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Recon

Recon

Recon is a deep-space intelligence mission. You park a probe-led fleet in deep space, and while it holds there the mission repeatedly looks for hostile worlds in that system and tries to generate full espionage reports. It can also occasionally reveal the active deep-space hold missions already operating in that same system.

Quick Rules

Rule Value
Mission ID 14
Target Deep space at position 16
Return trip Yes
Tick interval Every 30 minutes while holding
Launch requirement Hold time is required
Unlock Recon Technology level 1
Required ships At least 1 Espionage Probe

Launch Requirements

To launch Recon:

  • target deep space at position 16
  • include at least one Espionage Probe
  • have Recon Technology level 1
  • set a hold time

Recon is a hold mission. In normal live play, it is not used as a zero-hold launch.

What Recon Scans

Every 30 minutes while holding, Recon:

  • checks planets and moons in that system
  • never targets your own empire
  • skips your alliance members
  • prefers active, recently updated hostile targets first
  • can separately reveal active Patrol, Trade, Recon, and Exploration holds in that system
  • can trigger rare intelligence reward events in the scouted system

If no eligible hostile targets exist, you get a status message and nothing is reported by the espionage-report scan that tick. Hidden debris can still be found in an otherwise quiet system.

Recon Success Formula

For each eligible target, Recon rolls:

success_chance
  = clamp(20 + (5 × (attacker_effective_espionage - target_effective_espionage_defense)), 0, 100)

What "Attacker Effective Espionage" Means

Your Recon success uses your current effective espionage level, which includes your normal espionage strength plus the bonuses from Recon Technology.

Target effective espionage defense uses the target's Espionage Technology plus Counter Intel and Moon Base Research, with each adding exactly +1 level per level.

What Happens On Success

A successful roll generates a full espionage-style report covering:

  • resources
  • ships
  • defenses
  • buildings
  • research

The target also receives espionage activity detection.

If every target fails its roll, the tick ends with no usable report.

Recon Tick Reward Events

Each Recon tick also rolls four independent intelligence events: three positive events and one hostile event.

Chance Event Result
1% Alien attack Generates an Alien fleet using the same hostile encounter generation as Exploration and resolves combat against your Recon fleet
10% Hidden debris field Creates a random debris field in the reconned system worth your account's total hourly mine production, then applies reward scaling
5% Resource embezzlement Steals a reward-scaled amount based on 5% of available metal, crystal, and deuterium from a random non-allied planet or moon in the system
1% Ship defection Moves a reward-scaled amount based on 5% of the sitting ships from the largest non-allied fleet in the system into your Recon fleet

Alien attacks consume the tick. If the Recon fleet is destroyed, the mission ends immediately and does not return.

Hidden debris fields use this resource ratio:

metal : crystal : deuterium = 10 : 4 : 1

If the Recon fleet includes Recyclers or Reapers, they immediately harvest from the newly found debris up to salvage capacity and remaining mission cargo capacity. Any unharvested debris remains in the system.

The universe score reward multiplier and Fuel Cell reward multiplier apply to all three positive Intel outcomes after the event succeeds. Universe score scaling compares your score to the average overall score of the top player in each of the four research focuses. If a focus has no scored leader yet, that focus contributes 0 to the average.

For embezzlement and defection, the scaled amount is calculated before resources or ships are removed from the enemy target. Resource embezzlement is still limited by the Recon fleet's remaining cargo capacity. Ship defections subtract ships from the target body and add them to the Recon fleet, so they return with the mission.

Active Mission Manifest Scan

Each Recon tick also has a separate chance to reveal the active deep-space hold missions in that system.

Base chance:

active_mission_manifest_chance = 5%

If the scan lands, your recon log lists every currently active:

  • Patrol hold
  • Trade hold
  • Recon hold
  • Exploration hold

For each detected mission, the log shows:

  • mission owner
  • ships
  • cargo
  • total hold time

It does not reveal:

  • origin coordinates
  • arrival timestamps
  • return timestamps

Fuel Cell Reward Boost

Recon uses the reward-style Fuel Cell boost. It improves the amounts from positive Recon tick events and also improves the active mission manifest scan chance.

The per-tick chance is:

active_mission_manifest_chance
  = min(25%, 5% + floor(fuel_cells_spent / 25))

That creates:

Fuel Cells Spent Manifest Chance Per Tick
0 5%
100 9%
200 13%
300 17%
400 21%
500 25%

Fuel Cells do not:

  • add extra recon target slots
  • improve the normal espionage-report success roll
  • reveal more fields inside the manifest itself
  • increase hidden debris, embezzlement, or defection event odds

Strategy Tips

  • Recon is strongest in systems with several active enemy worlds.
  • Higher espionage strength increases long-hold report volume dramatically.
  • High defensive spy strength targets can waste your ticks, so system choice matters.
  • Recon is better for persistent system surveillance than one-off spying.
  • If you only want one immediate spy report on one target, use a normal espionage mission instead of Recon.

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