Command Destroyer Battle manual

Sajuukthanatoskhar
Leader of GMT +10 Squad,AU Stratop Commander of TEST Alliance
Please Ignore,
Sovola Containment Officer, RusRus Containment Crew
February 6, 2016

Contents
1 Introduction

2 Ships

3 Fits
3.1 Bifrost . . . . . . .
3.1.1 Link Ship .
3.1.2 Zuking Ship
3.2 Stork . . . . . . . .
3.2.1 Tank Fit . .
3.3 Pontifex . . . . . .
3.3.1 Links Fit .
3.4 Magus . . . . . . .

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4 Tactics
4.1 Offensive Fleet Maneuvers . . .
4.1.1 Meat Bazoooka - Zuking
4.1.2 Battle Zuking . . . . . .
4.1.3 Tackle Zuke . . . . . . .
4.1.4 Fleet Zuke . . . . . . . .
4.2 Defensive Fleet Maneuvers . . .
4.2.1 Counter Zuke . . . . . .
4.2.2 Fleet Save . . . . . . . .
4.2.3 Bubble Sweeper . . . . .
4.3 Final Observation . . . . . . . .

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Abstract
The Command Destroyers presented new fleet mobility and disruption tactics in EVE around December 2015. Inventive players have come up with different ways of using these ships with incredible ingenuity. This little book of mine
will document everything I know with Command Destroyers. However, there
are more things in Wicked Creek and Detorid than are dreamt of in this battle
manual.
Dedicated to Marcel Adoudel from BORT and Kogh Ayon from SUAD for that
amazing bubble sweep against a 40 man Pandemic Legion BLOPS gang using
their two Bifrosts and saving a 5-6 out of 7-8 man Dreadnought fleet from certain destruction. You impressed myself, PL and the dreadnought pilots despite
losing your ships. You are heroes of TEST.
Also dedicated to Elise Randolph, for the amazing terminology of zuking. Its
super catchy.
Finally, this is also dedicated to TEST Alliance Please Ignores GMT +10
Squad, who represent easily 70% of the Australian Timezone in TEST, for
doing some of these amazing things, putting up with the convoluted bullshit,
listening to my ideas and discussing whether they were crap or not. I love you
guys. Lets be friends forever.

Chapter 1

Introduction
And into the maelstrom of December, we arrived with the inception of 3 new
groups of ships, the Tech 2 Logistics Frigates, the Navy Electronic Warfare
Frigates and of course, the Command Destroyer.
When CCP decided to design these ships, they had two things in mind: Fleet Warfare Links
Fleet Disruption/Mobility
Countless permutations of situations were debated and tried using both aspects in mind when writing this, but not all situations can be described and
this guide will be updated as time goes on.

Chapter 2

Ships
In this battle manual, I dont want to get stuck into fits (although they do
determine what you can do), instead I will put the ones used so far in fleets and
add more to the manual as time progresses.

Chapter 3

Fits
In TEST Alliance, we have used shield tank Command Destroyers - the Stork
and the Bifrost - for working with our mostly shield doctrines. The fits cater
to the uses of the Micro Jump Field Generator, or the MFJD/MJFD/Field
Drive/Field or some other similar name.
It should be noted that the words Fielding and Zuking are used alot
and are not interchangeable. Zuking is described at 4.1.1.

3.1

Bifrost

For fast frigate or destroyer based doctrines, the Bifrost is the easy pick. It has
the highest agility of all races and is the fastest

Figure 3.1: The Bifrost - this is a great ship for doing Command Destroyer
Maneuvers with.

3.1.1

Link Ship

[Bifrost, Links]
Damage Control II
Nanofiber Internal Structure II
Reactor Control Unit II
Medium Shield Extender II
Medium Shield Extender II
5MN Y-T8 Compact Microwarpdrive
Micro Jump Field Generator
EM Ward Field II
Malkuth Rocket
Malkuth Rocket
Malkuth Rocket
Skirmish Warfare

Launcher I, Caldari Navy Mjolnir Rocket

Launcher I, Caldari Navy Mjolnir Rocket
Launcher I, Caldari Navy Mjolnir Rocket
Link - Evasive Maneuvers II

Small Core Defense Field Extender II

Small Core Defense Field Extender II

3.1.2

Zuking Ship

The following fits are for zuking with. In reality, any of the fits work for zuking,
however the fits listed below are seen to be incredibly useful. The Variant A
is amazing as it gives a decent amount of leeway to get out after performing a
successful zuke with its MWD Cloak Trick + ECM Burst to possibly stop any
possible locking on the zuking command destroyers. The Variant B fit operates
like the above, but you do not have a ECM burst and instead have another 6k
of Shield EHP.
Dont know what zuking is? Go to 4.1.1 to find out!
Variant A - ECM Burst Escape
[Bifrost, ECM Burster] Damage Control II
Nanofiber Internal Structure II
Reactor Control Unit II
Medium Shield Extender II
ECM Burst II
5MN Y-T8 Compact Microwarpdrive
Micro Jump Field Generator
EM Ward Field II
Malkuth Rocket Launcher I, Caldari Navy Mjolnir Rocket

