A Newb's Review of The Beluga

[Gamatech]

Hi all o7

I just bought the Beluga and I feel like there's a lot to talk about with this ship, so I thought I'd write up a review from the perspective of a newb. These are the types of things I would have liked to know when I was thinking about getting the ship. I think that this will give a "realistic" overview, and by that I mean not focussed on A-rated modules and a bottomless wallet. It's a review that other newbs can relate to on a practical level rather than one that talks about the Beluga at it's absolute ideal performance and engineered components. I've flown the Beluga for about 20ish hours so that gives you an idea of how much or how little I know what i'm talking about. It's a long post I know, but for a low-mid experience players 80 million is a very considerable blow to the wallet and I'm sure people want to know exactly what's on offer.

When buying the Beluga you have to ask yourself one thing- do you enjoy passenger missions? If your answer is yes, the Beluga is an absolutely fantastic ship. If no then purchase something else, period. It really doesn't stack up alongside even the cheaper cargo ships and combat vessels, and it's not very practical for exploration either. If you're buying a Beluga make sure it's for use as the liner it's meant to be, or else don't bother at all. It's just not worth it with so many better performing and cheaper alternatives. If you are like me and get great satisfaction from passenger missions, then read on!




Positives

Despite it's size the first thing I noticed about the Beluga was, shockingly, not it's goliath scale. It was actually the missions it opened up to me, this thing is a BEAUTIFUL money maker! The productivity of this ship is so astronomical that my mind has become accustomed to 1 million credits being a small payout, and very often you can find contracts with this pay needing only 1 or 2 jumps. Personally I like to spend some time calculating and planning my routes before accepting contracts. If you do it smartly you can stack 4 or 5 sightseeing missions, raking in 10-20million in just an hour or two.

The Beluga can hold a whole lot of occupants. As mentioned this review isn't about the best you can get out of the ship, but rather a day-to-day impression. Personally I have equipped a range of cabins including economy, business, and a single first class cabin of size 6 calliber. This gives me a total of 92 passenger rooms. Before grabbing as many 5million credit sightseeing tours as you can to fill these spaces up, be sure to spend some time and figure out if it's practical for you to go where they want to go. You might make more credits per hour with an efficient block of just 3 missions than a rat race across the galaxy with 6.

The fuel tank feels virtually bottomless. All but the largest jumps shave just a small hair off your supply, and on the shorter journeys even a fuel scoop can sometimes feel like a wasted slot. At one point I even considered trading the tank in for a smaller unit, but decided against it due to all the sightseeing missions I take on.

The Beluga is pure eye candy, I can't think of a better way to describe it's staggering good looks. Not only does it feature Saud Kruger's beautiful signature viewing windows, but it's wings and fins make it feel semi-believeable. By that I mean it's one of the few ships in the game that I can actually envision operating in-atmosphere on planets and other stellar bodies. Other ships like the Federal Dropship or Imperial fighter look as if they'd drop like rocks.

The Beluga's bridge interior is by far the largest in the game, so large in fact that any callouts from the computer system actually echo around the room. Visibility is exceptionally broad, especially on the horizontal. It is only broken by two vertical frames on each side that you don't even see unless you strain your neck to either side.

The sounds the Beluga makes are equally impressive. Sometimes you forget how colossal the ship you're flying actually is, but the bellowing grumbles and spitting quickly remind you as you approach a station. The boost sounds fairly standardish with the exception of a higher than average volume output, and the stress of the thrusters as you switch flight assist back on at high speed is very satisfying.






Negatives

The main drawback for me with this ship is it's inefficiency with heat management. Even if you have no other systems running, you still have to move away from a star a considerable distance before initiating your next jump to avoid substaining heat damage. Heat sinks are essential pieces of equipment until you can afford to address the problem. Your first upgrade should be a higher grade power generator to prevent these issues. You don't need the best of the best, just make sure it's A-rated and covers your energy demands. The Beluga can take up to a class 6 power plant, but only I have a 3A on mine. It's cheap, cheerful, has A-grade efficiency, and gives me enough energy to run everything I need.

The frame shift drive is also lacking, and it's certainly not cheap to upgrade. I currently have a 7B drive quipped (the second best available) giving me a jump range of roughly 18 light years. I am currently investing in a 7A, but that will set me back 50million credits- almost the price of the ship itself! Unless you have pockets deep enough to upgrade these core components, you'd be better off taking lots of short range missions instead of the longer haul cruises. Engineers will also help improve your FSD, I'd reccomend Elva Martuuk in the Khun system. She's worked wonders on my other liners in the past, sometimes increasing their jump range by 20%.

