Intro
Welcome to the dedicated page for Commander Vepas, where you’ll find a full breakdown of his talents, performance, and my honest take on his current state in EVE Galaxy Conquest.
At the time of publishing, I rank Vepas as D tier (see tier list) and do not include him in any of my recommended builds. The reason is simple—most of his skills are broken or don’t function as described. Despite that, I frequently see players running him in matches or asking for fleet comps on Discord, so I decided it was worth doing a proper breakdown.
Also, one of my readers specifically requested this… so here you go!
Table of Contents
General Info
This commander looks promising on paper, but due to the current issues with how Force Shields function—and the unreliable behavior of several of his abilities—Vepas is not recommended for use in any fleet, regardless of promotion stars.
While he can occasionally bring some utility in general-purpose lineups, he should never be paired with the Dramiel. In fact, Vepas does more harm than good when assigned to that ship. I’ll break down exactly why that is in the following sections—so keep reading.
Main Characteristics
Base Stats
- Offense: 249
- Tactics: 154
- Data Rate: 87
- Formations: Phalanx, Intercept
- Faction: Concord (do not ask why :D)
Bond Bonuses
- Guristas Pirates – When paired Otro, both commanders gain +3,4% Offense (additionally influenced by the Offense of the Lead commander).
With Offense clearly outweighing Tactics, I classify Vepas as an Offense-type commander (see my breakdown post for details). Stat-wise, however, his overall budget is quite underwhelming—especially when compared to other commanders in the same role.
In most cases, you’ll want to assign him as a Deputy Commander. Even his 3A talent doesn’t justify the loss of ship passive bonuses you’d sacrifice by placing him in the lead slot.
Vepas Talents
Before getting into possible builds for Vepas, let’s take a closer look at each of his talents—along with some notes and observations from my own testing. I’ve run each ability multiple times in a controlled setup to confirm what works as intended and what doesn’t, so you don’t have to spend time figuring it out yourself.
Click to zoom in Vepas’s Talents tree
1A – Offense Training
Type: Command | Initiating Chance: 100%
At the start of each of the first 3 turns, you have a 50% chance (100% at max level) to gain 1 stack of Force Shield.
Defense Counterattack
Type: Passive | Initiating Chance: 100%
Whenever your Force Shield prevents damage, your Commander with the highest Offense deals Kinetic damage to a single enemy wing (DMG Rate: 30%, 60% at max level, influenced by Offense).
Commentary: This is where the issues really start. Despite claiming to be a stack, Force Shield from Offense Training does not stack—not even with itself, and definitely not with Force Shields from other sources like the 2A talent or ship modules. It activates at the very beginning of each turn, wiping out any existing Force Shields and blocking new ones from being applied that round till it’s gone.
Worse, Offense Training is mandatory talents, costing 2 points and leaving you with a 53.6% minimum chance to break your own build every turn for the first 3 rounds. This ruins synergy with any setup that depends on Force Shields, making Vepas fundamentally incompatible with most shield-based strategies.
The passive alone would be strong—180% total guaranteed damage plus Offense scaling over 3 turns sounds good on paper—but because it relies on a broken mechanic, you’re locked into a flawed interaction that undermines your entire fleet’s potential. Until Force Shield stacking is properly fixed, this commander is more liability than asset.
2A – Force Shield Generator
Type: Command | Initiating Chance: 100%
After activating Barrage modules, you have an 8.5% chance (17.5% at max level) to gain 1 stack of Force Shield for 2 turns. Stackable.
Force Shield Mastery
Type: Passive | Initiating Chance: 100%
Increases the initiating chance to gain Force Shield by 3.8% (7.5% at max level).
Commentary: For a cost of 22 talent points, you gain a 25% chance to trigger Force Shield every time your Barrage module activates. On paper, this sounds like decent utility—but once we factor in the actual proc rates of Barrage modules across different scenarios, the picture starts to shift. Here’s what the numbers look like:
| Ship Setup | Force Shield Chance |
|---|---|
| Dramiel | ~29.3% |
| Dramiel + Karth 2B | ~34.9% |
| Rifter | ~28.2% |
| Rifter + Karth 2B | ~34.0% |
Of course, the numbers improve slightly if you trigger Rapid Fire or benefit from Vengeance-style chained attacks. For example, a Dramiel (with Mens as lead) will generate roughly 3.5 Force Shields over an 8-turn battle—assuming a 70% Rapid Fire chance across 4 of those turns.
