Saud Kruger are famed for their range of luxury passenger ships. The Orca is capable of carrying passengers in extreme comfort and elegance. For its size and class it is also more than capable of defending itself.
— In-Game Description
The Orca is a large ship manufactured by Saud Kruger and is currently one of three available passenger ships, the others being the larger Beluga Liner and smaller Dolphin. As a Saud Kruger ship, it is capable of carrying luxury suite cabins exclusive to this brand. Since this ship is not intended for combat or exploration, its class 6 internal compartment and one class 5 internal compartment are limited in what modules can be installed: only Cargo Racks, Passenger Cabins, Hull Reinforcement Packages, or Module Reinforcement Packages may be installed.
Overview
The Orca is essentially a passenger carrier version of the Type-7, sacrificing many of its upsides to focus on the passenger aspect, similar to what the Dolphin was to the Type-6.
Where officially its maneuverability is slightly better than an Anaconda and worse than a Beluga Liner, in practice the Orca handles far better than this rating suggests. It has a remarkably high turn rate, high acceleration and max speed, and is very good at strafing. However, its relatively small power plant and limited hardpoint capacity prevent it from becoming a great combat ship. It doesn't help that its large size makes it an easy target, its shield and armor hitpoints are mediocre for a ship of this size. One of the biggest downsides to the ship is the hardpoint placement; all of which are on the underside of the ship making it easy for ships to stay out of the Orca's firing range. This hasn't stopped a handful of Commanders setting up groups dedicated to combat in Orcas, and like any ship, it is still formidable with engineering and skilled pilots.
The Jump range can reach a rather impressive average of 36lys making it a very good explorer. This comes at a fraction of the price of the Anaconda, making the Orca a better ship for large distance than most others and this contributes heavily to its role as a cruise ship, letting luxury missions spanning many lightyears possible. Its range is still less than that of a Diamondback/Asp Explorer, which are both a fraction of the price and much better at self-defense.
As a trader or miner the Orca is a very bad option. In both aspects, the Type-7 is a far better option especially due to the Orca's huge pricetag. At only 192T of possible cargo it has the lowest of any large ship as well as low compartment space.
The biggest downside the Orca has is its pricetag; it is only slightly better at its roles than the Dolphin or Type 7 but at more than ten times the cost. It is also worse than the Beluga Liner at everything but jump range, commanders looking for passenger missions may choose it instead. The Orca is very good at carrying passengers long range, however because of the weight it's ill-advised to bring bulk passengers long range; at which point the Dolphin outclasses the Orca.
The hardpoint placement of the ship is as follows: all 3 hardpoints are located on the underside of the ship. The large hardpoint is placed in front of the front landing gear, whereas the 2 medium hardpoints are located side by side behind the large hardpoint.
The Orca's heat dispersion capabilities are relatively poor, so caution must be taken when adding or engineering modules with a high thermal load. The ship is especially prone to overheat when scooping fuel.
The bridge is located on the bottom of massive window in the front of the ship, with the pilot's seat, on the left side. From there the pilot enjoys excellent viewing angles in all directions but down.
Purchase Locations
Note that most listed locations will sell all three Saud Kruger ships.
| System | Station | Date Seen | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nuakea | Admiral Thirsk | August 14, 2017 | |
| Obambivas | Galouye Terminal | July 17, 2017 | |
| Achenar | Macmillian Terminal | May 8, 2015 | |
| Nu | Syromyatnikov Horizon | April 13, 2017 | |
| Afli | Pu City | Feb 15, 2015 | |
| Afli | Quetelet Dock | Feb 15, 2015 | |
