̶I̶L̶W̶ DRAKE DEFENCE CON 2956 WB CCU Watch

FZD

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Also check Bictoria's more detailed tables below!

Translation of the title:
ILW = Invictus Launch Week
2956 = 2026
WB = Warbond
CCU = Cross Chassis Upgrade
watch = keep a beady eye on

What are WB CCUs?
They're how CIG does discounts. They require new money (so no store credit) but you can get $5, $10, $15, $20 or more knocked off the price of a regular CCU.

"$5 dollars? Why bother" I hear you ask.
Well the cool thing about these is that you can combine the discounts if you can fit multiple WB CCUs in the same CCU chain. It's basically make your own discount. Now, you have to pay at least $5 for a CCU, so the smallest WB CCU you can buy is a $10 CCU discounted to $5, or a 50% discount. Not too shabby.

The thing to keep in mind here, is to always select the ship closest in value to the WB CCU discount point. So for example, let's say Arrow ($75 melt value normally) has a $5 discount WB CCU on it. You can't pick 325A to Arrow CCU, as that'd be $0 CCU and CIG doesn't do those. For obvious reasons. Instead, you could, and probably should, pick 315p ($65 melt value) for a $5 off, and pay $5 at 50% discount. Of course you could pick 300i ($60 melt), possibly because you own a 300i, and pay $10 at 33% discount. But you really shouldn't. This is for two reasons. Firstly, because WB CCUs are new money, so you'd have to put in $10 new money, when you could've just used $5 store credit for 300i to 315p and then used $5 fresh money for 315p to Arrow. Secondly, and more importantly, the smaller CCUs you use the better chances you have to fit some new future CCUs into the chain. Thirdly, specific to this and some other cases, 315p is permanently available. So even if you don't have store credits right now, you can get that normal 300i to 315p CCU whenever.

"Okey, but it's still just $5 dollars, like what are you going to do, keep doing this for years and, then what, get ships for next to nothing?"
Yes. Absolutely yes. This really is "build your own discount." If you have the patience to do this over several sale events, you can get something like my $155 Banu Merchantman CCU chain. That's quite a steal. Or if you got more money than patience, you can do this over like one event and walk away with perhaps a 30% total discount depending on the target ship and your luck. That's not bad either.

"But isn't the goal to support the development! Why not just pay the full price of ships?"
Well, if you get a ship for 50% off, you still got the option to buy a second ship also for 50% off. You'll still fund with the same amount, only you got twice the amount of ships now. Cool, right?

For historical data, see
ILW 2952 https://testsquadron.com/threads/friendly-reminder-that-warbond-ccus-are-a-thing.19713/
IAE 2952 https://testsquadron.com/threads/iae-2952-wb-ccu-watch.20063/
ILW 2953 https://testsquadron.com/threads/ilw-2953-wb-ccu-watch.20422/
Alien Week 2953 https://testsquadron.com/threads/alienweek-warbond-ccus.20484/
IAE 2953 https://testsquadron.com/threads/iae-2953-wb-ccu-watch.20705/
ILW 2954 https://testsquadron.com/threads/ilw-2954-wb-ccu-watch.21205/
IAE 2954 https://testsquadron.com/threads/iae-2954-wb-ccu-watch.21503/
ILW 2955 https://testsquadron.com/threads/ilw-2955-wb-ccu-watch.21692/
IAE 2955 https://testsquadron.com/threads/iae-2955-wb-ccu-watch.21888/

"Didn't you just copy-paste this info blurt from your previous post?" x5
Shhh! You're not supposed to notice! This is just for new members anyhow, if you've already been around ILW or IAE, why are you here reading 'information for new members' in the first place?

Todays Ship(s)Warbond CCU PriceNormal price
Mercury Star Runner$240$260
Caterpillar$300$330
Paladin$325$350
Flight ready:
Hull B (left mid event)$260$280
M80$275$300
Ironclad$525$600
Ironclad Assault$575$650
Tiburon$700$775

DateShipWarbond CCU PriceNormal price
14thCorsair$230$250
15thShiv$135$150
16thPolaris$875$975
17thL-51 Wolf$95$100
18thStarlancer TAC$315$375
19thGuardian Qi$240$260
20thRedeemer$300$330
21stVanguard Sentinel$260$275
22ndNova$110$120
23rdM2 Hercules$485$520
24thF7C-M Super Hornet Mk II$220$240
25thLiberator$520$575
Finale:
26thMercury Star Runner$240$260
Caterpillar$300$330
Paladin$325$350

Ships you can use store credits to speculate with
ShipPriceNotes
G12A$65
Legionnaire$120
Zeus MK II MR$190
Vulcan$200
Crucible$350
Liberator$575
Nautilus$725

None of these had work detailed in April monthly report, so they're not actively being worked on. That being said, G12A, Legionnaire, Zeus variant and Vulcan aren't the sort of ships that would require 6 months of work, if they got started tomorrow then this would be the last chance to speculate on them. I don't think Crucible, Liberator or Nautilus could get rushed before next IAE even if CIG tried, but they can always get a mid production price bump like BMM has gotten a million times.

