Alpha build 56 is live, and with it fleet battles between commanders are switched on. You can attack another player's fleet, and yours can be attacked.
This is a required update. The server restarted at 20:39 UTC and refuses Alpha build 55 and earlier. Exit Steam completely and start it again to get the new build. Nothing was wiped.
How to attack, and who
Select your fleet and right-click another commander's fleet, the same as attacking the Tide. If the attack is not allowed, the command bar tells you why.
- In a planet's view you can only attack a commander within 5 levels of your own, up or down. A commander below level 10 who has never attacked another commander cannot be attacked there at all.
- In sector space it is free for all: anyone can attack anyone.
- Only a fleet in its bay is safe. A fleet you leave deployed when you log out can be attacked; it fights on autopilot and the report is waiting when you come back. Recall your fleets before you leave if you do not want that.
- You cannot attack your own fleets. Faction makes no difference.
- Whoever attacks you can be attacked back for 24 hours, whatever the difference in level.
- After you beat a commander, you cannot attack any of their fleets for 5 minutes. It is their time to get away.
What the winner gets
- Infamy, a ladder for battles between commanders. The winner gains it and the loser loses the same, never below zero. Beating a commander with more Infamy than you pays more.
- Resources: minerals, helium-3 and antimatter equal to what it will cost the loser to repair the ships you destroyed. The game pays it; nothing is taken from the loser's stores.
- Salvage: each enemy ship you destroyed gives a 5% chance of taking one of the modules fitted to it. It comes off their ship for good and goes into your inventory at the Mark it had.
Beating the same commander again on the same day pays less each time: all, half, a quarter, then nothing. A draw pays nobody.
What you can lose
Never a ship. Destroyed ships come home as wrecks to repair, as after any battle. You can lose Infamy and, to salvage, a fitted module. The Tide still gives no Infamy, no resources and no salvage.
The battle result shows all of it: the resources in the REWARDS strip, and Infamy and any salvaged module in the line under the battle time.
Help us test it
This is the first build in which two real commanders can fight each other, and until today it could only be tested with one account and a stand-in. Please go and fight, and tell us:
- an attack that was refused when it should not have been, or allowed when it should not have been
- a reward, an Infamy change or a salvaged module that does not match the result screen
- anything odd about being attacked while you were away
- what feels unfair, and what you would exploit
The numbers are starting values and may change: the 5 levels, level 10, the 5 minutes and the 5%. There is no Infamy leaderboard yet.
The rules are in the Player's Guide: Combat. The changelog has the full list.