Best free ship for combat [SPOILERS]

[Krash Megiddo]

Razerleaf is the best early game. This is triggered by reading the note about the secret facility. I would get this ASAP in every new game. Its almost OP in combat, except for its weak shields.

Next free ship is my fav so far. This is a reward for becoming a Freestar Ranger:
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3038592860

I'm taking on 3 pirates at once and winning NP. My last battle was vs one of those new fangled Starborn, and I still won.

This is my latest freebie, a reward from Walter Stroud:
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3038891384
I love this for the extra cargo and jump range, but not sure how it'll do in combat. I'm thinking about adding missiles. Any suggestions?

[Iratus Machina]

Still using a modified Star Eagle long after I completed the Freestar Ranger questline. I don't plan on replacing it until I've built myself a massive cargo hauler to outdue its already huge cargo hull and it kicks all sorts of ass in space combat. Best free ship I acquired thus far.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3036187832

[Krash Megiddo]

Originally posted by Iratus Machina:

Still using a modified Star Eagle long after I completed the Freestar Ranger questline. I don't plan on replacing it until I've built myself a massive cargo hauler to outdue its already huge cargo hull and it kicks all sorts of ass in space combat. Best free ship I acquired thus far.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3036187832

Sweet ride! I have to remind myself that lower tier ships does not mean less capable.

[Alcohol Bear]

I'm using an ECLIPTIC COMBAT A01 as my main. I added two cargo modules to get 1800 capacity, four lasers, four missiles, and two small engines to deal with the added weight!

[Sprocket66]

Even the Kepler S from overdesigned can be a beast with a few cheap mods, hated the layout of the big version so tried the smaller on ng+. Mine has a 2.4k shield (UC Bulwark), 1.2k hull, 6k cargo, 3 particle beam turrets, 2 missiles that do 255/255 each shield/hull damage, 35pt reactor, full crafting stations, etc. Very maneuverable. Only bad thing is the jump range is only 27ly, looking to upgrade that. Not bad for a B grade ship, think it's better than my C ship from first play through.

[MagicHp]

The Kepler R is better than any other ship you can buy or find, period.

Simply because you can get it as early as level 10 with just one actual spacefight needed, and it comes equiped with Engines, gravdrive and power plant that you won't be able to buy until around level 50+ ^^

Of course, you need to modify it, all those fuel tanks are useless, but it beats any other ship you can find.
Equip it with 4 particle beams (or 6 if you find those at max power 2 ) and never lose a spacefight again ;)
Basically, get it, remove everything but engines, shields, power plant and gravdrive, and build your own OP ship ^^

[RainyDay]

Originally posted by Krash Megiddo:

Sweet ride! I have to remind myself that lower tier ships does not mean less capable.

I think this is kinda true, but not entirely. I'm not sure why it's never discussed, but the difference between an a,b, and c is crew capacity (a=1, b=2, c=3). Keep in mind, crew capacity is different than crew slots and you need both to increase your crew size. Crew capacity only comes from reactors and weapons so it's much harder to come by than crew slots. It appears if you want a ship with the max 8 crew (9, if Sarah continues to not count) then you will want a c class ship.

Now, whether that has a huge impact on ship performance, I can't say because I don't yet have the ship command skill to try out an 8 person crew. However, it stands to reason that more people buffing the ships stats would improve it quite a bit.

[Krash Megiddo]

Originally posted by MagicHp:

The Kepler R is better than any other ship you can buy or find, period.

Simply because you can get it as early as level 10 with just one actual spacefight needed, and it comes equiped with Engines, gravdrive and power plant that you won't be able to buy until around level 50+ ^^

Of course, you need to modify it, all those fuel tanks are useless, but it beats any other ship you can find.
Equip it with 4 particle beams (or 6 if you find those at max power 2 ) and never lose a spacefight again ;)
Basically, get it, remove everything but engines, shields, power plant and gravdrive, and build your own OP ship ^^

I just had my first pirate battle with the Kepler, after I added Atlas missiles. It was over quickly Adding the missiles was my first real ship modification. Tearing out a bunch of stuff and rebuilding is out of my comfort zone atm

[Krash Megiddo]

I made some minor improvements:
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3039138214
I hesitate to go wild and pull it all apart. I probably steal another C class and go crazy with that.

[leqesai]

Originally posted by Krash Megiddo:

Originally posted by Iratus Machina:

Still using a modified Star Eagle long after I completed the Freestar Ranger questline. I don't plan on replacing it until I've built myself a massive cargo hauler to outdue its already huge cargo hull and it kicks all sorts of ass in space combat. Best free ship I acquired thus far.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3036187832

Sweet ride! I have to remind myself that lower tier ships does not mean less capable.

You missed the reference...
Silverhawk is a ship from Darius.... His looks just like the ship from Darius.

[Krash Megiddo]

Originally posted by leqesai:

Originally posted by Krash Megiddo:

Sweet ride! I have to remind myself that lower tier ships does not mean less capable.

You missed the reference...
Silverhawk is a ship from Darius.... His looks just like the ship from Darius.

I don't know what Darius is..

[leqesai]

Originally posted by Krash Megiddo:

Originally posted by leqesai:

You missed the reference...
Silverhawk is a ship from Darius.... His looks just like the ship from Darius.

I don't know what Darius is..

Thankfully you have the magic of google right at your fingertips.

[Nite69]

Originally posted by Flux Gunk:

I'm using an ECLIPTIC COMBAT A01 as my main. I added two cargo modules to get 1800 capacity, four lasers, four missiles, and two small engines to deal with the added weight!

yep same one I am using, it changes to that name when its upgraded, its original name is the longsword when its first found

[palathas]

You also get a ship from your father if you take the Kid Stuff trait. It's called Wanderwell, a unique ship.

[Rabidnid]

Do the vanguard questline and switch out your particle beams for the vanguard version. Then your ship will wreck everything but a capital ship.

[MagicHp]

Originally posted by Krash Megiddo:

I made some minor improvements:
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3039138214
I hesitate to go wild and pull it all apart. I probably steal another C class and go crazy with that.

Not that bad for a start ^^

I would advise you to take your time, make a hard save, and take an hour or two just moving pieces around.
Don't erase anything just yet, just store things unattached on the side while you assemble your ship with the pieces you have on hand.
Once you have something you like, try to erase all the uneeded pieces to see if your design works.
If it does, have fun and try stopping at the next shipyard to add more pieces ;)
If it doesn't, then just load your save and try to replicate your final design by moving less pieces around.

That should give you a good hang of the ship building at no risk (other than the addiction risk ^^ ) .
It shouldn't cost much if you just move and erase some pieces.

And most of all have fun ;)