Tactical report

Combat rules

Combat is resolved in a fixed order. Range comes first, then visibility, then hit chance, dodge, damage, and finally the counterattack if the defender can answer.

How a fight begins

The server checks the source ship, the target, the module, the sector, the health of the attacker, and the available action points before it lets the attack through. If one piece is missing, the action stops quietly and no AP is spent.

Range is measured from footprint to footprint, so ship size matters. The game does not compare only the centers of two ships.

Range gate 

Useful distance = max(horizontal gap, vertical gap)
Attack allowed if useful distance <= weapon range and action points available >= 1
Ship size matters because the game measures edge to edge, not center to center

Hit chance 

Hit chance = base chance + weapon skill bonus + sharpshooting bonus + aiming bonus - visibility penalty - hide signature penalty + invisibility bonus + weapon accuracy bonus
The result stays between the minimum and the maximum allowed by combat rules

Visibility and target reading

A scanned target removes the visibility penalty entirely. Sonar keeps a smaller penalty, while an unknown target stays the hardest case.

Detection helps the attacker read the fight more cleanly, while Hide Signature pushes the other way. Both skills matter twice, once for scan readability and once for hit chance.

The scan difficulty badge comes from the same attacker and defender comparison model. It tells you whether the target will feel very hard, hard, balanced, easy, or very easy to engage.

Stealth is a separate concealment state. If no living PC or NPC is inside your sonar zone when you activate it, the activation succeeds automatically. If someone is already in range, the best detector in that zone contests the attempt.

Passive detection uses the detector's sonar zone. Active detection sends a private sonar pulse that only the initiator and the initiator's group can see, but any successful reveal removes stealth globally.

Visibility state 

Scanned target = no visibility penalty
Sonar target = -6 visibility penalty
Unknown target = -14 visibility penalty

Stealth and reveal checks 

Stealth activation with no detector in your sonar zone = automatic success
Contested stealth activation chance = clamp(55 + 2 × (stealth score - detection score), 10, 90)
Passive reveal chance = clamp(40 + 2 × (detection score - stealth score), 10, 90)
Active reveal chance = clamp(55 + 2 × (detection score - stealth score), 10, 90)
Stealthed movement cost = 2 movement points per tile

Scan difficulty 

Attack index = 60% weapon skill + 25% targeting skill + 15% detection
Defense index = 70% evasive maneuver + 30% hide signature
Difficulty badge = compare defense index against attack index
Very hard if defense is 25 points or more above attack
Hard if defense is at least 10 points above attack
Balanced if the two sides are close
Easy if defense is between 10 and 25 points below attack
Very easy if defense is more than 25 points below attack

Damage, shields, and critical hits

The weapon rolls a damage band first. Then the matching weapon skill pushes that result higher. If the attack becomes critical, the rolled damage is multiplied before the shields absorb it.

Laser shots use a 1.4 multiplier, ballistic shots use 1.6, and torpedoes use 1.9. The shield that matches the damage type takes the damage first, and only then does the hull start to suffer.

Smaller ships are naturally harder to hit, while larger hulls give away some evasion. The size bonus is capped so the system stays readable.

Weapon scaling 

Weapon precision bonus = weapon skill curve + sharpshooting bonus
Weapon damage bonus = weapon skill curve
Rolled damage = random damage from the weapon's own range
Final damage before critical hits = rolled damage × (1 + damage bonus)

Evasion and size 

Evasion chance = base dodge + evasive maneuver bonus scaled by hull class + size bonus
Hull-class scaling keeps small ships slippery and large ships less agile

Critical and absorption 

Critical chance = 5% + sharpshooting bonus
Critical chance is capped at 25%
Critical multiplier = 1.4 for laser, 1.6 for ballistic, 1.9 for torpedo
Shields absorb first, then the hull takes the rest

Counterattacks

After the main attack, the defender can answer if it is still alive, still has AP, and has a weapon that reaches the distance.

The counter uses the longest range weapon that can reach the target, not the biggest damage roll available.

Counterattacks do not chain forever. A counter cannot generate another counter.

