Pre-alpha codex — written from the build in internal testing. Systems, numbers and features can change before launch. · Join the waitlist
Defense Units
Twelve defense unit types — gating buildings, research and tier.
Unit catalog
| Unit | Tier | Requires |
|---|---|---|
Lancer Fast-firing dual laser gun. Alternating emitters walk precise pulses across fast movers. | T1 | System Defense Command L2Laser Tech L2 |
Tempest Close-combat rapid-fire gatling gun. Twin rotary autocannons fill the close approach with tracer fire — the flak wall that shreds fighter swarms. | T1 | System Defense Command L1Weapons Tech L1 |
Cyclone Heavy missile barrage system. Empties deep magazine cells in a rolling salvo to saturate an entire approach vector. | T2 | System Defense Command L4Weapons Tech L4 |
Guardian Heavy laser gun. Holds long focused beams on target until the hull behind them fails. | T2 | System Defense Command L4Laser Tech L4Energy Tech L3 |
Small Shield Dome Shield generator that throws one envelope over the whole emplacement line. One per system. | T2 | System Defense Command L6Shield Tech L2 |
Arc Ionised particle cannon. Collapses shields and burns out drive systems — cripples more than it kills. | T3 | System Defense Command L7Ion Tech L2 |
Javelin Vertical-launch torpedo battery. Slow, heavy ordnance that tracks line warships — Cruisers above all, Battlecruisers close behind. | T3 | System Defense Command L8Weapons Tech L6 |
Helios Huge triple-barrel plasma cannon. Star-hot bolts that liquefy armour on contact. | T4 | System Defense Command L10Plasma Tech L5 |
Large Shield Dome Capital-grade projector with more than three times the small dome's buffer. One per system, though it tunes clear of the small dome. | T4 | System Defense Command L11Shield Tech L6 |
Rail Gun A magnetically-accelerated mass driver that hurls dense slugs at hypervelocity. Built to punch through the armour of capital-class attackers. | T4 | System Defense Command L10Weapons Tech L6Energy Tech L6 |
Bastion Heavily armed and armoured battle station. Every weapon class in the network on one hull, behind metres of layered plating. | T5 | System Defense Command L12Armor Tech L10Energy Tech L10 |
Aegis Orbital fortress the size of a small city — the only defence built to kill capital ships. Tracks Dreadnoughts and punishes Battleships and Carriers. | T6 | System Defense Command L14Armor Tech L12Energy Tech L12 |
How unlocks work
Each defense unit requires both a minimum level on the System Defense Commandbuilding and one or more research nodes (Weapons, Laser, Ion, Plasma, Shield…). The table above lists every gate per unit. Units span six tiers: the tier-1 Tempest gatling and Lancer laser, the tier-2 Cyclone missile barrage, the tier-4 Helios — a triple-barrel plasma cannon that liquefies armour on contact — the tier-5 Bastion, a heavily armed and armoured battle station that anchors a fully turtled system, and the tier-6 Aegis above them all.
Two emplacements carry counters of their own. The tier-3 Javelin torpedo battery tracks the line — Cruisers above all, Battlecruisers close behind — and the tier-6 Aegis star fortress is the defender's answer to capital raids: it hard-counters Dreadnoughts and punishes Battleships and Carriers. Attackers answer back with the Fire Support ship, the only hull whose guns are calibrated to crack static defenses.
Where to build
All defense units are system-level — they live on the system, not on a specific planet. The System Defense page in the left sidebar is where you build them and track what still gates the rest.
Unlocked is not the same as built. Clearing the research and building gates turns a blueprint from Locked to Unlocked; it puts nothing in orbit. To field one you queue it under the System Defense Command, pay its cost and crew, and wait out its build time — the same loop as the Shipyard, on its own separate queue, so a Bastion and a Dreadnought can be under construction at once.
Two emplacements are capped at one per system: the Small Shield Dome and the Large Shield Dome — a second projector would contest the same volume rather than reinforce it. Everything else is unlimited, including the Aegis: a system expecting Dreadnought raids can ring itself with as many fortresses as it can afford to crew.
What research does to them
Weapons, Shielding and Armour research lift emplacements exactly as they lift your hulls, and the figures shown on each card are the boosted ones — what the resolver will actually fight with, not the blueprint numbers.