Aurora 4x Wiki - User contributions [en]

Railguns

2026-04-03T13:25:09Z

Storijophe: /* Damage Profile */

{{bothversions}}
Railguns are a type of [[Beam Overview|beam weapon]].

==Description==
A railgun typically shoots four projectiles at once, each of which has 1/3 the damage of a similar tech [[Lasers|Laser]], for a total damage output that's 33% higher. However, due to the lower damage of each shot, it is not as good at penetrating [[Armor]] or inflicting [[Shock Damage]], and it has a shorter range.

Maximum Range = ( Base Damage * 10000km ) * Range Modifier
Rate of Fire = ( Base Damage * 3 * 5s ) / Capacitor Recharge Rate

While the theoretical maximum range far exceeds 1.5m km, no [[Beam Fire Control]] is able to handle ranges beyond this limit. Longer ranges still have some value, as they reduce the damage drop-off at longer ranges, which leads to increased damage across their effective range.

Railguns cannot be mounted in [[turret]]s.

==Usage==
Railguns are used in situations where their rate of fire and raw damage output are most valuable, and their weakness at armour penetration matters less. For example, they are commonly used as an early [[Point Defense|point defense]] weapon, as their high number of shots (as many as 4 per 5-second tick) means a lot of chances to shoot down incoming missiles or fighters. This gives them a similar role to [[Gauss Cannons]], which are larger per shot (assuming the same accuracy), but can be mounted in turrets.

==Damage Profile==

{{Template:Damage Profiles}}

The [[Damage Profile]] of a railgun uses a medium gradient, which is not as good at armour penetration as lasers, but better than [[Missiles]] or [[Plasma Carronade]]s. Each shot inflicts damage separately, so the total damage inflicted by a railgun burst can be rather spread out.

==Background Tech==
There are three key pieces of technology involved in the creation of a Railgun.

'''Railgun Size''' or Calibre. Larger projectiles cause more damage, has higher range, but requires more power, which means it'll fire slower unless your recharge tech keeps up.

Larger laser cause more damage, has higher base range
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;"
! Calibre !! 10cm !! 12cm !! 15cm !! 20cm !! 25cm !! 30cm !! 35cm !! 40cm !! 45cm !! 50cm
|-
! Size (HS)
| 3 || 5 || 6 || 7 || 8 || 9 || 10 || 11 || 13 || 15
|-
! Base Damage (per Shot)
| 1 || 2 || 3 || 4 || 5 || 7 || 9 || 12 || 16 || 20
|-
! RP cost
|1,000||2,500||5,000||7,500||10,000||20,000||40,000||60,000||120,000||240,000
|}

'''Railgun Launch Velocity''' The muzzle velocity of the railgun. Railguns with higher velocities can shoot their ammo further and inflict damage at greater ranges.

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;"
! Launch Velocity !! 1 !! 2 !! 3 !! 4 !! 5 !! 6 !! 7 !! 8 !! 9
|-
! RP cost
|1,000||2,000||4,000||8,000||15,000||30,000||60,000||120,000||240,000
|}

'''Capacitor Recharge Rate''' determines your rate of fire.

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;"
! Recharge Rate !! 1 !! 2 !! 3 !! 4 !! 5 !! 6 !! 8 !! 10 !! 12 !! 16 !! 20 !! 25
|-
! RP cost
|1,000||2,000||4,000||8,000||15,000||30,000||60,000||125,000||250,000||500,000||1,000,000||2,000,000
|}

{{Components}}
[[Category:Components]]
[[Category:Designed Systems]]

Plasma Carronade

2026-04-03T13:24:32Z

Storijophe: /* Damage Profile */

{{bothversions}}
==Description==
A Plasma Carronade is a close-range, high-damage energy weapon. They have a maximum range of

Base Damage * 10000km

Their rate of fire is

Base Damage / Capacitor Recharge Rate * 5s

Plasma Carronades cannot be mounted in [[turret]]s, but can use a [[spinal mount]].

==Usage==
Plasma Carronades pack more punch than an equivalent tech level [[Lasers|laser]] or even [[Railguns|railgun]], while being smaller. This makes them a perfect choice for a close-range knife fight, however any carronade ship will have to be well-armored to survive the approach to said close range.

They're a great choice for both damage-per-second needs and alpha strike, with their large caliber and spinal mounts aiding the latter and allowing them to deal truly staggering amounts of damage in a single shot.

==Damage Profile==

{{Template: Damage Profiles}}

Plasma Carronades have shallow-gradient [[Damage Profile|damage profiles]] compared to other weapon types - they tend to spread their damage out more, instead of concentrating it to punch through thick [[armor]].

==Components==
===Plasma Carronade Size===

Plasma Carronades have bigger focal sizes than a laser of equivalent tech level. This results in higher per-hit damage, as well as higher power requirement (like lasers, it is equal to base damage of a carronade).

{| border="1" class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;"
|+ Carronade Calibre
! Carronade Size !! 15cm !! 20cm !! 25cm !! 30cm !! 35cm !! 40cm !! 50cm !! 60cm !! 70cm !! 80cm !! 100cm
|-
! Size (HS)
| 2.5 || 3 || 4 || 5 || 5.5 || 6.5 || 8 || 9.5 || 11.5 || 13 || 16
|-
! Base Damage
| 6 || 10 || 16 || 24 || 32 || 42 || 65 || 94 || 128 || 168 || 262
|-
! RP cost
|2,000||4,000||8,000||15,000||30,000||60,000||125,000||250,000||300,000||600,000||1,200,000
|}

===Capacitor Recharge Rate===
{| border="1" class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;"
|+ Capacitor Recharge Rate
! Recharge Rate !! 1 !! 2 !! 3 !! 4 !! 5 !! 6 !! 8 !! 10 !! 12 !! 16 !! 20 !! 25
|-
! RP cost
|1,000||2,000||4,000||8,000||15,000||30,000||60,000||125,000||250,000||500,000||1,000,000||2,000,000
|}

===Energy Weapon Mount===
'''Energy Weapon Mount''' allow to design a larger weapons than could normally be constructed using available technology. A ship can only mount one spinal weapon and they cannot be mounted in turrets. The possibilities are Standard Mount, Spinal Mount and Advanced Spinal Mount. A Spinal Mount increases the focal size by 25%, and an Advanced Spinal Mount increases it by 50%. This increases all bases stats, as discussed above.

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;"
! Reduction !! Standard !! Spinal Mount !! Advanced Spinal
|-
! Focal Size
| 1 || 1.25 || 1.5
|-
! RP cost
| - || 5,000 || 20,000
|}

{{Components}}
[[Category:Components]]
[[Category:Designed Systems]]

Particle Beams

2026-04-03T13:23:52Z

Storijophe: /* Damage Profile */

{{bothversions}}
==Description==
Particle Beams is an energy weapon, that, unlike [[Lasers]] and [[Plasma Carronade]]s, does not have damage drop-off across the entire range band. As a drawback, it has shorter range than lasers and higher power demand.

Their rate of fire is

Power Requirement / Capacitor Recharge Rate * 5s

Particle beams cannot be mounted in turrets.

==Usage==
Particle Beams are a mid-range anti-ship weapon, and start to suffer when taken outside of that niche. At close ranges, [[Lasers|lasers]], [[Railguns|railguns]] and [[Plasma Carronade|carronades]] will deal much more damage over time, and at long range, lasers and (past a certain point) [[Mesons|mesons]] can handily outrange the particle warship. Within their niche, however, they're second to none, and lack of damage drop-off allows them to deal serious damage in mid-range combat while only receiving minimal damage themselves.

