Ship

Version

This article has been verified for the current PC version (3.8) of the game.

Ships

Mammalian Fleet

A ship is a spaceborne vessel controlled by an empire. They are the primary way of interacting with objects and entities in the galaxy via specific ship orders. Ships are classified into civilian and military vessels, the former being controlled individually while the latter form fleets. All ships must be constructed at a Starbase or Orbital ring with a shipyard module, or with Federations enabled a Mega Shipyard or a Juggernaut. Each shipyard module can construct or upgrade one ship at a time. Ships can be repaired at any controlled, operational starbase above outpost level.

Civilian ships[edit | edit source]

Civilian ships represent all unarmed vessels of an empire and are controlled individually. Their shields, armor, and core components are automatically upgraded once the next tier component tech is unlocked at no cost, and they do not need to return to a Starbase to receive component upgrades. Each civilian ship, excluding transports, has a monthly maintenance cost of 1 energy. Construction and Science ships cost 100 alloys to build.

Civilian ships use the evasive fleet stance by default, meaning that they will attempt to escape the system whenever a hostile fleet enters it. They can also be set to a passive stance to ignore hostile fleets.

Construction ship[edit | edit source]

Construction ships are used to build every space structure. They are not used up during construction, meaning that they can go on to do other tasks after they have finished their building project. Construction ships also have a Fleet Order that makes them build mining and research stations automatically. Construction ships can construct the following:

Build order	Base cost	Monthly upkeep	Description
Outpost	75 per hyperlane from closest owned system 100 if not Machine Intelligence 150 if Machine Intelligence	1 Energy	The Starbase is a space station used to claim star systems and expand your borders. It can only be built in orbit around a star. The full cost is dependent on which star system is being claimed.
Mining Station	100 Minerals	1 Energy	Mining Stations are used to collect Minerals, Energy Credits and Strategic Resources from uninhabited planets, stars and asteroids. Mining Stations that collect Energy do not cost any upkeep.
Research Station	100 Minerals	1 Energy	Research Stations are used to collect Physics, Society and Engineering research data from uninhabited planets, stars and asteroids.
Observation Post	100 Minerals	1 Energy	Observation Posts can be built in orbit around planets inhabited by primitive civilizations to study their society.
Megastructure Site	depends on Megastructure	5 Energy	Megastructures are truly massive construction projects only possible in the zero-g environment of space.

Tier 3 Bulwark subjects can construct Battlewright construction ships, which provide all friendly ships in the same system 0.25% Daily Hull Regen.

Science ship[edit | edit source]

See also: Surveying

Science ships are the primary method of exploring the galaxy and the stars and systems within it. They require a scientist to operate.

Once crewed, the science ship can conduct a survey of individual objects within a system. During these surveys, it can discover resources present on a celestial body (i.e.: planets, stars, asteroids, etc.). A survey may also result in the discovery of an anomaly. The science ship can also investigate debris left after a space battle which may yield research points or possibly even unlock unique technology options.

Science ships can also assist the research of a planet. Upon activation, the science ship will orbit the planet and boost its research output depending on the skill level of the scientist on board.

Tier 3 Scholarium subjects can construct Arctrellis science ships, which penalize all enemy ships with AI combat computers in the same system with −25% to Accuracy, Fire Rate, and Ship Speed.

Colony ship[edit | edit source]

See also: Colonization

Colony ships allow an empire to settle habitable planets or megastructures in owned systems. When ordering the construction of a colony ship, the player is given the option of choosing the species or sub-species of the pop(s) that will be sent to the new colony. Pops are neither consumed nor transported in this process. Once constructed, the colony ship may be sent to any habitable world within an owned system to start a colony. Colony ships take one year to build and their upkeep cost is maintained throughout the whole colonization process. Colony ships can also be built through the interface of the planet to be colonized, which automatically queues the colonization order as long as the path is not blocked.

The cost of a colony ship in an organic empire depends on the government and the empire's primary species class.

Primary species
Biological	200 Alloys 200 Food 200 Consumer Goods	200 Alloys 500 Food	50 Alloys 1000 Food
Lithoid	200 Alloys 200 Minerals 200 Consumer Goods	200 Alloys 500 Minerals	50 Alloys 500 Minerals 500 Food
Robot	400 Alloys

Empires with the Corporate Dominion or Private Prospectors civics can also construct Private Colony Ships, which cost 500 energy instead.

