Titans: Past, Present, and Future | EVE Online

Titans: Past, Present, and Future

2008-01-04 - By Svarthol

To be a titan pilot is the dream of countless capsuleers, yet those who have joined this exclusive club say the risk and cost may not be worth it.

The role of titan pilot is in many ways an unattainable elite status. Capsule pilots are already nearly gods in themselves, so those who fly the handful of titans in existence make up a tiny group with more metaphorical weight than many galactic political figures. Yet not all these pilots are happy with their decision. In recent interviews, titan pilots described a similar unhappiness with their choice to fly the rarest ship class in the universe.

"In the past, titans have been used as a scare tactic as much as a blob eliminator," notes DHB Wildcat of Burn Eden Corporation. Pilots unused to titan warfare simply fled in disarray with the mere appearance of a titan on the battlefield. This gave the titan a particular unquantifiable advantage: fear.

With the march of time however, the fear factor of a titan appearing nearby has decreased. Recent times have seen many updates and changes made to the public titan blueprints, removing many tactical options which were considered the class' main strengths. These included the ability to use the jump bridge to move groups of freighters, and the much feared ability to fire the doomsday device through a cynosural field. "... with jumping freighters and even better cruiser class tacklers which can easily tank a doomsday, titans have no role and no use that is foreseeable ..." laments Hegemon Rast of Black Nova Corp.

Most titan pilots interviewed bemoaned of the loss of traditional roles for titans in logistics and fleet warfare. All of them recognized the continuing potency of the doomsday device but the consensus was that the titan is a veritable sitting duck after firing its weapon. According to pilot Hegemon Rast, "... titans inability to align or warp in anything other than ridiculous amounts of time in a combat setting means that in combat they are simply a liability."

When asked about possible future roles for titans, or whether they could make suggestions for changes in the titan blueprints, responses from pilots were varied. Chribba, the famous trusted middleman for supercapital sales and chairman of Otherworld Empire, noted that the titans role as a clone bay capable ship had not yet even been tested. DHB Wildcat suggested that the doomsday device be removed in favor of supercapital class weaponry effective against individual hostile support ships.

Whether the titan will remain a potent shipclass into the future in the face of such pessimism from its pilots remains to be seen. The class clearly still has its fans, as the last three months have seen new titan unveilings from Mercenary Coalition, Band of Brothers, and Red Alliance. So long as the titan commands the awe of capsuleers, the class will likely continue to have a strong pull on the pilots of the future.