Cult Citizen

[icycalm]

Hard to believe a mere couple of weeks ago I thought of the M as a distant prospect, something to aim for in the years ahead, and now we have two. And we'd have had three if shubn hadn't fallen on hard times and wasn't poor now. But at least he got the poor man's Idris, the Idris-Poor. Not as good as the Idris-Money, but it's better than nothing. And don't worry shubn, you know we don't like poors but we've been playing together since children so we won't kick you out just yet. Hang in there buddy, life is tough.

So when life gives you lemons you make lemonade. By which I mean there might be an upside to shubn's unfortunate situation if we just but look for it. To give an example of what I mean, these days I have to take a lot of public transport in Barcelona and I end up going up and down huge escalators in the metro and the airport. At the same time I've been wanting to add cardio to my workouts for months now but just haven't had the time for it. So what occurred to me is to simply forego the escalators and just take the stairs. That alone is a decent cardio workout. And then to make it tougher later I just sprint up. Which also turns the 20 kg pack I carry all day into a fitness instrument. And then to progress further I can just take the escalator down and run up again every single staircase as many times as I want. So I end up basically feeling buff wherever I arrive at any destination all day long. And all this without adding anything to my weekly schedule. It's really kind of genius and it ONLY works for poors because a normal person would just drive and wouldn't go anywhere near an escalator.

So how does this apply to shubn's unfortunate situation that we're trying to mitigate? Well first of all the P has a rear turret that the M lacks. So the P can bring up the rear of our convoys and armadas. And then the P has more cargo space. The Idris is the safest way to carry cargo in the game currently, and if you want to carry more than the M can, you need a P. So first off we can load the P rearguard with supplies for the armada (and with support vehicles like medical etc.?), and also if we're operating an Idris like a logistical platform for mining or hauling for example, we should use the P for its larger cargo capacity. So I want to see the P used for these purposes over the M whenever possible and we can say in Cult Lore that shubn's Noble House chose to purchase it for this reason, because they are doing more contractor work than the other two houses. And btw I think CIG expects to sell double Idrises to the biggest whales precisely for this reason: Adjudicator has already implied above that he wants to buy also a P at some point, which I applaud.

So now our capital fleet looks like this:

3x Idris (1xP, 2xM)
4x Polaris
3x Pioneer
2x 890 Jump

Super happy also for the second 890J, and do the same as Adjudicator, ysignal, and buy the Meridian paint and park it at Ruin or wherever recoil tells you. He should have his cap ship available often now, and even two of them at the same time sometimes if he wants. Excellent stuff.

We have a truly formidable cap fleet now, and it should motivate us to recruit more players so we can someday fly all of them at the same time. Talk to your friends and acquaintances and try to get them to join us. Cult Friends play for free, remember (normal games, not Battlegrounds ofc). And of course keep trying to recruit in-game.

What lies ahead for cap ship releases and acquisitions? First the Pioneer will come probably early next year, and we are all good on that front. The next one isn't even in production yet so we shouldn't expect anything for a couple of years. Unless... the Javelin releases with Squadron 42. You see they've already given tours of the Javelin during past Invictuses—not the entire ship, just parts of it, and moreover players have been able to steal it and fly it before (I think I even posted a video of this somewhere). So if it's in the campaign, it could drop simultaneously with the game's release sometime next year. Now if this happens we have a pretty cool option to secure one without F5 Wars: we can melt a Praetorian Pack and grab an Aegis Complete Pack which costs 2/3rds of the price but includes a Javelin. This way we get one instantly the moment the Javelin's release is announced. Though we lose a Pioneer with land claim, so it's not a perfect deal, but if there's no other way to get a Javelin at launch, I would advise on doing it. Otherwise it's $2,700 cash which will probably get near $3.5k at release so if anyone is thinking of cashbuying it you'll probably get 2-3 chances at least before Squadron drops, so plan ahead. And remember: it's the Cult Supreme Commander's flagship, so if you want to command an entire solar system when you grow up, you need one.

