Ships
Ships are used to traverse space. As with previous Elite games, there will be a variety of designs.
There will be 30 different playable ships in addition to some non-playable ones after launch,[1] with each manufacturer having its own unique style.[2] Some will have variant versions, and each will have a huge range of different equipment levels, [3] so they could be equipped as freighters, attack ships, explorers, etc.
Choosing a ship
All commanders start out with a Sidewinder. You may choose to enhance the components of your Sidewinder, or upgrade to an entirely new ship. What ship should you choose?
Multi-purpose
The outfitting system allows you to re-equip any ship for almost any role. A multi-purpose ship is designed with this in mind and without a specific focus to begin with. Your starting Sidewinder, and the ever popular Cobra are two such ships. With the right equipment, a multi-purpose ship can be equally as good as bounty hunter ship, a trade ship or an exploration ship depending on the various add-ons.
Combat
Combat ships are designed predominately to hunt and destroy other vessels. If two equally skilled pilots face off against each other, the one who has the craft specifically designed for combat will most often win. Combat ships are typically faster, more agile and heavily armed than other ships of the same size. It is also common for these ships to come pre-fitted with the highest class shield that their internal compartments can fit. The exception to this would be gun boats, which have more weapon mounts designed for turrets, but sacrifice their agility for them.
Freighter
Traders who want to engage in some space trucking will want to pick up a freighter with plenty of storage room for cargo. These freighters are slow and cumbersome, making them an easy prey for pirates. Therefore, it'll be smart to bring protection in the form of a couple of buddies in fighters. If pirates destroy your ship, insurance will get you your ship back. Unfortunately, the loss cargo can risk a significant financial blow.
Explorer
If you want to explore the galaxy, an exploration ship is the way to go. Exploration ships typically come with large default jump ranges, large fuel tanks for ships of their size, and lots of low class internal compartments for scanners. These ships are designed to be able to equip the multitude of scanning equipment needed for an expedition, then fly long distances into the void without the need for regular refuelling.
Passenger
Couriers who fly passengers and valuable items with small storage requirements have a special class of ships available to them. These ships are elegant and fast, designed to quickly and comfortably get from one system to the next. You can think of them as giant limousines for space.
Current Playable Ships
| Model | Role**/Blast Door Type | Price (CR) | Initial Cargo | Max Cargo (No shields) |
Jump Range*** (~Light Years) |
Speed [Boost] | Hull Mass |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sidewinder Mk. I | Multi-purpose 0
Small |
32,000* | 4 | 10 | 7.56 | 220 [320] | 25 |
| Eagle Mk. II | Combat 1
Small |
44,800 | 2 | 14 | 8.47 | 250 [350] | 50 |
| Zorgon Peterson Hauler | Freighter 1
Small |
52,720 | 8 | 22 | 9.87 | 200 [300] | 14 |
| Adder | Explorer 1 Small | 87,808 | 6 | 26 | 9.12 | 220 [320] | 35 |
| Viper Mk. III | Combat 3
Small |
142,931 | 4 | 22 | 6.92 | 309 [386] | 60 |
| Cobra Mk. III | Multi-purpose 3
Small |
379,718 | 18 | 60 | 10.46 | 280 [400] | 180 |
| Lakon Type 6 Transporter | Freighter 4
Medium |
1,045,945 | 50 | 112 | 12.74 | 220 [350] | 155 |
| Asp Explorer | Explorer 5
Medium |
6,661,153 | 38 | 128 | 13.2 | 254 [345] | 280 |
| Lakon Type-7 | Freighter 6
Large |
17,472,252 | 104 | 232 | 10.72 | 180 [300] | 420 |
| Imperial Clipper | Multi-purpose 6
Large |
22,295,860 | 42 | 248 | 8.25 | 290 [370] | 500 |
| Federal Dropship | Multi-purpose 6
Large |
37,814,205 | 56 | 164 | 7.25 | 182 [300] | 580 |
| Orca | Passenger 6
Large |
48,539,887 | 72 | 96 | 300 [380] | 580 | |
| Python | Multi-purpose 7
Medium |
56,978,179 | 82 | 292 | 8.23 | 250 [330] | 350 |
| Lakon Type-9 Heavy | Freighter 8
Large |
76,555,842 | 220 | 532 | 7.71 | 130 [200] | 1000 |
| Anaconda | Multi-purpose 8
Large |
146,969,451 | 114 | 468 | 19.555 | 180 [240] | 400 |
*Note the sidewinder is available for free via insurance.
** Ship roles classes are rated 0 - 9 where 0 is most basic and 9 is most advanced and 5 is mid-range. Meant to be used for sorting purposes.
*** No cargo, default loadout, full fuel.
- Considerations
- The in-shipyard prices are modified by the value of your current ship and supply/demand. It is not the true value of the ship. Generate costs from the insurance.
- Note that prices will vary greatly between star ports and are modified by the resell value of your current ship, Lakons and Anacondas in particular undergo a significant markup, expect to pay up to double the values in the table. The above prices are the based of the insurance values which are currently the only way to find the true value of a ship.
- Beta 2.04: The ship and its modules are sold at 90% their value (you lose 10%).
- As your modules are sold at 90% value when buying a new ship, sell/swap your modules to cheaper ones, if possible, in the outfitting, as you get 100% the price there, so in the end the 10% you lose will be from a less expensive module (I would expect this to be fixed to a 10% loss as well at some stage. Would make sense, so buyer beware).
