Vanguard

Up to date for latest version, 0.97a.

Vanguard-class Heavy Frigate
Low Tech Frigate
30,000¢
Logistical data
CR per deployment	10%
CR per deployment	10%
Recovery rate (per day)	8%
Recovery rate (per day)	8%
Recovery cost (supplies)	3 (-3)
Recovery cost (supplies)	3 (-3)
Deployment points	6
Deployment points	6
Peak performance (sec)	300
Peak performance (sec)	300
Ordnance points	60
Ordnance points	60
Maintenance (supplies/month)	6
Maintenance (supplies/month)	6
Cargo capacity	50
Cargo capacity	50
Maximum crew	50
Maximum crew	50
Skeleton crew required	30
Skeleton crew required	30
Fuel capacity	30
Fuel capacity	30
Maximum burn	10
Maximum burn	10
Fuel per LY / Jump cost	1
Fuel per LY / Jump cost	1
Combat data
Hull integrity	3000
Armor rating	600
Flux capacity	2000
Flux dissipation	150
Top speed	135
Systems data
Defense	Damper Field
System	Burn Drive
Mounts	3x Small Composite 5x Small Ballistic
Hullmods	Rugged Construction
Advanced data
Fleet points	8
Fleet points	8
Acceleration (su/sec2)	120
Acceleration (su/sec2)	120
Deceleration (su/sec2)	100
Deceleration (su/sec2)	100
Max turn rate (°/sec)	60
Max turn rate (°/sec)	60
Turn acceleration (°/sec2)	90
Turn acceleration (°/sec2)	90
Mass	300
Mass	300
Game data
ID	vanguard
Tags	rare_bp, merc, ind, special_allows_system_use, system_allows_special_use
Rarity	0.75

	An ancient and tough heavy frigate featuring robust construction, a combat burn drive, and no modern shields. Instead, the Vanguard is equipped with an integrated Damper Field of archaic design but tuned to modern standards. This allows the Vanguard to allocate 100% of flux buildup to weapon systems, leaving defense to its heavy armor enhanced by the obscure physics of resonant field-dampening.
–In-game description

	This design is old enough to be contemporary with early models of the Onslaught battleship, though unlike that illustrious pillar of the Domain Navy the Vanguard was retired from service long before the collapse of the Gate network. In the post-Collapse chaos it was a chance discovery by an enterprising arms dealer that saw relatively complete schematics of the Vanguard-class heavy frigate lifted from an overlooked museum exhibit. The atavistic and aggressive design opens an unexpected niche for the Vanguard in modern fleets - with the added advantage that all essential components have been declassified for ages, and are of simple make; even repair of catastrophic damage is relatively straightforward.
–Additional Codex description

Vanguard • Vanguard (P)

Overview

An obsolete ship in the lore, the Vanguard-class frigate is mainly fielded by Independent fleets.

The Vanguard is a low-tech heavy frigate that is disposable, easily recoverable, and low maintenance, making it a useful addition to early game fleets.

Availability

The Vanguard is commonly bought from from Luddic Church, Pirate and Independent markets. Due to the Rugged Construction hullmod, the Vanguard (P) is very easily recovered (and thus obtained) from combat with pirates.

Tips and strategies

The following section contains user-submitted suggestions, these may be inaccurate or outdated.

Fighting against Vanguards

• The Vanguard lacks shielding, and it's Damper Field cannot fully mitigate EMP weaponry. In addition, the Vanguard's secondary defensive trait: high mobility is negated with disabled engines.
• While Damper Field is a powerful subsystem, it is ultimately still limited to the Vanguard's armor, which will still wear down over time and suffers from the same weaknesses as regular armor. Weapons with high hit strength such as Tachyon Lances, Phase Lances, Atropos and Breaches are effective at destroying a Vanguard with an active Damper Field.
• Be mindful of the Vanguard's significant potential missile payload, effective point defense or high mobility is recommended at all times when fighting fleets with several Vanguards. The Vanguard's own flux statistics and ballistic turrets are significantly less threatening.
• The Vanguard is especially vulnerable to most types of fighters, both due to it's lack of shields and the fact that the Vanguard's AI behavior will often get distracted without a direct command to engage the carrier itself.

Loadout tips

• The three composite mounts on the Vanguard gives it a competitive missile capacity for such an affordable frigate at 6 Deployment Points.
• The Vanguard's survivability often scales poorly into the mid to later stage of the campaign, linking missiles to a ballistic or point defense weapon groups is a viable way to ensure it expels it's capacity of missiles before getting destroyed. This works best with low to medium capacity guided missiles like the Sabot SRM and Harpoon MRM.
• Safety Overrides deserves a special mention with the Vanguard, as the effects of the hullmod plays well to the strong yet temporary nature of the Vanguard. A combination of Light Machine Guns and Light Assault Guns can be supported with a safety overridden Vanguard.
• The Vanguard is best deployed in small packs of three to four and focusing down high threat targets, they can act like more threatening and significantly bulkier Kites. This is especially true against ships that lack 360* shielding or rely on hardpoint weaponry.
• Don't be afraid to dedicate 0 Ordinance Points to flux capacitors and vents as the Vanguard will naturally dissipate some flux while Damper Field is active due to the system disabling weapons. The extra OP can be allocated to important hullmods such as Automated Repair Unit to ensure weapon uptime, Resistant Flux Conduits for EMP protection, and Heavy Armor for more survivability. The ubiquitous Expanded Missile Racks and ECCM Package are important hullmods for a missile focused Vanguard as well.

Fleet advice

• Naturally, the Vanguard is an excellent choice for Derelict Operations fleets, due to Rugged Construction halving the negative effects of most dmods. It is cheap to restore for any unwanted dmods, and it's disposable nature makes it fairly easy to reacquire said dmods without any loss in efficacy.

Changelog

Patch 0.95.1a:  Added elite low-tech Heavy Frigate, Vanguard-class Burn Drive system, Damper Field (on right click) instead of shields Heavily armored but reasonably fast; Built-in "Rugged Construction" hullmod Reduces effect of d-mods by 50%, adds 50% chance to avoid new d-mods when lost Almost always recoverable Vanguard (P) version: same as the base version