Fleets & Travel

Whoever commands the sea commands time itself.

TL;DR: Ships are built at the harbor and form your fleet.

- Warships fight, trade ships carry, spy ships scout

- Travel time depends on distance and Sail research

- The watchtower reveals approaching enemy fleets

- The home port mission moves ships and troops permanently to another of your own islands

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Ship Types Overview #

Your harbor builds several ship types, each with a clear role:

Warships protect your fleet in naval combat. Small warships are nimble and can pursue fleeing transports. Large warships are slower but far more powerful in battle.

Trade ships carry resources only. Small trade ships are fast and ideal for early commerce. Large trade ships have enormous capacity but move more slowly.

Spy ships are sleek and swift. They scout enemy islands and deliver valuable intelligence about conditions there -- without triggering a battle. The fleet page and the cockpit also show how many spy missions you have left this hour and today, and when the counter renews.

The colony ship is the largest and most expensive vessel. It is required for colonizing new islands and is consumed upon successful landing. Building one demands a harbor at level 20 and advanced Sail research.

Ships lying in your harbour can also be scrapped there -- for good and without any refund. Only ships present in port can be scrapped; colony ships are excluded, since they are used up on their mission anyway. This helps above all when your ship limit no longer carries your own fleet, for instance after losing islands. The ship limit itself, by the way, no longer holds up the construction of colony ships -- the road to a new island stays open to you.

The harbour only ever works on one order at a time -- but you may queue up to five in a row. They run strictly one after another, each for its full build time; the resources are debited the moment an order is queued, and cancelling refunds nothing. The colony ship stays the exception: it demands an empty yard and is always built on its own.

Unlike a planned building upgrade (see "Your Island"), you pay here when you queue, not when the order starts.

Assembling Fleets #

A fleet consists of a combination of ships and optionally loaded troops or resources. The speed of the entire fleet is determined by the slowest ship.

For an attack you need warships (for naval battle and troop transport — small carry 5 troops, large carry 10). Trade ships are optional and carry resources only. For a pure trade run, trade ships loaded with resources suffice. That cargo is only as safe as the fleet carrying it — if the fleet goes down, the cargo goes down with it.

Travel Time #

The time a fleet needs depends on two factors:

• Distance -- The farther the target, the longer the journey. Islands in the same grid are close; different oceans mean long voyages.
• Sail research -- Higher Sail levels speed up all your ships. This is one of the most important technologies in the game.

Fleets travel in real time. An attack on a distant island can take several hours. Plan accordingly.

Attack fleets may sail slower on purpose: in the fleet form you set the Travel speed between Throttled and Full speed -- full speed is preselected. Sailing slower veils your intent, because fast sails betray that there is no colonization ship in the fleet; the disguise is paid for in travel time, on the way out as well as on the way home, since the throttled pace stays with the fleet. On every other mission the control has no effect -- the form greys it out, and the fleet sails at full speed.

Recall and Visibility #

The watchtower is the eye of your island. The higher its level, the farther you can see across the ocean:

• You spot approaching enemy fleets earlier
• You can recall your own fleets within part of your line of sight -- the recall range is noticeably smaller than full visibility and grows with the watchtower.

Line of sight and recall range, however, only grow up to level 20 -- every level above that sharpens your reconnaissance alone: the type and the exact arrival of an approaching fleet reveal themselves to you earlier. More on this in the "Combat" chapter.

Without a watchtower you are effectively blind. Invest early, especially if you have neighbors who are not peacefully inclined.

A Reliable Baseline Warning #

A watchtower shows you approaching fleets the earlier the higher you build it -- yet whether you are warned of an attack at all no longer hangs on it alone. Before every incoming attack, your island now receives a reliable baseline warning, no matter how far your watchtower reaches.

So no one gets caught completely cold anymore: even without a watchtower, you are left enough time to react before an approaching attack. The watchtower stays valuable all the same -- it grants you the earlier look and thus the greater head start. But the baseline warning itself is guaranteed for every island.

