Hello, my name is Seraph IX Basarab and I’m an opinion writer here at EN24 analyzing different aspects of Eve politics and war. I’m a member of Psychotic Tendencies acting in a diplomatic capacity. The opinions in this article are mine and not necessarily representative of anyone else.
In this article I will discuss the benefits of combat boosters and how to score a little taste of your own for free. I never really thought much about combat boosters in Eve (that is space drugs, not your skirmish linked T3 cruiser) until I heard about Es and Whizz. They’re a corporation that have been around forever and focus primarily on drug production and delivery. You can find them in the in game channel “Narcotics.” I’ve been working with them on and off for several years now and throughout the process I ended up learning quite a bit about combat drugs. The biggest thing I’ve learned is just how many misconceptions there are about drugs. People look at the item, notice the drawbacks and just write drugs off completely. However with neurotoxin control and neurotoxin recovery, the chances and strength of the negative side effects are fairly minor. Upon closer inspection you may even realize certain side effects do not even apply to you. (Each drawback is calculated individually so the chance of you getting all the draw backs are extremely low.)
Other misconceptions are that drugs are only for solo pilots or specific niche roles in fleet when certain drugs very much have a fleet doctrine application. These drug boosters are also not subject to stacking penalties. If you’re going to fit up a ship worth a few hundred mil, you may as well add in a drug or two of your choice to maximize your utility. The ISK per effect ratio is unbeatable. For example you can buy a hardwire implant to increase your tracking by 6% for the cost of about 600 mil, or you can pay 15-25 mil for a Strong Drop booster and increase tracking by 37.5%. For Titan and Dread pilots something like this is probably one of the cheapest things in your ship’s cargo. Actually if you read to the end you’ll find instructions on how to score some of your own free drop.
There are 8 different types of drugs (not including the new Drifter ones) that come in varying strengths; Synth, Standard, Improved and Strong. There are three different slots with slot one focusing on defensive capabilities, slot two focusing on turrets and slot three on missiles. You can only use one drug per slot (so you can’t combine two “turret boosters.”)
Blue Pill is a slot 1 drug which increases the ships shield boosting capability by 3% (Synth), 20% (Standard), 25% (Improved), and 30% (Strong). The potential side effects are lower capacitor capacity, worse missile explosion velocity, worse shield capacity (so total buffer) and worse turret optimal range. This is a very popular drug particularly the weaker variants for small gang pvp ships using shield boosts as well as shield fit Dreads and Force Auxiliary carriers. The Vargur and Golem are also common ships to use Blue Pill with. The Nag and the Phoenix are the two most likely users in a fleet engagement. The capacitor side effect if suffered depends on how the dreads are fit. If using ancillary boosters this will irrelevant to the ship. The fact that both use weapons systems that require no capacitor is also a plus. Losing some shield buffer can be problematic but generally speaking dreads are relying more on their rate of repair rather than their buffer. Losing turret optimal range for a Nag is not as much of a factor as autocannon and artillery rely mostly on fall off. The loss of missile explosion velocity plagues the Phoenix but the thing to note is that only one weapon’s side effect is relevant to the other dread. Essentially you only have to worry about 3 side effects with only one really having much of an impact.
Exile is the next slot 1 drug which increases the ship’s ability to repair armor (local) by 3% (Synth), 20% (Standard), 25% (Improved), and 30% (Strong). The potential side effects include less total armor hitpoints, lower capacitor, less missile explosion radius and worse turret tracking. Exile mirrors Blue Pill in a lot of ways except finds more use in conventional fleet use. It used to be very popular with Triage Carriers and now that has shifted over to the new Force Auxiliaries. They’re also very popular with solo/small gang armor cruisers such as the Deimos. The lowered armor hitpoints is more of an issue for buffer fits while the capacitor side effect can be mostly negated by cap injectors. The turret tracking will affect the Deimos and other turret based armor ships while the missile explosion radius side effect will affect the rare sight Sacrilege/Typhoon.
Mindflood is another slot 1 drug that’s extremely versatile depending on what your ship is for. It affects the capacitor capacity of the ship you are flying at 3% (Synth), 10% (Standard), 15% (Improved), and 20% (Strong). The negative side effects are lowered armor and shield boosting amount, worse missile explosion radius and lowered turret optimal range. This is a popular drug among triage pilots under heavy neut pressure. If you notice only one of the drawbacks are really relevant to triage pilots: either the armor repair or shield boosting amount. Thus mindflood is one of the least risky combat drugs to use for this popular role. Mindflood is also perfect for subcap logiships by providing extra cap with no relevant drawbacks.