Counter selection 

Counterattack allowed if the defender is still alive, still has at least 1 action point, and has a weapon in range
The chosen weapon is the usable one with the longest range

Counter resolution 

A counterattack follows the same hit and damage rules as a normal attack
A counterattack cannot trigger another counterattack

Support actions

Repair modules restore all three shield types. They can work on a fixed value or on a percentage of the missing shield, and the Repair skill raises the amount further. If nothing is actually repaired, the action does not spend AP.

Enhancement strengthens an aiming buff and can also make it last longer. A weaker buff never replaces a stronger one already active on the target.

Electronic Warfare can apply an aiming debuff or a movement debuff. The success chance depends on a live formula that weighs the attacker skill, the defender skill, and the tier of the modules involved. A lower movement debuff cannot be refreshed while it is already active.

Repair 

Repair applied = the smaller of missing shields and the repaired amount after the skill bonus
If the module uses a percentage, the base repair comes from maximum shield × percentage
Repair never goes past what is actually missing

Enhancement 

Buff strength = base aim bonus × (1 + enhancement bonus)
Buff duration = base duration × (1 + enhancement duration bonus)
A weaker buff never replaces a stronger one already active

Electronic Warfare 

Success chance = base chance + attacker bonuses - defender bonuses
The result is clamped between a minimum and a maximum
Effect duration = base duration × duration factor
The attacker's bonus stretches the effect, while the defender's resistance shortens it
Movement reduction applied = the smaller of the remaining movement and the module's reduction

Progression and skill growth

Combat XP follows what the player actually did. Attackers train the matching weapon skill. Defenders can train Evasive Maneuver, the shield skill that matches the damage type, Repair, Enhancement, Electronic Warfare, and Counter Electronic Warfare when those actions matter.

The skill curve is soft, not flat. Going from 0 to 100 is a big jump, and the early levels already matter. Reaching 100 is still worth it because that is where the ceiling is fully reached.

In practice, combat rewards scouting, positioning, and specialization more than raw numbers alone.

Skill curve 

Skill bonus = cap × (level / 100)^0.72
This curve gives a strong boost at low levels and still rewards the last steps to 100

Attack XP 

Attack XP difficulty = clamp(100 - hit chance, 0, 100)
Shield XP difficulty = clamp(18 + hit chance × 0.25, 18, 60)
Evasion XP difficulty = clamp(14 + hit chance × 0.18 + 6 if the shot is evaded, 16, 32)

Electronic warfare XP 

EW cast difficulty = clamp(100 - success chance, 18, 100)
EW defense difficulty = clamp(success chance, 18, 100)

Weapon capabilities

Each weapon branch unlocks active techniques every 10 levels. They spend AP like other combat actions and specialize the branch around marks, breaches, locks, tracking, suppression, chains, resonance, and executions.

Laser Weapon

Tir de precision

Lv. 10

Very reliable shot with a strong hit chance.

DAMAGE SINGLE_TARGET

Marquage photonique

Lv. 20

Marks the target so follow-up laser shots are easier to land.

MARK SINGLE_TARGET

Resonance thermique

Lv. 70

Repeated hits on the same target build dangerous resonance.

RESONANCE SINGLE_TARGET

Sentence stellaire

Lv. 90

Finisher designed to end weakened targets.

EXECUTION EXECUTE

Ballistic Weapon

Projectile perforant

Lv. 10

Armor-piercing shot built to punch through defenses.

BREACH SINGLE_TARGET

Tir de suppression

Lv. 40

Suppressive fire that reduces precision, evasion, and counterfire.

SUPPRESSION SINGLE_TARGET

Impact destabilisant

Lv. 50

Kinetic hit that unsettles the target and weakens its immediate stability.

SUPPRESSION SINGLE_TARGET

Sentence cinetique

Lv. 90

Finisher for shieldless, breached, or heavily suppressed targets.

EXECUTION EXECUTE

Torpedo Weapon

Accrochage de cible

Lv. 10

Establishes a torpedo lock and makes the target easier to punish with follow-up attacks.

LOCK SINGLE_TARGET

Torpille guidee

Lv. 20

Reliable guided strike that performs best on locked or scanned targets.

TRACK SINGLE_TARGET

Salve de saturation

Lv. 30

Several smaller torpedoes that force defenses to absorb repeated impacts.

CHAIN CHAIN

Sentence gravitationnelle

Lv. 90

Finisher for shieldless, trapped, or heavily exposed targets.

EXECUTION EXECUTE