Fleet
How does the fleet work in Old Light?
Your fleet is the mobile half of your empire. Ships are built in batches at a Shipyard and parked at the system that built them. There is no global fleet pool; each system holds its own stack. Four ship classes exist: probe, marauder, sentinel, and vanguard.
Your fleet is the mobile half of your empire. Where Structures are fixed to a system, ships are built in batches and move wherever you send them.
Every ship you build is constructed at a Shipyard and parked at that system. The fleet panel on the active system shows what's there.
Ship types
A handful of classes exist.
Probe - fast and cheap. Used to learn about other star systems
Marauder - a light offensive ship
Sentinel - a heavy defensive ship
Vanguard - a slow colony ship, the only one that can capture a star
Each ship has its own palladium + iridium cost, build time, speed, and combat stats.
Speed and distance
Space is big. Distances are measured in light-years (ly), and ship speed is measured in ly/hr (light-years per hour). Each tile equals 4 light-years in size.
What happens when fleets meet
When you send ships into another player's system, the two stacks fight it out in rounds. Attackers strike with their offense stat; defenders strike with their defense stat. Larger fleets dominate, but no fight is fully deterministic. See the Combat page for the round-by-round detail, and Recon Missions for the probe skirmish that comes first.
Hex ownership doesn't change. Whoever survives stays where they were; attacker survivors immediately turn around and fly home.
Where they come from
You queue ships from the Shipyard panel of the active system. The yard has its own three-slot build queue, and a higher-level yard both builds ships faster and unlocks different ships.
Where they live
Ships built at a system stay at that system. The active fleet readout shows how many and what kind of spaceships are at the current star system.
There is no global fleet pool. Each system has its own stack. If you want to know what fleet the enemy has, send a probe.
Economy pressure
Ships are paid for out of the same palladium + iridium stockpile that funds your structure upgrades. Early game, lean into your economy first; once your extractors and Resource Depot are comfortably scaled, the cost of a fleet stops biting.
The Shipyard itself also costs Energy to run, like any other structure, so a system that's pushing a heavy build schedule needs the Reactor to keep up.
Upkeep
Every ship in your fleet also costs Credits per day to keep flying. Income from Trade Hubs pays for this upkeep. If your treasury runs dry, recruiting is blocked, your ships fight at reduced effectiveness, and they travel slower.
Of Course I Still Love You
Common questions
What are the ship types?
Four classes. The probe is a fast, cheap scout. The marauder is a light offensive ship. The sentinel is a light defensive ship. The vanguard is a slow colony ship, the only one that can capture a star. Each has its own cost, speed, and combat stats.
Do ships cost anything to keep?
Yes. Every ship draws credits per day as upkeep, paid by income from Trade Hubs. If your treasury runs dry, recruiting is blocked, your ships fight at reduced effectiveness, and they travel slower.
Where are ships built and stored?
You queue ships from the Shipyard panel of the active system, which has a three-slot build queue. A higher-level yard builds faster and unlocks different ships. Ships stay parked at the system that built them.
