The Minmatar Cyclone – Revised for Retribution

The Minmatar Cyclone has long been an unpopular PVP ship.  The primary reason for this was that it had retained the very old concept of “versatility”.  This was forced onto Minmatar pilots to fly a ship that could only mount 5 Projectile weapons, 3 Missile weapons, had only one damage bonus, and the tanking bonus to shield was cap heavy and obsolete.  Some solo or small gang configurations were possible, but relied heavily on overpowered shield boosters and cap boosters.  The DPS the Cyclone could field was rather quite poor, and was instantly regulated to non-existence when the Hurricane arrived on the scene.

Fast forward to Retribution.

Retribution changed the entire game for many battlecruisers, including those in the Minmatar lineup.  In the past, Minmatars were primarily Projectile users, with some need for missiles and drones to round out their damage capability.  This unfortunately meant that for a ship to be on part with those in other races who had to primary only one weapon system, Minmatar pilots using the Cyclone would have to do at least two, and ideally three.  Just to be competitive.

CCP Fozzie and CCP Ytterbium changed all that.  As tiercide rolled on, and frigates, then cruisers changed to something more likely, more reasonable, and more useful in actual PVP fights, the Cyclone finally got its just deserts…

As a missile boat.

Of course, if you are a Minmatar pilot who favored missiles over projectiles, you absolutely are going to have a bad time.  However, here are some PVP configurations that might give you a bit of an edge.

First off, we’re going to do a couple configurations without the ASB, mainly because passive tanks still handle larger engagements better.  That and the best configuration for the Cyclone is still passively tanked.

Heavy Assault Missile Configurations

[Cyclone, HAMs Passive w Guns]
Damage Control II
Ballistic Control System II
Ballistic Control System II
Ballistic Control System II
Signal Amplifier II

Experimental 10MN Microwarpdrive I
Warp Scrambler II
Large Shield Extender II
Large Shield Extender II
Adaptive Invulnerability Field II

Heavy Assault Missile Launcher II, Caldari Navy Mjolnir Heavy Assault Missile
Heavy Assault Missile Launcher II, Caldari Navy Mjolnir Heavy Assault Missile
Heavy Assault Missile Launcher II, Caldari Navy Mjolnir Heavy Assault Missile
Heavy Assault Missile Launcher II, Caldari Navy Mjolnir Heavy Assault Missile
Heavy Assault Missile Launcher II, Caldari Navy Mjolnir Heavy Assault Missile
425mm AutoCannon II, EMP M
425mm AutoCannon II, EMP M

Medium Anti-EM Screen Reinforcer I
Medium Core Defense Field Extender I
Medium Core Defense Field Extender I

Hammerhead II x5

This particular configuration is a short range, all DPS variant.  Oddly enough there is enough PG and CPU available that should you wish to improve your combat utility, you can switch out the 425mm ACs for Medium neutralizers, if you switch out the ACs for Neutralizers, you will lose about 65 DPS.  In its current form, you will produce about 619 DPS, with a passive tank holding at about 61k EHP.  The problem is that your effective combat radius is just at 20km and as such, I chose to use a warp scrambler instead of a disruptor for this configuration for the simple fact that you need to keep within a certain range to be effective.

Now as far as active configurations go, with the changes made to the ASB, you’re going to find that you might need a bit more to help you out.  However, that depends on your situation.  A solo operator in a Cyclone might throw this out:

[Cyclone, HAMs Active wGuns X2ASB]
Damage Control II
Ballistic Control System II
Ballistic Control System II
Ballistic Control System II
Co-Processor II

Experimental 10MN Microwarpdrive I
X-Large Ancillary Shield Booster, Cap Booster 400
Large Ancillary Shield Booster, Cap Booster 150
Adaptive Invulnerability Field II
Faint Epsilon Warp Scrambler I

