A Carrier is born!

# Thanatos - Gallente Carrier

Designed to act primarily as a fighter carrier for small- to mid-scale engagements, its significant defensive capabilities and specially-fitted fighter bays make it ideal for its intended purpose.

Serious Business

To make one point clear right now... internet spaceships are serious business. Battles in EVE Online get reported in the mainstream media regularly due to their real world cost ($400'000 lost in a single fight) and record breaking participation (over 4000 players in a single battle). Serious... business...

One little space pilot

And so one intrepid pilot set out many years ago (2006), in a tiny little corvette to make it big in New Eden. Stepping up through frigates, cruisers, battlecruisers and finally to battleships. I spent many years flying battleships, the biggest of the sub-capital craft, and making lots of money in the process. I was happy...

11 years later and after a sizable 6 year break for, I'm sorry to say, World of Warcraft I'm stepping up my game. I left the safety of the central regions with their police forces and law, headed out into the outer rim of the galaxy, Null-Sec. In this lawless space where might makes right battleships are dwarfed not by bulk freighters and mining craft but by carriers, dreadnoughts, motherships and titans!

I gotta get me one of those!

And so I trained new skills, long, slow, boring skills to meet the bare minimum requirements to fly my first capital ship, a carrier. Much like aircraft carriers today, these beauties launch wave after wave of fighters dealing heavy damage while maintaining range from the enemy. They do roughly 4x the damage of a battleship. The downside, well there's more than one...

A mass Capital ship fight

They can't enter Empire space. They warp slowly, very slowly. They align to warp even slower. The fighters are fragile and if aren't constantly micro-managed will be easy prey for enemy ships. Oh, and they cost nearly as much as a month's game subscription!

Sentimental fool!

I could just buy one. The alliance I joined in Null-Sec produce them daily and make them available at reasonable prices (comparatively!). I could. But I'm funny about these things, the second time around, or the third, sure, I'll buy it. But the first ship...

I built my first battleship. It cost me way more than it was worth and required training skills which meant my combat skills had to go on the back burner. I don't regret it for one moment, it was special. It blew up a few months later and I bought a new one but still, it was special!

Building a Carrier

Most ships, you get the minerals together, go to a factory with a blueprint, say build and come back a few hours later. Capital ships are different. You have to build them much like modern aircraft carriers are built, in modules.

Aircraft Carrier John F Kennedy

So I gathered blueprints, buying some copies (limited runs) and also some originals (unlimited runs but FAR more expensive). I mined in a terrible mining ship with terrible mining skills to gather the materials. It took me the best part of 2 months to gather all the materials, construct the components and then... I need more skills to build capital ships! ARG!

3 days later (in EVE skills train in real time, whether you're online or not) and into the factory goes the Thanatos blueprint, all of the modules and... 6 days to build it. 6 chuffing days!!!

One proud Daddy

And so fast forward a little... and a Carrier is born!

Isn't she beautiful?

From the front

Is this getting creepy yet?

Where's the space?

So yes, all those shots are taken inside the space station. You were expecting a space backdrop perhaps? Well, I need to fit a few more things yet, like some armour and some fighters. I also will NOT be undocking until I know it's safe and the alliance I am in are on call.

EVE Online is a war game, when you lose a ship, you LOSE the ship. It's not like World of Warcraft where you just respawn with your +20 Sword of Poking Goblins in the Eye. When you die, you lose everything you had on you.

When I take this baby out, I'll have the backing of not only a sub-cap fleet but a capital fleet and a super capital (motherships and titans) fleet, should anyone feel plucky enough to take me on. And incase you think I'm being paranoid... yes, a single battleship with a PVP (Player vs Player) fitting could easily tear apart a PVE (Player vs Environment - killing computer ships for money) fit carrier.

What's next?

It's another capital ship, it's not a combat ship and it shoots flames!

Okay okay, it's a mining ship, but a bloody big one! Should help me make more ships much faster in the future.

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Another exciting blog from @stormriderstudio!

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_{Thumbnail Image: https://www.wallpapervortex.com
Aircraft Carrier construction: https://navaltoday.com
Rorqual Mining ship: https://www.eveonline.com
Capital Fleet fight: https://www.pcgamesn.com
All other images ingame screenshots captured by myself from the game EVE Online.}