Guardian Interceptor

The Guardian Interceptor is common in almost every quadrant's navy. Popular as a command ship and front line cruiser, the Guardian Interceptor is heavily armed and armored for battle at any range. Carrying a crew of 30, the Guardian Interceptor bristles with both MK-Alpha torpedoes and railguns.

Unlocked By
The Guardian Interceptor is always available. It is a starting ship option if your Ship priority is set to at least B.

Best Professions for this Ship
The Guardian Interceptor is a combat-oriented vessel, especially for those who are attempting to disable vessels (rather than cracking hulls or boarding them.) This lends itself particularly nicely to Military Officers and Pirates.

Best Early Upgrades
Like many vessels, upgrading the weapons locker to at least an A3 locker is a rather urgent need. After that, there are a couple ways you can optimize the firepower of this vessel:

Improve the mid-range
Swap one of the somewhat underwhelming light railguns with an HX-Cycle Lance. This won't be terribly expensive. This particular weapon strikes a good balance between critical chance, crippling chance, and raw damage for only 2 reactor points per shot. That means you can fire your larger lance, your remaining railgun and this lance all in the same turn at ranges 3 and 2. You'll still have strong coverage at ranges 5 and 4 with three torpedoes and the railgun contributing at range 4 if one of the torpedoes is disabled. This also gives you more firepower at range 1 but unless you are boarding, that isn't your strongest position in this vessel.

Improve the long-range
Swap out both of your light railguns for Firestorm Torpedoes. This will permit you to fire four torpedoes at ranges 5 and 4 each turn. This is a very powerful option when you can prevent your foes from escaping. The downside is that enemy torpedo fire is also very accurate and your vessel isn't well suited to soaking hits. Ideally you can get an early edge on your foe and move to range 4 where the accuracy of enemy torpedoes is far less significant (you'll need that edge or your own won't hit either though.) You'll have a medium sized torpedo left over here occupying a medium slot. When you can afford it, swapping this out with a Peak Velocity Matrix will keep your foes from escaping so easily, allow you to make that transition to range 4 more reliably, and give you a couple Pilot dice to use to avoid hits with.

Risks of this Ship
This ship is most comparable to the Fidelis Cutter. Unlike the Cutter, the Guardian Interceptor does not start with a medical bay which leaves crew in a dangerous position at times in ship combat, but is particularly dangerous in the card games and in deep space rolls. It has intrinsically weaker defenses in the form of shielding, armor and even hull as well. This means you need to rely on ending fights quickly and dodging hits rather than soaking them.

Outside of comparisons to the Cutter, this ship isn't initially set up to perform exceptionally at peaceful tasks. For its price point you could start with a Galtak Freighter or a Paladin Cruiser either of which would leave you with money to spare and could be further pushed to a fabulous mercantile vessel.