Starstrider IV Corvette

Presenting the Starstrider IV Corvette!

The latest build from Filbert Shipyards, the Starstrider IV is a new breed of starter CV. The Starstrider IV is a cross between a Corvus Corvette (anyone who has followed my builds has probably noticed how much i love the Corvus cockpit, Thank you Sulusdacor!) and my other favorite in-game ship the CORE Horizon.

The design philosophy of the Starstrider IV comes from having done numerous starter CV builds and playtests. During playtesting other ships i noticed that the Zirax patrol 'sunat corvette' is a tempting target as it is T3 CPU (free upgrade if you can beat one) and is unshielded! I decided to build a level 12 starter CV to gain access to the needed firepower (twin rocket turrets) to take down a sunat corvette and in turn get a free T3 CPU upgrade for my own ship by salvaging the one on the Sunat. Works like a charm! This will be my survival starter CV philosophy moving forward.

As per the downsides of a bump up to level 12 and added rocket turrets on a starter; the ship does require a bit more Erestrum and Zascosium than a normal starter, however in my playtest i used the swamp planet starter and between the natural erestrum deposits and the 'broken engine' poi wrecks that are found around the swamps i was able to aquire the materials needed for the Starstrider IV before i even left the starter planet! if you are interested in a 'combat oriented' starter CV then not only is the Starstrider IV a perfect fit but i highly recommend the Swamp planet as a staring point as it fits a combat-heavy player perfect!

UPDATE: if you are looking for an upgradeable starter SV of matching style to go along with the Starstrider IV i just added the Scarab Shuttle to the workshop! https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2232186244

Now for the boring bits and technical stuff:

- Unlock level 12 - Size class 2 - Version 1.x - CPU tier 2 - Tier 1 Shield! - 27,000 vol fuel - 14,000 vol O2 (ship is compartmentalized) - 2 rocket turrets - 2 flak turrets - 2 cannon turrets - 2 Gatling turrets - 2 sentry turrets - 112,000 vol ammo - Balanced thrust - Upgradeable! (cover this below) - 1 Advanced constructor, 1 small constructor - 1x 104,000 vol constructor input - 1x 20,740 vol constructor output - 1x 198,250 vol cargo bay (for storing salvage and ship components like the goodies you'll be getting from the Sunat Corvettes!) - 6 Cargo boxes - 9 grow plots - 2 fridges - full medbay - enclosed HV/SV hangar - Topside SV landing pad - all the usual refinements (armor locker, O2 station, wireless, detector, warp drive etc..)

For upgrading the ship; there are carbon composite blocks in areas for upgrades of RCS and CPU. The CPU is on the upper level of the hangar/workshop (green texture blocks) and the RCS spots are in the lower hangar round 'pipes' Other upgrades: there are lots of options for spots to add more thrusters, weapon turrets, and the forward facing antenna's are there to be swapped with rocket launchers.

Strategy for attacking Sunat corvettes using the Starstrider IV - Set your rocket turrets to only target generators. (to do this, go to the devices tab and select the turret you want, then uncheck the boxes corresponding to the ship components you want the turret to attack.) - Set the rest of your turrets to only attack turrets and not thrusters, generators or the warpdrive. These settings are designed to minimize collateral damage, maximizing the salvage potential of the target. Remember, on a sunat corvette (the design target of the Starstrider IV in its default loadout) the generators are at the edges of the 'wings' while the CPU extenders (what you DON'T want to target) are at the back on the main bridge.

In my testing this strategy made short work of the sunat and left most of it in-tact. Best strategy is to outflank the sunat and focus your attacks on the 'broadsides' of its 'wings'.

I hope you enjoy the Starstrider IV as much as i have and of course, Good hunting!