The best big ships in Elite Dangerous: Horizons are great when you can afford them. However, large and even medium-sized vessels are well beyond the budgets of players new to the Elite Dangerous: Horizons universe. So, all Elite players must start their flight careers with smaller, cheaper ships that can land on small landing pads. These are the best small ships in Elite Dangerous: Horizons for rookie pilots with more limited budgets.
Read also: 5 of the Best Combat Ships in Elite Dangerous Horizons
Adder
The Adder is a multipurpose ship suitable for a range of purposes. This ship is primarily recommended because it’s the cheapest one in the game with a class 2 hardpoint, which is handy for mining and combat. Many players snap up the Adder to get started with mining, from which they can easily recoup this spaceship’s cost. The Adder only costs 87,808 credits, making it one of the cheapest spaceships in Elite Dangerous: Horizons.
Aside from that, Adder’s jump range is also very good for a ship at its price point. Its default maximum jump range of 32.96 light years is superior to what many much higher-priced ships can do. For instance, the Federal Corvette, costing 187 million credits, can only muster a maximum jump range of 21 light years. So, the Adder is also a good early-game spaceship for exploration.
Adder Specifications:
- Armor: 162
- Shield: 78 MJ
- Default speed: 220 m/s
- Default cargo space: Six tons (30 tons maximum)
- Fuel tank size: Eight tons
- Internal compartments: Seven
Dolphin
Dolphin is the smallest and cheapest of the Saud Kruger luxury passenger ships for space tourism in Elite: Dangerous Horizons. It’s the cheapest spaceship that incorporates luxury suite cabins, enabling you to complete lucrative VIP passenger contracts. This is a pricier small ship that costs 1,337,330 million credits, but it won’t take long to recoup that cost by completing passenger contracts with the Dolphin.
Dolphin is also among the better exploration ships in Elite: Dangerous. With some upgrading, you can Hyperspace jump up to 35 light-years with the Dolphin. Its 16-ton fuel tank is also bigger than what most alternative small ships have fitted.
The Dolphin spaceship
Another good thing about the Dolphin is that it has a lot of cargo space for a small ship, making it one of the best-budget ships for trading. The Dolphin can carry up to 88 tons of cargo. That’s the second-highest maximum cargo capacity of all the smallest vessels in Elite Dangerous: Horizons.
Dolphin Specifications:
- Armor: 198
- Shields: 143 MJ
- Default speed: 258 m/s
- Boost speed: 361 m/s
- Internal compartments: Nine
Cobra MkIII
Cobra MkIII is the multipurpose ship of choice for many players starting in the Elite Dangerous universe. This spaceship is a decent choice because it’s pretty good in all roles, be it trading, exploration, or combat. Whatever you want to do in Elite, the Cobra does it good for a small ship. With a very affordable 349,718 credits price tag, Cobra is the first spaceship lots of new players purchase when they’ve had enough of the Sidewinder.
The Cobra MkIII spaceship
Although Cobra MkIII is a solid all-rounder, trading is what it’s best for. This spaceship’s maximum 64-ton cargo storage space eclipses most ships of its size, except the more expensive MkIV and Dolphin. It also has four hardpoints for fitting mining and combat gear, which is more than most small spaceships. So, snapping up this ship is one of the best ways for new Elite players to expand trading for purchasing bigger and better spaceships.
Cobra MkIII Specifications:
- Armor: 216
- Shields: 92 MJ
- Default speed: 282 m/s
- Boost speed: 403 m/s
- Default jump range: 11.16 light-years (28.55 light-years maximum)
- Fuel tank size: 16 tons
- Internal compartments: Eight
Diamondback Explorer
Exploration is one of the most appealing things about Elite Dangerous: Horizons. Diamondback Explorer is the best small ship designed for that purpose. It’s a terrific long-range travel ship that can also hold its own in combat against smaller to medium-sized vessels. However, Diamondback Explorer is one of the most expensive small ships in the game with a price tag of 1,894,760 credits, which reflects its overall quality.
The jump range is the biggest selling point of the Diamondback Explorer. This spaceship’s maximum jump range of 41.61 light years is one of the best in Elite Dangerous: Horizons. The 1.8 million credits required for purchasing this ship are worth it for that alone. Explorer’s 32-ton fuel tank is also the biggest fitted on any small ship in the game.
The Diamondback Explorer spaceship
Nor is Diamondback Explorer too shabby in combat. It’s one of the few small ships in Elite Dangerous: Horizons that has a large hardpoint with which you can add higher-tier weaponry. Furthermore, Diamondback Explorer has good armor and shields for a small-sized spaceship.
Diamondback Explorer Specifications:
- Armor: 270
- Shields: 131 MJ
- Default speed: 251 m/s
- Default boost speed: 328 m/s
- Internal compartments: Eight
- Default cargo space: 12 tons (60 tons maximum)
Viper MkIII
The Viper MkIII is a popular small combat ship many players purchase in Elite Dangerous: Horizons. If you want to do bounty hunting sooner rather than later, the MkIII is one of the best small spaceships to stump up for. The MkIII costs a mere 142, 931 credits and can hold its own against some mid-sized vessels.
The Viper MkIII spaceship
Viper MkIII is one of the fastest and most maneuverable spaceships in Elite Dangerous that can reach a top speed of 361 m/s. Its speed and agility give it an advantage when fighting slower, less maneuverable ships. This spaceship’s four hardpoints also enable it to fit more weaponry than alternative small combat ships like the Imperial Eagle, Vulture, and Eagle MkII, which gives it more loadout options.
Viper MkIII Specifications:
- Armor: 126
- Shields: 137 MJ
- Default boost speed:
- Default jump range: 7.67 light-years (21.28 light-years maximum)
- Internal compartments: Six
- Fuel tank size: Four tons
- Default cargo storage space: Four tons (26 tons maximum)
So, take your pick from those best small ships in Elite Dangerous: Horizons when you can’t afford any of the game’s larger vessels. They’re very good value ships with which to get started in the Milky Way. As they’re cheap spaceships, it’s worth purchasing at least two of them for different roles.