Prototype ‘Arbalest’ Heavy Assault Missile Launcher I, Mjolnir Heavy Assault Missile
Prototype ‘Arbalest’ Heavy Assault Missile Launcher I, Mjolnir Heavy Assault Missile
Prototype ‘Arbalest’ Heavy Assault Missile Launcher I, Mjolnir Heavy Assault Missile
Prototype ‘Arbalest’ Heavy Assault Missile Launcher I, Mjolnir Heavy Assault Missile
Prototype ‘Arbalest’ Heavy Assault Missile Launcher I, Mjolnir Heavy Assault Missile
280mm Howitzer Artillery II, EMP S
280mm Howitzer Artillery II, EMP S

Medium Processor Overclocking Unit I
Medium Anti-EM Screen Reinforcer I
Medium Anti-Thermal Screen Reinforcer I

Hammerhead II x5

The above configuration produces about 506 DPS, just a hundred shy of best possible, while still retaining about 36k EHP shield and 1122 max shield boost.  The downside to this configuration is obviously the cargo space as well as some significant EM weakness.

This configuration dials back to just one X-Large ASB:

[Cyclone, HAMs Active]
Damage Control II
Ballistic Control System II
Ballistic Control System II
Reactor Control Unit II
Co-Processor II

10MN Microwarpdrive II
Faint Warp Disruptor I
X-Large Ancillary Shield Booster, Cap Booster 400
Adaptive Invulnerability Field II
Adaptive Invulnerability Field II

Heavy Assault Missile Launcher II, Caldari Navy Mjolnir Heavy Assault Missile
Heavy Assault Missile Launcher II, Caldari Navy Mjolnir Heavy Assault Missile
Heavy Assault Missile Launcher II, Caldari Navy Mjolnir Heavy Assault Missile
Heavy Assault Missile Launcher II, Caldari Navy Mjolnir Heavy Assault Missile
Heavy Assault Missile Launcher II, Caldari Navy Mjolnir Heavy Assault Missile
425mm AutoCannon II, EMP M
425mm AutoCannon II, EMP M

Medium Anti-EM Screen Reinforcer I
Medium Core Defense Field Extender I
Medium Core Defense Field Extender I

Hammerhead II x5

This was clearly the intended design spec because of how close the PG and CPU match up.  This particular active tank configuration produces 575 DPS, while holding onto 46k EHP and a shield boost value of 936.  This configuration can also be changed to use Meta 4 Destabilizers or a mix of one medium vamp with one medium destabilizer.  Either way, the Cyclone now has a nice pair of utility highs.

Heavy Missile Configurations

I really debated if I should put the severely reduced Heavy Missile variants because the damage is considerably less, and at this point in the game, I honestly have my doubts now as to their use outside of blog tactical combat.  If you working in a small gang or solo, you are going to be operating with the 24km killzone anyway, with the possibility of doing even upwards of 50% more damage than a Heavy Missile Launcher variant.

However, here’s a couple configs I came up with:

[Cyclone, HMLs Active]
Damage Control II
Ballistic Control System II
Ballistic Control System II
Reactor Control Unit II
Co-Processor II

Experimental 10MN Microwarpdrive I
Warp Disruptor II
X-Large Ancillary Shield Booster, Cap Booster 400
Adaptive Invulnerability Field II
Adaptive Invulnerability Field II

‘Arbalest’ Heavy Missile Launcher, Mjolnir Heavy Missile
‘Arbalest’ Heavy Missile Launcher, Mjolnir Heavy Missile
‘Arbalest’ Heavy Missile Launcher, Mjolnir Heavy Missile
‘Arbalest’ Heavy Missile Launcher, Mjolnir Heavy Missile
‘Arbalest’ Heavy Missile Launcher, Mjolnir Heavy Missile
650mm Artillery Cannon II, EMP M
650mm Artillery Cannon II, EMP M

Medium Anti-EM Screen Reinforcer I
Medium Core Defense Field Extender I
Medium Core Defense Field Extender I

Hammerhead II x5

This configuration has an effective combat range of 60km or below and a low DPS of 400.  The tank is still rather decent with 46k EHP coupled with a 936 HP boost.

