Season 9.X Garage Ship Review

This topic will contain a table of contents

It’s been 6 months since my first garage ship review went up and two seasons have gone by since then, with the current (9.X) bringing major changes to how all garage ships are outfitted and priced. The first review was very successful and many people both used and enjoyed it. Hopefully my candid, no-holds-barred evaluation of the ships will help you make an informed decision on what to buy and highlight what changes some of the long-time garage ships underwent. Getting this guide out has been a huge undertaking, some parts of the guide may look familiar in an effort to cut some time out (and it’s still pertinent). Please enjoy.
Also, the table of contents system is a bit bugged and only works for the first ship or two, sorry.

The purpose of this post is to both objectively and subjectively evaluate all garage ships currently being offered and give this information to the community to allow feedback based on the stats/price/ability of each ship. If you’ve bought a garage ship, this is the place to provide your feedback. If you’re new and/or looking for opinions on what to buy, read my comments below each ship.

TheState’s Take on the Garage
When I joined HWS I was really impressed with the garage, among all the other unique features to the server. What I saw were very nice looking ships with unique abilities. I believe the garage ships should absolutely bring something new and refreshing to the table but be balanced - both in ability and price. I also think they should have effort put into them to look decent. These are ships that are being showcased by the top Empyrion server!
I’m going to be critical of their aesthetics as well as other factors you might not be seeing from their garage page post. That will also be subjective to the individual, some of you may disagree with me. Let me know below, this is a discussion for the community and I am far from the only voice.

From this point on, my personal comments will be in italics. This will separate my opinions from objective evaluation of the blueprints or garage in general.

Garage Ship General Info

Check out the garage ship page for all the info on Garage Ship limits, discounts, and rules. Also, HWS Garage Ships is the official HWS “catalog” of ships, though it doesn’t always have easily references and searched stats like I’ve tried to create here.
NOTE: As of the date of publication, new garage ship submissions are not being accepted but should be coming as per the garage ship submission section.
Below is an image of what garage ship submissions looked like in the past in case anyone is interested in starting construction for when submissions open up:
https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/384857033796616192/491369463749410826/unknown.png

Season 9 and 9.X brought about standardization of garage ship prices, shown in the table below. Most ships seem to abide by the price guidelines here.

Price Component
for free Medic Stations
for free Medical Stations Type 1-4
for free Showers
for free Fridges
for free Food Processors
for free Repair Stations
for free ATMs
for free Sentry Guns
for free Detectors
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
5m cr Alien Core (NPC Core)
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
1m cr per Weapon from other ship type
1m cr per overlimit Weapon (Only allowed on Fighters. Max. +2 overlimit Weapons per weapon type allowed.)
1m cr CV Thrusters (on SV/HV)
1m cr T2 RCS (on SV/HV)
1m cr per overlimit Drill (max. 10 overlimit allowed)
1m cr per Large or Advanced Constructor (on SV/HV)
1m cr per Furnace
1m cr per Deconstructor
1m cr * Size Class (SC) Combat Steel Blocks L and/or Xeno Steel Blocks (on SV/HV)
1m cr * Size Class (SC) (Armored) Concrete (Only allowed on HV Tanks.)
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
500k cr Growing Plots + Plants (on HV/SV)
500k cr Repair Bay and Console (on HV/SV)
500k cr per Drill Turret from other ship type
500k cr per Multiturret from other ship type
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
not allowed BA Turrets on SV/HV/CV

Garage Ship Evaluations
Ships are in alphabetical order

Disclaimer: I may be critical of some ships here. Nothing is meant to be taken personally

Andromeda (CV)

Price: 8m

Size Class: 7.36 (26,066 blocks)

Armor: Combat Steel

Power: CV thrusters, (NPC core)

Purpose: Exploration

Features:

  • 2 Furnaces
  • Fully Stocked Garden
  • Deconstructor

Comments: First off, the Andromeda is a beautiful ship. The designer did a fantastic job bringing it to life in Empyrion and making it one of the most unique ships on the market. The arches outside also translate inside where circular hallways and doorways add a very futuristic feel. The ship is clearly built for PVE but comes with a mostly full complement of weapons. Unfortunately, I feel that this ship would upclass to 8 fairly quickly in any significant PVP or even PVE battles, though it would be able to handle itself decently for a garage CV not meant for PVP. At only 8 million credits, this would be a great exploration CV for PVE or passing through PVP playfields.

Astroworm (CV)

Price: 7m

Size Class: 0.65 (591 blocks)

Armor: Combat Steel

Power: CV thrusters, (NPC core)

Purpose: Mining

Features:

  • 10x Laser Drills
  • 1x Furnace

Comments: The Astro Worm is a cheap CV that has one job only: mining asteroids. No frills, just a barebones miner. Exterior is underwhelming. It is essentially a tube with thrusters. That said, it isn’t plainly done or haphazardly put together. The interior is well done and was a surprise to me after the fairly plain exterior. There is room to squeeze in extras inside as it only comes with one constructor. The exterior, while an improvement over its previous seasons’ look, is still fairly plain by garage standards.

Badger X2 (HV)

Price: 7m

Size Class: 0.75 (642 blocks)

Armor: Hardened Steel

Power: CV thrusters, Regular core.

