DolphinMultipurpose

The Dolphin is Saud Kruger's compact luxury cruiser — a small passenger-and-exploration hull, not a designed generalist. Judged as a multipurpose ship it is the weakest in the role field: it can turn its hand to a little of everything, but it does none of it at meaningful scale. Nine optional internals give it real flexibility for a small ship, and its small pad and low price make re-roling cheap and easy, but the ceiling on every job is low.

It carries two Small weapon hardpoints for self-defence, a bi-weave shield sized to its light 140 t hull, and cargo room in the tens of tonnes — enough to haul a small load, run a courier job or scout a system, never enough to trade, fight or explore seriously. Its one genuine advantage is temperature: it runs cooler than any other ship in the game, which makes it a relaxed, forgiving traveller. Choose it for cheap, comfortable, land-anywhere versatility — and accept that a Cobra Mk V or any medium multirole out-does it at every task.

What lets the Dolphin dabble across roles — and where each ends:

• Nine optional internals. Deep for a small hull, so a module swap re-roles it between cargo, cabin, scanner and SRV work — but the largest slot is only size 5, capping it around ~88 t all-cargo.
• Two Small hardpoints. Enough to mount gimballed guns for self-defence and clearing a low-threat interdiction; not enough to win a real fight. This is the single biggest limit on the score.
• The coolest-running hull in the game. A genuine, unique asset — it scoops and runs heat modules with margin no other ship has, and stays cool under fire.
• Cheap, light and small-pad. Just over 1M Cr, ~140 t, lands at any outpost — the most accessible and forgiving hull to own and re-fit in the role.

The weakest hull in the multipurpose field: cheap, coolest-running and land-anywhere flexible, but only two Small guns, size-5 internals, a class-4 FSD and light shields cap every job at small scale.

The 44/100 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.

Every table rates ships for multipurpose specifically, split by landing-pad class. The Max cargo column is maximum cargo tonnage — a proxy for internal room; the rating is the same 1–100 suitability verdict used across the site.

Same class — small multipurpose ships

4 small-pad multipurpose hulls carry a rating, led by Cobra Mk V (80). Every same-pad rival lands where this one does — the direct field to shop.

Other classes — the capital all-rounders

The large-pad multipurpose field (10 rated), led by Anaconda (88) — bigger pads and bankrolls. They out-muscle this hull on the numbers, but sit a pad class away.

Other classes — the medium all-rounders

The medium-pad multipurpose field (8 rated), led by Python (86) — cheaper hulls and tighter pads. They undercut this hull on the numbers, but sit a pad class away.

At ~1.12M Cr with no rank or permit gate, the Dolphin is among the cheapest hulls to buy and re-fit. Small modules keep a full A-rated fit near ~7M Cr and a complete engineered build around ~14M Cr all-in — a low-cost way to own a flexible, land-anywhere ship.

That accessibility is the whole argument. It costs little to buy, little to insure and little to re-role, and its small pad reaches every outpost. What the money doesn't buy is capability: no amount of engineering lifts two small guns, a class-4 FSD or size-5 internals into serious multirole territory.

A balanced small-hull fit — two self-defence guns, a fast-regen shield, useful cargo room and modest range on a ship that lands anywhere. Initial is buy-only; A-rated is the all-round baseline; Engineered layers on the Dolphin's signature cool-running thermals. Re-role by swapping the optional internals: cargo for hauling, a cabin for passengers, or scanners plus an SRV bay for light exploration.

Buy the hull, fit two gimballed small multi-cannons, a basic shield and a couple of cargo racks, and otherwise fly the stock E-rated cores — including the buy-only 4E FSD. Shield strength, range and defensive utilities come on the later passes.

The Dolphin ships with Lightweight Alloy bulkheads as standard — keep them. A light hull never trades range for armour plate, so this slot needs no purchase in any state.

Leave the shield cell bank, hull reinforcements, chaff, heat sink and scanner empty until the A-rated pass — the buy-only ship exists only to fly, carry a little and defend itself.

A-rating priority for a cheap small all-rounder:

• 1FSD → A — Range and travel come first on a hull with a small drive. ~1.5M Cr
• 2Plant / Thrusters / Distributor → A — Power, agility and weapon/boost recharge for the two guns. ~2M Cr
• 3Shield → 4C bi-weave + booster — A fast-regen shield sized to the light hull, plus one shield booster. ~1M Cr
• 4Hull reinforcements + shield cell bank — The cheapest survivability on a thin hull. ~1M Cr
• 5Chaff + heat sink — Spoil gimballed fire and dump heat for a clean disengage. ~100k Cr
• 6Detailed Surface Scanner + cargo racks — Fill the remaining internals for the job at hand. ~500k Cr

Leave the bulkheads at stock Lightweight Alloy — no Military Grade. Every kilo of plating costs range on a light hull that will run from a serious fight rather than trade blows.

The all-rounder engineering pattern: range on the FSD, cool power, a tough bi-weave and Heavy-Duty guns and hull. Pin blueprints for remote G1→G5 application.

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

Engineered, the Dolphin jumps ~30 LY behind a ~300 MJ shield with two self-defence guns and a little cargo — a competent, forgiving small hull that runs cooler than anything else. The bulkheads stay Lightweight Alloy, rolled G5 Heavy Duty + Deep Plating (Selene Jean) for effective armour on a thin hull. The numbers stay small in every column — that is the honest ceiling of the role for this ship.

• Treat the two guns as a deterrent, not an arsenal — chaff up and run from anything serious; the light hull is quick to disengage.
• FSD and shield first; then fill the deep-for-a-small-ship internals for whichever job you're running.
• It is a dual-purpose hull — the same ship makes a fine passenger liner or cool-running explorer.
• For real multirole capability on a small pad, the Cobra Mk V is the step up; for scale, any medium multirole.