VultureCombat

The Vulture is Core Dynamics' pocket warship: a small, nimble hull built around two large hardpoints — a heavy main battery on a ship that turns like a fighter. Cheap, tough for its size and ferociously agile, it has been a beloved giant-killer for years, dismantling mediums and larger by simply out-turning them and landing two big guns over and over.

Its one enduring flaw is power. The Vulture's class-4 plant struggles to run two large weapons, shields and boost at once, so builds revolve around power priorities and efficient weapon choices. Manage that, and you have one of the most cost-effective combat ships in the game — a tiny predator that punches astonishingly hard from any outpost in the galaxy.

Four things make the Vulture a giant-killer:

• Two large hardpoints. A heavy main battery on a small hull — enough punch to kill ships far larger when you keep both guns on target.
• Class-leading agility. It out-turns almost everything, holding its guns on an enemy that can't bring its own to bear.
• Strong shields and a military slot. A 293 MJ base shield plus a class-5 military slot give it real durability for its size.
• Cheap and small-pad. Under 5M credits and able to dock anywhere — an accessible, low-rebuy predator.

Two large hardpoints and class-leading agility on a sub-5M small-pad hull make it a giant-killer; only its class-4 power bottleneck and shallow internals cap it.

The 80/100 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 Vulture is the value duelling pick of the small class. The Kestrel out-guns it and the Cobra Mk V is more flexible, but neither matches the Vulture's agility-per-credit. Manage its power and it dismantles ships far larger — the classic budget giant-killer.

Other classes — the duelling step-up

When the Vulture's power and two-gun ceiling start to limit you, the natural step is the Fer-de-Lance — the medium duelling king with a huge mount and no power woes — or the Kestrel for more small-pad alpha. Until then, nothing duels harder per credit than the Vulture.

At ~4.7M Cr the Vulture is cheap, with no rank or permit gate, and its low rebuy means you can fly it aggressively without fear. Engineering focuses on the power plant and weapons — the keys to overcoming its one real weakness.

It's one of the best value-for-capability combat ships in the game: a few million credits buys a hull that, flown well, out-duels ships costing twenty times as much.

An agile duelling fit built around two large guns and careful power management. Initial is buy-only; A-rated is the combat-ready baseline; Engineered applies the house combat pattern with an emphasis on efficient power.

Buy the hull (~4.7M Cr); its stock Lightweight Alloy bulkheads stay for now — Military Grade is an A-rated upgrade. Fit a 5E shield generator, one 0E shield booster and the 5E military-slot hull reinforcement. The other three utilities and the spare internal slots stay empty for now.

Arm both large mounts buy-only — two gimballed pulse lasers; they're power-light and forgiving while you learn the ship.

Set power priorities so weapons or shields don't brown out when you deploy hardpoints and boost.

A-rating priority for the Vulture — power first, always:

• 1Power Plant → A — The Vulture's chronic bottleneck; A-rate and Overcharge it before anything else. ~1.5M Cr
• 2Power Distributor → A — Sustain two large guns plus boost. ~1.2M Cr
• 3Thrusters → A — Maximise the class-leading agility. ~1.5M Cr
• 4Shield Generator → bi-weave — Fast regen for a duellist that re-engages. ~1M Cr
• 5Bulkheads → Military Grade Composite — This is a face-to-face brawler; the combat hull lifts effective armour from ~290 to ~560 raw before reinforcements. ~4.4M Cr
• 6FSD → A — Reach RES sites and turn-ins. ~1M Cr

The house combat pattern with a hard focus on power. Pin blueprints for remote G1→G5 application; visit in person for experimentals.

Recommended order

• 1Power plant Overcharged first — the single most important blueprint on the ship.
• 2Distributor and thrusters to G5 to sustain the guns and maximise agility.
• 3Efficient beam plus Overcharged Corrosive multi-cannon — an efficient weapon pairing that eases the power load.
• 4Reinforced bi-weave, military-slot HRP and boosters to tank the duel.

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

Initial armour is just stock Lightweight Alloy plus the one military-slot reinforcement (~650 raw). A-rated swaps to Military Grade Composite and stacks D-rated hull reinforcements (~1,250 raw); engineered — Heavy Duty bulkhead and reinforcements with Deep Plating — the Vulture holds ~1,900 raw hull behind a fast-regen bi-weave. Combined with an Overcharged plant it becomes a 430 m/s, 950 MJ predator that out-turns almost anything and lands two large guns at will. Power stays tight, but a good build keeps it manageable, and the agility is simply elite.

• Power management is the skill — Overcharge the plant, pick efficient weapons, and set power priorities before you ever undock.
• Fly it on the enemy's blind side; its agility is the whole point — stay where their guns can't follow.
• Two guns mean every hit counts; one Corrosive multi-cannon amplifies your whole output.
• It's cheap and forgiving on the wallet — the ideal hull to learn to duel before a Fer-de-Lance.