Ship role

Ships are designed with one or more roles to determine their functionality and potential in the universe. Some roles can have special tools or equipment which is used for careers.

Each ship has a role assigned to it, in the case of the “multi-role” group they often have two to reflect their nature, this role is a clarification of what each ship is designed for. The role gives an overview of what is expected minute by minute, hour by hour for each cycle of play for such ship whereas the trade group rather defines a cycle day by day.

Through in-game customization, the boundaries between these roles can become blurred. For example, you can modify a Gladius to have heavier weapons, better armor, and more durable components to a point, but it will still be a light combat ship, not a medium. While we already see it very competitive in good hands against a base mid-battle ship, it might be safer to consider other mid-battle ship options in several cases.

This is only a small sampling of the roles currently available among Star Citizen's variety of ships and vehicles, and it is not, and will never be, an exhaustive list. Over time, additional roles will be introduced, and existing roles will be expanded and more detailed. For this article, we wanted to provide you with a brief introduction to some of the ways of playing that we want Star Citizen ships and vehicles to offer you.

Additionally, these roles are the starting points for each ship, based on their original design and default equipment. Via the enhancement and customization systems, we hope to provide you with a wide variety of options for players to modify the performance and possibilities of each ship, improve them, whether in the functionality of their intended roles, or in other cases, that they perform well beyond the limits of what the designers of these ships had in mind. Want a modified Hornet for racing? How about a stealthy Buccaneer? While not every ship is as versatile as others, one day we look forward to introducing you to the tools that will allow you to make your ship unique.

Ship roles

Fighters and bombers

Bomber

Heavy Bomber

Stealth Bomber

Corvette

Polaris

Destroyer

Javelin

Dropship

Snub Fighter

P-52 Merlin

Light Fighter

Medium Fighter

Heavy Fighter

Heavy Combat Fighter

Stealth Fighter

Frigate

Gunship

Heavy Gunship

Transport Gunship

A2 Hercules Starlifter

Stealth

Other military uses

Interdiction

Military

Minelayer

Transport Military

M2 Hercules Starlifter

Career ships

Heavy Construction

Pioneer

Medium Data

Expedition

Exploration

Industrial

Prospecting and Mining

Heavy Mining

Orion

Passenger

Pathfinder

Racing

Medium Refuel

Vulcan

Heavy Refuelling

Heavy Salvage

Light Science

Reliant Sen

Heavy Science

First responder and hospitals

Medical

Cutlass Red

Support - Medical

Transport and cargo

Cargo

Medium Cargo

Mercury Star Runner

Light Freight

Medium Freight

Heavy Freight

Multi-Role - Light Carrier ships‏‎

Transport

Other civilian uses

Civilian

SRV

Luxury

Razor LX

Touring

References

Star Citizen Wiki