Endeavour

Hull: 100 - 300
Engines: 100 - 300
Power: 100 - 300
Fighter bay: 100 - 200
Sensors: 100 - 250
Armor: 100 - 200
Shields: 100 - 200
Beam Weapons: 100 - 200
Torpedoes: 100 - 200
Cloak: 100 - 250
ECM: 100 - 250

Average Tech: 100 - 240.91
Cost: 1,008,903,603

The Endeavour ship is a good trading ship in the beginning of the game. After trading up some cash with a pioneer, you will probably move on to a Columbus or Super Cargo, but after this, you can save up enough money for an Endeavour. These have hull techs that will last you a while for trading and colonizing, and their engines are far superior to those of the super cargo, allowing them to use many more real-space trade routes. After the Endeavour, you'll usually get into a razorback or voyager.

Endeavours have another use for attackers. They are the smallest and cheapest ships in the game that can use nova bombs. Because novas have a tendency to back fire, attackers usually don't use their main attack ships. These main ships, usually large voyagers or excelsiors, are huge investments, and not worth risking. Instead, they will buy a small endeavour ship, upgrade it a little (I upgrade mine to 220 sensors and 230 engines) for a small amount of money (about 20B and 750 turns for mine). These are extremely cheap to repair if something goes wrong (10B for repairs + 14B for a new bomb means 24B). 24 billion is really nothing when you get farther into the game, making many trillions in one day.

NOTE (MaxG):
When buying an Endy to use as a nova ship, be sure to bring your Average Tech Level (ATL) to above 160. I usually upgrade mine to 180 on everything except hulls or 220 engines/sensors and about 170 on the other techs, depending on a few different factors. The reason for this is that a nova bomb can explode in your ship as it is launched, and if your ATL is less than 160, your ship will be destroyed. A damaged ship that you can repair is cheaper than a destroyed ship you have to replace.

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