[Cyclone, HMLs Passive]
Damage Control II
Ballistic Control System II
Ballistic Control System II
Ballistic Control System II
Signal Amplifier II

Experimental 10MN Microwarpdrive I
Warp Disruptor II
Large Shield Extender II
Large Shield Extender II
Adaptive Invulnerability Field II

Heavy Missile Launcher II, Mjolnir Heavy Missile
Heavy Missile Launcher II, Mjolnir Heavy Missile
Heavy Missile Launcher II, Mjolnir Heavy Missile
Heavy Missile Launcher II, Mjolnir Heavy Missile
Heavy Missile Launcher II, Mjolnir Heavy Missile
650mm Artillery Cannon II, EMP M
650mm Artillery Cannon II, EMP M

Medium Anti-EM Screen Reinforcer I
Medium Core Defense Field Extender I
Medium Core Defense Field Extender I

Hammerhead II x5

Going for passive combat, this particular integration allows for the same 60km combat radius, but gaining about 61k EHP for its defense.

Speed Tanked

Ah, well now that the Cyclone no longer has to concern itself with tracking issues, you now have an option to speed tank it.

[Cyclone, HAMs Passive Speed]
Damage Control II
Ballistic Control System II
Ballistic Control System II
Nanofiber Internal Structure II
Nanofiber Internal Structure II

Experimental 10MN Microwarpdrive I
Warp Disruptor II
Large Shield Extender II
Large Shield Extender II
Adaptive Invulnerability Field II

Heavy Assault Missile Launcher II, Caldari Navy Mjolnir Heavy Assault Missile
Heavy Assault Missile Launcher II, Caldari Navy Mjolnir Heavy Assault Missile
Heavy Assault Missile Launcher II, Caldari Navy Mjolnir Heavy Assault Missile
Heavy Assault Missile Launcher II, Caldari Navy Mjolnir Heavy Assault Missile
Heavy Assault Missile Launcher II, Caldari Navy Mjolnir Heavy Assault Missile
425mm AutoCannon II, Barrage M
425mm AutoCannon II, Barrage M

Medium Core Defense Field Extender I
Medium Hydraulic Bay Thrusters I
Medium Rocket Fuel Cache Partition I

Hammerhead II x5

This little beauty sports an 8.4 turn radius, max sustainable speed of 1552m/s (for up to 4.5 minutes) while delivering 570 dps on the target.

Conclusion

Overall the new Cyclone definitely mixes up the options for Minmatar pilots, and not badly either.  Many of the short range configurations match the Hurricane for both DPS and Tank.  This is important because the Cyclones damage will remain constant compared to the Hurricane’s ACs, and because of that, the Cyclone can be configured to do more effective damage to short range targets than its brother.

Will we see very many Cyclone on the battlefield?  Not likely for a little bit.  Despite the fact that the Cyclone now is on par with the Hurricane, the Hurricane still retains a good reputation whereas the Cyclone will need some time to throw off its old one.  However, if you are wanting to give your enemies a bit of a shock.. beating them in a Cyclone certainly isn’t a bad way to go.

Maybe Eve Needs to Hire a Sociologist too.. Because I can’t find the “Why?” in Eve.

I have read the books.  Well, all but the latest.

I have read all the Chronicles and Short Stories.

I have read as many of the player stories as I could.

But, I often find myself thinking, if I had to pick again in Faction Warfare, who would it be?  Would I even look into Faction Warfare again?  What about Eve as a whole?

I like Faction Warfare, don’t get me wrong.  It’s one of the few areas where if I can’t find a fleet, I can go out solo and try my hand at 1vs1 PVP while also doing some tasks to make isk.  I may not like it as much after the Retribution update, but then again maybe I’ll like it even more.  Either way, the problem is still there.  I don’t FEEL about why I fight.  I may be the only one, but I kinda like to have a reason for PVP.  It makes me think like I am doing something important.  Retribution is supposed to change some of that in Faction Warfare, because right now most of the LP farmers fly Incursii (I just like saying that word) in plexes, and for me in my Slasher all I have to do is catch them and then they add a few kills to my Board, the now dead ship adds a few modules to my cargo space, and the Caldari State thanks me with some LP.

