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Standard Missions

Standard Missions

Standard missions are the direct fleet actions used for combat, logistics, expansion, spying, debris collection, moon strikes, and missile attacks. They use normal travel instead of the deep-space hold loop used by Patrol, Trade, Recon, and Exploration.

Quick Reference

Mission ID Target Return Behavior Fuel Cell Boost
Attack 1 Enemy planet or moon Returns after combat None
ACS Attack 2 Invited ACS target Returns after combat None
Transport 3 Existing planet or moon Returns after unloading Speed
Deployment 4 Own planet or moon; Space Dock ship uses empty planet slot One-way for normal fleets Speed
ACS Defend 5 Existing planet or moon Returns after hold if not recalled or destroyed Speed
Espionage 6 Existing planet or moon Probes return after report None
Colonisation 7 Empty planet slot Colony Ship is consumed; escorts return None
Harvest 8 Debris field coordinate Returns with harvested debris Speed
Moon Destruction 9 Moon or Space Dock outpost Returns after combat if surviving ships remain None
Missile Attack 11 Enemy planet No return; missiles are consumed None

Attack

Attack missions target enemy planets or moons. They cannot target your own worlds, and they are blocked when either side is in Isolation Mode.

If the attacker wins, the fleet can loot resources up to remaining cargo space after carried cargo and launch fuel are accounted for. Destroyed ships create debris according to the live debris rules.

ACS Attack

ACS Attack lets multiple invited fleets join the same battle. Joining fleets must match the group timing closely enough; a joining fleet can delay the group only within the ACS timing window.

All participating fleets resolve one combined combat, then surviving fleets return to their origins.

Transport

Transport moves Metal, Crystal, Deuterium, and Fuel Cells to an existing planet or moon. The cargo unloads at arrival, then surviving ships return home.

Transport supports the Fuel Cell speed boost: paying the launch boost doubles the selected travel speed and replaces the mission's normal deuterium fuel cost with 0.

Deployment

Normal Deployment moves ships and carried resources to one of your own planets or moons. It is a one-way move: the fleet becomes stationed at the destination.

Space Dock deployment is the special case:

  • it uses the Deployment mission type
  • it must include exactly one Space Dock ship
  • it targets an empty planet slot
  • the destination slot is locked while the deployment is in flight
  • on arrival, it creates a Space Dock outpost instead of a normal planet

Read: Space Dock

ACS Defend

ACS Defend sends a fleet to guard an existing planet or moon. On arrival, the fleet becomes a defender fleet for the selected hold window.

When the hold window ends, the fleet returns using the original travel duration. The fleet can also return early if recalled, and it can be destroyed in combat while defending.

ACS Defend supports the Fuel Cell speed boost.

Espionage

Espionage missions target existing planets or moons and generate an espionage report on arrival. The target receives an espionage activity message in the current live implementation.

Standard espionage does not currently use a separate probe-destruction roll. If the probes survive the trip, they return after transmitting the report.

For persistent system surveillance, use Recon instead.

Colonisation

Colonisation targets an empty planet slot and requires at least one Colony Ship. The mission is allowed while Isolation Mode is active because it expands your own empire rather than attacking another player.

On arrival:

  • the target slot must still be empty
  • your Astrophysics level must allow another planet
  • one Colony Ship is consumed
  • carried resources are delivered to the new planet
  • escort ships return if any remain after the Colony Ship is consumed

Harvest

Harvest targets debris-field coordinates and requires at least one Recycler. You can launch toward a visible debris coordinate even when no planet exists in that slot.

Recyclers harvest up to their cargo capacity. Laser Technology improves harvest yield from the collected base debris:

1% Metal per Laser Technology level
+2% Crystal per Laser Technology level
+3% Deuterium per Laser Technology level

Harvest supports the Fuel Cell speed boost.

Moon Destruction

Moon Destruction requires at least one Deathstar and targets a moon or Space Dock outpost. Normal combat resolves first.

If the attacker wins and at least one Deathstar survives, the game rolls a destruction chance based on surviving Deathstars and target diameter. If a Space Dock outpost is destroyed, Space Dock Research resets to level 0 and the owner must research it again to receive another Space Dock ship.

Surviving Deathstars also make a self-destruction roll after the attempt. Graviton Technology reduces that self-destruction chance by 5 percentage points per level.

Moon Destruction can also be coordinated through ACS attack flow.

Missile Attack

Missile Attack uses Interplanetary Missiles, not fleet ships. It targets enemy planets only and does not consume a fleet slot. IPMs cannot carry player-loaded resources, but each IPM has 100 cargo reserved for launch fuel.

Range is same-galaxy only:

missile_range_in_systems = (Astrophysics level * 5) - 1

Each IPM uses Deuterium based on the system distance:

fuel_per_ipm = ceil(100 * system_distance / missile_range_in_systems)

At your maximum allowed range, each IPM uses 100 Deuterium. Same-system missile attacks use 0 Deuterium.

Anti-Ballistic Missiles intercept one incoming IPM each. Remaining IPMs deal damage using:

missile_damage
  = 25,000
  × (1 + 0.15 × Weapon Technology)
  × (1 + 0.05 × Missile Technology)

If you choose a priority target, most missile hits try that target first. Any remaining missile damage is distributed across eligible defenses and ships.

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