Combat

Combat in Interstellar War is real-time, tick-based, and influenced by ship fitting, crew skills, range, and positioning. Understanding the mechanics gives you a significant edge.

How Combat Works

Every 15 seconds (one tick), the game evaluates all ships in combat:

1. Range check — Is the target within your weapon range?
2. Accuracy roll — Can you hit the target?
3. Damage calculation — How much damage does the hit deal?
4. Damage application — Shields absorb first, then hull takes the rest

Weapon Cooldown

Each weapon module has a 15-second cooldown between shots — one shot per tick. If you have 3 weapon modules, all three fire each tick (assuming they're online and the target is in range).

Accuracy

Whether your shot hits depends on three factors:

Factor	Effect
Tracking	Your weapon's ability to follow a moving target. Higher = more accurate
Target Handling	The enemy's evasion stat. Higher handling = harder to hit
Range	Shots at close range are more accurate. Shots at max range suffer a penalty

In shape, your hit chance scales with the ratio of your tracking to the target's handling, then is modified by range. A dice roll decides the outcome — if you pass, you hit; if you fail, you miss entirely and deal no damage.

Range Modifier

Accuracy is strongest at close range and degrades as you approach the edge of your weapon's range. At max range the penalty is severe enough that many shots will miss outright.

Tip: Close the distance before engaging. Fighting at the edge of your range wastes shots.

Damage

When a shot connects, damage is built from three things:

Component	Meaning
Weapon output	The raw power of your weapon module
Module size modifier	A random multiplier based on weapon size category
Gunnery skill	Your gunner's skill level (0–255). Higher gunnery significantly increases damage — a maxed gunner roughly doubles your output

Critical Hits

Every shot has a small chance to critically hit for bonus damage. Crits are pure luck — no skill or module affects the chance.

Damage Application

Damage is applied in order:

1. Shields absorb damage first, point for point
2. When shields are depleted, remaining damage hits the hull
3. When hull reaches zero, the ship is destroyed

There is no damage resistance or armour typing — it's a straight numbers game.

Cloaking

The cloak module hides your ship from enemy scanners:

• Cloaked ships are invisible to enemies (unless they're in your faction or fleet)
• Allies can always see your cloaked ship
• Firing weapons automatically decloaks you
• There's a 15-second cooldown between cloak toggles to prevent spam

Cloaking is ideal for scouting, ambushes, and escape.

Siege Warfare

Siege modules enable attacks on starbases and fortified positions:

• Activating siege mode locks your ship in place for 5 minutes
• You cannot move, cloak, or jump to hyperspace during siege
• Siege is required for certain high-damage attacks on structures

Attacking Starbases

Starbases can only be attacked when their vulnerable flag is active. They fight back with automated weapon batteries in three roles:

Battery	Role
Short Range	Hits hardest per shot but struggles to track fast, agile targets
Medium Range	A balanced battery with good tracking against most ships
Long Range	Low per-shot damage but extremely high tracking — very hard to evade, even at speed

A fully built-up starbase fields many of each. Starbases hit hard. Don't attack one alone.

Bombarding Planets

Planets can be damaged using bomb modules (type 5). Bombs deal bonus damage against planetary targets compared to standard weapons. You cannot bomb planets belonging to your own faction.

When a planet's health reaches zero, it loses faction control.

PvP vs PvE

Not all systems allow player-vs-player combat:

• PvP systems — Players can attack each other freely
• Non-PvP systems — Only NPC combat is allowed
• Same-faction combat — Some systems prevent allies from attacking each other

Check the system flags before picking a fight.

NPC Fleet Behaviour

NPC fleets have their own AI:

Behaviour	What They Do
Aggressive	Hunt players, focus fire on highest threats, coordinate with fleet
Defensive	Only engage if attacked, protect structures
Patrol	Move between areas, engage targets of opportunity
Escort	Follow specific ships, engage threats to their charge

Aggressive NPC fleets will call in reinforcements from their fleet. Don't assume one NPC means one fight.

Combat Tips

• Close range wins — accuracy drops sharply at max range
• Watch your power — if drain exceeds powernet, shields drop and modules go offline
• Disengage to repair — passive repair kicks in every tick
• Numbers matter — multiple ships focusing fire overwhelms any single target
• Know when to run — losing a ship is expensive. There's no shame in warping out