Purpose: Mining

Features:

  • 2x Furnaces
  • 14x Drills

Comments: The badger isn’t flashy, but it has character. Low-profile, unique design that I feel fits in with other garage ships. It’s appropriately priced for what it can do. While surface mining is what this ship excels at, it can also make a very effective mining tank with its CV thrusters and low block count. This was one of the few ships not majorly affected by the garage ship changes, though the constructors were replaced by furnaces.

Companion X3 (SV)

Price: 18m

Size Class: 1.49 (2852 blocks)

Armor: Xenosteel

Power: CV thrusters, (NPC core)

Purpose: Exploration

Features:

  • 1x Furnace.
  • 1x Deconstructor
  • 2x Adv Constructors
  • 1x ATM
  • CV Warpdrive Tank
  • 6x CV Laser Drills
  • 18x Grow Plots

Comments: The companion fills a unique role in the garage that no other SV really touches as a mobile base. Class 1 means it can go anywhere and the xenosteel armor makes it an effective exploration ship. Lots of cargo space is available. The exterior looks nice and the interior isn’t too shabby either. With the use of supergates (as its warp range is limited by its SV warp drive), I can see this ship as a viable companion for POI and supply runs. The X2 update made large improvements to the interior and added a deconstructor while the X3 update cleaned up the exterior, added the CV laser drills, and added additional grow plots. The interior is crisp, clean, and very functional for a player looking for a one-stop shop style SV.

Draupnir (CV)

Price: 13m

Size Class: 4.96 (10,438 blocks)

Armor: Combat Steel

Power: CV thrusters, (NPC core)

Purpose: Exploration/Mining

Features:

  • 16x Mining CV lasers

  • 1x Furnace

  • 1x Deconstructor

  • Robust Logic systems

  • Intended to interface with the Maur, Evanmaur, and Mjolnir.

Comments: There’s a reason this ship has been a HWS Garage veteran: it’s beautiful. Very pretty outside, well-done inside. Other than that, its big selling point nowadays is the 16 mining lasers it comes with. In the past it was more for light combat with overlimit weapons before its 9.X transition to more of an exploration/miner role.

This CV is a good starter CV if you don’t have a good one for light combat against both SVs and CVs, though I would use it more for exploring and as a “daily driver”, if you will.

Evanmaur (SV)

Price: 11m

Size Class: 1.75 (1,167 blocks)

Armor: Hardened Steel

Power: CV thrusters, (NPC core)

Purpose: Utility

Features:

  • 64x Labeled Cargo Boxes
  • 1x Deconstructor
  • 2x Furnaces
  • 2x Adv Constructors
  • 1x Shower
  • 1x Food processor
  • 1x Medic Station (CV)
  • 1x Armor Repair Station (CV)

Comments: . Another ship that’s been around a while, the Evanmaur is very nice looking and fills the role of a mobile processing and storage SV. This ship is comparable to the Foundry and the Maur, which both are better at what they do individually. The Evanmaur has a built-in door for autominer maintenance and recovery that perfectly fits them for easy access in the field. The Evanmaur combines those two into one ship to become a jack-of-all-trades in the utility SV market.

Expusition X2 (SV)

Price: 11m

Size Class: 1.89 (2,292 blocks)

Armor: Hardened Steel

Power: CV thrusters, (NPC core)

Purpose: Combat

Features:

  • 1x Repair Station
  • 1x Medic Station (BA)
  • 2x CV T2 RCS Blocks
  • 2x Sentry Guns (CV)
  • 6x Rail Guns
  • 8x Pulse Lasers

Comments: The Expusition looks great and has a unique feel to it but has been almost completely reworked for 9.X. No more are the massive amounts of railguns but only 6, 2 over the limit. The sides and bottom are still well protected with shutter blocks. The interior is cramped which is expected in its role. The body is hardened steel which offers little protection if being fired on by a base or HV and the cockpit is very close to the front of the ship and would require repositioning or up-armoring to be feasible in combat. The weapons were updated and changed by Paxxo to make more sense in the current PVP meta. Weapons are more tucked and no longer exposed, though the class size is now .1 larger.

Fenrir X2 (HV)

Price: 13m

Size Class: 2.33 (2,738 blocks)

Armor: Armored Concrete

Power: CV thrusters, (NPC core)

Purpose: Combat

Features:

  • 1x Repair Station (CV)
  • 8x Rocket Launcher Turrets (HV)
  • 4x Rail Guns (SV)
  • 8x Rocket Launchers (SV)

Comments: As one of the designers of this ship, I can’t fairly review it. I will say that while we were creating it, we did choose a very unique look that makes it stand out. We tried to balance it to not be overpowered while making it unique, aesthetically pleasing, and useful. It has a detailed interior and is easily rearranged for whatever you plan to use it for. I can, however, comment on the changes done by Ju for the 9 and 9.X seasons. Railguns have been added to make it even more powerful for taking up against bases or against other tanks while the changes to HV turret counts allows for less risk of losing irreplaceable overlimit turrets.

Foundry (SV)

Price: 16m

Size Class: 0.43 (354 blocks)

Armor: Combat Steel

Power: CV thrusters, (NPC core)

Purpose: Utility

Features:

  • 4x Furnaces
  • 4 Adv Constructors
  • 1x CV T2 RCS

Comments: Like the Evanmaur, the foundry is a mobile processing station. The foundry, however, is now more expensive and but still has more processing power. As far as aesthetics, I believe the foundry to be at the bare minimum of detail of what a garage ship should have. At the end of the day, this is a ship I could take or leave. The price is a major turnoff unless you really need the extra mobile processing power. Given the choice between this and an Evanmaur, I’d chose the latter.

