⚔️

Space combat

Two fleets fight round after round, firing simultaneously, until one side is beaten. Your weapons and the enemy's protections decide the outcome.

Space combat sequence

A space combat occurs during an Attack mission or an Interception. The combat simulator calculates shot exchanges over several rounds. Both sides fire simultaneously: each weapon of each ship deals damage to the enemy fleet taking into account the resistance of enemy shields and hulls.

Combat phases

1
Firepower calculation
For each ship, the damage of each weapon is calculated taking into account the weapon's technology level (technology bonuses) and the resistance multiplier of the targeted enemy shield.
2
Damage distribution
Damage is distributed across enemy ships according to the configured combat strategy (fire concentration, dispersion, priority targets...).
3
Defeat condition check
If a fleet drops below 10% of its initial power, it is considered defeated. If both fleets are below the threshold, the combat ends in a draw.

Combat outcome

Combat ends as soon as one fleet drops below 10% of its initial strength.

Attacker victory

The attacking fleet retains more than 10% of its power, but not the defense.

Defender victory

The defense retains more than 10%, but not the attacker.

Draw

Both sides drop below 10%. Nobody takes the planet.

Shields and hull: damage sequence

1. Shields absorb first

Within a group of identical ships, only one ship takes fire at a time — the others are either intact or already destroyed. Incoming damage is applied to that ship's shield first. As long as it doesn't exceed the remaining protection, no ship is destroyed.

2. Hull breach

If a round's damage exceeds the remaining shield, the surplus reaches the hull. The number of ships destroyed that round is then:

Destroyed = ⌊ (damage − remaining shield) / destruction cost ⌋

The destruction cost of an intact ship is full shield + hull resistance; it is reduced accordingly for the ship already worn down.

3. Hull damage carries over

If a round's damage isn't enough to destroy the targeted ship, it isn't wasted: the damaged hull stays damaged into the next round. A group can therefore be worn down over several rounds, even if no single round alone was enough.

The last surviving ship of a group keeps its hull and shield state from one round to the next — only shield regeneration between rounds works against it (see below).

Between rounds, the ship currently taking fire regains 30 % of its full shield. The hull, however, never regenerates: damage it has taken stays until the ship is destroyed.

Looting and ruins

Looted resources (attacker victory)

50 %

In case of victory, the attacker loots up to 50 % of the resources stored on the target planet.

Combat ruins

Ships

75 %

Defenses

25 %

Destroyed units (from both sides) leave a debris field that can be recovered by anyone. The rate varies by type: 75% for ships, 50% for defenses.

Composing your combat fleet

Choosing weapons based on enemy resistances is paramount to maximizing the effectiveness of your attacks.
Spy on your target before attacking to know its defensive composition and adapt your weapons accordingly.
Planetary defenses participate in combat on the defender's side. Take them into account in your calculations.

▸ For the curious Firepower distribution

Fire is spread across enemy ship groups using a weight computed for each group: 80% of its total weapon damage and 20% of its total capacity (blueprint capacity × number of ships in the group). Each factor is first compared to the strongest group on that factor. A group that deals more damage therefore draws more fire, even if it is smaller.

Example

Two enemy groups: 200 fighters (total capacity 4,000, total weapon damage 6,000) and 10 cruisers (total capacity 5,000, total weapon damage 3,000). The more offensive fighters draw 62% of the fire versus 38% for the cruisers, despite their lower total capacity.

▸ For the curious Ship maniability

Maniability measures a ship's ability to evade enemy fire. It depends on the thrust/mass ratio (more engines means more agility) and the ship's absolute size (a titan cannot evade as easily as a light fighter). Fixed defenses have zero maniability.

Formulas

maniability = 1.4 × (thrust / mass / 0.36)^0.6 × (1500 / mass)^0.17

hit chance = min(100%, max(10%, precision − maniability))

Maniability capped at 1. Hit chance floored at 10%.

▸ For the curious Weapon / shield resistances

Multiplier applied to weapon damage against this type of protection. 1.5× = very effective — 0.5× = greatly reduced.

Weapon	Reactive Shield	Deflector	Energy shield
Kinetic cannon	0.5×	1.0×	1.5×
Missile	1.0×	0.5×	1.0×
Torpedo	1.5×	0.5×	0.8×
Laser	1.5×	1.0×	0.8×
Plasma	1.0×	1.5×	0.8×
Distortion	0.8×	1.5×	1.3×