Space… the final frontier, no wait wrong franchise. Everspace 2 is a really fun space shooter and action role-playing game from Rockfish Games. It is one of my favorite games out there. There’s something about the vast openness of space, the solid ship controls, and the story that just ties this game together into something I have enjoyed Everspace 2 will have you flying through the galaxy with deep exploration, a lot of story to uncover, and ships to unlock. Each ship has its own feel and style of play.
First person view inside the cockpit - Everspace 2.
I’ve played the game quite a bit though I have not been able to experience much of the Tier 4 ships, yet. So this will be a look at the 10 best Tier 1 ships that I have encountered.
These ships are easy to get early on in the game. As you progress through the game the higher tier ships have better stats and are considerably more expensive. The player level determines the tiers that are available from ship dealers.
Tutorial Fighter - Sentinel Nemesis IB -
Sentinel, Nemesis-IB heads into an asteroid to see what can be salvaged. - Everspace 2
This is the ship you begin the game with. It’s a pretty straightforward ship that gives you a good feel for how the game is going to be. The ship pairs itself with the tutorial in the sense that it walks you through the controls, the ship weapons and various ship maneuvering you will be doing in Everspace 2.
Attributes:
- Shield 120
- Armor 120
- Hull 314
- Handling 420
- Speed 90m/s
Special - Induction - Fire rate increased depending on shield percentage.
Ultimate - Static Overload - The ship's primary weapon becomes a lightning gun. Electrifying enemies around them.
Passives 1 - Collecting an energy orb deploy an energy shield for 2 seconds
Ship Slots:
- Primary Weapon 1 of 2
- Secondary 1 of 2
- Consumables 0 of 4
- Devices 0 of 2
- Cargo 0 of 18
Sentinel Nemesis-B9
This is the ship you are given after the tutorial mission. It is fairly identical to the Nemesis-IB except with a few design and color differences. As a sentinel class, it is a middle-class fighter. You’ll spend a good portion of the early game on this ship. Until you get enough credits to purchase an upgrade. It flies the same as the tutorial ship you began the game with. It is honestly a solid Jack-of-all-trades ship. A very good one to start with.
Attributes:
- Shield 120
- Armor 0
- Hull 314
- Handling 420
- Speed 90m/s
Special - Induction - Fire rate increased depending on shield percentage.
Ultimate - Static Overload - The ship's primary weapon becomes a lightning gun. Electrifying enemies around them.
Passives 1 - Collecting an energy orb deploy an energy shield for 2 seconds
Ship Slots:
- Primary Weapon 2 of 2
- Secondary 1 of 2
- Consumables 0 of 4
- Devices 2 of 2
- Cargo 0 of 18
Onward
Having spent some time in the Nemesis-B9, players may wish to change ships. They will need to progress through the main storyline missions. Spares and Scrap is a main story mission that will unlock the ability to travel to the first ship dealer.
More dealers appear through exploring the different areas of the Everspace 2 universe. What is available is based on the level of the player. Tier 1 ships are easier to find from levels 1-5, unlocking tier 2 at level 6, and so on.
Each ship has different configurations similar to how you see on the Nemesis. The IB that you started with stat-wise is the same as the Nemesis-B9, but the design and color are different. The same is true with potential ships at dealers.
As you progress through story missions and defeat enemies you will find blueprints and modules to customize your ship to how you like. It takes a bit to get used to matching some modules to ships. I still struggle with this aspect of the game. Much like I do during character customization during character creation in other RPGs.
Ship selection in Everspace 2 falls into several categories of need and style of gameplay. Each ship is designed with different abilities, equipment available, and cargo capacities. Everspace 2 was designed to feel like an RPG in space. In a traditional fantasy RPG, you have your fighters, rogues, barbarians, and the like. In Everspace 2 many of the ships will parallel their fantasy counterpart. You’ll have your heavy barbarian gunship, vs your light long-range ranger scout. There’s some debate online about the parallel between them.
The point is each ship has their own feel as to how to play it. If you don’t like how one ship flies, feels, looks, or handles in combat, there are always other options there to try.
I separated the 3 classes of ships into Light, Medium, and Heavy. The order is how I liked them from best to so-so.
Light Fighters
Light fighters are fast and mobile. They won’t do a lot for you on cargo space, but they make up for it with their ability to get in and out of situations quickly. The Scout, Vanguard, and Stinger are the options for light fighters.
