Battleships Dreadnaughts

Capital ships in CF are mainly used and useful for taking down ... other capital ships. No matter if flown by living pilots or npc.

In PvP a single opponent is dead meat, ... if he doesn't know when to pull out. Two opponents are still not too much of a threat for a BS/DN pilot, with three ... you should have some skills in using your Cap-ship, esp. if some of them are ... purposely equipped . From that number on you are on the wrong side of lucck .
Things can change quite dramatically, when a Cap-ship is part of a "task force", aka some escort fighters. Then it can become the "backbone" of your pack. ... as long as THEY don't bring in a Cap-ship also.

About Cap-ships and npc .... problem is, npc often come in huuge numbers with lots of quick reinforcements ... and trying to fight i.e. ASF or CSF npc in X-3043 is an easy way to to do the "respawn-warp-shuffle" back to your last docking position. Same counts if you try to do some alien hunting ... alone. Here the same counts as above : get an escort and THEN have fun (as you might see from the reports here : SWAT / Silver Arrows: Operation Firefall
However, with ther reasonable loading bay podding is still a profitable option, if you stay with "lower" class" victims (no vhf, esp NOT in the Crossfire added systems). If you don't mind a bad reputation with the lokal criminals ... Shigoku or Hamburg might be ... interesting farming grounds. Not quality pod but ... numbers count.

As a side note : when the full clan RP system with destroyable clan station etc will come into function, also the "destroyable universe" with destroyable npc stations ... there might open up a whole new range of scenarios for Cap-ships.

They also make good storage depots/Stores.

I guess you may find many threads asking these ships made stronger etc. and dig there for useful info may be little difficult. So I may try give my view on these ships usage ...

• Is good to keep in mind that even with huge armor and strong turrets can be "solo" player easily defeated in PvP and can also fall pretty fast with some strong CF NPCs. BS (battleship) or DN (dreadnought) is not a way how can be player in CF space invincible.
• These ships can be very nicely used for podding (included do missions from stations bars). Is recommended that player learn how to fly BS/DN while is used turret view. Have mapped keys for ship turning and speed change is very good idea. Another good thing is learn how to use rapid fire, chances to hit some fast moving targets improve significantly.
• These ships can be with success used also in PvP, but theirs use here is limited in some ways like: Use them for chase VHF which want escape is a no-go, Use them for defend some key position is optional, etc.
  - Use BS as solo for PvP will not work always, you may be very easily defeated in 1BS vs 1VHF fight with some players. The biggest strength for BSs usage is use them in team. This counts also for above mentioned actions against NPCs (as example can be used Inner Core operations with repair ship and fighters support)
• BS and DN are not the same despite the same stats. Theirs size, front profile, turrets placement around hull or shield resistance to CDs (means as can be/can't be disrupted from cruise with active shield), make huge difference for theirs real use in space. To this also come CF2.0 changes to turrets which have now very different stats. In short: prior you will buy a BS, be sure you think twice for what role you want use this ship primarily. The imo most universal DN (liberty) can very nicely move all around CF space as also fight with NPCs, but at the same time can very easily fall down with specially prepared other BS or DN. There are also imo better variants as liberty DN for NPCs killing or PvP if you will learn strong and weak sides for other ships.
• Is good to keep in mind, that DN have on one side +100k armor (+200 with armor upgrade) vs a BS, but on other side are much bigger and this may in the end made significant difference. I give here this note bcs player may think why to take something less armoured and in some case more costly ... i.e. it may be worth to go to BS for example if you plan travel a lot. You will rly like much easier pass through asteroids for example.

Give a universal guide is hardly possible here. BS and DN can have good use for player, can be very deadly and can fast move, but to achieve this player need to learn use them properly and it need gain real experience.

btw : forgot one important thing

your graphics in the opening post look AWESOME M8
make it your regular signature

If you are not sure which one to get: Osiris is always a safe option. Good front profile, small size, perfect for navigating asteroid fields, and turret coverage in all directions. I love it for use in inner core to hunt aliens (fighters and caps)

ps. in inner core it is recommended to have someone with a repair ship around, repairing a battleship/dreadnought at a repair buoy takes hours

Quote from Apache

If you are not sure which one to get: Osiris is always a safe option. Good front profile, small size, perfect for navigating asteroid fields, and turret coverage in all directions. I love it for use in inner core to hunt aliens (fighters and caps)

So do I. You've also missed a point that makes Osiris perfect for some useful tricks against NPCs. Said point is CD immunity. For solo hunting I also use Kusarian turrets to get the range superiority, which contributes to same tricks, such as zooming around the Great Doms capship battlegroups outside of their effective range (but in your effective range) on a killed cruise engine, guns blazing and feeling like you're piloting a DE Raider.
OFC if you'll do this in PvP you can (probably) earn a coward's reputation and if you have an escort, they will most probably hate your guts.

Hint: give a good look on civilian turrets in X docks.

I changed link for video, dunno why but it did not played here. If you will want more challenge, try mission in X-3043 or in Altair sector

looks very easy