Beginner's Guide to Galactic Domination
From your first Throne Ship to your first Dreadnought fleet.
Phase 1: Securing Your Throne
When you first warp into the galaxy, your primary concern is survival and basic economic expansion. Your Throne Ship is your headquarters. It contains 11 orbital building slots that you must utilize carefully.
1. Expand Your Cargo Hold
Do not build anything else until you have a level 1 Cargo Hold. If your storage fills up, any excess resources generated by your facilities are permanently lost. Keep your storage capacity slightly ahead of your production rates.
2. Establish Basic Resource Generation
The economy runs on four pillars. You need all of them:
- Pelastration Chamber: Generates Construction Alloys used for building new structures and ship chassis.
- Solar Radiation Array: Generates Energy. Almost every advanced structure and fleet movement requires massive amounts of energy.
- Ecosystem BioSphere: Generates Food. Your crew and drone manufacturing facilities will consume this rapidly.
- Platinum Processing Plant: Platinum is the lifeblood of the galaxy. It is used for premium upgrades, fast-tracking construction, and heavy manufacturing.
Phase 2: Defense and Logistics
Once your basic economy is running, you will start showing up on the scanners of other players. You must prepare to defend your assets.
- Primary Shield Generator: This is your first line of defense. A high-level shield generator can mitigate massive amounts of incoming damage during a raid.
- Warp Sig. Detection Satellite: Information is power. A level 1 satellite will alert you when a fleet is en route. Higher levels provide detailed intelligence on exactly what ships are attacking you.
- Drone Replicator: Your first military facility. Drones are cheap and build quickly. Start by pumping out Swarm Drones for basic defense, and upgrade to Aegis Drones as soon as your economy allows it. Aegis Drones interlock to provide incredible defensive capability.
Phase 3: Force Projection
Defense wins skirmishes, but offense wins the galaxy. To take the fight to your enemies, you need capital ships.
The Orbital Shipyard
This massive facility allows you to construct true spacecraft. You will need a significant stockpile of Platinum and Construction Alloys to begin manufacturing.
- Corvettes: Fast, cheap raiders. Use them in "wolf packs" to harass weaker players.
- Frigates: The backbone of a mid-game fleet. Heavy armor makes them excellent line-holders.
- Destroyers: Heavy siege engines capable of planetary bombardment.
- Dreadnoughts: The ultimate weapon. Massively expensive, but a single Dreadnought can annihilate entire defensive grids.
Don't forget logistics! When attacking another player, your warships can destroy their defenses, but they cannot carry loot. You must include Cargo Freighters in your attacking fleets if you want to steal their resources. Freighters are unarmed, so ensure they are heavily escorted.
Your First Targets: The Frontier Factions
Not every station on the map belongs to another commander. Three NPC factions hold outposts across the galaxy, marked [NPC] on the map and leaderboard. They're the safest place to learn how combat works before you pick a fight with a real rival.
- The Hollow Crowns: Lightly defended raider hideouts. Ideal practice for your first strike: send a small escort with Cargo Freighters and bring home their stockpiles. Commanders fielding Command Override modules can conquer a hideout outright.
- The Ashen Republic: Fortified bastions of the old republic. Tougher, and worth raiding once your fleet has some weight behind it. They can't be conquered.
- The Pelastrine Mind: The strongest faction in the galaxy. Leave its lattices alone until you command a serious war fleet.
Outposts aren't static. While commanders are active nearby, they harvest, build and field defenders under the same rules you do, but they never outgrow the newest commander in their sector, so there's always a target within your reach. Hollow Crowns driven from their last hideout regroup elsewhere, and new commanders often find one lurking within their first scanner range.
Faction outposts don't answer transmissions, and they never launch attacks of their own. Always scan before you strike: a Recon Drone tells you exactly what's waiting.
Phase 4: Deep Space Exploration and Trade
The galaxy is vast. Your starting sector is just the beginning.
- Navigation Bridge: Building and upgrading a Navigation Bridge connects your Throne Ship to the deep space sensor network. This expands your visible map range, allowing you to scout new targets and find resource-rich nebulas or asteroid belts.
- Demilitarised Trade Platform: If you prefer diplomacy over destruction, build a Trade Platform. This allows allied and neutral cargo ships to dock safely at your station to exchange resources. High-level platforms allow for more concurrent trade agreements.
Remember, Commander: The galaxy is unforgiving. Keep your shields up, your cargo holds expanding, and your shipyards churning. Good hunting.