Scout - Tier 1
Light Fighter Scout - Everspace 2
The Scout was a fun ship to run with. I didn’t really like the design of them. Stat, Control, and Combat wise they were really fun to play. I enjoyed having the ability to go invisible for a brief moment to get out of danger or be ignored when needed. I feel this is kind of the rogue of the game.
Attributes:
- Shield 20
- Armor 40
- Hull 160
- Handling 730
- Speed 95m/s
Primary and secondary abilities
Special - Ranger - Deals increased damage per 100m distance to target.
Ultimate - Shadow Strike - Ship becomes invisible to enemy sensors and increases weapon damage output.
Passives 1 - Reduced enemy detection range and an increased weapon range.
Ship Slots:
- Primary Weapons 2
- Secondary Weapons 2
- Consumables 3
- Devices 2-4
- Cargo 15
Stinger - Tier 1
Light Fighter Stinger - Everspace 2
The Stinger is the artificer of the ships. With a strength with devices, this one is great for using materials you have gathered to craft sometimes life-saving, or damage-dealing devices. This was one that I enjoyed playing but kept forgetting to craft things in between combat. That was a ME issue, not a ship issue. Technically it became a ship issue as we ran out of devices. I digress.
Attributes:
- Shield 50
- Armor 30
- Hull 180Handling 690
- Speed 90m/s
Primary and secondary abilities
Special - Device Master - All devices gain +1 to level.
Ultimate - Void Swarm - Releases a swarm of microbots to drain the hull and armor of the enemy.
Passives 1 - Warfare and Support devices cool down faster. Restore shields when using devices.
Ship Slots:
- Primary Weapons 2
- Secondary Weapons 2
- Consumables 3
- Devices 2-4
- Cargo 15
Vanguard - Tier 1
The Vanguard is an interesting ship to play. It’s fast and maneuverable like the other light fighters. It excels at damage from the rear of enemies. This is one that I found myself having to hold back from going in guns blazing and taking a little bit of prep before launching an assault. This is one that it is best to keep moving and shooting when you can. Slowing time around the ship was a fun feature of the ultimate. This ability can get you out of a pinch, or into more trouble if you’re not paying attention.
Attributes:
- Shield 50
- Armor 10
- Hull 130
- Handling 790
- Speed 100m/s
Primary and secondary abilities
Special - Overcharge - Flying faster overcharges the capacity of the shield.
Ultimate - Time Extender - slow time around the ship.
Passives 1 - Reduced web effect which is great in a ship that’s best to keep moving and moving fast. Flying close to an enemy at their rear increases damage output.
Ship Slots:
- Primary Weapons 2
- Secondary Weapons 2
- Consumables 3
- Devices 2-4
- Cargo 15
Medium Class Fighters
The most versatile class of ships available in Everspace 2 are the medium fighters. These ships are great if you want to just focus on the story, and side quests, and don’t feel the desire to swap ships based on the mission at hand. Medium fighters include the Sentinel, Striker, and Interceptor.
Sentinel - Tier 1
Medium Fighter Sentinel - Everspace 2
The sentinel class is the solid middle ground of all the other ships. It feels like it’s the most versatile between devices, shield management. It comes with extra consumable spots that come in handy in sticky situations. This one I enjoyed playing the most I think because I got used to it and just stuck with it. Controls-wise it felt very similar to the Everspace 1 Sentinel. Keep in mind this is different than the sentinels you started with. When I played through it I thought they were the same, I was wrong. Upgrading the sentinel to a different model in the same tier can have much better stats.
Attributes:
- Shield 140
- Armor 50
- Hull 280Handling 420
- Speed 90m/s
Primary and secondary abilities
Special - Induction - Primary weapons fire faster depending on shield charge.
Ultimate - Static Overload - Primary weapons become lightning guns.
Passives 1 - Versatility with use based on devices, weapons, and consumables that are installed.
Ship Slots:
- Primary Weapons 2
- Secondary Weapons 2
- Consumables 4
- Devices 2-4
- Cargo 18
Interceptor - Tier 1
Medium Fighter Interceptor - Everspace 2
I’ll be honest the Interceptor was not a very good ship for me. Losing Boost because my weapons ran out of juice was frustrating at times. When I needed to move I had used my energy on my weapons so all I could do was maneuver in hopes that I could stay out of the way long enough for my weapons and boost to recharge.