The same guarantee applies to your own attacks: against very close targets your fleet therefore arrives later than distance and speed would suggest -- the fleet list then carries the note that the arrival was raised.

Home Port #

Ships belong to the island whose harbour they lie in -- and you can change that home port. With the Home port mission you send ships and troops permanently to another of your own islands: as soon as they arrive, they belong to that island as if they had been built there. The target needs a harbour -- and barracks whenever troops travel along; there is no fee, and moving back is possible at any time. The road is opened by the Port Registry research in the laboratory -- level 1 allows targets inside your own ocean, level 2 leads across the borders of the seas.

The rule: after the move the target island stays free of attacks for a day -- one day longer per ocean border crossed, three at most; the rest counts from the place the ships originally set sail from, time already rested is credited, and it only counts while the island can be attacked.

Blocked during that time are only attacks, colonisations and joining a combined attack FROM that island; in defence the moved ships and troops stand from the first moment, and the island itself can of course still be attacked. The fleet form of that island shows you the remaining time.

Where an island got its ships from is something it remembers for a while: if a fleet arrives across two ocean borders, that origin sticks to it, and a further move still counts the distance from there. Hopping in small steps therefore never makes the rest shorter. Nothing is lost either: time an island has already lain still is credited when it moves on.

While you are on holiday this clock stands still -- the rest only counts while the island can be attacked. Your main island is an exception on top of that: distance does not count there -- however far the ships travelled, it stays at the one day.

Under way the fleet is as visible to other captains as any dispatch within watchtower range.

Do not confuse the home port with a dispatch: dispatched ships and troops remain under their island of origin, only fight as reinforcements where they stand and come home at your order -- which is why you may send them to alliance partners as well. With a home-port move they change island for good, count as that island's own fleet and may only move to islands of your own.

The rules at a glance #

• Research -- The Port Registry in the Laboratory opens the way: level 1 allows targets inside your own ocean, level 2 also across ocean borders.
• Target -- Only an island of your own with a harbour of at least level 1 -- and with barracks whenever troops travel along; never the island the fleet sails from, no treasure island and no island hosting a corsair fortress.
• Cargo -- Every ship may move, only the colony ship never; a move carries no resources. Troops travel aboard warships only (small ones 5, large ones 10).
• Rest after arrival -- One day, one day longer per ocean border crossed, three at most; towards your main island the distance does not count. This rest only counts while the island can be attacked.

The same rule sits in the fleet form, right below the missions.

Frequently asked about the home port #

• Can the moved units defend right away? Yes. The rest only blocks attacks, colonisations and joining a combined attack from that island; in defence ships and troops stand from the moment they arrive.
• May I move on during the rest? Yes, at any time. The remaining rest travels along and continues at the new target -- it never gets shorter that way.
• Do pure ship fleets without troops rest as well? Yes. Every landing of a home-port move puts the target island to rest, no matter what was aboard.
• How do I fetch troops from another island? In two trips. Troops only travel aboard warships: you send ships over first and then move back with the troops aboard -- and the target island needs barracks. This mostly affects small second and colony islands: the first barracks level is already enough.
• Can I move a colony ship? No, never. The price of your next colony ship rises for your whole realm, not per island -- so it can only be built on an island whose warehouse holds that price. Which warehouse level would be needed is stated in that island's harbour.
• Do others see the move? Yes. A moving fleet is exactly as visible at sea as any dispatch within watchtower range.

Strategy #

• Sail is king -- Faster fleets mean shorter attacks and more flexible trade
• Always escort -- Unguarded trade ships are defenseless if an enemy lurks at sea
• Level the watchtower -- Seeing the enemy first lets you react better
• Mixed fleets -- Small warships for pursuit, large ones for firepower

A fifth mission "Dispatch" lets you send ships and troops to your own islands or alliance partners; see chapter "Fleet Dispatch" for details.

For a single-page overview of every fleet movement -- including templates and bulk actions -- see the chapter "Fleet Cockpit".