Malkuth Rocket Launcher I, Caldari Navy Mjolnir Rocket

Malkuth Rocket Launcher I, Caldari Navy Mjolnir Rocket
Improved Cloaking Device II
Small Core Defense Field Extender II
Small Core Defense Field Extender II

Variant B - Tanked Escape

[Bifrost, Tanked Cloaky Escape] Damage Control II
Nanofiber Internal Structure II
Reactor Control Unit II
Medium Shield Extender II
Medium Shield Extender II
5MN Y-T8 Compact Microwarpdrive
Micro Jump Field Generator
EM Ward Field II
Malkuth Rocket Launcher I, Caldari Navy Mjolnir Rocket
Malkuth Rocket Launcher I, Caldari Navy Mjolnir Rocket
Malkuth Rocket Launcher I, Caldari Navy Mjolnir Rocket
Improved Cloaking Device II
Small Core Defense Field Extender II
Small Core Defense Field Extender II

3.2

Stork

Figure 3.2: The Stork - These ships can be very tanky

The Stork is the apex shield tank Command Destroyer with a huge amount
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of EHP buffer options that do not compromise the fleet functions of the ship.
The following fit is a extremely tanky fit with links take its total EHP from 27k
to 38k with no implants on the Stork pilot at all 5s for all involved. I have not
listed any high slots on this as I wanted to get a fit for the express purpose of
the ship class.

3.2.1

Tank Fit

[Stork, Tank Fit]

Damage Control II
Nanofiber Internal Structure II
Micro Jump Field Generator
5MN Quad LiF Restrained Microwarpdrive
Medium Shield Extender II
Medium Shield Extender II
EM Ward Amplifier II
Adaptive Invulnerability Field II
Small Core Defense Field Extender II
Small Core Defense Field Extender II

3.3

Pontifex

Figure 3.3: The Pontifex - These ships are similar in tank to a Bifrost but with
slightly less signature and agility
Armor Command Destroyers sound like an oxymoron and go against their
role as a fast mover and fielder. However it is only their align that is affected.
The real trade off is that when working with an armor frigate or destroyer fleet,
the damage output tends to be slightly lower due to the tank being put in the
lows in place of weapon upgrade modules. Having said this, a pontifex is great
7

to have along as a links ship with a fast moving armor fleet like ANIs without
being hindered by a Damnation rather long align time.
The pontifex has an amazing ability to tank damage with a small signature
radius and 20k EHP. This places it similar in the same category as the Stork as
a meatshield.

3.3.1

Links Fit

[Pontifex, Link Fit]

400mm Steel Plates II
Damage Control II
Energized Adaptive Nano Membrane II
Kinetic Plating II
Thermal Plating II
1MN Afterburner II
Micro Jump Field Generator
Warp Scrambler II
Skirmish Warfare Link - Evasive Maneuvers II
Small Trimark Armor Pump II
Small Trimark Armor Pump II

3.4

Magus

I wanted to have a section for the Magus, but I didnt try it out too often. A
fit will come here one day, but not today.

Chapter 4

Tactics
4.1
4.1.1

Offensive Fleet Maneuvers

Meat Bazoooka - Zuking

Named by Elise Randolph of Pandemic Legion on Reddit, after the turbodunking of Darknesss Rattlesnake fleet by TESTs Alpha Maelstrom Fleet led by
ProGodLegend. This tactic is one of the more hardest to spot to the untrained
eye but once a fleet commander is used to it or has painfully experienced a
zuking, one would not forget the patterns leading up to it. Figure 4.1 shows a
crude graphical setup.
The fits for the command destroyers listed prior to this section will help for
these maneuvers and are described at 3.1.2.
1. Form 2 or more Command Destroyers
2. Warp to target at 100km or 200km(if you have 3)
3. Align to target, ensuring the alignment is correct (this is hard from 200+
km away)
4. Command Destroyers subsequently activate their Micro Jump Field Drives
5. The Command Destroyers should, within the space of a 12-14 seconds,
shoot through 200 to 500km of space, picking up their target and ending
up in a favourable position for their fleet to warp in.
The parts of a zuking set of command destroyers comes in two parts. The
first part is the leading command destroyer and this part will field the zuking
group on top of the fleet. The second part is the fleet zuker, which is the
command destroyer that actually does the fielding of the section of the enemy
fleet.
Risk of losing CD: High. Having a cloak and ECM Burst might save you if
you zuke the enemy away from your fleets logistics. However, this is decreased
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Figure 4.1: A 2D version of a zuking setup

slightly if the fleet doesnt notice the zuke before you are out of scramble and
web range.
Just remember, zuking doesnt necessarily have to be the DPS portion of
the fleet, it can just be the FC, EWAR or part of the Logistics ships present.
Escape and do it all over again
When you zuke, you want to survive after you have done it. A MWD and a
cloak will save you but mindful you might not have the chance to cloak because
you ended up less than 2000m from an enemy ship or drone as shown in Figure
4.3.

