Counter Intel
Counter Intel improves your defenses against enemy spying by adding +1 defensive espionage per level. Moon Base Research also adds the same defensive spy strength on top.
Effect
Each level of Counter Intel increases your effective defensive espionage level by +1 when another player sends an espionage mission against you.
This makes it harder for attackers to reveal details in their spy reports unless they send more probes or have higher Espionage Technology.
Defensive Formula
Effective defensive espionage level = Espionage Technology + Counter Intel + Moon Base Research
If your effective level is above the attacker's espionage level, the attacker loses probe strength before report thresholds are checked:
Extra probes required = max(0, Your effective level - Attacker espionage level)^2
Remaining probes = Sent probes - Extra probes required
That squared penalty is why Counter Intel becomes much more noticeable once you start stacking a few levels on top of your normal Espionage Technology.
For direct espionage reports, that same +1 per level bonus is part of the defender formula:
Defender Espionage Defense = Espionage Technology + Counter Intel + Moon Base Research
That means Counter Intel and Moon Base Research each contribute exactly +1 defensive espionage per level in both the overview formula above and the live report-detail calculation. Recon uses the same effective defense level instead of applying a separate Counter Intel penalty. Patrol interceptions use the simpler patrol-intel formula described on the Missions page.
Detection
Counter Intel does not currently add a separate chance to detect or destroy standard espionage probes. The target receives an espionage activity message on every completed espionage mission.
Requirements
- Research Lab level 3