No Man's Sky Starship Tier List
Nine hulls, four classes, and why supercharged layout still beats the paint job.
No Man’s Sky flies nine starship families: Shuttle, Fighter, Explorer, Hauler, Exotic, Solar, Living Ship, Sentinel Interceptor, and Corvette. Hello Games added the last of those in Voyagers 6.0 (August 2025) and then handed Corvettes a Tractor Beam in Cosmos 7.0 (9 September 2026). The letters on the hull still run C, B, A, and S. The letters on this page rank jobs — early survival, endgame combat, Cosmos salvage, and long-range exploration — because an S-class shuttle is still a shuttle.
If you only want the first-hour answer: buy or steal a Solar, or scrap Interceptor wrecks until the save is rich, and do not marry the tutorial C-class. Build steps live in Ships and Corvettes. Money loops live in units and nanites. Pair the hull with a real Multi-Tool and, if you like company on the ramp, a companion.
Ranking rules
- Class is a ceiling, not a build. S-class raises damage, shields, and hyperdrive ranges for that archetype. Supercharged technology slots and adjacency raise them more.
- Modules decide the feel. Interceptors and conventional ships accept standard upgrades. Living Ships do not. Corvettes mix modular parts with a seeded slot map.
- Meta moves. Cosmos salvage is a Corvette job. A pretty Exotic does not vacuum a hulk.
- Inventory is less sacred than in 2016. Expansions, freighters, and Corvette habs exist. We no longer put Haulers in S for storage alone.
Early game (S–F)
S — Solar. Outlaw systems spawn them with Vesper Sails that boost Pulse Drive and trickle launch-thruster charge. That is the best quality-of-life unique in the early warp. An S-class Solar is a hunt; a B-class Solar is already a promotion from the crash site.
A — Sentinel Interceptor (kept or scrapped). Dissonant planets hide crashed interceptors. Scrap value funds the save even when the class is ugly. Keep the wreck if supercharged slots cluster. Hovering at zero speed in atmosphere makes scanning and base placement calmer.
B — Explorer. Lowest launch cost, highest native hyperdrive bonus. Use it to chase glyphs, story beats, or a better system economy.
C — Shuttle. Cheap, common, inoffensive. Fine as a taxi between the first two stations. Not a plan.
D — Fighter and Hauler. Fighters hit and drink launch fuel. Haulers shrug off hits and turn like stations. Both are later problems.
F — Exotic, Living Ship, Corvette. Wrong time. Exotics are rare S-class trophies. Living Ships need Starbirth and a Void Egg. Corvettes are assembled at a workshop, not looted from a hill.
Endgame combat and travel
S — Corvette. Walkable interiors, multi-crew in online co-op, refiners, storage habs, and now salvage tools. Cross-play and Cross-Save apply; friends join over the network. Supercharged layout is seeded when you first complete a hull at a station. Reroll that seed with a cheap kit before you spend on the order of 85,000 nanites to climb C to S.
A — Sentinel Interceptor. Unique salvaged tech plus standard modules, high damage, hover, and enough style to justify a hangar screenshot. The best ship you find rather than build.
A — Exotic. Always S-class, strong mixed bonuses, tiny inventory. A jewel, not a freighter.
B — Explorer and Fighter. Explorer for range across Euclid and beyond. Fighter for pirate packs and capital-ship brawls. Both reward adjacency on pulse engines and weapons.
C — Solar and Living Ship. Solar is still a joy to pulse. Living Ships are always S-class, organic-only, and oddly comfortable near black holes. They are collections with stats, not a requirement.
D — Hauler. Shield numbers remain excellent. Speed and the storage argument do not, once expansions exist.
F — Shuttle. Every other family does its job better.
Cosmos salvage
Hulks, ice fields, asteroid belts, and orbital junk are physical now. You spacewalk, you throw cargo with a Gravitino Coil, you melt down a wreck if you linger. Official loop: Corvette Tractor Beam into the hold, haul to a deep-space outpost, process, sell, or spend on station cosmetics.
S — Corvette with Tractor Beam. Buy the beam at the Corvette Workshop. Nothing else eats salvage this way.
C — Fast interceptors and Solars as taxis. They reach the wreck. They do not run the economy.
F — Living Ship and Shuttle for this loop. Bring a workshop hull or watch someone else get paid. Patch notes live under Cosmos.
Exploration
S — Explorer and Corvette. One maximises warp. The other is a flying camp you can scan from without landing.
A — Exotic and Living Ship. Enough range to be a daily driver if you like the look.
B — Solar and Interceptor. Pulse comfort versus hover scanning.
C — Fighter. You will pick fights. You will also refuel.
D — Hauler and Shuttle. Bring them if you love them. Do not bring them because a 2018 guide said cargo was king.
Supercharged slots beat the badge
Four supercharged squares exist on a fully revealed tech grid. Cluster them under the weapon or pulse stack you actually use. A messy S-class is a fashion statement. An A-class with a 2x2 block under Infra-Knife or phase beam is a build. Corvette seeds lock when the hull first becomes a real ship; swapping wings later will not rescue a scattered map. Conventional ships can still be hunted at trade posts, crashed sites, and pirate stations — tedious, but honest.
Scrap Interceptors to print units. Spend nanites on S-class pulse, shield, and weapon modules the same way you spend them on scanner upgrades. Then, if you still care about silhouettes, go hunting. Faction space colours the economy more than the hull: Gek stars feel like markets, Vy’keen stars feel like armouries.
The hangar after Cosmos should look like a toolbox. Keep a Corvette for salvage and friends, a fast found ship for planetary hops, and whatever Exotic you refuse to scrap. Rank the slots you have, not the render you wanted. A perfect paint job on a C-class starter is how saves stall in the first system while the rest of the galaxy — expeditions, purple stars, station work — keeps moving without you.
Frequently Asked Questions
Quick answers Travellers search for after Cosmos.
What is the best first starship to hunt?
A Solar in an outlaw system, or a Sentinel Interceptor you scrap or keep. Either one funds the save faster than upgrading the tutorial C-class.
Are Corvettes strictly better than Interceptors?
For Cosmos salvage and multi-crew interiors, yes. For a nimble planetary hopper, a well-rolled Interceptor can still feel better. Many Travellers keep both.
Does S-class always beat A-class?
No. Supercharged slot layout and adjacency outperform a raw class badge. Reroll Corvette seeds before you pay the nanite climb.
Can Living Ships use normal upgrade modules?
No. They use organic technology only. They always spawn as S-class and need the Starbirth questline plus a Void Egg to start.
Do I need a Corvette for Cosmos 7.0?
You can spacewalk from other ships, but the Tractor Beam is a Corvette part. Salvage-as-economy wants that hull. See Cosmos and Ships and Corvettes.
How many ships can I keep?
Several. Park specialists instead of forcing one hull to mine, fight, salvage, and screenshot. Freighters and Corvette habs cover the old Hauler storage argument.