Editing Skills and Implants (section)

===Spaceship Command Skills===

Spaceship Command Skills allow you to pilot additional classes of ships, and more advanced ships within a certain class. Different ships will also gain benefits from each level of the relevant skill. This section of the guide will discuss the skills needed for the most commonly used exploration ships. Please note that the "Spaceship Command" skill is covered in the section on Navigation skills, as the bonuses provided affect ship agility and are more pertinent to navigation.

====T1 Exploration Frigates====

Tech 1 exploration frigates are the first and most common ships used for exploration. There are four racial versions, each of which has slightly different fitting configurations. You'll need the Racial Frigate 1 skill to fly them: Caldari Frigate 1 for the Heron, Amarr Frigate 1 for the Magnate, and so forth. Each level of the appropriate racial frigate skill trained will also increase the strength of your scanning probes. 

====T2 Exploration Frigates====

Tech 2 exploration frigates, called Covert Ops Frigates, are upgrades of the four T1 racial frigates. There are two spaceship command skills needed to fly these ships. 

The first requirement is Racial Frigate 5. You should be well on your way to this skill level already, as it's already important for increasing your scanning in your T1 frigate. Each level of your racial frigate skill will still provide bonuses to your covert ops frigate, but these bonuses do not relate specifically to exploration. 

The second requirement is Covert Ops 1, which has some prerequisites. You'll need to train Spaceship Command 3, as well as Electronics Upgrades 5, in order to start training Covert Ops. As with the T1 ships, each level of Covert Ops will increase your scanning strength, and will also decrease your CPU requirement for cloaking devices. 

Also, it's worth pointing out here that you should absolutely have Cloaking 4 trained and a covops cloak fitted to your T2 frigate before undocking.

====Sisters of Eve Faction Exploration Ships====

There are two Sisters of Eve faction ships that have bonuses for exploration: the Astero (frigate) and the Stratios (cruiser). These ships require a combination of Amarr and Gallente spaceship command skills to fly. 

The Astero, for example, requires both Amarr Frigate 3 and Gallente Frigate 3 to fly; as with any ship that can fit a covops cloak, you'll definitely want to have Cloaking 4 as well. Unlike the racial frigates, the Astero's exploration bonuses don't increase with additional levels of frigate skill. Instead, Amarr Frigate levels increase armor resistance, and Gallente Frigate levels increase drone hit points. 

The Stratios requires both Amarr Cruiser 2 and Gallente Cruiser 2, which in turn have Amarr and Gallente Destroyer 3 as well as Spaceship Command 2 as prerequisites. As with the Astero, additional levels of Amarr and Gallente Cruiser grant bonuses to armor and drones. 

The third SoE faction ship worth mentioning is the Nestor battleship. While it does provide scanning bonuses (and has the classic ring-and-spindle styling as the other SoE ships), it can't fit the covops cloak, and also can't pass through certain types of wormholes due to its size. For those reasons, the Nestor is not recommended for general exploration.

====T3 Strategic Cruisers====

Tech 3 Strategic Cruisers are arguably the apex of exploration ships, and as such require high levels of training in many skills. While a thorough discussion of these is beyond the scope of this section, it is worth noting that the specific spaceship command skills for a T3C can usually be left until last when training to fly strategic cruisers. The Racial Destroyer and Racial Cruiser skills provide no benefits to flying exploration frigates, and aren't a priority as you work up to the T3C requirements. 

If you do have your sights on a T3C, you're much better off training the prerequisites that will help you in the present: training Navigation 5 or Mechanics 5 benefits any ship, so you're using your training time more efficiently. Of course, this only applies to pilots focused just on exploration; if you plan to fly destroyers or cruisers for other activities, your priorities could be different.

====Caveat On Spaceship Command Skills====

Just because you meet the spaceship command requirements to fly a particular ship doesn't mean you are ready to undock one and take off into the nearest wormhole. Successfully flying any ship requires proficiency in a number of skills: being able to fly the ship around is pointless if you can't operate the fitted modules that are needed to actually do the work. A full treatment of the skills needed to be adequately prepared to fly each available ship isn't the point of this section, but a warning is in order. ''Spaceship command skills alone will not make you a competent pilot of any ship. 
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