Star Atlas Ship Ratings

What is the best ship on the Star Atlas marketplace? This is the question the Aephia Ship Rating (which we present here in version 0.1) tries to answer. There are some important things to say in advance:

• Our complete rating is based on assumptions. We currently know very little about the balancing and mechanics in SCREAM or the later full game.
• Our rating only compares ships up to the large size. Capital or commander ships are not currently comparable to the smaller ship sizes due to the enormous number of additional crew members and components.
• Our rating does not take into account the size of a ship. Even though it is obvious that a Medium Fighter will provide a lot more firepower than an Xx-Small Fighter, this does not matter for the comparison.
• The rating only takes into account the ships currently available on the Star Atlas marketplace.
• The rating is of course not financial advice. It is speculative theorycrafting that has been developed by our most dedicated AEP members through extensive research and attention to detail.

The rating in detail

There are four different factors that go into the Aephia Ship Rating:

Components and Modules

Here we look primarily at whether the basic configuration of the ship has advantages over the average in its size class. An oversized warp drive would be an example. We measure components and modules in five different categories:

Map Speed, Warp Speed, Offence, Defense, Crew Uptime, Range, and Cargo. Suppose there are oversized modules and components in a basic configuration or options that are particularly beneficial for one of the categories. In that case, this leads to a better rating and vice versa.

It should also be noted that we always base our ratings on the average corresponding to their size category (from XX-small to Lage).

Map Speed | Here the size of the Impulse Engine is the most important factor.

Warp Speed | The size of the installed warp drive is decisive here.

Offense | The more Weapon Hardpoints the better. But also the size of the hardpoints plays a decisive role, as well as any ammunition or bomb bay modules or missile bays.

Defense | A combination of size and presence of Maneuvering Thrusters, Shield Generators, Countermeasure Bays, and Hull Reinforcement determine the defense value of a ship.

Crew Uptime | A measure of the operational efficiency gaining bonuses from the Mess Hall, Theater, and Art Gallery. According to the developers, modules such as these have a positive influence on the “rest attribute” and the “long-term morale” of the crew.

A high rest stat will boost the crew performance which buffs the overall ship performance and more directly the stations those particular crew members are operating.

Range | This determines whether there are additional fuel modules.

Cargo | According to the devs, every ship can carry cargo, but the size of the cargo modules and the cargo modules they carry will determine whether they get a bonus or not.

If a ship scores above average or below average in a particular category here, we create an additional scoring scheme for each ship type (Bounty Hunter, Rescue, Fighter, etc.) as to how relevant the category is to the ship’s role. Depending on this, we award bonus or minus points.

Additionally, bonus points are also awarded if a particularly rare module is found. In descending order by rarity, these are currently:

1. Theater
2. Smuggle Cargo
3. Scanner
4. Repair
5. Data Rack
6. Drone Port
7. Art Gallery
8. Medbay
9. Brig
10. Bomb Bay

Manufacturer

We know that there are certain manufacturers of ships for which it will be easier (Fimbul) or more difficult (Rainbow) to gain loyalty. Therefore, the manufacturer plays an important role in our evaluation.

Tufa and Rainbow ships receive the most points due to their exclusivity. In second place are the manufacturers of the minor factions Jorvik (Fimbul BYOS) and the ECOS (Fimbul ECOS), found in the Medium and High Risk Zone, followed by the faction-owned manufacturers (VZUS, Pearce and Busan), followed by the manufacturers supported by two factions at the same time (Opal, Calico, Ogrika). The last one is the manufacturer Fimbul, which, according to the team, is accessible to all factions.

Crewmember

In order to also honor the peculiarities of a ship’s crew, bonus points are awarded for certain roles that are particularly rare in the current catalog of ships. In descending order of rarity, these are:

1. Hospitality Manager
2. Drone Operator
3. Repair Engineer
4. Rescue
5. Cargo Foreman
6. Turret Gunner

Rarity

The rarity of a ship (from Common to Anomaly) is currently described by the team as the difficulty in which a ship can be made in the later game. We therefore award bonus points the rarer a ship is.