You start the game with a Marauder ship, which is a very basic general purpose ship. Although you can add a weapon, a mining laser, a shield, a generator, or one system item, you cannot change the number of slots that are available in a ship chassis. You will soon find that you want a new ship with better capabilities.
You should first take an opportunity to try the various character roles with some training mission, but will eventually need to decide in which direction your first character will advance. Your basic choices are a career in Mining asteroids for resources, Hauling freight between ports, or as a Combat specialist.
First let’s look at your Marauder. One slot for each category, decent armour and hull, and space for 30 freight. But no place for an freight expander. A good starter ship, but with limited space for expansion.
Mining Ship: The Deepcore offers 2 Mining Laser slots and two slots for Shields, Energy and Systems. This is ideal to kick off a career in mining, but notice that there are no slots for an expander. You will not be able to haul and deliver freight from Dumont or Janisar, but anyone that wants to craft items will need mining resources. The cost for this ship is usually just under 200,000 credits.
Hauling Ship: You will see that the Frontier has 2 Expander slots, but no slots for a Mining Laser. So the choice is becoming clear, you have to give something up to specialize in something else. Hauling freight is the best way to earn credits. The cost of this ship is usually a little less than the Deepcore and can often be purchased for about 187,500 credits.
Combat Ship: The Raven is the ship to choose if you want a career as a combat pilot. This is the only ship at this level with 2 Weapon slots. No Mining Laser slots and only one Expander. Also notice that the Hull is twice as strong as the other ships, perfect for your combat pilot. Cost is about 195,000 credits.
General Purpose: The final option is the Polestar. This ship has a little bit of everything with 2 Weapons, 2 Mining Lasers, one Expander slot, and very good Armor and Hull. But this one comes with steep price tag. The cost here will be almost 800,000 credits, which really takes this out of the same class as the previous ships, and emphasizes the value of the previous ship options. You will have to use that Marauder for quite a bit longer.