Even with those bonuses, the output remains underwhelming. For a 22-point investment, this level of shield generation is far too low to justify the cost—making the talent feel weak and disappointing in practical use.
2B – Force Shield Amplifier
Type: Command | Initiating Chance: 100%
When you gain Force Shield, you have a 40% chance (80% at max level) to gain +1 extra turn.
Amplification Overload
Type: Command | Initiating Chance: 100%
When all Force Shields are depleted, you have a 40% chance (80% at max level) to reduce received Kinetic damage by 4.7% for 2 turns. This effect can stack up to two times.
Commentary: First and most importantly—Force Shield Amplifier does not give you an extra turn. Instead, it adds +1 to the duration of the Force Shield buff, extending it from 2 to 3 turns when it procs. This does not apply to any other buffs (like Drake’s second module) and has no meaningful benefit. In practice, this talent is completely useless—since the enemy will almost always attack at least once per turn, the shield will be stripped immediately. There are virtually no scenarios where a Force Shield remains active for even 2 turns, let alone 3.
The passive talent isn’t much better. Because Offense Training (1A) forces a single Force Shield each turn for the first 3 rounds, there’s no room to stack shields early on. Once that buff wears off, it becomes difficult to gain and maintain 2 stacks, especially since the game doesn’t “refresh” durations—you have to lose both shields before you can start stacking again.
To make matters worse, other talents like Intimidating Salvo give 38.6% Kinetic resistance for 2 turns instantly, with no conditions. Both of these Command talents are a major letdown.
3A – Counterattack Moment
Type: Active | Initiating Chance: 50%
Deals Kinetic damage to a single enemy wing (DMG Rate: 82.5%, 165% at max level, influenced by Offense).
Counterattack Mastery
Type: Passive | Initiating Chance: 100%
Increases your damage by 35% (70% at max level) for every stack of Force Shield your ship has. Automatically increases damage if Vepas is the Lead Commander.
Commentary: The active talent is fine—not outstanding, but solid. While some commanders reach close to 200% damage, this one delivers 165% with a 50% proc chance, which is respectable.
The passive, however, is broken. First, there are no real stacks of Force Shield. Even if your ship manages to gain two (for example, on a Dramiel), you still only receive the 70% bonus—not double. This has been tested and confirmed.
Second, for the damage bonus to apply, your ship must currently have Force Shield active when Counterattack Moment is triggered. This is often misunderstood, but without that buff present at the time of activation, no bonus is applied. As for the leader bonus, it seems to add around 5–10%, but honestly, the other talents are so underwhelming that I just eyeballed it to see if it was doing anything at all. It’s barely worth mentioning and definitely not a reason to run Vepas as your lead.
Instead of checking for active Force Shield, the passive should scale based on how many Force Shields your ship has had during the battle. So Fix Shields stacking, lower the per-shield bonus to around 42%, and the talent could become a meaningful, ramping over combat damage boost.
3B – Defense Training
Type: Active | Initiating Chance: 50%
Your ship gains 5.4% Evasion Rate (10.7% at max level, influenced by Tactics) for 2 turns.
Defense Master
Type: Passive | Initiating Chance: 100%
Adds a 35% chance (70% at max level) to initiate Rapid Fire when you have Force Shield. Rapid Fire inflicts ECM Jam on enemy wings if Vepas is the Lead Commander.
Overall, Evasion builds perform poorly in this game. I tested several combinations—Vepas, Janus, Incursus, evasion rigs, even the Evasion turret (yes, on a Barrage ship)—stacking over 50% evade, and still got outperformed by nearly everything. As it stands, the bonus would need to be doubled to feel even remotely competitive.
