Orbiter

An orbiter closely circles around your ship or travels on its hull. Friendly types of orbiters are able to help the ship's pilot in various ways, such as repairing damage automatically. Parasitic orbiters damage your ship in various ways, such as corroding the ship's armor. Should your ship be destroyed or should you change your ship while an orbiter is installed, the orbiter will be lost (regardless of whether an escape pod is installed or not). Only one orbiter may be installed on your ship at a time. (Thus, having a beneficial orbiter on board automatically "protects" from receiving a parasitic one.)

Beneficial Orbiters

Beneficial Orbiters are available as commodities. To install one on your ship, you must have one in your cargo bay and press [Inst] next to its icon in the cargo display on the nav screen. It is possible to remove an installed beneficial orbiter any time in the Overview->Ship Screen.

Known Beneficial Orbiters:

Space Leech	In the form of larva, space leeches are taken from their natural mothers in leech nurseries shortly after birth and transported in a cryogenically frozen form. This allows pilots to attach them onto their ships - which a leech baby sees as its mother - as armor-repairing orbiters, for an average time of about 25 days, at which point they become fully-fledged space leeches and leave for deep space. Functionality: Every 20 minutes the leech will attempt to repair a certain amount of armor points. When freshly installed, the young leech can repair 3 points per 20 minutes. His repair skill increases slowly with more and more successful repairs. When armor is undamaged, the leech will not repair nor gain repair-skill. The repaired armor points do not depend from armor type (i.e. Adamantium armor will get as many points repaired as Titanium armor).
X-993 Repair Drone	X-993 Repair Drones can repair your ship's equipment 200 times until they lose their functionality and become useless. These drones are said to be made of cybernetic parts taken from X-993 opponents, though the place of assembly is well hidden and known only to a small circle of explorers. Functionality: Every 2 hours the repair drone will pick a random piece of your ship's equipment and, if damaged, repair 1% of its condition (or less if the condition was above 99%).
Neural Stimulator	Neural Stimulation is the process of altering your brainwaves in a positive way. This high-tech device is sensitive and said to be quite expensive. They can be acquired in the same place as the X-993 repair drone - well hidden in neutral territory and only known to a small circle of explorers. Functionality: The neural stimulator is slowly circling around your cockpit, building up a neural wavefield around it and enclosing your brain in a constant bombardment of harmonic neurotriotic particles. After 24 hours, when brain preparation is complete, the stimulator releases a final charge and your hacking skill increases. When its 30 charges are used up, it disassembles.

Parasitic Orbiters

Parasitic Orbiters may attach themselves to your ship without your knowledge; for example, if you encounter a Space Maggot and do not destroy it, there is a chance an Immature Space Maggot may attach to your ship. The advanced skill Parasite Detection allows immediate detection and removal of Parasitic Orbiters. [REF:Advanced Skills]

While you are host of one of these parasitic orbiters, the family of NPCs you got them from will accept you as one of them, thus not attacking you and not blocking your way. All parasitic orbiters can be detected and removed after a few days. If left undisturbed, they will leave by themselves after a few more days.

Known Parasitic Orbiters:

Immature Space Maggot	While the maggot itself is essentially harmless, its waste is highly corrosive and steadily dissolves even the toughest of armor. Pilots often discover Immature Space Maggots still clinging to their ships days after passing through Space Maggot infested areas. Several other creatures that live in and around asteroid fields will see you as a Space Maggot 'mother' and will not engage you in any way. Immature Space Maggots, if left undisturbed, will leave their host ship voluntarily upon reaching maturity. You can get an Immature Space Maggot from the following NPCs: Space Maggot, Space Worm Albino, Roidworm Horde. Effect: Daily damage of 5 percent of your maximum armor points, increasing daily.
Gorefang Larva	When disturbed, Gorefang Larva often respond by using their strong fangs to cling to any available surface. When that surface happens to be a spacecraft, the resulting damage to the ship's delicate equipment can be quite expensive to repair. Other members of the Gorefang species will see you as a Gorefang 'mother' and will not engage you in any way. Upon reaching maturity, young Gorefangs will depart from the host ship and venture off in search of their own kind. You can get a Gorefang Larva from any NPC of the Gorefang family. Effect: Daily damage of 5 percent points of a random equipment, increasing daily.
Exocrab Hatchling	Though small, Exocrab Hatchlings can be an incredible annoyance. Attracted to the heat emitted by drives, Exocrab Hatchlings can severely clog drive systems and impair movement. As host of an Exocrab Hatchling your ship is safe from any engagements with other Exocrabs. Fortunately Exocrab Hatchlings mature very quickly and generally leave their host in a matter of days. You can get an Exocrab Hatchling from Exocrabs. Effect: Increases your movement cost by one AP.
Locust Nymph	Mistaking whole ships for edible matter, attached Locust Nymphs slowly chew through a ship's armor and sometimes even take a bite off its hull (fortunately they stop before the ship would fall apart). At the same time, a nymph provides valuable help by increasing the amount of resources by 25% for all types of resources collected by the pilot. As host of a Locust Nymph your ship is safe from any engagements with other Locusts. Upon reaching maturity, the winged locust will depart from the host ship and venture off in search of better food. You can get a Locust Nymph from any NPC of the Locust family. Effect: Daily damage of 1 to 10 percent of your maximum armor points, increasing daily. Also, every few days, damage of 1 to 10 percent of your maximum hull points, increasing daily.

---

< Laser/Armor Class

| Up |

Ship Destruction >

Last modification on this page: 2009-07-03