This guide is incomplete, but will gradually be completed.

Basic ships are my unofficial name for the more common ships. You see these when you are looking at the ship building menu in Emperor mode. A lot of an empire's fleets will undoubtedly be made up of these, with few exceptions Ships such as the Dropship and Battleship are included in this section.

Dropship - This ship is probably the most common ship in the galaxy. They are most commonly found on the border of warring empires. They invade hostile stars connected to the empire that owns the ship. They aren't very useful unless used in mass, or against significantly weaker empires. They are completely unarmed and have 2 hitpoints.

Raider - The Raider is also a likely candidate for the most common ship. They are usually found cruising through enemy empires, leaving a trail of undeveloped stars. They can also (rarely) invade and destroy artifacts. They only have 1 hitpoint; however, unlike the Dropship, they are armed with a laser cannon!

Battleship - These ships, along with the Frigate, are the backbones of the fleet, the sousaphones of a marching band, the - you get the point. Though they are common and kind of boring, they play a huge role in a fleet and act as medium range support, as well as aid in expansion of borders. They have 3 hitpoints and are armed with missiles and planetary laser cannons, used to give border stars aid in expansion. You may think that the Battleship and Frigate are the same thing; this is not the case. It's firepower slow but stronger, it's armor thicker, it's speed slow, the Battleship has been referred to by Snod as a bear. Battleships can soak up more damage than Frigates.

Frigate - The Frigate, along with the Battleship, are the backbones of a fleet. They have a similar role to battleships, but rely on speed instead of firepower. They fire many low-damage shots in quick succession. Though faster than Battleships, that speed comes at a cost, resulting in a low damage tolerance. Snod has referred to the Frigate as an "angry cat".

Maintenance ship - The name pretty much describes itself. This ship is used for maintenance on other ships. They are armed with 2 lasers: a blue one that repairs other ships and a red one that deals damage to enemies. Maintenance ships are very easy to destroy, usually taking 1-2 hits. Fun Fact: Despite the weakness of the Maintenance ship, they can and alot of times do lead fleets.

A ship can be classified by fleet-based if it works in fleets, and I classify special ships as any ship that is not a monster or a basic ship.

Carrier - The carrier, similar in appearance to the Battleship, carries a total of 4 Interceptors. Carriers have 4 hitpoints and also have a white laser, which is capable of ship-on-ship combat, and it also can help in capturing or defending enemy stars.

Supercarrier - Like the carrier, but larger and it carries 3 times the number of interceptors. They still only have 4 hitpoints. It is capable of self defense, having a white laser capable of shooting down missiles and damaging enemy spacecraft.

Gunboat - Gunboats are the artillery. They have 2 hitpoints and have a longer range than most ships. Their primary weapon is a special blue missile. This missile explodes after a while into multiple other projectiles. Do not quote me on this, I don't know if it's true, but they seem to spawn more often in some empires with particular traits like defensive or reclusive.

Mothership - Motherships aren't a horribly uncommon ship, due to the circumstances needed for them to spawn. They are either spawned from a Gift of Mother or spawned in an Industrial empire. They have 10 hitpoints and are armed to the teeth, with one white cannon(destroys all life on a star), one orange cannon (powerful anti-ship), a blue laser, and a red laser. Just one can do considerable damage to enemy territory. It is also unfortunately possible for Mothership captains to go rogue and rebel, destroying everything in their path.

Illuminator - An Area of Effect ship. They aren't incredibly powerful, but can aid their fleets in battle by damaging all or most ships in a fleet. They have 2 hitpoints.

Terror ship - This ship travels with a fleet and is able to fight factions near it. Whether it completely gets rid of them or provides a bonus against them is unknown. It has 2 hitpoints.

Shield Ship - I assume they create shields. I have tried to observe them doing so but I have yet to witness them do so. I do know they have a white laser that seems to be capable of faster fire - perhaps it is meant to shoot down missiles? It only has 1 hitpoint.

Destroyer - The destroyer is incredibly effective at close range combat. It fires five missiles which seek towards nearby targets, but they're also incredibly short ranged. The destroyer itself has 2 hitpoints.



TO BE CONTINUED!

I know this guide is kinda rough, but i'm going to be refining it later.