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Surveillance

Surveillance is where you follow your Argus probes. An Argus probe watches one other player's planet for six hours and lists the fleets landing on that planet and the fleets returning from it. It monitors fleet movements; it does not report the colony's resources, buildings or defenses the way a spy probe does (see Intelligence).

Requirements and cost

Research Espionage to at least level 2. Each Espionage level provides one shared spy slot; an Argus probe holds two slots.
Have two free slots. Spy probes and counterscans hold one slot each, other Argus probes two each.
Pay the current Argus price in G.E.L.D.: 200 at first, and 50% more for every recent launch (see Price).
Choose a planet belonging to another player in the same game world. The star of another player's Dyson Ring also counts. Your own colonies, unoccupied locations, stars without a Dyson ring, void space and resource belts are not valid targets.

For example, Espionage level 3 allows one Argus probe and one spy probe at the same time. Two Argus probes need at least four slots.

Launching an Argus probe

Open Galaxy and use the satellite button on the planet card of another player's planet. It appears from Espionage level 2 and shows your current price in its tooltip. The probe starts watching at once: there is no outbound flight.

Price

Every launch makes the next Argus probe 50% dearer: 200, 300, 450, 675, 1,013 G.E.L.D. and so on. A counter of your recent launches decides the price. 24 hours after your last launch it drops by one, then by one more every further 24 hours, until you are back at 200. A new launch restarts the 24 hours. A launch you cannot pay for does not count.

The Argus price box at the top of the Surveillance page shows the current price, the price after your next launch, your launch counter and the time until the price drops.

Spread your Argus probes out: one a day stays at 200, while three in a row cost 950 in total and the fourth would cost 675 alone.

Watching and recharging

An Argus probe watches its planet for 6 hours. After that it recharges for 3 more hours. It holds its two spy slots the whole time, so the slots are free again 9 hours after launch.

Open Surveillance from the game menu to see the Argus price and your probes:

Active Argus probes shows one card per watched planet with its name, full coordinates, the remaining watch time and the fleets seen there.
Recharging Argus probes lists probes that have finished watching, with the time until their slots free up.

Which fleets appear?

Each card lists, ordered by completion time:

Landing fleets: every fleet of any player that lands on the watched planet before the watch ends, whatever its mission, with its owner and mission. This includes attacks, transports and stationing fleets.
Returning fleets: every fleet that had its mission at the watched planet and gets home before the watch ends.

Movements that complete after the watch ends, flights to other planets and fleets already parked at the planet do not appear. An empty card means nothing lands on or returns from the planet during the rest of the watch; it does not prove that the planet is undefended or inactive.

Reading a movement

Each movement shows the fleet, its owner and mission, its route, the completion time, the remaining time and its progress. Fleet power, ship composition and carried resources are shown in the movement details where available.

A return journey travels from the watched planet back to the fleet's home planet. Read both endpoints and their full coordinates before making plans: the watched planet is not necessarily the fleet's home.

Argus probes, spy probes and counterscans

Operation	Slots	Purpose
Argus probe	2	Watch fleets landing on and returning from a planet for six hours, then recharge for three.
Spy probe	1	Obtain a snapshot report about another player's colony, followed by a five-minute cooldown.
Counterscan	1	Reveal an incoming attack fleet aimed at your colony.

An Argus probe does not roll a success chance and produces no spy report. The other player is never told about it: unlike a spy probe, it does not appear in their Fleet Movement and sends them no message.

Using the information

Use landing and return times together with Galaxy, Reports and Fleet Operations to decide whether and when to act. A watched planet shows you when its owner's fleets come home and when other players supply, station at or attack it. Surveillance alone cannot tell you the target's defenses or available loot: confirm them with a spy probe and the Player Combat rules.