@Brictoria Are you up for doing Drake Defense Cons too? ;)Hooray!
 
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Brictoria

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@Brictoria Are you up for doing Drake Defense Cons too? ;)
I think so... There may be a delay on my updates due to the inconvenient time they release the CCU's and my work commitments, though.

DateShipNormal ship priceCCU ship priceSavingCheapest CCU starting optionMinimum Cost CCUMaximum CCU Discount
17thL21 Wolf$100$95$5$90 (Limited) - Gladius, Golem Ox, Storm
$80 (Permanent) - Nomad
$5 (Limited)
$15 (Permanent)
50% (Limited)
25% (Permanent)
22ndNova$120$110$10$100 (Limited) - Hawk, L21 Wolf, M50, Storm AA
$100 (Permanent) - Hull A
$10 (Limited)
$10 (Permanent)
50% (Limited)
50% (Permanent)
15thShiv$150$135$15$125 (Limited) - 350r
$125 (Permanent) - C1 Spirit
$10 (Limited)
$10 (Permanent)
60% (Limited)
60% (Permanent)
24thF7C-M Super Hornet Mk II$240$220$20$210 (Limited) - Hurricane
$200 (Permanent) - Constellation Taurus
$10 (Limited)
$20 (Permanent)
67% (Limited)
50% (Permanent)
14thCorsair$250$230$20$225 (Concept) - Railen
$220 (Limited) - Defender, Hermes, Terrapin, Terrapin Medic
$200 (Permanent) - Constellation Taurus
$5 (Concept)
$10 (Limited)
$30 (Permanent)
80% (Concept)
67% (Limited)
40% (Permanent)
19thGuardian QI$260$240$20$235 (Limited) - Cutlass Steel
$200 (Permanent) - Constellation Taurus
$5 (Limited)
$40 (Permanent)
80% (Limited)
33% (Permanent)
26thMSR$260$240$20$235 (Limited) - Cutlass Steel
$200 (Permanent) - Constellation Taurus
$5 (Limited)
$40 (Permanent)
80% (Limited)
33% (Permanent)
21stVanguard Sentinel$275$260$15$250 (Limited) - 400i, Ares Inferno, Ares Ion, Corsair, Guardian, Starlancer MAX
$240 (Permanent) - Constellation Andromeda
$10 (Limited)
$20 (Permanent)
60% (Limited)
43% (Permanent)
16th - ?M80$300$275$25$260 (Limited) - Apollo Triage, Guardian QI, MSR, Meteor, Vanguard Warden
$240 (Permanent) - Constellation Andromeda
$15 (Limited)
$35 (Permanent)
63% (Limited)
42% (Permanent)
20thRedeemer$330$300$30$290 (Limited) - Apollo Medivac, Guardian MX, Vanguard Harbinger
$240 (Permanent) - Constellation Andromeda
$10 (Limited)
$60 (Permanent)
75% (Limited)
33% (Permanent)
26thCaterpillar$330$300$30$290 (Limited) - Apollo Medivac, Guardian MX, Vanguard Harbinger
$240 (Permanent) - Constellation Andromeda
$10 (Limited)
$60 (Permanent)
75% (Limited)
33% (Permanent)
26thPaladin$350$325$25$315 (Limited) - MOTH, Stinger
$315 (Permanent) - Constellation Aquila, MOLE
$10 (Limited)
$10 (Permanent)
71% (Limited)
71% (Permanent)
18thStarlancer TAC$375$315$60$300 (Limited) - Eclipse, M80, Prowler Utility, Starfarer
$240 (Permanent) - Constellation Andromeda
$15 (Limited)
$75 (Permanent)
80% (Limited)
44% (Permanent)
23rdM2 Hercules$520$485$35$475 (Limited) - 600i Explorer
$315 (Permanent) - Constellation Aquila, MOLE
$10 (Limited)
$170 (Permanent)
78% (Limited)
17% (Permanent)
25thLiberator$575$520$55$500 (Limited) - Hull C
$315 (Permanent) - Constellation Aquila, MOLE
$20 (Limited)
$205 (Permanent)
73% (Limited)
21% (Permanent)
14th - ?Ironclad$600$525$75$520 (Limited) - M2 Hercules
$315 (Permanent) - Constellation Aquila, MOLE
$5 (Limited)
$210 (Permanent)
94% (Limited)
26% (Permanent)
14th - ?Ironclad Assault$650$575$75$550 (Concept) - Hull D
$520 (Limited) - M2 Hercules
$315 (Permanent) - Constellation Aquila, MOLE
$25 (Concept)
$55 (Limited)
$260 (Permanent)
75% (Concept)
58% (Limited)
22% (Permanent)
20th - ?Tiburon$775$700$75$650 (Concept) - BMM, Orion
$650 (Limited) - Ironclad Assault
$315 (Permanent) - Constellation Aquila, MOLE
$50 (Concept)
$50 (Limited)
$385 (Permanent)
60% (Concept)
60% (Limited)
16% (Permanent)
16thPolaris$975$875$100$800 (Limited) - Perseus
$315 (Permanent) - Constellation Aquila, MOLE
$75 (Limited)
$560 (Permanent)
43% (Limited)
15% (Permanent)
 