Hercules (CV)

Imgur
Imgur

Price: 27m

Size Class: 3.69 (5,006 blocks)

Armor: CV Combat Steel Blocks

Power: CV thrusters, (NPC core)

Purpose: Fighter

Features:

  • 4 HV Artillery Turrets
  • 6 HV Plasma Turrets
  • 6 HV Rocket Turrets
  • 6 SV Railguns
  • 2 HV Multiturrets
  • ATM

Comments: One of the newer additions to the garage, the Hercules looks really slick. Very good aesthetics and interior flow. The cool thing about these types of ships is that they can fire most of their weapons on planet and in space, allowing them to be very flexible in a PVP battlespace. This particular ship, however labeled as a fighter, is not. This would require some major modifications to be PVP worthy and even then a significant portion of its turrets won’t fire due to them being in-line with each other. The ship only has two generators, its core is close to the front of the ship, and it is laden with over 30 fuel tanks (with an alien core??). Additionally, it seems that almost a quarter of the ship is made of cargo box extensions, clearly setting itself up for the implementation of volume. This ship is pretty neat but I honestly do not think it should be classified as a fighter or see much PVP.

H-O-G (SV)

Price: 9m

Size Class: 2.42 (1,704 blocks)

Armor: CV Steel Blocks

Power: CV thrusters, (NPC core)

Purpose: Utility

Features:

  • Great punchline for many jokes
  • CV warp system
  • 6x Multi-Turrets (HV)
  • 3x Drill Turrets (HV)
  • 2x Drill Turrets (CV)

Comments: This is a great looking ship, arguably one of the most detailed and unique looking exteriors. Beyond that, though, its only real feature is its ability to actively contribute to wasting your money and causing chapter 11 bankruptcy. Seriously, the ship looks amazing. It just has no real purpose besides recycling it for a NPC core (no, I don’t recommend that). In concept, this is a cool ship. Get your three best friends into it and go mine away or deconstruct wrecks on the planet. The issue comes in where you’re paying for an extra two multiturrets you can not use with the crew capacity and, really, the need. You can slap a multiturret on a HV and do the same thing this does. You can go use a CV miner to more effectively mine in space. Mining on planet? Cheap miner HVs are more effective and simple to use than drill turrets. The only actual reason I could see to get this ship is for roleplaying purposes. Other than that, pass.

Oh, it also now has guns, just in case the guy on the ground with a pistol doesn’t manage to cockpit you before you shoot him. If you do take this into PVP, you might want to just turn the multi-turrets on yourself to preemptively deconstruct your ship.

Kolfskot X2 (SV)

Price: 14m

Size Class: 1.47 (3,144 blocks)

Armor: Combat Steel

Power: CV thrusters, (NPC core)

Purpose: Combat

Features:

  • 6x CV Rocket Launchers (Only Orbit)
  • 1x Tier 2 Generator (CV)
  • 2x CV Medical Stations
  • 8x T2 CV RCS
  • CV Warp System
  • Repair Station (CV)
  • Medical Station (CV)
  • Shower

Comments: This is a very tanky SV. It packs a punch and can take hits back with its full combat steel hull. It isn’t the fastest to accelerate but it is quick to turn. The Kolfscot has a sleek, unique look that I feel fits in with the spirit of the garage well and is fairly priced for a combat SV. The season 9.X changes brought about CV rocket launchers instead of its traditional overlimit SV homing launchers. This will definitely be a ship to watch when it comes to combat in orbit.

Maur (SV)

Price: 8m

Size Class: 0.84 (486 blocks)

Armor: Hardened Steel

Power: CV thrusters, (NPC core)

Purpose: Utility

Features:

  • Advanced constructor
  • 51x Labeled Cargo Boxes
  • 1x Repair Station (CV)
  • 1x Repair Console
  • 1x T2 Repair Bay (BA)
  • 1x Medical Station (CV)
  • 1x T2 CV RCS

Comments: The maur is the little brother of the Evanmaur. Smaller amount of storage, only one constructor, no furnaces. Where the Maur does shine, though, is that it has a repair bay. Essentially, this ship is a little mechanic and material storage shed. This is a ship that’s been around a while and is a must-have for traders or people who move around a lot and need some serious storage.

Mite (SV)

Price: 18m

Size Class: 1.26 (2,989 blocks)

Armor: Xenosteel

Power: CV thrusters, (NPC core)

Purpose: Combat

Features:

  • 1x Repair Station (CV)
  • 5x T1 CV Generators
  • 1x Medical Station (CV)
  • 10x T2 CV RCS
  • CV Warp System
  • 8x Plasma Cannons (SV)
  • 8x Pulse Lasers (CV)

Comments: In my last review of the Mite, I ripped it apart for its poor weapon design, poor aesthetics, and high price point. Pretty much all of those points still stand. I will say that the weapon placement has improved slightly, just not enough for me to refrain from knocking it for them. The big selling point here is that it replaced its overlimit lasers with CV pulse lasers in the 9.X update. I’m excited to see how this ship gets used though a little worried, since orbit combat can be laggy “jumpy” compared to planetary combat. I’m not sure how much use this will get as opposed to the more versatile Kolfskot.

