMARR EMPIRE
PROPULSION
Amarr Constructions DC-XV
Fusion Propulsion System
– Amarr Constructions “Fable XIV” FTL Assembly
– 2× Dual Coil Primary Fusion Units
ENGINEERING
– Dual Light Service Amarr Navy Type XI Antimatter Reactors
– 8× Carthum Conglomerate D-XI Tesseract Capacitor Banks
– Dual Viziam “Clara” Nanoelectrical Microprocessing Suite
– Amarr Navy “Legion” F-XI Radar Sensor Cluster
DEFENSE
– Single Stage Amarr Navy 280 mm Tungsten Carbide Armor Skin
– Dual Superlight Carthum Conglomerate “Seraph” Nanorepair Pumps
– Carthum Conglomerate LD-30 Linear Shield Emitter
OFFENSE
– 3× Imperial Armaments “Trinity” LEV-III Turret Hardpoint Pairs
EXECUTIONER
Designed specifically to counter the small, fast frigates of the Minmatar Republic, the Executioner is built with a different philosophy to most other Amarr hulls, favoring speed over defensive capability, with subsystems specifically tuned toward sustained firepower and optimal power efficiency for propulsion jamming.
Taking the best design principles from the Imperial Navy Slicer, the Executioner was designed as a fast interdiction platform to support Amarr Navy cruiser and destroyer squadrons on the battlefield, providing brutal punching power for its size, and serving as an interdiction platform that can outrun most Matari frigates when correctly configured.
Even to the untrained eye it can be seen that the Executioner is a direct descendant of the Slicer, with many of its subsystems either directly transplanted into the Executioner’s hull, or serving as a basis for a hardware variation that provides optimum efficiency for the Executioner’s role.
The Amarr Navy’s design objective for the Executioner was to produce a more modern vessel that was equally as agile and efficient as the Slicer. In addition to this, requirements for the design were for the new vessel to be more easily mass-manufactured, maintained, and replaced if necessary. The result of these efforts was a frigate that takes on a partially modular construction beneath its outer skin, which is highly adaptable to being fitted for a wide variety of applications.
Full-size dual reactors serve the Executioner rather than the subcompact units used in the Slicer, providing the additional power footprint required for the installation of a third Trinity model LEV turret hardpoint. In addition to this, many of the Slicer’s redundancy systems are removed to reduce mass and electronic resonance footprint, effectively reducing the Executioner’s signature radius and ultimately making it a more difficult vessel to track.
While the vessel itself is larger by almost a third and the full-size reactors do contribute additional mass to its subframe, the Executioner is still able to reach a higher maximum sublight velocity than the Slicer given the inclusion of recently developed propulsion vectoring hardware, and the inclusion of more efficient power-enhanced generators, four of them serving each of the two propulsion units.
TYPICAL USAGE
From the day that it entered service, the Executioner has served the Empire as a front line weapon in the fight against both the Blood Raider Covenant and the Minmatar Republic, racking up countless confirmed kills over the course of its two-decade-long career with the IAF so far.
Seen in service across every branch of the Imperial Armed Forces, the Executioner is also utilized extensively by private military contractors and many notable Imperial corporations as part of their standard security detail.
Within the Imperial Armed Forces, the Executioner is seen as the main step on the ladder toward the prestigious assignment of piloting an Imperial Navy Slicer, with many of the Imperial service personnel who now fly the Slicer able to trace their roots back to the early days of the Executioner’s service life.
The Executioner’s availability on the open market has also led to its use as a standard security patrol vessel by many independent corporations who operate within the Empire, with its cheap running and maintenance costs, plus long reactor and propulsion service intervals also making it a popular vessel among newly graduated independent capsuleer pilots.
Given its widespread popularity, the Executioner has been developed into two advanced hulls, with both Carthum Conglomerate and Khanid Innovation offering hard-hitting, fast, and well-armored variants of this ever-popular hull.
VARIATIONS
Crusader
Taking the lightweight, stripped-out nature of the Executioner to a further extreme, Carthum Conglomerate modified its blueprint under subcontract from the Sarum Family in order to produce a security patrol and interdiction frigate that would complement its already extensive fleet.
The result was the Crusader, an interceptor with a higher sublight maximum velocity than the Executioner, an additional turret hardpoint for a total of four, and additional warp core shielding which renders it immune to all but the most focused of warp disruption hardware.
The Crusader retains the Executioner’s advanced propulsion-jamming, power-saving technologies and also includes additional shielding around the propulsion system to reduce the Crusader’s infrared signature when using microwarp drive systems.