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Brictoria

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Wow, the Ironclads went up by a lot
Yes - I have 5 x $15 M2 -> Ironclad Assault, and 6 x $10 Prowler -> Ironclad (plus 1 each of $10 C2/Reclaimer -> Ironclad), but with that jump, I doubt I'll end up being able to use more than 1 or 2 of each.

With the jump for these, not long after the RAFT and Hull B had their substantial price increases, I'm curious about what will happen to the Railen next month - And how many of the CCU's for it that I have in buyback are worth rescuing before then...
 

FZD

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Yeah, I only have a couple Ironclad Assaults CCUs and none of the base Ironclads because literally all of my chains just skip the 350 to 500 stretch, and I'm probably not going to even end up using those...
Or well, I'm likely going to apply Herc to Assault, just so I can fly around with it for an extended period of time and see if I like it, but then downgrade that back to Hull D and resume my chain like nothing happened. Unless I end up liking it, then I might be keeping it

Yeah, it'll be quite interesting to see what happens to Railen. Considering the recent concept to flight ready bumps (and in particular the recent price hikes on cargo ships specifically), doubling to $450 seems quite likely - especially since this would stop you from combining it with the Ironclad CCU. CIG likes to give us a "better deal" like that >_>
Also entirely possible it's just going to be a more normal +25$ bump, but I think that's far less likely
 

FZD

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That Polaris CCU is definitely not aimed at like 99.9% of the player base, but to those who want a Polaris, that's a pretty solid discount
 

Brictoria

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Yeah, it'll be quite interesting to see what happens to Railen. Considering the recent concept to flight ready bumps (and in particular the recent price hikes on cargo ships specifically), doubling to $450 seems quite likely - especially since this would stop you from combining it with the Ironclad CCU. CIG likes to give us a "better deal" like that >_>
Also entirely possible it's just going to be a more normal +25$ bump, but I think that's far less likely
The Railen is an interesting ship to try and guess the price for. With the "reconcept" CIG did that removed the triangular cargo containers, we have no way to know which category of cargo ship is best to use when making a price estimate: Is it "external" cargo (Hull series) that is exposed to the environment, internally with access during flight (Hermes, Caterpillar), or "internal" but with no access in flight (100/300 series, Aurora Mk 2)?

The cheapest option would be that it is classed as "external" cargo, carrying 25% more cargo than the Hull B, so it would likely be in the $300-$350 range (plus alien tax).
Internal cargo would put it between the Caterpllar (576 SCU) and the C2 (696 SCU), so around $350 (plus Alien tax).
The non-accessible internal cargo would likely be slightly cheaper.

Of course, the Alien tax is a spearate unknown... The only real comparisson for cargo ships would be the Aurora Mk 1 CL Vs the Syulen (both have beds, both carry the same external cargo capacity, but the Syulen has a lot more interior), with a $25 price difference ($45 Vs $70).

I'm going to guess that we'll be looking at around $350-$375 for the Railen when it finally becomes flyable... I'm hoping for less, while I also won't be surprised if it is more - It is CIG setting the price, after all.
 

BUTUZ

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Hull B went up from like 100 to 250 so ralien could go up a chunk I recon especially with sexy alien tax
 

Sintha

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Anyone know if all the ccu's are available on the last day? missed one like a silly billy.
 

FZD

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If you're very lucky, yes. Last year the finale had 3 CCUs out of which 1 was a CCU brought back from earlier. But they won't bring every single CCU back, no.
I'd hope the finale would resemble more 2024 than 2025 tbh, 2024 they brought most of the CCUs back and added a couple extra. 2025 was pretty lackluster in comparison.

P.S. Despite writing them down myself every day shortly after they're released, I also was a bit slow on the uptake and realized the TAC CCU would've fit my chains pretty well like 3 days after the fact. >_>
 

FZD

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Guys, Anvil aerospace ships are now available. This is the last manufacturer, so now all the ships that are going to be sold in the event are purchasable. So it's a good time to look at the remaining concept ships and weigh your options for increasing the worth of your existing store credits
 

FZD

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Hmm. That Liberator Warbond offer could end up being pretty big, not only does it have good speculation value, that's a pretty OK $55 warbond discount too.
Considering how Ironclad Assault went up by $115, I would guess Liberator does roughly the same, I'd guess they'll round it to $700. So that one warbond CCU might end up being $180 discount total this time next year. (Yes, I'm also predicting Liberator flight ready ILW 2957)
 
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