Missiles
Missiles are self-propelled projectiles intended for dealing damage to other ships. While they will all hit moving targets, they are classified as Guided or Unguided, and the damage they deal can be affected by the size, signature radius and velocity of the target ship. Caldari (and some Minmatar) ships favor missiles over other weapons, although many Amarr and Gallente ships have missiles available as a supplementary weapon.
Missile Types
Missiles are available in various sizes, for a range of ship classes and types, though in order to use them a ship must have at least one launcher hardpoint in order to fit the appropriate missile launcher. There are two missile 'flavors' available for each class of ship; one being a short-ranged, high-damage weapon, and the other longer-ranged but low damaging. The former is referred to as "Unguided", and the latter as "Guided".
Note: Both types will hit a moving target, but "Unguided" missiles are not affected by the Guided Missile Precision skill.
- Light Missile (Long ranged, used by Frigates)
- Heavy Assault Missile (Short ranged missile, launched rapidly by Cruisers and Battlecruisers)
- Heavy Missile (Long range missile launched by Cruisers and Battlecruisers)
- Torpedo (High-damage, short range missile fired by Battleships, Golem and Stealth Bombers)
- Cruise Missile (Long range missile, fired by Battleships)
- Citadel Torpedo (Essentially an extra-large Torpedo, launched by Capital ships and Large Missile Sentries)
- Citadel Cruise Missile (Extra-large Cruise Missile, launched by Capital ships and Large Missile Sentries)
- Friend or Foe ("F.O.F") missiles are available in standard-, heavy-, and cruise-launcher sizes. They can be fired without a locked target and will strike the nearest hostile ships or object.
- Defender Missiles can be fired from any size launcher, though they are generally launched from cruiser-sized Heavy Assault Launchers They are used to intercept incoming missiles in an attempt to destroy them before they hit their target. Many NPC enemies make use of defender missiles to reduce your DPS output, though they are rarely used by players.
| Type | Launcher | EM Damage | Explosive Damage | Kinetic Damage | Thermal Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rocket | Rocket Launcher | Gremlin | Phalanx | Thorn | Foxfire |
| Light Missile | Standard Missile Launcher or Assault Missile Launcher |
Sabretooth | Piranha | Bloodclaw | Flameburst |
| FOF Light Missile | Standard Missile Launcher or Assault Missile Launcher |
Seeker | Exterminator | Serpent | Firefly |
| Heavy Missile | Heavy Missile Launcher | Thunderbolt | Havoc | Scourge | Widowmaker |
| FOF Heavy Missile | Heavy Missile Launcher | Stalker | Eradicator | Hydra | Hellhound |
| Heavy Assault Missile | Heavy Assault Missile Launcher | Torrent | Fulmination | Terror | Hellfire |
| Cruise Missile | Cruise Missile Launcher | Paradise | Devastator | Wrath | Cataclysm |
| FOF Cruise Missile | Cruise Missile Launcher | Hunter | Obliterator | Dragon | Phoenix |
| Torpedo | Siege Missile Launcher | Mjolnir | Bane | Juggernaut | Inferno |
| Citadel Cruise Missile | Citadel Cruise Launcher | Thunar | Catastrophe | Rajas | Sol |
| Citadel Torpedo | Citadel Torpedo Launcher | Doom | Thor | Rift | Purgatory |
Advantages and Disadvantages
Missiles have a consistent and versatile damage output, and are capable of dealing single damage types. As such, missiles are valuable in PvP combat, as they allow a pilot to exploit a weakness in an opponent's tank. It is also impossible for a missile to miss a target, unless the target outruns the missile, moves out of range, or disengages and warps away.
However, missiles can be destroyed in flight (either with Defender missiles or with a well-timed smartbomb detonation), partially or completely nullifying the attacker's damage output. Missiles are also unpopular in fleet battles, as the missile's flight time can result in it arriving after the target has been destroyed.
