Intelligence
Intelligence
Intelligence covers everything you learn about other empires before you commit a fleet: spy probes, counterscans against incoming attacks, survey probes for free planets, surveillance of returning fleets and the Fleet Simulator on a spy report. Almost all of it depends on the Espionage research and is paid in G.E.L.D.
Espionage and operation slots
Espionage requires Photonic Computing level 3. Each Espionage level gives one shared operation slot. Spy probes, counterscans and Surveillance all draw from the same slots:
| Operation | Slots | Cost | Slot is busy until |
|---|---|---|---|
| Spy probe | 1 | 10 G.E.L.D. | 5 minutes after the probe arrives |
| Counterscan | 1 | 10 G.E.L.D. | 5 minutes after the scan resolves |
| Surveillance | 2 | 200 G.E.L.D. | the six-hour window ends |
Survey probes use their own slots: one survey slot per 2 Espionage levels, so the first one needs level 2.
Spy probes
Send a spy probe with the eye icon at a target in Galaxy, or rescan a target from its report in Reports. The probe starts from your selected colony.
Valid targets: another player's planet in your world, including the star of a Dyson Ring. Your own colonies, empty space, stars without a Dyson ring and resource belts cannot be spied on.
Timing: the flight takes at least 15 seconds and gets longer with distance. After the probe arrives, its slot stays busy for a 5 minute cooldown.
What a spy report shows
Every completed probe delivers a report. These values are always shown:
- the stored Aslit, Crlit, Iopla and SEM on the planet
- the planet's fleet points and defense points, and the player's total points
- whether the planet is stable or unstable
- every ship and every drone or defense unit stationed at the planet
Building levels, mine levels and research levels are rolled one by one against the report's reveal chance. A level that fails its roll is shown as hidden. The reveal chance is:
- 50%, plus 5 points per Espionage level you have above the target (minus 5 per level below)
- never below 25% and never above 100%
- the Omniscience option of the Government raises the base from 50% to 95%
The report shows the reveal chance it used. Reports are listed in Reports under Spy, where you can open the details, rescan the planet, message the player or start an attack.
Counterscans
When an attack or feint is heading for your colony, the incoming movement in Fleet Movement offers Launch counterscan. A counterscan costs 10 G.E.L.D. and one Espionage slot. It flies at spy probe speed from your colony toward the incoming fleet and meets it on its way in: it takes the time a spy probe needs for the part of the route the fleet still has to fly (at least 15 seconds, never longer than the attack itself), so it usually reports long before the attack lands. It then succeeds with the same reveal chance as a spy probe, using your Espionage against the attacker's.
A successful counterscan:
- reveals the fleet's ships, cargo and power in the movement details
- sends the attacker a message that the defender counterscanned the fleet
- removes the attacker's surprise strike: an attack that was not counterscanned reacts 20% faster in round 1 and 10% faster in round 2 (see Player Combat)
A fleet can be counterscanned only once; if the roll fails, it stays unscanned.
Survey probes
A survey probe visits an unowned ordinary planet and reports its size, fields and bonus resource (see Planets). It costs 25 G.E.L.D. at the base engine tier. The probe flies out and back; the report arrives when it reaches the planet, and its survey slot is free again 10 minutes after it returns. Stars, empty space, resource belts and owned planets cannot be surveyed.
Probe engines
The Command page has an engine control for the spy probe and the survey probe. Engine Engineering unlocks one engine tier per 4 levels, up to tier 5.
- Every tier makes the probe 30% faster (added up: tier 2 is +60%).
- Survey probes also cost 30% more per tier. The spy probe cost stays at 10 G.E.L.D.
- Engine Engineering itself also speeds up probes by 5% per level, whatever tier you choose.
Fleet Simulator
A spy report has a Fleet Simulator button. It fights one simulated battle of your own ship designs against what the report scanned at that planet.
- You choose how many ships of each of your designs take part. Your current research applies to them.
- You can change the enemy's unit amounts, its combat research levels and its Shield Emitter level. Values the scan did not reveal are highlighted so you can enter a guess.
- You cannot add enemy designs the scan did not see.
- Each run uses one simulation from a daily allowance: one simulation per 3 levels of Photonic Computing, refilled at midnight server time. Below level 3 the button is locked.
The result is one battle with random rolls; nothing changes in the game. It uses a cautious shield bypass (yours at the minimum, the enemy's at the maximum) and no surprise strike, so treat it as an estimate. Older spy reports from before the simulator cannot be simulated.
Surveillance
Surveillance watches another player's planet for six hours and lists fleets returning from a mission at that planet. It needs Espionage level 2, uses two slots and costs 200 G.E.L.D. Start it with the satellite button on the planet card of another player's planet in Galaxy (shown from Espionage 2, with its cost in the tooltip). The Surveillance page lists active operations.
Using intelligence
- Scan shortly before you attack: stored resources, ships and defenses change all the time.
- Compare your Espionage with the target's before relying on building and research levels; a large gap in your favor reveals almost everything.
- Run the Fleet Simulator against a fresh report, then plan the attack in Fleet Operations.
- As a defender, keep a free slot and some G.E.L.D. for a counterscan.