Build for roles and counters before rarity. Official 2026 notes list Scout, Talon, Sentinel and Rail Cannon as the four main starting ships. Video-backed tutorial text shows a counter loop—Scouts answer Rail Cannons/Launchers, Rail Cannons answer Tanks, and Tanks answer Scouts/Fighters—so the boss meter should influence what you draft next.
The four main starting ships
The March 2026 developer update says players now start with all four main ships rather than only a Scout. That change exists specifically so players can respond to the opening rock-paper-scissors relationships.
| Ship | Class | What the current notes tell us |
|---|---|---|
| Scout | Specialist | Core starting option; tutorial counter example against Rail Cannons and Launchers. |
| Talon | Assault | Core starting option; older footage shows aggressive assault behavior and active ability use. |
| Sentinel | Guardian | Core starting option; fills the frontline / defensive role in the class structure. |
| Rail Cannon | Siege | Core starting option; tutorial counter example against Tanks. |
Read the boss meter before accepting a ship reward
A gameplay tutorial explains that the boss meter previews which ships you will face during missions. The useful question is therefore not “is this reward rare?” but “does this reward improve my answer to the next enemy tech?”
Faction signatures worth knowing
These examples are strong identity anchors, not a complete ship database. Early Access plans explicitly include expanding unit variety.
| Faction | Ship | Identity |
|---|---|---|
| Cobalt | Leviathan | Heavy specialist, point defense, Death Ray. |
| Cobalt | Burster | Agile close-range assault / “shotgun in space.” |
| Slaraash | Carrier | Drone-centered primary firepower and Drone Bomb. |
| Slaraash | Stinger | Beam attacker with high-piercing Ripper Beam. |
Fleet slots and squadron capacity are part of composition
Composition is not only about which ships exist but how many squadrons you can field. Tutorial footage shows additional squadrons being deployed mid-mission from empty squadron slots, and player footage from longer runs shows a shipyard purchase adding an extra active fleet, a Discovery Tree node granting +1 squadron capacity, and three fleets operating in a single run. If your counter mix keeps losing to a specific tech, the answer is sometimes a bigger fleet rather than a different ship.
Sources & version note
This guide is verified for the pre-Early Access build window on September 13, 2026. Older playtest footage is used for mechanics and player questions only when it does not conflict with newer official changes.
- Steam News — March 2026 starting squadron update
- Steam News — faction ship reveals
- User-supplied tutorial transcript