The Imperial Courier is a mainstay of the Empire's fleet. It is a beauty to behold while still packing a good punch. Officially the class is used to provide transport for officials that don't warrant the use of a Cutter or Interdictor. However its flexibility means that it fills many roles for the Imperial Navy and prominent citizens.
— In-Game Description
The Imperial Courier is a fast multipurpose ship manufactured by Gutamaya for the Empire. It is one of the smallest ships available, barely larger than the Sidewinder MkI and with a mass lighter than all ships except the Sidewinder and Hauler. Although able to be adapted to several roles, the Imperial Courier's agility and medium hardpoints make it especially well-suited for combat.
Overview
The Imperial Courier is well armed and very well shielded for its small size, making it a great and evasive fighter in combat. In terms of agility it ranks somewhere close to the Viper MkIII. While it has a good pitch rotation speed, its slightly weaker vertical-lateral thrusters cause the Courier to drift more than the Viper. Even though the Courier has the same top boost speed as Viper, due to its low hull mass relative to modules, it is slightly slower and can't boost as often as the Viper, dropping down from the top speed faster.
The Imperial Courier's shields are much better than the Viper MkIII's and Cobra MkIII's, being almost on par with those on a Vulture. Unlike the Vulture, the Imperial Courier does not have such severe power management issues, and is thus better able to equip shield boosters and Shield Cell Banks.
The weapon hardpoints are located in the following places: 1 medium hardpoint at the front of each engine nacelle, and 1 medium hardpoint underneath the nose. Utility mounts are located 1 on top of each nacelle and 2 more in-line top centre of the hull behind the cockpit canopy.
While the Imperial Courier can achieve an excellent jump range between 30-50 ly with Engineering, it is not suited for long-term exploration. The Courier's diminutive size and light weight works against it in this situation: it can only fit a Class 3 Frame Shift Drive. Thus, to keep the ship's mass low and achieve that 50 ly jump range requires undersizing the core internals and eschewing utilities along with most modules suggested for exploration, including a Planetary Vehicle Hangar. While this does not mean the Courier should never be used for exploration, there are better ships to choose from for the role, such as the Diamondback Explorer.
Purchase Locations
| System | Station | Date Seen | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| HIP 5623 | D'Arrest Ring | December 29, 2018 | |
| V374 Pegasi | MacKellar Hub | May 15, 2017 | Cutter, Clipper and Eagle also here |
| Caspatsuria | Binney Dock | February 21, 2017 | |
| Kou Mantes | Espenak Port | February 9, 2017 | 61,342Ls from Arrival Point |
| Bediangu | Gent Orbital | February 8, 2017 | |
| Almad | Heinkel City | December 27, 2015 | |
| Manianscudo | Miller Port | December 27, 2015 | |
| Yaque | Hague Gateway | December 27, 2015 | |
| Xuanduna | De Lay Terminal | July 31, 2015 | |
| Summerland | Henry O'hare's Hanger | June 6, 2015 | |
| Kokobii | Bauman Station | July 20, 2015 | Not Available, February 17, 2018 |
| Tagoman | Brorsen Port | January 23, 2017 | |
| Murato | Tietjen Ring | June 6, 2015 | Not always available |
| Biliri | Fan City | Dec 31, 2015 | |
| Dongzi | Penrose Ring | June 5, 2015 | |
| Kuwemargl | Baillaud Ring | June 6, 2015 | |