Lances take the one thing they're good at and take it to extreme: against unshielded or poorly shielded targets a single lance volley can cripple or destroy enemy ships with very little problem owing to their supreme armor penetration, but if it doesn't work or the target has strong shielding, the lance warships will be sitting ducks, waiting ages for their weapons to reload for a second salvo.

Particle Beams are terrible PD weapons: with only one shot, inability to be turreted and long reloads, they're ill-suited for anti-missile fighting.

==Damage Profile==

{{Template:Damage Profiles}}

Particle beams use the gradient 2 damage profile, making them identical in profile to railguns and middle of the road in terms of penetration.

Particle Lances meanwhile deal damage in a straight line, penetrating a layer of armor with each point of damage. This makes them very difficult (but not impossible) to stop with just armor. [[Shields]] are massively more effective against them - an improved [[Damage Profile|damage profile]] does nothing against shields.

==Components==
===Particle Beam Strength===
{| border="1" class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;"
|+ Particle Beam Strength
! Particle Beam Strength !! 2 !! 3 !! 4 !! 6 !! 9 !! 12 !! 16 !! 20 !! 25 !! 36 !! 50
|-
! Size (HS)
| 6 || 6 || 6 || 6 || 6 || 6 || 6 || 6 || 6 || 6 || 6
|-
! Power Requirement
| 5 || 7 || 10 || 15 || 22 || 30 || 40 || 48 || 64 || 90 || 125
|-
! RP cost
|2,000||4,000||8,000||15,000||30,000||60,000||125,000||250,000||500,000||1,000,000||2,000,000
|}

===Particle Beam Range===
{| border="1" class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;"
|+ Particle Beam Range
! Beam range (kkm) !! 60 || 100 || 150 || 200 || 240 || 320 || 400 || 500 || 640 || 800 || 1,000 || 1,200
|-
! RP cost
|1,000||2,000||4,000||8,000||15,000||30,000||60,000||125,000||250,000||500,000||1,000,000||2,000,000
|}

===Capacitor Recharge Rate===
{| border="1" class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;"
|+ Capacitor Recharge Rate
! Recharge Rate !! 1 !! 2 !! 3 !! 4 !! 5 !! 6 !! 8 !! 10 !! 12 !! 16 !! 20 !! 25
|-
! RP cost
|1,000||2,000||4,000||8,000||15,000||30,000||60,000||125,000||250,000||500,000||1,000,000||2,000,000
|}

===Particle Lance===
Particle Lance is a special beam modification that takes '''30,000''' RP to research and requires to have Particle Beam Strength 6 and Particle Beam Range 200,000 km to be researched beforehand. This modification affects the Particle Beam in following ways:

*2x Damage
*2x Size
*2x HTK
*2x Crew
*2.5x Power Requirement
*3x Cost
*2x Development Cost

The armor penetration also changes from a gradient-2 to a straight line, making the lance the best anti-armor weapon in the game.

{{Components}}
[[Category:Components]]
[[Category:Designed Systems]]

Template:Damage Profiles

2026-04-03T13:22:27Z

Storijophe: Created page with "Damage templates for different weapon types."

[[File:Damage gradients.JPG|frameless|Damage templates for different weapon types.]]

Particle Beams

2026-04-03T13:22:20Z

Storijophe: /* Damage Profile */

{{bothversions}}
==Description==
Particle Beams is an energy weapon, that, unlike [[Lasers]] and [[Plasma Carronade]]s, does not have damage drop-off across the entire range band. As a drawback, it has shorter range than lasers and higher power demand.

Their rate of fire is

Power Requirement / Capacitor Recharge Rate * 5s

Particle beams cannot be mounted in turrets.

==Usage==
Particle Beams are a mid-range anti-ship weapon, and start to suffer when taken outside of that niche. At close ranges, [[Lasers|lasers]], [[Railguns|railguns]] and [[Plasma Carronade|carronades]] will deal much more damage over time, and at long range, lasers and (past a certain point) [[Mesons|mesons]] can handily outrange the particle warship. Within their niche, however, they're second to none, and lack of damage drop-off allows them to deal serious damage in mid-range combat while only receiving minimal damage themselves.

Lances take the one thing they're good at and take it to extreme: against unshielded or poorly shielded targets a single lance volley can cripple or destroy enemy ships with very little problem owing to their supreme armor penetration, but if it doesn't work or the target has strong shielding, the lance warships will be sitting ducks, waiting ages for their weapons to reload for a second salvo.

Particle Beams are terrible PD weapons: with only one shot, inability to be turreted and long reloads, they're ill-suited for anti-missile fighting.

==Damage Profile==

{{Damage Profiles}}

Particle beams use the gradient 2 damage profile, making them identical in profile to railguns and middle of the road in terms of penetration.

Particle Lances meanwhile deal damage in a straight line, penetrating a layer of armor with each point of damage. This makes them very difficult (but not impossible) to stop with just armor. [[Shields]] are massively more effective against them - an improved [[Damage Profile|damage profile]] does nothing against shields.

==Components==
===Particle Beam Strength===
{| border="1" class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;"
|+ Particle Beam Strength
! Particle Beam Strength !! 2 !! 3 !! 4 !! 6 !! 9 !! 12 !! 16 !! 20 !! 25 !! 36 !! 50
|-
! Size (HS)
| 6 || 6 || 6 || 6 || 6 || 6 || 6 || 6 || 6 || 6 || 6
|-
! Power Requirement
| 5 || 7 || 10 || 15 || 22 || 30 || 40 || 48 || 64 || 90 || 125
|-
! RP cost
|2,000||4,000||8,000||15,000||30,000||60,000||125,000||250,000||500,000||1,000,000||2,000,000
|}

===Particle Beam Range===
{| border="1" class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;"
|+ Particle Beam Range
! Beam range (kkm) !! 60 || 100 || 150 || 200 || 240 || 320 || 400 || 500 || 640 || 800 || 1,000 || 1,200
|-
! RP cost
|1,000||2,000||4,000||8,000||15,000||30,000||60,000||125,000||250,000||500,000||1,000,000||2,000,000
|}

===Capacitor Recharge Rate===
{| border="1" class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;"
|+ Capacitor Recharge Rate
! Recharge Rate !! 1 !! 2 !! 3 !! 4 !! 5 !! 6 !! 8 !! 10 !! 12 !! 16 !! 20 !! 25
|-
! RP cost
|1,000||2,000||4,000||8,000||15,000||30,000||60,000||125,000||250,000||500,000||1,000,000||2,000,000
|}

===Particle Lance===
Particle Lance is a special beam modification that takes '''30,000''' RP to research and requires to have Particle Beam Strength 6 and Particle Beam Range 200,000 km to be researched beforehand. This modification affects the Particle Beam in following ways:

*2x Damage
*2x Size
*2x HTK
*2x Crew
*2.5x Power Requirement
*3x Cost
*2x Development Cost

The armor penetration also changes from a gradient-2 to a straight line, making the lance the best anti-armor weapon in the game.

{{Components}}
[[Category:Components]]
[[Category:Designed Systems]]

Particle Beams

2026-04-03T13:22:10Z

Storijophe: /* Damage Profile */

{{bothversions}}
==Description==
Particle Beams is an energy weapon, that, unlike [[Lasers]] and [[Plasma Carronade]]s, does not have damage drop-off across the entire range band. As a drawback, it has shorter range than lasers and higher power demand.