Malediction
The Malediction marks a first in Amarr starship design in that it represents what appears to be the first iteration on an already established advanced hull—the Crusader. In what was believed to be a shortcut to compete with Carthum’s new interceptor solution, Khanid Innovation apparently took the Crusader’s blueprint and used it to directly develop a competing vessel for the mass market.
While Khanid Innovation vehemently denies accusations that this is the case, the similarities between the two vessels, which according to Khanid engineers were developed completely independently at the same time, are striking.
The Malediction has since become an incredibly popular vessel, sporting a similar method of warp core shielding as the Crusader that works to the same end, and retaining the Executioner’s propulsion-jamming power-management system. The vessel does however include significant defensive upgrades in comparison to the Crusader, with the repair capillaries of its armor plating bored out to give a higher flow rate, increasing armor resistance across the board.
Typical of Khanid designed vessels, the Malediction also completely scraps the turret subsystems found on vessels of Imperial design, instead sporting a trio of Lai Dai designed “Arbalest” light missile hardpoints.
“What you see before you, Lords and Ladies, is a new generation of frigate-class hull, designed for a new age in interstellar warfare. Some of you may recognize her profile. She should be familiar to any of you who have served in the Imperial Armed Forces.
Make no mistake, however: This is not simply a low cost replica of the Slicer. While less durable, this vessel moves faster, strikes harder, and is far easier to maintain as well as cheaper to replace, if necessary. I’m proud to present the newest weapon in the fight against Matari insurgents: the Executioner.”
Olin Sacaini
Chief Technical Adviser, Amarr Navy
AMARR EMPIRE
PROPULSION
Amarr Constructions NR-XXI Fusion Propulsion System
– Amarr Constructions “Nereut XII” FTL System
– 2× Amarr Constructions AC-XXI Fusion Units
ENGINEERING
– Amarr Navy Type VI Antimatter Reactor
– 12× Carthum Conglomerate C-XI Tesseract Capacitor Banks
– Viziam “Opta” Nanomechanical Microprocessing Suite
– Amarr Navy “Legion” XX-IV Radar Sensor Cluster
– Carthum Conglomerate “Paladin VII” Nanite Projection Maintenance Subsystems
DEFENSE
– Twin Stage Amarr Navy 250 mm Tungsten Carbide Armor Skin
– Dual Carthum Conglomerate “Guardian VII” Nanorepair Pumps
– Carthum Conglomerate LD25 Linear Shield Emitter
OFFENSE
– 2× Imperial Armaments “Trinity” LEV Turret Hardpoint Sets
– Amarr Navy GR-V Supplementary Drone Control Coprocessor
INQUISITOR
A sturdy, robust frigate that was developed from the blueprint of the Tormentor, the Inquisitor shares many of its basic subsystems with its older but notably smaller brother. While the Tormentor is focused on remaining light and agile for a vessel of Amarr design, the Inquisitor focuses on staying power and the ability to outlast any other frigate on the field. Consequently, it has remained the heaviest standard frigate chassis in active service anywhere in the cluster since its introduction roughly forty years ago, tipping the scales against even the Gallente designed Navitas, and the Caldari State’s Kestrel.
In its early years of service with the Amarr Navy, the Inquisitor saw extensive combat deployment with the Seventh Fleet under the command of Vanazir Saracen, who lauded its design as part of the task force providing border defense against both Matari freedom fighters and the threat of raids by the Blood Raider Covenant. Over the course of its service life, the Inquisitor has also become a favorite among navy pilots who have previously flown the Tormentor, due to the fact that many of its flight avionics systems and engineering subsystems are familiar as solid evolutions of the Tormentor’s hardware.
Since its introduction, the Inquisitor has been used in a variety of roles, including deployment as fire support for large strike groups, point defense for border control, and as an antifrigate platform for both the Amarr Navy and the Imperial Guard. It was only when it was mated with nanite projection subsystems designed by Carthum Conglomerate after the Elder Fleet invasion of the Amarr Empire in YC110 that the Inquisitor found its true calling as a durable and versatile logistics support frigate.
Finally, in YC114, having been embroiled in a harrowing, extensive four-year proxy war with the Minmatar Republic after CONCORD’s authorization of the Emergency Militia War Powers Act, the Amarr Navy recognized the growing need for a dedicated frigate-class support and logistics platform. This led to the redesign and redeployment of the Inquisitor as a fully fledged remote logistics and support frigate that now serves with every branch of the Imperial armed forces.
