Espionage Reports

Espionage is used to obtain information about a planet before an attack, a ground incursion or a strategic decision.

The categories revealed and the order in which they appear are described in Information Revealed at Each Threshold.

The level of detail depends on the difference between the attacker's and the defender's Espionage technologies; see Calculating the Espionage Advantage.

The report depends on the difference between the attacker's Espionage technology and the defender's.

The game first calculates:

advantage = attacker espionage - defender espionage

Alliance bonuses related to espionage are included in this calculation.

The temporary bonus granted by additional devices may be added to this advantage; its rules are described in Number of Devices and Preferences. The higher the effective advantage, the more information the report reveals, as described in Information Revealed at Each Threshold.

The report reveals information at different thresholds.

The thresholds are:

• advantage less than 0: no significant detailed information;
• advantage 0 or more: visible resources;
• advantage 1 or more: ships;
• advantage 2 or more: defenses;
• advantage 3 or more: ground troops;
• advantage 4 or more: buildings;
• advantage 5 or more: technologies.

Specialized devices are not displayed in espionage reports.

Energy is not a lootable resource and does not appear in espionage reports.

The only resources shown are:

• Iron;
• Crystal;
• Aether.

The inactivity sanctuary rules govern which recent natural production is hidden from espionage and when that protection ends.

The report arrives in the mailbox.

The attacker receives an intelligence message containing the espionage report.

The conditions for alerts sent to the defender depend on the type of espionage and are described in Alerts Sent to the Defender.