Like the Arbitrator, the Bellicose serves both as an electronic warfare platform and as a more conventional combat ship carrying its race's secondary weapon system - in this case missiles. In fact given the relatively low damage output of its counterparts (particularly the Stabber) the Bellicose is actually a reasonably strong contender in the realm of Minmatar damage dealing cruisers. This is probably a good thing, given that target painting - the Bellicose's racial flavour of electronic warfare - is a fairly niche role.

To put the Bellicose in context, it's sort of like a Caracal except with a target painting bonus in place of the Caracal's bonus to missile range. The Bellicose has one fewer launcher and loses the associated high slot (giving it 4/5/4 overall), however thanks to a larger 40m3 drone complement its damage output remains comparable. The Bellicose is slightly faster at around 2km/s on a typical fit, but performance in other areas is broadly similar.

Much like the Arbitrator, the Bellicose comes in two flavours - a fleet EWAR platform, and a small gang combat ship with optional electronic warfare. Also like the Arbitrator, these two variants aren't really distinct so much as points on a spectrum - EWAR setups might lean more towards heavy missiles and speed mods while a more combat-oriented fit might opt for HAMs and pile on the ballistic controls, but broadly speaking the fits remain very similar except for a different mixture of mid slots.

In either case, the Bellicose is rarely tough; a single large shield extender is the most common choice with an optional invulnerability field to back it up, putting your typical Bellicose somewhere in the region of 20k EHP. Its damage output is more appealing - a little over 400dps with faction HAMs and high damage drones, which is almost identical to the HAM Caracal. Range on HAM setups is a little low, out to 20km with faction or 30km with javelins. Heavy missile variants solve that problem with typical ranges of about 60km, in exchange for lower damage output in the region of 300-350dps. It's worth noting of course that about a third of this damage output still comes from drones, which will have significant travel time when fighting at that sort of range.

While target painting is far less common than other forms of EWAR, the target painting capabilities of the Bellicose are nonetheless fairly strong. With its 7.5% per level bonus, a single painter from a fully skilled pilot will increase their target's signature radius by a little over 50%. With three painters - fairly typical for a fleet EWAR setup - you're looking at an increase of about 160%, or enough to give a cruiser the sig of a battleship. This is enough to substantially increase the damage output of an allied fleet, particularly when you've got larger ships shooting at low-sig targets like frigates or logistics ships. It's worth noting that the Bellicose wins the unfortunate title of 'shortest lock range on an EWAR cruiser', coming in at a mere 53km (58km while in gang) unless fitted with lock range rigs or some other substitute This prevents it from using the full reach of its target painters (45+90km when fully skilled), however given that you generally want to be in missile range of your target anyway this is rarely a problem.

As one of the less threatening-looking cruisers, the Bellicose also sees a fairly large amount of use as an anti-frigate platform. With rapid light missiles and light drones, a properly fit Bellicose can chew through frigates with alarming speed, and shouldn't be underestimated by any means. That said, an anti-frigate Bellicose will generally under-perform against another cruiser, given its combination of light tank and relatively low raw damage output.

Source: http://www.evealtruist.com/2013/05/know-your-enemy-disruption-cruisers.html

• Minmatar Cruiser I
  • Minmatar Destroyer III
    • Minmatar Frigate III
      • Spaceship Command I
  • Spaceship Command II

The Bellicose is the Minmatar E-War cruiser with bonuses for the effectiveness of target painters. Although the vigil's target painters have a longer range than those of the Bellicose, the cruiser provides a far more durable platform from which to project E-War. On top of that, like the Arbitrator, the Bellicose has a secondary bonus for combat, in this case for the rate of fire of Light, Heavy and Heavy Assault Missile Launchers, meaning that the ship can also double up as a damage dealer.

5% bonus to Rapid Light Missile, Heavy Missile and Heavy Assault Missile Launcher rate of fire

7.5% bonus to Target Painter effectiveness

[Bellicose, FireFly Support]
 
Damage Control II
Energized Adaptive Nano Membrane II
Energized Adaptive Nano Membrane II
1600mm Reinforced Steel Plates II

10MN Afterburner II
Sensor Booster II, Targeting Range Script
Phased Weapon Navigation Array Generation Extron
Phased Weapon Navigation Array Generation Extron
Phased Weapon Navigation Array Generation Extron

Small Energy Neutralizer II
Small Energy Neutralizer II
[empty high slot]
[empty high slot]

Medium Anti-Thermic Pump I
Medium Anti-Thermic Pump I
Medium Explosive Armor Plate I

Scan Resolution Script x1
Nanite Repair Paste x20

[Bellicose, LOLTackle]

Damage Control II
Nanofiber Internal Structure II
Nanofiber Internal Structure II

Large Shield Extender II
Stasis Webifier II
Warp Disruptor II
10MN Microwarpdrive I

220mm Vulcan AutoCannon II, EMP M
220mm Vulcan AutoCannon II, EMP M
220mm Vulcan AutoCannon II, EMP M
Small Energy Neutralizer I
Small Energy Neutralizer I

Medium EM Shield Reinforcer I
Medium EM Shield Reinforcer I
Medium Core Defense Field Extender I

[Bellicose, Bait]

Damage Control II
Gyrostabilizer II
Gyrostabilizer II

Warp Scrambler II
Stasis Webifier II
Large Shield Extender II
Large Shield Extender II

Dual 180 Autocannon II,RF EMP M
Dual 180 Autocannon II,RF EMP M
Dual 180 Autocannon II,RF EMP M
Small Energy Neutralizer II
Small Energy Neutralizer II


Medium EM Shield Reinforcer
Medium EM Shield Reinforcer
Medium Thermal Shield Reinforcer

Hammerhead II x5
Hobgoblin II x5

[Bellicose, Cheap Huggin]

Type-D Attenuation Signal Augmentation
Overdrive Injector System II
Damage Control II
Nanofiber Internal Structure II

Large Shield Extender II
Experimental 10MN Microwarpdrive I
Phased Weapon Navigation Array Generation Extron
Phased Weapon Navigation Array Generation Extron
Multispectrum Shield Hardener II

Heavy Missile Launcher II
Heavy Missile Launcher II
Heavy Missile Launcher II
Heavy Missile Launcher II

Medium EM Shield Reinforcer I
Medium Core Defense Field Extender I
Medium Core Defense Field Extender I

Hornet EC-300 x5

[Bellicose, New Bro-Huggin]

1600mm Reinforced Rolled Tungsten Plates I
Damage Control II
Energized Adaptive Nano Membrane II
Energized Adaptive Nano Membrane II

10MN Afterburner II
Phased Weapon Navigation Array Generation Extron
Phased Weapon Navigation Array Generation Extron
F-90 Positional Sensor Subroutines, Targeting Range Script
F-90 Positional Sensor Subroutines, Targeting Range Script

Prototype 'Arbalest' Rapid Light Missile Launcher
Prototype 'Arbalest' Rapid Light Missile Launcher
Prototype 'Arbalest' Rapid Light Missile Launcher
[empty high slot]

Medium Trimark Armor Pump I
Medium Trimark Armor Pump I
Medium Trimark Armor Pump I

Vespa EC-600 x4