Concept Art - Vanduul Blade

”Massive fleet actions, attempts at global landings to hold Tiber II itself, and even “clean slate” operations designed to simply eliminate the ability of the system to sustain military occupation have all fallen flat. Millions have died in these attempts, and the ever-expanding fields of wreckage are now legendary. Countless civilians, seeing the deadly battlefield debris as potential for profit, have made the same leap with similar fatal results.“

- Galactic Guide “Tiber System”, 2944

Greetings Citizens,

Another Concept Sale, another Question & Answer session. Since Friday, we’ve been collecting questions from the dedicated Q&A post here and today our designers and artists working on the ship will answer 10 questions for the community. Tune back in on this Friday to see the answers to 10 more questions. Let’s jump right in.

Question & Answer

Where do you envision the Blade position compared to others Vanduul ships, we know it’s a light fighter but is it more of a “Gladius” or closer to a “M50”?

It’s a mix of the two, the Blade is lighter armed than the Gladius but makes up for that shortfall by being more agile. A Blade pilot’s best strength is to evade incoming fire and stay on its target’s tail.

My question is about the two different flight modes. Given the two other ships that have multiple flight modes (Reliant and Xi’An Scout) have had those flight modes regulated to landing only, what makes the Blades multiple flight modes different?

This was an error in the website listing, the folded mode is purely for storage/landing like the Scythe/Glaive and harks back to its Vanduul roots where hundreds of Blades would be stored inside larger carriers.

How well will the Blade perform as a racer?

The Vanduul have no interest in any competition that doesn’t see your enemy dead at your feet. That said, the Blade is fast and human pilots should take full advantage of that.

Will the gimbals be able to be taken off and the hardpoint become an S2 fixed, like other ships, or will there be some Vanduul caveat that doesn’t let you alter the weapons? Will it be able to take other human weapons, or will it have Vanduul specific weapons? If Vanduul weapons only, then how are they expected to preform when compared to other s1/s2 weapons?

Long term you’ll be able to mix/match race-specific weaponry provided you have an appropriate cross-species mount. For example you could take your S2 Vanduul weapons and with a appropriate mount attach them to any UEE ship. The specific penalties (if any beyond requiring another mount in your inventory) are still to be decided.

What sort of operational range should we expect from the Blade? It’s referred to as a “Scout.” Is it carried-based like a Super Hornet and Gladiator, or is it capable of longer range engagements.

Operationally, the Blade is short range and is almost unstoppable in a swarm, but without the support of its brothers, the Blade can be exposed and vulnerable. Only expert pilots should think about taking one out too far.

How does the attributes like maneuverability, emissions and armor of the Blade compare to other ships in similar role?

The maneuverability is intended to be beyond anything else out there which makes up for its lacking armor. Emission wise, it’s about the same, no real effort has been made to disguise or optimize it.

The ship is awful small, I’m wondering if it comes with a jump drive? Can one be added if not? Can it quantum travel or is it carrier based type fighter?

The Blade comes with a jump drive, as most non-snub craft traditionally do.

Are the “blades” (wings) rugged enough to be used in combat? Is the Blade suited for ramming, or is the sharpness just Vanduul aesthetic?

No, that would not be advisable. The Vanduul aesthetic for this ship is to strike fear into the minds of their enemies, not their cockpit.

How does the Esperia replica differ from the Vanduul original?

Like their Glaive replica it has been fitted with human-sized control interfaces to allow the naturally shorter humans the ability to control the craft. Some of the internal components have been replaced with more readily available components rather than Vanduul made ones.

Since this is a replica ship would the interface/HUD be more human based, or will it have the Vanduul interface fighting to break out under a hacked on human interface as the other Vanduul ships have had?

One of the many improvements Esperia have brought in since their initial work on the Glaive has been a solid human-centric interface. With the Blade being a replica rather than refurbished, there is no underlying Vanduul computer system trying to break through.