Fleet Deployment
From this page you can deploy any of your five fleets to planets across the galaxy, and recall them home when the job is done.
Deploying a Fleet
Choose a fleet, a destination planet, and optionally a specific target on that planet - a colony or a rival kingdom. Then select your mission type and hit Deploy.
| Mission | Description |
|---|---|
| Orbit (standby) | Fleet arrives and waits for further orders |
| Attack | Fleet travels to the target's planet, ready to engage from orbit |
| Trade Run | Fleet travels to a colony you have influence over and harvests resources each tick |
Kingdom targets require an active war declaration. Colony targets are open to everyone.
Travel time is shown below the destination dropdown and depends on the distance between planets. Plan accordingly - a fleet in transit cannot respond to threats at home, and a fleet on an NPC mission cannot be deployed until it returns.
Fleet States
Once deployed, a fleet moves through several states:
| State | Meaning |
|---|---|
| In Transit | Travelling between planets - can be recalled mid-flight |
| Orbiting | Arrived and waiting - can engage, recall, or redeploy |
| Engaged | Actively in combat - can flee, but cannot be recalled |
| Cooldown | Post-combat recovery - can be recalled or redeployed |
Engaging
Arriving at a planet does not start a fight. An orbiting fleet must be engaged against its target - from this page, the War page, or the colony's page. The engage order sends the fleet on a short 2-tick approach to engagement range, then combat begins and runs one round per tick (see the Combat guide).
While engaged, you can switch the fleet's stance between rounds and order a manual flee. Be aware that an orbiting or cooldown fleet away from base can be targeted by enemy missiles if you are at war.
Stances
Every deployed fleet carries a stance - a standing order that applies in any battle it fights, set from the Stance dropdown on the orbiting, cooldown, and in-transit tables at any time (trade convoys and returning fleets have no stance - they do not fight):
| Stance | Attack | Losses taken |
|---|---|---|
| Balanced | - | - |
| Aggressive | +30% | +10% |
| Defensive | -30% | -25% |
| Evasive | -80% | -40% |
The stance persists for as long as the fleet stays deployed - including into its next battle - and resets to balanced when the fleet returns home and redeploys. A fleet defending one of your colonies joins the garrison, and the whole garrison fights with that fleet's stance - so set your defenders' posture before logging off, not after the attack lands.
Redeploying from Orbit or Cooldown
An orbiting or cooldown fleet can be sent directly to a new destination without first returning home. Select it from the fleet dropdown (it will show as orbiting or cooldown) and deploy as normal. Travel time is calculated from the fleet's current planet, not your kingdom's home planet.
Kingdom Transit
Fleets that are already deployed in space operate independently of your kingdom. However, fleets that are still in your hangar are considered aboard your kingdom. If your kingdom is currently travelling between planets (in hyperspace transit), those hangar fleets cannot be launched - they are physically on the move with you. Once your kingdom arrives at its destination, hangar fleets can be deployed normally.
Fleets already in orbit, on cooldown, or travelling are unaffected by kingdom movement.
Recall
Orbiting and cooldown fleets can be recalled home via the Recall button on the relevant table. The fleet sets course for your kingdom's current destination - if your kingdom is in transit, the fleet will head to the same planet your kingdom is heading to.
Fleets still in transit can also be recalled: the fleet turns for home from wherever it currently is, so an early bail-out is a short trip home while a last-second one costs nearly the full return flight. Fleets already returning home cannot be recalled again.
A fleet recalled while already at your kingdom's home planet is instantly stood down.
A fleet cannot be recalled while a colony of yours at that planet is under attack - it is committed to the defence until the battle resolves.
