Star Citizen: Anvil Carrack Guide

Quick Links

Sub Deck

Habitation Deck

Technical Deck

Cartography Deck

Systems and Cost

Star Citizen features some amazing ships for players to use in multiple endeavors. From small fighter ships to large sub-capital haulers the variety here is endless. Since it's release, there is one ship that has stood out from the rest for a multitude of reasons.

The Anvil Carrack brings amazing utility with the ability to partake in almost any activity available in Star Citizen. This said, it does come at a large price point both in game and through the pledge store. This guide will dive into each deck of the Carrack and outline the features that players can utilize to dominate the verse.

Sub Deck

The Sub Deck is an area used for entry and exit of the Carrack, the initial entry area is the Rover Bay where vehicles can be stored. The cargo bay is also featured on this deck.

Rover Bay

The Rover Bay is used to store land vehicles such as the Dragonfly or infamous HoverQuad for deployment on planetary surfaces. Currently, these land vehicles don't have much direct use, but they can come in handy when completing bunker missions that have their turrets targeted towards the player's ship.

Alternatively, players can load this bay with small ships such as the Merlin to deploy as a snub fighter in combat. These ships can also be used as reconnaissance when alone. This works well as the Carrack features a Medical Bay allowing players that are eliminated in these small ships to directly return to this sub-capital spawn point.

This space is big enough to fit two Merlin fighters adjacent to one another, but it can be a little tricky to fit them in the entrance.

Cargo Bay

The addition of the Cargo Bay on the Carrack gives this ship some amazing versatility when traveling around the verse. With 456 SCU of cargo space, the Carrack is one of the best for engaging in this gameplay loop. Although it doesn't compare to something like the C2 Hercules or the Drake Caterpillar, it is still a great option alongside its other versatile features.

Players can simply stop off at an outpost or mining facility, pick up some cargo and sell it on their way to make some quick cash while completing other missions in the verse.

The cargo bay is split into 3 separate modules that may be switched out in a future update for other features, such as additional crew space for quick exfil when in combat.

Habitation Deck

The Habitation Deck is where players will be spending most of their time. With many key areas, from the bridge to crew quarters, this area is a great space for players to utilize in their travels.

Bridge - Lower

The Bridge is split into two separate areas (the upper and lower bridge). The top floor of the bridge can be found on the Technical Deck and has a slightly different role from the lower Bridge.

This area is where the pilot will take flight of the Carrack, alongside the 2 areas for co-pilots to give a helping hand with the monitors that can be used to contact landing services or prioritize certain modules on the ship such as the engines or weapons.

At the rear of the bridge, the player can find data banks for the data-running gameplay loop that is yet to be added to the game. This is a great example of how the developers have future proofed the Carrack for updates that are planned a few years in advance. In short, as the game receives more features, the Carrack will inherently become more valuable.

Medical Bay

The Medical Bay is arguably the single greatest feature of the Carrack. This area allows players to set their respawn point on the Carrack, meaning they don't have to spawn back at one of the main locations and traverse the system back to their objective.

Pairing this with small fighters in the Rover Bay and in the Hanger allows players to have multiple attempts at a single mission (a bounty for example) without the worry of wasting time with respawning. The Medical Bay can also be used to restore players vital requirements such as health, fluids and food. Returning here after each mission can keep the player's character at their peak performance as it will restore any major injuries suffered in combat.

Crew Quarters

The Crew Quaters consists of a few areas including a mess haul, bedroom and a recreation room. These areas feel well-designed and feature windows that look out on the external environment.

There are enough beds here for the entire crew to log off and respawn here as long as the ship remains. With the addition of Persistent Entity Streaming in the 3.18 patch, this will become far more reliable as ships will continue to exist when players log off.

Captain Quarters

This area is separated from the Crew Quarters and gives a sense of hierarchy to the entire ship. The office and bedroom here is a great space and features cabinets for physicalized storage of items. Although this may not be a current in-game feature, physicalized storage will bring a new sense of realism when implemented in a future patch.

Technical Deck

The Technical Deck adds a lot of utility to the Carrack's loadout with additional bridge space, a hanger and turrets. It's good to know that some of the modules here are not yet working such as the repair station or the drone deployment.

Bridge - Upper

The lower bridge is used for controlling and maneuvering the ship whereas this area is more of a command center.

The "commander" can assess dangerous situations and use the scanning stations to intake information relevant to missions or distress beacons. Currently, much of the utility here doesn't work, but it will bring some great gameplay in the future.

Hanger

The Hanger is an extremely helpful module of the Carrack's loadout. As mentioned before, small ships can be stored here for deployment during combat or rescue missions.

The Carrack usually comes with an Anvil Pieces for players to store here. A new version of the Pieces, the C8R, is a medical variant of it's basic version. This can be used on recovery missions to instantly get a patient back up to speed without needing to return to the main ship.

Players have managed to store a range of ships in this space. Unfortunately, small fighters such as the Aegis Gladius or Anvil Arrow don't fit in this space. This is purely utilized for smaller snub fighters such as the Merlin or even the Origin M50 and MISC Razor.

With the new Race Missions in 3.18, the Carrack can be used to transport racing ships to each destination across the verse. A common recurring feature here is how the Carrack evolves over time without changing itself. This doesn't take away from the amazing utility that this ship already has but actually gives credit to how well the developers have prepared for the ever-changing world.

Port and Starboard Turrets

Although the Carrack does feature turrets on the top and bottom of the ship, the turrets on the sides provide the most utility due to their ability to cover more than 180 degrees in three dimensions.

The Carrack is definitely not the most powerful combat ship when compared to others of this size, however, the 4 turrets do provide enough firepower to take out some of the hardest bounties in game. Generally, these turrets will be used in a more defensive manor to protect the ship (alongside its massive shield generators) as the Carrack is more of an exploration ship rather than one used for extreme combat.

Cartography Deck

Although the Cartography Deck doesn't currently add much to the Carrack's utility, it does have some nice features that add to the experience.

System Map

The Carrack's main objective is to be used for exploration. This deck is going to add to the player's experience of discovery new places and traversing the galaxy. Unfortunately, exploration isn't currently a career that players can make a living from but in the future it will be crucial for teams to explore and discover new environments around the verse.

Currently, players can engage with the ship's main systems through the monitor. This doesn't actually relate to any exploration gameplay, but it's nice to have the ability to take part in the ship's apparatus.

External Deck

The External Deck gives players another exit from the Carrack. The gravity generator still works on this deck (to a point) meaning players can stand on here while flying around space or inside the atmosphere of a planet.

Other than this, this space serves little purpose.