300i vs 315p vs 325a vs 350r: Choosing Your Origin 300 Series

The 300 series is where Origin’s idea of a personal spacecraft becomes particularly tempting. These are small, single-pilot ships with a recognisable family shape, but the attraction goes beyond looking good over a cloud deck. You can carry freight, keep a cabin of your own and choose a variant that gives rather more attention to exploration, fighting or racing.

The awkward part is that the numbers do not form a simple ladder. A 315p carries more cargo than a 325a; a 350r gives up carrying space for its racing brief. Moving to a different badge means accepting a different set of compromises. Here is how we would choose between them.

view on youtube

Start with the job, then choose the badge

All four are flight-ready, single-seat ships. The 300i, 315p and 350r share published dimensions of 27 metres long, 17 metres wide and eight metres high; the 325a is slightly longer at 27.5 metres. None of these variants turns the 300 into a multicrew freighter. Their appeal is keeping the ship, the decisions and the flying yours.

The 300i makes room for an ordinary evening

The 300i is the natural starting point if your sessions rarely stay on one track. Its 8 SCU hold leaves room for modest freight, while three Size 3 gun mounts give it a more rounded armament than the exploration-focused 315p. It is the touring model, but that need not mean spending every journey admiring the scenery.

For a player who travels between friends, picks up a little cargo and wants a ship with a cabin rather than only a cockpit, the balance is easy to appreciate. You are not carrying an industrial load or organising a turret crew. You are taking a compact personal ship out for the evening, with enough flexibility to change plans along the way.

That is also why the ordinary 300i deserves consideration before its specialist siblings. If you do not particularly need the 315p’s extra freight space, the 325a’s larger nose gun or the 350r’s racing focus, the base ship has not somehow become the wrong choice.

315p: more room for the things you bring back

The 315p is the family’s pathfinder, and its most immediately useful distinction is tangible: 12 SCU of cargo capacity, four more than the 300i and three times the 325a’s allowance. That gives an expedition-minded owner more room for supplies or small consignments without moving into a much larger hull.

Its equipment also changes the nose’s job. The 315p has two Size 3 gun mounts and a Size 2 tractor beam in its utility fit, whereas the 300i carries a third gun. Choosing the 315p therefore means favouring utility and carrying space over the base model’s full gun arrangement.

We like that as a reason to choose an explorer: you can point to a concrete compromise and decide whether it suits your flying. A small cabin, extra carrying room and the desire to head somewhere unfamiliar make a coherent personal ship. They do not require an imagined exploration income or a promise that every specialist scanning feature is already a complete profession.

If cargo is your main reason for choosing it, remember that 12 SCU describes capacity, not unrestricted access for every container. Our cargo capacity and loading guide explains the difference between a total allowance, a cargo grid and what can actually pass through an opening.

325a: a cabin with a stronger bite

The 325a is the choice for someone who loves the 300’s shape but wants combat to have a larger part in its life. It retains the two Size 3 wing mounts and steps up to a Size 4 nose mount. The interceptor identity is backed by an actual change in armament, not simply a more aggressive finish.

There is a cost in flexibility: cargo falls to 4 SCU. That remains useful for a small load, but it is half the ordinary 300i’s allowance. A pilot who regularly fills the base ship should feel that trade-off before choosing the bigger gun.

The 325a’s particular attraction is having that combat emphasis in an Origin personal ship. It is not evidence that it will beat every dedicated fighter. Handling, the opponent, the installed loadout and the pilot still decide far more than a badge or one hardpoint. Choose it because you want this mix of accommodation and armament, rather than because a specification table seems to promise an effortless winner.

350r: when the journey is the point

The 350r takes the family in a different direction again. Racing is its purpose, and the twin-engine rear gives that intention a wonderfully obvious visual signature. The long, clean nose and broad wings still belong to the 300 family, but the extra machinery behind the cabin changes the character of the silhouette.

It keeps three Size 3 gun mounts and a 4 SCU cargo allowance. Those details make it more than a bare racing cockpit, but they are not the reason to select it over the other variants. You choose the 350r because you want the racing Origin, and because flying that ship is an attraction in itself.

A straight-line speed figure cannot tell you which ship will win a course. Acceleration, turns, braking and the route all matter, so we would not turn its racing designation into a universal lap-time claim. Nor would we choose it for freight when the 300i and 315p offer substantially more room.

The 2019 rebuild still matters when comparing ships

The 300 series was reworked in 2019, with a more spacious interior and revised cargo arrangement. That is why old brochures and early screenshots can describe a noticeably different ship. The current family comparison belongs to the rebuilt design, not the original crowdfunding-era layout.

Origin also made the series a showcase for personalisation, including exterior and interior choices. When browsing an individual ship, check its actual configuration and included items rather than assuming that every example has the same finish or extras. The model answers the role question; the specific offer answers what you receive.

For most undecided owners, we would begin with the 300i and ask what is missing. More freight room and utility point towards the 315p. A larger nose gun points towards the 325a. A love of racing points towards the 350r. That leaves four worthwhile choices, each with a reason to exist beyond being the next number along.