SWTOR: All Class Starships Ranked Worst to Best

(Image: BioWare and EA via HGG / Noelle Roberts)

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Since first playing Halo 2 at the ripe age of 6, Noelle Roberts has nursed a healthy love of video games. Throughout her childhood she would become... Read more

Reviewed by Benjamin Barr

In Star Wars: The Old Republic, nearly every available character class receives their own starship. This is part of the game’s ultimate Star Wars roleplaying fantasy. Starships are iconic to the series, and the chance to get your very own is something not easily passed up by fans. Some players even choose their class based on the ship. Needless to say, deciding which ship you want can be important. So which of the 6 ships is best? How should you make this big choice? To help out with this, we’ve compiled a ranking of every SWTOR class ship from worst to best.

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Star Wars: The Old Republic Class Ships Ranked Worst to Best

Without further ado, let’s jump into our ranking of SWTOR‘s class starships.

The Trooper’s BT-7 Thunderclap

This is not a bad ship design by any means. In fact, it’s quite a testament to the other ships’ designs that the Thunderclap ranks last here. The Trooper’s flagship has the functionality of a gunship or troop transport with the size of a corvette. Its design is very utilitarian. This befits the general vibe of the Trooper’s story, but also tells its own little story. The Thunderclap was designed as a military vessel, and therefore was designed primarily with its functional combat capabilities in mind.

You won’t find much luxury aboard this vessel. It wasn’t designed for comfort and so not much abounds around the interior. Even the captain’s quarters is sparsely decorated and comprised of cold, hard steel. Likewise, the Thunderclap’s overall design isn’t exactly sleek. The ship is boxy, chunky, a huge hunk of metal with some windows and guns attached. Though that’s not to say the bulkiness is a bad thing, in fact it’s pretty perfect for the Trooper. However, the rest of the ships on this list have much more appealing designs. As well, the Thunderclap is attached to a class whose story ranks on the lower end in terms of quality.

The Bounty Hunter’s D-5 Mantis

The vessel given to Bounty Hunters takes clear inspiration from Boba Fett’s Slave-1. That said, it’s still going in its own direction. The Mantis manages to connect itself to Star Wars‘ roots while maintaining a fresh sense of originality. Whereas the Thunderclap was aggressively utilitarian, the Mantis takes things in a much more industrial, brutalist direction. Its name is quite appropriate, seeing as how the design is almost insectoid in some places, namely in the front and on the three outstretched engines.

On the inside, the industrial design is kicked up to eleven. You’d be forgiven for thinking the Mantis’ interior was a factory rather than a mode of interstellar transport. Floors made of steel grating, various pipes hanging down from the ceiling, as well as steam consistently rising up from the underworks. All these aspects solidify the Bounty Hunter’s home base as a gritty and rugged machine.

The Smuggler’s XS Freighter

The Smuggler’s XS Freighter is pretty obviously a kitbash of the Millennium Falcon and the Ebon Hawk. This ship is paying a nice little homage to some of SWTOR‘s origins, those being the original film trilogy and the KOTOR series. We’re finally moving into the ships that are built with at least some comfort in mind. The exterior design carries on the tradition of Corellian vessels being “hunks of junk.” It’s dirty, it’s grimy, the paint is chipped and faded, it looks like someone welded a bunch of scrap parts together and called it good. That said, this is a ship you can really love. Much like the Falcon and Hawk before it, the grit gives it a certain charm not matched by other starships.

Taking a look inside, if you thought this ship looked like the Millennium Falcon before, prepare to be vindicated. All of this ship’s design strengths are pretty much the same as those which made the Falcon and Ebon Hawk great ships. More than any other vessel on this list, the XS Freighter feels like a real lived-in home. While the rest of the entries on this list may have more original, sleek, or interesting designs, the Smuggler receives the game’s most cozy transport.

The Jedi Knight and Consular’s Defender

Our next two ships have a greater challenge before them than the rest. On each faction, both of the game’s force-user classes share ships. This means that the Jedi Guardian and Jedi Consular receive this ship. Therefore, the design has to evoke both classes at once while being justifiable as a vessel used by them. The Jedi Defender certainly hits the mark on this. In-story, this ship was specifically commissioned by the Jedi Order to be used by its operatives. It definitely feels like the kind of diplomatic ship any Jedi would utilize. The design is inviting and unthreatening, with the ships weapons placed such to make it obvious that they’re only used as a last resort.

Inside, the ship looks like a flying embassy. It’s clear that this ship was built for comfort. The purpose of the interior design here wasn’t to be a warship like many others on this list. Rather, its construction specifically sought to allow anyone on board to feel at peace here.

The Sith Warrior and Inquisitor’s Fury

As said before, the Sith class’ starship has the same design challenge as the Jedi’s vessel. Once again, the design of the Fury-class Interceptor accomplishes the goal of matching both Sith classes perfectly. It’s deeply oppressive and intimidating, the polar opposite of the Jedi Defender. Whereas the Defender sought to maximize peace and tranquility, the Fury seems like it wants to magnify hatred and malice. Just looking at the Fury, you can imagine the kind of terror which must strike any of the galaxy’s denizens who gaze upon this vessel.

The Imperial Agent’s X-70B Phantom

The Agent’s Phantom is by far the most luxurious spacecraft available in SWTOR. It helps to hammer home the class’ role as James Bond in space. This is a floating hotel you could easily see 007 attending. It’s the sleekest, most interesting, most unique ship design in the game. That’s also pretty fitting, considering the Imperial Agent is considered to have one of the highest-quality stories in The Old Republic.

Join the High Ground

That concludes our ranking of Star Wars: The Old Republic‘s class ships. We’d like to specially acknowledge concept artist Ryan Dening, who created much of the artwork for BioWare and EA which was showcased in this article. Ever since SWTOR‘s release, his artwork has been iconic to the game. To this day, these pieces are still some of the best images of the class ships out there.

Have any extra thoughts on our ranking? Wanna show off screenshots of your favorite class ships? Feel free to leave a comment below and/or share this post on social media to let us know! As well, be sure to subscribe to our newsletter for more SWTOR content and gaming guides.

Happy gaming, and may the Force be with you!