Tactical Squad
Research and combat scaling
Ten upgrades in Command scale new Tactical Squad runs. Each has a maximum level of 10. Percentage upgrades use the tiered bonus rule: level 5 adds another level-one amount, then the bonus itself compounds by 1% per later level; whole-unit upgrades use their stated base and rounding. Research does not increase enemy strength or squad size.
| Research | Level 1 bonus |
|---|---|
| Tactical Weapons | +5% base Weapon |
| Tactical Armour | +5% base Hull |
| Tactical Shields | +5% base Shield |
| Tactical Maneuvers | +1 to each initiative roll outcome; Agility stays unchanged |
| Tactical Repair Drones | +2 hull restored by hull-repair utilities |
| Tactical Shield Support | +2 shield restored by positive shield-restoration utilities |
| Tactical Precision | +3% single-target damaging action power |
| Tactical Bombardment | +3% all-enemy damaging action power |
| Tactical Escort Training | +3% base Hull for Light Fighters, Heavy Fighters and Cruisers |
| Tactical Capital Training | +3% base Weapon for Battleships, Battlecruisers, Bombers, Destroyers and Deathstars |
Existing Weapon Technology, Mobile Shield Technology and Defense Technology also add their level-one bonuses to base Weapon, Shield and Hull, respectively. Their completed tiers and later levels follow Research Constellation progression. Separate research bonuses add against base stats; final stats and action power round down.
Only research completed by your empire in the launch galaxy counts. The library previews current research; launch saves the bonuses before the first turn. Those bonuses persist through later waves and retries. Completing research during a run benefits your next launch, not the ongoing battle. Earlier saved runs keep their original stats.
Unlocking Tactical Squad
Complete Tactical Command level 1 in the galaxy where you want to play. Find it under Command in Research and purchase the one-time unlock for 32 base RP before other-domain tier surcharges. It is capped at level 1 and adds no combat bonuses or ability changes. There is no lab or other-technology prerequisite for the RP purchase.
Queued or partially funded research does not unlock access. Until completion, the Tactical Squad page shows an Open Research link instead of the simulator, and launches and commands are blocked without spending ships or Credits. Research in another galaxy or another player's empire does not count. Saved runs remain unchanged while locked; resuming one also requires the unlock in its origin galaxy.
Tactical Squad is a turn-based survival simulator, separate from normal fleet combat. Choose one to five ships you own on your selected station. Each ship has exactly two consumable equipment slots during squad assembly; either slot may be empty. Consumables are owned, single-use items earned from successful Frontier expeditions, not free permanent research. The library only shows available ship types there; duplicate types are allowed up to the quantity you own.
Selecting or removing a ship from your draft costs nothing. Launching removes only your selected ships from that planet once, only when the launch succeeds. A one-ship squad commits one ship; a five-ship squad commits five. If inventory changes before launch, choose a squad you can still afford. Reloading or retrying the same successful launch does not spend ships again. Survivors return to the original station when you return home; destroyed ships remain lost. Clearing a wave alone does not return ships. Existing free saved runs continue without a retroactive ship charge and cannot create physical ships on return.
Open Tactical Squad from the desktop navigation or visit Tactical Squad directly on mobile. Pick one to five ships, then select Launch squad. Ship tiles show simulator-only stats in one row: H (Hull), S (Shield), W (Weapon) and A (Agility), not fleet-combat stats. The QTY badge at the bottom-right of each image shows how many remain available after your draft selections.
Choose from Weapon Overcharge (+20% own firepower), Shield Capacitor (+25% own shields), Hull Diffuser (20% less damage received), Squad Battle Link (+10% allied firepower), Squad Shield Link (+10% allied shields), Squad Diffuser (10% less damage received by allies) and Salvage Contract (+15% squad Credit rewards). Effects are passive throughout that run, not commands that spend turn points. A duplicate requires two owned copies. Equipped items are consumed once when a new battle starts; reloading or retrying does not consume them again. A later new battle needs new items. The launch saves the selected effects, so later inventory changes do not change an active run.