Mjolnir X2 (HV)

Price: 11m

Size Class: 1.48 (4,598 blocks)

Armor: Armored Concrete

Power: CV thrusters, (NPC core)

Purpose: Combat

Features:

  • 1x Shower
  • 4x T1 Generators (CV)
  • 2x Medical Stations (CV)
  • 3x T2 CV RCS
  • 3x Railguns (SV)

Comments: The Mjolnir has been a common sight on the battlefield for the past few seasons. The 9.X update has completely overhauled the HV we all know and loved. Now, the body is armored concrete and the weapon count has been rebalanced to fall within the new HV limits, making this a fairly lackluster tank in comparison to its peers. One change that makes no sense to me at all is the addition of SV railguns to the top front, the very first (and irreplacable) things that would get shot off very early in any fight WHILE blocking the line of fire of the turrets behind it. This inflates the cost of the Mjolnir by 3 million credits while adding absolutely no significant fighting ability to it and even detracting due to the obstruction. The only thing the Mjolnir seems to have going for it this patch is that most of the weapons would be able to easily attack SVs, though other tanks like the Tankwacker can do that job just as well if not better.

MordredX2.1 (SV)

Price: 14m

Size Class: 1.50 (2,733 blocks)

Armor: Hardened Steel & Xenosteel

Power: CV thrusters, (NPC core)

Purpose: Combat

Features:

  • Shower
  • Full medbay
  • Gravity Generator
  • 11x RCS T2 CV
  • CV Warp Tank
  • 6x Pulse Laser (CV)
  • 8x Pulse Laser (SV)

Comments: While it has an interesting shape and weapon loadout, I think this ship falls just below the line of what should pass into the garage based on aesthetics. The ship has a neat design but ends up being blocky and not having a sleek, polished finish. While the interior has some neat design aspects, it also feels bland and nothing special. It does handle amazingly well and feels balanced weapon-wise with its new 6 CV pulse lasers. My fears with the Mite are also echoed here, I don’t believe that orbit combat happens enough to warrant three garage ships being outfitted with weapons that only fire in orbit. In addition, this ship requires massive uparmoring as the only blocks in the path of a shot into the ammo boxes are a weapon and a door. Additionally, the Mordred has limited thrusters so that if one gets hit, agility is significantly impacted. A QoL update done by Paxxo moved the overlimit weapons off of the nose and more safely tucked along the sides. This change also was able to take off .4 size class, making this easy to fit into class 1 limited playfields.

Ships continued below

1 Like
Nomadder X2 (SV)

Price: 20m

Size Class: 0.83 (1,117 blocks)

Armor: Xenosteel

Power: CV thrusters, (NPC core)

Purpose: Mining

Features:

  • 2x Furnaces
  • Full medical suite
  • 1x Shower
  • 1x Repair Station
  • 5x CV Drill Lasers
  • 5x HV Drill Lasers
  • 1x CV Multi Turret (Retractable)
  • 1x HV Multi Turret (Retractable)
  • 28x T2 RCS CV
  • CV Warp Tank
  • 1x ATM
  • 4x Harvest Boxes

Comments: My very first impression of this ship was, “Great, another space mole.” It has the well known cylinder shape shared by the space mole and astro worm and, functionally, it does the same job. After actually getting into it and checking it out though, this is a unique ship that does things differently. Sure, it’s a miner and sure we have like 20 of those. At 5 lasers of each type, it is equipped with the fewest mining lasers per type of any mining designated ship. The multiturrets on top retract allowing this ship to dig tunnels very well, though its long shape makes it hard to pitch inside them. It has two cockpits, one for HV mining and one for CV mining with their lasers facing opposite directions - a neat touch that I haven’t seen in a garage ship. All-in-all, this is a pretty standard multipurpose mining ship with a tinge of survival built-in. Compared to the space mole, its direct competition in ability, I would prefer the nomadder for its high capacity and ability to process ore with two furnaces on the go.

Oriole (SV)

Price: 7m

Size Class: 1.07 (651 blocks)

Armor: Hardened Steel

Power: SV/CV thrusters, Regular Core

Purpose: Mining

Features:

  • 1x Furnace
  • 6x Drill Lasers (HV)
  • 2x Drill Turrets (HV)
  • 1x HV Hover Engine (WHY?!)
  • 1x Harvest Box

Comments: This is one of those ships that just flies under the radar while you look to spend your money on more flashy, fully equipped ships. You can see its unique shape and mining lasers, but it silently sits in the garage line-up while more expensive ships that do the exact same thing this does fly off. What does really make the Oriole worth some of the 7 million price tag is the 6 drill lasers that are perfectly positioned to maximize the hole that it makes, keeping it from getting hung up while tunneling. The furnace and 6 SV constructors allow it to process ore on the go, making this a great starter miner SV for people on a budget. TAKE NOTE: No alien core present in this one. This ship can definitely do without the seven ammo boxes, an oversight from previous seasons where it had rocket launchers. Also contains one hover engine. Why? Who knows. But if you buy it, you own the ONLY SV with a hover engine on HWS, yay.

