Recently I have discovered the Hurricane battlecruiser while playing EVE Online. It all started with me experimenting with how much can be achieved by an alpha (free to play) account in EVE and if it possible to have as much fun as a player who has an omega (paid for) account. The short answer to this experiment is yes an alpha account is just as fun as omega and is in some ways even more fun.
One of the main limitations for an alpha account is that you can only train 5 million skill points but you can exceed this with skill injectors acquired either on the market or by completing various activities within the game. Right now my alpha account has 5,874,733 skill points, the excess 874,733 points has been acquired by using skill injectors provided by the AIR career program and daily challenges. It’s also worth mentioning that if you are able to upgrade your account to omega, any alpha skills trained in this time are retained if you return to alpha. Another limitation is that some skills, ships and modules are completely off limits to alpha accounts, but there are still a lot to choose from, including the Hurricane and Hurricane Fleet Issue battlecruiser.
With optimal alpha skills my Hurricane fitting hits for around 1,700 damage with an overall DPS (damage per second) of over 360 which is more than enough for most combat sites and level 3 missions (the highest an alpha pilot can do). Below is a screenshot of the numbers and the fitting I use. Tech 1 or fleet issue modules can be used to reduce the skill requirements.
High Slots
650mm Artillery Cannon II
650mm Artillery Cannon II
650mm Artillery Cannon II
650mm Artillery Cannon II
650mm Artillery Cannon II
650mm Artillery Cannon II
Core Probe Launcher I
Medium Slots
10MN Y-S8 Compact Afterburner
Multispectrum Shield Hardener II
Large Shield Extender II
Large Shield Extender II
Low Slots
Shield Power Relay II
Shield Power Relay II
Tracking Enhancer II
Tracking Enhancer II
Gyrostabilizer II
Gyrostabilizer II
Rigs
Medium Core Defense Field Purger I
Medium Core Defense Field Purger I
Medium Core Defense Field Purger I
Drone Bay
Warrior II x8
Cargo Hold
Sisters Core Scanner Probe x16
Phased Plasma M x2500
EMP M x2500
Fusion M x2500
It’s possible that I could further improve the damage output by using implants, faction ammunition or by replacing the core probe launcher for a heavy missile launcher. But I think this ship is far too ‘overkill’ already and really doesn’t need it. It is worth mentioning that the Hurricane does allow the use of 1 command burst module but these are purely for omega accounts. I think if there is someone who plays with an omega account and is interested in the Hurricane, fitting a command burst module of some kind and/or using faction ammo would probably be a nice addition for running level 4 mission sites.
Captain Benzie, a content creator for EVE Online beautifully demonstrates the Hurricane and basically uses the same fitting as I do in his YouTube video below.
This is I think the pinnacle of EVE Online for an alpha account. There are of course other battlecruisers and even battleships available, but they will in all likelihood require a significant change in how I ‘spent’ my 5 million skill points. That I suppose is the ultimate alpha limitation, changing to a different set of skills for a different set of ships can be difficult, unless of course you create a new character/account. There is the Hurricane Fleet Issue which is generally a better ship in all areas, the reason I choose not to use this is because as I have already stated the standard Hurricane is an ‘overkill’ at a fraction of the cost of a Hurricane Fleet Issue. The Hurricane fully fit costs around 90 million ISK (the main in game currency) where as the fleet issue costs well over 200 million which will generally only serve to make you a more tempting target. But having said that, if you have the ISK and you wouldn’t be too upset if you lost it, go for it!
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