Now onto the size. Even though I'm still new to the game, I like to think I am particularly skilled with docking. I don't even fly with shields most of the time because I never seem to hit anything (plus I ensure there's never a reason to be dragged into conflict). The Beluga has presented some challenges though. I tend to forget how long it is, and I start rolling and strafing to line up with my pad before the rear-end is through the letter box. The game itself doesn't seem to like it either, since I very often get pad loitering warnings due to my tail or fins overlapping another spot. It's well worth having a shield generator until you gain the situational awareness required to fly this ship.



Extra Notes

I don't have any weapons on my Beluga, and if you want to use it purely for a law-abiding cruise service then you can strip out your hardpoints too. This gives you more jump range, less energy use, more maneuverability and cooler temperatures.

On the other hand if you're the sort of player that often finds themselves in trouble, the ship is one of the very few in the game that can be fitted with fighter bays. It's capable of carrying up to two fighter craft, and the ship's bridge contains 2 extra seats for any pilots you decide to hire. You could even invite your friends to fill that role using the multicrew mechanic.

A fuel scoop is a worthwhile investment. On long-haul trips having to spend the time supercruising and docking at stations for fuel becomes very frustrating, especially when it's not a stop that contributes to your missions. Don't get the cheap and nasty scoops or you'll be at the star forever, but you don't necesserily nead the fancy ones either. My personal opinion is that you should have one no lower than a class 4, but a class 5 is a lot more comfortable. A class 6 is great to save yourself even more time if you can spare the cash.

As I said previously, don't be tempted to use the Beluga as an exploration vessel. It's jump range is too short, it's size too cumbersome, and it's ability to take off from terrestrial sites is severely lacking. That all being said, equipping an advanced discovery scanner is a fantastic way to earn an extra million or two after a sightseeing trip. Use it at the end of every jump to pick up on any undiscovered bodies in the system. If you can pick up the habit then the extra payout when you get home is quite considerable. It's free money, and the scanner pays for itself after just one or two trips!

[Dolphin Bottlenose]

A very good and factual review, thanks for sharing!

I would also like to point out that the Beluga's thrusters aren't the fastest in line, so you probably shouldn't take secretive passengers, who hate to be scanned. You wouldn't be able to outrun a scan. And giving the ship's size it wouldn't be easy to rush through a mailslot, either.

About the heating issues - I believe it is a bug, cause when you start charging your FSD - a ship's cooling stops working. It's the most obvious when you fly away from a star you was just scooping. From the moment you hit the FSD charging, the heat will only rise, even when you are getting farther away from the main ship's heater - the star's corona. Every other ship with the same grades and engineering configuration will begin dropping the temperature, when you are sufficiently away from the star (the safe point to engage the FSD is the star turning yellow on your radar). Not the Beluga Liner.

The same is actual when you charge the FSD from a normal space, just not as obvious. Every other ship, after boosting during the FSD charging, will get the temperature rising shortly (the boost thrusters heating), then it will drop down again. With the Beluga the temperature will only be rising, never dropping back (cooling not working). It can get you "cooked", if you boost several times while still FSD charging, trying to escape some baddies.

[Overheadace]

I only tried it once when Passangers first came out and i thought it was meh Is it actually Good at making money compared to Combat-zones ?

[Agony_Aunt]

I find the Beluga best for those short one way trips. For longer range passenger missions either Orca or Dolphin are the best choices.

Having said that, an engineered Beluga can travel close to 500LY without needing to refuel, which is nice.

[Ottomic]

I thought I'd enjoy the beluga. I didn't. Really, really didn't. Much like mining, capacity isn't really a game changer with passenger missions, and the risk of collisions, heat buildup and extra cost isn't worth it.

Imo, there's two ships one can't go wrong with when doing passengers: orca for transporting and long range, python if doing bulk missions. Rest is completely extraneous. Really wanted to love the beluga, but right now it doesn't bring anything to the game besides curiosity value. And when we're talking about upwards of 150 mil to essentially downgrade performance wise, that's a big no-no for me.

Two very quick examples: if you're doing transportation or sightseeing missions, the beluga can carry three more cabins than the orca, but stacking three extra missions really won't do anything for someone just station hopping (I'll rarely have more than 3 on me at a time), only the Orca is faster, colder and docks WAY easier. Bulk wise it is tied at 74 with a full Business decked Python. Only the Python is cheaper, faster, and can land at an M pad. Unless you're running a shieldless Beluga, which, haha, good luck. So, right now, the Beluga is the answer to a question nobody asks, really.

