Skills needs
These are frigates level 5 skills, so on your way to fly interceptors EAS is not a terrible skill to get. Also needed are electronic upgrades to level 5 as well. Aside from that, the skills needed are really for the modules you might fit on these little guys. With a limited number of slots you’re going to have to be careful with both power grid (in the future referred to a ‘grid’) and CPU. Note at the time of this writing I am not able to fly the Keres so it was not included
Slot Layout
The one thing to know about EAS (Electronic Attack Ships) is that they are very specialized at what they are intended to be good at. How useful that is to you can be debated…
Sensor strength
Something to point out is all of these ships have good sensor strengths in this order:
Benefits
The benefits that EAS ships can bring are numerous. The Kitsune is light and fast and can keep up with small fast fleets that need some ECM support. Realize you will be ‘primaried’ first in a Kitsune for a reason. If other ships cannot lock they will become angry at you. The Sentinel can help you eat up interceptors. Just watch out for the other jammers. The Hyena can help stop people for exiting a bubble with their longer range web.
Lack of weaponry
The primary attack of these ships is the electronic measures they provide to the fleet. These are not damage dealers or solo ships. The majority of their ‘grid’ and CPU is to get them in, do their job, and get out (speed). There is absolutely no ‘tank’ what so ever…if you are targeted first, bail out.
The Hyena is not seen very often. The webbing bonus is nice so I have seen them used in gate camps trying to stop folks leaving a bubble. They just die too fast and too easily. I have seen a few used in small fleets and gate camps to good use.
Builds
The one thing to know about EAS (Electronic Attack Ships) is that they are very specialized at what they are intended to be good at. How useful that is to you can be debated…
- For the Sentinel, that is energy vampire and & energy neutralizing. They also tracking disrupt!
- For the Hyena, that is long range webbing and target painting, with some speed thrown in.
- For the Kitsune, they specialize in electronic counter measures. (Referred to as ‘jamming’)
Pro's
Sensor strength
Something to point out is all of these ships have good sensor strengths in this order:
- Kitsune ~ Gravimetric strength 24… same as the Rokh and Scorpion
- Sentinel ~ Radar Strength 21…. only 1 point less than the Abaddon
- Hyena ~ Ladar Strength 21…..Same as the Maelstrom
So their sensor strength is on par with battleships even though they are only frigates.
Speed and Agility
Inertial modifiers and base speeds
Inertial modifiers and base speeds
- Hyena 340 m/s 2.75 inertial modifier
- Sentinel 324 m/s 2.97 Inertial modifier
- Kitsune 315 m/s and a 2.7 inertial modifier
Benefits
The benefits that EAS ships can bring are numerous. The Kitsune is light and fast and can keep up with small fast fleets that need some ECM support. Realize you will be ‘primaried’ first in a Kitsune for a reason. If other ships cannot lock they will become angry at you. The Sentinel can help you eat up interceptors. Just watch out for the other jammers. The Hyena can help stop people for exiting a bubble with their longer range web.
Cons
Durability
These ships will not last long nor, if they are engaged, will they survive very long, the notable exceptions to this are: The Kitsune and the Sentinel. If the Kitsune can lock fast enough she may survive the fight. The Sentinel has a better chance as tracking disruptors can reduce the tracking speed of turret weapons, allowing you to escape, and sometimes the speed to lock as well.
Durability
These ships will not last long nor, if they are engaged, will they survive very long, the notable exceptions to this are: The Kitsune and the Sentinel. If the Kitsune can lock fast enough she may survive the fight. The Sentinel has a better chance as tracking disruptors can reduce the tracking speed of turret weapons, allowing you to escape, and sometimes the speed to lock as well.
Lack of weaponry
The primary attack of these ships is the electronic measures they provide to the fleet. These are not damage dealers or solo ships. The majority of their ‘grid’ and CPU is to get them in, do their job, and get out (speed). There is absolutely no ‘tank’ what so ever…if you are targeted first, bail out.
Use
These ships are good for specialized purposes. Let’s look at the Kitsune for example. It is a very fast locker (with a Sensor booster II and scan res script) and can be an effective anti-jammer role. Example: mixed fleet fighting in a system starts getting jammed by a falcon...Bring in the Kitsune and lock up the falcon…if you get the lock/jam first then your buddies are free to fire. Probably to most widely used EAS frigate in game. If the Kitsune is on the ‘field’ first they will be killed….immediately
The Sentinel is a different breed; she gets bonuses to neutralizing and draining cap. This ship is highly effective versus the interceptor class of ships. No capacitor, no MWD…no MWD the interceptor goes boom. This ship needs help in killing the interceptors and the Hyena’s (if fitted with painters) can help in that role. The tracking disruptors allow this ship to close in on anything except missile boats.
These ships are good for specialized purposes. Let’s look at the Kitsune for example. It is a very fast locker (with a Sensor booster II and scan res script) and can be an effective anti-jammer role. Example: mixed fleet fighting in a system starts getting jammed by a falcon...Bring in the Kitsune and lock up the falcon…if you get the lock/jam first then your buddies are free to fire. Probably to most widely used EAS frigate in game. If the Kitsune is on the ‘field’ first they will be killed….immediately
The Sentinel is a different breed; she gets bonuses to neutralizing and draining cap. This ship is highly effective versus the interceptor class of ships. No capacitor, no MWD…no MWD the interceptor goes boom. This ship needs help in killing the interceptors and the Hyena’s (if fitted with painters) can help in that role. The tracking disruptors allow this ship to close in on anything except missile boats.
