Star Traders: Frontiers - Starter Ships

This is a Mini-Guide, aimed at providing players with a cheap and solid ship.

Introduction

In the unforgiving Void your most important possession is your Ship. It’s is your principal way of earning a living, it’s Void Engine is the source of your longevity, it is your home and your Castle.
However, with so many different Components it can be hard to find a quick solution to your immediate needs, and with pirates abound, careless experimentation can be a fatal mistake.

In this mini-guide i want to show-case two early Game builds that will help you navigate the void safely.

Both Ships where designed to offer a good degree of protection for a low modification Cost but they are NOT a free pass towards late game, regular upgrades towards higher tier components are necessary to keep up with the rising difficulty curve.

I will also give Recommendations towards Crew complements and the Important Talents you should be using.

And lastly, i give a short list of recommendations on how to change your Build towards the later stages of the Game.

I will highlight any changes to the ships in italics and i will also give the complete component list of the modified ship.

The Galtek Freighter

The Galtek is a great choice for Captains who want to play a more peaceful Style. It’s big cargo hold and large Passenger Capacity make it the perfect Choice for Mission Running, Trading and Exploration.

Suggested Captain Vocations: Trader, Explorer, Smuggler

Upgrade cost: around 25k (variance should be around +/- 15%, mostly depending on factions realation and talents)

Components:

M5000 Void Engine (L)
Luxury Suites (L)
3 Cargo Holds (L)
Bridge (M)
M5000 Hyperwarp (M)
Barracks 4 (from Barracks 3) (M)
3 Officer Cabin (S)
1 Officer Cabin (from Imperator PC-1) (S)
Weapons Locker A1 (S)
Mass Dampener 1 (S)
Pilot Assist Module 1 (from Phoenix Lance) (S)
Pilot Assist Module 1 (from Hydra Missle Array) (S)
Nav Assist Module 1 (from Valiant Autocannon) (S)
2 Hellfire Torpedo (S)

Recommended Crew: 8 Pilots, 5 Crew Dogs, 3 E-Techs, 3 Navigators, 2 Mechanics, 2 Gunners

Important Talents: you should have at least 3 of each of those, the more the better. Also talents with the same Name stack, so if youre in a pinch keep on spamming these.

Evasive Maneuvers (Pilot) a must for every first turn of combat
Fast Getaway (Navigator) if your retreat in the first round failed this will help

Future Upgrades: One of your first upgrades should be the Weapons Locker. You should upgrade all the Assist Modules, Weapons and the Bridge whenever you have some surplus money.

The Guardian Interceptor

The Guardian is a great choice for Captains who want to play a more aggresive Style. It’s a sizeable ship with a big crew and officer complement and it’s large number of slots make it easily modified to suit almost any situation. The perfect choice for anyone who want’s to head for danger and come out of it alive.

Suggested Captain Vocations: Military Officer, Zealot, Pirate, Bounty Hunter, Spy

Upgrade cost: around 30k (variance should be around +/- 15%, mostly depending on factions realation and talents)

Components:

M6000 Voidengine (L)
2 Cargo Bay (L)
Capital Bride (L)
Luxury Cabin or Prison Block (depending on your job choice) (M)
Barracks 4 (M)
M6000 Hyperwarp (M)
Deflector Array (M)
Advanced Mass Dampener 1(M)
Archangel Railgun (from Torpedo Mk-Alpha) (M)
Archangel Railgun (from Starshot Lance Array) (M)
2 Light Railgun (S)
Hellfire Torpedo (from Valiant Auto Cannon) (S)
Hellfire Torpedo (S)
Weapons Locker A1 (S)
4 Officer Cabin (S)
Pilot Assist Module 1 (S)
Pilot Assist Module 1 (from Sensor Array) (S)
Pilot Assist Module 1 (from Nav Assist Module) (S)

Recommended Crew: 8 Pilots, 5 Crew Dogs, 3 E-Techs, 2 Navigators, 4 Mechanics, 5 Gunners

Important Talents: you should have at least 3 of each of those, the more the better. Also talents with the same Name stack, so if youre in a pinch keep on spamming these.

Evasive Maneuvers (Pilot) a must for every first turn of combat.
Engine Precsion (Mechanic) Once you are in position the 2 Reactor Points and Defense will help to win every fire fight.
Boarding Rush (Gunner) Boarding is a great way to make sure you take the other ship intact, a must for any Good Pirate or Bounty Hunter.

Warfare Patch (Engineer), Battle Damage Repair (Crew Dog), Medical Ward (Doctor), Loyality Rousing (Commander) all of these, while not affecting combat directly, will help you recover Damage to both your Ship and Crew after Combat. Extremely useful to cut down on Repair and Hospital time

On Combat Tactic: This build is designed to best operate on ranges 3 and 4, giving you either the option to quickly disengage or weaken the enemy with repeated salvos while doing long distance boarding.

Future Upgrades: One of your first upgrades should be the Weapons Locker. You should upgrade all the Assist Modules, Weapons and the Bridge whenever you have some surplus money.