| Alioth | Irkutsk | Nov 1, 2016 | 20% discount, Permit Required |
| Arexe | Janes Horizon | Jan 3, 2015 | |
| Arjung | Hiyya Orbital | Apr. 25, 2015 | |
| AZ Cancri | Fisher Station | ||
| Baedule | Coye Horizons | Oct 29, 2016 | Beluga liner also available here |
| EZ Aquarii | Magnus Gateway | ||
| Fular | Kotov Orbital | ||
| GD 219 | McKee Ring | Jan. 23, 2015 | |
| HIP 105408 | Binney Horizons | Jan 4, 2015 | |
| HR 7793 | Benyovszky Ring | Jan 21, 2015 | |
| Bhritzameno | Feynman Terminal | 14 Jan. 2015 (Version 1.04) | |
| Branglal | Skripochka Gateway | Gamma 1.05 | |
| CD-87 103 | Shajn City | Jun 29, 2016 | |
| Clayakarma | Kaleri Gateway | ||
| Chona | Smoot Terminal | Jan 16, 2016 | |
| LFT 367 | Levi-Montalcini Terminal | Feb 15, 2015 | |
| LFT 926 | Meredith City | Dec 31, 2014 | |
| LFT 1103 | Kirk Ring | July 20th, 2018 | |
| LHS 531 | Nelson Terminal | May 17, 2015 | |
| LHS 2651 | Kennan Dock | June 7, 2015 | |
| LHS 3262 | Sy Base | Gamma 1.05 | |
| LHS 3505 | Olivas City | Release 1.03 | |
| LP 694-16 | Chapman Terminal | ||
| LP 908-11 | So-Yeon City | Dec 29, 2014 | |
| LTT 15278 | Zholobov Enterprise | May 19, 2015 | |
| LTT 2337 | Bowen Terminal | Oct 11,2015 | |
| LTT 4961 | Conway City | July, 2015 | |
| Maridal | Vonarburg | May 11, 2015 | |
| Nahua | Fuller Vision | June 18, 2017 | |
| Neto | Ising Vision | April 2 2016 | |
| NU-1 COLUMBAE | MOORE RING | Aug 26 2015 | |
| Nyororor | Biermann Dock | April 29, 2015 | |
| Obambivas System | Galouye Terminal | Apr, 13, 2015 | |
| Okinura | Fisher Terminal | Feb 23, 2016 | |
| Porta | 39 Tauri | Aug 21, 2015 | |
| Qama | Thurston Ring | Feb 18, 2015 | |
| 44 Rho-1 Sagittarii | Crippen Reach | Aug 12, 2017 | |
| Saktsak | Bursch Enterprise | ||
| Tellus | Ahern Enterprise | May 23, 2017 | |
| Tucanae | Adams Orbital | Beta-1 | |
| Rhea | Carter Port | Aug 7 2017 | |
| Turona | McNair Terminal | Jan 18, 2015 | |
| TURIR | Brooks Terminal | ||
| Una | Hoard Orbital | Feb 19, 2015 | |
| V374 Pegasi | Mackeller Hub | Jan. 22, 2015 | |
| Valtys | Auld colony | Jul 23, 2017 | 15% discount |
| Xihe | Zhen Dock | Jan 18, 2015 | |
| Yawa | Dean Hub | 16: Jan 2016 | |
| Quince | Jeffries High | Apr 16, 2017 | |
| YZ Ceti | Clement Orbital | May 22 2016 | |
| Shinrarta Dezhra | Jameson Memorial | January 26, 2018 | 10% Discount, Founders Permit Needed |
| Hill Pa Hsi | Curie Gateway | May 5, 2018 |
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 Orca.
| Category | Default System | Default Rating | Default Class | Max Class |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Medium Hardpoint | Pulse Laser (L) | F | 1 | 2 |
| Pulse Laser (L) | F | 1 | 2 | |
| Large Hardpoint | Empty | -- | -- | 3 |
| Utility Mount | Empty | -- | -- | 0 |
| Empty | -- | -- | 0 | |
| Empty | -- | -- | 0 | |
| Empty | -- | -- | 0 | |
| Bulkheads | Lightweight Alloys | I | 1 | 8 |
| Reactor Bay | Power Plant | E | 5 | 5 |
| Thruster Mounting | Thrusters | E | 6 | 6 |
| Frame Shift Drive Housing | Frame Shift Drive | E | 5 | 5 |
| Environment Control | Life Support | E | 6 | 6 |
| Power Coupling | Power Distributor | E | 5 | 5 |
| Sensor Suite | Sensors | E | 4 | 4 |
| Fuel Store | Fuel Tank [x32] | C | 5 | 5 |
| Internal Compartments | Cargo Rack [r] [x32] | E | 5 | 6 |
| Cargo Rack [r] [x16] | E | 4 | 5 | |
| Cargo Rack [x16] | E | 4 | 5 | |
| Shield Generator | E | 5 | 5 | |
| Cargo Rack [x8] | E | 3 | 4 | |
| Empty | -- | -- | 3 | |
| Empty | -- | -- | 2 | |
| BDS | E | 1 | 2 |
- (L) = Loaned
- [x#] = Capacity
- BDS = Basic Discovery Scanner
- [r] = Reserved Compartment for Cargo Rack, Passenger Cabin, Hull Reinforcement Package, or Module Reinforcement Package.
Notes
- Initially decals could not be fitted. Now they can and even some basic paint jobs are available (Vibrant pack, Tactical pack, and Military pack)
- A 'fasten seatbelt' tone will sound in the cabin when using this ship's boost.
- According to the Newsletter #84, with 0.016% of players piloting it the Orca is the least popular ship in the game.
Videos
Gallery
References
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| Ships marked with H can only be purchased and operated by players who pre-ordered Horizons. | |||||||||||||||||||||