Fleets
Fleets are the heart of your military and economic operations. Every ship you build sits in your Base Hangar until you assign it to a fleet, and every fleet can be independently deployed - to fight, to trade, or to carry out missions elsewhere in the galaxy.
Fleet Structure
Your kingdom has five numbered fleets - Fleet I through Fleet V. Each fleet operates independently, meaning multiple fleets can be active at the same time on different assignments.
Ships not assigned to any fleet sit in the Base Hangar (Fleet 0). They contribute nothing to active operations but are still part of your overall strength. Use the Fleet Control page to move ships between fleets and the hangar.
Fleet Power
A fleet's power is derived from the combined stats of every ship in it: attack strength, armour rating, and shield capacity all factor in. Research upgrades can increase these values further through armour and weapons research.
The Fleet Control page displays the total power of each fleet at a glance. When selecting a fleet for combat, trade, or missions, power is shown in the dropdown to help you choose appropriately.
Unit Types and Fleet Composition
Different ship classes serve different roles:
| Type | Role |
|---|---|
| Drones | Cheap, low-power scouts and support units |
| Fighters | Light combat ships - fast, affordable, moderate power |
| Warships / Carriers | Heavy ships with strong shields and high fleet power; carry fighters into battle and provide cargo capacity for trade |
| Battleships | The most powerful individual units; high cost but exceptional combat strength |
| Cargo Ships | Minimal combat ability; their value is their large trade capacity |
Fleet composition matters in combat. Counters run in a triangle - warships counter fighters, fighters counter battleships, battleships counter warships - shifting losses by up to 30% on a hard counter. A fleet with a balanced composition or one that counters the enemy's mix will tend to outperform a lopsided force of equal total power.
Deploying a Fleet
From the Fleet Deploy page you can send any available fleet on one of four assignments:
- Kingdom Attack - deploy against a rival kingdom you are at war with and raid them for land
- Colony Combat - engage an enemy colony on a contested planet (no war required)
- Trade Run - travel to a colony to harvest resources
- Mission - carry out a timed neutral faction task for rewards
Fleets travel to their destination in real time and operate from orbit once they arrive - see the Fleet Deployment and Combat guides. A fleet on any assignment is unavailable for other tasks until it returns home, and a fleet away from base does not defend your kingdom. Plan around it - an away fleet leaves home weaker, and spy reports will show it.
Hangar Capacity
The number of ships you can field is limited by your Hangar structures. Each Hangar provides 149 hangar spaces. Every ship costs a certain number of spaces to house - larger ships cost more.
Upgrading hangar capacity is often a priority alongside building a bigger fleet, since running out of space halts new ship production.
Fleet Commanders
Each of your five fleets has a Fleet Commander - a named officer who gains experience over the course of a round and provides escalating bonuses to their fleet. Commanders reset between rounds.
Commanders specialise across three tracks based on how the fleet is used:
| Track | Earned by | Bonus |
|---|---|---|
| Combat | Winning or contesting colony battles | Fleet combat strength (attack + defence) |
| Trade | Completing trade runs | Fleet cargo capacity |
| Mission | Completing neutral faction missions | Mission reward value + duration reduction |
Each track levels up independently through six ranks:
| XP | Rank (Combat / Trade / Mission) | Bonus |
|---|---|---|
| 0 | Officer / Officer / Officer | - |
| 10 | Veteran / Broker / Operative | +4% |
| 25 | Elite / Merchant / Specialist | +8% |
| 45 | Legionnaire / Magnate / Agent | +12% |
| 70 | Centurion / Tycoon / Ghost | +16% |
| 100 | Warlord / Archon / Shadow | +20% |
XP is awarded per event. Colony combat pays 2 XP for a win and 1 XP for a loss, provided your fleet was at least half the strength of the strongest participant - this includes fleets that fought as part of a colony garrison. Kingdom combat pays 2 XP to the winner only, and only if the victory cost at least 10% losses. Trade runs and mission completions each award 2 XP. Sending a token fleet into combat against a far superior force earns nothing.
The mission bonus applies to all reward types and also reduces mission duration by 0.5h per commander level (up to -2.5h at max rank). The reduced duration is shown on the Missions page when you select a fleet to deploy.
The Fleet Control page shows each commander's XP progress and current rank. Fleet power values in the table already include the active combat bonus - fleets with a bonus show a small percentage tag next to their power value.
Tips
- Keep at least one fleet in reserve at home so you can respond to incoming attacks or colony threats.
- Cargo ships like the Manatee and Leviathan massively increase trade capacity - a dedicated trade fleet can generate strong income without ever entering combat.
- A fleet that contains a Wraith-class ship will appear smaller than it really is on enemy reconnaissance. This can cause enemies to underestimate your strength.
- If a colony is under threat from enemy fleet activity, deploy a fleet to orbit its planet. Orbiting fleets automatically join the colony's garrison when it is attacked.
