Orca

Template:Quote The Orca is a large ship produced by Saud Kruger. One of the galaxy's most popular passenger liners, the Orca combines Saud Kruger's signature sleek aesthetics and luxury accommodations into a relatively affordable package in the large-size ship range. As with other Saud Kruger vessels, it is capable of equipping Luxury-class Passenger Cabins, a manufacturer-exclusive feature. Although the Orca's initial specifications are not especially impressive given its heavy focus on passenger transport, with the right modules and engineering it can be transformed into a surprisingly manoeuvrable ship with above-average jump range. In most roles, the Orca can get the job done in style.

Overview

The Orca is Saud Kruger's middle-of-the-road passenger liner. It has greater passenger capacity than the Dolphin, but less than the Beluga Liner. Although generally comparable in size to medium ships, its dimensions nonetheless exceed the limits of medium Landing Pads, relegating it to the status of a large ship. Consequently some may overlook the Orca in favor of the larger Beluga Liner, but the Orca's sleeker design makes it easier to fly and allows it to attain a greater jump range.

Where officially its maneuverability is slightly better than an Anaconda and worse than a Beluga Liner, in practice the Orca handles far better than this rating suggests. It has a remarkably high turn rate, especially yaw, high acceleration and max speed, and it is very good at strafing and ramming. However, its relatively small Power Plant and limited hardpoint capacity prevent it from becoming a great combat ship. Its large size makes it an easy target, and its shields are mediocre at best for a ship of this size and class. The Orca's armour, on the other hand, can be modified to values on par with other medium combat ships, such as the Federal Assault Ship, and pilots outfitting an Orca for combat tend to fly it shieldless with the largest possible Hull Reinforcement Packages and Module Reinforcement Packages. This also makes it possible for the Orca to wade into anti-Thargoid combat, though better options are available. One of the biggest drawbacks of an Orca in combat is its hardpoint placement; all hardpoints are on the underside of the ship, making it easy for enemy ships to stay out of the Orca's firing range. This has not stopped a handful of pilots from setting up groups dedicated to combat in Orcas, and like any ship, it is still formidable with engineering and skilled pilots.

The jump range of the Orca can reach a rather impressive average of 36 ly before Engineering, making it a solid choice for an exploration ship at a fraction of the price of the Anaconda. This makes the Orca a better ship for long distance passenger hauling than most others and contributes heavily to its role as a cruise ship, allowing Commanders to take high-paying VIPs many light-years. Its range is still less than that of a Diamondback Explorer or Asp Explorer, which are both a fraction of the price.

As a trader or miner the Orca is a very bad option. In both aspects, the Type-7 Transporter is a far better option especially due to the Orca's huge pricetag. At a maximum 194T of possible cargo it has the lowest of any large ship, even lower when shielded.

The biggest downside the Orca has is its pricetag; it is only slightly better at its roles than the Dolphin or Type-7 but at more than ten times the cost. It is also worse than the Beluga Liner at everything but jump range; Commanders looking for passenger missions may choose it instead. The Orca is very good at carrying passengers long range, however because of the weight it is ill-advised to bring bulk passengers long range; at which point the Dolphin outclasses the Orca.

File:Convergence orca.png

Orca hardpoints convergence

The Orca's hardpoints are placed as follows: all three hardpoints are located on the underside of the ship, with the single Class 3 hardpoint positioned in front of the front landing gear, and the two Class 2 hardpoints behind it and side by side. This placement is ideal for fixed weapons. The cockpit is located on the bottom of massive window in the front of the ship, with the pilot seat on the left side. From there the pilot enjoys excellent viewing angles in all directions but down. The Orca also has a second pilot seat and is compatible with Multicrew.

The Orca's heat dispersion capabilities are relatively poor, so caution must be taken when adding or engineering modules with a high thermal load. The ship is especially prone to overheat when scooping fuel. A silver lining to this inconvenience is that it can be combined with Silent Running and a weapon modified with Thermal Conduit to deal massive amounts of damage.

