We've just been treated to a very exciting Elite Dangerous roadmap in February's Frontier Unlocked stream. As well as exploring Trailblazers, we were treated to sneak peeks of the rest of the year's updates. As you'll see in the cover image for this reward, that includes the Gutamaya Corsair in April, the Vanguards update to Squadrons in summer, as well as three other new ships and one other major new feature. Now we want you to read between the lines and theorise what these additions might include. Here are some prompts to get you started:
Concept art for the newly announced Gutamaya Corsair
We know the Gutamaya Corsair will be a medium, multirole ship with an impressive maximum cargo and hardpoint capacity. What other features might it have and what do you think players will use it for? What do you think the wider community will make of its sleek, sharp design? What ship kits do you want to see for it? Will it become the new hooners' choice?
Frontier Brand Manager Zac Cocken promised that 2025 would be "another very, very exciting year for ships". What do you think the ships due in phases three, four, and five will be? What roles do you think they'll play and which manufacturers will be producing them?
We know that summer's Vanguards feature will be the "spiritual successor" to Squadrons, allowing small teams of players to set rewardable objectives, communicate better, guide new players, and (potentially) have a shared "bank" for credits, modules, or ships. How do you think this will work? What objectives would you like to set for your fellow commanders?
What do you think the winter 'Phase 5' feature will be?
You can enter this video with an original video or a social media post. Feel free to expand on your thoughts on Just!
We have already known that every time a "multipurpose" ship is introduced, it opens up a vast options for our creative community to use with different purposes. Would it be an upgraded Krait Phantom/Mk II or Python, or the "medium" version of the Imperial Clipper?
Lastest ship introduced being the Cobra Mk V, which is a fantastic small multi-purpose ship, can be used in combat for cmdrs that don't have enough credits to purchase a combat rig yet, or someone who just want to do "everything" on the same ship, but this time with SCO optimized. Being a small ship, it sometimes works as a small hauler for settlements with small pad only, but by being small, it misses out a lot of features that a medium ship might hold, this time the Corsair might be able to cover it:
Proper anti-xeno combat ship: the best-in-slot vessels for AX combats including the Krait Mk II and the Anaconda, medium-sized and large-sized respectively, both are categorized as multi-purpose ships with decent hardpoints, would the Corsair be able to compete with the Krait Mk II? It all depends on its hardpoints size.
Exploration: As soon as the Cobra Mk V was released, a large number of cmdrs had already switched from the Mandalay to it for a change, and by it being small, it works very well for exobiology. In fact, the most favorited Exploration ships, the AspX, Anaconda, and Krait Phantom are all "multi-purposed" ship.
Hauler/Mining ship: It might have some optional spaces for cargo, but maybe the T8 will still keep its place as the best medium-sized mining ship. If it's faster than the Python or the T8, it might be the new best core-ming ship.
Racer: the ImpEagle, ImpCourier, and the Viper MkIII all have very fast normal space travel speed, with the Viper Mk III being the fastest, but I still prefer the Courier because of its sick cockpit, the Corsair gives me a feeling that it might be very fast, but by being medium, it still might not be able to beat the small ships speed, given that we still have Enhanced Thrusters Module up to size 3, who knows, maybe our beloved engineer Felicity Farseer release some bigger thrusters this year!
Maybe just a nice bubble jumper: I have my Imperial Courier for the exact same purpose, nothing else, sometimes a bit of short range exploration, but having a fast ship that save your time going in/out of a station is always a good thing, and the corsair could totally that next ship that I'd use for it.
Talking about shipkits, I wouldn't say no to something that makes the wings/thrusters look better. I'm talking about maybe something like the Naboo Royal Starship. I'm totally would get the Chromed paintjob for this ship when I have it!
The Naboo Royal Starship, that the Corsair reminds me of
Upcoming ships
I'm excited for another Core Dynamics combat ship, can be of any size, I just want a CD combat ship!
Another ship could be a large hauling ship, given how painful it is to only be able to transfer 792T of commodities on a shieldless Cutter in this newly featured Colonisation, we want a Lakon/Gutamaya with 1000T cargo space! I like how FDev are making their updates connected, maybe then it's time for a bigger hauler ship.
The third ship to be released might be something that could help you with the new features, hauling, something with the Vanguard feature, or the last feature that we don't know what it would be yet. Speaking of which, maybe another Kruger ship? A cruiser but actually you can put some guns on it to fight off some terrorists/Thargoids that want to take over our passengers?
New "Vanguard" Feature
Meanwhile I am excited with the Vanguards feature, we have yet known much about what it is about. I am happy with current squadron feature, though I wish it could use some improvements, maybe this upcoming feature has something to do with colonisation? You can build a "Squadron" headquarter? Maybe it has something with BGS and minor factions too! Or maybe better co-op activities, I can tell that the latest contents are very co-op oriented, from those AX events to this new colonisation feature, I like how they try to bring the players closer to each others.
It could be a fast wing making for certain activities, like Thargoid invasion respond, powerplay stronghold raid respond, or gankers respond, it would be so much more immersive.
What if Vanguard features a fast wing-making in Open play to respond to gankers?
Phase 5 feature
I wonder if it's a large scale feature like Colonisation, or maybe a better update for it, in both cases it would be fun. Maybe it has something to do with the new ships, as I mentioned maybe a new Kruger ship above, maybe it has something with transfering passengers but on a larger scale with new gameplay mechanics?
