Shipyard
What is the Shipyard for in Old Light?
The Shipyard is where a system builds its mobile fleet, turning palladium and iridium into ships. Its level sets which ship classes are available and how fast they come off the line. You construct it once your Command Center is far enough along to support it.
The Shipyard is where a system builds its mobile Fleet. Unlike other structures, you construct it yourself once your Command Center can support it.
What it does
The Shipyard turns palladium and iridium into ships. Its level decides two things: which ship classes are available, and how fast they come off the line. A higher-level yard unlocks different ships and trims the build time on the ones you already have.
Like every other structure, the Shipyard draws from the system's Energy budget.
The build queue
The Shipyard has its own three-slot queue, separate from the structure build queue.
Each slot holds one batch of ships of a single type.
The full cost of a batch is debited the moment you queue it, just like a structure upgrade.
The first slot produces ships one at a time; later slots wait their turn. Ships land in your fleet stack as each one finishes, not all at the end.
Cancelling a batch refunds 70% of the remaining ships' cost.
When the queue pauses
A running queue can pause without losing your batches. It resumes on its own once the blocker clears, picking up exactly where it stopped:
Docks full. Each system can only station so many ships, a docking capacity set by its Command Center. When the docks fill, the queue holds the rest until you free a berth, by sending ships out or losing them in combat.
Treasury exhausted. If your empire runs out of credits, because fleet upkeep has outrun Trade Hub income, all production pauses empire-wide until credits recover.
A paused batch keeps the resources you already paid; nothing is refunded or lost while it waits.
Why it matters
A system without a Shipyard is a system that can only defend with what is already in orbit. Ships are how you scout, and how you'll eventually attack and defend. See Fleet for the broader picture.
When to upgrade
Push the Shipyard when you're hitting a ceiling: a ship class you want isn't unlocked yet, or your batches are taking long enough that the queue is permanently full. Otherwise the yard is happy to sit at a modest level while you spend resources elsewhere.
Like every structure it shares the Reactor's energy budget, so plan the energy load before you push the level.
Just Read The Instructions
Common questions
How does the Shipyard build queue work?
The Shipyard has its own three-slot queue, separate from the structure queue. Each slot holds one batch of a single ship type, and the full batch cost is debited when you queue it. Ships land as each one finishes; cancelling refunds 70% of the remaining cost.
Why does my ship production pause?
A running queue pauses without losing batches and resumes when the blocker clears. Two causes: the docks fill to the capacity set by your Command Center, or your empire runs out of credits when fleet upkeep outruns Trade Hub income.
When should I upgrade the Shipyard?
Push it when you hit a ceiling: a ship class you want isn't unlocked yet, or batches take long enough that the queue stays permanently full. Otherwise leave it at a modest level. It shares the Reactor's energy budget, so plan the load first.
