The Retribution is an homage to the glory days of the Empire, informed by classical Amarrian design philosophy: if it's strong, sturdy and packs a punch, it's ready for action. What this powerhouse lacks in speed and maneuverability it more than makes up for with its wide range of firepower possibilities and superb defensive ability.

Developer: Carthum Conglomerate

Carthum ships are the very embodiment of the Amarrian warfare philosophy. Possessing sturdy armor and advanced weapon system they provide a nice mix of offense and defense.

The retribution is a T2 Frigate, and falls in the class of Assault Ships.

On the surface, the retribution is very similar to the Wolf; it has the same 5/2/5 slot layout with 4 turrets, and very similar bonuses - damage, tracking speed and optimal range (the energy weapon equivalent to the wolf's falloff bonus). In place of the wolf's second damage bonus however, the retribution gets a reduction to cap use for its turrets - this isn't really necessary since the retribution's base capacitor is actually even stronger than the vengeance's (before the vengeance's cap regen bonus that is), although it does make it easier to run an active tank so it's not entirely wasted.

While the retribution doesn't have quite the same on-paper damage as the its rival the wolf (typically between 150 and 200 dps) the excellent optimal range on pulse lasers means that this damage output doesn't degrade anything like as quickly at range - a typical retribution can get anything between 15 and 20km optimal with scorch. Combined with its tracking bonus, this makes it fairly difficult to evade the retribution's fire even though range control will usually be on your side. In addition to that, the other factor that the retribution has in its favor is tank - completely unfitted it has almost as much armor HP as the vengeance does with a plate on it, and it has nearly as much again in structure! Despite not having a resist bonus itself, the retribution's high base HP combined with its extra low slot means that it can actually mount a stronger buffer tank than the vengeance if the pilot chooses to do so.

That said, a maxed out buffer retribution doesn't tend to be the norm. This is partly because the retribution is not a particularly fast ship - it's faster than both of the caldari assault frigs until you slap a plate and armor rigs on it, but after that it tends to only just break 2km/s with MWD and around 750m/s with AB, and the 400mm plate required for going all out tank makes that even worse. A full tank also requires dropping to smaller guns and giving up damage mods, and since the retribution can't necessarily rely on range control to keep its opponents in the fight those tend to be quite important. Both of these considerations favor a more moderate tank - usually a mix of resists and rep, potentially with a 200mm plate for extra buffer. The result is a fairly solid brawler with good damage projection and still very nice EHP, supported by reps while capacitor allows (not all retribution fits can keep a rep running forever like the vengeance can, but with the support of a nos it'll get some serious use out of one at the very least). Its low speed and lack of range control are the retribution's biggest weaknesses as a brawler - not because it needs to be at a certain range to deal damage, but because it makes it more difficult to catch targets and prevent them from escaping, as well as allowing its opponent free reign when it comes to fighting at their desired range.

While less common than the brawling fit, some pilots like to fly the retribution as a kiting ship - kind of like a slower, tougher version of the imperial navy slicer. This could be anything from a pure kiter with minimal tank to something which is essentially the same as the brawling fit above, except fit with a long point and flown in a slightly different way. Much like the 'vagawolf' I mentioned earlier, the kiting retribution combines the good damage projection of the other kiting AFs with the strong EHP and tracking of a close range fit should it require them. Unlike the vagawolf the retribution doesn't need a plate to provide that EHP, giving it (quite surprisingly) an advantage in speed and agility over its minmatar counterpart, as well as in damage projection thanks to it flying in optimal rather than falloff. While it generally isn't cap stable with everything running, the retribution's strong capacitor allows it to keep kiting for longer too.

As with the vengeance, the retribution has fairly high resists across the board thanks to its amarr t2 racial resists. Specific hardeners or resist rigs seem to be less common on the retribution, so your preference will generally be thermal > EM > kinetic > explosive. Expect to take mainly EM damage from the retribution at range, or a mix of EM and thermal when fighting up close. While its strong cap regen makes it quite resistant to neuting, hitting it with sufficient neuting power (that is, multiple medium neuts) has the potential to shut down both its rep and its guns or at least to make its life more difficult - use it if you have the option.

Role bonuses:

• 50% reduction in Microwarpdrive signature radius penalty

Amarr Frigate bonuses (per skill level):

• 10% reduction in Small Energy Turret activation cost
• 7.5% bonus to Small Energy Turret tracking speed

Assault Frigates bonuses (per skill level):

• 10% bonus to Small Energy Turret optimal range
• 5% bonus to Small Energy Turret damage

• Amarr Frigate V
  • Spaceship Command I
• Assault Frigates I
  • Spaceship Command III
  • Power Grid Management V
  • Mechanics V

[Retribution, PvP]

400mm Reinforced Steel Plates II
Energized Adaptive Nano Membrane II
Damage Control II
Heat Sink II
Multispectrum Coating II

Limited 1MN Afterburner I
Faint Epsilon Warp Scrambler I

Gatling Pulse Laser II, Conflagration S
Gatling Pulse Laser II, Conflagration S
Gatling Pulse Laser II, Conflagration S
Gatling Pulse Laser II, Conflagration S
[empty high slot]

Small Trimark Armor Pump I
Small Trimark Armor Pump I