Is this affiliated with Frontier Developments?
No. The Black Box is unofficial fan content — not affiliated with, sponsored by, or endorsed by Frontier Developments. Elite Dangerous is a trademark of Frontier Developments plc, and all game data, names and imagery remain their property.
Is this a complete guide to the game?
No. The Black Box covers only the ships, systems and activities I've worked through myself so far — not the whole of Elite Dangerous. I add guides as I get hands-on with more of the game, so the library keeps growing; expect gaps, and expect them to fill in over time. Want something specific covered next? Open a feature request.
Does this apply to my platform (PC / console)?
Mostly PC. This manual targets the Live (Odyssey 4.0) game. Console (PS4/Xbox) is frozen on Legacy 3.8 — Frontier ended console development in 2022 — so it never got Odyssey, Powerplay 2.0, System Colonisation, or any ship added since late 2022 (Python Mk II, Cobra Mk V, Kestrel Mk II, Lynx Highliner…). For hulls that exist on both, core stats and engineering still match, so those ratings and builds hold — but the newer-ship dossiers and several systems guides are Live-only.
How current is the information?
Game figures — ship, module and engineering stats — are checked against EDCD/coriolis-data, INARA, EDSY and Coriolis, and every page lists its sources at the foot. Ship ratings, loadouts and “best for the job” picks are editorial judgement, not Frontier data. When the game changes a page can lag; anything uncertain is marked rather than guessed, and corrections are welcome.
How are the ship ratings decided?
Each ship gets a 1–100 score for a given role, but it's a judgement call, not a spec-sheet sum. The number is roster-relative (measured against every other ship doing that job), assumes a fully-engineered build, and is weighed across an ordered set of role factors. Every dossier shows the working in its “Why This Rating” scorecard, and the full method is on the rating methodology page.
Why is the same ship rated differently in different roles?
Because each score is set against the field for that role, using that role's factor weights. A hull that's a monster hauler can be middling in a knife-fight, so its trading and combat numbers differ on purpose. Compare ships within a role, not across roles.
Can I open these builds in Coriolis or EDSY?
Yes. Every dossier's 3-State Loadout has Open in Coriolis and Open in EDSY links that load the exact build straight into the planner — no copy-paste — plus a Copy SLEF button to drop it into anything else that reads Ship Loadout Export Format.
What do the three loadout columns mean?
They're a budget path, not one fixed build. Initial is buy-only with no engineering — what you fly the day you buy the hull. A-Rated swaps in A-rated cores for a combat-ready ship. Engineered is the full blueprint-and-experimental tour. Fly whichever column you can afford and work toward the next.
Do I have to engineer everything?
No. The A-Rated column is a genuinely capable ship on its own — engineering is the ceiling, not the price of entry. Engineer when you're ready; each dossier's plan tells you what to prioritise first.
Why isn't a particular ship or role covered?
The dossiers cover the ship × role pairings actually worth flying. If a hull can't do a job well enough to recommend, it's left out rather than padded with a build no one should fly.
Is this AI-generated content?
Yes — although I prefer to call it curated AI content. I steer the model deliberately to write the guides I want, including fact-checking against authoritative sources. It began as a side project to learn Elite Dangerous's systems for myself; as the collection of personal guides grew, it became something worth sharing. I've done my best to credit every source used — if your work isn't credited, open an issue and I'll make it right.
Found an error, or want to contribute?
This is a personal project by CMDR Ka0s. Spot a wrong number, a broken link, or a build you'd fit differently? Open an issue. Ratings and loadouts are opinions — disagree and say why; a well-argued correction gets folded in.
E:D Black Box