Sublight Strike Craft Build: Fighters, Escorts, and Carrier Uptime
A Sublight strike-craft build guide for fighters, escorts, frigates, carrier range, mobility, and the upgrades that help autonomous craft stay productive.
Strike-craft builds need more than “take every fighter.” Prioritize the stats that keep autonomous craft connected to the battle: craft damage, range, movement support, and enough survival to let the carrier keep positioning. Fighters and escorts were specifically improved in 0.17.6, with faster return behavior and escort jump drives that scale better with player movement.
Fighters, escorts, and frigates are not interchangeable
The patch history treats them as separate behaviors. Fighters received return-speed improvements; escorts gained jump drives and better movement scaling; the Cutter Frigate was added as an Uncommon early option. Build around the unit family you are actually fielding rather than assuming every “small ship” bonus works the same way.
Range is a carrier stat
Compare craft damage with the range needed to keep the carrier’s support connected to the fight. The longer your autonomous units can stay productive while the main hull repositions, the less time the build spends with nominal power that is not actually attacking.
Boss loot can define the run
A boss reward can change which unit family the carrier supports. Compare the offered reward with craft damage, range and the fallback weapon already on the hull before committing the rest of the run to it.
Have a fallback weapon
Autonomous craft can take time to engage, return, or reposition. Keep at least one dependable turret family so the carrier is not helpless when craft behavior is between cycles.
Fleet Support can drop again after 0.20.01
0.20.01 fixed Fleet Support never dropping in loot pools. If an older run suggested that it was unobtainable, that experience predates the repair. A possible drop is still a loot opportunity, so keep a functioning carrier build before relying on any one reward.
The returning-fighter pool bug was already fixed in 0.19.03. Keep that separate from the new Pirate Frigate and Pirate Cruiser encounters in 0.20.02: those ships are enemy events that drop run-currency chests, not newly unlocked player strike craft.
Patch details: official 0.20.01 fixes.
Patch details: official 0.20.02 pirate events.