Ships
Where Can Ships be Found?
Players and groups are able to purchase and maintain numerous ship types, below are the categories of ships that exist on a large scale in the Starborn universe.
New and old players can view ship information by
creating a character or creating a group and entering the ship shop or by viewing a
character or group profile.
Civilian Ship Classes
One of the smallest multi-person spacecraft, the Corvette is the ship class best known for its speed and maneuverability. With crew and passenger capacities ranging from 4 to 20 individuals, a Corvette is most ideal for light trading, shuttling small groups or families, or even light assault/defense support. Some highly-modified variations in this class are even utilized in special paramilitary operations.
Slightly larger than a Corvette and smaller than a Freighter, what Frigates lose in maneuverability they easily make up for in versatility. With expanded crew and cargo space, this class becomes ideal for small escort, support, and/or troop transport ships in a military fleet. In civilian roles, Frigates serve as excellent yachts, small hospital and/or rescue ships, and trading. Unfortunately, illegal groups such as pirate clans have adopted many ships within the Frigate class as their own because of their ability to typically support even the largest of offensive weaponry. Crew sizes range anywhere from 25 to 40 persons.
Exactly as their name implies, these ships are built to haul heavy or large loads great distances. Their stability is above average, yet Freighters typically suffer from weak engines that hinder options when it comes to maneuvering the vessel. This, coupled with the fact that many are loaded with valuable cargo, make them the primary prey of pirates. To counter this threat, many have decided to exchange a bit of payload for thick armor plating that can take a beating. With crew sizes ranging from 40 to 60 and multiple fighter/support-craft bays, some Freighters manage to pack quite a sting to any would-be attacker.
After centuries of aggressive space expansion and exploration, the ships of the Discovery class are slowly falling from active service. Ideal for deep space exploration, ships of this class are deceivingly enormous. While some may rival a Cruiser in dimensions, much of this space is used to help the vessel sustain very long voyages without returning to charted space. Everything is self-contained for the crew's home away from home including ample space for food production and storage, multiple auxiliary systems, replacement equipment, and extensive science, sensor, and astrometric systems. Crew sizes vary greatly from 50 to 500.
A behemoth of a ship, the cargo holds of this super-carrier are large enough to form clouds within should the ships' powerful climate control systems malfunction. These ships are typically characterized by a dozen or more drives and at least four outer hangars large enough to allow docking of the smaller Freighter class ships within its hull for convenient loading or unloading of goods. Lightly-armed and slow moving, some Super-Freighters have been the targets of more ambitious pirate raids, but the ships' sheer size and rigid infrastructure require nothing short of a small fleet to completely disable the vessel. Many within this class have existed for almost a century with refitting every couple decades. This is largely due to the enormous expense of creating new liners. Crew sizes range from as few as 50 to over 3,000 depending on the cargo. Those ships used for transporting valuable cargoes are usually equipped to house armed garrisons of variable size as well.
Military Ship Classes
Fighter & Support Ship Classes
Coming Soon!
Capital Ship Classes
Usually armed with the most varied arsenal of any fleet's frontline ships, most prefer to avoid a Destroyer. Most fleets, in fact, maintain one to three in every battle group to serve as a steadfast escort to vital carriers. With multiple cannon batteries, the firepower of a Destroyer is outmatched only by its larger counterpart, the Battleship; however, its smaller size and increased speed has helped the Destroyer almost completely replace the Battleship in most fleets. Crew sizes range from 100 to 250 with at least half a dozen fighters in support.
Developed with more specialized roles, ships within the Cruiser class fulfill specific needs that are the focal point during the ship's construction. The primary objective of some is to simply provide heavy artillery fire to OTS (orbit-to-surface) situations while others become heavily fortified troop transports. While they are not without defensive capabilities, they tend to be ill-equipped for ship-to-ship combat. For this reason, a Cruiser is not a typical front-line ship. Their crew sizes range from 150 - 250, with most capable of housing several tens of thousands of ready-action troops for variable length periods.
Built almost exclusively for ship-to-ship combat, the existence of the Battleship - like its ancient counterpart of the seas - is rapidly coming into question. Like its naval ancestors, the effectiveness of these heavily-armed juggernauts is being diminished by smaller, more versatile ships of the line - most notably the Destroyer and the new Titans. Still, despite its shortcomings, the Battleship is still a fearsome predator of the stars. Lined with multiple cannon batteries and a lethal array of anti-fighter and strafing turrets, these ships are still the spearhead of many fleets' campaigns. Crew sizes usually exceed 400 persons.
The backbone and core of any fleet's battle group, the Carrier has long been the key to any campaign's most decisive battles for centuries. The size of these vessels has varied greatly amongst the few major
military powers. While most of the latest ISA Carriers have been designed to house at least 20 squadrons, fleet configurations have preferred the smaller, faster designs housing barely 10 squadrons. This inclination toward smaller Carriers allows for more battlegroups with each fleet, but reduces the striking power of each. Regardless of a Carrier's size, its versatility is beyond comparison. Yet the every-present vulnerability of the ships to large Capital ships remains even today. This, though, is the reason for the 'battlegroup' - a Carrier with many escort ships. The escorts, of course, provide protection as the Carrier provides the arsenal capable of engaging dozens of targets or providing sustained assaults on various fortifications. Crew sizes range from 500 to 2,000 persons - including the fighter pilots and support crews. Many groups have also begun expanding the Carrier's role to fleet command and coordination.