Related references

Back to the wiki home

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
 <div class="vv-language-bar">'''English''' · [[Surveillance/de|Deutsch]]</div>
 = Surveillance =
-Surveillance monitors one other player's planet for six hours and lists qualifying returning fleets associated with that planet. It is a movement-monitoring operation, rather than a regular espionage report about the colony's resources, buildings or defenses.
+Surveillance is where you follow your '''Argus probes'''. An Argus probe watches one other player's planet for six hours and lists the fleets landing on that planet and the fleets returning from it. It monitors fleet movements; it does not report the colony's resources, buildings or defenses the way a spy probe does (see [[Intelligence]]).
 == Requirements and cost ==
-* Research [[Espionage]] to at least level 2. Each espionage research level provides one shared operation slot; surveillance occupies '''two slots'''.
+* Research [[Espionage]] to at least level 2. Each Espionage level provides one shared spy slot; an Argus probe holds '''two slots'''.
-* Have two free slots after accounting for other active surveillance, espionage and counterscan operations. A regular espionage probe or counterscan occupies one slot.
+* Have two free slots. Spy probes and counterscans hold one slot each, other Argus probes two each.
-* Pay '''200 [[G.E.L.D.]]''' per surveillance operation under the current rules.
+* Pay the current Argus price in [[G.E.L.D.]]: '''200''' at first, and '''50% more''' for every recent launch (see [[#Price|Price]]).
 * Choose a planet belonging to another player in the same game world. The star of another player's [[Dyson Ring]] also counts. Your own colonies, unoccupied locations, stars without a Dyson ring, void space and resource belts are not valid targets.
-For example, espionage level 3 permits one surveillance operation and one regular espionage operation at the same time. Two surveillance operations require at least four available slots.
+For example, Espionage level 3 allows one Argus probe and one spy probe at the same time. Two Argus probes need at least four slots.
-== Monitoring window ==
+== Launching an Argus probe ==
-The six-hour window begins when surveillance is launched. There is no separate outbound flight countdown or additional five-minute cooldown for this mode. Its two slots remain occupied until the operation expires.
+Open [[Galaxy]] and use the satellite button on the planet card of another player's planet. It appears from Espionage level 2 and shows your current price in its tooltip. The probe starts watching at once: there is no outbound flight.
-Open '''Surveillance''' from the game menu to review active monitoring operations. Each planet card shows the monitored planet's name, full coordinates and the remaining probe time. Once an operation expires, it is removed from the active overview and its slots become available again when operations are processed.
+== Price ==
+Every launch makes the next Argus probe '''50% dearer''': 200, 300, 450, 675, 1,013 G.E.L.D. and so on. A counter of your recent launches decides the price. '''24 hours''' after your last launch it drops by one, then by one more every further 24 hours, until you are back at 200. A new launch restarts the 24 hours. A launch you cannot pay for does not count.
-To start surveillance, open [[Galaxy]] and use the satellite button on the planet card of another player's planet. It appears from Espionage level 2 and shows the cost in its tooltip. Visiting this page does not itself deploy a probe.
+The '''Argus price''' box at the top of the Surveillance page shows the current price, the price after your next launch, your launch counter and the time until the price drops.
+Spread your Argus probes out: one a day stays at 200, while three in a row cost 950 in total and the fourth would cost 675 alone.
+== Watching and recharging ==
+An Argus probe watches its planet for '''6 hours'''. After that it recharges for '''3 more hours'''. It holds its two spy slots the whole time, so the slots are free again 9 hours after launch.
+Open '''Surveillance''' from the game menu to see the Argus price and your probes:
+* '''Active Argus probes''' shows one card per watched planet with its name, full coordinates, the remaining watch time and the fleets seen there.
+* '''Recharging Argus probes''' lists probes that have finished watching, with the time until their slots free up.
 == Which fleets appear? ==
-The overview includes fleets already on their return journey whose mission target is the monitored planet. Their return completion must be after the current time and no later than the surveillance operation's expiry. Qualifying journeys are ordered by completion time.
+Each card lists, ordered by completion time:
+* '''Landing fleets:''' every fleet of any player that lands on the watched planet before the watch ends, whatever its mission, with its owner and mission. This includes attacks, transports and stationing fleets.
+* '''Returning fleets:''' every fleet that had its mission at the watched planet and gets home before the watch ends.
-This is '''not a complete view of every fleet near the colony''': outbound fleets, stationary fleets and return journeys ending outside the remaining surveillance window are excluded. An empty movement list means no journeys match these conditions at that moment; it does not prove that the planet is undefended or inactive.
+Movements that complete after the watch ends, flights to other planets and fleets already parked at the planet do not appear. An empty card means nothing lands on or returns from the planet during the rest of the watch; it does not prove that the planet is undefended or inactive.
 == Reading a movement ==
-The movement display identifies the fleet and mission, marks it as returning, and shows its route, completion time, remaining time and progress. Fleet power is shown when available. The shared movement details also expose the fleet's ship composition and carried resources for these observed journeys.
+Each movement shows the fleet, its owner and mission, its route, the completion time, the remaining time and its progress. Fleet power, ship composition and carried resources are shown in the movement details where available.
-A return journey travels from the mission target back to the fleet's home planet. Read both endpoints and their full coordinates before making plans; the monitored planet is not necessarily the home destination of the observed fleet.
+A return journey travels from the watched planet back to the fleet's home planet. Read both endpoints and their full coordinates before making plans: the watched planet is not necessarily the fleet's home.
-== Surveillance, espionage and counterscans ==
+== Argus probes, spy probes and counterscans ==
 {| class="wikitable"
 ! Operation !! Slots !! Purpose
 |-
-| Surveillance || 2 || Monitor qualifying return journeys for six hours.
+| Argus probe || 2 || Watch fleets landing on and returning from a planet for six hours, then recharge for three.
 |-
-| Regular espionage || 1 || Attempt to obtain a snapshot report about another player's colony, followed by the regular probe cooldown.
+| Spy probe || 1 || Obtain a snapshot report about another player's colony, followed by a five-minute cooldown.
 |-
-| Counterscan || 1 || Attempt to reveal an incoming attack fleet aimed at your colony.
+| Counterscan || 1 || Reveal an incoming attack fleet aimed at your colony.
 |}
-Surveillance does not generate the regular colony espionage snapshot and does not use its success-chance roll. The six-hour surveillance window should not be confused with the flight time or cooldown of a regular espionage probe.
+An Argus probe does not roll a success chance and produces no spy report. The other player is never told about it: unlike a spy probe, it does not appear in their [[Fleet Movement]] and sends them no message.
 == Using the information ==
-Use movement timing together with [[Galaxy]], [[Reports]] and [[Fleet Operations]] when deciding whether and when to act. Surveillance alone cannot establish the target's full defenses or available loot. Confirm combat assumptions with espionage and the [[Player Combat]] rules.
+Use landing and return times together with [[Galaxy]], [[Reports]] and [[Fleet Operations]] to decide whether and when to act. A watched planet shows you when its owner's fleets come home and when other players supply, station at or attack it. Surveillance alone cannot tell you the target's defenses or available loot: confirm them with a spy probe and the [[Player Combat]] rules.
 == Related references ==
@@ Line 50: / Line 62: @@
 * [[Reports]]
 * [[Fleet Operations]]
+* [[Player Combat]]
 [[Main Page|Back to the wiki home]]
 [[Category:Game sections]]