Choose your Ship

Although the game is still under development and its content is highly questionable (the most slanderous will say it's "empty"), in the long run, Star Citizen should be a game with many possibilities for players, in which everyone should be able to find something to their liking.

However, you'll have to define your objectives, because without the right ship, it will be difficult for you to access many activities.

Non-exhaustive list of activities known to date:

• Combat and Military Activities

  • Bounty Hunter
  • Escort
  • Interceptor
  • Bomber
  • Miner/Deminer

• Trade and Transport

  • Freight Carrier
  • Passenger Carrier
  • Data Runner
  • Merchant

• Exploration

  • Explorer
  • Pathfinder, Scout
  • Travel Organizer (Touring)

• Industry, Support, Science and Media

  • Mining
  • Refining
  • Salvage
  • Rescue
  • Repairer
  • Rufueler
  • Doctor
  • Scientist
  • Journalist

• Competition

  • Race Driver

• Piracy

  • Smuggler, Trafficker
  • Saboteur, Hacker

Keep in mind that most of these activities are still in the conceptual stage.
Currently, the following activities are available:

• Transport of goods, and smuggling
• Bounty Hunting
• Escort/Protection
• Mineral Prospecting
• Various missions where a Starter Ship is sufficient
• Beginning of the medical gameplay
• Ship-to-ship refueling

In this article, 250 ships and vehicles are listed, of which 190 are available in play. Among them are 25 Starters, 104 ships dedicated to Combat and 11 Pathfinder, 20 to Exploration and 9 to Touring, 42 that can carry out Transport on a more or less large scale, 20 are designed for Racing and finally 41 are dedicated to an Industrial, Scientific or Media Specialization.

Despite this diversity in the choice of a ship, don't get into the game without taking the time to make sure that the activity you are interested in is well implemented.
The fact that a ship dedicated to an activity is offered for sale does not mean that this activity is present in the game.
In addition, some ships are offered for sale, but not present in the game, in which case CIG will lend you a replacement ship, see the article on Loaner Ship Matrix for more information.

The starter ship is supposed to be your first ship and is defined as a ship that can be played solo, versatile enough to access basic missions and with a bit of cargo, although this is not a requirement as long as the ship has enough space to store a few mission crates.

The Aurora MR or the Mustang Alpha are two honourable Starters that allow you to get into the game at a lower cost, but if you want more versatility the Avenger Titan or an Origin 300i will surely be a better fit while remaining affordable.
Below is an overview of the main Starter ships.

Of course, you might be tempted to start the game with a more specialized ship, such as a fighter or a mining ship, but keep in mind that the more specialized the ship is, the harder it will be to use it for anything other than what it was designed for. This is why it is important to choose your ship carefully, or consider a second ship if necessary.

Note that ships from the Cutlass and Freelancer series could have their place in the list of "Starter Ships". Both the Cutlass and the Freelancer have an excellent reputation as versatile single-player ships despite their size.

Although defined as a ship that can accommodate a crew of 1 to 3 members, the Pisces is actually a single-seater. The two additional seats are just passenger seats in which the occupants can only wait until they reach their destination. Be careful with the Pisces, it's an excellent shuttle to accompany the Carrack, but a poor starter ship if used alone.

No matter what anyone says, Star Citizen is not a pay-to-win game!
Investing $725.00 in a Hammerhead won't make you stronger.

Choose your ship according to your desires and your goals, not according to its size.

Keep in mind that the bigger a ship is, the more expensive it will be to maintain and larger the crew it will require.
Some ships will only reach their full potential once the crew is complete.
The largest are intended for corporations.

If you play mainly alone or with a small crew, there's no point in investing in a ship that's too big.

For example, the Cutlass Black or Freelancer are versatile ships that will be perfect for a solo player who wants to be able to invite a friend or two from time to time, and it's still ships whose online price is still in the acceptable range.

Playing as a Group

It may be tempting to purchase a larger ship with the sole intention of paying for it with several people and then playing it as a group. But be aware of the impact this choice can have over time and there is no guarantee that you and your friends will be constantly together to enjoy the ship.

Especially since playing Star Citizen as a group does not necessarily imply having all the members of the group in the same ship... each member can very well have his own ship in order to combine everyone's efforts.

For example, it may be tempting for a group of players to acquire a Mole so that they can prospect together, but what happens if you are attacked? The Mole's ability to defend itself is almost nil, and you might regret not having an escort with you. Therefore, the group of friends would be better off investing in two Prospectors and two escort ships... Or why not a Prospector, an Expanse for ore refining, a Hull A for transporting refined materials and one or two escort ships...