However, OP, things I'd note from your review: mine is packing a 5A clean PP and 6A clean thrusters and heat isn't really a problem. It's not as cool as my orca, but definitely not getting anywhere hot. Since it's a horizons exclusive ship, engineering is pretty much a given on it. Besides from that, if one engineers it a bit more it can hit decent-ish jump distances, mine is 34 LYpj with a full deck of cabins. Even used it as a ratting ship.

[Gamatech]

Originally posted by Overheadace👑:

I only tried it once when Passangers first came out and i thought it was meh Is it actually Good at making money compared to Combat-zones ?

In my limited experience, yes. But if that's the only reason you're looking at it then the Dolphin or Orca can fulfill your needs too. I tend to earn a couple million per hour on a good bounty hunt, but I can easily earn over ten million per hour in one of my liners.

The trick is not to be tempted to take any mission anywhere you currently are. Set yourself up with a "home" station and stick with it. Your reputation with the local factions will very quickly rise, opening up better paid contracts. By staying with one station you will also earn rep with all the local stations as a side effect, giving you good mission opportunities there too.

[Gamatech]

Originally posted by Ottomic:

I thought I'd enjoy the beluga. I didn't. Really, really didn't. Much like mining, capacity isn't really a game changer with passenger missions, and the risk of collisions, heat buildup and extra cost isn't worth it.

Imo, there's two ships one can't go wrong with when doing passengers: orca for transporting and long range, python if doing bulk missions. Rest is completely extraneous. Really wanted to love the beluga, but right now it doesn't bring anything to the game besides curiosity value. And when we're talking about upwards of 150 mil to essentially downgrade performance wise, that's a big no-no for me.

Two very quick examples: if you're doing transportation or sightseeing missions, the beluga can carry three more cabins than the orca, but stacking three extra missions really won't do anything for someone just station hopping (I'll rarely have more than 3 on me at a time), only the Orca is faster, colder and docks WAY easier. Bulk wise it is tied at 74 with a full Business decked Python. Only the Python is cheaper, faster, and can land at an M pad. Unless you're running a shieldless Beluga, which, haha, good luck. So, right now, the Beluga is the answer to a question nobody asks, really.

However, OP, things I'd note from your review: mine is packing a 5A clean PP and 6A clean thrusters and heat isn't really a problem. It's not as cool as my orca, but definitely not getting anywhere hot. Since it's a horizons exclusive ship, engineering is pretty much a given on it. Besides from that, if one engineers it a bit more it can hit decent-ish jump distances, mine is 34 LYpj with a full deck of cabins. Even used it as a ratting ship.

Some good points, it's good to get another perspective on the topic. In regards to your comment about capacity not being a huge deal, I think it depends on how much time you're willing to spend planning your routes before you leave. If you can get some appropriate destinations, I certainly wouldn't turn my nose up at an extra few million for a slight detour.

Personally I DO run the Beluga without shields. I have to obey speed limits and be very careful on entry to stations, but the space it opens up for more cabins or bigger fuel scoops is huge!

[Gamatech]

Originally posted by Dolphin Bottlenose:

A very good and factual review, thanks for sharing!

I would also like to point out that the Beluga's thrusters aren't the fastest in line, so you probably shouldn't take secretive passengers, who hate to be scanned. You wouldn't be able to outrun a scan. And giving the ship's size it wouldn't be easy to rush through a mailslot, either.

About the heating issues - I believe it is a bug, cause when you start charging your FSD - a ship's cooling stops working. It's the most obvious when you fly away from a star you was just scooping. From the moment you hit the FSD charging, the heat will only rise, even when you are getting farther away from the main ship's heater - the star's corona. Every other ship with the same grades and engineering configuration will begin dropping the temperature, when you are sufficiently away from the star (the safe point to engage the FSD is the star turning yellow on your radar). Not the Beluga Liner.

The same is actual when you charge the FSD from a normal space, just not as obvious. Every other ship, after boosting during the FSD charging, will get the temperature rising shortly (the boost thrusters heating), then it will drop down again. With the Beluga the temperature will only be rising, never dropping back (cooling not working). It can get you "cooked", if you boost several times while still FSD charging, trying to escape some baddies.

I didn't realise it was a glitch, go figure :P Regardless the issue is there, and needs to be combated. My 3A power generator seems to have fixed any heat issues I had without the need for engineering, although I will be working towards engineering my FSD once I purchase a 7A drive.

[HamakiBCN2]

Beluga ownere here too, and i think the real acquilles heel of the Beluga is that, while it has a crapload of of modules, most of them ( and most dramatically the two size 5's) are reserved to cargo and passeger cabins.

