Top Early Season Fleets Guide (F2P Friendly)

Season Kickoff Strategy

Commanders drop to level 1, but your strategy doesn’t have to.

With a new season about to begin in Eve Galaxy Conquest, I thought it’d be a good time to share my early season fleets for progression. This might be especially helpful for those who already have a wide selection of ships and commanders that will reset back to level 1. In this article, I’ll cover several fleet comps that are great for starting fresh and strategies to level them efficiently. As always, everything here was tested on my army of F2P alts, so I hope you’ve got at least some of the commanders mentioned. If not, no worries — I’ve included tips to help you build your own comps from whatever the loot fairy threw your way.

Why this is important and what’s the difference between regular fleets?

Each season kicks off with a massive boost to capturing tiles timers and component production. At the same time, resources are extremely tight — you need them to upgrade your homebase, but also to capture resource grids and build up your economy.

While base-building is a whole topic on its own (and something you can’t control much due to fixed prices), you can manage how much you waste on fleets. The difference between two players — one who fine-tunes and adapts their fleets, and another who simply sticks to what worked for endgame PvP last season — can be massive in the first 72 hours.

The biggest issue? Just a day ago, you had fully leveled commanders with tons of talent points, and now they all back to start. Some fleet setups only start performing well once fully trained. So the idea here is to use fleets that offer sustainable performance from level 1. Once you hit mid levels, you can switch back to your complex builds (see my post with tips on how to swap commander levels).

By the way, you can check out my post on the EVE Galaxy Conquest seasonal system to see what carries over and what gets reset.

My Most Reliable Progression Fleet

Inquisitor, Faus, Ketzi.

Yes, I had this comp in my Top 10 Fleets for Season 2, and I still plan to open Season 3 with it. For endgame PvP, I was running it on my 3-stars Omen, but for early progression, I’m switching back to Inquisitor for smoother DPS right from turn one.

Fleet Agents: Swift Vanguard or Assault Captain

Leveling Strategy

For the ship, it’s pretty straightforward: aim to level each module to 7–9. If you’re really short on ISK, at least push them to level 5. For rigs, look for non-set options that give the highest +HP%. Once you unlock all three rig slots, switch to a Firepower set to boost both commanders’ damage output.

Ketzi (AAA build)

Start by putting 2 points into Quantum Disturbance, and 1 point into Tactical Omen Protocol. Then continue leveling Quantum Disturbance until it’s 5/15. Once Tier 2 talents unlock, add 1 point to Plasma Storm, but keep focusing on Quantum Disturbance until it’s maxed.

When Tier 3 opens, drop 1 point into Quantum Chain Reaction. At this point, max Tactical Omen Protocol to 7/7. After that, split your points evenly between Plasma Storm and Quantum Chain Reaction. Don’t invest in Ketzi’s passives realted to control – go all-in on damage.

Once you hit level 35–40 and battles start to get longer and tougher, control becomes more important than raw damage. That’s the time to respec Ketzi into a more balanced build: 15/15 + 7/7, 2 + 7/7, 2 + 7/7.

After that, put any extra points into the two damage talents, favoring Plasma Storm due to its 45% proc chance.

Faus (AAA build)

Start by maxing Coordinated Assault to 15/15 – skip the passive, since fights won’t usually last to turn 5. Next, put 2 points into Rapid Order and 1 into its passive. Then unlock Dismantle Array the same way: 2/15 + 1/7.

After that, max Rapid Order and its passive, then invest in Dismantle Array’s damage.

When you respec Ketzi post-level 35, do the same for Faus. Recommended respec:
15/15 + 1/7, 15/15 + 1/7, 2/15 + 7/7 – this adds more control to support Ketzi.
Extra points can go to Achieve Victory (if your ship has a Prep module), or just max Dismantle Array damage.

Implants Options

For both commanders, use Damage to Grid Defenders, or Damage to Pirates if that’s your target. If you want a lazy but effective option, just go with +Kinetic Damage.

Alternatives

You can run this comp on any ship with high Firepower and Data Rate. The idea is to kill fast before taking serious damage.

I haven’t tested it yet, but Hyperion might also be viable. Thanks to its top-tier Firepower stat, both Ketzi and Faus can unload their full damage from turn 1. Its low data rate means it’ll take some hits early, but once it activates, Hyperion can often heal back and finish the opponent with blasters. If not, Ketzi and Faus will certainly close it out on turn 2.

If you don’t have Faus, solid replacements include:

• Ameline – have 3 damage talents with solid proc rates
• Dramis – great around levels 35–40, adds strong control and 3 damage talents

Avoid:

• Kasora, Karth, Advent – despite providing Bond bonus, all lack strong early offensive talents and are better suited for late-game builds.

Another Stable Fleet Comp for Early Progression

Here’s another one of my favorite go-to fleets that has reliably carried me across multiple characters: Vexor, Victor, Pomik.

I haven’t found any flaws in it and still plan to use it again at the start of the new season. It’s one of those comps you can throw into almost any fight and still come out ahead with minimal losses—even if you’re too lazy to scout or recon, it’ll usually manage just fine.

