Federal CorvetteAX Combat

Point the best combat hull in the game at the Thargoids and you get one of the toughest AX warships flying. The Federal Corvette brings 666 battleship armour, a ~516 MJ shield, two military slots for Guardian Module Reinforcement, eight utility mounts and eleven optional internals — everything you need to soak caustic damage, ride out Interceptor lightning, and keep firing while lighter ships are already running for repair. Its surprising agility for a 900-tonne hull lets it hold Gauss cannons on an exposed heart far better than the other capitals.

The reason it sits at 86 rather than the top of the AX ladder is specific and honest: no huge AX weapon exists. The Corvette's defining pair of huge hardpoints can only mount large-or-smaller AX/Guardian guns, so its signature firepower advantage shrinks against a foe its big slots can't fully exploit. And while it turns well for a capital, it still cannot dodge a Thargoid's lightning and swarm the way a Chieftain or Krait can. It out-tanks every AX medium and matches the Type-10 for sheer durability — the Cutter just out-shields it, and the agile mediums score higher on survivable evasion.

Four things make the Corvette a battleship-grade Xeno hunter:

• Two military slots. Room for two Guardian Module Reinforcement packages — the hardening that lets it shrug off the lightning that strips lesser ships' modules.
• Capital tank. 666 armour and a ~516 MJ shield, doubled and tripled with Guardian HRP and bi-weave, keep it on station while others retreat.
• Eight utilities. Xeno scanner, caustic sinks, heat sinks and a full shield-booster suite all at once — no compromises on the defensive kit.
• Capital agility plus an SLF. It turns well enough to keep guns on a heart, and the fighter bay adds a decoy to split Thargoid attention.

A capital AX tank — 666 armour, two military slots and eight utilities make it nearly unkillable — held to 86 because a 900t hull can't dodge Thargoid lightning like the mediums.

The 86/100 headline is a verdict against the anti-Xeno 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 anti-Xeno combat specifically. The role column is the hardpoint loadout — the basis for an AX weapon suite. Evasion, hardening and heat management matter as much as raw mounts.

Same class — large-pad AX ships

Among the large AX hulls the Corvette is the balanced warship: shy of the Cutter's enormous shield, tougher and more agile than the Anaconda, and matching the Type-10 for staying power while turning far better than that turret barge. The Rear Admiral grind and the missing huge AX gun are what hold it a few points back.

Other classes — the agile AX mediums

The agile mediums score higher because in AX, evasion is survival — a Chieftain dodges the lightning a Corvette must absorb. What the Corvette offers instead is the ability to stand in the fire: two military slots, capital armour and eight utilities mean it outlasts anything when the fight turns into a slugging match or a held position in an AXCZ.

At ~188M Cr the Corvette is one of the most expensive hulls in the game, and it sits behind the Federal Rear Admiral rank — a long climb up the Dropship→FAS→Gunship ladder. A full AX fit with Guardian/AX weapons, capital shields and double-layered reinforcement runs to ~435M Cr A-rated, rising past ~480M Cr engineered, with a rebuy near ~22M to budget for.

It is an endgame AX ship, not a starter. If you've already earned the rank for a combat Corvette, converting one to AX is the natural next step — you get a Thargoid platform that almost never dies. If you're learning AX, do it in a cheaper, more forgiving Chieftain first.

A battleship AX tank: large enhanced AX multi-cannons on the huge mounts (no huge AX gun exists), Guardian Gauss cannons on the mediums for heart damage, Guardian reinforcement filling both military slots and the deep optionals, eight utilities and an SLF decoy. Initial is the buy-only bare hull; A-Rated adds the unlock-gated AX kit; Engineered hardens shields, hull, heat and mobility.

The buy-only state is a bare hull on stock core internals and its factory Lightweight Alloy bulkheads: an 8E Power Plant, 7E Thrusters, 6E Frame Shift Drive, 5E Life Support, 8E Power Distributor, 8E Sensors and a 5C Fuel Tank. That is the entire fit at this stage.

Every hardpoint, all eight utilities, both military slots and all eleven optional internals stay empty (—). The AX multi-cannons, Guardian Gauss and shard cannons, Xeno scanner, Guardian Module/Hull Reinforcement and the capital bi-weave shield are all unlock-gated, so none of them can be bought outright — they wait for the A-Rated pass, alongside the decontamination limpet controller and the field-maintenance unit.

Earn Rear Admiral, buy the hull, then unlock the Guardian and AX kit at the relevant sites before fitting any of it.

AX-fitting priority for the warship:

• 1AX / Guardian weapons — three Enhanced AX Multi-Cannons on the huge/large mounts, two 2B Guardian Gauss Cannons on the mediums, two Guardian Shard Cannons on the smalls. material unlocks
• 2Bulkheads & Guardian reinforcement — swap the factory plating for Military Grade Composite, fit three 5D Guardian MRP across the military and optional slots plus Guardian HRP throughout; this is the Corvette's edge. material unlocks
• 3Power Distributor & Plant → 8A — Gauss and a capital shield are immensely power- and capacitor-hungry. ~50M Cr
• 4Shield Generator → 7C bi-weave & 0A boosters — A capital-scale bi-weave with thermal-resistant shield boosters against caustic and thermal damage. ~25M Cr
• 5Thrusters → 7A, FSD → 6A — Preserve the agility that holds Gauss on a heart and the jump range to reach distant Maelstroms and Titans. ~22M Cr
• 6Field-maintenance & decon — a 6A AFM Unit takes the size-6 internal to restore caustic- and Gauss-stripped modules between passes; the single decon limpet drops to a size-1 (1E) controller. ~5M Cr

AX engineering hardens shields, hull, heat and mobility; AX/Guardian weapons have limited engineering. Pin blueprints for remote G1→G5 application; visit in person for experimentals.

Recommended order

• 1Distributor and plant to G5 first — Gauss and a capital shield are immensely power- and capacitor-hungry.
• 2Thermal-resistant bi-weave and HRPs against Thargoid thermal and caustic damage.
• 3Dirty thrusters to keep the capital agility that holds guns on a heart.
• 4Note: AX/Guardian weapons and all Guardian reinforcement come from unlocks, not blueprints.

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

Engineered, the Corvette is the toughest AX warship short of the Cutter: a shield into the low thousands, Military-Grade plate rolled Heavy Duty pushing effective armour past five thousand, three Guardian MRP soaking the lightning, a 6A AFM Unit restoring caustic-stripped modules between passes, and Gauss-and-AX firepower that ends Interceptors steadily. It cannot dodge like a medium, so it wins by refusing to die — an attrition platform for the held position.

• Fill both military slots with Guardian Module Reinforcement — module hardening is the Corvette's whole AX case.
• There is no huge AX weapon: run Gauss on the mediums and large AX multi-cannons in the huge mounts.
• You can't dodge the lightning like a medium — layer shield and Guardian hull tank and plan to absorb it.
• Manage heat hard with Gauss, and keep the SLF ready as a decoy when a swarm converges.