Capsuleers!
The countdown to EVE Online: Havoc - the upcoming second major expansion for EVE in 2023 - continues with this third installment of the Havoc in Focus series, giving you early insight into more specific elements of the expansion due 14 November. Havoc will introduce the brand-new Angel Cartel Khizriel-class battlecruiser, the Guristas Alligator-class battlecruiser, and the long-awaited Angel Cartel Azariel-class titan. The recently added new Angel and Guristas destroyers will also be touched on in this article. These stunning new ships were unveiled in detail at EVE Fanfest 2023 to much excitement. Get the lowdown on these pirate ships as they are discussed throughout this article, in the video below, as well as on stream via CCP TV at 16:00 UTC on 26 October! [previewyoutube=gdAHilZdDaw;full][/previewyoutube]THE PIRATE FLEET – DESTROYERS AND BATTLECRUISERS
The appeal of pirate spacecraft is never far from the dream of representing the pirate factions in New Eden, and the new ships being introduced in Havoc will absolutely fuel that fantasy, along with staying true to offering unique bonuses and challenges to unlock as with other pirate ships in EVE. The Angel Cartel and Guristas pirate factions will be getting new battlecruisers when Havoc is launched, and the new destroyers for both factions are already in the game, with BPCs available to those who have successfully carried out all the necessary tasks in the Awakening Zarzakh event. The Guristas have the Mamba-class destroyer, which is based on the Corax, as well as the upcoming Alligator-class battlecruiser based on the Drake hull. Both the Mamba and the Alligator share the same missile firepower as the hulls they are based on, while also having Guristas drone boat bonuses and shield resistances, making them incredibly durable and also capable of delivering significant damage at the same time.
The Angel Cartel has the Mekubal-class destroyer and the upcoming Khizriel-class battlecruiser, both of which are completely new hulls. The Mekubal and Khizriel feature high projectile DPS and fall off bonuses, while also boasting the high level of mobility capsuleers would expect from Angel ships, with warp speed bonuses and top speeds for their class.
These are the first pirate faction destroyers and battlecruisers introduced into EVE that capsuleers can fly, and they are ships that the community has wanted for some time. Adding them into the Havoc expansion builds on the introduction of navy issue destroyers and battlecruisers in 2022’s Uprising expansion. The design and balance of these pirate destroyers and battlecruisers takes strong inspiration from existing pirate craft, for example the Guristas Alligator battlecruiser could be seen as a merging of the Caldari Drake-class battlecruiser hull and the Guristas Gila-class cruiser in terms of attributes.
The Guristas Mamba and Alligator share the same slot layouts as the Corax and the Drake respectively. As for the Angel ships, the Mekubal has a high/mid/low slot layout of 6/3/4, and the Khizriel has a 7/5/6 layout, meaning that these new Angel ships are fairly flexible to be either armor or shield tanked.
The battlecruiser and the destroyer BPCs will be in the Pirate Insurgent Loyalty Point Stores come 14 November and the release of Havoc, and capsuleers will be able to exchange Pirate Insurgent LP obtained from Pirate Insurgency activities for those BPCs.
AZARIEL ARISE – ANGEL TITAN
If pirate destroyers and battlecruisers were ships that capsuleers were hungry for, then they were positively ravenous for the Angel Cartel titan that was introduced some years ago in the form of concept art! Effectively the Angel logo viewed from above and turned into a ship design, that concept art has often been referred to by those wishing to see the Angel titan take actual form within EVE. In the Havoc expansion, the Angel Cartel will finally roll out their long-awaited titan, the Azariel. Although the ship is based on older concept designs, there was always something promising there to work with, and further concepts were produced based on subsequent passes made on those original designs. Modified to reflect the standard seen in today’s EVE ship designs, inspiration for all the new Angel ship designs was drawn from sources such as animal skulls and insect armor plates, and thus the Azariel was born.
This pirate behemoth maintains one of the signature Angel Cartel ship bonuses to warp speed, which at first glance may not make a great deal of sense for a ship the size of a titan, however it works very well for a specific type of gameplay. Its warp speed bonus will allow the Azariel to get safe from hazardous circumstances in a shorter time, giving it something of an edge. With its extremely high projectile turret DPS – second only in the titan ecosystem to the Vanquisher – it has the highest potential alpha strike of all EVE ships. That ability to get in and out quickly, applying a monstrous amount of immediate DPS in alpha, makes the Azariel the ultimate hyper dunking titan.
The Azariel BPC will be available in the Angel Cartel Pirate Insurgent LP Store, and over the last couple of years, pirate faction titans have had a wide range of build materials, cost, and methods of acquisition. The addition of the Azariel, another pirate titan, meant that there was an opportunity to simplify the field, make balancing easier, and make the titans comparative to one another – ultimately to make sure these ships are reasonable to acquire and build.
As a result, the build materials for pirate titans have been adjusted to be equivalent to that of a Tech I titan. This simplification means that the building of a Vanquisher, Azariel, or Komodo pirate titan will require as much material as that of an Erebus or Leviathan.
With the build materials coming down, the intention of keeping pirate titans as the pinnacle ships in EVE meant that some of that pirate titan premium had been moved to the blueprint acquisition cost. These BPCs have been expensive to source, many of them only being obtainable from pirate shipyard sites. In the case of the Serpentis Vanquisher-class titan – only available through the Serpentis LP Store – the majority of its cost was in its build materials, with a comparatively cheap blueprint cost. Consequently, the base cost of the LP needed to purchase its BPC was increased at the same time as the reduction in build materials. Having that upfront premium means that changes to a ship’s position in the ecosystem based on their valuation will be more impactful, and not dependent on the alteration of blueprint materials.
Come 14 November, the mighty Azariel from the Angel Cartel will claim its place in the formidable titan ecosystem, and its monstrous DPS and killer looks promise to make it every bit as special as capsuleers have been hoping since those original concept drawings were shared. A lot of love has been put into the Azariel, both in terms of design and aesthetics. We can’t wait to see it in space, and in your hands!