Panzer X2 (HV)

Price: 28m

Size Class: 1.50 (1,703 blocks)

Armor: Armored Concrete

Power: CV thrusters, (NPC core)

Purpose: Combat

Features:

  • Full medical suite
  • 1x T2 RCS CV (ONLY ONE RCS)
  • 6x Homing Rocket Launchers (SV)
  • 6x Plasma Cannons (SV)
  • 4x Rocket Launchers (SV)
  • 4x Rail Guns (SV)

Comments: The name says Panzer, the performance is somewhere between a Maus and a boulder. This HV has one thruster to the back, left, and right. Coming in at a wallet-emptying 28 million credits, I hope whoever buys this does it for the laughs and the enjoyment you get by watching 28 million credits evaporate the second, no, minute (that’s how long it’ll take) you move it off the Garage pad. I cannot imagine any situation where this tank could ever be more useful than literally any other tank on the market. The one actually functional feature it has is the ability to angle itself upwards fairly easily to aim its SV weapons. Other than that, this is a hard pass as far as garage ships go.

Raider X3 (SV)

Price: 19m

Size Class: 0.88 (2,019 blocks)

Armor: Xenosteel

Power: CV thrusters, (NPC core)

Purpose: Mining

Features:

  • 1x Furnace
  • 10x Drill Lasers (HV)
  • Full medical suite
  • 1x Shower
  • 1x Repair station
  • 1x Gravity generator
  • 28 T2 RCS CV
  • 1x ATM
  • CV Warp Tank

Comments: This is one of the two high-end mining planet-side SVs available. The 9.X changes have really grounded mining SVs and the Raider was no exception. Stripped of half of its lasers and its advanced constructor, the Raider feels almost lackluster, though it still has most of its survival and exploration features plus its furnace. Back to the ship itself, it is great for mining surfaces and deposits, poor for tunneling. It has a low profile design and unique shape and exterior but requires uparmoring to keep the thrusters, back door, and drills safe. The interior in the X3 variant is much improved over the first version to be more inline with how garage ships should look, though the exterior is fairly plain looking. As far as SV miners go, I still believe the Raider to be one of the most versatile ones and worth the 19m price tag.

Rebery (SV)

Price: 17m

Size Class: 4.69 (5,881 blocks)

Armor: 80% Hardened Steel 20% Combat Steel

Power: CV thrusters, (NPC core)

Purpose: Exploration/Mining

Features:

  • Full Medical Suite
  • 1x Repair Station
  • 1x Deconstructor
  • 1x Furnace
  • 2x Adv Constructors
  • 6x HV Drill Lasers
  • 4x CV Drill Turrets
  • 1x CV Multi Turret
  • 1x T2 CV RCS
  • CV Warp Tank

Comments: Another jack-of-all-trades style ship, the Rebery is the one ship that can be classified as a miner yet still have not one, but two advanced constructors and a furnace! Add in a deconstructor and this is a fairly robust multipurpose exploration vessel. While it may be difficult to effectively mine smaller deposits with the Rebery’s size, crust and asteroids should be a breeze. The interior and exterior of this ship are well made, crossing a luxury yacht with a spaceship and giving it plenty of character. At 17m, this not a bad price for the amount of ship you get, especially if you frequent PVE planets for mining and exploring.

Romanova (SV)

Price: 7m

Size Class: 1.39 (1,965 blocks)

Armor: Hardened Steel

Power: CV thrusters, Regular Core

Purpose: Processing/Utility

Features:

  • 2x Adv Constructor
  • 1x Deconstructor
  • 2x Furnace
  • Shower
  • Gravity Generator
  • 3x T2 RCS CV
  • 1x ATM
  • 2x Food Processor
  • CV Warp Tank

Comments: This is a great starter survival ship. Plenty of storage, all the functionality of a mobile base (minus full medbay), and a price that can’t be beat. Note that this ship does not have an alien core so you’re paying for its functionality alone. Aesthetically, the outside is fairly - but reasonably - plain. It looks like it is ready to get to work crafting and shuttling your goods from point A to point B and can’t be bothered to look fancy doing it. The interior is sparse but clean with a very appealing layout on the walls with all of the equipment and devices the Romanova comes with. This is also the first ship I’ve seen come with its very own dancing lady on the dashboard! To summarize, if you need a multipurpose ship on a budget, pick this one up.

Safe Harbor (CV)

Price: 11m

Size Class: 5.87 (6,963 blocks)

Armor: CV Steel

Power: CV thrusters, (NPC core)

Purpose: Transportation & Processing

Features:

  • 4x Furnances
  • 2x Deconstructors
  • T2 repair bay (BA)
  • Large garden

Comments: A cross between a carrier and a mobile base, this CV should have everything you need to keep your ships in top shape while navigating the galaxy. I imagine this would be a great ship for players going for the challenge of maintaining a space PVP presence with its generous space and inclusion of everything a wandering player needs. At only 11m, this is a very good value for a solid ship with lots of functionality.

September (CV)

Price: 10m

Size Class: 4.63 (10,308 blocks)

Armor: Combat Steel

Power: CV thrusters, (NPC core)

Purpose: Utility

Features:

  • 4x Furnaces
  • 1x Deconstructor

Comments: The September is a tried and true CV for players who want something solid to get them from point A to point B. To be completely honest, there is not much separating the September from a CV you can spawn in aside from the alien core. That doesn’t stop this from being a very pretty ship inside and out, in my opinion it’s the most attractive garage ship overall. The logic used in this ship is the best I’ve seen, too. The 4 furnaces add more functionality to the design since removing its overlimit weapons in the 9.X season.

