Eagle Mk IICombat

The Eagle Mk II is Core Dynamics' featherweight interceptor and the most agile production ship in its class. Three small hardpoints and a turn rate that embarrasses almost everything make it a pure dogfighter — it sits on a target's tail and never lets go. At around 11,000 credits it's also one of the cheapest ships in the game.

The price of that agility is everything else. Its hull is an eggshell, its shields minimal, it has just one utility mount and one small military slot, and its three small guns deal little damage. The Eagle is unforgiving: it wins by never being hit and by out-turning opponents into the ground, but a single solid salvo can end it. It's a thrill and a superb teacher of dogfighting, but a glass dart in every sense.

Four things define the Eagle as a combat ship:

• Best-in-class agility. It out-turns almost everything — the core of its dogfighting identity, letting it stay on a target that can't follow.
• Three small hardpoints. A surprising three guns for so tiny a hull — modest damage, but more mounts than many expect.
• A military slot. One class-2 bay lets it harden its fragile hull a fraction — every point counts here.
• Almost free. At ~11k credits with a trivial rebuy, it's the cheapest path to a dedicated dogfighter.

Best-in-class agility carries a 55 — but three small guns, the thinnest shield and an eggshell 72 hull cap the ceiling hard.

The 55/100 headline is a verdict against the combat role's priority-ordered factors. Each factor carries a weight (its share of 100); this hull earns part of each based on how it performs against the whole field. The points sum to the rating.

Both tables rate ships for the combat role specifically. The role column is the hardpoint loadout — the raw weapon mounts behind the damage.

Same class — small-pad combat ships

The Eagle is the agility extremist of the small class. Everything pricier out-fights it on tank and firepower, but nothing out-turns it. Buy it to learn dogfighting and for cheap, nimble fun — not to win durable fights.

Other classes — the agile step-up

The Eagle teaches agility; the Vulture is the natural step-up that keeps the nimbleness while adding the firepower and tank the Eagle lacks. Master the Eagle and every more capable agile ship becomes easier to fly.

At ~11k Cr the Eagle is among the cheapest ships in the game, with no rank gate and a trivial rebuy. Even fully kitted it stays inexpensive, though engineering a hull this fragile yields limited returns.

It's a pure value-and-learning pick: a near-free dogfighter to master agility in, or a cheap thrill to fly for its own sake. Few pilots keep one long, but many remember theirs fondly.

A pure dogfighting fit — everything bent toward staying on target and alive. Initial is buy-only; A-rated is the combat-ready baseline; Engineered maximises agility and the thin shield. With three small guns, one utility and an eggshell hull, the Eagle wins by never being hit.

Buy the hull (~11k Cr) and arm the three smalls with 1G Pulse Lasers (Gimballed) — buy-only, ammo-free, and they double as shield-strippers while you learn. Fit a 0A Shield Booster on the single utility, a 3E Shield Generator, and a 2E Hull Reinforcement in the military slot for the barest tank. Bulkheads stay stock Lightweight Alloy at this stage.

Leave the four size-1 optional slots empty (—) at this stage; the size-2 bay carries only the stock cargo rack. Military-grade bulkheads, multi-cannons, the shield cell banks and the reinforcement stack all come at the A-rated step.

Fly to learn the turn fight; stay on tails, never trade blows head-on.

A-rating priority for a dogfighter:

• 1Thrusters → A — Agility is the Eagle's whole identity; A-rate first. ~250k Cr
• 2Power Distributor → A — Sustain three guns and boost on a tiny plant. ~150k Cr
• 3Power Plant → A — Headroom for guns, shield and the booster. ~150k Cr
• 4Shield Generator → bi-weave — The thin shield needs to regen fast. ~120k Cr
• 5Bulkheads → Military Grade Composite — The single biggest jump on the eggshell hull; a combat Eagle needs every point of armour. ~60k Cr
• 6FSD → A — Reach RES sites and turn-ins. ~150k Cr

Fill the optionals for the tank-and-burst role: the size-3 becomes a bi-weave, the size-2 swaps cargo for a 2A Shield Cell Bank, and the four size-1 slots take a 1D Hull Reinforcement, a 1D Module Reinforcement, a second 1D Hull Reinforcement and a 1A Shield Cell Bank — no scanner; every slot earns its mass in survivability or burst healing.

The house combat pattern bent toward agility. Pin blueprints for remote G1→G5 application; visit in person for experimentals.

Recommended order

• 1Thrusters first, always — agility is the Eagle's only real defence.
• 2Distributor and plant to G5 to run three guns on a class-2 plant.
• 3Bi-weave shield and the two Heavy-Duty HRPs for the barest tank.
• 4Weapons last: Overcharged multi-cannons with one Corrosive.

Approximate progression across the three states (figures are representative, not exact rolls):

Military Grade Composite bulkheads plus a three-deep Heavy-Duty hull-reinforcement stack (military slot + two size-1 HRPs, all Deep Plating) lift the eggshell to a worthwhile ~430 effective armour — but it stays minimal for a combat hull even maxed. Engineered, the Eagle is a 430 m/s dart with elite agility and three guns; it wins by never being hit. Flown perfectly it's a delight, but it punishes any mistake instantly.

• Thrusters and agility are everything — the Eagle has no other defence; stay where enemy guns can't follow.
• Never trade blows head-on; one solid salvo ends the fight.
• It's a teacher and a toy — master it, then carry the agility skills to a Vulture or Fer-de-Lance.
• Its sibling the Imperial Eagle is slightly faster and tougher with a medium gun if you want a touch more substance.