Turns and targeting
At the start of every round, each living ship rolls initiative using its original formation slot, on both your squad and the enemy squad: slots 2 and 4 roll 1–21, slot 3 rolls 1–22, and all other slots roll 1–20. Agility and initiative bonuses add to that result; the slot bonus increases the maximum die roll, not every outcome. Destroyed ships do not roll or shift later ships into earlier slots. Higher totals act first; ties preserve squad-slot order, followed by enemy slots. Order can shuffle between rounds but is not guaranteed to change. Rolls stay fixed throughout the current round, including when you reload or retry a move. Enemy turns resolve automatically.
In 3.0.5, newly launched runs give each living player ship one personal action and one personal utility on its own initiative turn. Your squad also has one shared bonus action and one shared bonus utility per round, regardless of squad size. The current ship spends its own personal points first, then a matching shared bonus if it needs a second action or utility. It cannot borrow another ship's personal points. Action and utility budgets are independent; using the bonus action does not spend the bonus utility. Older saved runs retain their original point rules.
End turn forfeits that ship's unspent personal points and passes control onward. It does not replenish or forfeit the shared bonuses; any remaining bonus can be used by a later player ship in the same round. Shared bonuses refill once at the start of the next round, not on each ship's turn or after reloading. Spending all available points never advances a player turn automatically; choose End turn to continue. Enemy ships keep one action and, where applicable, one active utility on their own turns; they do not spend your points. Passive utilities work automatically and cannot be activated; a ship with one cannot spend a utility point, but another ship with an active utility can still use the shared bonus utility.
Click an ability or press 1 for action / 2 for utility. For targeted abilities, click a highlighted living ship once to select it, then click the same ship again to execute. Clicking a different ship changes the selection. There is no separate confirm button. Self abilities and abilities affecting all enemies, including the Cruiser's Flak sweep, execute immediately. With only one enemy left, selecting an enemy-targeted ability automatically targets and hits that enemy. Ally support can target the acting ship. Shortcuts do not fire while typing, holding a modifier, repeating a held key, or waiting for a move or animation.
Saved runs keep the turn-budget rules recorded when launched. Older pooled-budget runs continue to share their remaining action and utility pools; an older saved round upgrades its unspent points once without replenishing already played turns or rerolling saved initiative. The new personal-plus-bonus rules apply to newly launched runs, not partway through a saved round.
Press 4 to end your turn or Escape to request Return home. Escape uses the same confirmation as clicking Return home; canceling it leaves the run unchanged.
Normal damage hits shields before hull. Hull-piercing attacks bypass shields. Shield stripping does not damage hull. Repair and shield restoration cannot exceed the target's maximum; destroyed ships cannot be revived.
During combat, compact ship images replace the library cards. The image-only turn order strip uses blue borders for your squad and red borders for enemies; arena ships have no team-colored borders. Tiles align left: read left to right for the current round's order. The current ship is highlighted; after a ship spends its turn, its portrait and border fade to 30% opacity. Destroyed ships are omitted from the strip. Hover a portrait or use a screen reader for its name, team, original formation slot, rolled initiative and turn status; there are no visible Ready or Active labels. Scroll sideways on smaller screens. During ability animations, the resolving ship is highlighted; the accessible order description identifies the round after playback. Wave, round and cleared-wave information appears beside the Tactical Squad title.
Blue Shield and green Hull bars show current and maximum values above your ships and below enemy ships. Enemy name captions sit above their ship images. Select an ability, then click or tap a highlighted ship image to target it. Attack flashes and support pulses play for each resolved ability, including enemy turns, while the bars track damage and restoration. Commands unlock when the short animation sequence finishes. Reduced-motion settings disable ship movement and flashing animations without hiding the updated values.