Slazer X2 (SV)

Price: 9m

Size Class: 1.29 (2,596 blocks)

Armor: Hardened Steel

Power: CV thrusters, (NPC core)

Purpose: Combat

Features:

  • 8x T2 RCS CV
  • CV Warp System
  • 8x Pulse Lasers (SV)

Comments: The Slazer is stupidly fast. Ridiculously, “why is this in the garage in its current state” fast. Even though it is the fastest fighter on the Garage, it needs its speed because it lacks the armor the other garage ships have. Made of only hardened steel this is also the weakest garage ship. At 9 million though, you’d be hard pressed to find a better bargain on a fighter SV. This is one you want to pick up.

Smoke (CV)

Price: 17m

Size Class: 0.42 (306 blocks)

Armor: Xenosteel

Power: CV thrusters, (NPC core)

Purpose: Combat

Features:

  • 2x Artillery turrets (HV)
  • 6x Rocket Turrets (HV)
  • 6x Rocket Launchers (homing) (SV)
  • 1x Railgun (SV)

Comments: While the smoke sounds like a good idea on paper, it really isn’t. It was updated and up-armored for the 9.X season but that is not nearly enough to make it viable for taking any shots. It still has the potential to receive more armor and thrust with season 9.X removing the 150 block CV limit for planets. Having faced multiple Smoke CVs in past seasons, they’re easy to destroy and don’t do 17m credits worth of damage. If you want damage, go buy two Slazers; you’d only be spending 1 million more (coincidentally, the cost of the single railgun on this ship)! While it is very unique and cool in concept, this ship should be limited to only PVE areas or, better yet, sitting on the garage. As a side note, there are only 2 HV artillery turrets (1 is a CV artillery). This is hopefully an oversight as this ship should never see space combat.

Space Mole (SV)

Price: 19m

Size Class: 1.44 (1,906 blocks)

Armor: Xenosteel

Power: CV thrusters, (NPC core)

Purpose: Mining

Features:

  • Full medical suite
  • 5x HV Drills
  • 5x CV Drills
  • Furnace
  • 1x ATM
  • CV Warp Tank
  • Shower
  • Repair Station (CV)

Comments: This is a very agile miner for both space and surface mining. After the 9.X update, it has only a furnace for processing. While the outside of the ship tries to represent a mole head and claws, I can’t look past the fact that it is mostly a tube like the Astro Worm. The majority of the body is plain and unimaginative. The interior is better looking than the exterior and everything is nice and organized. All-in-all, this doesn’t seem to be a bad ship if you’re into both surface and asteroid mining but falls slightly short of the Nomadder in ability.

Tankwacker (HV)

Price: 18m

Size Class: 1.37 (3,631 blocks)

Armor: Armored Concrete

Power: CV thrusters, (NPC core)

Purpose: Combat

Features:

  • Full Medical Suite
  • Repair Station (CV)
  • 6x T2 CV RCS
  • 4x SV Railguns
  • 6x Rocket Launcher Homings (SV)

Comments: A very fast, agile attack HV, the Tankwacker is the quickest combat HV on the Garage. The exterior and interior are both very well done and clean, though I was most impressed with the interior. As far as weapon placement goes, the Tankwacker is very easy to strip with unprotected turrets, though their positioning gives them good clearances to fire on SVs and HVs, though to a lesser degree. The railguns and homing rocket launchers add offensive ability to this ship and makes it comparable to the Fenrir, though slightly less tanky. This would be a powerful HV to use with faction or allied support.

The Eye X4 (SV)

Price: 19m

Size Class: 1.44 (2,955 blocks)

Armor: Xenosteel

Power: CV thrusters, (NPC core)

Purpose: Mining

Features:

-Full medical Suite

  • Shower
  • Repair Station
  • 10x HV Drills
  • 29x T2 RCS CV
  • 1x ATM
  • CV Warp System
  • 1x Furnace

Comments: The eye used to be the gold standard in mining ships, being able to cover the most area with its spaced drills. Now, with the 9.X season, the eye’s mining ability has been severely hindered along with the other mining SVs. Side-by-side tests show significant decreases in mining speed but the Eye does still maintain the ability to tunnel fairy well . The unique ball shape allows for unparalleled maneuverability in any direction and the thrust is good. The recent update made the Eye much more “eye-like” with an updated paint scheme. The two top surface miners are the Eye and the Raider. Which is better for you really comes down to personal choice, they are both on very even playing fields now.

The Mask (CV)

Imgur

Imgur

Price: 26m

Size Class: 1.35 (4,865 blocks)

Armor: CV Combat Steel

Power: CV thrusters, (NPC core)

Purpose: Fighter

Features:

  • 1 HV Artillery Turret
  • 4 HV Plasma Turrets
  • 8 HV Rocket Turrets
  • 4 SV Homing Rocket Launchers
  • 4 SV Pulse Lasers

Comments: The third of the currently three CVs sporting a large array of HV weaponry, The Mask is meant for class 1 playfields. Aesthetically this ship leaves something to be desired but, with its purpose in mind, is suitable for the garage. Unlike the smoke, this CV is ready to roll out off the pad and go into class 1 PVP. Not counting its price, The Mask does have numerous drawbacks. The most apparent one is also what’s inflating the price: the weapons. On this ship all of them are sitting on the front and in close proximity, waiting to be shot off. Put a few shots center of mass and there go your turrets and weapons. Additionally, on a more picky note, some of the interior is not symmetrical with no real reason for it. At the end of the day, though, this is a very maneuverable ship that can be used as a fairly effective brawler as long as it gets frequent repairs.