Empires with the Calamitous Birth origin can also construct Lithoid Meteorites, which cost 500 minerals instead and have no upkeep cost.

The Frontier Spirit ruler trait reduces the cost of colony ships by −35%.

Transport ship[edit | edit source]

See also: Land warfare

Transport ships are the space based form of assault armies. After an army is recruited, it is automatically embarked in a transport ship which will be orbiting the planet where it was created. While armies have an upkeep cost, transport ships cost no additional energy to maintain. Transport ships are collected in fleets like military ships, but cannot be combined with military ships and are not listed in the fleet manager.

During war, transport ships must be carefully escorted by a military fleet since they are unarmed. Their only purpose is to carry assault armies into enemy planets so that they can occupy them. Transport fleets use the passive fleet stance by default, and can be set to use the aggressive stance, which will cause them to follow a military fleet and land on enemy planets with similar or less army strength. Additionally, some special projects require a transport ship to be completed.

Military ships[edit | edit source]

See also: Space warfare

Military ships represent all armed vessels of an empire and unlike civilian ships they can be grouped together into fleets and led by an admiral. Military ships require both Energy and Alloys as monthly maintenance. Military ships have a number of base stats, but derive most of their stats from components. A military ships components can be customized via the ship designer.

Military ships are classified by their hull size, which determines their base combat stats, base cost, and available sections. There are five regular hull sizes available: Corvette, Frigate, Destroyer, Cruiser, and Battleship; the Apocalypse expansion adds a sixth regular hull size - the Titan. Empires with the Progenitor Hive origin can construct more powerful Offspring versions of Corvettes, Destroyers, Cruisers and Battleships, which empires with the Become The Crisis ascension perk will eventually be able to construct Menacing Corvettes, Destroyers and Cruisers.

Upgrading ships[edit | edit source]

Military ships must be upgraded manually at a starbase with a shipyard module, Mega Shipyard, or Juggernaut whenever a design is updated. The cost of upgrading a ship is the difference in construction cost between the new design and the current one. If the newer design costs less of a resource than the current one, then the upgrade cost for that resource is 0; you can't gain resources with an upgrade. Each ship upgrades individually, with multiple ships being upgraded simultaneously if the starbase contains multiple shipyards.

When upgrading a ship, the system will attempt to use the most recent version of the same class name. If no design of the same class name is available, then the upgrade process will retrofit them to the most-recently saved design of the same size instead.

If a ship obtained via an event contains components not yet researched, the ship should not be allowed to upgrade. Upgrading it will replace the components with the latest researched ones, even if those are inferior.

Naval capacity[edit | edit source]

Naval capacity represents the number of military ships that an empire can effectively support. Going beyond this limit will increase ship maintenance costs by a percentage proportional to the exceeded capacity. For example, if an empire exceeded its naval capacity by 50%, it would increase the maintenance cost of each ship by 50%. An empire's base naval capacity is 20 and is modified by the following:

Base modifiers	Amount
Galactic Mobilization Custodian Reform resolution	+150
Aetherophasic Engine stage 1 Additional +50 each stage, total: +250	+100
Galactic Force Projection ascension perk	+80
Per stage of Strategic Coordination Center 3 stages, total: +150	+50
Doctrine: Fleet Support tech line 4 technologies, total: +120	+30
Fleet Management Procedures tech Max 5 times, total: +100	+20
Per Mercenary Liaison Office corporate holding, for Corporate empire	+10
Per Pirate Free Haven corporate holding, for Corporate empire	+10
Per Recruitment Office overlord holding, for overlord	+10
Per Mercenary Garrison starbase building Only with Unchained Knowledge resolution level 3 or above	+5
Per Anchorage starbase or orbital ring module Additional +2 with Naval Logistics Office building on the starbase or orbital ring Additional +2 with Orbital Assembly Complex holding on the planet with orbital ring	+4
Per Soldier/Warrior Drone job Additional +2 with Ground Defense Planning technology	+4
Per Necromancer job Additional +2 with Ground Defense Planning technology	+2
Per Duelist job	+2

Maximum Naval Capacity may never exceed 9999 but empires can still build over it as long as their economy supports the upkeep costs.

Titans have a strict build limit, with a base of 1 allowed per empire; every 200 Naval Capacity increases an empire's Titan cap by 1, up to a maximum of 20 Titans at 3800 naval capacity.