There's no flexibility of loadout. If you want shield, you'll have to sacrifice a size 6, because the size 5 are reserved, and the sizes 3 and 4 are too small for the ship's mass. Same if you want a Fuel Scoop: you can only equip either a size 3, or a size 6. and the size 3 is useless.

So for long range passenger missions, you'll be sacrificing at least two of the 6's, which leaves you with two size 6, two size 5 and one size 4 for passengers cabins, and the size 3 for cargo (so that you can take the missions).

By comparison, none of the python's modules are reserved, so you can put size 3 shields, a size 5 fuel scoop, and still have three size 6, one size 5 and one size 4 for passengers, and the size 3's for cargo. That's the EXACT SAME amount of modules, except the Python will have one extre size 6 in exchange for a size 5. And it will handle better. And more crucially, the FSD is a class 5. a 5A FSD is only 1/10th the price of the 7A the Beluga needs.

The ONE scenario where the Beluga shines is with short range, station-to-station passenger missions, where you can do without a fancy FSD or a Fuel scoop: then you'll have more, better modules than the Python, AND you'll be able to fit LUXURY class cabins, which the Python can't, which in the right system might give you access to one or two extra high paying missions. So, basically, Sothis/Ceos-like scenarios.

[Toastie Buns]

All Saud Kruger ships are giant space Citroens. That windshield alone makes me cringe when I think about how much it must cost to replace it (in both real life and elite!)

[Frank K]

I love my Beluga, after I engineered away it's faults. All I'd really like to do is saw off those damn wings that tend to scrap in the toaster slot way to often.

[Gamatech]

As an update I changed my mind and did downgrade my default fuel tank. It's now half it's size giving me more jump range and maneuverability, I've not had any issues with fuel levels yet. With a fuel scoop for emergencies I've never felt worried, and wish I had downgraded it sooner.

[Ottomic]

Yeah, the Beluga's standard fuel tank is stupid, moreso if you just want to do standard runs around.

The weakness of the Beluga is that its only strength is that it can carry a large number of Luxury cabins, which doesn't fit any real need in the game right now: if you want to transport a ton of passengers, the Python can carry as much as a (shielded) Beluga. If you want to do rich guy Transports, the Orca can already carry 4 of them at a time. That's what I mean it's the answer nobody asked for. The sacrifices in range, speed, stealth and mobility are not worth it unless there were, say, 30 Luxury person bulk transfers that somehow appeared consistently enough and paid consistently more than regular bulk transfers.

Oh, and as a bonus, spent some time doing transfers around the Pleiades with it. Landing that thing on one of the ground stations, which was on a 4G, with 6A thrusters was insanely finnicky. Jamming on the thrusters every so often to stop it from falling like a rock, all the while trying to not catch a Drone with one of those redonkolous wings was frustrating to no end. Definitely not a fun ship to fly or dock with, which is 95% of passenger missions. Just the pleasure of being able to boost out of a station on an Orca knowing full well I'm not going to eat whatever is coming in is easily worth sacrificing 3 cabins.

[Gamatech]

Originally posted by Ottomic:

Oh, and as a bonus, spent some time doing transfers around the Pleiades with it. Landing that thing on one of the ground stations, which was on a 4G, with 6A thrusters was insanely finnicky. Jamming on the thrusters every so often to stop it from falling like a rock, all the while trying to not catch a Drone with one of those redonkolous wings was frustrating to no end. .

Haha! Gave me a good chuckle, and I whole heartedly agree with you XD Terestrial landings are certainly a pain, the damn thing weighs as much as... well... a beluga whale actually.

[Gamatech]

I also noticed you brought up the Python again. I agree it's a more practical ship with skills in other areas to boot, and the Beluga only has a slight edge over it in passenger runs. But the Python is considerably more expensive, and there's something to be said for players who appreciate a nicer looking ship such as the Beluga. I'm one of those players- I'm happy to sacrifice a bit of practicality for the sake of good looks. The money you save getting the Beluga instead is also not to be sniffed at.

[Frank K]

Originally posted by POEX Gamatech:

I also noticed you brought up the Python again. I agree it's a more practical ship with skills in other areas to boot, and the Beluga only has a slight edge over it in passenger runs. But the Python is considerably more expensive, and there's something to be said for players who appreciate a nicer looking ship such as the Beluga. I'm one of those players- I'm happy to sacrifice a bit of practicality for the sake of good looks. The money you save getting the Beluga instead is also not to be sniffed at.

Python can't be fit with luxury cabins. With 7 luxury cabins and as many VIP sightseeing missions I can make 50-100 million per cruise. I doubt the Python can make you that running passengers.