Wiki / How it is played
Equipment
Nine main lines and six leaning lines on eight mounts; grade I at the Citadel, grades I and II at the specialists, III to VI found; every price is k × grade², and every counter buys back at 34%.
Eight mounts, eight types
Every hull carries the same eight mounts, one type each, and 1–6 are the six that fire. Which gun mounts a hull actually opens is set by its line and its platform (hulls): two means Rapid and Close, three adds Precision, and Siege is on the HAUL-35 and the Whale-23 Line only. The mining, breaker, hold and systems mounts are open on every hull. No mount and no item is gated by pilot rank: what gates a purchase is the price, what gates a fitting is the hull.
| Key | Mount | Takes |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Rapid | Pulse Cannon, Ledger Repeater |
| 2 | Close | Scatter Gun, Lot Flak |
| 3 | Precision | Railgun, Beam Lance, Vigil Lance |
| 4 | Siege | Siege Cannon, Mass Driver |
| 5 | Mining | Mining Laser, Twin Cutter |
| 6 | Breaker | Fracture Bore, Charge Driller |
| - | Hold | Cargo Bay |
| - | Systems | Shield Cell |
The main lines
A price is k × grade², so grade II is four times grade I. Guns and shield cells are sold at an Arms post; tools and cargo bays at a Mining post; both list grades I and II. Your Citadel lists grade I of all nine lines and nothing above it. A Trade port, a Shipyard and a Sentinel sell no equipment at all (stations).
A gun fires rounds on the server’s clock: the rate is rounds a second, and one round carries the dps divided by the rate. The two tools cut continuously. Figures are grade I; the bracket is what each grade adds.
| Line | Mount | Grades | Grade I (cr) | Grade II (cr) | Sold at | Grade I |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mining Laser | Mining | 6 | 600 | 2,400 | Mining post | 150 dps (+110), 400 m (+60), keeps all the ore |
| Fracture Bore | Breaker | 4 | 4,200 | 16,800 | Mining post | 520 dps (+380), 90 m (+15), keeps 78% |
| Pulse Cannon | Rapid | 6 | 1,000 | 4,000 | Arms post | 420 dps (+260), 2.2 rounds/s (+0.18), 1.8 km (+0.2) |
| Scatter Gun | Close | 5 | 5,000 | 20,000 | Arms post | 700 dps (+380), 7.5 rounds/s (+0.5), 450 m (+60) |
| Railgun | Precision | 5 | 14,000 | 56,000 | Arms post | 900 dps (+520), 0.55 rounds/s, 5.2 km (+0.9) |
| Beam Lance | Precision | 4 | 26,000 | 104,000 | Arms post | 1,250 dps (+700), 14 rounds/s, 2.4 km (+0.4) |
| Siege Cannon | Siege | 4 | 60,000 | 240,000 | Arms post | 2,100 dps (+1,100), 0.4 rounds/s, 3.0 km (+0.5) |
| Cargo Bay | Hold | 6 | 450 | 1,800 | Mining post | +90 m³ (+70) |
| Shield Cell | Systems | 6 | 600 | 2,400 | Arms post | +520 shield (+400) on a base of 2,600 |
A gun can break rock, badly: the Pulse Cannon keeps 30% of the ore, the Beam Lance 20%, the Railgun 15%, the Scatter Gun 10%, the Siege Cannon 5%. The two tools are the only things that keep most of it (mining).
The leaning lines
Each Compact wrote its own take on a main line. A leaning line spends the same budget differently - above its main line on at most two axes, below it on at least one. It is stocked at the Arms and Mining posts on its own Compact’s ground and at the counters nobody owns - the Freeports in the shared middle of the map - and never at a Citadel. Stock, never a lock: anyone may buy any of them, but you fly to where it is sold.
| Line | Leans on | Compact | Damage | Fire rate | Range | Ore kept | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ledger Repeater | Pulse Cannon | Concord | ×0.85 | ×2.0 | ×1.25 | - | ×1.00 |
| Lot Flak | Scatter Gun | Ashaari | ×1.10 | ×1.4 | ×0.70 | - | ×0.75 |
| Vigil Lance | Beam Lance | Sepulchre | ×0.85 | ×1.0 | ×1.20 | - | ×1.00 |
| Mass Driver | Siege Cannon | Ashaari | ×1.20 | ×0.6 | ×0.85 | - | ×1.00 |
| Twin Cutter | Mining Laser | Sepulchre | ×0.85 | ×1.0 | ×1.30 | all, like the laser | ×1.00 |
| Charge Driller | Fracture Bore | Ashaari | ×1.25 | ×1.0 | ×1.00 | 56% | ×0.80 |
A leaning line has as many grades as its main line, goes in the same mount, and takes the same bill at the forge.
Found, never sold
No counter lists a grade above II. Grades III to VI come out of the wrecks of hostiles, and the wreck’s threat band decides the grade; within the grade, the cheaper rows fall more often than the dear ones.
| Grade | Wreck threat |
|---|---|
| III | 3 – 4 |
| IV | 5 – 6 |
| V | 7 – 8 |
| VI | 9 and deeper |
Selling and carrying
Every counter but a Sentinel pays the same for equipment: 34% of its price, for a bought grade I or II, whatever that counter stocks. A mark is not read - a +5 sells as a +0. A grade III or higher has no buyer until there is a player market, and the sale is refused rather than paid at nothing; issued gear has no buyer ever. Spare equipment takes hold space - a gun 8 m³, a tool 6, a shield cell 9, a cargo bay 10, plus 2 m³ per grade above I - so carrying a second gun is a decision, not a free option.