The Argo Moth is Star Citizen’s first medium salvage ship offering substantial cargo capacity and functional layout but is hampered by awkward design choices, limited combat capabilities, and numerous bugs in its current state. While it fills a unique niche for medium salvage and construction material gathering, its operational inefficiencies and solo usability issues make it less appealing compared to existing ships like the Reclaimer.
The Argo Moth is Star Citizen’s first medium salvage ship, designed as a midsized hull muncher building on the Mole chassis. The ship features prominent salvage arms, dual salvage turrets, and substantial cargo capacity with mirrored storage grids on either side and a central cargo bay accessible via a lift and cargo elevator. The interior includes habitation quarters with beds, a kitchen, crew lockers, and an engineering section with component access and eject controls. The cockpit accommodates a pilot and co-pilot, with the latter managing the missile turret. Overall, the ship’s layout is functional but includes some awkward design elements like a poorly placed turret ladder.
In terms of handling and visibility, the Moth resembles the Mole and Raft with narrow viewport bands and partially obstructed side views due to salvage arms. Its speed is modest, with a top SCM speed of 340 m/s and a navigation speed of up to 960 m/s, fitting for an industrial salvage vessel but resulting in slower, drifting turns. The ship is equipped with VTOL thrusters for planetary lift and a reliable quantum drive, making it capable of traversing star systems comfortably. However, its combat capabilities are limited, featuring two size-two weapons and a missile turret mainly for defense, with the missile system being difficult to operate effectively.
The Moth’s operating costs are low, primarily involving minor repair and refuel expenses. Its main income source is salvage, particularly construction materials, which it can gather and sell for profit. The cargo capacity is sizable enough to handle multiple medium salvage contracts or trading runs. However, the ship is optimized for 8 SU crates, making loading and unloading larger crates somewhat cumbersome. Upgrades are generally unnecessary at this stage, though potential future improvements like swapping salvage tools could enhance performance.
Unfortunately, the Moth suffers from numerous bugs and design issues in its current 4.6 patch state. Problems include control confusion when a co-pilot is present, a reduced hopper size, slow scraping speeds on turrets, and awkward turret ladder placement leading to accidental falls. These issues limit the ship’s effectiveness, especially for solo players, and detract from the overall salvage experience. While the Moth introduces some improvements over the Mole, such as an auto-eject feature and cargo lift, its mixed hopper and crate ejection limitations hinder operational efficiency.
In summary, the Argo Moth is an expensive, bug-ridden medium salvage ship that fails to surpass the capabilities of existing vessels like the Reclaimer. While it fills a niche as the only medium ship capable of producing construction materials and tackling larger salvage targets, its flaws and awkward design choices make it less appealing for most crews. The reviewer had high hopes for a versatile medium salvager but finds the Moth lacking in solo usability and overall innovation. The ship’s future depends on addressing these issues, and community feedback will be crucial in shaping its development.