Their rate of fire is

Power Requirement / Capacitor Recharge Rate * 5s

Particle beams cannot be mounted in turrets.

==Usage==
Particle Beams are a mid-range anti-ship weapon, and start to suffer when taken outside of that niche. At close ranges, [[Lasers|lasers]], [[Railguns|railguns]] and [[Plasma Carronade|carronades]] will deal much more damage over time, and at long range, lasers and (past a certain point) [[Mesons|mesons]] can handily outrange the particle warship. Within their niche, however, they're second to none, and lack of damage drop-off allows them to deal serious damage in mid-range combat while only receiving minimal damage themselves.

Lances take the one thing they're good at and take it to extreme: against unshielded or poorly shielded targets a single lance volley can cripple or destroy enemy ships with very little problem owing to their supreme armor penetration, but if it doesn't work or the target has strong shielding, the lance warships will be sitting ducks, waiting ages for their weapons to reload for a second salvo.

Particle Beams are terrible PD weapons: with only one shot, inability to be turreted and long reloads, they're ill-suited for anti-missile fighting.

==Damage Profile==

{{Template|Damage Profiles}}

Particle beams use the gradient 2 damage profile, making them identical in profile to railguns and middle of the road in terms of penetration.

Particle Lances meanwhile deal damage in a straight line, penetrating a layer of armor with each point of damage. This makes them very difficult (but not impossible) to stop with just armor. [[Shields]] are massively more effective against them - an improved [[Damage Profile|damage profile]] does nothing against shields.

==Components==
===Particle Beam Strength===
{| border="1" class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;"
|+ Particle Beam Strength
! Particle Beam Strength !! 2 !! 3 !! 4 !! 6 !! 9 !! 12 !! 16 !! 20 !! 25 !! 36 !! 50
|-
! Size (HS)
| 6 || 6 || 6 || 6 || 6 || 6 || 6 || 6 || 6 || 6 || 6
|-
! Power Requirement
| 5 || 7 || 10 || 15 || 22 || 30 || 40 || 48 || 64 || 90 || 125
|-
! RP cost
|2,000||4,000||8,000||15,000||30,000||60,000||125,000||250,000||500,000||1,000,000||2,000,000
|}

===Particle Beam Range===
{| border="1" class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;"
|+ Particle Beam Range
! Beam range (kkm) !! 60 || 100 || 150 || 200 || 240 || 320 || 400 || 500 || 640 || 800 || 1,000 || 1,200
|-
! RP cost
|1,000||2,000||4,000||8,000||15,000||30,000||60,000||125,000||250,000||500,000||1,000,000||2,000,000
|}

===Capacitor Recharge Rate===
{| border="1" class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;"
|+ Capacitor Recharge Rate
! Recharge Rate !! 1 !! 2 !! 3 !! 4 !! 5 !! 6 !! 8 !! 10 !! 12 !! 16 !! 20 !! 25
|-
! RP cost
|1,000||2,000||4,000||8,000||15,000||30,000||60,000||125,000||250,000||500,000||1,000,000||2,000,000
|}

===Particle Lance===
Particle Lance is a special beam modification that takes '''30,000''' RP to research and requires to have Particle Beam Strength 6 and Particle Beam Range 200,000 km to be researched beforehand. This modification affects the Particle Beam in following ways:

*2x Damage
*2x Size
*2x HTK
*2x Crew
*2.5x Power Requirement
*3x Cost
*2x Development Cost

The armor penetration also changes from a gradient-2 to a straight line, making the lance the best anti-armor weapon in the game.

{{Components}}
[[Category:Components]]
[[Category:Designed Systems]]

Particle Beams

2026-04-03T13:21:44Z

Storijophe: /* Damage Profile */

Lasers

2026-04-03T13:20:53Z

Storijophe: /* Damage Profile */

{{bothversions}}
Lasers are a type of [[Beam Overview|beam weapon]].

==Description==
Lasers are a type of [[Beam Overview|beam weapon]].

Maximum Range = ( Base Damage * 10000km ) * Range Modifier
Rate of Fire = ( Base Damage * 5s ) / Capacitor Recharge Rate (rounded up to the next multiple of 5s)

While the theoretical maximum range far exceeds 1.5m km, no [[Beam Fire Control]] is able to handle ranges beyond this limit. Longer laser ranges still lead to increased damage across their effective range.
Lasers can be mounted in a [[turret]].

==Usage==

Lasers are an all-rounder weapon, with the widest array of modifications and able to work in some capacity in most roles. They have no major weaknesses with their weakest area possibly being point defense; even there, their range allows them to counter missiles with laser warheads effectively. Medium-calibre lasers can provide decent damage with good fire-rate, while large lasers can hit hard even at longer ranges.

Lasers can be put on a spinal mount: basic spinal mount will increase the caliber by 25% and advanced one will increase it by 50%; this will increase the range, damage and time to reload accordingly. Only one spinal weapon can be mounted on a ship.

Lasers can also be turreted and downsized at a cost of massive penalties to their firerate.

==Damage Profile==

{{Template:Damage Profiles}}

Lasers use the 3-gradient damage profile, the second best after Particle Lances.

==Components==

'''Laser Focal Size''' determines how large the laser focal size (or calibre). Larger lasers cause more damage and have longer ranges, but they also require more power (for lasers, power requirement is equal to the base damage), which means they'll fire slower unless your capacitor recharge tech keeps up.

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;"
! Focal Size !! 10cm !! 12cm !! 15cm !! 20cm !! 25cm !! 30cm !! 35cm !! 40cm !! 50cm !! 60cm !! 70cm !! 80cm
|-
! Size (HS)
| 3 || 4 || 4 || 6 || 8 || 9 || 11 || 12 || 16 || 19 || 22 || 25
|-
! Base Damage
| 3 || 4 || 6 || 10 || 16 || 24 || 32 || 42 || 65 || 94 || 128 || 168
|-
! RP cost
|1,000||2,000||4,000||8,000||15,000||30,000||60,000||125,000||250,000||500,000||1,000,000||2,000,000
|}

'''Laser Wavelength''' modifies the range, with shorter-wavelength lasers having greater range.

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;"
! Wavelength !! Infrared !! Visible Light !! Near Ultraviolet !! Ultraviolet !! Far Ultraviolet !! Soft X-Ray !! X-Ray !! Far X-Ray !! Extreme X-Ray Laser !! Near Gamma Ray !! Gamma Ray !! Far Gamma Ray
|-
! Range Modifier
| 1 || 2 || 3 || 4 || 5 || 6 || 7 || 8 || 9 || 10 || 11 || 12
|-
! RP cost
|1,000||2,000||4,000||8,000||15,000||30,000||60,000||125,000||250,000||500,000||1,000,000||2,000,000
|}

'''Capacitor Recharge Rate''' determines how fast the laser's power can be recharged, and therefore determines its rate of fire. A ship must also be equipped with sufficient [[Power Plants]] to recharge the lasers in order to maintain their maximum rate of fire.

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;"
! Recharge Rate !! 1 !! 2 !! 3 !! 4 !! 5 !! 6 !! 8 !! 10 !! 12 !! 16 !! 20 !! 25
|-
! RP cost
|1,000||2,000||4,000||8,000||15,000||30,000||60,000||125,000||250,000||500,000||1,000,000||2,000,000
|}

'''Reduced Size Lasers''' creates more compact lasers that have slower rates of fire.