Some activities such as mineral prospecting, salvage, or medical services require a specialized ship, and these ships are usually expensive. It is thus preferable not to make a mistake in your choice, because you are very likely to spend close to $140.00 HT in such a ship, or even more, some specialized ships exceed $200.00 HT.

Don't forget that, in addition to having a cost, specialization can very quickly limit your activities. A Prospector can hardly be used for anything other than mining, a Herald can hardly do anything other than data running, etc. Specialized ships are excellent as a second choice, but not very suitable as a first choice. If this is going to be your only ship, it is better to go for a more versatile ship and keep the acquisition of the specialized ship as a goal to be achieved once in game.

The 'Verse is dangerous

Because of the danger of the 'Verse and the omnipresence of PVP, most of the ships in Star Citizen are armed, but on some of them, this armament is purely symbolic, which is often the case for specialized industrial ships, like the Prospector, the MOLE, or the Vulture, and even some cargo ships, like the Hull series.

Overall, these ships could very well be supplied unarmed, it wouldn't make much difference in the outcome of a fight against a real fighter. If you're worried about bad encounters, have a fighter escort you, but don't rely too much on your own weaponry.

You might be tempted by an Alien ship, like the Banu Defender, the replica of the Prowler Terravin from Experia or even an Aopoa Khartu-al, but all these ships have one thing in common: they are overtaxed. Because of their originality, the price of an Alien ship is generally higher than that of an equivalent Human ship. We then speak of the "Alien Tax".

On the RSI site, the ships are classified into different families which are Combat, Transport, Exploration, Industry, Support and Competition. I have slightly reworked this classification to have the following families:

• Combat
• Trade and Transport
• Exploration
• Industry, Support, Science and Media
• Competition

The Fight

At Star Citizen, fighting is a big word, on the one hand you'll have individual PVP/PVE activities such as bounty hunting and defence on the Vanduul front line, on the other hand you'll have large scale armed conflicts that will be rare and not necessarily easy to participate in, and which may require you to join a hardcore corporation.
Keep this in mind, you might as well invest in a fighter because you'll find an opportunity to take it out, you might as well invest in a bomber or dropship and see it rust in your hangar.

In this family are the ships exclusively intended for combat.
They range from the snub fighter to the destroyer, including fighters of all sizes, bombers,...

The small (light) combat ships are generally single-seater, low-strength, fast and maneuverable.
Their armament ranges from Size 1 to 3, sometimes Size 4.
More a ship increases in size, more resistant it will become, gaining in armament but losing in maneuverability.
In addition, larger ships can become two-seater, or have a crew of at least 3, and are beginning to have turrets that require an operator.

Fighters

Whose main role will be oriented towards pure combat, from escort and bounty hunting with death of the target or its capture in some exceptions. These ships have a wide range of sizes, from the Light Fighter to the Heavy Fighter, and including the smallest, the Snub fighter, which will need to be transported because it does not have a Quantum module.

Stealth Fighters

Same principle as fighters, except that their design and equipment make them more difficult to detect.

Interdiction

These ships are generally designed for interception, capture and/or transport of prisoners. They include bounty hunters, but also interceptor ships equipped with EMP generators that can neutralize the electronic systems of other ships, or with Quantum jam to intercept ship during there Quantum travel.

Beware, some ships like the Buccaneer are designated as Interdiction when it is only a light fighter that was designed to maintain order at the borders. During the LIVE of September 13, 2019, it was confirmed that the Buccaneer and 325a were interceptor ships and not interdiction ships.

Bombers

As their name implies, they are there to drop bombs and/or torpedoes.
These ships can be formidable in a conflict, as they are equipped with explosive charges capable of destroying large targets. These are very specific purpose ships, which will find their interest in warlike corporations. It's a ship that's worth taking second or even third choice.

Dropships

These ships are designed to drop troops on the ground.
Like the Bomber, the interest of such a ship is too specialized to justify an acquisition as a first choice.
Again, it's a ship that worth being taken as a second or even third choice.

Gunships

They are primarily escort or support ships during a conflict, but their manoeuvrability makes them vulnerable to fighters and bombers. Keep in mind that no matter how big the weapons a gunship can carry, it can quickly be overwhelmed if it doesn't have a minimum of support. These ships are usually of average size or larger, and require a crew of at least three to reach their full potential.

Be sure to study the design of each gunship, some, like the Hammerhead, have an anti-fighter support role, while others, like the Perseus, have a fire support role intended to thwart medium and/or large ships.