And that’s it.  Sure, I may temporarily slow down a system capture (not that the LP farmers care mind you.. in fact, they hope that it DOESN’T get turned too soon), but there isn’t a gut level desire to appease the Caldari, or anyone in the Caldari hierarchy.  Why, as a Minmatar pilot should I care about Minmatar views?  Why, although being in Caldari FW, care about how successful they are or aren’t?  Right now, if you say “Minmatar”, I think “Red”.  You tell me “Amarr”, I think “Yellow”.  You tell me “Gallente”, I think “Green”, and if you tell me “Caldari”, I think “Blue”.. because at my level the names are practically meaningless.  There is no feeling from the game that Caldari is different from Minmatar is different from Gallente is different from Amarr.  Even the MISSIONS are the same, with only different puppets being shown.

I mentioned something of this back when I talked about racism in Eve Online.. or rather the conspicous lack of racism in Eve.  All the races should FEEL different, all the interactions between the races should be different.  Gallente should, in general, think of Minmatar as a lost, broken people struggling as a victim of Amarr oppression and dominance, likewise the Minmatar would practically be worshipful of the Gallente’s extravagance and luxury, or distainful of the coddling and pity from the Gallente.  The Amarr should be only somewhat tolerant of the Caldari, who appear to worship money rather than God, but yet find a similar streak of Loyalty that they can respect.  The Caldari on the other hand probably sees the Loyalty the Amarr display as weak, but cannot deny their pure dedication to task and the religous devotion that has made them the most advanced race their space (outside of the Jovians).

I should FEEL that.  I should feel the distain that the Caldari have towards me as some primative race, dirty, disqusting, and savage.  But at the same time I should FEEL why I would want to side with the Caldari on anything.  The Minmatar and Caldari share a border and fight, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that it was always that way.  There should be always the underlying current going on between all the empires, and the pirate groups.  Oddly enough, while CCP did themselves a serivce with hiring an economist, I think they should have also hired a sociologist/cultural expert to see about manipulating (yes, I went there) the dynamic between nations.  Some noble, some not so noble.  Remember, these are powerful nations that are seeking advantage at every angle.  They are alive and ruling over TRILLIONS of people, each with different cultures, each with a desire to be at the top within each empire..

At this point, I begin to think that Incursions was, instead of a fun mechanic, was a grand opportunity missed.  Incursions clearly are fun and have the possibility of being financially profitable.  But suppose instead of having it be an on-going issue, they instead make it something that happens for two months, and then in the next two months an “incursion” happens but this time its the Amarr attacking Blood Raider space, and you can choose to help the Amarr or the Blood Raiders defend their turf, and the resulting Loyalty points for the victor allows them to buy at good prices, even fixes standings with the various pirate or faction groups.  Each “incursion” could be played off of a timeline that CCP keeps to themselves, so that if the Amarr wins, then something happens like they get more space and some of that space becomes high-sec, but if Blood Raiders win, some of the Amarr High-sec space breaks down into low-sec or even NPC null-sec space.  What if the resulting win/loss translates into some other event, for example a Blood Raider win, spurns an incursion by Guristas into Caldari space?  Or maybe a Minmatar incursion into Amarr space.  With each incursion happening every two to three months, that gives CCP plenty of time to write a backstory.. or better yet, form missions and events that lead to the backstory and then the incursion.

Yeah, probably too much.  There are other things CCP could do as well, like bringing up the news right when we log on about things that happened in our region… if you live in High-sec, Low-sec, and NPC space even.  What about the propoganda that every nation feeds itself and others about how good it is?

Its not just our story.. its also CCP’s story that we are in.  I wouldn’t mind it being more obvious, ya know?