Ship abilities
Percentages below refer to the acting ship's simulator attack. Damage is rounded down, with a minimum of 1. These are the starting balance rules; an existing run retains its original rules when balance changes.
| Ship | Action | Utility |
|---|---|---|
| Light Fighter | Strafing burst: 100% damage to one enemy | Evasive screen: restore 14 own shield |
| Heavy Fighter | Heavy salvo: 110% damage to one enemy | Armor patch: repair 10 own hull |
| Cruiser | Flak sweep: 45% damage to every enemy | Escort screen: restore 16 shield to a living ally |
| Battleship | Broadside: 115% damage to one enemy | Battle stations: restore 18 own shield |
| Battlecruiser | Interceptor lance: 80% damage directly to one enemy's hull | Ion disruption: strip 18 shield from one enemy |
| Bomber | Plasma carpet: 55% damage to every enemy | EMP payload: strip 24 shield from one enemy |
| Destroyer | Gauss rupture: 90% damage directly to one enemy's hull | Capacitor reserve: restore 20 own shield |
| Deathstar | Graviton beam: 130% damage to one enemy | Gravity pulse: strip 10 shield from every enemy |
| Small Cargo | Defensive turret: 100% damage to one enemy | Passive: +50% base wave Credits while alive at wave clear |
| Large Cargo | Cargo barrage: 130% damage to one enemy | Passive: +250% base wave Credits while alive at wave clear |
| Heavy Freighter | Construction charges: 140% damage to one enemy | Passive: +500% base wave Credits while alive at wave clear |
| Recycler | Salvage cutter: 75% damage directly to one enemy's hull | Passive: salvage 5% of the current Exchange sell quote per eligible destroyed ship |
| Reaper | Reaping beam: 85% damage directly to one enemy's hull | Salvage drones: repair 13 hull on a living ally |
| Espionage Probe | Precision exploit: 100% damage directly to one enemy's hull | Passive Tactical telemetry: each living probe adds +1 to every friendly ship's initiative roll outcome, including itself, every round |
| Wayfinder | Anomaly lance: 100% damage to one enemy | Route shielding: restore 18 shield to a living ally |
| Solar Satellite | Focused sunlight: 120% damage to one enemy | Solar recharge: restore 30 shield to a living ally |
For new runs, Tactical telemetry is automatic: two living probes give every friendly ship +2 on each round's initiative outcome, including both probes. It never increases agility, costs no utility use and needs no click. A destroyed probe stops contributing to future rolls, including if it dies to round-start attrition. Enemy probes benefit only their own side. Initiative is still rolled once per round, not between actors, and a death does not change rolls already made. Older saved runs retain their original abilities, including the earlier active, next-roll-only telemetry.
Waves and survival
Eliminate all hostiles to complete a wave, then choose Begin next wave. Surviving ships carry their hull damage forward and regain full shields. Destroyed squad members remain lost; you cannot replace them during the run.
Victory Credits
Credits earned stays visible below Return home during combat and between waves, showing the running whole-Credit total for this run, including salvage. It is not your wallet balance. Combat effects play more slowly, with extra time between enemy abilities so each result is easier to follow.
In 3.0.5, in galaxies with Credits enabled, each newly cleared wave adds 5 base Credits plus 33 × that wave number to the pending reward: waves 1, 2 and 3 add 38, 71 and 104, for running totals of 38, 109 and 213 before passives or salvage. Previously the rate was 5 plus 3 × wave number (8, 11 and 14 for waves 1–3). The wave-complete controls retain the running whole-Credit total below Return home. Return home with at least one surviving ship to collect it in your wallet. Losing every ship, including during withdrawal, forfeits the pending reward: you receive zero Credits. There is no daily reward cap.
Living cargo-ship passives add together on the cleared wave's base reward, not salvage. A living player Recycler immediately before a death enables salvage worth 5% of the current galaxy Exchange sell quote for that eligible friendly or enemy ship, including withdrawal and attrition losses; multiple Recyclers do not stack. Equipped Salvage Contracts improve eligible wave and salvage Credits without multiplying cargo passives. Fractions accumulate in hundredths, and the final wallet total rounds down once on return. A wipeout forfeits pending salvage. If the Exchange cannot supply a quote, the move is not saved or charged; retry when pricing is available. Disabling Credits never prevents physical survivor returns.
