Decommissioned ships present the primary environment and gameplay mechanic. The player must strategically dismantle ships and salvage their valuable parts to make money.
Salvageable Ship Classes[]
Mackerel[]
The smallest class of ships, variously used for short-range transit of both passengers and freight, as well as for scientific purposes.
Available from Rank 2.
Javelin[]
A large and structurally-complex ship class used for bulk hauling of fuel or cargo.
Available from Rank 5.
Gecko[]
A large ship with several possible configurations.
Available from Rank 14.
Atlas[]
A two-level ship with three possible configurations.
Available from Rank 4.
Non-Salvageable Ship Classes[]
Polaris[]
A Polaris freighter above Morrigan Station.
The Polaris is a vast freighter operated by LYNX Salvage. It is far bigger than any of the salvageable ships in-game, and appears at the top of the Salvage Bay's cargo lift, presumably to collect salvaged resources from Morrigan Station and transport them elsewhere.
The Ship Catalog[]
The Ship Catalog, opened at Ship Grade 12.
When playing in Career mode, the player must choose the ship they wish to salvage from the Ship Catalog. This is accessed from the Hab by selecting the Start Shift option. The player will have the option to continue their existing salvage (if they have a ship currently in the Salvage Bay), or view the catalog to select a new one. This will bring up the screen shown above.
The Ship Catalog screen is divided into three main parts. The leftmost column contains details of the player's current ship (if applicable). The central column allows the player to navigate the Catalog with the Q and R keys, to bring up ships of easier and more difficult Grades respectively. By default, the highest Grade the player has access to will be displayed, as these salvage jobs will be worth the most Credits and LYNX Tokens. Each page of the catalog will contain four ships for the player to choose from, with each entry containing the ship's name, class, last owner and Hazard Level.
Mousing over a ship's entry, or selecting it with WASD or the arrow keys will pull up the expanded pane on the right, with more details on that particular ship. In this panel, approximate values of the ship's total mass (excluding onboard cargo) and salvageable value in Credits are also shown, along with a breakdown of the Hazards the player can expect to encounter onboard, the ship's core systems (Reactor, ECU, Power Cell(s) and Thruster(s)) and the types of materials the ship contains. To claim the salvage rights to a ship, click its entry in the middle column or press Space, then Space again to confirm the selection. The Tab ↹ key will back out of the current selection.
The Ship Catalog will reset across all Ship Grades upon selecting a new ship for salvage and completing at least one shift working on it. If the player abandons their shift, the selection of ships will be the same. The Ship Catalog also persists between sessions.
Depending on the player's ability, equipment and available time, they might choose to do quicker jobs to get more LYNX Tokens quickly, or salvage ships for more Credits in order to increase their Certification Rank and unlock higher Ship Grades more quickly.
Ship Grades[]
Ships are classified using a Grade system, reflecting their value and difficulty to salvage safely. Larger and more valuable ships such as Geckos will only start to appear in the Ship Catalog from later Grades, which the player must unlock by levelling up their Certification Rank. Earlier ships such as Mackerels will still appear at higher Ship Grades, albeit in more hazardous configurations.
| Ship Grade | Certification Rank Required | Hazard Level | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Rank 2 | 0 | Introduces the Mackerel Light Cargo and Station Hopper. These are empty hulls, with no hazardous components onboard. |
| 2 | Rank 3 | 2 | Introduces Fuel Tanks as an onboard Hazard. |
| 3 | Rank 4 | 3 | Introduces the Exolab Mackerel and Power Cells as an electrical Hazard. |
| 4 | Rank 5 | 4 | Introduces the Small Refueling Javelin. All ships from this point will have at least a Class I Reactor and Thruster Class I onboard. |
| 5 | Rank 6 | 5 | Introduces the Heavy Cargo Mackerel. Ships from this Grade and above may be partly or fully pressurized. |
| 6 | Rank 8 | 5 | Introduces the Small Heavy Cargo Javelin. |
| 7 | Rank 10 | 5 or 6 | Introduces Coolant Tanks as an onboard cryogenic Hazard. Javelins will start to appear with Class II Reactors and Thruster Class IIs, along with their connected ECUs. |
| 8 | Rank 12 | 6 or 7 | Introduces the Medium Refueling Javelin and Power Generators as an electrical Hazard. It is recommended to purchase Demo Charges to more quickly salvage these larger ships. |
| 9 | Rank 13 | 6 or 7 | Introduces the Medium Heavy Cargo Javelin. |
| 10 | Rank 14 | 7 or 8 | Introduces the Gecko Station Hopper, followed by the Gecko Heavy Cargo at Certification Rank 15. |
| 11 | Rank 16 | 8 | Ghost Ships will start to appear at or above this Grade. |
| 12 | Rank 17 | 8 | Introduces the Gecko Stargazer. |
| 13 | Rank 18 | 8 | Introduces the Gecko Salvage Runner. |
| 14 | Rank 19 | 8 | |
| 15 | Rank 20 | 8 or 9 | Hazard Level 9 ships with no working Atmosphere Regulators will start to appear at or above this Grade. |
| 16 | Rank 22 | Introduces | |
| 17 | Rank 23 | Introduces the Large Refueling Javelin. | |
| 18 | Rank 25 | Introduces | |
| 19 | Rank 26 | Introduces | |
| 20 | Rank 28 | Introduces |
Ship Operators[]
Before being decommissioned, a variety of different companies operated the ships the player can salvage. A partial list is given below.
