Ships
Description
Ships (rarely called spaceships) represent the most important units in OGame-style games. They're produced in the Shipyard.
Ship Types
Cargo Ships
Cargo ships are spaceships well suited for transporting resources. While Large Cargo Ships can transport the most resources relative to their cost, Small Cargo Ships become considerably faster than their larger relatives from Impulse Drive level 5 onward. On attacks, you should always bring cargo ships along to capture as many resources as possible, since all warships except Death Stars have hardly any cargo capacity. Cargo ships are also well suited for delivering resources between planets. Although the Death Star is a warship, with its cargo capacity of 1 million it's also suitable as a transport ship.
Warships
Warships include Light Fighters, Heavy Fighters, Cruisers, Battleships, Bombers, Destroyers, Death Stars and Battlecruisers. They all have different sizes and advantages. Light Fighters and Heavy Fighters are used as cannon fodder so the heavy, expensive ships don't get destroyed. Heavy Fighters, however, are by far the least popular ship class, due to their high crystal share. They only make sense against Cruiser fleets. Battleships are the cheapest heavy ships — both in terms of attack-strength-to-cost ratio and deuterium consumption. Cruisers and Battlecruisers are perfect for destroying fleets of Light Fighters and Battleships, since they have high rapid fire against them. Bombers, Destroyers and Death Stars are perfect defense crackers. Bombers have high rapid fire against several defense installations, while Destroyers bring more damage and armor. Death Stars are, by a factor of hundreds, the largest ships. They can only take damage from heavy ships, since their shield absorbs everything else.
Espionage Probes
Espionage Probes are meant for spying on other planets. These probes can easily be fended off by other spaceships, since they have no attack strength or shields. Counter-espionage is only possible via spaceships — if none are stationed at the target, the chance of counter-espionage is always 0%. If the victim has a lot of defense installations, that doesn't help with counter-espionage! The number of spaceships, on the other hand, determines the probability that the espionage probes get shot down. The attacker still receives an espionage report even if no probes return. The more probes sent, the higher the chance of counter-espionage, and the more accurate the espionage report. How much information an espionage report contains depends on the number of espionage probes and your own Espionage Technology. The opponent's Espionage Technology reduces the information received.
Colony Ships
Colony Ships let you colonize other, unsettled planets. When a Colony Ship colonizes a new planet, the ship is dismantled and cannot be used again. Even though a return time is shown in the overview, no Colony Ship will actually return after a successful settlement. Escort ships unload any resources brought along on the new colony and fly back. However, it's possible for the Colony Ship to return if no planet was found, if another player "got there first", or if you've reached the maximum number of planets achievable at your current Astrophysics level.
Recyclers
Recyclers are needed to harvest a debris field (DF) created in a battle. Their speed, however, is very low. A flight to your own DF takes at most 20 minutes (at 10% speed, at most 3 hours and 30 minutes).
Solar Satellites
Solar Satellites generate energy and don't require any fields. They can easily be destroyed in battles. The further a planet is from the sun, the less energy the satellites provide.
Here is a table of all ships for easier comparison. You can see the values as well as the costs for the individual ship types.
Base Values
| Unit | Cost | Combat Values | Other Values | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Metal | Crystal | Deut | Structure | Shield | Attack | Cargo | Base Speed | Consumption | Drive | |
| Solar Satellite | 0 | 2,000 | 500 | 200 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Espionage Probe | 0 | 1,000 | 0 | 100 | 0.01 | 0.01 | 5 | 100,000,000 | 1 | Combustion Drive |
| Small Cargo Ship | 2,000 | 2,000 | 0 | 400 | 10 | 5 | 5,000 | 5,000 10,000 *1 |
10 20 *1 |
Combustion Drive Impulse Drive |
| Large Cargo Ship | 6,000 | 6,000 | 0 | 1,200 | 25 | 5 | 25,000 | 7,500 | 50 | Combustion Drive |
| Recycler | 10,000 | 6,000 | 2,000 | 1,600 | 10 | 1 | 20,000 | 2,000 | 300 | Combustion Drive |
| Colony Ship | 10,000 | 20,000 | 10,000 | 3,000 | 100 | 50 | 7,500 | 2,500 | 1,000 | Impulse Drive |
| Light Fighter | 3,000 | 1,000 | 0 | 400 | 10 | 50 | 50 | 12,500 | 20 | Combustion Drive |
| Heavy Fighter | 6,000 | 4,000 | 0 | 1,000 | 25 | 150 | 100 | 10,000 | 75 | Impulse Drive |
| Cruiser | 20,000 | 7,000 | 2,000 | 2,700 | 50 | 400 | 800 | 15,000 | 300 | Impulse Drive |
| Battleship | 45,000 | 15,000 | 0 | 6,000 | 200 | 1,000 | 1,500 | 10,000 | 500 | Hyperspace Drive |
| Battlecruiser | 30,000 | 40,000 | 15,000 | 7,000 | 400 | 700 | 750 | 10,000 | 250 | Hyperspace Drive |
| Bomber | 50,000 | 25,000 | 15,000 | 7,500 | 500 | 1,000 | 500 | 4,000 5,000 *2 |
1,000 | Impulse Drive Hyperspace Drive |
| Destroyer | 60,000 | 50,000 | 15,000 | 11,000 | 500 | 2,000 | 2,000 | 5,000 | 1,000 | Hyperspace Drive |
| Death Star | 5,000,000 | 4,000,000 | 1,000,000 | 900,000 | 50,000 | 200,000 | 1,000,000 | 100 | 1 | Hyperspace Drive |
*1 = higher speed/consumption from Impulse Drive level 5 onward
*2 = higher speed from Hyperspace Drive level 8 onward
Rapid Fire
This table shows which ship has rapid fire against which other ship. The defending ship is listed horizontally, the attacking ship vertically. The numbers are average values only, showing how many shots on average are fired at a given ship type in one round.
| Rapid Fire Among Ships | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Name | Sat | Spy | SCS | LCS | Rec | Colo | LF | HF | Cru | BS | Bomber | BC | Des | DS |
| Solar Satellite | 1 | 1 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 1,250 |
| Espionage Probe | 1 | 1 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 1,250 |
| Small Cargo Ship | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 250 |
| Large Cargo Ship | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 250 |
| Recycler | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 250 |
| Colony Ship | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 250 |
| Light Fighter | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 200 |
| Heavy Fighter | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 100 |
| Cruiser | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 33 |
| Battleship | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 7 | 1 | 30 |
| Bomber | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 25 |
| Battlecruiser | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 15 |
| Destroyer | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 5 |
| Death Star | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
Calculated Values
Calculated values are important for determining price-to-performance ratio. When comparing values, though, keep in mind that any rapid fire present can shift the values significantly in favor of the larger ships. Death Stars, Battlecruisers and Destroyers in particular benefit from this, whereas, for example, Espionage Probes and Satellites lose out massively. See the rapid fire table above.
| Calculated Comparison Values (Price-to-Performance Ratio) |
|---|
| Name | SMU *3 | SMU / Structure | SMU / Shield | SMU / Attack | SMU / Cargo | SMU / Consumption | Cargo / Consumption |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Solar Satellite | 4,500 | 2.250 | 4,500 | 4,500.0 | -.0 | -.0 | -.0 |
| Espionage Probe | 1,500 | 1.500 | 150,000 | 150,000.0 | ?.0 | 1,500.0 | 0.00 |
| Small Cargo Ship with Combustion Drive*1 | 5,000 | 1.250 | 500 | 1,000.0 | 1.00 | 500.0 | 500.00 |
| Small Cargo Ship with Impulse Drive*1 | 5,000 | 1.250 | 500 | 1,000.0 | 1.00 | 250.0 | 250.00 |
| Large Cargo Ship | 15,000 | 1.250 | 600 | 3,000.0 | 0.60 | 300.0 | 500.00 |
| Recycler | 25,000 | 1.560 | 2,500 | 25,000.0 | 1.25 | 83.0 | 66.67 |
| Colony Ship | 70,000 | 2.330 | 700 | 1,400.0 | 9.30 | 70.0 | 7.52 |
| Light Fighter | 4,500 | 1.125 | 450 | 90.0 | 90.00 | 225.0 | 2.50 |
| Heavy Fighter | 12,000 | 1.200 | 480 | 80.0 | 120.00 | 160.0 | 1.33 |
| Cruiser | 36,500 | 1.350 | 730 | 91.3 | 45.60 | 121.7 | 2.67 |
| Battleship | 67,500 | 1.125 | 338 | 67.5 | 45.00 | 135.0 | 3.00 |
| Bomber | 132,500 | 1.770 | 265 | 132.5 | 265.00 | 132.5 | 0.50 |
| Battlecruiser | 135,000 | 1.920 | 338 | 193.0 | 180.00 | 540.0 | 3.00 |
| Destroyer | 180,000 | 1.640 | 360 | 90.0 | 90.00 | 180.0 | 2.00 |
| Death Star | 14,000,000 | 1.560 | 280 | 70.0 | 14.00 | 14,000,000.0 | 1,000,000.00 |
*1 = higher speed/consumption from Impulse Drive level 5 onward
*3 = standard metal units (SMU, the metal-equivalent value of the build cost) converted at a Metal:Crystal:Deuterium rate of 3:2:1.