Attributes:
- Shield 60
- Armor 100
- Hull 260
- Handling 480
- Speed 85m/s
Primary and secondary abilities
Special - Power Converter - When energy to the weapons runs out, it uses your boost energy.
Ultimate - Weapon Overdrive - Boosts weapon damage and fire rate.
Passives 1 - Reduced enemy detection range and an increased weapon range.
Ship Slots:
- Primary Weapons 3
- Secondary Weapons 2
- Consumables 3
- Devices 2-4
- Cargo 18
Striker - Medium Class
Medium Fighter Striker - Everspace 2
The striker was the one I had the most fun out of the Medium-Class fighters. Being able to handle yourself up close to the enemies was very handy at times. I did find myself wishing I had a bit more range on my attacks from time to time. The Quantum Tether took a bit to get used to. Roping nearby enemies so that they all take damage is a very nice feature.
Attributes:
- Shield 60
- Armor 80
- Hull 240
- Handling 540
- Speed 90m/s
Primary and secondary abilities
Special - Close Combat - Increased weapon damage for close enemies
Ultimate - Quantum Tether - Tethers target other enemies and they share damage taken.
Passives 1 - Reduced enemy detection range and an increased weapon range.
Ship Slots:
- Primary Weapons 3
- Secondary Weapons 2
- Consumables 3
- Devices 2-4
- Cargo 18
Just around the next sector - Everspace 2
Heavy Fighter
The highest health but slower class of fighter in Everspace 2 is the Heavy Fighter. These beefy ships are great when you need to move a lot of cargo and need to protect it. Heavy fighters include the Vindicator, Bomber, and Gunship.
Vindicator - Tier 1
Heavy Fighter Vindicator - Everspace 2
The Vindicator is a handy heavy fighter. This is a fun necromancer tank of sorts. With the heavy hull and shield, and the ability to reanimate fallen enemies this is a fun one to play. It did take me a bit to get used to how to effectively use the reanimator ability.
Attributes:
- Shield 180
- Armor 100
- Hull 380Handling 180
- Speed 80m/s
Primary and secondary abilities
Special - Reanimator - Destroyed enemy ships to become allied drones.
Ultimate - Phalanx - Increases drone fire rates.
Passives 1 - Drones… Drones… More Drones.
Ship Slots:
- Primary Weapons 2
- Secondary Weapons 1
- Consumables 4
- Devices 2-4
- Cargo 24
Bomber - Tier 1
Heavy Fighter Bomber - Everspace 2
With a ship that takes less damage from explosions, including its own Arc-9000 blasts. Which can be devastating if you are too close. With a lot of health and a lot of shields, the bomber will let you sit there and rain explosive destruction on enemies.
Attributes:
- Shield 310
- Armor 210
- Hull 620Handling 110
- Speed 78m/s
Primary and secondary abilities
Special - Conversions: Secondary weapons use energy instead of ammo.
Ultimate - Arc-9000: A devastating ball of energy that explodes on impact or is manually destroyed. Absolute destruction.
Passives 1 - Reduced enemy detection range and an increased weapon range.
Ship Slots:
- Primary Weapons 2
- Secondary Weapons 3
- Consumables 2
- Devices 2-4
- Cargo 24
Gunship - Tier 1
Heavy Fighter Gunship - Everspace 2
When you just want to go in guns blazing this is the ship of choice. I found myself just drifting into major battles and letting the turret do its job. Being able to take lots of hits while picking off whatever enemies decided to face me was really nice.
Attributes:
- Shield 120
- Armor 220
- Hull 440
- Handling 140
- Speed 75m/s
Primary and secondary abilities
Special - Arsenal - Increased damage and energy consumption
Ultimate - Turret - Automated turret that fires at enemies
Passives 1 - More boost, lower repair costs. Increased damage against drones.
- Primary Weapons 3
- Secondary Weapons 2
- Consumables 2
- Devices 2-4
- Cargo 24
Closing
Well, there you have it. Ships in Everspace 2 ranked. They may not be ranked by the best stats but they are ranked on which ones I enjoyed playing the most. Still have plenty of games to play with Everspace 2. It’s got a lot of story and plenty of side missions to get distracted by.
If you’re looking for a “Diablo style hack and slash set in space” this is a game for you to check out.
