Diamondback ScoutCombat

The Diamondback Scout is Lakon's compact patrol ship, and its calling card is heat. It runs cooler than almost anything in its class, which makes it hard to detect and lets it deploy weapons and modules without spiking its signature — a genuine asset for stealthy approaches and silent-running tactics. Four utility mounts (generous for a small ship) round out a tough, cheap little hull.

As a fighter it's modest: two medium and two small hardpoints deal limited damage, and its speed and shields are unremarkable. But it's cheap, durable for its size and pleasant to fly, and its low heat gives it a tactical niche. The Scout is a budget picket and a fine stepping-stone — not a giant-killer, but a dependable small fighter that survives more than it should for the money.

Four things define the Scout as a combat ship:

• Class-leading low heat. It runs cold, making it hard to detect and able to deploy weapons and modules without a signature spike — a real stealth advantage.
• Four utility mounts. Generous for a small ship — room for shield boosters, chaff, heat sinks and a scanner all at once.
• Tough and cheap. A 216 armour base on a ~564k Cr hull makes it durable for the money, with a trivial rebuy.
• Decent speed. 384 m/s boost lets it set range and disengage from fights it can't win.

Class-leading low heat plus four utilities and tough-for-price armour carry it, but only 2M 2S firepower and a weak ~93 MJ base shield cap it as a durable budget skirmisher, not a killer.

The 60/100 headline is a verdict against the combat 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 the combat role specifically. The role column is the hardpoint loadout — the raw weapon mounts behind the damage.

Same class — small-pad combat ships

The Scout is the cool-running budget pick. The pricier small ships out-gun it comprehensively, but few match its heat signature, utility count and durability per credit. Buy it for stealth, survivability and value — not for firepower.

Other classes — what you graduate to

The Scout is a budget stepping-stone. When its modest firepower frustrates you, the small-pad step up is a Vulture or Cobra Mk V; the real leap is a medium like the Chieftain or Krait Mk II. Until then it's a cheap, durable, stealthy way to learn combat.

At ~564k Cr the Scout is very cheap, with no rank or permit gate and a trivial rebuy. Its small modules keep engineering costs low, so a fully kitted Scout remains one of the most affordable combat ships you can field.

It's a budget pick first and foremost: you buy it for value, stealth and durability while learning, then move to a harder-hitting hull once your skills outgrow its modest guns.

A durable, cool-running skirmisher fit that uses the four utilities. Initial is buy-only; A-rated is the combat-ready baseline; Engineered applies the house combat pattern, leaning on the Scout's low heat and toughness.

Buy the hull (~564k Cr) on stock Lightweight Alloy and fit a stock 3E Shield Generator — cheap and instantly RES-ready. The bulkhead upgrade, the hull reinforcements and the spare internals (the second size-3 starts as a cargo rack) wait for the A-rated pass.

Arm one medium with a gimballed multi-cannon and the other with a gimballed pulse laser, plus one small gimballed multi-cannon; the second small mount stays empty buy-only.

Fit a single shield booster on the first utility mount; the other three utilities — a second booster, chaff and a heat sink — wait for the A-rated pass.

A-rating priority for a budget skirmisher:

• 1Power Distributor → 3A — Sustain the guns and boost. ~400k Cr
• 2Thrusters → 4A — Speed to set range and disengage. ~500k Cr
• 3Power Plant → 4A — Headroom for guns, shields and utilities. ~400k Cr
• 4Shield Generator → 3C bi-weave — A regenerating buffer over the modest hull. ~300k Cr
• 5Bulkheads → Military Grade Composite — The cheapest big jump in raw armour for a brawler. ~200k Cr
• 6FSD → 4A — Reach RES sites and turn-ins. ~400k Cr

The internals fill out the defensive kit: a 3A Shield Cell Bank in the size-3, a 3D and 2D Hull Reinforcement, plus a 1D Hull Reinforcement and a 1D Module Reinforcement in the two size-1 slots — the size-1 carries armour and module protection now, not a Detailed Surface Scanner that has no place on a combat hull.

The house combat pattern on a budget hull. Pin blueprints for remote G1→G5 application; visit in person for experimentals.

Recommended order

• 1Distributor and thrusters first for sustain and mobility.
• 2Power plant Overcharged to run guns, shields and utilities.
• 3Weapons: Overcharged multi-cannons with one Corrosive, Efficient/Thermal-Vent pulses (which also help keep it cool).
• 4Reinforced bi-weave and a couple of Heavy-Duty reinforcements for the modest tank.

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

Military Grade bulkheads and the reinforcement stack lift A-rated effective armour past 480; engineered — HeavyDuty G5 + Deep Plating on the bulkhead and every hull reinforcement — it clears ~950. The Scout becomes a cheap, durable, cool-running skirmisher with a usable shield, 460 m/s of boost and a class-leading heat signature. Its damage stays modest; it wins by surviving, staying stealthy and skirmishing, not by hitting hard.

• Exploit the heat — the Scout's stealth and silent-running are its real edge over other budget fighters.
• Use all four utilities; the generous mount count is a key advantage at this price.
• Don't expect to out-damage pricier small ships — win by surviving and skirmishing.
• It's a great cheap teacher; move up to a Vulture, Cobra Mk V or a medium once your skills outgrow its guns.