X-Instinct is the last slot 1 drug with the effects of lowering your sig radius by 2.25% (Synth), 7.5% (Standard), 11.25% (Improved), and 15% (Strong.) The side effects hamper armor hitpoints, missile velocity, shield capacity and turret falloff. This drug is extremely useful in lowering the already tiny sig radius of solo frigates but it also has a fleet doctrine application with logi ships. For example if you’re flying a Guardian with an Afterburner, your sig will further be lowered allowing you to handle more punishment and making the reps that land on you that more efficient. Only one of the four side effects are relevant in this role depending on if you are flying shield or armor. Furthermore the down side effect actually gets mitigated by the bonus you receive anyhow. This is yet another low risk high payoff drug.
Drop is a slot 2 drug helping increase turret tracking by 3% (Synth), 25% (Standard), 31.25% (Improved), and 37.25% (Strong.) The potential side effects are less armor repair amount, less shield capacity, less turret falloff and lower ship velocity. Once again the potential side effects really depend on what ship you are flying. There’s no ship that you can fly that has a downside to all these effects unless you’ve really messed up your fit (armor repping shield buffer arty kite ship anyone?) Most ships in a fleet fall under the role of DPS and Drop more than any other drug is a “fleet doctrine drug” meaning most members of the fleet can utilize it to great effect. All things being equal the side that’s using drop will be able to apply more of its dps on the enemy and win the engagement. Using drop in a HAW fit dread or titan will allow more of your shots to land hits on your target. For an Avatar issues of lowered velocity, fall off, less shield capacity and armor repair are irrelevant as lasers work mostly with optimal range, you’re not moving fast anyway (or at all if you’re a dread) nor are you shield buffer tanking or repairing your own armor. The popular doctrine fits of today such as Arty/AC Machariels, Rail Prots, Sleps, and Abaddons can all increase their effectiveness greatly through the use of drop.
Frentix is the next slot 2 drug increasing the optimal range by 3% (Synth), 10% (Standard), 15% (Improved), and 20% (Strong.) The drawbacks are lower armor hitpoints, less shield boosting amount, worse turret tracking and lower velocity. Frentix is the kind of drug you’d use with your Navy Slicer or your kiting Navy Omen. Basically turret ships that make use of their optimal range (so lasers and some hybrids…not mostly lasers.) I can’t think of any shield boosting laser ships (or even rail ships) you’d be using so you can disregard that that side effect. The turret tracking could be somewhat problematic but if you’re using the maximum optimal range (thus lowering transversal) that too is mostly mitigated. The biggest danger is the hit to your velocity.
Sooth Sayer is the last slot 2 drug providing a boost in fall off range by 3% (Synth), 10% (Standard), 15% (Improved), and 20% (Strong.) The negative side effects lower the amount of armor you can repair, total shield capacity, lowered turret optimal range and a hit to your velocity. Very easily you can tell this drug is for Minmatar ships using autocannons and artillery. Right away you can discard the optimal range side effect as these weapons systems work mostly within their fall off. As most of you know, if you are within optimal range you’re hitting with all of your DPS (granted the sig radius and tracking is favorable.) However fall off works differently and you can do different amounts of DPS depending on where within your fall off the target falls. Increasing that fall off also increases the amount of damage you are doing with your autocannons/artillery at the same range. Yet again only one of the side effects is for you to even consider if you’re flying say a Naglfar.
Last but not least my old friend, Crash the one and only slot 3 combat booster bettering your Missile explosion radius by 3% (Synth), 20% (Standard), 25% (Improved), and 30% (Strong.) The potential negative effects involved less armor hitpoints, less missile velocity (so missile range) worse shield boosting and a hit in your ship’s velocity. Due to the Drake falling out of favor as the main line ship years ago, Crash has lost some of its doctrine function. However it’s still extremely popular with PvE ships as well as the kiting missile boat here and there. They’re especially useful with Stealth Bombers using torpedoes in particular the standard which is very cheap but gains a huge benefit boost over the synth.
Now that you know the facts hopefully you realize not using combat boosters is as irresponsible as leaving rig, low or mid slots empty on your ship. The benefits are a sure thing while the negative side effects are minimized almost to the point of irrelevance. Corp CEOs/logistics directors can add a lot more function for just a little bit of extra cost among their line members. With the upcoming patch later this month making the transportation of combat boosters legal throughout highsec, demand is certain to soar and it’s very likely drugs will be used much more often. Don’t be left behind.
If you’re an individual that’s interested in getting involved in dealing combat boosters you can look up Es and Whizz and learn all about it. If you’re interesting in testing out the product itself, you can find an Es and Whizz dealer in their “Narcotics” channel. They’re currently doing a deal where for every 50 mil you spend, you get 1 free standard drop booster. Simply link them this article during your purchase.
As a parting note I think that combat boosters have room to be much more utilized by players throughout Eve. Hopefully CCP will get around to adding new features and variants of products as it really is a unique area of gameplay in the Eve universe.
~Seraph IX Basarab
