Development
In YC 113 Empress Jamyl Sarum I challenged Amarr ship manufacturers to build a new battlecruiser that would break the stalemate of the Empyrean War. Deviating from the doctrine of brute-force and heavy armor, the engineers at Viziam took inspiration from Caldari history.
During the Gallente-Caldari War, the Caldari developed light, maneuverable ships to counter the slow ships of the Gallente Federation. This philosophy, along with a cutting-edge powertrain and ultra-light alloy armor plating, led to the Oracle.
The Empire immediately ordered the ship into production. The Empress personally congratulated Viziam Chief Researcher Parud Vakirokiki, calling the ship "a work of Divine Grace for the Empire, and retribution to our enemies."
Battlecruiser Skill bonus per level:
5% bonus to Large Energy Turret damage
10% bonus to Large Energy Turret optimal range
Role Bonus:
95% reduction in the powergrid need of Large Energy Turrets
50% reduction in the CPU need of Large Energy Turrets
50% reduction in the capacitor need of Large Energy Turrets
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Contents |
Design History
The Oracle was created for the Design a Starship contest held on the popular artists' site DeviantArt in October of 2010. Original submission. Designed by DeviantArt user polarlex, it was originally called the Mentor. When CCP introduced an extra tier of battlecruiser, the Oracle design was adapted for the Amarr. It was then implemented by CCP in the Crucible expansion of Winter 2011 as a tier 3 Amarr battlecruiser.
Know Your Enemy by Azual Skoll, The Altruist
The oracle sits opposite the tornado as another strong mid range specialist. With an 8/3/6 slot layout this ship is heavily low slot biased, making it ostensibly an armour tanker. With an armour buffer tank the oracle is probably the toughest of the tier 3 battlecruisers, although it remains relatively fragile at around 40k EHP - a far cry from the amarrian tanking powerhouses of the prophecy and maller. While it remains faster than either of those ships, the armour oracle lags behind the other tier 3s at speeds of around 1.1km/s.
As you might have guessed from my reference to 'the armour oracle' rather than simply 'the oracle', there are also a substantial number of pilots who choose to shield tank them. While it only tanks around half of what the armour version does, the shield oracle is significantly faster (over 1.4km/s without any speed mods, or up to 1.8km/s with a couple of overdrives) and is able to use its large number of low slots to further enhance its damage output, range, and speed. Obviously in order to fit any real tank the shield oracle is completely unable to fit tackle or EWAR, making it exclusively a gang ship.
The oracle receives the same bonuses as the harbinger; 5% to energy turret damage along with 10% to their cap use. With pulse lasers its range and damage output are comparable to that of the autocannon tornado, however the higher optimal range of pulses gives it a much stronger real damage output at medium range. The armour variant can generally hit at around 50-60km with scorch (45+10 with no range mods), while the shield version is able to reach out even further (58+16 with two tracking enhancers). With close range ammo, the two fits are able to offer impressive damage outputs out to around 20-30km (15+10 and 19+16 respectively).
As with the tornado, the oracle also sees some use as a sniping platform, usually with a rack of tachyons. As with most tach fits, fitting is at a premium and a tachyon oracle is generally the least tanked of all the tier 3 sniper fits. It makes up for this shortcoming with excellent damage output (again in no small part due to its low slot count), putting out something in the range of 500dps at almost 200km (168+32). With close range ammo, a tach oracle is potentially able to out-damage even a shield tanked pulse oracle at medium ranges (it puts out over 800dps at 47+32km using a typical fit), although its slower tracking and far weaker tank makes it inadvisable for the job. Despite its strong damage output, the sniper oracle lacks the sheer range of the naga or the alpha of the tornado, making it slightly less popular in the role than these alternatives.
