Fighters & Mines

Fighters and mines turn sectors into fortresses — or death traps. Master them to protect your assets and punish your enemies.

Fighters

Fighters are your mobile army. Buy them at StarDocks, deploy them in eligible sectors, and set their behavior.

In the Warp Lanes list, your own defended sectors use a green shield marker. Red warning markers are reserved for sectors with hostile defenses or ships.

Buying Fighters

1. Dock at a StarDock (D)
2. Select Buy Fighters
3. Cost: 100 credits each
4. They stay in your ship’s cargo until deployed

Deployment Modes

When you deploy fighters (press F in a sector), choose a mode. StarDock sectors are neutral service locations: fighters and mines cannot be deployed there.

Mode	Behavior	Best For
Defensive	Attack only if attacked	Protecting your planets and trade routes
Offensive	Attack all ships entering	Locking down hostile sectors
Tolled	Attack unless toll paid	Revenue generation, border control

Tolled Fighters

• Toll rate: 5 credits per fighter
• Intruders can pay the toll to pass safely
• If they can’t pay (or refuse), combat begins

Pro tip: Stack thousands of tolled fighters on a chokepoint sector. Free money from traders, death to enemies.

Recalling Fighters

Press R in a sector where you own fighters to recall some or all back to your ship. No cost — just takes a turn.

Tip: If you forget where you left deployed fighters, click the deployed count on the Fighters line in your ship status panel. It opens a modal listing which sectors your fighters are sitting in. This does not warp you there — it’s just a locator.

Planet Fighter Production

Planets produce fighters automatically (daily at 8 AM UTC). The production rate depends on your planet’s class and colonist count — military planets produce faster, trade planets slower or not at all.

To collect fighters from a planet:

1. Fly to your planet’s sector
2. Open the Planet Modal (click the planet name in SectorView)
3. Select the Transport tab
4. Set direction to Withdraw and enter the fighter quantity
5. Click Transfer

You can also send your ship’s fighters to a planet for storage (set direction to Deposit). Planet fighter storage caps are fixed by planet class; see Planets & Colonization for the complete cap table.

Tip: Collected fighters respect your Fighter Bay capacity. If you’ve upgraded your Fighter Bay at StarDock, you can carry more fighters from planet to sector.

Planet-to-Sector Deployment

Deploy fighters directly from a planet to the current sector — no need to load them onto your ship first.

1. Fly to your planet’s sector
2. Open the Planet Modal
3. Select the Transport tab
4. Scroll to ⚔ Deploy Fighters to Sector
5. Choose a mode (defensive, offensive, or tolled) and enter the quantity
6. Click Deploy

The fighters are deducted from the planet’s stock and deployed to the sector immediately. This costs 1 action point and 5 credits per fighter deployed (95% cheaper than buying at StarDock for 100cr each).

Note: You cannot deploy fighters in CHOAM Protected Space (safe sectors) or at StarDock. Fighters must be deployed in eligible dangerous space.

Planet Patrol Projections

Citadel Level 3+ planets can automatically project a reserved part of their garrison into connected non-safe, non-StarDock sectors. These patrols are always defensive deployed fighters, not a new combat unit or fighter mode. They participate in normal hostile-fighter encounters, combat losses, blockade scores, and defense estimates exactly like other defensive fighter groups.

The planet remains the patrol’s home: patrol allocations can be recalled remotely to that exact planet for 1 AP from its Patrol tab, without visiting the patrol sector or using ship fighter-bay space. Manual fighters share the same sector aggregate but are not recalled or removed with a patrol allocation. See Planets & Colonization for reserve, budget, neighbor-cap, hourly resupply, and planet-destruction rules.

Fighter Fleet Naming

Give your deployed fighter groups a name. Named fleets appear in the sector header and combat logs.

• Cost: Free
• Naming on deploy: Enter a fleet name (up to 40 characters) in the Deploy Fighters modal
• Rename later: Open the Deployed Fighters list from the sector screen and click Name or Rename
• Display: Named fleets show as 🛡 Black Sun Squadron — 5,000 fighters (offensive) instead of generic labels

Tip: Fleet names appear to all players who encounter your fighters. Vulgar or hateful names may be removed by the admin.

Fighter Combat

When fighters engage:

• Both sides attack simultaneously each round
• Fighters have no shields — damage goes straight to count
• Last side standing wins
• If you lose all fighters, you face the enemy ship directly

Mines

Mines are area-denial weapons. Lay them and wait.

Types

Type	Cost	Effect
Limpet	300 credits	Sticks to enemy hull, drains HP over time. 12% attach rate per mine, max 25 per ship.
Armid	500 credits	Explodes on entry. 2 hull damage per mine.

Buying Mines

1. Dock at a StarDock (D)
2. Select Buy Mines
3. Choose Limpet or Armid

Deploying Mines

• Press 1 to deploy Limpets
• Press 2 to deploy Armids
• You must be in the target sector

Recalling Your Mines

If you no longer want to leave a hazard behind, return to the sector and use Recall Limpets or Recall Armids. You can recall any quantity of your own undeployed mines for 1 Action Point; recalled mines return to your ship inventory at no credit loss.

• You must be physically present in the sector.
• You cannot recall another captain’s mines.
• Recalling Limpets does not remove Limpets already attached to another ship. Attached Limpets still require StarDock clearing.

Mine Effects on Entry

When a ship (including yours) enters a sector with hostile mines:

Limpets:

• Chance to attach based on mine count
• Attached limpets drain hull every turn
• Remove at StarDock for 5,000 credits (clears all)

Armids:

• Instant explosion on sector entry
• Damage = 2 × mine count
• No defense — shields don’t help

Warning: Mines affect everyone except the owner. That includes allies. Plan accordingly, and recall your own minefield before leaving a sector you no longer intend to defend.

Blockades

Combine fighters and mines to create a blockade. The game rates sector hostility:

Level	Score	Composition
None	< 500	Minimal defenses
Light	500–1,999	Some fighters or mines
Active	2,000–4,999	Serious fighter presence or heavy minefields
Fortress	≥ 5,000	Massive fighter fleets + layered mines + Q-Cannon

Score formula: fighters + limpets × 2 + armids × 5

Strategy Tips

Defending a Planet

1. Build a citadel with Q-Cannon (advances at StarDock)
2. Deploy defensive fighters in the sector
3. Layer armid mines at the sector edge
4. Add limpet mines as a secondary trap

Harassing Trade Routes

1. Find a busy sector between ports
2. Deploy offensive fighters
3. Wait for traders to die or flee
4. Loot the wreckage

Safe Passage

• Always check the sector info before jumping
• Look for hostile fighter counts and mine warnings
• If tolled fighters are present, ensure you have enough credits
• If limpets attach, get to a StarDock immediately

Insurance

Death is expensive. Buy insurance at any StarDock:

	Without Insurance	With Insurance
Cost	—	5% of net worth
Duration	—	7 days
Death penalty	Lose 50% on-ship credits + 10% cargo	Lose 5% on-ship credits + 10% cargo

Hard truth: Insurance pays for itself after one death. If you’re running blockades or hunting in hostile space, buy it.