Ship

Version

This article has been verified for the current PC version (3.10) of the game.

Ships

**Ship**

Ship designer

Core components

Weapon components

Utility components

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

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

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:

 Tier 3 Bulwark subjects can construct Battlewright construction ships, which provide all friendly ships in the same system  **5%** Daily Hull Regen.

### Science ship

*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

*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.

* 200 Food
* 200 Consumer Goods
* 500 Food
  Lithoid | * 200 Alloys
* 200 Minerals
* 200 Consumer Goods
* 500 Minerals
* 500 Minerals

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

*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

*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 a  Commander. 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, while empires with the  Become The Crisis ascension perk eventually are able to construct *Menacing* Corvettes, Destroyers and Cruisers.

Titans can only be built at a Citadel-level starbase with a  Titan Assembly Yards or a completed Mega Shipyard. The other regular classes can be built at any starbase or orbital ring with a shipyard module, or at a Mega Shipyard or Juggernaut.

Except for Titans, each ship class has a  Voidcraft technology: *Standardized <class> Patterns*, which reduces  build cost by **−5%** and increases  build speed by **+25%**. Each class also has two  Voidcraft hull improvement technologies: *Improved <size> Hulls* and *Advanced <size> Hulls*, which each add  **+10%** hull points. Corvettes and Frigates share these technologies, rather than each having their own.

Some non-playable factions have access to unique hull sizes not usually available to players. Fallen Empires have Battlecruisers and Escorts, presenting an almost direct upgrade to Battleships and Corvettes respectively. Pirates, Marauders, and associated factions use Raiders, Pirate Frigates, Pirate Cruisers, and Galleons.

### Upgrading ships

Whenever a design is updated, military ships of that design must be upgraded manually at a starbase or orbital ring with a shipyard module, Mega Shipyard, or Juggernaut. 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: resources cannot be gained by refitting a ship. Each ship upgrades individually, with multiple ships being upgraded simultaneously if the starbase (or equivalent) contains multiple shipyards.

When upgrading a ship, the system attempts to use the current version of the same design name. If no design of the same name exists, then the upgrade process retrofits them to the most-recently saved design of the same ship class instead.

Ships obtained from events that contain components not yet researched should not be allowed to upgrade; upgrading these ships replaces the unresearched components with the latest researched ones, even if those are inferior.

### Ship size

Each class of military ship uses a certain amount of naval capacity and fleet command based on its "size". The regular military ship classes have the following sizes:

### Naval capacity

 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:

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

Naval coverage is equal to twice the naval capacity used and is used to calculate *power projection*. 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

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:

### Ship rank

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:

Ship starting experience can be increased by the following:

## Colossal ships

Colossal ships are are spacecraft built on a gargantuan scale and represent the apex of an empire's economic, scientific, and military might. There are three classes of colossal ships: the Colossus, the Juggernaut, and the Star-Eater. Distinguishing them from regular ships, each Colossal Ship requires a citadel with the the  Colossal Assembly Yards building to be be constructed and all colossal ships apart from the Star-Eater have a hard limit on how many an empire can construct in a manner similar to megastructures, though they can be rebuilt if lost. Integrating a subject with a colossal ship in its navy will grant the ship to the overlord, bypassing the limit, however these additional ships cannot be rebuilt once lost.

### Colossus

The Colossus is a single-purpose weapons platform built around a Planet-Killer weapon slot, a weapon of mass destruction capable of affecting an entire planet or habitable megastructure. The technology to construct such a vessel requires the  Colossus Project ascension perk followed by an extensive research project. Each Fallen Empire has a 10% chance to start the game with a Colossus and can build more if they have awakened.

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, such as due to  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, allowing the diplomatic and political climate of a region to grow increasingly 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:

#### Toxic god

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 single-Colossus limit. It has a weapon that turns habitable planets into  Toxic Worlds. Unlike the player-built 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

The Juggernaut is the mobile center of operations of an entire empire, equipped with shipyards that 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, the Galactic Defense Force, and the Imperial Armada can all have a Juggernaut each, which will consume 32 naval capacity on top of filling out the navy's single-Juggernaut cap. This makes three the most amount of *renewable* Juggernauts available to a single empire, if they are both the president of a Federation and the Galactic Custodian and have passed Federation navy contribution and Galactic Defense Force resolution respectively.

Fallen Empires spawn with the Juggernaut technology but do not have access to the single-Juggernaut cap and cannot build them.

### Star-Eater

The Star-Eater is a massive superweapon used by the Crisis Aspirant after reaching the fifth tier of the  Become the Crisis progression level and declaring war against the Galaxy as an  Existential Threat. the main weapon of a Star-Eater is a Star Cracker that targets the core of a star, collapsing the celestial body into a black hole and destroying the surrounding solar system while collecting massive amounts of  dark matter to fuel the Aetherophasic Engine. Reaching the final crisis level grants the Crisis Aspirant two Star-Eaters as well as the technology to build more. Unlike Colossi, Star-Eaters are equipped with regular weapon slots and therefore can engage in regular fleet combat and will always cost an unchanging amount of dark matter to build regardless of the design. Star-Eaters do not require components to be fully powered in order to save a design.

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. Cracking a star grants dark matter based on the galaxy size:

 Huge | 1000

## Cloaking

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 and will automatically decloak if attacks. 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 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.
* **+1** from the Material Liberator admiral trait (Only with  Galactic Paragons DLC enabled).
* **+2** from the Guerilla Tactician destiny trait (Only with  Galactic Paragons DLC enabled).
* **+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.

## References

1. ↑ Power projection is only recalculated when  empire size changes; this is likely a bug.

**Game concepts**