Pilot HandbookCHAPTER 03

Ships

Every pilot starts in the NOVA-α. Earn your way up eight rungs to the Monarch, or fly one of the sidegrades beside it. Each ship has one thing it does best.

The ladder

A bigger ship is the biggest step up in power. Each rung is tougher, carries more gear and hauls more than the one below it, and a fully fitted ship flies faster the higher you climb. Every card shows the hull as the Shop does: its HP, its empty speed, its hold, its slots for lasers, generators and extensions, its price and what a wreck costs to repair. The bars compare it with the best of all thirteen.

NOVA-αCommonStarter
Where every pilot begins, given free and already fitted. It can never be sold.
HP
4,000
Speed
330
Cargo
400
Lasers / gens / ext
2 / 1 / 2
Price
Free
Wreck repair
Free
WASPCommonFirst fighter
Your first real fighter, and the first ship you buy.
HP
16,000
Speed
340
Cargo
800
Lasers / gens / ext
3 / 6 / 3
Price
150,000
Wreck repair
50
LYNXRareFast raider
The quickest hull Credits can buy: a raider for fast fights.
HP
64,000
Speed
375
Cargo
1,200
Lasers / gens / ext
4 / 8 / 3
Price
750,000
Wreck repair
100
MANTISRarePatrol frigate
A steady frigate, built to hold a lane.
HP
120,000
Speed
360
Cargo
1,400
Lasers / gens / ext
6 / 10 / 4
Price
1,500,000
Wreck repair
150
RHINORareHeavy gunboat
The heaviest Credits hull, with a deep generator bank.
HP
150,000
Speed
340
Cargo
1,600
Lasers / gens / ext
8 / 12 / 4
Price
3,000,000
Wreck repair
200
RAPTOREpicStrike cruiser
The first Rift Crystal hull, with the speed to pick its fights.
HP
180,000
Speed
360
Cargo
2,000
Lasers / gens / ext
10 / 12 / 5
Price
50,000
Wreck repair
300
DRAKEEpicAssault cruiser
The assault cruiser that leads a push onto the fronts.
HP
220,000
Speed
350
Cargo
2,400
Lasers / gens / ext
12 / 14 / 5
Price
150,000
Wreck repair
400
MONARCHLegendaryFlagship
The top of the ladder: the toughest combat ship, with the biggest combat hold.
HP
256,000
Speed
340
Cargo
3,000
Lasers / gens / ext
15 / 15 / 6
Price
450,000
Wreck repair
500

Sidegrades

Beside the Monarch sit four sidegrades, on the same rung and at the same price. None of them sits above it and none beats it head on: each gives up the Monarch’s all-round strength for one thing it does better than any other ship. Pick the one that fits how you fly.

SERAPHLegendaryGlass cannonSIDEGRADE
The glass cannon: the most guns of any ship, on the thinnest hull.
HP
190,000
Speed
385
Cargo
1,800
Lasers / gens / ext
21 / 9 / 6
Price
450,000
Wreck repair
500
JUGGERNAUTLegendaryBulwarkSIDEGRADE
The bulwark: a tank that fights back, on the slowest engine.
HP
340,000
Speed
260
Cargo
1,800
Lasers / gens / ext
11 / 19 / 6
Price
450,000
Wreck repair
500
SHRIKELegendaryHunterSIDEGRADE
The Hunter: the fastest ship there is, empty or fitted, with a light frame and a small hold.
HP
200,000
Speed
430
Cargo
1,000
Lasers / gens / ext
20 / 10 / 3
Price
450,000
Wreck repair
500
SCORPIONLegendaryHunterSIDEGRADE
The same Hunter in its own model and paint. Owning one never gives you the other.
HP
200,000
Speed
430
Cargo
1,000
Lasers / gens / ext
20 / 10 / 3
Price
450,000
Wreck repair
500
CARAVANLegendaryHaulerSIDEGRADE
The hauler: the toughest hull and the biggest hold in the game, with fewer guns.
HP
420,000
Speed
305
Cargo
4,000
Lasers / gens / ext
10 / 15 / 6
Price
450,000
Wreck repair
500

Earning your next ship

The Wasp, Lynx, Mantis and Rhino are bought with Credits, which every fight pays. The Raptor, Drake, Monarch and every sidegrade are bought with Rift Crystal, which kills pay and missions pay most of all. Buy them in the Shop.

A new ship arrives empty: no gear moves across from another ship.
There is no limit: you can buy any hull again, and a second copy is a separate ship.
A ship bought in the Shop sells back for 30% of its price, and its gear returns to you. Empty its hold first, and repair it if it is a wreck.
Ships also turn up at the Auction, bid in Credits.

Every ship is earned in play

No hull is sold only for money, and Gold cannot buy Rift Crystal. A pilot who never pays reaches the same ships. See fair play.

Your hangar

Own as many ships as you like, keep each one fitted, and launch the one the fight calls for with Set Active in the Hangar.

Its own fitGear is fitted to one hull at a time, and every ship keeps its own hold.
Two configsConfig 1 and Config 2 are two complete fits on one ship. See configs.
Its own damageEvery ship you own keeps its own HP. A ship comes back out of the hangar exactly as damaged as you left it: switching ships is never a repair.
Repairs in flightYour repair bot mends the ship you are flying, and no other.

The hangar with a ship and its fitted gear — THE HANGAR: YOUR SHIP AND ITS FIT

Skins

A skin changes a ship’s colours and nothing else: never its HP, its slots, its speed or its size. Paint, not power.

Your faction’s colours are free and on your ship from the first minute.
A skin belongs to one hull: a design for one model never paints another.
Today the NOVA-α has its designs: Standard Issue and the three faction colours. The other hulls fly their own look.