Titan-S (SV)

Price: 15m

Size Class: 0.95 (668 blocks)

Armor: CV hardened steel

Power: CV thrusters, (NPC core)

Purpose: Mining

Features:

-Shower

  • 6x Drill Lasers (HV)
  • 2x CV Drill Turrets
  • 2x CV Multi Turrets
  • CV Warp Tank

Comments: I always thought this was a weird looking ship. Weird in a good way. Part angler fish, part submersible, this ship is another mining SV. The exterior is very unique and the interior is textured but fails to feel alive like the better garage ships. Similar to the Eye, its shape gives it its maneuverability and also makes it great for tunneling. To make it even better at fitting into tight areas, take the drills and multiturrets off unless you plan on using this in space. If we price this one out, the only things that are adding to the value of the alien core by Rex’s formula are the turrets, which, let’s face it, nobody wants to use. At 15 million this ship is massively overpriced. It abides by the formula and table pricing (5m core, 8m lasers/turrets, 2m for thrusters and RCS) above but nobody in their right mind would pay 15 million for this ship with other much better ships just a couple million more.

V-Wing X2 (SV)

Price: 11m

Size Class: 1.71 (2,373 blocks)

Armor: Combat Steel/Xenosteel

Power: CV thrusters, (NPC core)

Purpose: Combat

Features:

  • Repair Station
  • Half Medical Suite
  • 8x Homing Launchers (SV)
  • 10x T2 CV RCS
  • CV Warp Tank

Comments: If there was a way to tell how much time I spent in a certain type of ship, the V-wing would likely be the one I logged the most flight hours in. The V-wing is a tried and true fighter that can hold its own and dish out massive punishment. Without altering, the weapons are at risk of being shot off due to the design. While it might not be the fastest fighter, the ship has a low profile and enough RCSs to stay on target and dodge shots. Outside, the V-wing is adequately detailed. Inside, there is a slight exploration vibe the ship gives off with its food processor, LCD stovetop, and multiple fridges. A quick once-over with a multitool will sort that out, though, and you’ll be back to the rugged fighter you either love or hate. The 9.X update removed 2 homing launchers but as a whole the ship isn’t really affected.

Venture (CV)

Price: 20m

Size Class: 5.67 (16,070 blocks)

Armor: Combat Steel

Power: CV thrusters, (NPC core)

Purpose: Combat

Features:

  • Repair Bay (BA)
  • 1x HV Arty Turret
  • 6x HV Minigun Turrets
  • 4x HV Plasma Turrets
  • 4x HV Rocket Turrets

Comments: A relatively new ship to the garage, the venture does not fail the old saying “Mediocrity will never do.” At 20m, you get a repair bay, an HV arty turret, and 8 HV rocket turrets. Sounds great right? Finally, you can bombard them from orbit! Until of course, you realize this ship suffers from “Split-Eye syndrome,” which means half your turrets are blocked by each other, and the other half is busy staring into the side of your hull. The only real application in combat would be to broadside an enemy, though this is never a recommended tactic in CV combat. The exterior is a very unique shape and has a nice HWS logo on the bridge, letting your enemies know right where to shoot. The interior is fairly standard and boasts a large hangar. Rather amusingly, it refers to itself as a “heavy destroyer” but the only thing you’ll be destroying is your wallet unless you are sitting on top of enemies. I’d suggest avoiding this purchase.

X7-B (SV)

Price: 17m

Size Class: 0.82 (648 blocks)

Armor: Combat Steel

Power: CV thrusters, (NPC core)

Purpose: Mining

Features:

  • 9x Drills (HV)
  • 1x CV Drill Turret
  • 1x ATM
  • CV Warp Tank

Comments: The venerable X7: It’s seen more seasons then you could count and it’s still the standard for garage ships. Featuring sleek visuals with retractable drills, this ship is a ladykiller for sure. It’s got an alien core, with an ATM, and a full CV Warp/Drivetrain. Unfortunately that’s where the gravy train ends, because I’m afraid it costs 17 million. The Raider, just 2 million more, features protected drills, a furnace, xenosteel (which is lighter and as a result makes the raider much more maneuverable) and includes a top that does not include a tumorous CV drill turret which sucks the money right out of your pocket. It’s not that it’s a bad garage ship, it’s just the fact that there are better options out there. If you like the small stature of the X7-B and are really pinching those credits, go for it. Otherwise, consider the other options out there.

Xammut (SV)

Price: 8m

Size Class: 1.48 (2,198 blocks)

Armor: Xenosteel

Power: CV thrusters, (NPC core)

Purpose: Combat

Features:

  • Repair Station
  • Food Processor & Fridge
  • CV Warp System

Comments: This moderately priced garage ship is a very good candidate for standard SV combat. It’s a large target but quick. Taking advantage of your speed and maneuverability can give you the edge on slower ships. Your 8 million gets you an alien core, xenosteel, a CV drive train with a decent system placement, and, as of season 9.X, only standard weapon counts. I have personally used this ship in the past and it’s easily able to reach 3K blocks via up armoring if you strip off all its lights and deco blocks. If your ship gets too heavily damaged to continue using it, you can recover your alien core with a net loss of only 1 million. But why would you, when you look this good!