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;"
! Reduction !! 1 !! 0.75 !! 0.5
|-
! Recharge Multiplier
| 1 || 4 || 20
|-
! RP cost
| - || 5000 || 15,000
|}

'''Energy Weapon Mount''' allow to design a larger weapons than could normally be constructed using available technology. A ship can only mount one spinal weapon and they cannot be mounted in turrets. The possibilities are Standard Mount, Spinal Mount and Advanced Spinal Mount. The latter two use a focal size 25% larger and 50% larger than the maximum possible for a normal laser. This increases all bases stats, as specified above.

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;"
! Reduction !! Standard !! Spinal Mount !! Advanced Spinal
|-
! Focal Size
| 1 || 1.25 || 1.5
|-
! RP cost
| - || 5,000 || 20,000
|}

{{Components}}
[[Category:Components]]
[[Category:Designed Systems]]

Particle Beams

2026-04-03T05:20:08Z

Storijophe: /* Damage Profile */

{{bothversions}}
==Description==
Particle Beams is an energy weapon, that, unlike [[Lasers]] and [[Plasma Carronade]]s, does not have damage drop-off across the entire range band. As a drawback, it has shorter range than lasers and higher power demand.

Their rate of fire is

Power Requirement / Capacitor Recharge Rate * 5s

Particle beams cannot be mounted in turrets.

==Usage==
Particle Beams are a mid-range anti-ship weapon, and start to suffer when taken outside of that niche. At close ranges, [[Lasers|lasers]], [[Railguns|railguns]] and [[Plasma Carronade|carronades]] will deal much more damage over time, and at long range, lasers and (past a certain point) [[Mesons|mesons]] can handily outrange the particle warship. Within their niche, however, they're second to none, and lack of damage drop-off allows them to deal serious damage in mid-range combat while only receiving minimal damage themselves.

Lances take the one thing they're good at and take it to extreme: against unshielded or poorly shielded targets a single lance volley can cripple or destroy enemy ships with very little problem owing to their supreme armor penetration, but if it doesn't work or the target has strong shielding, the lance warships will be sitting ducks, waiting ages for their weapons to reload for a second salvo.

Particle Beams are terrible PD weapons: with only one shot, inability to be turreted and long reloads, they're ill-suited for anti-missile fighting.

==Damage Profile==

[[File:Damage gradients.JPG|frameless|Damage templates for different weapon types.]]

Particle beams use the gradient 2 damage profile, making them identical in profile to railguns and middle of the road in terms of penetration.

Particle Lances meanwhile deal damage in a straight line, penetrating a layer of armor with each point of damage. This makes them very difficult (but not impossible) to stop with just armor. [[Shields]] are massively more effective against them - an improved [[Damage Profile|damage profile]] does nothing against shields.

==Components==
===Particle Beam Strength===
{| border="1" class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;"
|+ Particle Beam Strength
! Particle Beam Strength !! 2 !! 3 !! 4 !! 6 !! 9 !! 12 !! 16 !! 20 !! 25 !! 36 !! 50
|-
! Size (HS)
| 6 || 6 || 6 || 6 || 6 || 6 || 6 || 6 || 6 || 6 || 6
|-
! Power Requirement
| 5 || 7 || 10 || 15 || 22 || 30 || 40 || 48 || 64 || 90 || 125
|-
! RP cost
|2,000||4,000||8,000||15,000||30,000||60,000||125,000||250,000||500,000||1,000,000||2,000,000
|}

===Particle Beam Range===
{| border="1" class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;"
|+ Particle Beam Range
! Beam range (kkm) !! 60 || 100 || 150 || 200 || 240 || 320 || 400 || 500 || 640 || 800 || 1,000 || 1,200
|-
! RP cost
|1,000||2,000||4,000||8,000||15,000||30,000||60,000||125,000||250,000||500,000||1,000,000||2,000,000
|}

===Capacitor Recharge Rate===
{| border="1" class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;"
|+ Capacitor Recharge Rate
! Recharge Rate !! 1 !! 2 !! 3 !! 4 !! 5 !! 6 !! 8 !! 10 !! 12 !! 16 !! 20 !! 25
|-
! RP cost
|1,000||2,000||4,000||8,000||15,000||30,000||60,000||125,000||250,000||500,000||1,000,000||2,000,000
|}

===Particle Lance===
Particle Lance is a special beam modification that takes '''30,000''' RP to research and requires to have Particle Beam Strength 6 and Particle Beam Range 200,000 km to be researched beforehand. This modification affects the Particle Beam in following ways:

*2x Damage
*2x Size
*2x HTK
*2x Crew
*2.5x Power Requirement
*3x Cost
*2x Development Cost

The armor penetration also changes from a gradient-2 to a straight line, making the lance the best anti-armor weapon in the game.

{{Components}}
[[Category:Components]]
[[Category:Designed Systems]]

Particle Beams

2026-04-03T05:17:07Z

Storijophe: /* Damage Profile */

{{bothversions}}
==Description==
Particle Beams is an energy weapon, that, unlike [[Lasers]] and [[Plasma Carronade]]s, does not have damage drop-off across the entire range band. As a drawback, it has shorter range than lasers and higher power demand.

Their rate of fire is

Power Requirement / Capacitor Recharge Rate * 5s

Particle beams cannot be mounted in turrets.

==Usage==
Particle Beams are a mid-range anti-ship weapon, and start to suffer when taken outside of that niche. At close ranges, [[Lasers|lasers]], [[Railguns|railguns]] and [[Plasma Carronade|carronades]] will deal much more damage over time, and at long range, lasers and (past a certain point) [[Mesons|mesons]] can handily outrange the particle warship. Within their niche, however, they're second to none, and lack of damage drop-off allows them to deal serious damage in mid-range combat while only receiving minimal damage themselves.

Lances take the one thing they're good at and take it to extreme: against unshielded or poorly shielded targets a single lance volley can cripple or destroy enemy ships with very little problem owing to their supreme armor penetration, but if it doesn't work or the target has strong shielding, the lance warships will be sitting ducks, waiting ages for their weapons to reload for a second salvo.

Particle Beams are terrible PD weapons: with only one shot, inability to be turreted and long reloads, they're ill-suited for anti-missile fighting.

==Damage Profile==

[[File:Damage gradients.JPG|1000px|Damage templates for different weapon types.]]

Particle beams use the gradient 2 damage profile, making them identical in profile to railguns and middle of the road in terms of penetration.

Particle Lances meanwhile deal damage in a straight line, penetrating a layer of armor with each point of damage. This makes them very difficult (but not impossible) to stop with just armor. [[Shields]] are massively more effective against them - an improved [[Damage Profile|damage profile]] does nothing against shields.