Or maybe it marks the return of the Thargoid? Odyssey-related Thargoid content that is better thought than the Banshees and Scavengers? They've already made them, they better make some good uses for them right?
Odyssey Thargoid should get a better chance
We're certainly looking forward to a year full of contents and excitement, way more than we can ask for a 10-year-old game! I also hope they focus on fixing some small bugs along the way, it's an old game with some very old issues that have yet to be fixed.
I didn't want to participate until now, but I think the new Gutamaya: Corsair has something that other ships don't. From the height of the ship, you can see that it's taller than a Type 8, which has a cargo capacity of 400.
It will surely come to replace the work of system colonization, since most people built medium-sized installations and don't have access to large ships that can carry a maximum of 792. In my case, it's the maximum I can carry, and it's dangerous to explode.
It could be that the Corsair can carry not 792 maximum but 500 or 600 as a maximum storage capacity due to its height. But in my humble opinion, this ship will come with a paradigm shift.
I don't see it as a multipurpose ship, or else, its maximum capability, which will surely be the load for combat, is beyond me, given the shape and handling position and the front of the ship.
Also for later in season 3, 4 or 5 I estimate that they will add a large ship with a good Armantetistic capacity and capable ship with reputation to unlock and capable, in future seasons add an agency or the game NPCs have their micro-commerce or macro in which we will have the system connected so that they have a future and progress in the world of Elite Dangerous also I estimate more things that I can't even imagine!!!
It looks like there are new large ships coming this year. I think they are probably variations of the most popular large ships, in my opinion, the Federal Corvette, Imperial Cutter, and Anaconda.
I'm really excited about possible powerful new MkII/Gen.2 versions of these heavy beasts. What a year full of new content in Elite Dangerous! Thanks and congratulations to the dev team!
After the 2nd Thargoid War ended, I was waiting with hope for a Trailblazers update. And now, I look towards Vanguards, an upcoming expansion of multi-player based activities. What will it bring? I don't know, but I really hope it will bring squadrons and player factions to a whole new level!
While we usually have CGs as large scale co-op content, I think it would be nice if they introduce more ways for the community to come together. I always try to get my friends into the game but when they ask me what can we do together I kinda can't come up with anything that is super convincing :( I hope Vanguards being added is a sign they are looking into co-op content more in the future.
I've become well acquainted with the Cutter and Type 9 over the last few days - they've both been loaded up to the bulkheads with cargo and flown to the far corners of the bubble.
What I've really missed is the silky SCO drive of the Mandalay. It's a rocky trip in these buckets when boosting out to far flung planets and I'm hoping this gap in the market might be filled at some stage during this years roadmap.
I can only speculate on what else it might contain. Personally I'd like to see some updates to on-foot gameplay but I'm happy to see these continued updates whatever they contain.
Similarly, I also believe that the Phase 5 update could be aimed at streamlining the current mission system, as well as incorporating new, more complex global missions, like the ‘Interstellar Initiatives’ we had years ago, but with a greater degree of freedom of action and with different possible end results.
As for the new ships, I think we're going to see some surprises with the appearance of a ship of enormous size, probably in conjunction with the Vanguards update... and perhaps with a lot of multi-crew possibilities.
Gutamaya Corsair I'm not one of the biggest fans of medium ships, I have to confess, I wanted my "beloved" Panther Clipper to go well with the Trailblazer update, it would be a masterstroke by Frontier. But the Corsair, with a little effort, resembles Kyle Katarn's ship. I thought she was really cool, she looks like the Pelican. I miss the snakes...
Panther Clipper? I know I'm a broken record. But I expect bigger ships. I wanted a year with ships incorporated from the Elite RPG and the Elite lore that we found in space.
I think in the long term, medium and small ships after a while exist just for the sake of existing, players stop using them, because the practice is different from that.
This Vanguards update has great potential to raise the level of the Elite and stop being the "petty war of minor factions". I'm very interested! But funny mechanics like missions "from the station's mission list" will make me sad, we have billions in the account why not hire an NPC, I really don't like working for others.
I wanted a change in the mechanics of the game and an improvement in the game interface, it is very 80's. It has a great chance of being a promising year.
🚀During the latest Frontier event, significant announcements were revealed about the future of Elite Dangerous, with exciting updates to the game's core systems and features. The comprehensive roadmap showcases major improvements to powerplay mechanics, while the imperial faction is set to receive substantial attention in upcoming updates. The game dev team emphasized their commitment to game design excellence and community growth, demonstrating a clear vision for the game's evolution. 🚀 This Video : ➤Link:
We will have 3 more ships, then i suppose that we will have ships similar to the Corsair, then this is what I think: - New Federal / Core Dynamics ship with similar specs, to counter it. - New Alliance / Lakon Ship, with this we will have the 3 superpowers completed. - New transport ship with more cargo space (I hope the Panther Clipper) because there has never been a better time to launch one as it can help with colonization.
The next one is the phase 5 freature, i have 3 options in mind: - Ship interiors, ship boarding and EVA. - Complete atmospheric planets. - FPS thargoid wars.
I dont know what of this we will see but i hope it will be one of these 3 options.