Control your speed

You have to micromanage your speed between your group of command destroyers, even against static targets. Otherwise you can overshoot it and possibly die
after fielding yourself into the middle of a fleet.
In TEST Alliance, our mumble has subchannels linked with the main fleet
Zuking groups can hide, setup priority keys as the leadup to a zuke is full
chatter as numbers for speed are called out using a whisper or local key.
you dont use this type of setup, your zukes are probably going to be hard
coordinate with less experienced people.

10

so
of
If
to

Figure 4.2: Escaping is really hard sometimes but it should be a priority when
you have finished your zuke

Figure 4.3: An example fleet. The Zuking group is in Sub 2 and will non-stop
talk until the zuke is done. Use of a non-whisper key will make the FC of the
fleet really angry and piss them off, try not to do that.

4.1.2

Battle Zuking

Battle zuking is the art of zuking moving fleets. This is harder than one thinks.
For battle zuking, the command destroyers have to be prepared to do the following:
The Command Destroyers must know and micromanage speed of their
propulsion modules when they are off and on
Command Destroyer pilots must anticipate what their MWD speed is

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when said module is turned off

The Command Destroyer(s) that leads in with the first(few) jumps must
not be bumped otherwise the zuking may end catastrophically. The fleet
zuker can always point in a different direction (so it doesnt have to be a
perfect line).
Sobani Death Captain Protip: Your timing has to be good when doing
this, you can easily fail in your role if you mismanage the timing. The only way
to improve however is to stuff up and learn from your mistakes.

4.1.3

Tackle Zuke

This is a variant Zuke that is like a Battle Zuke (most likely to be used for
one) where propulsion jamming tackle ships (frigates with scramblerss or stasis
webs) will be zuked with the target hostile fleet. The command destroyers after
the zuke will disengage, leaving the tackle fleet to hold on to the zukees so the
main fleet can kill what is left with ease.
Sobani Death Captain protip: Frigates can bump the leading jumper
and put the zuking maneuver at risk of failure.
Risk of Losing CD: Dependant on CD/Enemy reaction time, enemy fleet
position
Risk of Failure: Dependant on the speed of the fleet and your own group
not being dumb by checking the above

4.1.4

Fleet Zuke

This is like the Tackle zuke except you have a whole fleet come with you to kill
the wretched ship that you decided to take with you.
Risk of Losing CD: Low, Chaos reigns if you successfully do this. Probably
on both sides as some people might be out of range for any number of jump
fields and be left in limbo.
Risk of Failure: Dependant on the speed of the Zukers fleet and targets
speed

4.2
4.2.1

Defensive Fleet Maneuvers

Counter Zuke

When your FC or critical elements of the fleet have been zuked away, a counter
zuke or just a regular counter field. The same applies to part of your fleet
getting fielded off.
Your objective is to get whatever it was back to their original spot to keep
the fleets integrity. If you do not, you may not have a fleet to help you get
home.
1. Find your target that has been zuked/fielded from his fleet
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Figure 4.4: Zuking with friends! Its harder than it looks if the fleet is moving...
2. Warp to target at 0km, tell your target(s) what you are about to do
3. Hit your field drive as you are aligned to a favourable position (preferably
from where he came from)
4. They are saved!
Risk of Losing CD: Dependant on CD/Enemy reaction time, enemy fleet
position
Risk of Failure: Dependant if bubble is on target or if target starts moving
fast.
If it is too hard, you can zuke the enemy fleet away from them (the targets
may be warp scrambled so they wont go with you)

4.2.2

Fleet Save

Your fleet is taking a battering? You can easily save your fleet by zuking it or
just making them bunch up and moving them out of harms way. Matching your
speed with the fleet prior to zuking could help. Make sure you inform your FC
before you do this for optimal results. The FC may give you *** Commander
to forcibly regroup the Squad/Wing/Fleet onto you. Unlike zuking and the
risks that come with bumping a Command Destroyer to death prior to its Field
Activation, the Fleet Save maneuver being performed means that any location
100km away from where you start is decidedly more favorable for the fleet.
Sobani Death Captain Pro-tip: Dont field towards the enemy fleet!!!
Your FC might not like getting pointed by a Lachesis or Orthrus only to still
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stay in its point range after being fielded. Just remember, micro jump fielding
does not break lock.

4.2.3

Bubble Sweeper

You see a bubble, you move it. This is pretty easy to do, but always be mindful
of the speed of the command destroyer if you have your propulsion module
activated. Be aware that you may field the bubbler with you... and his friends
or even worse, your own.
Sobani Death Captain Protip: I have interdictor bubbles on my overview
so I know when I am in range, because sometimes you dont have time to check
it on the main screen. Also double clicking on in both main and overview screens
will make you approach it.

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4.3

Final Observation

Command Destroyers are amazing. But you have to put in the effort to get
shit done. You cant be an F1 monkey equivalent about it, you have to put
some good piloting in and pay attention. If you do all of that and have a bit of
experience behind it, you can be a hero of your alliance and have a lot of fun at
the same time.

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