The beginning of February saw Elite Dangerous announce something it hasn’t done in literal years: plans for “at least” four new ships, the first of which being the Python Mk II. Naturally, players have been eager to learn more since that revelation, and they got some of that sweet, sweet info drip during Frontier Developments’ latest livestream.
The devs offered the first in-game (and work-in-progress) look at the Python Mk II, describing it as designed to be competitive with some of the best PvP ships in the game like the Mamba and Fer-de-Lance (though that’s not to suggest players won’t be able to use it for something else). The new ship also is hoping to fit into Frontier’s wider plans to make PvP more valuable with the upcoming Powerplay 2.0 revamp. It will otherwise field six hardpoints and six utility mounts and will feature “another capability” that will become useful to all players in the future.
The devs also confirmed that Update 19, Powerplay 2.0, and the alluded-to “new feature” are “absolutely 100%” coming this year. As for the Python Mk II, a release date isn’t being given yet, but it is going to arrive with Update 18 as part of the patch’s overall narrative, which means it may arrive sometime in the spring assuming Update 19’s summer target holds true.