| Bielonti | Ahmed Dock | June 8, 2015 | |
| Pandemonium | Hirayama Port | June 9, 2015 | |
| Yen K'uie | Siddha Gateway | June 9, 2015 | Not always available |
| Synteini | Both Major Stations | June 9, 2015 | |
| Njiri | Helin Dock | June 21, 2015 | |
| Miphifa | Happis | June 23, 2015 | |
| Buricasses | Walotsky Gateway | June 23, 2015 | |
| Kuparilda | O'Neill Port | July 1, 2015 | |
| Chona | Smoot Station | July 1, 2015 | Not Available, January 4, 2016 |
| Regir | Grushin Dock | July 3, 2015 | Not available, December 1 2016 |
| Hip 20277 | Fabian City | July 6, 2015 | |
| Orang | Dilworth City | July 10, 2015 | |
| Facece | Peters Base | July 13,
2015 |
Requires System Permit |
| Vaka | Zenbei Oribital | ||
| Marrallang | Coggia Terminal | September 27, 2015 | |
| Kamocan | Danforth City | October 22, 2015 | |
| LTT 9810 | Kerimov Dock | May 15, 2016 | |
| Baldr | Keldysh Gateway | May 20, 2017 | 15% Discount Not always available |
| Beta-1 Tucanae | Adams Orbital | December 4, 2015 | |
| CD-86 4 | Cummings Dock | December 24, 2015 | |
| Misisture | Gelfand Dock | January 9, 2016 | |
| Wangal | Rothfuss Orbital | July 27th, 2017 | 10% discount. Cutter/Clipper/Courier/Eagle here too. |
| LTT 9156 | Korolev Hub | February 6, 2016 | |
| HR 706 | Wright Terminal | January 20, 2017 | 10% discount |
| Iado | Boscovich Terminal | January 21, 2017 | |
| Aonii | Jackson Port | January 23, 2017 | |
| Hollos | Bharadwaj Hub | January 25, 2017 | No more Empire Ships, 10th December 17 |
| Shinrarta Dezhra | Jameson Memorial | January 26, 2018 | 10% Discount, Founders Permit Needed |
| HIP 20277 | Fabian City | April 10, 2018 | Eagle/Courier/Clipper available |
| Sauraratec | Murakami Ring | April 26, 2018 | |
| Lampade | Ashman Dock | April 29, 2018 | Cutter, Clipper, and Eagle also here |
| Sokolsci | Manarov Vision | June 16, 2018 | |
| Lampade | Charlois Dock | July 21, 2018 | All Imperial ships available |
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 Imperial Courier.
| Category | Default System | Default Rating | Default Class | Max Class |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Medium Hardpoint | Pulse Laser (L) | F | 1 | 2 |
| Pulse Laser (L) | F | 1 | 2 | |
| Empty | -- | -- | 2 | |
| Utility Mount | Empty | -- | -- | 0 |
| Empty | -- | -- | 0 | |
| Empty | -- | -- | 0 | |
| Empty | -- | -- | 0 | |
| Bulkheads | Lightweight Alloys | C | 1 | 8 |
| Reactor Bay | Power Plant | E | 4 | 4 |
| Thrusters Mounting | Thrusters | E | 3 | 3 |
| Frame Shift Drive Housing | Frame Shift Drive | E | 3 | 3 |
| Environment Control | Life Support | E | 1 | 1 |
| Power Coupling | Power Distributor | E | 3 | 3 |
| Sensor Suite | Sensors | E | 2 | 2 |
| Fuel Store | Fuel Tank [x8] | C | 3 | 3 |
| Internal Compartments | Cargo Rack [x4] | E | 2 | 3 |
| Cargo Rack [x4] | E | 2 | 3 | |
| Shield Generator | E | 2 | 2 | |
| Cargo Rack [x2] | E | 1 | 2 | |
| Cargo Rack [x2] | E | 1 | 2 | |
| Empty | -- | -- | 1 | |
| Planetary Approach Suite (H) | I | 1 | 1 |
- (L) = Loaned Module
- [x#] = Capacity
- (H) = Requires Elite Dangerous: Horizons, reserved solely for Planetary Approach Suite
Videos
Gallery
See also
- The Imperial Courier from previous Elite games on Alioth Wiki
| Playable |
| ||||||||||||||||||||
| NPC-only |
| ||||||||||||||||||||
| Lore & Concepts |
| ||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||
| Ships marked with H can only be purchased and operated by players who pre-ordered Horizons. | |||||||||||||||||||||