Krait Phantom (2024)

With a spacious cargo hold and a relatively generous quantity of hardpoints, the Krait Phantom is a versatile ship suited to a range of roles. It has enough firepower to hold its own against larger targets, and enough straight-line speed to outpace smaller targets. The ship also offers eight internal compartments, allowing the pilot to tailor the ship to their requirements. And while it lacks the firepower and fighter bay of its sister ship, the Krait Mk II, it is both faster and lighter.

— In-Game Description

The Krait Phantom is a ship manufactured by Faulcon DeLacy. It is a variant of the Krait MkII. Whereas the Krait MkII was conceived as a combat vessel with enough internal compartment flexibility to take on other roles if desired, the Phantom embraces multirole capability at the expense of firepower and internal space. The result is a lighter and faster ship that can nonetheless hold its own in a variety of combat situations, or even be reconfigured into an ideal medium exploration vessel. In a press release announcing the ship's debut, Faulcon DeLacy stated, "The Krait Phantom offers true multi-role capability, allowing it to be customised for combat, mining or trading. And for explorers, its impressive jump range means you really can reach out to the stars. This is a ship that can handle it all."^[1]

Overview[]

The Krait Phantom is a variation of the Krait MkII, featuring a more streamlined design, revamped thruster configuration and internal layout, and emphasis on speed and manoeuvrability. To the effect of the latter, while the Phantom has the same number of optional compartment slots as the MkII, the single Class 4 compartment is changed to a Class 3 compartment, and one of the two Class 6 compartments is changed to a Class 5. In addition, Fighter Hangar compatibility, one Class 3 hardpoint, and one of the two Multicrew seats are removed. These changes result in the Phantom shaving off 50 tonnes of mass, allowing it to have a slightly greater jump range and 21 m/s more default speed and boost speed than the MkII. At the same time, the Phantom's nominal armour, nominal shield strength, and maximum cargo carrying capacity are reduced, and it also has a marginally taller profile compared to the MkII.

In combat, although the Krait Phantom loses some of the Krait MkII's damage output, durability, and its Fighter Hangar, its higher mobility allows it to become an agile and modestly successful fighter vessel. The Phantom still has two Class 2 and two Class 3 hardpoints, more than enough firepower to be a serious threat to large ships, and when combined with its high mobility, the Phantom can be a very deadly vessel in skilled hands. Overall, the Phantom is a highly effective Pirate and Bounty Hunter, and a solid choice for anti-Thargoid combat.

The Krait Phantom has somewhat less utility as a trader than the MkII due to its lower cargo capacity, though it is still a high amount for a medium ship and its significant jump range can offset this drawback. As a miner, the Phantom also under-performs the MkII since its reduced hardpoints mean fewer mining tools can be equipped, and its lack of a Fighter Hangar means miners cannot bring Ship-Launched Fighters for defence.

The Phantom excels as an explorer, with jump ranges slightly higher than the Asp Explorer depending on outfitting and Engineering, and more internal compartment space for a wider variety of modules. The one notable weakness that the Phantom has compared to the Asp Explorer is its substantially higher purchase price, which makes it more difficult for pilots with limited funds to obtain compared to the latter ship, which remains an effective exploration option.

The Krait Phantom's two Class 3 hardpoints are mounted on the vessel's dorsal surface, behind and flanking the co*ckpit. The two Class 2 hardpoints are mounted on the underside of the front-most points of the hull, on either side of the co*ckpit and slightly forward. This layout is identical to the Krait MkII's, minus the latter's third central Class 3 hardpoint. The primary pilot's seat is located squarely along the centerline of the ship, but the co*ckpit itself extends from the hull and is slightly under-slung, affording a wide, unobstructed frontal view reminiscent of Lakon Spaceways ships. The single secondary pilot seat for Multicrew is placed behind the primary seat.

Purchase Locations[]

Outfitting[]

Main article: Outfitting

All ships are highly customisable through the Outfitting menu of Station Services. Listed below is the default load-out for the Krait Phantom.

• (L) = Loaned Module
• [x#] = Capacity
• (PAS) = Reserved solely for the Planetary Approach Suite or Advanced Planetary Approach Suite

Notes[]

• The Krait Phantom was released with the Chapter Four (3.3) update of Elite Dangerous: Beyond on December 11, 2018.^[2]

Trivia[]

• The Krait Phantom's existence was accidentally hinted at when its name briefly appeared in the Frontier Store shortly after the release of Beyond Chapter Two (3.1).^[3] It was not until the Beyond Chapter Four (3.3) announcement trailer was released that the Krait Phantom was confirmed to be a real ship.
• The Krait Phantom may be named after the McDonnell FH Phantom.
• Early in its development, the Krait Phantom was internally known as the "Krait MkIII".^[4]
• Like the Asp Scout, the Phantom switches the two separate boosters of its more expensive variant for a single large booster.
• The Phantom's vectored thrust pitch plates seem to be reversed. When the ship is pitched up, the plates will pitch down, and vice versa.

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