Kestrel Mk IICombat

The Kestrel Mk II is Saud Kruger's surprise contribution to the combat scene: a small-pad hull carrying three large hardpoints, a count normally reserved for mediums and large ships. Backed by strong shields, four utilities and genuine speed, it delivers a main battery that out-guns nearly every small ship and many mediums, while keeping the universal small-pad access that lets it dock anywhere.

It pays for that firepower with fragility. Its armour is thin and its internals shallow (one military slot, modest optionals), so it can't tank a prolonged brawl the way a Cobra Mk V or a medium can. The Kestrel is a glass cannon scaled to a small hull — it wins by hitting harder and faster than its size suggests, then disengaging before its modest defences give out.

Four things make the Kestrel the small-pad firepower king:

• Three large hardpoints. Unheard-of on a small hull — alpha and sustained DPS that beat almost every small ship and many mediums.
• Strong shields. A 338 MJ base shield is excellent for the class, giving it a real buffer despite the thin armour.
• Speed and small-pad access. Fast enough to dictate range and able to dock at any outpost — firepower that reaches anywhere.
• Four utilities. Room for a proper shield-booster and chaff suite to stretch its glass-cannon defences.

Three large hardpoints on a small hull, backed by a strong ~338 MJ shield and universal pad access, lead the score; thin 135 armour and a stretched class-5 distributor cap it.

The 85/100 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 Kestrel tops the small combat class for firepower outright — nothing else its size carries three large guns. The Vulture is the tougher, cheaper two-large alternative and the Cobra Mk V the more durable all-rounder, but for pure small-pad alpha the Kestrel is unmatched.

Other classes — the mediums it embarrasses

The Kestrel's three large guns rival a Krait Mk II's main battery from a small pad — remarkable — but the mediums back their guns with tank and internals the Kestrel can't match. Fly the Kestrel for small-pad firepower and reach; step up to a medium when you need to survive longer fights.

At ~13.8M Cr the Kestrel is pricey for a small ship — you pay for those three large hardpoints — but it carries no rank or permit gate. Engineering three large guns plus a strong shield is the bulk of the cost.

It's a premium small-pad fighter: more expensive than a Cobra Mk V or Vulture, justified only if you value its unique firepower-and-reach combination over their durability and lower price.

A glass-cannon shield-tank fit built around the three large guns. Initial is buy-only; A-rated is the combat-ready baseline; Engineered applies the house combat pattern, leaning on shields since the armour is thin.

Buy the hull on stock Lightweight Alloy and fit the largest shield the class-5 bay allows plus the military-slot reinforcement — armour spend waits until the guns and shield are paid off.

Arm the three large mounts with two gimballed multi-cannons and a gimballed pulse laser for shield-stripping, plus one small gimballed multi-cannon; the second small mount, the spare utilities and the deeper optionals stay empty until the hull is paid off.

Even unengineered, three large guns make it a fearsome RES attacker — just don't linger once shields fall.

A-rating priority for a small-pad gunboat:

• 1Power Distributor → 5A — Three large guns plus boost strain the class-5 distributor; A-rate first. ~2M Cr
• 2Power Plant → 5A — Headroom to run three large guns and a strong shield. ~2M Cr
• 3Shield Generator → 5C bi-weave — Shields are the Kestrel's only real tank; prioritise them. ~1.5M Cr
• 4Bulkheads → Military Grade Composite — The 2.5 hull-boost roughly doubles the base armour over the stock Lightweight Alloy; the cheapest way to buy a margin behind the shield. ~4.5M Cr
• 5Thrusters → 5A — Speed to dictate range and disengage. ~1.5M Cr
• 6FSD → 4A — Reach RES sites and turn-ins faster. ~1.5M Cr

Fill the deeper optionals with shield cell banks, hull and module reinforcement — and put a small 1D Hull Reinforcement in the size-1 slot rather than a surface scanner; this is a combat fit with nothing to map.

The house combat pattern on a small gunboat, weighted to shields. Pin blueprints for remote G1→G5 application; visit in person for experimentals.

Recommended order

• 1Distributor and plant to G5 first — three large guns demand it on a small hull.
• 2Reinforced bi-weave shield plus Heavy-Duty boosters — the Kestrel's main tank.
• 3Weapons: Overcharged multi-cannons with one Corrosive, Thermal-Vent beam.
• 4The single military-slot HRP and a light cell bank round out the brittle hull.

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

Engineered, the Kestrel pairs a 1,100 MJ shield with three large guns and 450 m/s of boost — small-pad firepower that rivals a medium's. Military Grade Composite bulkheads, two engineered hull reinforcements (4D in the military slot, 3D in an optional) and a third small 1D plate in the size-1 slot give it a genuine armour buffer, but the shield and shield cells are still the primary tank — it wins through alpha and recharge, not raw durability.

• Shield-tank it — end fights with alpha before the thin armour is exposed.
• Watch the class-5 power feeding three large guns; Overcharge the plant and Charge-Enhance the distributor.
• It's a glass cannon by design — play aggressively but disengage the moment shields drop.
• For more durability at the cost of alpha, the Cobra Mk V or Vulture are the small-pad alternatives.