Purchase Locations

System	Station	Date Seen	Discount
Shinrarta Dezhra	Jameson Memorial	Always available	10% discount
Brestla	i Sola Prospect	Always available	20% surcharge
Alioth	Irkutsk	Oct. 11, 2020	20% discount
Lalande 4268	Lowry Ring	Mar. 3, 2019	15% discount
Momus Reach	Ralphus	Mar. 3, 2019	15% discount
Lembava	Goldstein Port	Mar. 3, 2019	15% discount
Ix	Scully-Power Station	Mar. 3, 2019	15% discount
Kruger 60	Kepler Gateway	Mar. 3, 2019
Atagat	Glashow City	Mar. 3, 2019
Cemiess	Shoemaker City	Mar. 3, 2019
Exioce	Macmillan Depot	Mar. 3, 2019
Mizar	Judson Station	Mar. 3, 2019
Alkaid	Camus Orbiter	Mar. 3, 2019

Outfitting

Main article: Outfitting

All ships are highly customisable through the Outfitting menu of Station Services. Listed below is the default load-out for the Orca.

Category	Default System	Default Rating	Default Class	Max Class
Medium Hardpoint	Pulse Laser (L)	F	1	2
	Pulse Laser (L)	F	1	2
Large Hardpoint	Empty	--	--	3
Utility Mount	Empty	--	--	0
	Empty	--	--	0
	Empty	--	--	0
	Empty	--	--	0
Bulkheads	Lightweight Alloys	I	1	8
Reactor Bay	Power Plant	E	5	5
Thruster Mounting	Thrusters	E	6	6
Frame Shift Drive Housing	Frame Shift Drive	E	5	5
Environment Control	Life Support	E	6	6
Power Coupling	Power Distributor	E	5	5
Sensor Suite	Sensors	E	4	4
Fuel Store	Fuel Tank [x32]	C	5	5
Internal Compartments	Cargo Rack [x32]	E	5	6
	Cargo Rack [x16]	E	4	5
	Cargo Rack [x16]	E	4	5
	Shield Generator	E	5	5
	Cargo Rack [x8]	E	3	4
	Empty	--	--	3
	Empty	--	--	2
	Empty	--	--	2
	Supercruise Assist	E	1	1
	(PAS)	I	1	1

• (L) = Loaned Module
• [x#] = Capacity
• (PAS) = Reserved solely for the Planetary Approach Suite or Advanced Planetary Approach Suite

Notes

• The Orca was included in Elite Dangerous at launch.
• Elite Dangerous: Beyond Chapter Four removed restrictions from the restricted module slots on the Beluga Liner, Dolphin, and Orca, allowing modules other than Passenger Cabins to be installed in those slots. Previously, these three Saud Kruger ships were the only ships with Passenger Cabin-only slots, a design trait that was intended to reinforce their gameplay niche as luxury passenger vessels.

Trivia

• The Orca was the first Saud Kruger ship present in Elite Dangerous, and remained the only Saud Kruger ship available until the addition of the Beluga Liner.
• Activating the Orca's boost will cause a "fasten seatbelts" chime to sound in the cockpit.

Videos

• File:Ship Introducing Orca - Elite Dangerous Short cinematic video
• File:The Orca Elite Dangerous
• File:Journey to the galactic roof - Elite Dangerous exploration montage

Gallery

• File:Orca.jpg
• Cockpit view
  Cockpit view
• Orca cockpit sideview
  Orca cockpit sideview
• Saud Kruger Orca Blueprint
  Saud Kruger Orca Blueprint
• Orca and Coriolis station
  Orca and Coriolis station
• Orca and an Earth-like planet
  Orca and an Earth-like planet
• Orca in station
  Orca in station
• Orca rear
  Orca rear
• Orca and Flora at Praea Euq NN-A b1-3
  Orca and Flora at Praea Euq NN-A b1-3