Have Spacesuit, Will Travel...

We know that when you’re choosing a spacecraft in which you’ll soon be fleeing for your life from an alien apocalypse, you want options, and oh boy have we got them!

Big ships, small ships, skinny ships, tall ships...

So, you wanna buy a rocket ship... But which one is right for you? Well that really depends on who you are and what you want to do with it now doesn’t it? Let’s assess the situation.

When it comes to spacecraft there are 2 types of people. Ok so actually there are mainly 5 types of people and a few sub-types. There are Scientific, Military, Civilian, Criminal, and Syndicate. I’ll mention the sub-types later when it’s relevant as I don’t want to overload you’re notoriously tiny human brains... actually let’s go for the overload, I’ve got my raincoat on. CHART!!!

Scientific

eXode has 2 spacecraft that are specific to humans of the scientific persuasion. That would be the “Orwell 1” and the “Orwell 2” shown below. As you can see from the chart, the “Orwell 2” can take 1 more crew and 1 more passenger but holds a bit less cargo. It’s also got a QL of 6 as opposed to the “Orwell 1” is only QL 4. This means that any spaceship traits will get a higher bonus and will presumably be better, things like stealth, speed, resistance to being blown to smithereens by alien attacks. However, “Orwell 1” has a special “museum” trait that means any sciencey folk in a colony with one of these lovelies in good repair get a happiness bonus from those long nostalgic walks down memory lane. Of course if the ship is falling apart they will lose happiness until you fix her up again.

Another huge advantage of the science ships are the exploration vessels and the preservation modules. These ships are ideally suited for exploring new worlds and gathering samples so that is a huge bonus when it comes to this situation. Unfortunately they are at a disadvantage when it comes to defense so hopefully whatever you do find out there on your new home world is shy, cuddly and tastes delicious.

Military

For you folks with a gun fetish we’ve got a really great selection. There are 4 vessels just for you and another 2 that can be used by Military and 1 or 2 other factions which we will cover later. The 4 ships that can only e used by the Military faction are the Military Frigate, the Drachian “Mantis” the “Claymore” and the “Rhino”.

The Military Frigate is the ship that comes with the Military starter pack and it is a very solid all around option. When you fly the frigate skies you can take plenty of crew cargo and passengers, and you get plenty of weaponry, radar and upgradeable tactical software.

The ”Rhino” has similar stats though with half the passenger load, but this ship is specially equipped to make ground attacks. If you end up in a particularly unfriendly part of the universe and you’re running low on fuel you may not be able to pick and choose where you set up shop and you may have to make the tough choice of either wasting away in the cold reaches of space, or bombing an inconvenient hostile alien race into oblivion. Or maybe you just want a bit of fun...

The ”Mantis” is a Drachian ship which, at first glance, may seem to be a bit lacking in what it can carry. Think again, this baby is fully upgradeable and receives double the carrying capacity in all areas at full upgrade. That gives all the space and then some as any of the other military ships, plus it has some nice boom sticks and it’s own unique rewards table.

Finally in this list is one of my personal fav’s the ”Claymore”. This ship also has it’s own reward table because it presents quite a challenge in any colonization. With only 2 crew, no officers, no passengers, 2 cargo and no equipment, you’ll need to get a bit creative. However, it does offer something no other ship does which is “upgradeable modules”. Boy do I love me some modules. Check out one of my ideas for how to ride the “Claymore” in style here:

Civilian

If you think that starting you’re own personal utopia might be fun, this is probably the faction for you. The 2 exclusive civilian ships come with a larger passenger load than the other ships in the eXode fleet as would be expected. One significantly more.

The “Amarasia” is a very comfortable looking vessel if I do say so myself. This ship is included with the Civilian starter pack and though it only has one equipment slot, you can really pack those passengers in, especially with the cruise ship captain origin card. It also is the only ship that features long range comms which will come in very handy when searching for a friendly colony to set up next to.

The other spacecraft exclusive to the Civilian faction is ”Columbus”, one of only 2 legendary ships in the lineup. It’s conspicuous as a legendary card too because it only has a 5 Quality Level which is quite a bit lower than any other legendary. Of course, any card with a QL can be leveled up through experience or by combining cards so that’s something to keep in mind. Another thing to keep in mind with this ship is that it is big and slow and very visable, probably because it has by far the largest passenger load of any ship (17). It has some guns and armor too, and there’s a good chance you’ll need them... of course if you do get to a planet successfully, you’ve got a great head start on a colony and the best chance to avoid becoming one big inbred space circus. Plus it also has it’s own special reward table. 👍

Criminal

Now the Criminal faction is only accessible in 2 ways, both involving legendary cards. The first is the Repentant Pirate origin card, and the second is Cranium, which changes any origin to criminal and only criminal. Obviously Cranium is a badass. The Criminal Faction doesn’t actually have any ships that are exclusive to them, probably because they steal their ships from other factions... but they have 2 ships that they share with only 2 other factions which are the “Myrmidon” and the “Quantum”.

