Meta Modules
Meta modules on items
Thank you to Riddik Aldemir Stasarik for the idea.
https://wiki.eveuniversity.org/Tech_and_meta_levels has more detail on this subject.
All developed modules in eve generally have 6 'levels' of 'good'. They use the 'meta' level to indicate it, going from 0 to 14. So, when you can't fit something, find a meta. If you want it to be better and you have the isk, can get the faction. The Variations tab in show info in game has all of them.
T1- Tech 1, the base module, meta 0 It's the basis of every build pipeline to build the others, it is easy to get, and it is also is the worst performance and hard to fit. But soooo cheap, but sometimes more expensive than better meta modules.
'Meta' - This refers to the meta level 1-4. These are usually named something weird. These have often better fitting characteristics while having better performance. These vary on price on how common they are and how often rats drop them, so vary between 3k to 7 mil.
T2 - Tech 2, meta 5, the standard. Great stats, not great fitting. These usually require skill level 4 or 5 to use, but have a different price structure, usually 1-3 mil.
Faction - Sold/dropped by a 'faction' in eve, meta 8. These have better performance or fitting based on the t2, or both. These are all over the board, with some being super cheap 300k and others being 80 mil. Cannot get these in volume.
Officer - Only dropped by certain rare officer spawns, meta 14. These are super expensive. If you get one, sell it in jita and make 1 to 8 bil easy. :smile:
Abyssal - Take any of these and apply an appropriate multiplasmid and it gets better or worse based on your luck. And 0 value on your loss mail. :smile:
Let's take an example:
T1 - Drone Damage Amplifier I - 15% damage, 27 cpu, 53k isk - Used on newbie frigates/cruisers
meta - AE-K Compact Drone Damage Amplifier - 17% dam, 25 cpu, 89k isk - Used on Vexors
T2 - Drone Damage Amplifier II - 20.5% dam, 30 cpu, 1.2 mil isk - Used on Gilas/Ishtars
Faction - Sentient Drone Damage Amplifier - 23.8% dam, 20 cpu, 120 mil isk - Used on Carriers/Supers
Officer - Unit P-343554's Modified Drone Damage Amplifier - 25.8% dam, 26 cpu, 8 bil isk - Used on Supers
low cost Abyssal - Mutated Drone Damage Amplifier -20.9%, 15.66 cpu, 600 mil - Built off a badly rolled faction, a bad price!
high cost Abyssal - Mutated Drone Damage Amplifier -29.7%, 27 cpu, 15 bil - Built off a P-343554!
Or use the 'compare' button in game on the 'variation' tab to easily see what they are like.
If you do a 'show info' on a module, and it has an industry tab with a blueprint, that means it was built by a player. If there isn't a blueprint on there, that means it was most likely dropped by an NPC.
Note, you can drag Abyssal modules onto the compare tab as well!
Meta ship levels
Ships also have meta levels. these can vary, a LOT.
Tech 1 = base generalist
Faction = Base but better
Pirate = Base but better with a gimmick!
Tech 2 = Specialist in one thing.
Tech 3 = Role switching!
The skills and costs of these can vary a lot.
At the destroyer level, it might costs 15 mil to fit a Tech 1, 30 mil to fit a faction one, 120 mil to fit a pirate one, 100 mil to fit a t2, and 100 mil to fit a tech 3.
Guns LOTS of guns
This diagram is based off some work that Hokaba Hanaya did on Eve Online Discord. Click to see full res.
It walks you through the different types of light guns. Thanks again to Hokaba Hanaya!
Show Info Usage
Using show info, you can figure out nearly every module in eve.
You can look at ships traits to figure out what they are strong at.
You can then do show info to figure out what skills use them.
Then look at the required for tab to see what uses what.
And it is just a bunch of linked items here. Very easy to navigate once you learn them.
And when in doubt, ask a help channel!
Comparison tool
The comparison tool inside is great, if a little clunky.
You can use this to compare multiple different modules of different types. It has an 'estimated price' as well, which is based on market conditions and isn't always accurate. Plus doens't mean there is availability. Let's look at an exact example of Drones, which we discussed yesterday. (see below)
I have ordered this list on one of the major attributes you will care about with drones, the drone damage multiplier. So a hobgoblin II has a multiplier of 1.92 modifier, while the warrior II has a multiplier of 1.56. Each do 13 hp on each hit, multiplied by that number.
So why does everyone use warrior ii for combat?
The speed. The hobgoblin only 3.3k/sec burn time and orbit of 660m/sec orbit. Plus their tracking is horrible with only 2.18.
Versus the warrior which is 5k/sec burn and 900m/sec orbit, with 3.56 tracking.
And then you have the damage type, hobgoblins do thermal, which is usually equal around armor and shields. Warriors do explosive, which do crappy against shield, which is what most kitey ships are using, especially small tacklers. but they can track at least. so you can switch to acolytes, which are nearly as fast.
So you have to find that balance between damage, tracking, speed, damage type, and then the factionals throw a massive wrencch into it.
Comparison Tool Example.
How to `meta` a ship
In this case, 'meta' a ship is most often used when trying to fix a ship fit you were given.
Sometimes, you are given a ship with perfect skills. Or they link you a ship with a module offline, unexplained issues, or other problems. So you sometimes have to fix things you're given.
If you are missing CPU, there are 10 billion variations you can do. Most involve changing a single module from a t2 module to a meta module, as listed above.
Let's take a real world example:
[Imperial Navy Slicer, NeedsToBeReal IN Slicer]
Extruded Compact Heat Sink
Heat Sink II
Nanofiber Internal Structure II
Nanofiber Internal Structure II
Small Ancillary Armor Repairer
5MN Quad LiF Restrained Microwarpdrive
Warp Disruptor II
Small Focused Pulse Laser II
Small Focused Pulse Laser II
Small Energy Locus Coordinator I
Small Energy Locus Coordinator II
Small Energy Locus Coordinator II
Scorch S x2
Imperial Navy Microwave S x2
Nanite Repair Paste x50
Conflagration S x2
Imperial Navy Standard S x2
This fit above is easy to fit for people with great skills. but can be tough for someone new. So we can change a LOT to get CPU back.
Heat sink to a compact.
Warp Disruptor II to a compact.
Or replace an entire module like a heat sink to an overdrive.
Your power grid (aka Grid or PG) is often harder to fix, though. Because it's limited by a smaller subset of skills that change your modules grid uses. Shield upgrades 5 is universally needed in most null sec fittings, for instance.
If you needed grid on this ship, you could change the 5mn quad to a 5mn compact. Or change a rig to another one that doesn't increase your grid load.
You can also look at implants, but try to cap yourself at 1% because it's often just a sign of a bad fit otherwise.
When in doubt, ask someone more experienced. It will take them literally 10 seconds to fix it.