Dominix

The Dominix class battleship (being one of the tier 1 battleships) is one of the cheapest battleships in game, and according to some the ugliest. But that is not what sets this ship apart from the competition.

Throughout New Eden the Dominix is well known and respected for 3 main aspects:

1) The mighty drones.

Bonuses to drone damage and hit points, coupled with a huge (375m^3) drone bay and 125MB of bandwidth makes the dominix the most drone centered Tech1 sub capital ship. And even outside these bounds it is only rivaled by the Ishtar, carriers, motherships and off course it's own Tech2 version the Sin. Some have even referred to the dominix as a highsec mini carrier. It is capable of fielding 3 full flights of Heavy attack drones (and/or Sentry drones) which usually compose most of its' firepower. Using drones as a main weapons system (as opposed to supplementary, which is accessible to most ships in game) is an art form in itself and requires unique strategies.

2) The tank.

Being a battleship, the dominix already has a buffer tank advantage when compared to the competition, although this buffer can be easily broken very very fast by most other battleships in PvP situations. Despite lacking tank related bonuses such as the resist bonuses of the abaddon or the repair bonus of the hyperion the dominix has the luxury of 7 low slots which usually can be dedicated to pure armor tank. There are many variations on tanking the dominix (some even include shield tanking), but usually if setup properly, it can be a tough nut to crack.

3) Versatility.

Having it's main firepower coming from drones, which do not consume any powergrid or CPU, the dominix has a lot of freedom in fitting options. Even despite its' 5% damage bonus to large hybrid turrets (Large Blasters and Large Railguns), many players often choose to ignore it as the seemingly low power grid (9,000 MW) restricts fitting of battleship sized weapons. Quite often the highslots are seen fitted with energy vampires (a.k.a. Nosferatu, a.k.a. NOS) or Energy destabilizer units a.k.a. Neuts or any other equipment demanded by the situation. Another popular option is fitting armor repair modules or Shield transporters, which make the Dominix a capable logistics ship without reducing it's firepower, and also makes spidertanking in small gangs a viable option. And indeed in small gangs the dominix can be a fearsome opponent. Then again, this is probably the main reason why in most fleet fights Dominixes are immediately called primary and destroyed. This versatility also makes the dominix popular with the mission runners, although nowhere close to the popularity of the Raven.