Raider

The Raider is the first truly combat-oriented hull available to players in CONTRABAND: Edge of the Fold. For 14,000 credits it offers the highest combined HP+shield value in the common tier (180 total, versus 120 on the Scout and 180 on the Courier), plus agility that matches no other Common-class ship. It is explicitly designed for convoy raiding — intercepting Core Worlds cargo runs in the unpatrolled edges of Keros — and its stat profile reflects that doctrine: strong defenses, high agility, enough cargo to steal something worth taking, but only 12 slots, indicating its purpose is theft, not trade.

The Raider is the ship that most first-run players upgrade to after their first successful combat encounter. It is the first hull that makes the player feel capable in a fight rather than merely surviving one. Against a Scourge Interceptor (the most common hostile encounter in Chapter 1), the Raider wins cleanly with smart ability use; against a Raider-flying pirate — a late Chapter 1 encounter — it wins by the narrowest of margins but reliably.

Strategy and role

The Raider wants to be in combat. Running a Raider as a trade ship is wasteful: its 12 cargo slots are the lowest in the common tier, and its higher price means the opportunity cost of cargo inefficiency is doubled. Use the Raider to take missions that involve combat — bounty hunting, privateer escort contracts, Scourge suppression runs — where the combat rewards offset the cargo deficiency.

Three abilities are available on Raider hulls:

• Twin Cannons — Medium kinetic damage, hits twice per activation. The Raider's signature.
• Evasive Strike — Combines evasion with a counter-attack. Reduces incoming damage by 30% AND deals 15 kinetic damage on the next enemy attack. Unique to Raider-class.
• Adrenaline Burst — Restores 15 HP AND reduces next ability's energy cost to zero. One use per combat.

How to acquire

The Raider is available at Verge Station, Keros-2, and Keros-7 shipyards for the standard 14,000cr price. A single second-hand Raider spawns in the Ash Ring asteroid field with approximately 8% of the base stats damaged — it can be claimed for 7,000cr after defeating its hostile AI pilot. This is the most economical route to a Raider for players willing to risk a Chapter 1 combat before affording one legitimately.

Trade-in credit when selling a Raider is 9,000cr (64% of purchase), which is among the best trade-in ratios in the common tier. The Raider holds its value because there is sustained demand for cheap combat hulls in Keros and the Verge — Core Worlds patrols decommission aging Raiders and resell them at steep discounts, but the secondary market remains strong.

Upgrade path

Players who enjoy the Raider's combat feel typically upgrade to either the Strike Fighter (68,000cr Rare, military-grade precision combat) or the Gunship MK-II (42,000cr Rare, heavier hull). The Interceptor is another valid sidestep within the common tier — at 18,000cr it trades the Raider's hull durability for even higher agility and speed, becoming a pure pursuit hull. Many combat-oriented players own both a Raider and an Interceptor and switch between them depending on the mission.

Best crew pairings

• Kairos (Gunner) — +15% damage is transformative on a Raider. The Twin Cannons ability already hits twice; with Kairos each hit deals significantly more.
• Phase (Pilot) — +20% speed is expensive but synergizes brutally with the Raider's already-high agility.
• Veth the Defector — If fighting Scourge primarily, the +25% Scourge damage makes the Raider a Scourge-killing specialist at a common-tier price.

Lore and design notes

The Raider's design lineage traces to pirate retrofits of Core Worlds patrol craft during the Second Verge Uprising approximately 120 years before the game. Legitimate shipyards now manufacture the design under license because the template turned out to be popular with private security firms and licensed privateers as well as with pirates. A standard Raider in CONTRABAND is legally registered and fully legal to operate — a detail that frustrates Core Worlds enforcement because the ship's profile is unmistakably piratical.

The in-game model file (Spaceship (3).glb) shows a hull with asymmetric weapon mounts and no cargo airlock, reinforcing that this ship is meant for boarding actions, not civilized trade. Many Raider pilots never dock at a formal cargo dock — they transfer goods hull-to-hull in open space, a practice the Core Worlds officially discourages but cannot enforce in Keros.

Comparison with other Tier 1 ships

Against the Scout, the Raider trades away cargo and some speed for significantly more shield (+40) and combat agility (+0.1). Against the Courier, it loses HP but gains shield, agility, and combat ability — a specialized hull versus a generalist one. Against the Interceptor, it trades speed and agility for more HP and better sustained combat — Raider wins long fights, Interceptor wins fast ones. The choice between Raider and Interceptor is the defining common-tier combat decision of Chapter 1.