A Very Rough Noobie Guide to Guns in Eve Online

I heard a few conversations over the weekend and thought I'd do a quick guide to weapon systems in Eve Online. Well guns anyway. If you know your Eve weapons go here instead as this is a very basic introduction to guns. If you know the difference between a blaster and a railgun head over there and see who to vote for in CSM X. Voting is now open!

Most ship hulls give a boost to a certain weapon type. This might be damage, range, tracking or such. Its usually a very good idea to fit the type of weapons to your ship that get a boost. Also generally small guns go on frigates and destroyers, mediums go on cruisers and most battlecruisers and large guns go on battleships and one specific line of Battlecrusiers*

Blasters (Hybrid)
Think of Blasters as the sawn-off shotguns of Eve Online. Short range, massive damage, useless at long range. You can use ammo to improve range a bit but generally if you cannot get near to your target you are buggered. You do thermal and kinetic damage with blasters. Hybrid weapons only take five seconds to reload compared with 10 seconds for all other weapons systems. Using a Merlin for comparison.

Short Range/High DPS Ammo - 1.7km optimal, 3.2km max effective, 168 DPS
Long Range/Low DPS Ammo - 3.1km optimal, 7.5km max effective, 120 DPS

Autocannons (Projectile)
The MAC10 or Uzi 9mm of Eve Online. High damage, but short range for this to be truly effective. They are able to hit further out than Blasters but with poorer accuracy. Pretty much spray-and-pray time. Autocannons have a wide range of ammo that means you can select a specific damage type. Using a Rifter for comparison.

Short Range/High DPS Ammo - 0.8km optimal, 8km max effective, 120 DPS
Long Range/Low DPS Ammo - 1.5km optimal, 15km max effective, 86 DPS

Pulse Lasers (Energy)
Whilst a short-range weapon, these have better range than blasters or autocannons but less DPS. Using a Punisher for comparison.

Short Range/High DPS Ammo - 4km optimal, 7km max effective, 135 DPS
Long Range/Low DPS Ammo - 11km optimal, 14km max effective, 96 DPS

Railguns (Hybrid)
The assault rifle of New Eden. Mid to long range. Hybrid weapons only take five seconds to reload compared with 10 seconds for all other guns. Using a Merlin for comparison.

Short Range/High DPS Ammo - 4.5km optimal, 12km max effective, 100 DPS
Long Range/Low DPS Ammo - 32km optimal, 39km max effective, 58 DPS

Artillery Cannons (Projectile)
The Sniper Rifle of Eve. Long range, massive damage, long time between shots, useless in close combat range. Using a Rifter for comparison.

Short Range/High DPS Ammo - 3.7km optimal, 20km max effective, 95 DPS
Long Range/Low DPS Ammo - 27km optimal, 43km max effective, 54 DPS 

Beam Lasers (Energy)
Something Carebears use. I have no idea! Using a Punisher for comparison.

Short Range/High DPS Ammo - 4.1km optimal, 7.2km max effective, 126 DPS
Long Range/Low DPS Ammo - 29km optimal, 32km max effective, 72 DPS


Ammo

Hybrid Charges Hybrid charges are used in both blasters and railguns and generally do Kinetic and Thermal damage. Anti-Matter is one of the most popular high DPS ammo for T1 guns. It reduces range by 50% but hits hard. However as T2 ammo is so good for hybrids you don't really need Faction.

Blasters
For T2, Void is the close-range ammo and Null for longer range. Personally I only ever tend to use Void with Null in the hold in case my target gets a bit of range and I need to hit further out.

Void - High DPS, Short Range, Kinetic and Thermal Damage
Null - Lower DPS, Long Range, Kinetic and Thermal Damage

Faction Antimatter - High DPS, Short Range, Kinetic and Thermal Damage

Rails
T1 wise faction antimatter is the de-facto close range ammo choice. T2 ammo for railguns again give you a short range and long range ammo choice.

Javelin (T2) - High DPS, Short Range, Kinetic and Thermal Damage
Spike (T2) - Lower DPS, Long Range, Kinetic and Thermal Damage

Projectiles
Faction ammo is always useful with projectiles. Phased Plasma is a good all-round choice if you don't know what you are engaging. It is short-range and high Kinetic/Thermal damage. If you know your enemies hole (steady) you can swap to EMP for EM damage or Fusion for Explosive. Remember these are all short-ranged, high DPS ammo. Titanium-Sabot is a useful ammo to carry as it gives good range and improves tracking with a corresponding drop in damage output, small arties should hit disruptor kiters with it. I personally feel T2 projectile ammo is not worth it. Hail and Barrage are OK for autocannons. Tremor for artillery cannons is not great due to the huge tracking debuff. As Charlie Fodder said "To be used on stationary targets only".

ACs
Hail (T2 Autocannon) - High DPS, Short Range, Reduced Tracking, Kinetic and Explosive Damage
Barrage (T2 Autocannon) - Lower DPS, Longer Range, Reduced Tracking, Kinetic and Explosive Damage

Artillery
Quake (T2 Artillery) - High DPS, Short Range, Bonus to Tracking, Kinetic and Explosive Damage
Tremor (T2 Artillery) - Lower DPS, Long Range, Huge debuff to Tracking, Kinetic and Explosive Damage

Faction
Faction Phased Plasma - High DPS, Short Range, Mostly thermal with some Kinetic Damage
Faction EMP - High DPS, Short Range, Mostly EM damage with some Kinetic/Explosive Damage
Faction Fusion - High DPS, Short Range, Mostly Explosive with some Kinetic
Faction Titanium Sabot - Mid DPS, Mid Range, Bonus to Tracking Speed, Kinetic and Explosive Damage

Lasers
Imperial Navy Multifrequency is a good choice for everyday use. Other than that.... find another guide. I really am bad at lasooors :/



* Yes this is Eve. You can experiment and have good success at swapping gun sizes and types. The AC Ferox, the Artillery Tristan, the small gun Vexor. Yes, with the right hull and fit autocannons can be a kiting weapon. The above are the guidelines GENERALLY for new players. Eve always has plenty of exceptions!

P.S. Yes the Beam Lasers comment is a bit of a troll but you have to admit they are more popular with mission runners than PvPrs generally speaking.