Ships

Descent: Underground will have 9 different ships available at launch. Each ship type will fill a role within the game. All ships will be able to perform all functions, but each ship will perform one function better than the other functions, with each ship having different strengths and weaknesses and supporting different play styles. Every ship will be able to do a little bit of everything. The ships are going to be balanced to create a balanced game. More ships may be considered, but they will have to be balanced against the other ships.

Ships can have different lateral and turn velocities for each vector, making some ships feel different than others.

It may be possible to switch your ships in the middle of a game to match the needs of your team.

There will be a cockpit view for each ship, but there may also be a "virtual HUD".

Ships will only be controlled by one player.

Ships are expected to be rendered with around 50,000 triangles.

In multiplayer, all ships are unmanned drones being remotely piloted by people in the harvester. It has been hinted this will not be true in the single player campaign, and that there may be piloted ships.

Drone Bay
Pilots will be given a drone bay in which they can display their ships, similar to the garage in World of Tanks. This will also function as the lobby.

Auger
The Auger is designed to be the best mining ship, able to bore through walls to find resources, tunnels, and rare powerups.

This ship was announced on March 10, 2014.

Goliath
The Goliath is a massive cargo ship with the most storage capacity, designed to maximize your haul. It can presently use a tool called the Ore Fuser, which manufactures and attaches cubes of ore to the walls of the mine. You can use these to cut off map areas for strategic reasons.

This ship was announced on March 10, 2014.

Panzer
The Panzer is a sturdy tank, able to absorb punishment as well as dish it out. Its special tool includes a energy-based shield that cuts energy weapon damage in half, and absorbs only a fraction of the normal damage.

This ship was announced on March 10, 2014.

Predator
The Predator is an advance scout that maps the terrain ahead and spots enemies. It is the fastest ship, has a smaller profile, and fits into smaller areas. It is like a manned guide bot. There is a planned functionality for the Predator to compress into a smaller size and race away as an emergency escape measure.

This ship was announced on March 10, 2014.

Razorback
The Razorback is designed on a prototype model used in the first campaign trailer. In lore, it is considered an older drone that's still tough and good for minor missions.

Shaman
The Shaman is a repair ship that's able to stay in the front lines and keep all of your team's drones in action.

This ship was announced on March 10, 2014. It will be unlocked for Kickstarter backers that received it in their tier at the stretch goal of $625,000.

Torch
The Torch is a maneuverable, light combat specialist that has good all-around combat. Its movement feels like the Pyro GX, based on consultation with professional players of the original games. This ship was announced on March 19, 2014 after a poll in the forums to determine when the ship should be released. The reason it came after the others is because Descendent Studios originally planned on doing a Descent Inspired game with a working title of Ships That Fight Underground. The licensing of the Descent IP from Interplay caused the team to develop a Pyro GX inspired ship resulting in the creation of the Torch.

Torch KS
The Torch KS was a planned special version of the Torch that would have been given to all backers if the stretch goal of $650,000 had been hit during the Kickstarter campaign.

Typhoon
The Typhoon is a tri-winged, heavy assault craft that trades defensive strength for firepower. It is not meant to be sneaky.

This ship was announced on March 10, 2014. The typhoon has a spinning section that was conceptualized as a means of sending missiles cascading down hallways. The spin attack in its present iteration is a default tool of the Typhoon that gives you a temporary overspeed to its rate of laser cannon fire. This spin attack requires brief periods of recharging, and it drains energy while using it. You may not hug walls with this ship.

Warlock
The Warlock is a technical specialist that can augment teammates, lay and defuse traps, and circumvent locked doors. It falls somewhere between a scout and an engineer. It also has a thieving skill, which allows pilots to steal power ups from players and bots, then use them or produce them for teammates. It is said to be like a playable version of the Bandit (theifbot) introduced in the second classic Descent game.

This ship was announced on March 10, 2014. Although it wasn't directly referenced in Wingman's Hangout, it was available on the Kickstarter page. It will be unlocked for Kickstarter backers that received it in their tier at the stretch goal of $675,000.

Wasp
The Wasp is a well-rounded craft balanced in all roles. It lets you do a little bit of everything. It is not a baby ship, but rather a balanced ship.

This ship was announced on March 10, 2014. It will be the entry ship that players will get with a basic copy of Descent: Underground.

No Pyro GX
The modified Pyro GX featured as the main ship from the original games does not exist in the game because in the official lore, it hasn't been invented yet. The Torch series is the precursor to the Pyros. The developers would like to give the Pyro GX as a reward for completing the single player campaign, but they don't have the rights to it... yet.

Obtaining the Ships
Ships can be unlocked by spending company scrip. Unlocking the ships in-game will not be a long grind, but will require some effort.

Some aspects of ship unlocking are still being designed. Unlocking in single player will be different than multiplayer. In single player, unlocks are purpose-based, and unlocking them in single player will make unlocking them in multiplayer easier. Unlocking does not work on a fixed progression, you can unlock any ship at any time.

Ship Customization
Ships are modular and will be able to be customized by the player. The customized portions are in 3 parts: the nose cone, the fuselage, and the tail. They are not interchangeable between ships, but there will be packs available that allow you to use similar customizations across all of the ships.

There will also be paint schemes and decals available.

Each ship will have a tech tree, and each ship will be upgradable. The tech tree will give minor enhancements or add abilities to your ship, which may or may not be linked to the modular ship parts, and not every tech tree will be available for every ship. If you are destroyed in the mines, you will drop those enhancements as powerups, which can be picked up by other players. Those enhancements will return for your next match, so you don't lose them permanently. Scouts may be able to identify if you have tech tree enhancements.

Ships will have up to 4 hard points. Hard points will allow you to attach items called "specials" to your ship that have a one-time use. These items can require up to 2 hard points. It is unknown what these specials will be, or how they are obtained.

Harvesters
In a future phase of the game, it may be possible to own a harvester, the "mothership" from which the ships are deployed from.

Art Style
The art style of the ships are not finalized yet. The art style of the ships and the maps will eventually converge.

History of Ship Types
Initially, the game was only going to have "4 to 5" different ship types. This was later increased to 6, then to 8 , and then 9. While there was some debate as to whether the ships would be actual ships piloted in the cockpit or drones piloted remotely, it was ultimately decided that they would be drones.

In future phases, the harvester may be an objective to destroy.