The Hyena is not seen very often. The webbing bonus is nice so I have seen them used in gate camps trying to stop folks leaving a bubble. They just die too fast and too easily. I have seen a few used in small fleets and gate camps to good use.
Builds
Kitsune
| Slot | Module |
| LOW | 'Hypnos' Signal Distortion Amplifier I |
| 'Hypnos' Signal Distortion Amplifier I | |
| MID | 1MN Afterburner II |
| BZ-5 Neutralizing Spatial Destabilizer ECM | |
| Enfeebling Phase Inversion ECM I | |
| 'Hypnos' Ion Field ECM I | |
| Sensor Booster II, Scan Resolution | |
| HIGH | 'Arbalest' Standard Missile Launcher, Caldari Navy Bloodclaw Light Missile |
| 'Arbalest' Standard Missile Launcher, Caldari Navy Bloodclaw Light Missile | |
| 125mm Gatling AutoCannon II, Carbonized Lead S | |
| RIGS | Small Signal Disruption Amplifier I |
| Small Signal Disruption Amplifier I |
Highlights:
- 10.76 Sensor strength
- 1.1 Second lock time on a Falcon hull
- 1010.13 M/s
- Cap stable
Sentinel
| Slot | Module |
| LOW | Capacitor Power Relay II |
| Inertia Stabilizers II | |
| Overdrive Injector System II | |
| MID | Tracking Disruptor II, Tracking Speed Disruption |
| Tracking Disruptor II, Tracking Speed Disruption | |
| Cap Recharger II | |
| 1MN MicroWarpdrive II | |
| HIGH | Small Nosferatu II |
| Small Energy Neutralizer II | |
| Medium Pulse Laser II | |
| RIGS | Small Egress Port Maximizer I |
| Small Egress Port Maximizer I |
- 3105.43 M/s
- Nos Range 19200
- Nuet range 18900
- CAP stable with max skills
- Lock time 1.8 Seconds on a Zealot
| Slot | Module |
| LOW | Power Diagnostic System II |
| Overdrive Injector System II | |
| Inertia Stabilizers II | |
| MID | Stasis Webifier II |
| Stasis Webifier II | |
| Stasis Webifier II | |
| 1MN MicroWarpdrive II | |
| HIGH | 280mm Howitzer Artillery II |
| 280mm Howitzer Artillery II | |
| Salvager I | |
| RIGS | Small Auxiliary Thrusters I |
| Small Projectile Ambit Extension I |
- 3518.27 M/s
- 36.67 DPS EMP S 19K range
- Can web at 20 KM
- Locks interceptor at 2.99 Seconds
- Cap stable
Analysis
Looking at these three builds several things comes to mind:
- Each ship has something specialized that they are very good at. Wither you can USE that bonus depends on what you need the ship to do.
- Gate camp bring the hyena
- Anti-interceptor bring the Sentinel
- Anti- jammer bring the Kitsune
The sentinel can probably be used most offensively. Tracking disruption speed on those that target you plus your high velocity means guns won’t be able to track you well. Missile ships are your problem. 108 GJ of neutralizing per every 6 seconds will shut down an interceptor to be sure. So go after the interceptors neutralize them down and you and your friends eat them up. Your still very fragile though so don’t forget that speed is your defense.
The Kitsune is the most fragile and the slowest but using Bernoulli formula (thanks to Grismar’s EvE wiki for this)
C = J/S * 100%
C=10.76/28 * 100% or a 38% chance with a single Jammer to jam a falcon
Where J is the jamming strength of your jammer, S the sensor strength of the target ship and C the jamming chance in %. The chance to jam a target with multiple jammers is a simple deduction of Bernoulli's formula:
C = (1-(1-J/S)^n)*100%
c = (1-(1-10.76/28)^3 or 76.658 % with a full rack of BZ-5’s
This gives you a fairly decent chance to jam a falcon…you must remember you’re their #1 problem so you will be eliminated
Hyena of the three EAS I am familiar with this one may have been seen the most use probably at a gate camp setup. Yes a Rapier can do the job better, and you may survive better in it CAN be done. 20KM web means you can do a tight orbit around the gate and still be able to lock them down and web them. If you substitute a Warp Disruptor you might be able to do both ‘pointing and webbing’ roles in a small gang but remember you ARE very fragile.
The last word
The Kitsune, Sentinel, and Hyena, with the exception of the Kitsune, are underutilized. They are not terribly expensive, and they can do the job their bigger brothers can do with a bit more speed. Sadly many are not used, as they are quite fragile, most pilots do not wish to die a horrible death, without providing a good benefit to their friends. The Hyena, at gate camps can provide some effective webbing potential. The Sentinel can be used to break some really nasty shield tankers, and can be especially potent against interceptors... but missile fire can eliminate them. The Kitsune is a highly effective anti- falcon/anti rook ship, but tends to get ‘primaried’ and die very fast.
If you like these ships and their abilities combined with a bit more toughness look to the T2 cruisers: The Hyena is replaced with the Rapier, The Kitsune with the Falcon/Rook, and lastly the Sentinel is replaced with the Pilgrim. Bring your wallet with you as these ships are NOT cheap!
The opinions shared here are those of its author and not necessarily mine. /CrazyKinux