Offspring ships have a strict build limit too:

Every 10 Naval Capacity increases Offspring Corvette cap by 1
Every 20 Naval Capacity increases Offspring Destroyer cap by 1
Every 40 Naval Capacity increases Offspring Cruiser cap by 1
Every 80 Naval Capacity increases Offspring Battleship cap by 1

Naval Coverage[edit | edit source]

Naval coverage is equal to twice the naval capacity used and is used to calculate power projection.^[1] Power projection adds monthly influence based on the ratio of naval coverage to empire size. If naval coverage equals or exceeds empire size, power projection adds +2 monthly influence; imperial authority empires gain +3 monthly influence instead. If naval coverage is less than empire size, power projection is scaled by the percentage ratio. For example, with naval coverage of 50 and empire size of 100 (i.e. 50%), power projection would add +1 monthly influence, or +1.5 monthly influence for imperial authority.

Fleet command limit[edit | edit source]

Fleet command limit determines how large any one individual fleet in an empire can be. An empire's base command limit is 20, increased by the following:

Source	Fleet command limit
Galactic Force Projection ascension perk	+20
War Games tradition	+20
Doctrine: Space Combat technology	+20
Doctrine: Reactive Formations technology	+20
Doctrine: Interstellar Warfare technology	+20
Doctrine: Fluid Fleet Templates technology	+20
Doctrine: Armada Battle Formation technology	+20
Distinguished Admiralty civic	+10
Destroyers tech	+10
Cruisers tech	+10
Battleships tech	+10
Titans tech	+10
Admiralty Support Staff technology (repeatable 5 times)	+10

Ship rank[edit | edit source]

As ships partake in battle, they will increase their rank. Ships start with zero experience. Ships gain +5 experience every day they are in combat and +0.1 experience every day they are suppressing piracy.

Ranks are classified as follows:

Rank	Exp Points	Damage	Hull Points	Evasion
Regular	0-99	0	0	0
Experienced	100-999	+10%	0	0
Veteran	1000-9999	+20%	+5%	+5%
Elite	10000	+40%	+10%	+10%

Ship starting experience can be increased by the following:

Source	Effect
Fleet Supremacy edict	+100
Martial Alliance federation	+100
Built from a Starbase with a Fleet Academy building	+100
Built from a Mega Shipyard	+100

Colossal ships[edit | edit source]

Colossal ships are the largest ships that can be built. There are three classes of colossal ships: the Colossus, the Juggernaut, and the Star-Eater. Each requires the starbase to have the Colossal Assembly Yards building before they can be constructed, and – aside from the Star-Eater – each empire can have only one of each at a time. However, replacements can be built if they are destroyed and Colossal ships obtained from integrated subjects will be kept.

Colossus[edit | edit source]

Humanoid empire using a World Cracker

The Colossus has a single weapon slot which can be equipped with a weapon of mass destruction capable of affecting an entire planet or habitable megastructure. Each Fallen Empire has a 10% chance to start the game with a Colossus and can build more if they have awakened. For player empires, constructing a Colossus requires the Colossus Project ascension perk.

Colossi are unable to attack enemy fleets, as they lack the weaponry to do so. During space battles, a Colossus will follow direct orders and will maneuver straight to its designated target. This means that the Colossus will do things such as going straight through an ongoing space battle to fire upon an enemy planet, unless its stance is set to Evasive.

An empire that owns a Colossus gains the Colossus casus belli, allowing them to declare a total war on other empires. Similarly, any other empire can use the Stop Colossus casus belli to declare a total war on the Colossus owner. During a total war, any systems captured by either side will be immediately annexed and the war can only end in the total destruction of either side or a status quo.

If a Colossus is destroyed during a total war, nothing happens. The war is still a total war.
If a Colossus is built during a regular war, nothing happens and the Colossus can be used as normal. If one side is totally destroyed by the Colossus, the war ends and the war goal is not enforced. The same is true if an empire that owns a Colossus is dragged into a regular war, usually because of federation or defensive pact.

Using a Colossus causes large amounts of war exhaustion on the targeted empire, and gives it +50% ethics attraction towards Militarist and Xenophobe, which can cause the diplomatic and political climate in the region to grow even more hostile over time.

