Battle Mechanics
Ordinary fleet battles resolve automatically. Your decisions are the target, fleet, timing and preparation; you do not aim individual shots.
Rounds and damage
Battles run for at most six rounds. The defender can include stationed ships, fixed defenses and eligible ACS defenders. Both sides fire, and rapidfire can add shots. If both retain units after the final round, the battle is a draw.
Each target has its own shield and hull. Damage hits its shield first, then its hull. A shot below 1% of the target's original shield bounces without damage. Shield Domes do not supply a shared barrier to other units.
Combat hull is structural integrity divided by ten. Below 70% remaining hull a unit can explode; its explosion probability is 1 − remaining hull / original hull. Surviving units retain hull damage across rounds, while their shields fully regenerate between rounds.
Research in 3.0
For an ordinary percentage effect with starting bonus B, completed levels gain the initial bonus and progress by completed five-level tiers, with later compounding. Check the current research progression and displayed stat preview rather than adding one percentage point per level.
| Stat | Research contributions |
|---|---|
| Ship attack | Weapon Technology starts at +10%; Laser starts at +5% |
| Defense attack | Weapon + Laser, plus Defense Technology starting at +5% |
| Ship shields | Mobile Shield Technology starts at +10% |
| Defense shields | Ion starts at +15%; Defense Technology starts at +5% |
| Defense hull | Defense Technology starts at +15% |
| Ordinary ship hull | No Defense Technology hull bonus |
There are hull-specific additions: Reapers gain base stats from Recycler Upgrades, Cruisers gain Missile Technology attack with Weapon Technology unlocked, and Battlecruisers gain an extra Laser bonus with that unlock. Use Ship Stats, Defense Stats and the research preview for your effective values.
Tactical Squad is a separate game with its own stats and research scaling; do not use its hull or damage numbers for fleet battles.
Rapidfire
After an eligible hit, rapidfire R gives a 1 − 1/R chance of another shot. A kill is not required. It is not a guaranteed number of shots or kills, and mixed target types change the chain. See the exact rapidfire tables.
Loot, debris and rebuilding
An attacker victory can take eligible resources, limited by surviving cargo. Defense Technology protects a portion of daily production: its level-one bonus is 5%, with later bonuses following research tiers. It does not protect the same percentage of all stored resources.
Destroyed ships create debris using the galaxy's recovery settings. Standard defaults are 70% metal, 40% crystal and 10% deuterium. Defenses use separate recovered-resource settlement rather than creating a normal ship debris field. Cargo and battle outcome affect who receives those recovered resources.
Ordinary destroyed defenses have independent rebuild rolls; the default chance is 70%, not a guarantee that exactly 70% return. Missiles are not rebuilt, and IPM destruction does not use the ordinary battle rebuild. See debris fields.
Stations and reports
Active 3.0 galaxies use anchored stations. Battles do not create ordinary moons, and Moon Destruction cannot be launched against stations. Old moon tactics do not confer station invisibility or protection.
After a battle, inspect losses, survivor counts, loot and debris in the report. A simulator is useful preparation, not a guarantee: random rolls, incomplete intelligence and changed defending fleets can change the result.