==Components==
===Particle Beam Strength===
{| border="1" class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;"
|+ Particle Beam Strength
! Particle Beam Strength !! 2 !! 3 !! 4 !! 6 !! 9 !! 12 !! 16 !! 20 !! 25 !! 36 !! 50
|-
! Size (HS)
| 6 || 6 || 6 || 6 || 6 || 6 || 6 || 6 || 6 || 6 || 6
|-
! Power Requirement
| 5 || 7 || 10 || 15 || 22 || 30 || 40 || 48 || 64 || 90 || 125
|-
! RP cost
|2,000||4,000||8,000||15,000||30,000||60,000||125,000||250,000||500,000||1,000,000||2,000,000
|}

===Particle Beam Range===
{| border="1" class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;"
|+ Particle Beam Range
! Beam range (kkm) !! 60 || 100 || 150 || 200 || 240 || 320 || 400 || 500 || 640 || 800 || 1,000 || 1,200
|-
! RP cost
|1,000||2,000||4,000||8,000||15,000||30,000||60,000||125,000||250,000||500,000||1,000,000||2,000,000
|}

===Capacitor Recharge Rate===
{| border="1" class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;"
|+ Capacitor Recharge Rate
! Recharge Rate !! 1 !! 2 !! 3 !! 4 !! 5 !! 6 !! 8 !! 10 !! 12 !! 16 !! 20 !! 25
|-
! RP cost
|1,000||2,000||4,000||8,000||15,000||30,000||60,000||125,000||250,000||500,000||1,000,000||2,000,000
|}

===Particle Lance===
Particle Lance is a special beam modification that takes '''30,000''' RP to research and requires to have Particle Beam Strength 6 and Particle Beam Range 200,000 km to be researched beforehand. This modification affects the Particle Beam in following ways:

*2x Damage
*2x Size
*2x HTK
*2x Crew
*2.5x Power Requirement
*3x Cost
*2x Development Cost

The armor penetration also changes from a gradient-2 to a straight line, making the lance the best anti-armor weapon in the game.

{{Components}}
[[Category:Components]]
[[Category:Designed Systems]]

Talk:Thermal Sensors

2026-04-03T05:14:23Z

Storijophe: /* Wayback machine link */ new section

== Wayback machine link ==

https://web.archive.org/web/20251113191221/https://aurorawiki2.pentarch.org/index.php?title=Thermal_Sensor

Thermal Sensors

2026-04-03T05:11:29Z

Storijophe: Created from wayback machine page

A Thermal Sensor is a [[passive sensor]] [[component]] that allows detection of ships, missiles and colonies without emitting radiation itself.

== Overview ==

Thermal sensors work by detecting and tracking objects which give off thermal signature, such as engines on enemy ships and missiles, or the population on colonies. A Thermal Sensor is a passive sensor, which means that it gives you situational awareness without giving away your position. However, its contacts cannot be used by the Fire Control for targeting - you need an active sensor contact for that.

The range at which a contact can be detected is given by:

<nowiki>[[C#]] range = SQRT(Passive Sensor Strength * Target Signature ) * 250,000 km
[[VB6]] range = Passive Sensor Strength * Target Signature Strength * 1000 km
Passive Sensor Strength = Size * Thermal Sensitivity</nowiki>

Larger sensors are more useful in both versions of the game, but smaller sensors are much more powerful in C#, and larger ones are much more powerful in VB6.

Like all electronic systems, thermal sensors are vulnerable to High-Powered Microwave attack.

== Usage ==

Thermal sensors are used to detect enemy targets. Thermal signatures tend to be weaker than EM signatures, meaning that their effective detection range is shorter than EM Sensors. However, virtually everything has a thermal signature, unlike EM signatures (which can easily be avoided), so the all-round ability to detect almost anything sentient makes thermal sensors an excellent addition to survey and scout vessels.

In C#, thermal sensors of size 1 HS or less are commercial components, while any that are larger than 1 HS are military components. Ships have no innate sensors, so they can only detect thermal signatures if they mount a dedicated thermal sensor.

In VB6, all thermal sensors are military components. To allow commercial vessels some basic vision, every ship has a default thermal rating of 1, which can be increased by the addition of a dedicated thermal sensor.

== Statistics ==

The cost of a sensor is equal to its sensitivity, multiplied by a factor based on the Electronic Hardening value. In C# the cost is 100% Uridium, and in VB6, it's 75% Uridium and 25% Duranium.

A sensor of size 1 HS or greater has 1 HTK, and a sensor of size smaller than 1 has 0 HTK. The crew need is size*2, rounded normally.

=== Thermal Sensor Sensitivity ===

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Sensitivity !! 5 !! 6 !! 8 !! 11 !! 14 !! 18 !! 24 !! 32 !! 40 !! 50 !! 60 !! 75
|-
||RP cost||1000||2000||4000||8000||15000||30000||60000||120000||250000||500000||1000000||2000000
|}

=== Electronic Hardening ===

Electronic Hardening is used to resist the effects of High-Powered Microwave weapons. The Electronic Hardening technologies differ between versions

{| class="wikitable"
|+Electronic Hardening (C#)
|-
!Hardening!!0!!1!!2!!3!!4!!5!! 6
|-
|Chance of Destruction (%)||100||70||50||30||20||10||5
|-
|RP cost||Free||2500||5000||10000||20000||40000||80000
|-
|Sensor cost||Free||0.15||0.25||0.35||0.5||0.75||1
|}

{| class="wikitable"
|+Electronic Hardening (VB6)
|-
!Hardening!!0!!1!!2!!3!!4!!5!!6!!7!!8
|-
|Chance of Destruction (%)||100||70||50||40||30||25||20||15||10
|-
|RP cost||1000||2500||5000||10000||20000||40000||75000||150000||300000
|}

Template:Unsure

2026-04-03T04:37:25Z

Storijophe:

'''Unsure - Please Verify'''

Template:Unsure

2026-04-03T04:35:42Z

Storijophe: Created page with "We are unsure!"

We are unsure!

Jump Engine

2026-04-03T04:31:38Z

Storijophe: Changed redirect target from Jump drive to Jump Drive

#REDIRECT [[Jump Drive]]

Jump drive

2026-04-03T04:30:59Z

Storijophe: Storijophe moved page Jump drive to Jump Drive: Misspelled title: capitalization

#REDIRECT [[Jump Drive]]

Jump Drive

2026-04-03T04:30:59Z

Storijophe: Storijophe moved page Jump drive to Jump Drive: Misspelled title: capitalization

{{bothversions}}
The '''Jump Drive''' is a [[component|propulsion system]] that allows [[ship]]s to [[Interstellar travel|traverse]] jump points, as well as bring other ships along with them.

==Overview==
Jump drives make ships independent of jump gates, which is extremely useful for exploration craft, as well as to project power outside one's own territory.

A ship equipped with a jump drive can traverse (and potentially [[Jump Tender|tender]] other ships) between jump points. They essentially work by holding open a wormhole big enough for the ship and any others it is transiting to jump through. Ships using jump drive will suffer the usual [[jump shock]] and thus upon entering new system they are vulnerable to attack until they recover.

There are two types of designs - military and commercial. The Commercial Jump Drive is larger and less efficient but much cheaper on a per-HS basis. Jump drive efficiency will permit larger ships to jump per unit of drive size. Squadron max jump size and radius are only useful when making jumps into combat situations. All those characteristics can be improved through research.

==Components==
===Jump drive type===
Military jump engines are smaller in size and suffer no penalty to max jump squadron size, with more efficient use of size. Civilian jump engines make less efficient use of size and are significantly larger overall, and their squadron jump size is reduced by 1, but they are much cheaper. In VB6, they can also jump larger ships than military version (10x higher Max Ship Size than military).

Additionally a ship whose non-jump engines are flagged as military cannot transit a jump point using a wormhole generated by a commercial jump drive. Military engines create instabilities in the wormhole stabilization field generated by a commercial jump drive and collapse it. On the other hand, commercial-engined ships can transit a wormhole opened by a military jump drive, but this scenario is pretty rare. Military jump drives tend to only support smaller ships, and ships with commercial engines tend to be larger than the capabilities of the military jump drive.