The Colossus Project ascension perk grants access to a special project which unlocks both the ship and one weapon. After the special project is halfway completed, the empire is prompted to choose a starting Colossus weapon from those they could research (except Deluge Machine). The empire can later research other types of Colossus weapons and retrofit it into their Colossus via the ship designer.

Colossus weapons can only target planets, ringworlds and habitats. Targeting a planet with a pre-FTL civilization requires the Aggressive Interference Native Interference policy.

A Colossus can carry the following weapons:

Weapon	Effects	Opinion when used	Requirements for research	Notes
Global Pacifier	The celestial body is irreversibly turned into a Shielded variant It gains a deposit of 10 Society Research	−200 Victim −20 Victim's Federation −20		If used on a Holy World the Holy Guardians will awaken and declare a war on the perpetrator
World Cracker	The celestial body is irreversibly destroyed. If it was a habitable planet, it gains a deposit of 4–16 Minerals.	−1000 Victim −100 Victim's Federation −100	Pacifist	Fanatic Purifiers and Determined Exterminator empires gain 600–3000 Unity on first use If used on a Holy World, the Holy Guardians will awaken and declare a war on the perpetrator If Earth is shattered, there is a 50% chance of creating a wormhole with another system Can be test fired on uninhabited planets
Neutron Sweep	All Pops on the planet are killed. The planet gets −30% Habitability for 10 years.	−800 Victim −80 Victim's Federation −80	Pacifist Teachers of the Shroud If Spiritualist: Telepathy (only without Utopia) Mind Over Matter	Fanatic Purifiers and Determined Exterminator empires gain 600–3000 Unity on first use Infested worlds can be targeted and turned into barren worlds with the Terraforming Candidate modifier
Divine Enforcer	All Pops on the planet become Spiritualist Mechanical, Machine and Hive-Minded pops are killed instead The planet gets +999% Spiritualist ethic attraction for 10 years Owned planets can be targeted but will also gain −20% happiness for 10 years	−400 Victim −40 Victim's Federation −40	Spiritualist Any of: Telepathy (only without Utopia) Mind Over Matter Teachers of the Shroud	AI worlds can be targeted and turned into broken worlds
Nanobot Diffuser	All biological and lithoid Pops on the planet are assimilated and gain the Cybernetic trait Mechanical, Machine and Hive-Minded Pops are killed instead Owned planets can be targeted if there is any Pop that can be assimilated Perpetrator gains ownership of the planet if not already owned	−600 Victim −60 Victim's Federation −60	Driven Assimilator	Can be used on pre-FTL worlds but will give −40 opinion with every empire that isn't Xenophobe or Fanatic Xenophobe
Devolving Beam	All organic armies are destroyed Most organic pops become pre-sapient, with 1 organic pop remaining sapient Pops that become pre-sapient gain the Forcefully Devolved trait If the perpetrator picks the Archaeo-Engineers ascension perk: All Mechanical and Machine Pops are killed instead All robotic armies are destroyed	−800 Victim −80 Victim's Federation −80	Ancient Relics DLC	If a world is devolved, perpetrator has to wait at least 1 year before devolving the same world again If the perpetrator picks the Archaeo-Engineers ascension perk: AI worlds can be targeted and turned into broken worlds
Deluge Machine	All pops without the Aquatic trait are killed All districts are removed Planet is terraformed into an Ocean World Owned planet can be targeted If any pops remain, perpetrator gains ownership of the planet if not already owned	−600 Victim −60 Victim's Federation −60 Everyone	Hydrocentric ascension perk	If used on a Holy World, the Holy Guardians will awaken and declare a war on the perpetrator AI worlds can be targeted and turned into broken worlds Ringworlds, Habitats, and Ocean Worlds cannot be targeted

Toxic god[edit | edit source]

The toxic god is a unique colossus that can be unlocked as part of the Search for the Toxic God situation and does not count towards the 1 colossus limit. Its weapon can turn habitable planets into Toxic Worlds. Unlike the buildable colossus the toxic god is armed with strike craft, energy weapons and regenerative hull tissues. Using it has the same Opinion penalties as World Crackers.

Juggernaut[edit | edit source]

Real scale of a humanoid Juggernaut

The Juggernaut can construct, repair, and upgrade ships the same way a starbase can. It has 10 times the hull points of a Titan and features six Hangar slots and two turreted Extra Large slots. It also has its own set of aura components, which are significantly more powerful than the Titan's auras.

