Frontier Developments has shipped the Anaconda Mk II Update for Elite Dangerous, pairing a new premium ship with a free balance pass that touches ten older hulls. The centerpiece is the Faulcon DeLacy Anaconda Mk II, a redesign of one of the game’s most recognizable vessels, available now through ARX Early Access.
The Mk II keeps the original’s power and versatility but introduces a new design with improved visibility. It launches with three Mk II modules: Ablative Armour, a Mining Volley Repeater, and Cargo Racks. Frontier names the modules without listing sizes or performance figures, and the loadout points toward mining and hauling with a defensive option.
Three ARX bundles
The ship is sold as a pre-built vessel in three tiers rather than a bare hull. Standard costs 19,020 ARX and includes the ship plus the Owners Club Decal. Stellar costs 38,000 ARX and adds the Eunectes Ship Kit and a Resurgent Ochre paintjob. Galactic costs 69,000 ARX and stacks the Zenith Ship Kit, four Faulcon paintjob variants, and the Ember Green Holo-Kit Pack on top of everything in Stellar. The announcement lists no USD conversion and no gameplay differences between tiers, so the climb from Standard to Galactic is cosmetic.
Found Adrift and the balance pass
The update also adds Operation Found Adrift, in which an abandoned megaship carrying a high-value asset reappears and players race scavengers to the wreck to secure it. The cutting tool’s tracking gets an unspecified improvement, and eight newer hulls (Python Mk II, Type-8 Transporter, Mandalay, Cobra Mk V, Corsair, Panther Mk II, Type-11 Prospector, and Caspian Explorer) join AI spawn buckets so they can appear in NPC traffic.
The free half of the patch rebalances ten ships. The Asp Scout gets the largest overhaul: one extra Utility Slot, mass cut from 150 to 140, max speed doubled from 110 to 220 m/s, and boost raised from 300 to 360 m/s, at the cost of lower pitch and yaw acceleration. The Mandalay and Caspian Explorer gain standard jump ranges of about 95 and 90 light-years. The Type-6, Type-7, and Imperial Clipper each gain an internal slot, and the Federal Dropship sheds mass from 580 to 500 while adding a Size 6 slot and a max speed bump from 100 to 160 m/s. Smaller hulls get shield increases, including the Sidewinder Mk I (40 to 55) and Eagle Mk II (60 to 80).
What the patch does not say
The announcement does not state whether the Anaconda Mk II will later be purchasable with in-game credits, and it omits module sizes and the Operation’s payout. It also does not say whether the balance changes reach the legacy console versions. Two issue tracker fixes ship alongside the content: a rounding error on engineered Mk II Cargo Racks (86375) and a Conflict Zone that could fail to end (85560).