Rewards stay in the galaxy where you launched the run, even if you resume from another galaxy. Older runs bind to the galaxy of their first accepted move after rewards become available. Reloading or retrying a move never pays twice, and previously completed waves are not rewarded retroactively. The 3.0.5 rate change does not reprice Credits already pending or deposited: saved pending Credits keep their amount, and subsequent newly cleared waves use the configured rate. Credits already deposited under the earlier immediate-payout rules remain in your wallet and are not paid again; subsequent waves use the pending-reward rule. After the selected squad's launch cost, playing adds no further ship, resource or Credit costs and does not change research. Smaller squads face the same waves and base victory rewards; living passive ships can change the final reward.
For new runs, enemy types and numbers are randomly generated for each wave within a narrow, rising combat-power range. Reloading or retrying does not reroll the fleet. Heavy Fighters, Small Cargo, Cruisers, Battleships, Battlecruisers, Bombers, Destroyers and Deathstars can appear, including duplicate types. Your own squad remains one to five ships with unchanged starting stats and abilities.
The available enemy classes expand with each stage: stage 1 uses Heavy Fighters, Small Cargo and Cruisers; stage 2 adds Battleships and Battlecruisers; stage 3 adds Bombers and Destroyers; stage 4 onward also allows Deathstars. This keeps late-game classes and their salvage out of the opening waves.
Each stage lasts five waves. The first wave has two enemies; after that the roster ranges are:
| Stage | Waves | Enemy ships |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2–5 | 2–3 |
| 2 | 6–10 | 3–5 |
| 3 | 11–15 | 5–7 |
| 4 | 16–20 | 7–9 |
| 5 onward | 21 onward | 10–12 |
Combat power is a simulator-only comparison, not a ship price or Credit reward: add each enemy's maximum hull + maximum shield + four times attack + twice agility, then total the fleet. Wave 1 has 430–450 power. Both ends rise by 120 per wave, including stage transitions: wave 2 is 550–570, and wave 6 is 1,030–1,050. Every possible next-wave total is higher than the previous wave's maximum. Enemy hull, shield and attack are adjusted to fit the chosen fleet total; agility and ability definitions stay unchanged. A larger fleet can contain individually weaker ships. Different abilities and your squad composition still affect the real danger, so equal power does not mean identical fights.
Older saved runs retain their original roster progression and balance. New-run kill summaries count the enemies actually destroyed, rather than assuming a fixed number per completed wave. There is no designed final wave.
Stalling is dangerous: starting in round 31 of a wave, all living ships suffer unavoidable hull attrition. It starts at 4 hull and rises by another 4 each round, bypassing shields. Losing every squad member ends the run.
Saving, returning home and rankings
Accepted moves are saved on the server automatically. Reopen or reload the simulator to resume the current run. Only one live run is allowed per account, across its galaxies. A connection failure offers Retry same move; this retries the original request rather than spending the turn again. If another session changes the run, the latest state loads and you must choose your next move again.
Return home always asks for confirmation. During an active wave, every living enemy gets one free turn, including its action and utility, before your run ends. Enemies that already acted this round also get this withdrawal turn. If they destroy your last ship, the run ends in defeat and the pending Credits are lost. Returning between waves has no enemy retaliation. A wave merely entered is not a completed wave.
The end-of-run summary shows total enemy ships destroyed, total Credits earned, and total squad ships lost, across the entire run. It remains available on reload until you start another run. Credits deposited under the earlier rules are included in the total earned, even if later pending rewards are forfeited. Returning survivors, wallet rewards and the saved result settle together once; retries cannot duplicate ships or Credits. If your original station is unavailable or no longer yours, return remains pending rather than redirecting ships elsewhere. Choose a new squad of one to five ships to start again.
Open Rankings → Tactical Squad for the top 100 players by highest completed wave, with the squad from that result shown as ship images without captions. Empire highscores remain a separate category. Simulator survival does not add empire points.