The industrial career path in Star Citizen just lowered its barrier to entry. Cloud Imperium Games has released a new episode of "Behind the Ships," focusing exclusively on the newly revealed RSI Salvation. Marketed as the verse's first-ever "starter salvager," this vessel promises to open up the hull-scraping gameplay loop to pilots who aren't ready to commit to the larger, more expensive dedicated hulls currently dominating the meta.
Scraping Hulls on a Budget
For years, the salvage profession has been gated behind significant investment. If you wanted to strip hulls for RMC (Recycled Material Composite), your entry point was the Drake Vulture—a fantastic ship, but one that sits firmly in the "light industrial" tier rather than being a true starter. The RSI Salvation changes that dynamic entirely.
The new "Behind the Ships" episode breaks down exactly how RSI intends to compete in a market usually dominated by Drake Interplanetary's utilitarian aesthetics. By introducing a starter-class vessel capable of salvage, CIG is effectively allowing new players to bypass box delivery missions and jump straight into technical industrial gameplay right out of the hangar.
How does the Salvation change the industrial meta?
Introducing a starter salvager fills a massive gap in the ship progression hierarchy. Previously, the jump from a basic Aurora MR or Mustang Alpha to a money-making industrial ship was steep. The Salvation sits in that sweet spot, likely offering lower capacity than the Vulture but providing the essential tools needed to learn the mechanics of stripping ships and processing materials.
From a lore perspective, this is a fascinating move for Roberts Space Industries. RSI is typically known for the Zeus, the Constellation, and the Bengal—ships that project power or exploration prowess. Entering the "dirty" business of salvage with an entry-level hull suggests that the in-game economy is shifting, making resource reclamation a standard skill for the everyday pilot, not just the specialized junker.
A New Look for Salvage
While Drake ships look like they are held together by duct tape and prayers, RSI ships carry a standard of polish and strut-heavy visibility. The "Behind the Ships" feature highlights how the design team adapted the sleek, angular RSI aesthetic to the gritty reality of salvage work. It’s cleaner than a Vulture, but it still needs to look like it can take a beating while navigating debris fields.
For players looking to switch careers or start fresh, the Salvation represents a new localized economy. You no longer need to save millions of credits before touching a salvage beam; you can now start the loop on day one.