AdderMultipurpose

The Adder is Zorgon Peterson's pocket-sized generalist: a cheap, light little hull that hauls modest cargo, fights off a weak threat, explores respectably for its size, and even dabbles in mining — all for around 41k credits. It excels at nothing, but its breadth-at-a-tiny-price makes it a sensible step up from a starter ship into doing-a-bit-of-everything.

It's cramped, slow and lightly built, with a tiny hold and modest guns — the bigger all-rounders outclass it utterly. But for a new commander who wants one near-free hull that can try every activity, or a cheap flexible runabout for odd jobs, the Adder delivers. It's the budget jack-of-all-trades: master of none, but willing to attempt them all without costing a thing.

Four things make the Adder a sensible budget all-rounder:

• It does a bit of everything. Hauling, light combat, exploration and mining — all modestly, on one near-free hull.
• Almost free. ~41k credits with a trivial rebuy — versatility at zero risk.
• Light enough to explore. A respectable ~47 LY jump range for so cheap a ship.
• Lands anywhere. A small pad reaches any outpost for any odd job.

A near-free, rank-free ~41k hull with seven optional internals and ~47 LY range buys genuine do-everything breadth, capped by ~30t cargo, 1M+2S weak guns and a slow 321 m/s boost.

The 62/100 headline is a verdict against the multipurpose role's priority-ordered factors. Each factor carries a weight (its share of 100); this hull earns part of each based on how it performs against the whole field. The points sum to the rating.

Both tables rate ships for multipurpose use — versatility across combat, trade, exploration and more. The role column is the maximum cargo capacity in tonnes as one measure of capacity; versatility is judged across all roles.

Same class — small all-rounders

Among small all-rounders the Adder is the cheapest and least capable — every rival does more for more money. Its niche is the absolute rock-bottom price: a near-free hull to try a bit of everything before upgrading to a Cobra or a specialist.

Other classes — what you graduate to

The Adder is rung one of the all-rounder ladder. The natural upgrade is a Cobra Mk III for not much more, then the mediums. Its job is to let a brand-new commander try a bit of everything at zero risk, then hand off.

At ~41k Cr the Adder is almost free, with no rank gate and a trivial rebuy, and a full multirole fit stays around 3.5M Cr all-in — a versatile little hull for pocket change.

It's a pure starter pick. For not much more a Cobra Mk III does everything better; the Adder makes sense only as a near-free first do-everything ship or a cheap throwaway runabout.

A cheap balanced multirole fit. Initial is buy-only; A-rated is the multirole baseline; Engineered is optional on so cheap a hull but sharpens it if you wish.

Buy the hull (~41k Cr). The buy-only state fits only the stock Lightweight Alloy bulkhead, the stock E-rated core internals and a pair of size-3 cargo racks — the hardpoints, both utilities and the shield are left empty until you can A-rate.

A-rate the cores first, then add the guns, a bi-weave shield and role optionals (surface scanner, more cargo, fuel scoop, SRV) to try each role.

Don't over-invest — upgrade to a Cobra Mk III when you've found your favourite activities.

A-rating priority for a cheap all-rounder:

• 1Core internals → A — Power Plant, Thrusters and FSD to 3A and the Power Distributor to 2A serve every role; D-rate Life Support (1D) and Sensors (3D) to save mass. ~500k Cr
• 2Shield Generator → 3C bi-weave — with a 0A Shield Booster, a buffer across all roles. ~300k Cr
• 3FSD → 3A — Range for exploration and travel. ~150k Cr
• 4Weapons — A 2F gimballed multi-cannon and twin 1G pulse lasers for light combat. ~200k Cr
• 5Role optionals — A Detailed Surface Scanner, cargo, fuel scoop, SRV to try. cheap

Leave the bulkhead on stock Lightweight Alloy — a generalist lives on jump range and agility, not hull, so the lightest armour is the right one. (Save Military Grade for a dedicated combat hull.)

Light engineering only — the Adder rarely warrants more. Felicity Farseer (maxed) carries the FSD; pin blueprints for remote application if you bother.

Recommended order

• 1A-rate first; engineer only if you plan to keep it a while.
• 2Increased-Range FSD if you want to explore in it.
• 3A bi-weave shield for a little survivability.
• 4Don't sink materials into a starter you'll soon replace.

Approximate progression across the three states (figures are representative, not exact rolls):

Initial and A-rated both ride the stock Lightweight Alloy hull (~108); only the Engineered state spends on it, with G5 Heavy Duty + Deep Plating roughly doubling effective armour to ~280 at near-zero mass cost. Even so the Adder does a little of everything modestly — ~30t cargo, weak guns, ~47 LY range — for almost nothing. Every other all-rounder beats it, but none lets a new commander try every role at zero risk. The tiny, near-free jack-of-all-trades.

• It does everything modestly and nothing well — that's fine for a near-free starter.
• Don't over-invest; upgrade to a Cobra Mk III once you know what you enjoy.
• Lean on its breadth and price — that's the entire appeal.
• It has exploration and trading manuals too — this one celebrates the cheap generalist.