Note that it is not the ship's commercial/military designation that affects this, it is the type of non-jump engines mounted on the ship. Any ship with a military engine is a military ship, but there also exist military ships with commercial engines, and you could feasibly put a commercial jump drive on a military-flagged ship. (That was a VB6 note, {{unsure}} that it's still true in C#)

===Jump Drive Efficiency===
Jump Drive Efficiency determines how large an engine needs to be in order to jump a particular size of ship. The higher the efficiency value, the more capacity you get per ton.

In [[CSharp|C#]], jump drive sizes are as follows:
Drive size = Target ship size / Base Efficiency / Large Drive Efficiency Modifier
and
Military Large Drive Efficiency Modifier = (Drive size / 1000 tons) ^ 0.25
Commercial Large Drive Efficiency Modifier = (Drive size / 5000 tons) ^ 0.25
The large drive modifier cannot be less than 1, so military drives under 1000 tons and commercial drives under 5000 tons are not affected by this modifier.

In [[VB6]], for military jump drives, the max size of ship (in hull spaces; 1 HS = 50 tons) is given by <code>Efficiency * Size</code> For commercial drives, it's a little different. The efficiency of commercial engines is 0.75 x the Efficiency tech, but the size is multiplied by 10 compared to the size listed in the dialogue. The max ship size is thus <code>(0.75 * Efficiency Tech) * (10 * Size)</code>, and this is then rounded to the nearest 10 HS.

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;"
! Efficiency !! 4 !! 5 !! 6 !! 8 !! 10 !! 12 !! 15 !! 18 !! 21 !! 25
|-
! RP cost ([[CSharp|C#]])
|1,000||2,000||4,000||8,000||15,000||30,000||60,000||120,000||250,000||500,000
|-
! RP cost ([[VB6]])
|2,000||4,000||8,000||15,000||30,000||60,000||120,000||250,000||500,000||1,000,000
|}

===Max Jump Squadron Size===
The number of ships the ship with the jump drive can bring along with it on a squadron jump. For military drives its as shown, but commercial drives reduces the squadron size by one. Increases jump engine cost in C#, and increases jump engine size in VB6.

Note that this is only relevant in combat situations - squadron jumps are only relevant to reduce [[jump shock]], and standard jumps do not have any limit on the number of ships. If you're jumping into safe space, standard jumps are simpler.

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;"
! Squadron Size !! 3 !! 4 !! 5 !! 6 !! 7 !! 8 !! 9 !! 10 !! 11 !! 12
|-
! RP cost
|2,000||4,000||8,000||15,000||30,000||60,000||120,000||250,000||500,000||1,000,000
|}

===Max Squadron Jump Radius===
Max Squadron Jump Radius is the maximum distance in thousands of kilometres the task group containing the jump ship will appear from the far side of the jump point after a combat transit. It is halved for commercial jump drives. Since jump points are good choke points, increasing this value will allow your combat ships to appear further away from the jump point, which may be useful if an enemy is camping the jump point itself. In C#, it significantly increases jump drive cost. In VB6, it slightly increases jump engine size\crew.

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;"
! Jump Radius (kkm) !! 50 !! 100 !! 250 !! 500 !! 750 !! 1,000 !! 1,500 !! 2,000 !! 2,500 !! 3,000 !! 4,000
|-
! RP cost
|1,000||2,000||4,000||8,000||15,000||30,000||60,000||120,000||250,000||500,000||1,000,000
|}

===Jump Drive Size (C#)===
In C#, jump drive size can be chosen freely, with no technology required. To pick a size, use the "Target Tons Multiplier" radio box to adjust the drop-down, and then on the drop-down you can pick multiples of the chosen multiplier size, from 1x to 999x. This means you can create jump drives for ships from 10 tons to 9,990,000 tons. This refers to the maximum size of ship that can use the drive,

===Jump Drive Size (VB6)===
({{unsure}} - This section seems suspicious to me, VB6 players may wish to amend it.)
The Max Ship Size has to be greater than the ship's total hull size; this includes the jump engine itself, so remember when designing a jump engine that you need to account for both the size of the ship + the jump engine's considerable mass. Jump drives below minimum size are only capable of self-jump.

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;"
! Size !! 2 !! 3 !! 4 !! 5 !! 6 !! 8 !! 10 !! 12 !! ...!!50
|-
! RP cost
|600,000||300,000||160,000||80,000||40,000||20,000||10,000||5,000||...||???
|}

{{Components}}
[[Category:Components]]
[[Category:Designed Systems]]

Jump Engine

2026-04-03T04:30:31Z

Storijophe: Redirected page to Jump drive

#REDIRECT [[Jump drive]]

Talk:Shipyard

2026-04-03T04:27:23Z

Storijophe: /* Wayback machine link */ new section

== Wayback machine link ==

https://web.archive.org/web/20251221135953/https://aurorawiki2.pentarch.org/index.php?title=Shipyards

there it is :)

Talk:Shipyard

2026-04-03T04:27:02Z

Storijophe: Blanked the page

Talk:Shipyard

2026-04-03T04:26:39Z

Storijophe: Wayback machine link

https://web.archive.org/web/20251221135953/https://aurorawiki2.pentarch.org/index.php?title=Shipyards

Shipyard

2026-04-03T04:25:13Z

Storijophe: Created page with "{{bothversions}} '''Shipyards''' are orbital installations that specialise in the manufacture, refit, repair and scrap of ships and defensive structures. Shipyards are rated by their maximum construction tonnage(capacity) and come in two basic variants: Naval and Commercial. C# also adds Repair Yards. Each shipyard has a number of slipways, and each slipway can be used to work on one ship at a..."

{{bothversions}}
'''Shipyards''' are orbital [[installations]] that specialise in the manufacture, refit, repair and scrap of ships and defensive structures. Shipyards are rated by their maximum construction tonnage(capacity) and come in two basic variants: [[Naval Shipyard Complex|Naval]] and [[Commercial Shipyard Complex|Commercial]]. [[CSharp|C#]] also adds [[Repair Yard]]s. Each shipyard has a number of slipways, and each slipway can be used to work on one ship at a time.

{| class="wikitable"
|+Yard Type Comparison
|-
!Yard Type!!Naval!!Commercial!!Repair
|-
|Game [[Version]]||Both||Both||[[CSharp|C#]] only
|-
|Size Multiplier||x1||x10||x10
|-
|Can Construct New Ships?||Yes||Yes||No
|-
|Can Handle Military Vessels?||Yes||No||Yes
|}

Commercial shipyards get a 10x size bonus for the same cost, but may only build Commercial ships. Naval shipyards can build either military or commercial ships.

Shipyards are critical because they represent the only method for constructing ships, whether for combat or for various other purposes, such as colonization, transport, surveying, trading, and so forth. You begin with only a small building capacity shipyard at your homeworld, so you should invest in building more shipyards and expanding their capacity. Keep in mind that a shipyard usually can only produce one class of ships at a time, and that retooling for a new class takes considerable time and money, so building more shipyards is often a better way of quickly expanding a fleet with many different classes than adding slipways to existing yards.

Properly planning your fleet construction can save you time and costs, as sometimes similar classes can be build in the same yard without first retooling - see the Retooling section below for more details.

'''Notes:'''
* [[Space station]]s are commercial ships, but unlike normal ships, they can be built by your [[Construction Factory|factories]] if you do not have a shipyard large enough.

