An Introduction to Boosters in EVE Online

And so, as promised I present the guide written (to the best of my knowledge) by fellow Tusker Don Pellegrino on the subject of how Boosters work in EVE:

What is a Combat Booster and what does it do?

They work exactly like temporary implants. Each booster uses a booster slot.
Boosters related to tanking in some way use Slot 1.
Turret boosting drugs use Slot 2.
The only missile booster uses Slot 3.

At any given time, you can have up to 3 boosters active (1 per slot).
Boosters are available in 4 different types and 8 different flavors (so 32 kinds total).

Most boosters can cause side effects and the general misundertanding of the side effects is the reason why so few people use combat boosters. All types of boosters except Synth can cause up to 4 side effects at the same time. However, for a 20% chance side effect booster, the chance to suffer from all the possible side effects at once is only 0.002%.

Also, even if you are that 0.002% unlucky guy, almost all the time (it depends on your fit), your ship is still more powerful than without the booster.


The types are:

Synth: Very little bonus, no side effect and legal in highsec.
Standard: Best price/performance ratio, most popular. (20% side effect)
Improved: A lot more expensive (about 5M to 12M) than standards, it is also more powerful. (30% side effect)
Strong: Very pricey (about 7M to 20M), it's for those situations where you need to tank well over 2,000 dps in a Hyperion or deaggress your carrier on a station while being shot at by several dreads. (40% side effect)

The flavors are:

Exile:
It boosts the effectiveness of armor repairers. They repair more per cycle (they don't cycle faster, so it doesn't use more capacitor).
Possible side effects:
- Total armor hitpoints reduction
- Maximum capacitor reduction
- Turret tracking reduction
- Bigger missile explosion radius

Summary: It is pretty much a must have for ships that rely on active armor tanking to survive. Due to the possible maximum armor reduction, it doesn't work very well on hybrid tanks (buffer and repairer). A standard Exile booster makes it possible to tank 1,000 dps in a Myrmidon (triple rep) and 1,600 in a Hyperion (dual rep).

Blue Pill:
It boosts the effectiveness of shield boosters. They boost more per cycle (they don't cycle faster, so it doesn't use more capacitor).
Possible side effects:
- Maximum shields hitpoints reduction
- Maximum capacitor reduction
- Turret optimal range reduction
- Slower missile explosion velocity

Summary: It is pretty much a must have for ships that rely on active shield tanking to survive. A standard Blue Pill booster makes it possible to tank 1,400 dps in a Maelstrom.

Mindflood:
It increases your maximum capacitor. Due to the way capacitor (and shields, by the way) works, having more maximum capacitor means that it recharges more GJ per second, even if it takes the same time to go from 0% to 100%.
Possible side effects:
- Shield boosting reduction
- Bigger missile explosion radius
- Turret optimal range reduction
- Armor repairing reduction

Summary: At first, those side effects look to be very bad, but keep in mind that most of the time you will not get any of them, and that they don't do much anyway. However, in case you haven't noticed, a shield buffer tanked ship using projectile weapons won't suffer from a side effect at all. Vagabond, Cynabal, Ishtar, Jaguar, shield tanked Hurricane and Rupture (amongst many others) will be able to run the MWD or neut during a lot longer! Logistics ships benefit a lot from it, too.

X-Instinct:
It reduces the signature radius of your ship.
Possible side effects:
- Maximum armor reduction
- Maximum shields reduction
- Turret falloff range reduction
- Bigger missile explosion radius

Summary: It reduces a lot of drone and missile dps and also makes it even harder to hit a tackling interceptor. Armor tanked logistics sometimes use it along with an afterburner.

Drop:
It increases turret tracking.
Possible side effects:
- Maximum shields reduction
- Armor repairing reduction
- Turret falloff range reduction
- Maximum ship velocity reduction

Summary: A standard Drop booster is like having the skill Motion Prediction at 10. The difference is tremendous. It is a must have for any turret battleship. The side effects can (they aren't so common) be annoying for shield and active armor setups, but a buffer armor fitted ship won't be affected at all. Imagine a Blue Pill boosted 800mm AC Maelstrom using Drop.

Frentix:
It increases turret optimal range.
Possible side effects:
- Shield boosting reduction
- Maximum armor reduction
- Turret tracking reduction
- Maximum ship velocity reduction

Summary: Perfect for sniping ships, it lets you use higher damage ammo or sit further out. Drop booster works better at closer ranges.

Sooth Sayer:
It increases turret falloff range.
Possible side effects:
- Armor repairing reduction
- Maximum shields reduction
- Turret optimal range reduction
- Maximum ship velocity reduction

Summary: Not many sniping ships fight in falloff (apart from the Muninn: 50% optimal and 50% falloff), but no side effect can affect buffer armor fitted ships, so it is a very good alternative to Drop, depending on how you use your projectile based ships.

Crash:
It reduces missile explosion radius.
Possible side effects:
- Shield booting reduction
- Maximum ship velocity reduction
- Missile velocity reduction
- Maximum armor reduction

Summary: This one acts as a free Target Painter. It turns your Heavy Assault Missiles (HAMs) into Heavy Missiles and Heavy Missiles into Assault Missiles when it comes to hitting smaller ships, while retaining all the damage from the bigger missiles.


How can I use them?

You need the skill Biology at level 1 to use synth and standard boosters. It generally takes 7 minutes to train. You need Biology 2 for Improved and 3 for Strong boosters.

There's 3 skills that are related to boosters:

Biology: Lets you use boosters and extends the duration time by 20% per level.

Nanite Control: It is a very expensive skillbook (300M) and it isn't mandatory at all. It is definetly not a good buy unless you have money to throw around. It reduces the severity of side effects.

Neurotoxin Recovery: Requires Nanite Control 1. Reduces the chance to get side effects. It costs about 10M.

To use a booster, right-click on it and hit Consume:


It is now active. You can see the remaining time under Augmentations in your character sheet.


How can I get some boosters and how much do they cost?

Apart from synth boosters, they are illegal to carry in highsec (you can still fly and fight under the influence by consuming it in lowsec) and will result in a faction standings and security status loss.

If you are interested in obtaining a supply agreement for Boosters your corp or your alliance then drop an in-game mail to CanDmaN, though be aware that he will be looking to deal in bulk agreements.

Conclusion

Boosters are powerful and make a huge difference in a fight. Yes, the entry level of Booster isn't exactly cheap for most people, but they make enough of a difference to any T2 ship (and rigged BC/BS) to be cost effective. The cost is nothing compared to the cost of a fitted Jaguar (35M) or Battleship (150M when rigged, 60M loss after insurance). If you use them the right way, they will save your ship and make those close fights go your way.

Big thanks to Don for taking the time to write the detailed post that he did, it certainly cleared up some misconceptions that I had and puts the information in a very easy to digest format.