A Raven firing upon a target

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 missiles '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.

• Rocket (Short ranged charge fired by Frigates)

• 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 and Golem)

• Citadel Torpedo (Super-heavy missiles, fired by Titans, Dreadnoughts and Player-owned Stations)

• Friend or Foe 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.

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 Modules

To improve missile launcher performance, such as damage and rate of fire, there are numerous support skills which can be trained, as well as modules such as Ballistic Control Systems.

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

A more complicated calculator that will aid in calculating damage output against various targets is available here.