The ”Myrmidon” is shared with, or more likely stolen from the Military faction. It holds a lot of crew, and its got extra armor which will be helpful as you get in close to another ship and board them like true space pirates with it’s boarding module. So that’s pretty neat.

My personal favorite ship is the ”Quantum”. The other legendary vessel in the lineup and it is definitely sexy. The “Quantum” can be used by Civilian as well as Military factions. It’s got guns, it super fast, and it gives anyone on board with the “spaceships” trait a +1 synergy bonus. It is a bit light on crew though, so that’s the price you pay for speed.

There is one last faction which has it’s own badass ship.

Syndicate

The ”Elite Lotus” is a pretty badass ride indeed and can only be used by the syndicate faction.
She’s fast, quiet, comes with a cloaking mechanism which is very cool, and has her share of weaponry. A very good choice whether you’re escaping from an alien horde or applying a little pressure on a trader who hasn’t paid their monthly dues amiright?

In addition to all these specialized craft, their are a good number of options that will work no matter what faction you play.

Versatile

The ”Kormen” is a cargo ship that is technically part of the Corporate faction which will be developed more in later rounds of boosters. For now anyway, anyone can use it and it has some pretty unique properties. Namely it’s huge cargo hold and double sized fuel tank. These come at a cost though, not only will you be loading this ship with a very small crew, every cargo you load on any ship (with one exception) increases the chance of a hyperdrive failure. Restarting your hyperdrive only takes a few seconds but when there is a bloodthirsty alien horde bearing down on you those seconds are precious.

The exception to the inverse cargo/hyperdrive relationship is the ”Taurus” aka “The Raging Bull”.
The “Taurus” is a ship that belongs to another faction that will be developed more in later booster releases, the Nomads. This ship takes 1 more crew and 1 more passenger than the “Kormen” and does have a smaller cargo hold by 3 points, but it’s got one huge advantage which is the stabilized warp. The “Taurus” is the only ship that can load up on cargo without increased risk of hyperdrive failure. This is especially helpful if you plan on using this ship with the Stranded Trader origin. It also gives a +2 synergy to any nomad fleet, which will be pretty special as the game develops.

The ”Coetus” is another ship that is specific to a faction that will be developed in the future, the Geneticians. A Race that specializes in Genetic engineering, they’re a bit creepy, but definitely talented. Their ship grants a science synergy bonus and if you’re lucky enough to have one of the very few Genetician Mad Scientist cards, this ship will be very handy indeed. To use this ship requires a Genetician Console (available in boosters).

The ”Ahken Cannon” is yet another harbinger of things to come in eXode. This ship hails from the Suntek and not only is it great for blowing shit up, if you park it near your colony it has a built in generator that will give you age energy advantage. Of course without a Suntek to run it there will be a slight risk of blowing yourself to that big colony in the sky... no the other one, with the giant beardy dude in a white toga... yeah that one.

Last but not by any means least, the ”Baldie” Shuttle is something of a favorite around the eXode discord. Sure this humble vessel was never meant for interstellar travel let alone founding a colony, but it is upgradeable and at full upgrade comes close to the carrying capacity of a larger ship and it also has it’s very own reward table for those brave souls who can survive with a run with the Baldie. You can also scrap it for parts once you reach your final destination. Neato.

Well that’s the last of ‘em. Just for clarification and for my own sadistic pleasure, I’m going to leave you with one last CHART!

Notice that the Syndicate can use any ship in the lineup. That’s because they don’t actually have an origin card of they’re own, you just implant a handy little microchip into anyone you want and they become your slave, ah I mean best friend for life!

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Alright fellow eXoders, eXodians and eXodesiacs, if you want to play and haven’t bought a starter pack yet (10$), use my ref link and we’ll both get 2 free boosters (3$ per pack) and also from what I understand we will end up evacuating to planets that are relatively close by so hopefully we can find each other and share resources, hang out with some happy soda etc...

Also, my main account is @autobodhi where I share my music and music videos and I’m in the process of writing and recording a Tesla Punk Space Opera based on eXode! It’s kind of awesome and I’m going to start sharing that in pieces pretty soon so make sure you check it out.

Peace.