* Keep in mind that the expansion of shipyards consumes great amounts of [[Trans Newtonian Elements|Neutronium]].

* Shipyards can be towed to a different colony. Physically moving the shipyard away from the planet with a [[tug]] will effectively shut down the shipyard, and this can also move it to a different [[colony]]. However, if the tug releases the yard anywhere other than in a colony's orbit, the shipyard will be permanently lost.

==Shipyard Complexes==
All ships greater than 500 tons have to be built in Shipyard Complexes. The cost of a Shipyard Complex is 2400 BP and it is built using [[Construction_Factory|construction factories]]. When completed, the Shipyard Complex has a single Slipway with a capacity of 1,000 tons (if it's a naval yard) or 10,000 tons (if it's a commercial or repair yard). Additional slipways and extra capacity for existing slipways are built by the Shipyard Complex itself (without affecting the building of ships).

Each Shipyard Complex is dedicated to building a specific class of ship and may build one of that class in each Slipway. The Shipyard may be [[#Retooling|retooled]] to build a different class of ship, and this does not affect any ships currently under construction. However, once retooling is underway, no new tasks can be started - the shipyard cannot be expanded while it is retooling. This simulates a shipyard getting ready for future construction while completing work on existing shipyard tasks.

In effect, a Shipyard Complex has two distinct levels. The Slipway level, where ships are built, refitted, repaired and scrapped at the Racial Shipbuilding Rate, and the Shipyard level, where extra slipways are constructed, extra capacity is added and retooling is carried out, also at the Racial Shipbuilding Rate. The manning requirement for a Shipyard Complex is

*(C#) 250 people for every ton (10 tons for commercial\repair yards) of total capacity. For example, a Naval Shipyard with two 5000 ton slipways would require <code>250 * 10000 = 2.5m</code> workers.
*(VB6) equal to one million for each shipyard complex plus 100 per ton of total capacity. For example, a Shipyard with two 5000 ton slipways would be <code>1m + (10,000 x 100) = 2m</code>. Commercial shipyards are treated as 1/10th capacity for manning requirements.

The [[Population_and_Production#Manage Shipyard|Manage Shipyard]] tab of the Economics window lists the Shipyard Complexes in orbit of each colony. Below the grid control is a section entitled Shipyard Complex Activity.

===Naval vs Commercial===
Commercial Shipyards differ from Naval Shipyards in the following respects:
# Commercial can only build classes that are specified as Commercial Vessels in their class summary.
# Expansion of Commercial Shipyards costs only one tenth that of Naval Shipyards. For example, adding 2000 tons of capacity to a Naval Shipyard would cost 480 BP. For a Commercial Shipyard it would only cost 48 BP (and use 24 Duranium and 24 Neutronium). Retooling costs are the same as before.
# Commercial Shipyards require only one tenth of the manpower of Naval Shipyards for their size.
# The modification rate of commercial shipyards is based on one tenth their capacity, although as the cost of increase is also one tenth of normal, this will work out to a similar expansion rate in percentage terms as Naval Shipyards. Without this restriction Commercial Shipyards would grow amazingly quickly due to the faster growth rates for larger shipyards.
# The Build Rate of Commercial Vessels is based on one quarter of their size (see Ship Construction Rates below)

===Repair Yards===
Repair yards were added in C#. They have the size of commercial yards, and they can work on military ships like a naval yard. However, they are incapable of constructing new ships.

==Shipyard Complex Activity==
The Shipyard Complex Activity section, in the [[Population_and_Production#Manage Shipyards|Manage Shipyard]] tab of the {{key|F2}} Economics window. This is where the expansion or retooling of the shipyard is set in motion. The player selects a Shipyard and can then choose can choose from a number of different activities.

Shipyard Activity can be paused, to conserve wealth and minerals, or abandoned. If an Add Extra Slipway or Retool activity is abandoned then all work is lost. If an Add Extra Capacity activity is ended then the percentage of work done on the task will be added to the shipyard, rounded down to the nearest hundred tons. For example, if a shipyard has done 75% of an Add Extra 500 Capacity activity when it is abandoned, then the shipyard gains 300 capacity (500 x 0.75 = 375).

===Expansion===
Shipyards industrial capacity can be improved by expansion of the capacity of slipways, increasing the maximum construction tonnage of ships they can handle; or by producing more slipways, increasing the number of ships that the shipyard can build concurrently.

It is important to note though that shipyards don't gain much benefit from constructing ships smaller than their maximum tonnage, so don't expand your shipyards gratuitously unless you have resources to spare. Also, it rapidly becomes more expensive and takes increasing lengths of time to modify a shipyard as its number of slipways increase. Use 1-slip shipyards for ships you won't build many of, and reserve multiple-slipway yards for major classes you are building a number of. In [[VB6]], you also cannot start new ship construction at a shipyard that is retooling to another class, so plan your shipyard retooling carefully to avoid unusable construction slips.

Expansions can be done in discrete steps, or by using the Continual Capacity Upgrade order. Continual upgrades are always slightly faster (since the yard's self-modification speed increases as it grows), and in c#, you can tell the yard when to stop growing. In VB6, the yard will keep expanding indefinitely, which may be an issue if you don't keep an eye on it.

===Retooling===
A shipyard has to have the appropriate equipment and supply chain to construct a ship and all of its components, and this is represented in Aurora by the Retooling cost. Each shipyard's slipways are geared toward production of one class of ships at a time, and retooling for a new project takes considerable time and resources. This can get very expensive if you change your tooling often.

Properly planning your fleet construction can save you time and costs. Note that it is possible that other ship classes can be built in the same shipyard without retooling. For a second class to qualify as eligible for construction, it must be possible to refit a ship of the primary class to that class for less than 20% of the primary ship class cost.

''See the "Priorities/Misc" (C#) or "DAC/Rank/Info" (VB6) tab in the [[Class Design]] window for eligible secondary classes.''

To begin Retooling, go to Shipyard Complex Activity, "Task Type" and select "Retool". The class selected for retooling is chosen from the adjacent ship class dropdown. Only classes that are small enough to fit within the shipyard's capacity can be selected. A brand new shipyard (one without a class assigned) may be retooled for free and no time, otherwise this task costs 0.5x of the ship class build cost plus 0.25x ship class build cost per slipway. So if a shipyard with two slipways wanted to start building a class that cost 800 BP, the cost to retool would be <code>800 x (0.5+0.25+0.25) = 800</code> BP. If there were four slipways, the cost would be <code>800 x (0.5+(0.25x4)) = 1200 BP</code>. Mineral use is based on the minerals used in the class.

==Shipbuilding==
Shipyards allows the Construction, Repair, Refitting and Scrapping of ships currently present at the body. This can take place concurrently with Expansion and Retooling activities. (Exception: In VB6, no new ship of the existing primary class can be laid down once retooling begins.)

The length of time is takes to build a ship depends on several factors. The primary one is the cost in build points. If there are two ships of the same size and the first costs fifty percent more than the second, it will also take fifty percent longer to build. The rate of ship construction is also affected by the actual size of a ship. The basis of this is that while a supertanker costs perhaps 1000x more than a fishing boat, it doesn't take 1000x as long to build. The larger shipyard needed for the supertanker can work on many more things at once than the small shipyard needed for the fishing boat. However, the reason the change in construction rate is based on ship size and not shipyard size is that it would hardly be efficient to build fishing boats in the shipyard intended for the supertanker.

