Combat system

A battle starts as soon as an attacking fleet reaches its target and finds ships or defenses there. It runs fully automatically – you do not need to be online. Afterwards both sides receive a detailed battle report.

Rounds

A battle lasts at most 6 rounds. In each round both sides fire. Damage hits the shields first, then the armor. If one side is wiped out earlier, the battle ends at once. With the right Synth node a battle can last one round longer (Battle nodes).

What makes a fleet strong

The base stats of every unit are listed in the Ships and Defense overviews. Three research topics boost them in combat: Weapons technology raises attack, Shield technology raises shields and Defense systems raises armor – each by 10% per level. There is no rapid fire, so no ship gets extra shots against certain targets.

• First strike: If your attacking fleet includes Stealth bomber units, they fire a surprise strike before the first round that targets the enemy's defenses.
• Battle luck: Each side gets a random luck factor per battle. A close fight can therefore go either way – plan with a safety margin. Synth nodes can tip battle luck in your favor.
• Dug-in defenses do not take part in the battle (Digging in defense).

After the battle

• Victory: If the attacker wins, they normally plunder up to half of the resources on the planet – limited by the cargo space of their fleet. Specialization, items and Synth nodes can change this share.
• Draw: If units are left on both sides after the last round, the attacker retreats to their home planet without loot.
• Debris field: Destroyed units leave a debris field at the coordinates, which anyone can harvest with recyclers (Recycling). Large amounts of debris can even form an asteroid – the battle report shows the chance.
• Repairs: Most destroyed defenses are rebuilt automatically after the battle. Destroyed ships, however, are gone – unless you have the right Synth node or play in a universe with Astral fleets.