The oracle's biggest weakness is its lack of mid slots - the armour variant is very limited in terms of the mid slot modules that it's able to field, and its shield counterpart can field none at all unless it goes without a tank. Not only does this limit the oracle's ability to hold tackle or hit opponents at close range, but is also makes it difficult for it to fit a cap booster (especially so given that most common fits are quite tight on grid and cpu) - most oracle fits that I've encountered have not had one. On the other hand, with the oracle's bonus to weapon cap use combined with the role bonus that all tier 3 BCs (except for the tornado, for obvious reasons) get to the same, the oracle is less prone to capping itself out than it would be otherwise. Still, a few well applied neuts can cause this ship some serious problems.
Depending on the fit, the shield oracle is potentially one of the fastest tier 3 battlecruisers, and as such the same comments that applied to the tornado are true here - ensure tacklers maintain angular velocity, and try to get the ship locked down. The tank on the shield fit is one of the softest of any non-sniper tier 3, so once caught it should go down easily. The armour fit is significantly tougher, but also much slower and it should be easier to get on top of one. While there's a slim possibility of an armour oracle fitting a web, it is not standard practice to do so. It's worth noting that since the oracle can instantly switch between ammo types, the sniper oracle is probably more dangerous for an approaching tackler than the other tier 3s - this is because it can quickly switch to higher damage crystals (which don't have the tracking penalty of sniping crystals) once it identifies you as a threat.
Against a shield fit, the standard therm > EM preference applies although due to the weakness of its tank your own damage type will probably be less of a concern than simply getting it tackled in the first place. On an armour fit, specific hardeners tend to be uncommon due to a lack of cpu and the desire to save some low slots for damage mods, meaning that the usual explosive > kinetic preference holds true. Since it has no drones, the entire damage output of the oracle will be a mix of EM and thermal regardless of ammo type, with primarily EM at longer ranges (scorch or aurora crystals) and a roughly even split at close range.
Amarr Starships | ||
|---|---|---|
| Frigates | Tech 1 | Frigates: Crucifier • Executioner • Impairor • Inquisitor • Magnate • Punisher • Tormentor | Faction Frigates: Amarr Navy Slicer |
| Tech 2 | Assault Ships: Vengeance • Retribution | Interceptors: Crusader • Malediction | Covert Ops: Anathema • Purifier | Electronic Attack Ships: Sentinel | |
| Destroyers | Tech 1 | Destroyers: Coercer • Dragoon |
| Tech 2 | Interdictors: Heretic | |
| Cruisers | Tech 1 | Cruisers: Arbitrator • Augoror • Omen • Maller | Faction Cruisers: Omen Navy Issue • Augoror Navy Issue |
| Tech 2 | Heavy Assault Ships: Zealot • Sacrilege | Recon Ships: Pilgrim • Curse | Heavy Interdictors: Devoter | Logistics: Guardian | |
| Tech 3 | Strategic Cruisers: Legion | |
| Battlecruisers | Tech 1 | Combat Battlecruisers: Prophecy • Harbinger | Attack Battlecruisers: Oracle | Faction Battlecruisers: Harbinger Navy Issue |
| Tech 2 | Command Ships: Absolution • Damnation | |
| Battleships | Tech 1 | Battleships: Armageddon • Apocalypse • Abaddon | Faction Battleships: Apocalypse Navy Issue • Armageddon Navy Issue • Armageddon Imperial Issue • Apocalypse Imperial Issue |
| Tech 2 | Black Ops: Redeemer | Marauders: Paladin | |
| Industrials | Tech 1 | Industrials: Sigil • Bestower | Freighter: Providence |
| Tech 2 | Transport Ships: Impel | Blockade Runners: Prorator | Jump Freighters: Ark | |
| Capitals | Tech 1 | Carrier: Archon | Dreadnought: Revelation | Supercarrier: Aeon | Titan: Avatar |
Factions with unique Spacecraft | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Amarr Empire | Caldari State | Gallente Federation | Minmatar Republic | Jove Empire | Angel Cartel | Blood Raider Covenant | Guristas Pirates | Sansha's Nation | Serpentis Corporation | |