Xenaster (CV)

Price: 14m

Size Class: 1.12 (1,361 blocks)

Armor: Combat Steel & Xenosteel

Power: CV thrusters, (NPC core)

Purpose: Exploration

Features:

  • 4x Railguns (SV)
  • 12x Pulse laser (CV)
  • 4x Pulse laser (SV)

Comments: This, like many in the past, seems to be someone’s first attempt at a garage ship submission. It’s got lackluster statistics and features for a 14 million dollar garage ship, and can’t decide on if it’s an SV or a CV. The novel idea of putting SV weaponry on a CV is ruined by it’s lack of aesthetic value and combat performance. Since it has no other clear purpose other than to be a big ugly target for CVs it can’t outmatch and SVs it can’t catch or hope to deal with, I recommend steering clear of this purchase unless you’re in the market for a 14 million credit soaker CV. Visually, it looks poor and boxy, only managing to barely make what would be called “minimum standards”. The interior is likewise unappealing. It’s a room with a cockpit in it. The only time you’d realistically use this ship is if you wanted to both tank a base and also fire your 4 piddly little railguns at said base, but really, you could do it cheaper with a CV and an SV working together. If only it had HV turrets…



Alright, that wraps up the review of this season’s garage ships so far, I will be sure to update this with any new ships and changes that come through. I also want to reiterate that the opinions expressed here are my own and are meant to give you an idea of what a normal player may think of a ship or design. I want to thank @Zackey_TNT and ReverendMeat for helping me crank out this review as fast as possible, we did this in about 8 hours where alone it took me a week last time.

Final Personal Thoughts:

  • The price for adding one block of combat steel to a design is effectively 3m. 1m for the steel then 1m each for the CV thrust required and RCS required.
  • While several ships have switched to an orbital combat focus, most SV pilots try to avoid it. This may hurt sales of those ships by being so specialized.
  • Lower-end garage ships are sparse. Perhaps we can consider adding some barebones designs for players to build off of, i.e. making a small SV with CV thrusters for only the cost of the thrusters (1 million) with the goal of players armoring it up and making their own, custom ship.
  • Either don’t charge for the useless weapons or remove them. Certain ships are inflated unnecessarily due to weapons/turrets nobody will ever use. The Mjolnir with front railguns (+3m)? The extra 2 multiturrets on the H-O-G (+1m)? The single railgun on the Smoke (+1m)? They just aren’t necessary and honestly take away from the value of the ship. As a customer, I care about features that matter. These extras really add nothing.

Please feel free to ask questions about these ships or correct me if I made a mistake. This was done to spark conversation about whether or not you’re happy with the way garage ships are done mechanically, aesthetically, and monetarily. If you have a concern about any of that, please comment below. Thanks for reading!

5 Likes

:+1:

Great reviews as always The State and co, and pretty much in line with my own thoughts and feelings

for those people with 3 free Garage ships, this guide is a great assistance to help finding the best ships they can get to suite themselves.

It was a huge disappointment to see the Mining SV Nerf that occurred this patch, but i’m assuming this was just to keep them affordable given as the last few seasons have had them benefit from up to 12 “Free” mining drills (6 HV and 6 CV) before any pricing additions came into effect.

Additionally as you have also noticed, there seems to now be a large amount of ships (mostly CVs) that just fall short of what has been enjoyed in previous seasons due to the rebalancing / tighter alignment of ship into an archtype.

It will be interesting to see how this effects the design and implementation of Garage ships in the future.

Keep up the good work man

Its pretty delusional the rework of some garage ships. Ok some weapons got removed, but the EXTRA series should weapons put in the BACK of the ship… now are in the front. So in the first volley your extra money you payed are already lost.
I inspected the smoker and it has 2 HV artillery and 1 Cv artillery. Probably an error of reworking.
Ships that i dont actually like due to poor weapon placement:

  • Mordred
  • Mjolnir
  • Mite
  • Expusition - This is probably one of the worst since you buy this ship for 2 extra railgun and they are placed in the nose of the ship…

Two of the best weapon placement and how the extraseries gun should be put and how other garage ships should be inspired are slazer and tankwacker.
Since now extraseries weapons are only 2 an EXTRA attention should be put in weapon placement.
I dont want to offend who reworked the ships (and since them were a lot it took away a lot of time) is just an advice on how extraseries weapons on some ships should be put to be attractive to customers.

1 Like

I never replied to this but I agree 100%

Buying a mjolnir, for example, is a waste of 3 million credits due to poor weapon positioning. Plus the railguns block turrets behind them from firing. If it were me updating that blueprint, I would make it back into what it used to be: the HV artillery king.

1 Like

We did some things in a hurry.
Ju is amazing at building Bases. Ships are not yet the focus for Ju.

So we would appreciate if you can rebuild such ships “properly”. DeeExpus is not likely coming back to do this.

1 Like

@RexXxuS I can have a bash at this - do you require reworking any of the above only, or new stand alone designs? And if the latter, which category is most needed first? EG;

  • fighter SV PVP & PVE
  • battle bus CV PVP & PVE

etc etc

Is there a Warp-Drive included in the Astro Worm? If not, is it possible to implement/add a warp-drive? There is this alien core inside, so i am not sure. normally, it should work without warp tank, or am i wrong?

The astroworm has a CV warp drive and tank. Since it is just a normal CV component it was not included in the features. If it did not have a warp drive you’d be able to add it on anyway

2 Likes

I’d love to do this or be a part of it :slight_smile:

I don’t see any of these on the Workshop. Is there a place where we could download data files to add manually to our own creative in order to modify/rebuild?