Phantom
The Phantom is the stealth specialist of CONTRABAND: Edge of the Fold's Epic tier, and one of the most requested ships in the community. Its 300 shield is the highest of any non-Legendary hull, its 1.5 agility ties with the Common-tier Interceptor for second-best in the game, and its stealth coating grants unique combat behaviors not available on any other ship. At 165,000 credits it costs 37% more than the Assault Frigate but delivers a fundamentally different playstyle.
Phantom hulls are manufactured in limited quantities by a private shipyard with Core Worlds military contracts but independent ownership. The stealth coating technology was reverse-engineered from captured Weaver hull fragments over decades. The resulting material is neither Weaver nor Core Worlds but something intermediate — it dampens both electromagnetic signatures and timeline-bleed detection, making Phantoms uniquely hard to track even in Silent Fold conditions.
Strategy and role
The Phantom is built around the principle of disengagement. Its stealth coating reduces enemy target lock acquisition time, its shield/agility profile make it hard to hit, and its ability loadout emphasizes control over commitment. A Phantom pilot fights only on their terms, disengaging whenever the engagement stops favoring them.
Abilities:
- Cloak Pulse — Become untargetable for 1 turn. Enemy attacks that were already queued fail automatically. Critical ability for surviving burst damage.
- Phase Cannons — Energy damage that ignores 40% of enemy shields. The Phantom's primary offensive tool.
- Ghost Step — Reposition instantly. Increases shield by +50 for 2 turns. One use per combat.
- Signature Scramble — Passive: enemy AI takes an extra turn to acquire lock after any Phantom ability. Gives the pilot breathing room between engagements.
How to acquire
The Phantom is sold at Verge Station (occasional stock), Tellen's Rest (always stocked), and a specific Keros-7 black-market broker (discount price with reputation). The standard retail price is 165,000cr. The Keros-7 broker sells Phantoms at 148,000cr but only to pilots with either Scourge Mark or Weaver reputation ≥ 40 — a way of establishing that the buyer has committed to something.
A free Phantom can be obtained by completing the "Seventeenth Mirror" Chapter 3 side quest with Vex. This quest requires +80 Vex reputation and the Vex Prism in inventory; completing it grants a unique Phantom variant with +10 HP and the Vex Mirror cosmetic (visually distinct hull glow).
Upgrade path
From the Phantom, the Legendary-tier upgrade is the Echo of the Fold (900,000cr), which preserves the Phantom's stealth philosophy at endgame scale. Alternative Legendary paths include the Weaver Arkship (680,000cr) for players who want to integrate Weaver technology, or the Keystone (1,200,000cr) for the ultimate ship regardless of playstyle.
Best crew pairings
- Phase (Pilot) — +20% speed on the already-fast Phantom makes the ship almost impossible to catch.
- Log-ghost (Phantom crew member) — Thematic synergy: a Phantom crew member on a Phantom ship grants an extra +10% random combat avoidance.
- Fragment of Oracle — +2 free rewinds per chapter provides the ultimate insurance for a ship that sometimes runs from fights it cannot win.
Lore and design notes
The Phantom's model file (alta-gama.glb) shows a sleek, matte-dark hull with minimal distinguishing features — the stealth coating visually absorbs light rather than reflecting it. Seeing a Phantom at close range is described in-game by Verge Station NPCs as "like looking at a hole in the sky that pretended to be a ship." The hull's matte finish does not reflect environmental lighting consistently, so the ship always appears darker than its surroundings.
Phantom pilots have a small in-game reputation perk: Scourge combat AI takes longer to target lock them, giving first-strike advantage almost always. Weaver NPCs also react with curiosity rather than hostility — the stealth tech derived from Weaver fragments is considered a kind of tribute by some Weaver elders. Flying a Phantom into the Weaver sanctum triggers an optional dialogue about the technology's origin.
Comparison with other Epic-tier ships
The Phantom has the highest shield and best agility/speed combination in the Epic tier. Against the Assault Frigate, the Phantom wins by avoidance — the Frigate's pulse arrays don't hit reliably. Against the Voidreaver, the Phantom loses a straight slugfest but wins by disengagement. Against the Capital Warship (Legendary), the Phantom cannot kill the Capital but can reliably escape — a defensive capability the Assault Frigate lacks.