PythonPassenger

The Python carries passengers the way it carries everything else — competently, in volume, and with enough teeth to fight off whatever the route throws at it. Its deep internals fit a cabin suite of roughly ~146 economy berths, or a mixed economy/first/luxury board for VIP fares, while a strong base shield and three large hardpoints make it the safest medium passenger hull in the game. On a medium pad it docks at the vast majority of stations — flexibility the large dedicated liners can't match.

Its costs are real, though. The Python is a Faulcon DeLacy hull, not a liner, so it earns no comfort bonus — passengers pay standard rates rather than the premiums an Orca, Beluga or Lynx commands. Its jump range under a full cabin load is modest, so it doesn't reach the far-flung scenic beacons an Anaconda does. As a passenger ship it's the durable, accessible all-rounder doing passenger duty, not the luxury specialist that earns most per seat.

Four things make the Python a capable passenger hull — even without a dedicated liner's polish:

• Defensible by design. A strong base shield and three large hardpoints — it protects the manifest through space the unarmed liners avoid.
• Deep cabin capacity. Ten optionals fit ~146 economy berths, or a mixed economy/first/luxury suite for VIP boards.
• Medium-pad access. Lands at most stations and outposts — far more reach into the network than the large liners.
• Doubles as everything. The same hull is your warship, trader and miner; swap cabins for cargo or guns at a station.

Role-leading safety, capacity and medium-pad reach (~146 berths behind a ~900 MJ shield) earn a 70, capped by zero comfort bonus and only a modest ~30 LY loaded range.

The 70/100 headline is a verdict against the passenger 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 passenger work specifically. The role column is the maximum economy passenger capacity — but note that dedicated liners earn comfort bonuses (more profit per seat) the Python does not, while the Python carries a real shield and guns the liners lack.

Same class — medium passenger ships

The Lynx is the dedicated medium liner — its comfort bonus out-earns the Python per seat on the milk runs, but it can't defend itself. The Python carries more cabins than any other armed medium and survives routes the Lynx avoids; the Kraits and Asp are faster and longer-ranged but carry far fewer passengers. The Python is the tough, high-capacity medium, not the per-seat earner.

Other classes — the dedicated liners and small option

The dedicated liners out-earn the Python per seat through their comfort bonus, and the Beluga out-berths it — but all three need large pads (or, for the Dolphin, give up most of the cabins). The Python's edge is the combination: high cabin capacity, a real shield and guns, and a medium pad. The more your routes pass through threatened space or medium-only stations, the more that combination justifies the missing comfort bonus.

At ~55.3M Cr the hull is a solid purchase with no rank gate, and a passenger fit doesn't blow the budget the way a large liner does — an A-rated cabin suite with a shield and a decent FSD runs to around ~80M Cr all-in. Budget a ~4M rebuy, far lighter than the large liners' double-digit hits.

The saving grace is that it isn't a single-role outlay: the cabins swap for cargo racks, a mining suite or hardpoints at a station, so the same engineered hull pays its way across passenger work, trading, mining and combat. For a commander who already owns a Python, adding a cabin set is far cheaper than buying a dedicated liner.

A defensible passenger fit — a deep cabin suite, a strong shield and a clean FSD, with hardpoints kept light for self-defence. Initial is buy-only; A-rated is the passenger baseline; Engineered keeps the cabins safe and stretches the range. The Python has no military slots, so all reinforcement and cabins share the ten optionals.

Buy the hull and three economy cabins on stock E-rated cores — that's the whole buy-only state. The bulk berths go in (two size-6 economy, one size-5 economy); the hull keeps its stock Lightweight Alloy bulkhead, the right plate for a passenger run — no armour spend here.

Leave both large hardpoints, all four utility mounts and the shield-generator slot empty — no guns, no boosters, no point defence and no shield yet. The first cabins, shield cell bank and field-maintenance unit stay out too.

This state just flies and parks. The shield, self-defence guns and the A-rating that keep the manifest safe all come in the upgrade pass — until then, keep it out of threatened space.

A-rating priority for a defensible passenger hull:

• 1Shield Generator → 6C bi-weave — The Python's defining edge; keep the manifest alive on threatened routes. ~6M Cr
• 2Cabin suite — The payload; fit the economy/first mix the board demands. varies
• 3Core internals → A — Plant, thrusters, FSD and distributor for range and survivability. ~18M Cr
• 4Self-defence guns — Two large gimballed multi-cannons to fight off interdictors. ~5M Cr
• 5Shield Cell Bank + AFMU — A 3A cell reserve to ride out a sustained attack, plus a 1D Auto Field-Maintenance Unit to self-repair modules on long sightseeing hauls. ~2M Cr

The passenger engineering pattern, safety-weighted. Felicity Farseer (maxed) carries the FSD; pin blueprints for remote G1→G5 application.

Recommended order

• 1Bi-weave shield Reinforced plus Heavy-Duty boosters first — passenger safety is the Python's identity in this role.
• 2FSD Increased Range to ease the modest loaded jump; add a Guardian booster.
• 3Dirty thrusters and a Low-Emissions plant to move and run the laden hull cool.
• 4Cabins aren't engineered — just fit the right classes for the board.

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

Engineered, the Python carries a deep economy/first cabin suite behind a 900+ MJ bi-weave with guns to fight off interdictors and an AFMU to undo module wear on long hauls — the safest medium passenger hull there is. The stock Lightweight Alloy bulkhead, engineered light, keeps mass down for range rather than trading seats for plate. It earns less per seat than the dedicated liners — no comfort bonus — but on threatened routes and medium-only stations it takes boards they can't safely run. The durable passenger all-rounder, not the per-seat earner.

• A-rate and engineer the shield first — safety is what the Python brings to passenger work; keep point defence and a self-defence gun.
• There's no liner comfort bonus — it earns less per seat than a Beluga, Orca, Lynx or Dolphin; pick threatened or medium-pad boards where its strengths pay.
• Loaded jump range is modest (~30 LY) — it can't chase distant beacons like an Anaconda; favour boards within the bubble.
• Match cabin classes to the board — economy for volume, first/luxury for VIP fares.
• Swap the cabins for cargo, a mining suite or guns and the same hull changes roles — it has those manuals too.