Juggernauts have two shipyards and can thus build or upgrade up to two ships at a time. It cannot build Titans or colossal ships, but it can upgrade or repair them. The Juggernaut can also upgrade itself and will automatically start repairing itself after a battle. It cannot be repaired or upgraded at a starbase. Juggernauts can retreat and go Missing in Action to reappear at the nearest friendly starbase like all regular fleets. Fleets can set a Juggernaut as their homebase, though the target location of a "return to homebase", "repair", or "upgrade" order will fail to update in real time if the Juggernaut is still in motion.

Federation fleets can have a Juggernaut each, which will consume 32 Federation naval capacity on top of filling out the Federation's single-Juggernaut cap.

Fallen Empires cannot build Juggernauts.

Star-Eater[edit | edit source]

Real scale of a Star-Eater

The Star-Eater is equipped with a Star Cracker, a weapon that destroys stars. Constructing Star-Eaters requires the Become the Crisis ascension perk as well as reaching the final crisis level, which also gives two Star-Eaters for free. When the Star-Eater finishes firing, the star becomes a black hole, and all planets and megastructures are permanently destroyed. All fleets present (including other non-firing Star-Eaters) except the firing Star-Eater will go MIA. If a system contains multiple stars, firing upon any of them destroys all stars in the system. Unlike Colossi, Star-Eaters are equipped with regular weapon slots and therefore can engage in regular fleet combat. Also, constructing Star-Eaters only cost dark matter (using Nanite Repair System will not incur nanite costs). Star-Eaters upgrade for free.

When the star is destroyed, the empire owning the Star-Eater gains dark matter based on the galaxy size:

Galaxy size	Dark matter
Tiny	3000
Small	2500
Medium	2000
Large	1500
Huge	1000

Cloaking[edit | edit source]

Cloaking allows a fleet to become invisible and ignore closed borders and will not become MIA if war is declared against the system's current owner. It also allows a Science Ship to conduct Active Reconnaissance. However most cloaking components will disable shields and even the ones that don't impose certain restrictions on shields. A ship can only cloak every 120 days. Ships and fleets that are cloaked are marked with horizontal stripes on the galaxy map.

Each ship has a Cloaking Strength, and each fleet has a Cloaking Strength determined by the lowest one of all ships in the fleet. It determines what penalties a fleet will suffer while cloaked as well as how easy it is to detect.

Cloaking Strength	Sublight Speed	Hyper Jump Charge Time	Description
Non-Existent	Cannot cloak	Cannot cloak	This fleet is incapable of projecting a Cloaking Field.
Very Low (1)	−50%	+125%	This fleet is capable of projecting a severely unstable Cloaking Field, with significant limitations of Sublight Speed and Hyper Jump Charge Time.
Low (2)	−40%	+100%	This fleet is capable of projecting an unstable Cloaking Field, with major limitations of Sublight Speed and Hyper Jump Charge Time.
Medium (3)	−30%	+75%	This fleet is capable of projecting a Cloaking Field of normal stability, with some limitations of Sublight Speed and Hyper Jump Charge Time.
High (4)	−20%	+50%	This fleet is capable of projecting a high stability Cloaking Field, with minor limitations of Sublight Speed and Hyper Jump Charge Time.
Very High (5)	−10%	+25%	This fleet is capable of projecting an incredibly stable Cloaking Field, with insignificant limitations of Sublight Speed and Hyper Jump Charge Time.
Exceptional 6+	No penalty	No penalty	This fleet is capable of projecting an exceptionally stable Cloaking Field, without any limitations of Sublight Speed and Hyper Jump Charge Time.

Cloaking Strength can be increased by the following, up to the maximum of 10:

+1-5 by cloaking ship Auxiliary components, depending on the size of the ship and the level of the component. A ship without a cloaking device can't cloak, even if it would gain additional strength from other sources.
+1 from finishing the Subterfuge tradition tree.
+1 from the Trickster admiral trait.
+2 from the Cunning admiral trait.
+1 from the Criminal Heritage civic.
+2 from the Enigmatic Engineering ascension perk.
+2 from forming a covenant with Whisperers in the Void.
+3 if the fleet is inside a Nebula.

A cloaked fleet will be detected if it is within the sensor range of a starbase with Detection Strength higher than or equal to the fleet's Cloaking Strength. Cloaked fleets are also visible to empires that have max Intel on the empire.