Cobra Mk IIIMultipurpose

The Cobra Mk III is the ship that taught a generation what a versatile spacecraft could be. Fast, nimble, cheap and balanced, it fights pirates, hauls cargo, explores respectably and runs any mission you throw at it — all on a small pad that lands anywhere, for around 200k credits. It does nothing at the top end, but it does almost everything well enough, and that breadth at that price is its enduring magic.

Against the medium all-rounders it carries less, fights softer and explores shorter, but it costs a fraction of any of them and remains gloriously fun to fly. For a new commander it's the perfect do-everything first ship; for a veteran it's a beloved cheap runabout that's always worth keeping in the hangar. Forty years on, the Cobra Mk III is still one of the great all-rounders.

Four things make the Cobra Mk III a great cheap all-rounder:

• It does a bit of everything. Combat, trade, exploration and missions — all competently, on one cheap hull.
• Fast and nimble. A 403 m/s boost and lovely handling make every role brisk and fun.
• Balanced internals. Eight optionals carry guns, cargo, a scoop or a shield as the job demands.
• Almost free and lands anywhere. ~208k credits, small pad — the accessible do-everything starter.

It leads the field on cheap, rank-free, land-anywhere flexibility and respectable ~50 LY range across eight optionals, but light 2M·2S firepower and a size-4 ceiling cap it at 72.

The 72/100 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 Cobra Mk III is the fast, balanced classic. Its modern successor the Cobra Mk V is roomier and tougher, and the Cobra Mk IV carries a touch more — but none matches the Mk III's blend of pace, balance, charm and rock-bottom price.

Other classes — the medium all-rounders

The medium all-rounders do everything far better, but cost many times more and need a medium pad. The Cobra Mk III's role is to do almost everything well enough for pocket change, on a ship that lands anywhere — the cheap, joyful generalist that gets you started.

At ~208k Cr the Cobra Mk III is almost free, with no rank gate, and a full multirole fit stays around 5M Cr all-in — a fast, versatile ship for very little.

It's the value all-rounder: cheap enough to own forever as a fun runabout, and flexible enough to fight, trade, explore or run missions by swapping its balanced internals.

A balanced cheap multirole fit. Initial is buy-only; A-rated is the multirole baseline; Engineered makes it a sharp little do-everything ship, ready to re-tune.

Buy the hull (~208k Cr) and run it on its stock E-rated cores — plant, thrusters, FSD, life support, distributor and sensors — with the 4C fuel tank and a single 4E cargo rack. The hull ships with its stock Lightweight Alloy bulkhead, so armour costs nothing at this stage. Weapons, the bi-weave shield, the shield booster, the shield cell bank and every other optional stay empty until you start A-rating.

A-rate the core internals first — they serve every role.

Swap optionals (fuel scoop, cargo, SRV) to re-role as you like.

A-rating priority for a cheap all-rounder:

• 1Core internals → A — Plant, thrusters, FSD and distributor serve every role. ~1M Cr
• 2Shield Generator → 4C bi-weave + 0A Shield Booster + 2A SCB — Survivability across all roles; the shield cell bank tops the bi-weave back up under fire. ~600k Cr
• 3Weapons — Two gimballed multi-cannons (2F, 1G) and two gimballed pulse lasers (2F, 1G) for combat capability. ~600k Cr
• 4FSD → A — Range for exploration and travel. ~400k Cr
• 5Role optionals + Lightweight Alloy bulkhead — Cargo, fuel scoop, SRV to swap; keep the stock Lightweight Alloy hull so the Cobra stays light and fast. cheap

The house all-rounder engineering pattern on the beloved classic. Felicity Farseer (maxed) carries the FSD; pin blueprints for remote G1→G5 application.

Recommended order

• 1Overcharged plant and Dirty thrusters for power and the Cobra's signature pace.
• 2Increased-Range FSD for travel and exploration.
• 3Bi-weave shield and a booster for survivability.
• 4A couple of Overcharged guns for combat; engineer once, reuse across swaps.

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

Engineered, the Cobra Mk III rockets around at ~480 m/s, fights lightly, hauls ~64t and explores ~50 LY — a fast, balanced do-everything ship for pocket change. The Lightweight Alloy bulkhead takes Heavy Duty G5 (Deep Plating) and, with the 2D hull reinforcement, lifts effective armour to ~340 without weighing the hull down; the 2A shield cell bank runs Thermo Block and the engine-focused distributor Super Conduits to keep the hot Overcharged build cool and recharging. The mediums out-do it everywhere, but none charms or costs like the Cobra. The original all-rounder, still delightful.

• It does nothing to the top, but everything well enough — and lands anywhere for next to nothing.
• Lean on speed — the Cobra's pace makes every role brisk and fun.
• Its modern successor the Cobra Mk V is roomier and tougher if you want a step up.
• It has combat, exploration and trading manuals too — this one celebrates the all-rounder.