Aquarius[]
Aquarius are both the manufacturers and former owners of Mackerel Exolabs and former owners of Small/Medium Refueling Javelins. Their Exolab ships are painted in light grey, with green stripes as highlights. Their Javelins are in a different dark grey scheme, with yellow and white stripes.
direct-ways[]
direct-ways are former owners of Mackerel Light Cargos and Small Heavy Cargo Javelins. Their Mackerels are painted either in a halved grey and red scheme, a three-part grey, blue and red scheme or a three-part white, light blue and dark blue scheme. Their Javelins are white with blue trim, with the company’s logo displayed in the same colours.
Expedient Xpress[]
Expedient Xpress are former owners of Mackerel Light Cargos. Their ships use one of three colour schemes; either blue and orange, white with blue and orange highlights or blue with white and orange highlights.
Ferros Rojos[]
Ferros Rojos are named in a loading screen tip as a Martian company which operate asteroid shipping lines. They are former owners of Heavy Cargo Mackerels, Small Refueling and Small Heavy Cargo Javelins and Heavy Cargo Geckos. Their Mackerels are painted either solid red, or red with a white stripe running down the centre of the ship. Their Geckos use a checkered black and red livery. They use a two-tone Javelin paint scheme; the front half of the ship is red, with the aft painted white.
Hanzo Freight[]
Hanzo are mentioned in a Data Drive as the main competitors to LYNX in the shipping industry. They are former owners of Medium Heavy Cargo Javelins, Heavy Cargo Geckos and Gecko Salvage Runners. Their Javelin ships are painted in a halved orange and black colour scheme, with green highlights. Their Heavy Cargo Geckos are painted black, with purple highlights around the nose and multiple Hanzo logos displayed on the hull. Hanzo Salvage Runners use a halved green and orange colour scheme or a blue and green livery, albeit with significant damage and wear.
Helix[]
Helix are both the manufacturer and former owners of Small/Medium Refueling Javelins, as well as the former owners and operators of Gecko Stargazers. Their Javelins are painted in red, black and white in a geometric triangle scheme. Their Geckos are painted light grey.
Hudson Industry[]
Hudson Industry are former owners of Mackerel Heavy Cargos, Small/Medium Heavy Cargo Javelins and Heavy Cargo Geckos. Their Mackerels can appear in several different paint schemes, including solid white, a dark industrial grey, solid turquoise or a halved red and dark grey livery. Hudson Javelins use a turquoise and dark grey livery, while their Geckos use a halved colour scheme, with the top half dark grey and the bottom half red. The company also manufactures the Class II Thrusters used by all Javelins and Geckos.
Imperial Electronic[]
Imperial Electronic are former owners of Mackerel Exolabs and Gecko Stargazers. Their ships have a light grey and orange colour scheme.
Interlink Systemics[]
Interlink Systemics are former owners of Gecko Stargazers. Their ships are painted in dark grey, with the logo in red. The company also manufactures the Airlocks found on all ships and the Solar Batteries used by Mackerel Exolabs and Gecko Stargazers.
LYNX Corporation – Salvage and Reclamation Division[]
Lynx Corporation (Salvage and Reclamation) are former owners of Mackerel Heavy Cargos and Gecko Salvage Runners. Their Mackerels are painted in either black and white checks, black and yellow checks or with diagonal black and dark grey stripes. The LYNX Salvage logo is also prominently displayed on the ship's outer hull. Their Geckos use a black and grey check scheme.
LYNX Corporation – Rail Transport Division[]
Lynx Corporation (Rail Transport) are former owners of Mackerel Station Hoppers, Small/Medium Refuelling Javelins and Gecko Station Hoppers. Their Mackerels are painted either mostly white, with black and yellow striped highlights, or in a solid yellow colour scheme. Both versions feature the LYNX Rail logo towards the rear of the hull. Their Javelins are painted in an industrial striped grey and yellow scheme. Their Geckos use the same solid yellow scheme as their Mackerels.
Samsara Solutions[]
Samsara are former owners of Mackerel Exolabs. Their ships are painted in an off-white colour scheme, with the company name and logo picked out in green.
Tiber Transplanetary[]
Tiber Transplanetary are former owners of Mackerel Station Hoppers, Heavy Cargo Javelins and Gecko Station Hoppers. Their ships are either painted predominantly white, with lime green and blue highlights, or primarily blue with white and green highlights. The company name and logo are also prominently displayed on the ship.
Known Issues[]
- Entries for Tiber Transplanetary in the Ship Catalog currently use the logo for Samsara.