The base racial Shipbuilding Rate apples to ships of size 100 [[HS]] (5000 tons). If a ship is a different size, the rate of shipbuilding at a naval shipyard will be:

Normal shipbuilding rate x (1+(((Class Size / 100) - 1)/2))

This is less complex than it looks. What it means is that the class size is divided by 100 to get a multiple of the base class size of 100. So a class of size 150 (7500 tons) would have a multiple of 1.5. This multiple is then reduced (or increased if less than 1) to half the distance between the multiple and 1. So for the size 150 ship, the final multiple would be 1.25.

So if the shipbuilding rate for a size 100 ship was 1000 BP per annum, the annual shipbuilding rate for a size 150 ship (7500 tons) would be 1250, for a 10,000 ton ship it would be 1500 and for a 15,000 ton ship it will be double (2000 BP per annum). A 25,000 ton ship will be built at triple the normal rate and a huge 125,000 ton Star Destroyer will be built at 12.5x the normal rate. Bear in mind that these ships will still cost the same as before and require the same resources. The shipyard will just use up wealth and resources at a faster rate.

Commercial shipyards operate under the same formula, but use 400 as a base class size.

Smaller ships will take longer than the racial shipbuilding rate would suggest. Still assuming a Racial Shipbuilding Rate of 1000 BP, a 2000 ton ship is 0.4x the size of a 5000 ton ship. Half the difference takes it to 0.7, so its annual construction rate will be 700 BP. A 1000 ton ship will be built at 600 BP per annum.

The rate at which each ship is being constructed is shown on the list of shipyard tasks and the estimated completion dates reflect the build rates. This enables large ships and very large ships to be constructed in a reasonable time while still taking longer than small ships. Of course you still need to build the shipyards capable of constructing monster ships.

The same general principles apply to shipyard modifications so you can increase the size of large shipyards more quickly. So if you want to add extra capacity to a 10,000 ton shipyard, you can do it 50% faster than adding extra capacity to a 5000 ton shipyard. Adding extra capacity to a 15,000 ton shipyard can be done at twice the rate of a 5000 ton shipyard. This applies to adding capacity, adding slipways or retooling. This means that very large shipyards become possible as their rate of size increase will escalate. Modification costs remain the same, you can just make the modification more quickly

Note that this is different from the Shipyard Operations tech, which reduces the overall cost of modifying Shipyards. A combination of the two, reducing cost and increasing modification rates, will allow very large shipyard complexes to be built in a reasonable amount of time.

==Shipyards in Combat==
In [[Combat Overview|combat]] shipyards show up as a separate contact type for active sensors and can be targeted and fired upon. All the shipyards for one Empire in one location show up as a single contact. The size of the contact is based on the total capacity of all the shipyards with the assumption that a single slipway is twice the size of the largest ship it can build. So a single slipway of 4000 ton capacity would have the same sensor signature as an 8000 ton ship. Two shipyards at the same population, one of which had two slipways of 10,000 tons and the second with four slipways of 6000 tons (total capacity 44,000 tons) would appear as a single contact of 88,000 tons.

With regard to damage, rather than get into slipways being reduced in size, with the complexity involved if it is trying to build a ship larger than the reduced size, I have stayed with a similar model to planetary bombardment where slipways are either destroyed or unharmed by a hit. Each time a shipyard is hit, there is a chance the hit will destroy a slipway. The percentage chance of destroying a slipway is equal to: <code>(Damage / Capacity ) * 10000</code>

In other words, if a shipyard with slipways of 5000 ton capacity is hit by a missile with a ten point warhead then the chance of one slipway being destroyed is: <code> (10 / 5000) x 10000 = 20%</code>

If the last slipway of a shipyard is destroyed, then the shipyard itself is also destroyed.

==See Also==
* [[Shipyards and Shipbuilding]] tutorial.

[[Category:content]]

Salvage Module

2026-03-28T19:09:07Z

Storijophe: Mention total tonnage on ship design screen

{{bothversions}}
A Salvage Module is a ship [[component]] that allows a ship to [[salvage]] wrecks.

This module provides for the ability to process debris, with the tonnage per day listed in the module's name. Multiple modules can be equipped, with the total tonnage processed displayed on the ship design screen.

All salvage modules are 10,000 tons (200 [[HS]]), and use 80 crew. Their build cost increases with higher tech levels (see below), but they are always 50% [[Duranium]], 25% [[Corbomite]], and 25% [[Boronide]].

{| border="1" class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;"
|+ Salvage (tons per day)
! Rate !! 500 !! 750 !! 1,000 !! 1,350 !! 1,800 !! 2,500
|-
! RP cost
| 5,000 || 10,000 || 20,000 || 40,000 || 80,000 || 160,000
|-
! BP cost
| 200 || 220 || 250 || 300 || 400 || 500
|}

{{Components}}
[[Category:Components]]

Jump Engine

2026-03-24T22:01:27Z

Storijophe:

The '''jump engine''' is a propulsion [[component|system]] that allows ships to engage in interstellar travel via a [[jump point]]. Ships without jump engines may still travel via assistance from a [[jump tender]] or transiting at a [[stabilized jump point]].

==Overview==
A jump engine allows a ship to travel via an unstabilized jump point to another star system, or act as a jump tender to any number of other ships, as well as enables squad jumps. The size of a jump drive determines how large of a ship it may jump, and the type determines what type of engines it is capable of jumping. Only one type of jump drive may be mounted to any ship, though any number may be mounted at a time. Their effects do not stack.

There are [[military components|military]] and [[commercial components|commercial]] jump engines, the primary difference being the type of '''engines''' they're able to jump, with commercial jump engines being able to jump commercial engine ships, while military jump engines can jump any ship. Commercial jump engines are also larger and significantly cheaper than military jump engines. Additionally, '''all jump engine are commercial components'''. A military jump engine will go on a commercial ship without turning it into a military ship.

It is important to note that the type of '''engine''' is what determines if a jump engine can jump a ship, not the type of '''ship'''. A military ship with a commercial engine may be jumped by a commercial jump engine.

==Squad Jumps==

Jump Engine

2026-03-24T21:52:26Z

Storijophe:

Stabilized jump point

2026-03-24T21:47:01Z

Storijophe: Redirected page to Jump Gate

#redirect [[Jump Gate]]

Jump tender

2026-03-24T21:46:38Z

Storijophe: Redirected page to Jump Tender

#redirect [[Jump Tender]]

Jump Engine

2026-03-24T21:46:20Z

Storijophe: Created page with "The '''jump engine''' is a propulsion system that allows ships to engage in interstellar travel via a jump point. Ships without jump engines may still travel via assistance from a jump tender or transiting at a stabilized jump point."

Talk:Jump Gate

2026-03-24T21:45:02Z

Storijophe: /* Change Jump Gate to Stabilized? */ new section

== Change Jump Gate to Stabilized? ==

Technically jump gates don't exist in the game anymore, points are just labeled 'stabilized'. I dunno how we'd want to format the page to reflect that but it's going to confuse new people

Talk:Jump Gate

2026-03-24T21:43:44Z

Storijophe: Created blank page

Tug

2026-03-24T21:39:08Z

Storijophe: Redirected page to Tractor Beam

#redirect [[Tractor Beam]]

Component

2026-03-24T21:38:30Z

Storijophe: Redirected page to Category:Components

#REDIRECT [[Category:Components]]