The passive could have been great, but the condition ruins it: your ship needs to have an active Force Shield to trigger Rapid Fire. So realistically, you have a 50% chance to apply the evasion buff, and then—only if Force Shield is active—you get a shot at Rapid Fire, with around 70% proc chance.
Maybe one day, when Force Shield application from all sources is fixed to truly stack and coexist, this might be worth revisiting. Until then, the value just isn’t there.
Preferred Talent Builds for Commander Vepas
This one’s easy: don’t use this commander. Seriously. But fine—if you’re the kind of weirdo who insists on using Vepas for roleplay reasons or personal kinks, here’s a build that at least makes some functional sense.
Since 2B talents do basically nothing, Vepas is only viable on Barrage ships.
- Tier 1A: Offense Training 15/15 and Defense Counterattack 7/7 – Helps trigger damage prevention and guarantees at least three light hits in early turns.
- Tier 2A: Force Shield Generator 15/15 and Force Shield Mastery 1/7 – Only if you’re on a Barrage platform; otherwise, skip it entirely.
- Tier 3B: Counterattack Moment 2/15 and Counterattack Mastery 7/7 – Just enough to try proccing Rapid Fire, which is really the only upside left.
That’s it. You’ll still lose, but at least you’ll go down swinging with style.
Implant Recommendations
The best implant set for Vepas—if you’re using 3A—is Data Rate. It gives him a chance to act first, letting you secure the bonus damage from Counterattack Moment during the first three turns. Beyond that, you’re better off with the EXP set or just stacking raw stats, as his kit doesn’t benefit much from niche implant effects.
Leveling & Build Progression
There’s nothing to progress here. Seriously—stop leveling him. The more points you spend, the deeper the regret.
Fleet Composition & Pairings
As mentioned earlier, I don’t have any serious fleet recommendations for this commander—not until he gets a proper fix or overhaul.
Among all ships, Orthrus is probably the least bad option, with Incursus as a distant second—both gain some synergy from Evasion setups. But let’s be honest: D tier is D tier, no matter what you pair it with.
Commander Biography
Alright, if you made it this far—you’ve earned a little extra. Here’s the story behind Vepas Minimala.
From Service to Shadow: Vepas of the Guristas
Based on official Eve Online lore.
Vepas Minimala served with distinction in the Caldari Navy for over 30 years. Known for his precision and relentless discipline, he seemed destined for a high-ranking future. But at age 50, his career came to a halt—denied an admiral’s commission without explanation. Disillusioned and bitter, he vanished from State records, only to resurface a year later under a new banner: the Guristas Pirates.
Founded by former Caldari officers Korako Kosakami and Jirai Laitanen, the Guristas began as a subversive strike force operating from the shadows of the State, mostly located in Venal Region. Over time, they evolved into a powerful criminal syndicate focused on sabotage and smuggling. For Minimala, they offered what the Navy failed – fame, power, and recognition. His rapid rise within their ranks reflected his tactical brilliance, military experience and his hunger for authority.
His ongoing rivalry with Lucash Helmatt, another powerful Guristas officer, reveals the faction’s internal power plays—where status is seized, not bestowed. Now, with the Guristas deepening their partnership with the Deathless Circle, a shadowy faction operating from the ancient Jovian system of Zarzakh, the pirates are no longer just raiders—they are shaping New Eden’s future. And Vepas intends to be at the center of it.
Patch Changes & Notes
Back in November 2024, Vepas’s 2B talent was reworked as a “fix” for the previous Force Shield stacking bug. The result? An S-tier commander was reduced to a pointless reminder of former glory.
Conclusion
Vepas remains one of the community’s most beloved failures. So much so, there’s even a movement—MVGA: Make Vepas Great Again—led by passionate supporters like Haxyou and SteamDog, who famously created a propaganda banner to raise awareness and (hopefully) catch the eye of CCP Games.
But after everything you’ve read here—are you still planning to run Vepas?
If so, share your reasons in the comments.
If you’ve enjoyed this deep dive into Vepas—or just appreciate the work going into the full Commander Codex—feel free to support the project with a coffee. ☕
Got a favorite commander you’d like to see next? Drop a note and I’ll keep it in mind for the next write-up.
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