PythonCombat

The Python is one of Elite Dangerous's most beloved ships, and for good reason: it does almost everything competently. As a combat hull it brings three large and two medium hardpoints, ten optional internals and a tough frame with strong shields and heavy armour — a roomy, durable brawler that can also haul cargo or mine when the mood takes you.

Its weakness is focus and pace. It's slow and turns ponderously, and its combat ceiling sits below the dedicated fighters — most pointedly its own successor, the Python Mk II, which adds a fourth large hardpoint and sharper combat tuning. But the original Python remains a tough, flexible, affordable medium that fights well enough while doing three other jobs besides.

Four things make the Python a capable combat medium:

• Three large hardpoints. A heavy main battery backed by two mediums — enough firepower to kill anything a RES or CZ throws up.
• Strong shields and heavy armour. The highest base shield of the classic combat mediums plus a tough hull — it tanks well even without military slots.
• Ten optional internals. Deep enough to tank hard or carry cargo, mining tools or exploration kit — the versatility the Python is famous for.
• Class-7 power and distributor. Plenty of headroom to run three large guns plus shields and boost without starvation.

Three large hardpoints, the strongest base shield of the classic combat mediums and ten optionals carry an 83; ponderous agility is the limiter.

The 83/100 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 — medium-pad combat ships

In the medium combat class the Python is the versatile veteran. The specialists out-fight it — especially its own Mk II — but none matches its blend of solid firepower, strong tank, deep internals and the freedom to haul or mine in the same hull. It's the combat medium for pilots who want one ship to do everything.

Other classes — the larger leagues

For more combat power, the Anaconda is the Python's large-pad big brother — the versatile-warship concept at scale. Until you want a large pad, the Python delivers a tough, flexible combat medium that doubles as a hauler, miner or explorer, for a fraction of any large ship's cost.

At ~55.3M Cr the Python is mid-to-upper priced, with no rank or permit gate. Its deep internals mean a full combat fit adds up, but because it re-roles so readily, many commanders treat one engineered Python as several ships — spreading the cost across combat, hauling and mining.

If pure combat is the goal, the Python Mk II is the sharper (and pricier) tool; if you want one tough, flexible hull for everything including a good fight, the original Python is the value pick.

A tough, versatile combat fit using the deep optionals to tank. Initial is buy-only; A-rated is the combat-ready baseline; Engineered applies the house combat pattern. Swap optionals for cargo or mining kit to re-role between fights.

Buy the hull and fit the largest shield a class-6 bay allows — a 6E Shield Generator, RES-ready immediately. Leave the stock Lightweight Alloy bulkheads in place — armour is a later spend. One 0E Shield Booster goes on the first utility mount; the other three utility slots stay empty until you A-rate.

Arm the large mounts with what you can afford — a cheap 3E Pulse Laser on the first, gimballed 3C Multi-Cannons on the other two — and the mediums with a 2F Pulse Laser and a 2F Multi-Cannon.

Keep a 6E Cargo Rack in the second class-6 bay so you can re-role on a whim; leave the remaining optionals empty (no hull or module reinforcement yet) until the A-rated pass fills them.

A-rating priority for a versatile combat medium:

• 1Power Distributor → A — Three large guns plus boost need the class-7 distributor first. ~7M Cr
• 2Power Plant → A — Headroom for guns, shields and utilities. ~9M Cr
• 3Thrusters → A — Recover what mobility the heavy hull allows. ~7M Cr
• 4Shield Generator → 6C bi-weave — Fast regen over the strong base shield. ~5M Cr
• 5FSD → A — Range for combat and the Python's other roles. ~6M Cr
• 6Combat weapon fit — A-rate the battery to the fighting mix: 3C Multi-Cannons on the large mounts, a 3C and a 2D Beam Laser for shield-stripping, a 2F Multi-Cannon on the second medium.
• 7Tank the deep optionals — Swap to Military Grade Composite bulkheads, then fill the bays with a pair of 0A Shield Boosters, Shield Cell Banks (6A/5A/3A) and Hull Reinforcements — down to a 1D HRP in the size-1 slot (combat kit, not the exploration scanner). Add a 0I Chaff and a 0I Heat Sink Launcher on the spare utilities.

The house combat pattern on a tough, roomy veteran. Pin blueprints for remote G1→G5 application; visit in person for experimentals.

Recommended order

• 1Distributor and plant to G5 first to power three large guns.
• 2Thrusters to G5 to recover what mobility the heavy hull allows.
• 3Weapons: Overcharged multi-cannons with one Corrosive, Thermal-Vent beams.
• 4Tank into the deep optionals: Reinforced bi-weave, cell banks and Heavy-Duty reinforcement.

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

Initial flies on stock Lightweight Alloy; A-rating swaps in Military Grade Composite bulkheads (armour ~810) and stacks Hull Reinforcements down to the size-1 slot. Engineered, the Python is a tough, flexible brawler: a 1,100 MJ shield, Heavy-Duty bulkheads and HRPs pushing effective armour past 2,200, and three sustained large guns. It stays slow — that's the trade — but it tanks beautifully and can re-role to hauling or mining whenever you like.

• Tank deep with the ten optionals; the strong base shield plus reinforcement makes it very durable for a no-military-slot hull.
• Accept the low speed — play it as a tough anchor, not a chaser.
• If you want sharper pure combat, the Python Mk II is the focused successor; the original is the versatile value pick.
• Keep a couple of optionals flexible so the combat ship can become a hauler or miner in minutes.