Dolphin
Template:Quote The Dolphin is the latest addition to Saud Kruger's line of luxury passenger ships. It is a small vessel with a very low starter price aimed at commanders wishing to embark upon a role of a Passenger Carrier. As a Saud Kruger ship, the Dolphin can install luxury suite cabins exclusive to this brand. With an above-average jump-range and a sleek design, the Dolphin will surely find its place among the ever-growing field of space tourism.
Overview
The Dolphin is one of the three Saud Kruger line of ships, along with the Orca and Beluga Liner. It can be considered the passenger equivalent to the Type-6. Like its sisters, it is capable of carrying Luxury Cabins and has a focus on Passenger Missions. The Dolphin distinguishes itself from the other two Kruger ships however due to actually being rather viable in various roles.
The Dolphin has 84T of cargo space available for trading. Considering it has a similar price tag to the Type-6 and similar combat ability this makes the Dolphin a rather poor trading vessel; however, its higher jump range makes it a good Rare Goods trader or for long range transport.
In Combat, the Dolphin is just as bad as the Type-6 and suffers from many of its downsides with its Sidewinder grade offenses and has worse shields and armour. However, it has better mobility and better hardpoint placement which can let it be much more nimble and allow it to evade oncoming fire much easier as well as keep Fixed Hardpoints on target.
As an Explorer the Dolphin shines; it has around 35ly of jump capacity before engineering, higher than that of the standard Type-6 and just slightly short of the significantly more expensive Asp Explorer, making the Dolphin an extremely good exploration vessel. Its downside is its low amount of compartment slots, limiting its use of Guardian Frame Shift Drive Boosters and other internals such as Fuel Scoops.
Passenger missions are its focus and it does them more effectively than most other ships. It has 1 spot for a Luxury Passenger Cabin and plenty of space for more passengers alongside. With its very high jump range this makes it very good at doing long-range passenger missions, including those looking to go thousands of Lys for a journey. It isn't as good for bulk missions as it has low compartment space.
Overall the Dolphin is a fantastic exploration ship and is easily the best ship for carrying Luxury passengers due to its jump range and fair price. The decent cargo space and better mobility let it stand as a reasonable alternative to the trade focused Type-6.
The cockpit is at the front of the ship and like other Saud Kruger ships it is only possible to see from inside. The two small hardpoints are directly below this on the bottom of the ship.
Purchase Locations
| System | Station | Date Seen | Discount |
|---|---|---|---|
| Shinrarta Dezhra | Jameson Memorial | Always available | 10% discount |
| Brestla | i Sola Prospect | Always available | 20% surcharge |
| BD+49 1280 | Archimedes City | Jan. 6, 2019 | 15% discount |
| Lalande 4268 | Lowry Ring | Jan. 6, 2019 | 15% discount |
| Lembava | Goldstein Port | Jan. 6, 2019 | 15% discount |
| Ix | Scully-Power Station | Jan. 6, 2019 | 15% discount |
| Asellus Primus | Beagle 2 Landing | Mar. 1, 2019 | |
| EQ Pegasi | Merbold Ring | Jan. 6, 2019 | |
| Cemiess | Meech Dock | Jan. 6, 2019 | |
| Liu Di | Sudworth Orbital | Jan. 6, 2019 | |
| Mizar | Judson Station | Jan. 6, 2019 | |
| LHS 2651 | Kennan Dock | Jan. 6, 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 Dolphin.
| Category | Default System | Default Rating | Default Class | Max Class |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SmallHardpoint | Pulse Laser | F | 1 | 1 |
| Pulse Laser | F | 1 | 1 | |
| Utility Mount | Empty | -- | -- | 0 |
| Empty | -- | -- | 0 | |
| Empty | -- | -- | 0 | |
| Bulkheads | Lightweight Alloys | I | 1 | 8 |
| Reactor Bay | Power Plant | E | 4 | 4 |
| Thruster Mounting | Thrusters | E | 5 | 5 |
| Frame Shift Drive Housing | Frame Shift Drive | E | 4 | 4 |
| Environment Control | Life Support | E | 4 | 4 |
| Power Coupling | Power Distributor | E | 3 | 3 |
| Sensor Suite | Sensors | E | 3 | 3 |
| Fuel Store | Fuel Tank [x16] | C | 4 | 4 |
| Internal Compartments | Passenger Cabin | E | 5 | 5 |
| Cargo Rack [x8] | E | 3 | 4 | |
| Shield Generator | D | 4 | 4 | |
| Cargo Rack [x4] | E | 2 | 3 | |
| Cargo Rack [x2] | E | 1 | 2 | |
| Empty | -- | -- | 2 | |
| Empty | -- | -- | 2 | |
| Advanced Docking Computer | E | 1 | 1 | |
| Supercruise Assist | E | 1 | 1 | |
| Planetary Approach Suite (H) | I | 1 | 1 |
- (L) = Loaned Module
- [x#] = Capacity
- (H) = Requires Elite Dangerous: Horizons, reserved solely for Planetary Approach Suite
Notes
- The Dolphin was released in update 2.3 "The Commanders".[1] Purchasing it requires owning the Horizons expansion.[2][3]
Trivia
- The Dolphin engine boost sound resembles a dolphin whistle.
- As with all Saud Kruger ships, the Dolphin is loosely based on a luxury Cruise Ship, hence the aquatic animal theme. They also draw some inspiration from modern limousines such as the black windows.
- Beyond Chapter Four removes restrictions from the restricted module slots on the Beluga Liner, Dolphin and Orca. This allows them to equip modules other than Passenger Cabins in those slots.[4]
Videos
Gallery
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Concept art from newsletters
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Dolphin docked
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Dolphin and ice asteroids
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Dolphin mining
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Dolphin ship stern
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Dolphin, Orca, Beluga and SLF
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Dolphin cockpit
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Dolphin ship cockpit view
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Dolphin ship engines
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Dolphin docked at a surface port
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Saud Kruger Dolphin Blueprint
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Dolphin flying in space and station