Support Skills, Modules and Rigs
The following skills improve missile or missile launcher performance:
- Missile Launcher Operation - increases missile launcher rate of fire and makes other skills available
- Missile Bombardment (needs MLO I) - increases missile flight time
- Rapid Launch (needs MLO II) - increases missile rate of fire
- Target Navigation Prediction (needs MLO II) - decreases the effect of the target's speed on damage dealt
- Missile Projection (needs MLO III) - increases missile speed
- Warhead Upgrades (needs MLO IV) - increases missile damage
- Guided Missile Precision (needs MLO V) - decreases the effect of the target's signature radius on damage dealt for guided missiles
The following modules and rigs also improve missile performance (at the expense of increased missile launcher CPU usage in the case of rigs; see Missile Launcher Rigs):
- Ballistic Control System - increases missile launcher rate of fire and missile damage
- Bay Loading Accelerator - increases missile launcher rate of fire
- Hydraulic Bay Thrusters - increases missile velocity
- Rocket Fuel Cache Partition - increases missile flight time
- Warhead Calefaction Catalyst - increases missile damage
- Warhead Flare Catalyst - decreases the effect of the target's velocity on missile damage
- Warhead Rigor Catalyst - decreases the effect of signature radius on missile damage for guided missiles
Tech II Missiles
There are four main Tech 2 missile variants, which are available in four different damage types. These advanced missiles can only be fired from Tech 2 launchers.
- Advanced High Damage missiles (guided), also known as 'Fury' missiles, deal higher damage at the expense of range. Due to their extremely volatile warheads, Fury missiles have powerful containment systems, which increases a ship's signature range when loaded.
- Advanced High Precision missiles (guided), or 'Precision' missiles, deal more damage to smaller targets. Unfortunately, they reduce a ship's velocity in order to obtain a better launch.
- Advanced Anti-Ship missiles (unguided), or 'Rage' missiles, deal massive amounts of damage to targets larger than the launching ship (due to large explosion radii and low explosion velocities, as well as shorter range. These charges also increase a ships' signature range as they share warhead containment systems with their guided 'Fury' cousins.
- Advanced Long-Range missiles (unguided) ('Javelin's) have more powerful thrusters and larger fuel tanks than conventional charges. This means that they carry smaller warheads than normal missiles, and also require a more stable launch platform - which means the ship must travel at a lower velocity.
More Information
New players often find it hard to remember which missile deals which type of damage, as every single missile has a different name. The simplest way to tell is to look at the color of the missile's nosecone - EM missiles are sky-blue, Thermal missiles are red, Kinetic missiles are dark green, and Explosive missiles are yellow.
Damage Calculation
Unlike turrets, missiles will always deal damage to a target if they impact against it, regardless of the target's speed, radial velocity, or size (signature radius). Instead, the damage that the missile deals is affected.
As missiles do not have tracking speeds, a missile launched at a target will do the same damage if the target's speed remains the same. In other words, the damage dealt to a target orbiting the launcher at 300m/s and a target flying directly at the launcher at 300m/s will be exactly the same.
The important factor in this scenario is the speed of the target ship. When a missile hits a target, the speed of the target is compared to the Explosion Velocity of the missile. For example, if when a Scourge Heavy Missile - which has a base Explosion Velocity of 81m/s - is fired, the Explosion Velocity is much lower than the target's speed, then damage is significantly reduced as the target is outrunning most of the missile's damage.
The other factor that will decrease missile damage is Signature Radius. The Scourge Missile previously used has a Explosion Radius of 125m - if this missile is fired against a target with a smaller Signature than its Explosion Radius, damage will again be reduced, as only a small portion of the explosion is affecting the target. Although if your missile hits a target whose signature radius is greater then the explosion radius of your missile then the explosion velocity of your missile is increased by the same multiple.
While these two rules are merely generalizations, a more complicated calculator that will aid in calculating damage output against various targets is available here.
