Player Classes
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Player Classes
Every commander follows one of four player classes: Warlord, Guardian, Explorer, or Industrialist. Your class is set by the Core monument deployed on your capital, and it grants empire-wide bonuses and penalties that shape how you fight, explore, harvest, and trade.
Support monuments add a Sub Class tag and their own boosts, but they do not change the numeric class effects below — those come from your Core only.
Your current class and its effects are shown on your profile under Class Effects.
Contents
- How class works
- Class effects table
- Alliance system bonuses
- FCS coordinated attacks
- Choosing a class
- Monuments by class
- FAQ
How class works
- Collect and forge monument pieces (expeditions, pirate raids, and more).
- Deploy a Core monument on your capital (Realm II+). Only one Core can be active at a time.
- After the activation timer finishes, your profile Class (Stereotype) updates and the matching class effects apply empire-wide.
- Deploy up to two Support monuments for extra boosts and Sub Class tags. Mixing classes is allowed; synergistic Core + Support pairings usually perform best.
Core activation takes about 24 hours; Support about 12 hours.
Class effects table
Values are relative to a commander with no class modifier. A dash (—) means that class has no effect for that row.
| Effect | Warlord | Guardian | Explorer | Industrialist |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hostile fleet speed | +12% | −12% | — | −15% |
| Station fleet speed | −15% | +15% | — | — |
| Fleet attack | +10% | −8% | −10% | −12% |
| Pirate debris | +5% | −10% | −10% | −10% |
| Defense HP | −10% | +12% | −8% | — |
| Defender attack | −8% | +10% | — | — |
| Rapid fire cancel | — | +50% | — | — |
| Expedition loot | −10% | — | +12% | — |
| Expedition success | — | — | +10% | — |
| Anomaly discovery | — | — | +10% | — |
| Harvest speed (asteroid fields) | — | +12% | — | — |
| Convoy speed | — | — | — | +15% |
| Exploration speed | — | — | +15% | — |
| Trade fee | +1% | — | — | −1% |
| Planetary Harvesters | — | — | — | Hybrid log+√ bonus up to +250% (~20M) |
Notes on specific effects
- Hostile fleet speed applies to your solo attack fleets only. It does not apply on FCS coordinated attacks (so joining as Industrialist or Guardian will not slow the rally).
- Station fleet speed applies to station and defend missions (reinforcing a colony or alliance system center). Guardians arrive faster; Warlords are slower at parking defensive fleets.
- Pirate debris applies to loot from pirate battles, not player-vs-player.
- Rapid fire cancel strengthens the rapid-fire screen your Carriers put over your fleet (Guardian only). See Rapid Fire.
- Harvest speed is for asteroid field harvest missions, not alliance System Harvest.
- Trade fee adjusts the trading-center tax (Warlord pays more; Industrialist pays less).
- Planetary Harvesters (Industrialist): hybrid log + √count curve, soft-capped at +250% near ~20M harvesters — early stays close to the default curve; most of the climb is in the late millions so the grind stays worthwhile. Other classes use the default log curve and soft-cap near ~35% (around ~10M). Past each soft-cap, extra harvesters do not raise the bonus further (they still cost tonnage). Harvesters are land-based and not protected by the hangar; tonnage (147 each) soft-limits how many you can field.
Alliance system bonuses
These are separate from the table above and apply when your alliance controls star systems:
| Class | Bonus |
|---|---|
| Industrialist | ~4× output on System Harvest |
| Explorer | ~4× output on System Survey |
Other classes run those missions at base (1×) output. Pair Industrialists with Harvest and Explorers with Survey for the best alliance yields. See Alliances for system control, Harvest, and Survey details.
FCS coordinated attacks
Coordinated (FCS) strikes — including pirate bosses and system conquest — get extra class rules on top of the solo table.
Combat bonuses
Each participant’s research, monuments, and class fleet attack apply to their own ships in the combined fight (same model as stationed defenders). First strike and prolonged-combat researches scale by each living fleet’s attack share — they do not copy the lead’s bonuses onto the whole group.
Travel speed
Class hostile fleet speed is ignored for FCS travel. Research, ship composition, and speed % still apply per fleet; the group still waits for the slowest natural arrival.
Mixed-class synergy
When an FCS group includes 2+ distinct primary classes, the whole group gains a loot bonus (regular FCS and bosses):
| Distinct classes | Group loot bonus |
|---|---|
| 2 | +5% |
| 3 | +7.5% |
| 4 | +10% (cap) |
This stacks with the normal fleet-count coordination bonus on non-boss FCS fights.
Personal FCS loot multipliers
After the group loot is split by contribution, each commander’s share is multiplied by their Core class:
| Class | FCS loot share |
|---|---|
| Warlord | ×1.2 |
| Guardian | ×1.1 |
| Explorer | ×1.1 |
| