AI War:Ships and Structures

Fleet Ships

Fleet ships will form the backbone of your fleet. Numerous and cheap to make, you start with the Fighter, Bomber, Missile Frigate, and an additional bonus ship type for each homeworld you start with. The AI starts with at least one bonus ship, or two bonus ships if the difficulty is 7 or above (See here for more details.)

The basic mechanics of fleet-ship balance revolves around the Ship-Triangle, where ships types have damage bonuses against each other. In this, Fighters beat Bombers beats Missile Frigates beats Fighters:

Fighter	Inexpensive, with a small attack range.
Bomber	Inflicts high damage on heavy defenses. Best ship class for hitting force fields and the final AI command stations.
Missile Frigate	Fires powerful, long-range missiles, but has a very slow reload time.

Most bonus ship-types either place themselves in-relation to this triangle, or provide some new role not previously available. The various fleet-ships unlockable by the player can then be roughly categorised by their roles below. Note that some ship-types are versatile and have been listed in multiple categories, and that the Triangle-Ship counter are highly ship-type dependent:

Fleet Roles	Sub-types	Ships list
Fleet combat	Role: Brawling (archetype: Fighter) Large numbers, easily replaceable geared towards general combat and attacking assault-craft tend to be lighter hulls Cheap DPS Short range	Acid Sprayer (anti-rare hulls/bombers) Anti-Armor (Long-range, anti-heavy/bombers) Fighter Laser Gatling Neinzul Youngling Commando (anti-light) Tachyon Microfighter Vampire Claw (melee) Vorticular Cutlass (melee)
	Role: Damage-soaker (archetype: Shield Bearer) Emphasis on survivability Immunity to some ammunition, or diverts enemy attention Can lead ahead of other ships	Armor Ship (anti-light) Bulletproof Fighter Neinzul Youngling Weasel (anti-rare hulls/bombers) Shield Bearer Zenith Viral Shredder (melee)
	Role: AOE-attack (archetype: Electric Shuttle) Damage increases with enemy fleet size	Electric Shuttle Grenade Launcher Zenith Auto Bomb Zenith Beam Frigate
Assault-craft	Role: Assault (archetype: Bomber) geared towards larger and/or armored targets Rarer hulls such as Swarmer, Neutron and Polycrystal Large damage, or bonuses to Heavy/Ultra-heavy/Structural Usually require fleet support unless on suicide run	Autocannon Minipod (cheap swarmer, no heavy bonus) Bomber (polycrystal) Infiltrator (cheap swarmer, no structural bonus) Neinzul Youngling Tiger (cheap polycrystal) Raider (cheap, no structural bonus) Space Tank (polycrystal) Zenith Chameleon (close combat) Zenith Electric Bomber (neutron)
	Sub-Role: Alternative Uses other mechanics Increased damage against specific types of targets	Anti-Armor (Long-range, armor-piercing) Impulse Reaction Emitter (neutron, energy-based scaling) Neinzul Youngling Vulture (ship damage-based scaling) Spire Armor Rotter (removes armor) Zenith Polarizer (armor-based scaling)
Long-range	Role: Fleet-oriented (archetype: Missile Frigate) Out-ranges combat ships (range >6000) (usually) bonuses to Light, Ultra-Light, and/or Swarmer no armour piercing relies somewhat on first-strike Slow to medium speed	Deflector Drone Grenade Launcher Missile Frigate MLRS Spider Bot Spire Stealth Battleship Zenith Beam Frigate
	Sub-role: Kiting ships (archetype: Raptor) Fast AND long-ranged Relatively brittle	Raider Raptor Space Plane
	Sub-Role: Super-sniping (archetype: Sniper) Very long-range/Planet-wide attack High-DPS against target, armour-piercing Retreats	Sentinel Frigate Sniper Spire Blade Spawner Zenith Bombard
Strike-teams	Role: Assassination (archetype: Eye Bot) Cloaking, free reign in absence of tachyon Bypasses some defenses Flexible in role Generally Refractive hulls	(Top-ranks lean towards anti-light, e.g. fleet-ship combat) Raptor Vampire Claw Spire Stealth Battleship (Ultra-heavy hull) Etherjet Space Plane (Ultra-light hull) Autocannon Minipod (Swarmer hull) Eye Bot Zenith Chameleon (Close combat hull) (Bottom-ranks lean towards on anti-heavy, e.g. neutering)
	Role: KO-ships Suicides Optimised in roles	Neinzul Youngling Nanoswarm (support) Spire Mini Ram (anti-large) Zenith Auto Bomb (anti-small)
	Role: Teleportation (archetype: Teleport Battle Station) Instant movement within wormholes High mobile defense Positioning critical for targeted attacks	Teleport Battle Station Teleport Raider Spire Teleporting Leech
Support ships	Role: Fleet-support (archetype: Munitions Booster) Increases effectiveness of other ships by altering stats or DPS, or directs damage away from friendly ships	Simple boosters: Armor Booster Deflector Drone (reduce laser) Munitions Booster Spire Armor Rotter Damage redirection: Neinzul Youngling Weasel (redirect missile) Shield Bearer (force field) Zenith Mirror (redirect damage, retaliation)
	Role: Disablers Provides some form of delaying Generally useful on defense Can complement attack depending on situation	Paralyse/Remove attacker: Neinzul Youngling Nanoswarm (paralysis) Spire Maw (eats ships) Zenith Paralyzer (paralysis) Slows/stops attacker (but not damage): Spider Bot (engine damage) Spire Gravity Drainer (gravity) Spire Gravity Ripper (paralysis) Tractors: Etherjet Spire Tractor Platform
	Role: Reclaimers (archetype: Parasite) Does reclamation damage Converts enemy ships	Neinzul Youngling Nanoswarm Parasite Spire Teleporting Leech

Starships

Starships are large centerpieces that you build your fleet around.
Most Starships have extra abilities to boost your fleet or increase your strategic options.
While a single starship has vastly more health and damage dealing potential then a single fleet ship, a ship-cap of starships has roughly twice the health and half the dps of a ship cap of an equivalent Mark of fleet ships.

The following Starships can be build at the Starship Constructor:

Starship	Role
Light Starship (Mk I) Flagship (Mk II) Zenith Starship (Mk III) Spire Starship (Mk IV)	A front line combatant to stiffen your fleet. Boosts the attack power of nearby units.
Bomber Starship	A starship version of a bomber with similar attack bonuses. Is also Immune to Tractor Beams.
Cloaker Starship	Equipped with a Cloaking Super-Booster, this ship can grant cloaking to ships near it that do not have it themselves.
Leech Starship	Starship that reclaims enemies it kills. Reclaimed ships are converted to your side and join your fleet.
Plasma Siege Starship	Starship that excels against large ships and structures. Also does massive engine damage to multiple ships when it attacks. Specializes in attacking Force Fields.
Raid Starship	Extremely fast Starship designed for raiding. Is Immune to Black Hole Machines and Tractor Beams. Is also Immune to Force Fields and can attack enemy units protected by them.
Riot Control Starship	Starship designed to counter swarms of smaller ships. Can be equipped with various modules to customize its loadout. Does moderate Engine Damage.
Scout Starship	An unarmed, cloaked Starship designed for scouting. Is immune to anything that would slow it down or block its path.

The following Starships can be build at captured Core Fabricators:

Starship	Role
Core Starship (Mk V)	A front line combatant to stiffen your fleet. Boosts the attack power of nearby units. Is the Mark V ship in the basic starship line that begins with the Light Starship.
Beam Starship	A starship equipped with a powerful beam weapon. Fires the Zenith Beam Weapon.
Warbird Starship	A fast starship equipped with a burst weapon for attacking multiple ships at once.

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