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The Alliance Chieftain has been designed not only to dish out punishment, but to avoid it. Manufactured by Lakon Spaceways, the Chieftain is more manoeuvrable than ships of similar size and weight, and its combat profile means it can more than hold its own in a fight. The ship also boasts three internal military compartments, allowing the pilot to equip a shield cell bank, hull reinforcements and module reinforcements.

— In-Game Description

The Alliance Chieftain is a ship manufactured by Lakon Spaceways for the Alliance. The Chieftain is more maneuverable than ships of similar size and weight, allowing it to hit targets hard while avoiding counterattacks.[1][2] This was designed specifically to give the Chieftain an advantage against notoriously agile Thargoid vessels.[3]

Overview[]

The Alliance Chieftain is very competitively priced, at only 19 million credits it is significantly cheaper than other heavy fighters or multipurpose ships like the Python, Federal Gunship, Imperial Clipper, Krait MkII, Krait Phantom, and Fer-de-Lance, while offering similar capabilities. The ship also features many internal compartments, allowing the pilot to equip a shield cell bank, hull reinforcements or module reinforcements.[2]

As a combat ship, the Chieftain's main competitor is the Federal Assault Ship. Both ships have identical core internal compartments, identical agility ratings (the Chieftain has higher base top speed but lower boost speed), similar defensive capabilities (while it has a stronger shield, the Chieftain offers significantly worse module protection than the Assault Ship) and very similar base price tags. However, the Chieftain has slightly better firepower, its hardpoints are slightly better placed, has slightly better optional internal compartments, and has no rank requirements to meet before it can be purchased, but it is mass locked by the Assault Ship. Chieftain pilots may find it worthwhile to invest in one or more Module Reinforcement Packages, as the Chieftain's thrusters and canopy are particularly vulnerable to focused attacks due to their large sizes and exposed locations.

The Chieftain performs very well against its intended match-up, the Thargoid Interceptor. It is capable of equipping the maximum of 4 Anti-Xeno hardpoints and has enough utility and internal space for countermeasures, such as Decontamination Limpets. Finally, the mobility lets it handle Thargon Swarms easily as it can keep a Remote Release Flak Launcher on its target. It is even capable of soloing Thargoid Interceptors in the right hands.

The Chieftain is also viable for non-combat purposes. It is a decent trader or pirate ship, as it has a maximum cargo capacity of 122t, which is well below average for a ship of its price but isn't exactly bad either. It is also a very good Mining ship with its medium and small hardpoints, good mobility, small body and cargo space. With 28 LY of jump range, it can get around within inhabited space relatively quickly but still makes for a poor exploration vessel.

Overall the Chieftain is an extremely powerful ship. Its most notable advantage is its low price, making it accessible early on and also much cheaper to upgrade to its full potential. It is excellent in combat roles like pirating, bounty hunting, and Thargoid hunting, and also retains some of the flexibility of a multipurpose ship.

Convergence chieftain

Alliance Chieftain hardpoints convergence

The two Class 3 hardpoints and a single Class 2 hardpoint are aligned along the Alliance Chieftain's central axis, making them suitable for fixed weapons. All three Class 1 hardpoints as well as the two Class 3 hardpoints are also placed above the cockpit, with only the Class 2 hardpoint underneath. Landing gear extends from beneath the front of the ship's hull and the two rear engine nacelles, which rotate.

The Alliance Chieftain is most commonly available in Alliance systems. Despite its name and affiliation, it requires no rank or reputation with the Alliance to purchase.

Purchase Locations[]

System Station Date Seen Discount
Shinrarta Dezhra Jameson Memorial Always available 10% discount
Brestla i Sola Prospect Always available 20% surcharge
Wolf 406 Hamilton Gateway Nov. 5, 2021
Chelmen Emshwiller Hub Sep. 23, 2018
Indaol Archer Settlement Feb. 27, 2018
CE Bootis Moskowitz Gateway Feb. 27, 2018
LP 128-32 Bulychev Hub Feb. 27, 2018
CN Bootis Sellings City Feb. 27, 2018
Ross 490 Dunyach Enterprise Feb. 27, 2018
Alioth Golden Gate Feb. 28, 2018
Alioth Irkutsk Feb. 28, 2018
Huokang Steiner City Feb. 28, 2018
G 139-21 Bixby Port Feb. 28, 2018
STF 1774 Hill Hub Feb. 28, 2018
Bragurom Du Pellegrino Station Mar. 2, 2018
LHS 2482 Bacigalupi Terminal Mar. 8, 2018
Aleumoxii Ferguson City Mar. 8, 2018
Beta Comae Berienices Gresley Port Mar. 18, 2018
LP 377-78 Gespar de lemos Port Jul. 17, 2018
Meinjhalara Fremont Port Jul. 21, 2018
Namaka Cantor Platform Dec. 15, 2018

Outfitting[]

Main article: Outfitting

All ships are highly customisable through the Outfitting menu of Station Services. Listed below is the default load-out for the Alliance Chieftain.

Category Default System Default Rating Default Class Max Class
Small Hardpoint Empty -- -- 1
Empty -- -- 1
Empty -- -- 1
Medium Hardpoint Pulse Laser (L) F 1 2
Large Hardpoint Empty -- -- 3
Pulse Laser (L) F 1 3
Utility Mount Empty -- -- 0
Empty -- -- 0
Empty -- -- 0
Empty -- -- 0
Bulkheads Lightweight Alloys C 1 8
Reactor Bay Power Plant E 6 6
Thrusters Mounting Thrusters E 6 6
Frame Shift Drive Housing Frame Shift Drive E 5 5
Environment Control Life Support E 5 5
Power Coupling Power Distributor E 6 6
Sensor Suite Sensors E 4 4
Fuel Store Fuel Tank [x16] C 4 4
Internal Compartments Cargo Rack [x32] E 5 6
Shield Generator E 5 5
Cargo Rack [x8] E 3 4
Empty (M) -- -- 4
Empty (M) -- -- 4
Empty (M) -- -- 4
Empty -- -- 2
Empty -- -- 2
Supercruise Assist E 1 1
(PAS) I 1 1

Notes[]

  • The Alliance Chieftain was released with the Chapter One (3.0) update of Elite Dangerous: Beyond on February 27, 2018.
  • The Alliance Chieftain has an available 12 piece cosmetic ship kit that can be purchased from the Frontier store which allows you to "remodel your ship in your personal style". The ship kit does not affect gameplay.
  • An upgraded variant of the Alliance Chieftain, the Alliance Challenger, is included with the Chapter Two (3.1) update of Elite Dangerous: Beyond.[4]

Trivia[]

  • The concept art of the Alliance Chieftain bears an uncanny resemblance to The Hunter, an early scrapped fighter ship.
  • The Chieftain is likely named after the FV4201 Chieftain, a British tank. Both the Alliance Challenger and Alliance Crusader continue the same naming convention.
  • Early concept art reveals the Chieftain was called the Type X during development and had an identical cockpit to the Type-9 Heavy.[5]
    • This name can still be seen in the ship management screen, when previewing a Chieftain with nameplates. This is a bug.

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