Minelayer

Ship designed to passively secure an area, it's a very specific gameplay that may be interesting to play but remains for the moment reserved for war corporations.

Boarding

This activity has few ships specifically designed for boarding.

Destroyer, Frigate and Military Carrier

It's hard to say at this point whether such ships will have any real use in play.
These ships are intended for corporations with real ambition at stake.
Before investing in such a ship, make sure you are truly supported by your corporation.

Trade and Transport

Transport ships are often under armed, relying mainly on their armour to flee from combat and relying on the presence of an escort to protect them.

Freight and Cargo

It is difficult to say whether CIG intends to make a distinction between freight and cargo, but as far as I am concerned I do not see any significant difference that would imply separating freight ships from cargo ships.

The basic rule of thumb in cargo transport is that a ship with cargo capacity can do freight transport, which includes starter ships such as the Aurora MR or the Avenger Titan, but their capacity is such that it is difficult to consider them as true cargo ships.

There is a wide choice of ships capable of cargo transport, even the Valkyrie since it received cargo capacity can become a freight ship.

So it will mainly depend on your objectives...
Are you just going to carry a few crates?
Or trade on a large scale?
Smuggling?
Playing alone, or in a group?
With or without an escort?

These are all questions you need to answer because they will influence your choice of ship.
If you just want to carry a few crates every now and then, an Avenger Titan is all you need.
If you want to do wholesale transport, have the guarantee of an escort, risk yourself for a Hull.
But if you're unescorted, opt instead for the ruggedness of the Caterpilar or Freelancer.
If you're a reckless daredevil or a pirate, the Cutlass Black will be your partner.

As you can see, there are plenty of possibilities.

When available, the Caterpillar Pirate Edition can only be obtained as a Standalone version and requires completion of the Pirate Swarm Arena Commander in multiplayer to unlock it.

Data Running

Once many systems and the exploration will been in place, we can start to see missions for transporting important messages, coordinates, etc. And that's where the data ships will come in. Currently, there are only two such ships, the Herald, which is the sole function, and the Mercury Star Runner, which is both a cargo and a data ship.

Passenger

I hope that CIG will eventually extend this concept to a wider range of ships, and I still hope one day to be able to transform my Avenger Titan into a "lowcost Space Minibus". But for now we'll have to make do with the Genesis Starliner and the MPUV-1P Personal, which are two extremes. On the one hand, a ship designed for long distance travel, and on the other hand, a ship barely fit for commuting between an orbital station and planet surface.

Military Transport

Military transport is not much different from freight transport, since the ships in it are designed for freight, but in addition there is a capacity to carry vehicles. As this, the Hercules are distinguished by their ability to transport heavy vehicles, including the Tank Nova.

Trade

Ships with one or more shops can be found here.

Exploration

It's still difficult to get a real idea of what exploration will be like, many people hope to go on an adventure to explore the universe, but we still have to find the right ship. Exploration is distinguished by four sub-families which are Expeditions, Exploration, Touring and Pathfinders, let's start with the latter.

Pathfinder and Scout

This activity could be military, and could fall under the category of combat, although the role of the scout is not to go out and meet danger, but rather to find the best way around it. The role of the scout can be distinguished by infiltration, an ability to explore enemy lines, or simply being a first step in finding jump points and other points of interest. In the lore, many of the jump point finders had only a simple Pathfinder...

Pathfinder ships are generally small, comparable to light fighters, but less well armed and with better scanners. There are ships such as the Mustang or Aurora, but the ultimate Pathfinder ship is certainly the Terrapin, except that its price of $220.00 excluding tax is beyond comprehension, which ultimately relegates it to the least profitable ships to buy online.

Although defined as a single-seater, I preferred to classify the Terrapin as a one or two-man ship because access to the long-range scanner requires leaving the pilot seat.

The Pisces C8 cannot be acquired alone, it accompanies the Carrack. If you wish to acquire a Pisces without having to go through the Carrack, you will have to opt for the Pisces C8X Expedition.

Touring

For some ships, it is difficult to say if it will really be an activity, because it will consist in visiting a place, or more particularly in taking tourists who will pay you graciously.

We find in this family of large ships, such as the 890 Jump, the 600i Touring and the Constellation Phoenix, ships specially designed to transport holidaymakers and wealthy notables. And paradoxically, alongside single-seater ships such as the 300i and the X1 base, and a two-seater, the 85x, forced to wonder how lucrative this activity will really be in such ships?

Expeditions, Exploration

CIG seems to distinguish between exploration and expedition ships, a priori the difference would be in the equipment of the ship and/or the capacity to carry additional ships or vehicles.

