Space Combat: Firing, Targets, and Shields

Active shields are recalculated at the start of each turn, with a 10% degradation per turn. A shield that is reduced from a positive value to 0 by damage is broken for the rest of the battle and can no longer be recalculated.

The shield does not simply retain its remaining strength from the previous turn. At the start of each new turn, it is recalculated from its original value:

• turn 1: 100%
• turn 2: 90%
• turn 3: 80%
• turn 4: 70%
• turn 5: 60%
• turn 6: 50%
• turn 7: 40%
• turn 8: 30%

Damage always hits the shield first. If a shot exceeds the remaining shield, the excess carries over to the hull. The critical effects of some orbital defenses are detailed in the Planetary defenses section.

Example

A ship with 1 000 shield points returns to 900 on turn 2, then to 800 on turn 3, even if its shield was almost empty at the end of the previous turn. If the shield reaches exactly 0 on turn 2, it remains at 0 on subsequent turns.

Each unit fires several times per turn, depending on its rate of fire.

The game does not treat a unit's attack as one large hit. Instead, it splits its total attack into multiple shots.

For ships:

• rate of fire determines the number of shots per turn;
• each shot applies the same per-shot attack power;
• the total number of shots therefore depends directly on the model sent.

A civilian model has no weapons: its rate of fire and attack are both zero, so it does not fire. It is still a normal fleet unit and can be targeted or destroyed.

Example

A ship with 3 shots and 200 damage per shot inflicts 600 damage across 3 impacts, which can hit one target or several.

Selection at the start of the turn

Each shot randomly selects a target from all enemy units alive at the start of the turn.

The system does not automatically prioritize:

• larger units;
• weaker units;
• defenses;
• the most dangerous ships.

At the start of the turn, combat builds a list containing every enemy unit still alive. Each unit counts as one entry in this list, regardless of its size, hull, shield, or value. A large ship and a small defense therefore each have a chance of being targeted by every shot if both are present in the snapshot.

Each shot then makes its own random selection from this list. Shots are independent of one another: hitting a target does not automatically reduce its chances of being hit again by subsequent shots, nor does it guarantee that other units will receive their share.

Targets destroyed during the turn are not removed until the end of the turn. They can therefore still be part of the target list used by shots fired during that same turn, based on the snapshot taken at the start of the turn.

Weave Aegis cover

Exception: if an attacking shot targets a non-Aegis defense and a living Weave Aegis still has one of its 100 cover charges for the round, the shot is redirected to the Aegis and consumes the charge. This cover does not protect defending ships. Only the Monarch Cannon and Monarch Beam can damage an Aegis; any other shot that hits it, directly or after redirection, deals no damage and triggers no critical effect.

Examples of shot distribution

Example

If 12 targets remain at the start of the turn, each shot has about a 1 in 12 chance of targeting each one. With 500 shots, that gives an average of about 42 shots per target, but this is only an average: one target may receive 60 shots, another 25, and another almost none.

A unit that fires 5 times during a turn can therefore hit 5 different targets, or instead hit the same target 3 times and other units 2 times.

Ground targeting first distributes shots among groups according to their weights, then applies them uniformly to the units in each group, while each unit retains its own shields and HP. For details, see Shots and target distribution.

Raw damage indicates the power of all shots fired; it does not, on its own, measure useful damage or losses suffered.

The engine resolves each shot according to target selection. Several shots can therefore concentrate on a single target. Damage beyond what is needed to destroy it is not redistributed: this excess is called overkill or excess damage. It can explain why a report shows enough raw damage to theoretically destroy the entire opposing group even though some units survive.

Example

If a target can be destroyed by 1 shot but receives 3 in the same turn, the 2 excess shots count toward raw damage without hitting other targets.

Each ship has an evasion rate calculated from its chassis and the mass of its components.

Each chassis sets an evasion cap: Fighter 70%, Interceptor 65%, Transport 60%, Escort 55%, Shuttle 50%, Frigate 47,5%, Corvette 45%, Cruiser 40%, Heavy Cruiser 35%, Battleship 32,5%, and Destroyer 30%. Equipment reduces this rate according to the formula:

evasion = cap - 10 percentage points × (component mass / chassis mass)

The result remains between 0% and the chassis cap. Cargo, crew, technologies, speed, and damage received do not affect it. Orbital defenses have 0% evasion.

For a civilian model, the game first calculates its base evasion using the chassis's own cap and the mass of its equipment, then applies:

civilian evasion = min(70 %, 2 × base evasion)

The chassis cap is not reapplied after doubling. The cargo capacity bonus is applied after design and does not affect this calculation. A military model, a preconfigured catalog model, or an old player model retains its base evasion without this doubling.

For each shot, the engine first selects the target, then applies any cover from a Weave Aegis. It then tests the final target's evasion. An evaded shot deals no damage and cannot trigger a critical effect.

Pre-combat protection for a docked fleet is a separate rule: it can keep the defender's entire fleet out of combat before resolution, without an evasion test.

Example

A Destroyer with a total mass of 300 000 and a chassis mass of 150 000 has 20% evasion. Across 4 shots, each shot makes its own test, so the actual number of evasions varies from one combat to another.

For a civilian model, a base evasion of 25 % becomes 50 %. A base evasion of 45 % becomes 70 %, because the global cap applies. A base of 0 % remains at 0 %.