Avorion Ship Building Guide
Your ship is the only barrier between you and the cold grasp of space. But unlike in other games, Avorion ship blueprints are a lot more flexible. Since you build your ships in blocks, you can design your own to your heart’s content.
This gives you more freedom than you might find in other sandbox sims like Eve Online or X-3. But this freedom comes at a cost.
For starters, the laws of physics still apply. A bulky ship with a lot of mass will take a longer time to accelerate. A smaller ship will conversely be more agile.
If you build yourself an armored battleship, you will be more resilient against invading pirates. But you will make sluggish turns and struggle to extricate yourself from a fight, even though you can take more hits.
Whereas if you had a lighter craft, you could zip around the enemy at high speeds. But all it would take is a couple of hits before you go down.
While space has no air resistance, ungainly ship shapes will make it more difficult to navigate. This will be a process of trial and error as you die repeatedly in ship combat. But give yourself time to get a feel for effective Avorion ship design.
Learn to Position Vital Components
Since you build your ships out of “Boxels” (a play on Minecraft’s “Voxels”), all of your ship components come in single blocks. For example, you might have a block for a shield generator, or for living quarters.
During ship battles, enemies will target these vulnerable sections. If you lose your engines, you’ll be dead in the water. But if you lose your living quarters, then you won’t be in such great shape either.
Develop a strategy for positioning all of your vital elements to avoid complete destruction.
Get R-Mining Turrets
This will be a game changer, but it is quite expensive for a new player. The developers themselves suggest that you ask another player to give you one. But if you can’t find one yourself, then you will need to purchase it through trading or craft it.
Automate Mining
As soon as you have a good ship, you need to hire a captain. Build additional ships with mining turrets, then assign captains to them. These captains will run your mining operations so you can focus on things that are more important.
Make sure that you stay in safe, civilized areas. If you mine in less policed sectors, that’s an easy way to get killed in the early game.
Prepare Your Ship for Speed and Deep Scanning
The eventual goal is for you to head to the core area, or Xanion. This is where all the best loot is as well as most of the fighting.
It will be a perilous journey to reach it. You will need to pass through uncivilized sectors where pirates and prosecutors lie in wait to strike you down.
Having jump technology will allow you to improve your jump range, therefore bypassing enemies. Giving your ship fast engines will allow you to outrun any attackers. And if you have the right deep scan technology, you can suss out those hidden sectors in advance.
Start off Small
With a massive, procedural galaxy at your fingertips, it’s tempting to rush into the galaxy center and take on the best of Avorion. Instead, start small. One of the first things on your list is learning about Avorion’s seven materials so you can begin mining.
Begin with simple mining operations. Build your credibility by helping friendly factions. Take the time to answer distress calls from ships under attack.
Check out the bulletin boards for new missions. You can often find the best loot this way, particularly new systems to improve your ship.
As you build your strength and gain familiarity with the game, you’ll be better equipped to take on the biggest missions. You’ll be ready for PvP battles and random ambushes by pirates. And if you’re patient, you will soon be traveling deep into the galaxy where few have traveled.
Since Avorion is a procedurally generated galaxy, you simply do not have enough time in your life to see its entirety. So take a break, rest your eyes, and take things slow.