Elite Dangerous has been dangling the tantalising space carrot of 16-person Fleet Carriers for three years now, but finally, following a succession of lengthy delays, they’re finally almost here – and developer Frontier has offered a closer look in a brand-new trailer.
Fleet Carriers, which were initially due in 2018’s Beyond update, are described as “mobile starships and trading hubs capable of transporting multiple allies”, and can accommodate up to 16 players, thanks to their eight large, four medium, and four small landing pads.
While they have the potential to be a hive of activity for multiple players, Fleet Carriers are owned and piloted by a single Commander – who’ll need to cough up 5,000,000,000 credits for the privilege of owning the basic model, although that does include a Commodity Market and a Tritium Depot are included for the price.
Frontier has outlined Fleet Carriers’ basic utilities previously – and has gone into considerably more detail in its latest hour-long developer livestream – but you’ll find the key elements, and that trailer, below, for those in need of a quick refresher.
Owners can tailor a Fleet Carrier’s abilities to suit their preferred play-style, by deploying various Optional Services, can spruce them up using premium ARX-purchased cosmetics, can set landing permissions, and can even make a maximum jump of 500 light years, although that requires gathering Tritium fuel – mineable from asteroids or purchasable from starports.
Those wealthy enough to acquire a Fleet Carrier will also need to have a solid pile of cash in reserver; there are weekly maintenance costs for operating the vessels, with Optional Services contributing to running costs, as does restocking, purchasing commodities from visitors, and more. Thankfully, owners can get some supplementary income by charging for onboard services or by selling goods to visitors.
And if you’re wondering what happens if you can’t afford your weekly fees, well it’s not good news I’m afraid. Get far enough behind on your payments and it might well be decommissioned, which sounds like an entirely massive pain in the arse. Frontier does insist, however, that smart revenue generation strategies, and minimising service to reduce running costs should go some way to preventing that eventuality.
If you fancy taking a look at Fleet Carriers, they’ll be available as part of Frontier’s PC beta from 7th April, and a second beta for PC and consoles players is currently planned for May. All being well, a full launch will take place in June, at which point your thrilling journey toward absolute destitution will commence.