When it comes to exploration, the Freelancer DUR is the best value for money for a small group of players, especially since the Freelancer can act as a Starter. The Carrack is the reference in terms of exploration ships with its shuttle (The Pisces) and its Rover, but its price makes it difficult to afford. Finally, the Constellation Aquilla is a happy medium with its P-52 Merlin and a Rover. As for the Corsair, the latter could be a good alternative to the Freelancer DUR for those who prefer the DRAKE manufacturer to Misc. Note that the Corsair can make an excellent Gunship because of its armament.

Industry, Support, Science and Media

Certainly one of the most explicit families because each sub-family corresponds to a specialization and rarely has more than two ships.

It includes various careers, such as mining, Refining, salvage, science, or others.

Mining

This activity speaks for itself, since it consists of prospecting for minerals with the aim of extracting resources from them.

With the arrival of the Mole and the Greycat ROC, mineral prospecting is an activity that now offers a wide choice of ships and vehicles, each belonging to a well-defined category. The Prospector is a single-seater ship for a single player. The Orion is a ship whose design and size places it among the corporate ships. The Mole is a ship whose design means that you will need a minimum of two people to start operating it, it is a ship designed for a small group of 2-4 members, ideal for a group of friends. Finally, the Greycat ROC gives you the opportunity to do mass FPS Mining.

The Cydnus is a massive mining machine known colloquially as a "mining tick". This ship is currently only present on Squadron 42's RoadMap and will be used in the story of Squadron 42, but there is no way to tell if it will be present in the multiplayer game.

Refining

This category essentially encompasses ships whose role is to refine raw materials from mining exploration, with the aim of reselling them, or transferring them to a transport ship.

"Refining" ships are the link in the mining gameplay loop between the family of "mining" ships such as the Prospector and the Mole, whose main role is the harvesting of resources, and the family of transporters such as the Hull, whose main role is the transport of materials once they are processed.

Salvage

If you're interested in wreck hunting, the salvage is definitely for you.

There are only two ships in this activity, the Vulture as a single-player ship and the Reclaimer as a multiplayer ship, and a "drone", the hypothetical Cutter, supposed to accompany the Reclaimer.

"Snub", "drone" or "manned armor", the Cutter has gone through many stages and it is still difficult to affirm its true nature for the moment, even its name is uncertain. At the last news, it would be a Snub Ship. The only possible assertion is that it is still in the development planning and that this "machine" will accompany the Reclaimer.

Rescue

The only ship of its kind, the SRV, or space tug, capable of searching for a ship and bringing it back, while having a living space to house the crew of the sinking ship.

Repair & Refuel

With its drone fleet, the Vulcan is specially designed to refuel and repair other ships, even during combat.

Then there is the Starfarer, a heavy supply ship, an escort will be indispensable, don't plan to play it without a corporation behind to support you.

The Crucible, heavy ship of repair, there again a corporation seems inevitable to me.

Science

This activity is still quite fuzzy I must admit, on one side we have the Reliant Sen, a two-seater ship that seems more designed to analyze resources and eventually retrieve them (manually), and on the other side the Endeavor, the flying farm, allowing you to produce your own cultures in space, of course, the latter is a heavy ship that is predestined for corporations.

Be careful with the Endeavor, because this ship requires modules to be functional.
The price corresponds to the basic model without any module that will have to be acquired separately.

Medical Support

Answer a call for help by going to the rescue of a player who has unfortunately been forced to eject into space with the Apollo or Cutlass Red. These ships require two players, although it can be assumed that only one player can use it, but he will have to leave the cockpit to go to the rescue console (or equivalent).

Note that not all ships with a medical space will offer the same services, it will mainly depend on the type of bed on board, I won't go into more details about the medical support gameplay, but be aware that the Cutlass Red should be seen as a space ambulance just good at applying first aid and transporting the patient to a hospital, while the Apollo are defined as mobile hospitals that will therefore have a real ability to treat a patient.

Journalism

This activity currently has only one ship, the Reliant Mako, but you will necessarily need to be two, as the ship requires a pilot and a cameraman.

Construction

The Pioneer, the construction ship par excellence, but exclusively reserved for corporations, because such a ship requires a crew of 8 people, and it will certainly need protection.

Competition

Family exclusively dedicated to racing, whether in the air or on the ground.
A wide range of ships are available, but take the time to study them carefully, some, like the Dragonfly, are antigrav bikes designed for ground racing, others like the P72 Archimede is a snub ship, it does not have a QT engine and requires to be carried.