- Given you know the value of your current ship (use the table above) you can then calculate the real price of the rest of the ships the current shipyard offers. Just add 90% of the base value of the ship you are in to the price listed (this assumes your current ship is standard fitted only - else add 90% value of modules as well)
- Here are some more detailed ship stats, which include things such as turnrates, which should be added to this page soon.
- Upcoming Ships
There will be 30 playable ships in total.
- Beluga Liner
- Dolphin
- Fer de Lance
- Krait
- Panther Clipper
- The Hunter
- Imperial Courier
- The Diamondback
Available Outfitting on Ships
All ships are highly customizable through outfitting. Each outfit slot has a maximum class that can be put into that slot. This only lists what type of outfit slots are available for each ship, their exact content has to be put on some other page. For example: Internal compartments can contain cargo space, where class 1 = 2t, class 2 = 4t, class 3 = 8t, class 4 = 16t... But Internal compartments can also contain shield capacitors, scanners, etc. Apart from classes, outfits also have a quality rating A-H, and other characteristics such as energy drain, armor piercing, etc.
Max class for each outfit slot in table below (more info on respective ship page):
| Sidewinder | Eagle | Hauler | Adder | Viper | Cobra | Type-6 | Asp | Type-7 | Imperial Clipper | Federal Dropship | Orca | Python | Type-9 | Anaconda | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Small Hardpoints | 2 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| Medium Hardpoints | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 2 |
| Large Hardpoints | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 3 |
| Huge Hardpoints | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Utility Mounts | 2 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 8 |
| Bulkheads | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 |
| Reactor Bay | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 6 | 8 | |
| Thrusters | 2 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 7 | |
| Frame Shift Drive | 2 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 6 | |
| Life Support | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 5 | |
| Power Distributor | 1 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 6 | 8 | |
| Sensors | 1 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 6 | 4 | 8 | |
| Fuel Store | 1 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 5 | |
| Internal Compartment |
2 C2 1 C1 |
1 C3 1 C2 1 C1 |
2 C3 1 C2 1 C1 |
2 C3 2 C2 1 C1 |
2 C3 1 C2 1 C1 |
3 C4 3 C2 |
2 C5 2 C4 1 C3 2 C2 |
1C6 1 C5 3 C3 2 C2 |
2 C6 2 C5 2 C4 2 C2 |
1 C7 1 C6 2 C4 2 C3 2 C2 |
1 C6 2 C5 1 C4 2 C3 1 C2 |
2 C5 1 C4 1 C3 2 C2 |
3 C6 2 C5 1 C4 2 C3 1 C2 |
1 C8 1 C7 1 C6 1 C5 2 C4 2 C3 1 C2 |
1 C7 3 C6 3 C5 3 C4 1 C2 |
Manufacturers
- Eagle
- Condor
- Farragut
- Federal Dropship
- Sidewinder
- Viper
- Cobra
- Anaconda
- Python
- Asp Explorer
- Type 6 Transporter
- Type 7 Transport
- Type 9 Heavy
- Imperial Clipper
- Majestic Class Interdictor
- Orca
- Adder
- Hauler
- Panther Clipper
Faction Ships
Frontier are developing a family of ships for the navies of each faction in the game. Examples:
- Empire Fighter - Empire Fighter
- Imperial Courier - Empire Scout
- Imperial Cutter - civilian version of Empire Light Warship
- Majestic Class Interdictor - Empire Capital Ship
- F63 Condor - Federal Fighter
- Farragut - Federal Capital Ship
The fleet-class ships that are available to the game’s major factions follow a hierarchy.[4]
Cruisers (Battle cruisers, Battleships, Interdictors)
Long range, independent ships that are capable of controlling entire systems. Heavily armed and capable of deploying large fighter squadrons. The capital ships already shown are an example of this class. In the Empire they are usually known as “Interdictors” – named after the first successful class of cruisers. Currently the most common and most successful is the Majestic class – generally referred to as a “Majestic class Interdictor”. As ships that can also carry out ambassadorial missions they can be used for ‘soft’ power projection, as well as hard.
Frigates
These are large ships designed for escort duties. The actual vessels vary greatly between navies, but are all designed to engage multiple small, fast enemies (typically fighters and missile swarms) and are loaded with point defense batteries. They will also have some anti-ship capability, but are not designed to go up against other warships.
Destroyers
These are anti-warship vessels, but are generally no longer used in the front line, though some are still in service.
Carriers
Designed for the deployment of fighter squadrons. Obsolete in the fleets of the major factions due to the popularity of Cruisers, but small navies still make use of them and some have even been converted into transporters.
Transporters (Couriers)
Armored warships designed specifically for transporting valuable assets and cargo quickly and safely.
Corvettes (Cutters)
Light multi-role warships, capable of recon, incursions and escort missions. These small warships are also popular with smaller factions, organizations and even wealthy individuals due to their adaptability. The Imperial Cutter is a lighter and faster Corvette-class ship, which players will be able to get their hands on in the final game (assuming they can make the right contacts).
Fighters
Small short-range craft that generally cannot operate independently due to having no jump capability. Their main roles include the defense of stations and the large warships that they are deployed from. Commercial fighters are typically jump-capable and are therefore much more flexible than their faction-specific counterparts.
Drones
Small automated ships that have largely been phased out due to the existence of effective counter-measures.