After a full hardware revision, the Inquisitor’s role is now exclusively devoted to acting as a support frigate, and its formerly renowned missile capabilities have given way to a focus on nanite projection for armor repair, with a pair of turret hardpoint sets to provide basic defensive capabilities.
TYPICAL USAGE
The design of the Inquisitor was the result of a marriage between tried and tested technology from the Tormentor class, and new technologies that were a result of blossoming trade relations between the State and Empire. The development of several of the Inquisitor’s subsystems was born of a collaboration between engineers from the recently formed Carthum Conglomerate, the Amarr Navy, and Lai Dai, at a time where the Caldari economy was experiencing a period of unprecedented growth.
The result was a frigate of Imperial design that sported advanced missile based weapons subsystems and stronger than usual shielding, combined with armor weighted for the subframe of a destroyer rather than a frigate-class vessel.
Used as a front line fire support vessel in Amarr Navy operations across the Empire, the Inquisitor became almost as well known as its older brother, but with a much stronger reputation for leaving burning wreckage in its wake after a swift flurry of missile fire. Over the course of its first thirty years of service, the Inquisitor became notorious as both a fearsome and durable missile platform, and represented the first successful marriage of Amarr-Caldari technology to emerge from the shipyards of the Empire.
As well as being utilized as a front line support vessel for the Amarr Navy, the Inquisitor has also served many years as a core part of both the Imperial Guard and Theology Council’s lineup of combat vessels, and has been a favorite of the Kor-Azor and Kador family fleets since its introduction to the ranks of the Imperial Armed Forces.
The tide turned in a single day for the Inquisitor, however, when this frigate with a reputation as a durable damage dealer was deployed in the wake of the Elder Fleet attack on Mekhios with orders to assist in the defense and repair of vessels caught in the firefight. Its durability and speed ensured that it performed reliably as a point defense platform, but more notably as a frigate-sized remote repair platform that was responsible for saving quite literally millions of lives during the cleanup operation known as Operation Safe Haven.
The success of Operation Safe Haven and the number of lives saved was largely attributed to the Inquisitor’s ability to penetrate deep into the debris field that became known as the Mekhios Graveyard, affecting any repairs possible and preparing trapped crewmen for evacuation.
In the wake of its solid performance in a support role, and with a pending blueprint review of the Coercer class destroyer along with rumors of the development of another class of destroyer, the Inquisitor was reengineered to serve the Imperial Armed Forces as a fully fledged frigate-sized support platform, filling a gap in the Empire’s support vessel lineup.
While it sacrificed much of its offensive capability, switching out those now legendary missile subsystems for a pair of turret hardpoints utilized by its older brother, the Inquisitor was given a new lease on life and still remains in popular demand across the cluster for its remote support capabilities.
VARIATIONS
Deacon
Building on the success of past cross collaboration, Lai Dai and Carthum Conglomerate once again came together more recently to produce an advanced version of the Inquisitor that became known as the Deacon, after spending almost two years simply known as Project DH.
Weighing in at roughly the same mass as the Inquisitor, the Deacon possesses a far more advanced targeting subsystem, as well as stronger Amarr Navy Legion DFR radar systems that give a 50 percent increase in threat detection and classification efficiency. Improved reactor load capacity comes from a new generation of primary power coupling produced specifically for application in the Deacon that is able to interface with older reactor designs.
Carthum Conglomerate were able to repeat their success with the widely popular Guardian class logistics cruiser by downsizing much of the nanite projection technology for application in a frigate-sized hull, creating a frigate-class solution that, despite its size, mass, and durability, can keep pace with the fastest Imperial frigates, while also providing support for Imperial destroyers during border patrol duty.
Purifier
A relatively outlandish concept by Amarr design standards, the Purifier was the result of the need for a short notice solution to the development of the Hound class stealth bomber by Boundless Creation for the Republic Fleet, which took the Imperial Armed Forces completely by surprise.
The first indication that the Hound existed was during a border breach when Imperial vessels crossed into the Matari sovereign system of Auga in Heimatar. The Amarr Navy’s Third Fleet lost twelve Abaddon class hulls, several support vessels, and more than a quarter million active service personnel in an engagement that Republic Fleet records indicate lasted a total of seventeen seconds.
From this single incident, the need for the Purifier was born and in record time—a mere ten weeks—designs were drafted by Viziam using the already proven missile subsystems from the prelogistics revision of the Inquisitor, along with additional control hardware from the State. The result was a hybrid of hard hitting Lai Dai missile control hardware usually seen in the Raven class battleship, and legendary Amarr durability, as Viziam put the finishing touches on a chassis so durable that it was eventually scaled up to become the basis of the Dragoon class destroyer.
