Merchantman

The Banu Merchantman is a trading ship capable of landing or docking and then inviting locals in to view what its cargo holds have to offer. The ship design, perfected by generations of Banu development, is intended to offer a combination of high speed and durability. While the Merchantman is less configurable than a Caterpillar or a Starfarer, there's still plenty of room to take the ship in different directions.^[1]

Features

Bazaar

Featuring an on-board enclosed marketplace, traders can display their goods and services to be exchanged or sold.

Negotiation Room

This is where the Banu does all the negotiating with clients which looks onto the cargo bay so clients can see the cargo.

Craftsmanship

When you walk around a Merchantman, you will quickly notice the exquisite craftsmanship with intricate subtle detailing the Banu are well known for. Ideal if you wish to give a good impression to your clients.

Durability

They are reliable, sturdy and durable, which makes them valued by their Human owners. Amongst the Banu, a ship can sometimes be passed on from generation to generation.

Defense

If there is one thing that these ships are famous for, it is their defensive capabilities. With a hull & armor that can take a pounding, together with a set of fast engines, the Merchantman can easily escape an attack with minimal damage to the ship and internal cargo.

Concealed Weaponry

All the Banu's weapons are concealed because of their need for being low key. But in times of need, the Banu's weaponry can pack a punch, making them ideal in situations like running at pirate blockades.

Specifications

Radar

1x

S3

Large Radar

To be determined

Computer

1x

S2

Medium Computer

To be determined

Power plant

1x

S3

Large Power Plant

To be determined

Cooler

1x

S3

Large Cooler

To be determined

Shield generator

2x

S3

Large Shield Generator

To be determined

Quantum drive

1x

S3

Large Quantum Drive

N/A

Jump drive

1x

S3

Jump Drive

N/A

Fuel intake

1x

S3

Fuel Intake

N/A

Fuel tank

1x

S2

Fuel Tank

N/A

Quantum fuel tank

1x

S3

Quantum Fuel Tank

N/A

Pilot weapon

2x

S8

Size 8 Weapon

N/A

Turret

1x

S6

Manned Turret (Top)

N/A

2x

S5

Size 5 Weapon

To be determined

2x

S5

Remote Turret (Wing)

N/A

4x

S4

Size 4 Weapon

To be determined

4x

SX

Point Defense Turret

N/A

4x

SX

Weapon

To be determined

Pledge price history

Date	Pledge cost (USD)	Insurance	Availability	Sale
2013-11-20	250	LTI	Time-limited	2013 anniversary sale ^[3]
2014-11-22	250	2 years	Time-limited	2014 anniversary sale ^[4]
2015-11-21	250	3 years	Time-limited	2015 anniversary sale ^[5]
2016-11-25	250	4 years	Time-limited	2016 anniversary sale ^[6]
2017-04-22	350 (Warbond - 300)	6 months	Time-limited	2017 Defender sale ^[7]
2019-11-28	350	10 years	Time-limited	IAE 2949 ^[8]
2020-06-12	350	6 months	Time-limited	2020 Alien Week^[9]
2020-11-26	450 (Warbond - 425)	10 years	Time-limited	IAE 2950^[10]
2021-06-11	550 (Warbond - 450)	6 months	Time-limited	2021 Alien Week
2022-06-16	600 (Warbond - 550)	6 months	Time-limited	2022 Alien Week
2022-11-21	650 (Warbond - 600)	10 years	Time-limited	IAE 2952
2023-11-17	650 (Warbond - 600)	10 years	Time-limited	IAE 2953

Gallery

Development

The Merchantman was part of the 27 million stretch goal in 2013, aiming to expand the game’s alien cultures. As with the Khartu-al, the Merchantman helped introduce and define the Banu race early on before copious amounts of additional lore were developed for the species.^[11]

2013-11-11	Announced as a part of the $27 million stretch goal.^[11]
2013-11-26	First concept sale ^[12]
2019	Original concept was reworked to reflect the new styles from the Defender.^[2]^[13]
2021-05-05	Revealed to be in production and to be implemented in game with an allocated work schedule of 50 weeks.^[14]
2021-10-09	Additional information about the state of reworked Merchantman is provided on CitizenCon 2951.^[2]
2023-06-26	Revealed to be demoted into the development backlog to prioritize capital ships such as Polaris from Roberts Space Industries. It was due to RSI capital ships costing less resources and more impactful to develop, as it has existing design kits and the created assets can be applied to several other RSI ships. While the Merchantman needs a lot of unique assets and there are less or no Banu vehicles in the pipeline. Due to its long development time, some key people that have worked with that are no longer with the company, with Merchantman having no existing guidelines, it will take significant time to restart the development process.^[15]

Role	Contributors
Original concept	Emmanuel Shiu (2013),^[13]^[16] Michael Oberschneider^[2]
Art	Paul Jones^[2]
System design	Mark Gibson^[2]

Trivia

In an Inside Star Citizen episode on 2024-05-16, Vehicle Director John Crewe stated that "When and where are the Banu Merchantman?" is the top 1 question being asked.^[17]