Star Citizen fans can get their hands on an Aegis Vulcan in the latest concept sale, so this week’s Reverse The Verse was all about that new addition to the ship roster. In an interview, Cloud Imperium Games Designers John Crewe and Will Maiden revealed why the refueling, rearming and repairing of the ship is worth its $185 pledge price.
Here’s a quick summary of everything we learned.
REPAIRING
- The repair process varies by the ship’s damage. Some parts can be replaced by approaching them, while a hull repair requires the application of special compounds using a drone.
- The Vulcan doesn’t make the Crucible obsolete. It’s good for small or medium repairs. The Crucible is for when you need “the works” with a full physical space.
- Repairing can happen while shields are up.
- The repairing capacity of the Vulcan depends on the damage. It can totally repair ships of all sizes if the damage is somewhat small.
- Drones can be used to repair ground vehicles too.
REARMING
- There’s nothing stopping multiple weapons from using the same ammo type. There hasn’t been much talk about ammo variation yet, but maybe “smart ammo” will be more potent.
- It hasn’t been decided if players can print their own ammo.
- The logistics of the rearming process haven’t been worked out yet.
REFUELING
- The Vulcan won’t make the Starfarer obsolete either.
- It has big external tanks that must be filled by a fuel provider.
GENERAL VULCAN & DRONE FACTS
- The Vulcan is not planned for release in 2018
- The Vulcan isn’t a flying factory. You’ll have to bring the right stuff for the job and store it in the cargo hold. You’ll need to carry ammo, parts and fuel. It doesn’t make that stuff.
- Once salvage is in play, the Vulcan will be good for storing what you find.
- You’d use the Vulcan because it’s flexible for all three of these jobs. It’s also good in situations where a light rearm and repair may be needed in the same area. It’s perfect for when you need just enough of a fix to get by
- It’s a good first responder when you’re not quite sure what kind of help you’ll need.
- All four drones can be focused on one ship or four different ships. You can have all four drones out at a time, but only two can be actively controlled at once. In other words, you can start two on a repair job and use another two for rearming while the repair is in progress.
- The Vulcan is pretty good in hot zones because it’s fast, nimble and more armored than something like a Cutlass.
- Initially, these jobs will be more automatic than manual, but the goal is to reduce that over time. You’ll still have to manually direct drones to their proper sites, though.
- Drones are all made by the same manufacturer, but they perform different functions.
- Drones might be able to swap between ships, but they’ll only be able to perform the duties capable of that ship.
- The amount of ships the Vulcan can handle depends on the situation. Whether it’s one ship or several, you’ll still theoretically be paid the same amount for the contents of the cargo.
- Drones always work to help. They probably won’t sabotage.
- The Vulcan can’t really perform these jobs mid-flight. It has to be moving pretty slowly to keep up with its drones.
- There doesn’t always need to be an active pilot. A solo person can use the Vulcan for its jobs.
- Drones have no defense, so they can’t really handle fire.
That’s all there is to know about the Aegis Vulcan. For even more info, be sure to read our full description of the ship as revealed in a previous episode of Around The Verse. The Vulcan concept sale will be going on for the next several weeks, so save up if you’d like to make a pledge.
Star Citizen is in alpha on PC. The Vulcan concept is on sale now for a reduced price of $185.
What are your thoughts on the Vulcan after reading these details? Will it be joining your Star Citizen fleet? Tell us in the comments section.
