What ship to get after the Merlin?

[⎛⎝Galorch⎠⎞]

I'd like to try more combat focused stuff, but would like to advance from my Merlin, but there are so many ships to choose from that I dont' know which one I'd like / can afford. So if anyone can suggest what to get next then please to let me know

[battlecattle]

Well, the obvious progression up the t1 Caldari tree in regards to hybrid-focused ships would be:
Merlin -> Cormorant -> Moa -> Ferox -> Rokh.
The merlin, corm, moa, and ferox are all fine ships and would serve you well in both PvE and PvP. Personally, I was not impressed with the Rokh the one time I flew it in an incursion fleet (found it to be slow and capacitor deficient), but haven't flown it in any other context.

Of course if you're willing to train into some Gallente stuff, they've got some nice t1 hybrid gun ships as well.
Incursus -> Catalyst -> Thorax -> Brutix -> Megathron
I haven't flown the mega, but the others are solid ships. For the most part they're armor tanked.

And if you do some Gallente training and some cross training into Minmatar ships, you've got access to the serpentis line (which has a focus on webbing down targets).
Daredevil -> Vigilant -> Vindicator

Of course in the T2 cruiser category there's the Eagle (cald) and Deimos (gal) and in t3 cruisers there's the Tengu (cald, though I don't think many folks fit tengus with hybrids) and Proteus (gal).

Or you could always switch over to training missiles which would serve you well if you continue down the caldari tree.

[⎛⎝Galorch⎠⎞]

Originally posted by battlecattle:

Well, the obvious progression up the t1 Caldari tree in regards to hybrid-focused ships would be:
Merlin -> Cormorant -> Moa -> Ferox -> Rokh.
The merlin, corm, moa, and ferox are all fine ships and would serve you well in both PvE and PvP. Personally, I was not impressed with the Rokh the one time I flew it in an incursion fleet (found it to be slow and capacitor deficient), but haven't flown it in any other context.

Of course if you're willing to train into some Gallente stuff, they've got some nice t1 hybrid gun ships as well.
Incursus -> Catalyst -> Thorax -> Brutix -> Megathron
I haven't flown the mega, but the others are solid ships. For the most part they're armor tanked.

And if you do some Gallente training and some cross training into Minmatar ships, you've got access to the serpentis line (which has a focus on webbing down targets).
Daredevil -> Vigilant -> Vindicator

Of course in the T2 cruiser category there's the Eagle and Deimos and in t3 cruisers there's the Tengu (though I don't think many folks fit tengus with hybrids) and Proteus.

Or you could always switch over to training missiles which would serve you well if you continue down the caldari tree.

Thanks, I'll make sure to try out a lot of these ships, tho it's going to take quite a while

[lonely2012]

You may want to get something for making money through exploration or mining first if you plan on playing solo, like skills for probing, data and relic analyzers, mining upgrades, or gas mining. Take them to wormholes and this will turn your herons and ventures into incredibly cost-effective moneymakers while you wait for combat skills or earn enough to buy injectors.

[⎛⎝Galorch⎠⎞]

Originally posted by lonely2012:

You may want to get something for making money through exploration or mining first if you plan on playing solo, like skills for probing, data and relic analyzers, mining upgrades, or gas mining. Take them to wormholes and this will turn your herons and ventures into incredibly cost-effective moneymakers while you wait for combat skills or earn enough to buy injectors.

Yeah I've already noticed that you can make a lot of money from mining

[lonely2012]

Originally posted by ⎛⎝Galorch⎠⎞:

Yeah I've already noticed that you can make a lot of money from mining

Kinda and not really, lol. Mining in asteroid belts is good if you do it in a group, or enjoy idle gameplay while watching netflix. Even then, it scales to the equipment almost as much as combat, so you have to be commited to industry to get the most out of it. For a new player mining in high sec is usually a total waste of time. Ninja mining in ls or wh is better in terms of profit, but then it's 99% boredom and 1% sheer terror kind of deal, without the added benefit of constantly scanning out exit strategies.