The cheaper structure, shield, attack and cargo are, the more cost-effective the investment.
The higher SMU/consumption is, the cheaper the flight (e.g. attack or fleet saving) at maximum speed.
The higher cargo/consumption is, the more resources you can transport at the same fuel cost.
| Maximum Range of Individual Ships Depending on Speed, in Systems / Galaxies | ||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Type | Speed | |||||||||||||||||||
| 100% | 90% | 80% | 70% | 60% | 50% | 40% | 30% | 20% | 10% | |||||||||||
| Bomber | 17 | 0 | 22 | 0 | 28 | 0 | 35 | 0 | 43 | 0 | 53 | 0 | 65 | 0 | 80 | 0 | 99 | 0 | 123 | 0 |
| Heavy Fighter | 93 | 0 | 107 | 0 | 121 | 0 | 139 | 0 | 161 | 0 | 187 | 1 | 219 | 1 | 259 | 1 | 309 | 1 | 373 | 1 |
| Destroyer | 155 | 0 | 175 | 0 | 198 | 1 | 226 | 1 | 259 | 1 | 298 | 1 | 347 | 1 | 407 | 2 | 483 | 2 | 498 | 2 |
| Light Fighter | 197 | 0 | 221 | 1 | 250 | 1 | 283 | 1 | 324 | 1 | 372 | 1 | 432 | 2 | 498 | 2 | 498 | 2 | 498 | 3 |
| Cruiser | 216 | 1 | 243 | 1 | 274 | 1 | 311 | 1 | 354 | 1 | 407 | 2 | 472 | 2 | 498 | 2 | 498 | 3 | 498 | 3 |
| Battleship / BC | 247 | 1 | 277 | 1 | 312 | 1 | 353 | 1 | 403 | 2 | 462 | 2 | 498 | 2 | 498 | 3 | 498 | 3 | 498 | 4 |
| Espionage Probe | 340 | 1 | 379 | 1 | 426 | 2 | 481 | 2 | 498 | 2 | 498 | 3 | 498 | 3 | 498 | 4 | 498 | 4 | 498 | 5 |
| Colony Ship | 498 | 3 | 498 | 3 | 498 | 4 | 498 | 4 | 498 | 5 | 498 | 5 | 498 | 6 | 498 | 7 | 498 | 8 | 498 | 8 |
| SCS / LCS / Rec / DS | regardless of speed: always 498 systems / 8 galaxies | |||||||||||||||||||
The cargo shortage particularly affects Bombers and Heavy Fighters severely. Espionage over more than 5 galaxies is also only possible when sending a cargo ship along, with correspondingly long flight times. Otherwise, the effective range is limited more by flight costs than by cargo capacity.
Related Topics
Adapted and cleaned up from owiki.de (GNU Free Documentation License 1.3), a general OGame community wiki — the conceptual explanation applies generally, but specific numbers/formulas may differ from the pr0game source code and are not verified.