Surveillance
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.