Fleet Agents: Drone Assault, Tactical Control, Comm Specialist, Swift Vanguard (in that order)

Leveling Order

Vexor – simple and effective—unlock modules and get each to level 5 minimum. All modules contribute equally to this build, it their own way, so there’s no specific priority.

Victor (AAA build)

Victor’s key talent is Tier 2A – Reconquest.

• Start with 2 points into Divine Verdict, then add 4 points into the passive Zealous Judgement.
• After that, max Reconquest to 15/15.
• Then add 1 point into Tier 3A – Crushing Blow, and 1 point into the Tier 2A passive – Invincible.
• Max out Zealous Judgement after that.

Recommended build progression:
2/15 + 7/7, 15/15 + 1/7, 1/15 + 0

You can continue to add more points into Crushing Blow for extra gank potential. If you want, drop 1 point into its passive, but going beyond that usually isn’t worth it.

Pomik (ABA build)

Most players have him, and he’s easily one of the best commanders for Vexor, thanks to his second skill which heals three friendly units at once.

• Start with Repair Order 5/15, Defense Passive 1/7, and Tactical Repair 2/15
• Then max Mighty
• Continue adding points into Tactical Repair until you unlock Tier 3 talents, then go for 2/15 Crushing Attack and 1/7 Razor’s Edge

From here, you have two options:

• Go offensive and max Crushing Attack
• Or lean into defense and finish Tactical Repair

Avoid wasting talent points on Pomik’s first ability, aside from the bare minimum needed to unlock the next tier.

Implants For the Fleet

For both commanders, go with Damage to Grid Defenders, or Damage to Pirates depending on your targets. If you want a simple setup, just use +Kinetic Damage. Repair bonus implants for Pomik seems to be less effective here.

Premium Fleet Options

Of course, the comps above are more geared toward F2P players who don’t have access to a large roster of promoted legendary commanders or ships. If you happen to own any legendary ship with 4 or 5 red stars, it’ll likely outperform these options – and you should definitely build your fleet around it.

Here are some solid alternatives I’ve tested or seen work well:

• Thunderchild + Baer + Santimona – Pulled my alt account through all of Season (Further head in Santimona Codex).
• Griffin + Morda + any commander with 3 active skills – Morda needs to hit level 20+ to unlock Ballistic Reuse, but it’s worth it
• Rifter + Karth + Yun – Due to recent changes to Decoding Error, this setup has solid mid-game potential. But Ship and Karth need at least 2 stars (Further head in Karth Codex).
• Hyperion + Flaherty + Blaque – A nice combo of early turn healing from Flaherty and late-turn recovery from Hyperion, giving you time to survive, repair, and finish off your enemy cleanly.

Extra Tips for Building Your Own Fleets

Every player ends up with different ships and commanders, but here are a few baseline principles to guide your early-season comp building:

• Levels 1–7 (or sub-250k power NPC fleets) are fragile – they lack talent points, module upgrades, and stat boosts and implants/rig. This is where Glass-cannons shine. You can drop on a level 1 grid a ship with lvl 15 module and shred it!
• Combat is short – usually 1–3 turns – so any early-turn damage from modules, implants, fleet agents, or bonds are extremely impactful. Avoid preparation talents, you want to zerg down the enemy, potentially before it event took their turn.
• Ignore faction/formations early on – since you don’t yet have buildings to stack bonuses, feel free to mix and match your comps.
• Prioritize higher-star ships and commanders – more stars = better base stats and more talents unlocked. So, if your ships have 3–5 red stars, you’ll benefit from 35–50% more base stats, which is huge early on.
• Formation matters – even a 5% counter bonus can save you a lot of repairs. Use recon tools and counter enemy setups when possible. Do not be lazy, every component counts during first 72h.
• Capacitor matters too – if a tile is far away, you’ll take damage penalties on low cap. Try deploying first, letting the capacitor regen (even 20 min idle), and then engage – this can save you hundreds of components over time.
• Use ‘Auto Return’ wisely – sometimes it’s best to disable it. If you’ve taken a tile with minimal losses, look around for another tile or two before heading back. It becomes less important once you claim the SOV, but i was twice lucky to start in a system with Regional station, so any moves over 20 tiles started to heally hurt my cap and as a result – damage.
• Commanders run out of stamina – ships don’t. Level modules on universal ships first – ones that can serve 2–3 commander shifts.
• Think about early impact. For example, while Karth at level 40–50 is undoubtedly strong, at level 8 he’s barely usable, with a laughable Vengeance chance. Meanwhile, lvl 8 Kaylyn brings two damage talents right away – with 40% and 45% proc chances and over 100% damage each and some CC.

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So there you have it! Remember, rebuilding your fleets and resetting talents multiple times throughout different phases of the season is part of the gameplay loop. Level transfers and talent resets aren’t just recovery tools — they’re part of a wise tactician’s toolkit.

If you’ve got a favorite early-season comp that works well for you, drop it in the comments – I’d love to hear what others are running and maybe discover some new combos too.

Fly effectively commander, o7