The ships in X4 all specialize in certain roles so your choice of ship(s) depend on if you want to make money as a peaceful trader or going into combat fighting Xenon and pirates - or maybe become a pirate yourself! After some hours of game play you will likely have a large fleet of different ships of different size and roles so you can quickly switch to whatever suit your current needs.
The different ship types include different ship sizes:
- S - Small
- M - Medium
- L - Large
- XL - Extra Large
You can buy Small and Medium size ships at a Wharf - r Large and XLarge ships must be bought at a Shipyard.
Civilian ships
- Courier (S) - a small and fast trading ship but limited cargo space.
- Transporter (M) - a medium trading ship with a good compromise of speed and cargo space.
- Freighter (L) - a large but slow trading ship specializing in bulk transport.
- Miner (M/L) - a ship optimized for mining gas or minerals.
- Builder (XL) - a very large ship used for constructing stations.
Combat ships
- Scout (S)- small, agile and very fast ship, very efficient for exploring but also light combat.
- Interceptor (S) - small and slow combat ship , "the poor mans fighter".
- Fighter (S) - a small and fast combat ship.
- Heavy Fighter (S) - like a fighter but with more weapons.
- Bomber (M) - medium combat ship focused on missiles.
- Corvette (M) - like a heavy fighter on steroids!
- Frigate (M) - medium combat ship with a dock for a fighter.
- Destroyer (L) - a large combat ship with powerful weapons and strong hull and shields.
- Carrier (XL) - a very large combat ship able to launch a swarm of fighters.
Some Fighter's and all the bigger combat ships (Heavy Fighter, Bomber, Corvette, Frigate, Destroyer, Carrier) require a license from the local.
What is the best starter ship?
Currently you can choose between four different game starts with five different start ships (The Unworthy Entrepreneur gives you two starter ships + a station + credits to get your empire jump started).
New X4 players should select The Young Gun as this game start includes some important tutorials; it does however give you a rather useless "Elite" Vanguard which you should focus on replace ASAP.
Experienced players may prefer The Untested Explorer, as this give you a Discoverer which is a fast and agile Scout ship, that is very useful not only for exploring the X4 universe but also to get your started on combat, as have 2 weapons (the other Scouts only. Personally I think this is the best starter ship!
But no matter which game start you choice, you should be able to earn enough money by doing a few missions, farming crystals etc. to buy another ship so it really isn't that important what you start with! 🙂