Anything other than a Javelin on the horizon? I think the Kraken (and Kraken Privateer) is the other possibility because they've said that they plan to use the Ironclad assets for it, and the Ironclad is coming this year. So we're looking at two years minimum for the Kraken. If the Javelin doesn't drop with Squadron, then the Kraken will be the next cap warship to drop. Plenty of time for us to grab one until then, though note that when it goes into production its F5 Wars will suddenly become much harder to win. That said, this is a much cheaper ship than the Javelin at just $1,400 for the base and $1,700 for the Privateer, so it should be easier to grab with cash. Though note the base is for the Pirate Emperor—me—while the Privateer is for the Contractor Supreme Commander, so the latter is what you want (that said we could always use multiples of everything so go ahead and grab base Krakens too if you want so you can fly me around in them, you just won't be able to command them).

In sum, I am really proud of us and what we have accomplished here. Everyone now, both inside the game and outside, will know we are richer than them, and therefore better people. And that's the whole point of the metaverse genre after all.

Now let's get into the game and fly our new ships and show everyone how rich we are!

[icycalm]

Kraken concept

So this happened in June: the Krakens are finally being made! Here's all we know about the progress so far:

PU Monthly Report June 2025
https://robertsspaceindustries.com/en/c ... -June-2025

Lastly for Ships, the Drake Kraken entered pre-production, with the team identifying areas from the original concept that need further attention to bring to modern standards. Full production will begin later this year.

PU Monthly Report July 2025
https://robertsspaceindustries.com/en/c ... -July-2025

Finally, the Drake Kraken had further pre-production work done. This identified more areas where kits from the Ironclad will help speed up production, as well as some more challenging internal areas that require updated concept time, such as engineering and the recently added small medical facility.

PU Monthly Report August 2025
https://robertsspaceindustries.com/en/c ... ugust-2025

The Drake Kraken’s pre-production phase continued too.

Kraken under fire

I don't see it arriving inside 1.5 years, and it could easily take 2, so it's not at all urgent for us to get one. That said, they might speed up the process by putting more people on it once the Ironclad is out, and it's using its kit too, so that might further speed things up. So we could conceivably see it in a bit less than a year and a half. And between now and then there will probably be 5-6 chances to buy one at most. Apparently it has always sold out during sales, but now that it's being made it should be worse. So the sooner we start thinking about it, the better. Keep also in mind that the price will rise dramatically on release, as did the Idris's, which climbed by $200-400 (cash/credit). Currently the prices are:

Kraken: $1,650 credit/$1,400 cash
Kraken Privateer: $2,000 credit/$1,700 cash

I expect to see the Kraken reach at least $1,700 cash and the Privateer at least $2,000 after release, so securing both earlier could save us nearly a grand.

The Privateer by the way features commerce stores for illicit goods, probably in exchange for weaker combat stats. I've given both to the Pirate Supreme Commander and he can switch between them based on his needs, just like I've given both Idrises to the regular Commander and Pirate Commander. Regarding the Contractors, they will have the Banu Merchantman, which is a flying mall, so no need for them to get the Privateer as I had originally planned.


Kraken Privateer landed

That said, the Spec is fluid, so don't make purchase decisions based on it. Buy what you want to have in your web hangar. And if you buy something, I guarantee that you will get to use it. If you're thinking, "But I am not a Pirate SupCom", trust me, you will be if you want to: the verse will be huge. Plus recoil will always need you to fly him around in any Krakens you buy, right out the gate.

So if you have any Kraken-purchase plans, let us know here especially so we can coordinate if possible to get both versions. That said, if there are two people who want the same version, just go for it and don't worry about it. These things cost a lot of money and the important thing is for the buyer to grab the one he will enjoy the most.

[shubn]

I'll probably try and get a Kraken this IAE.

There is a Kraken Conversion Kit you can buy if you own a Kraken to turn it into a Kraken Privateer. Supposedly, if you apply the kit, you should be able to melt it and buy the base Kraken back if you change your mind, and so buying the base Kraken is the smarter option, unless you know for sure that the Privateer is the one you want and it's the only one you manage to get during the F5 Wars.

[icycalm]

Fantastic, keep us posted. I'll make a point from now on of posting limited hull sales windows in this thread when they pop up. It's a great motivator.

It's the first Kraken that is the important one. I just don't want it to come out without us having one and feeling left out. Once we have the first, any more are a bonus. And if we can use the conversion kit to keep switching between the variants, it's even better. Though I suspect if it really works this way, they might patch it at some point. I know this is how gear works, but I can't see them allowing it for cap ships.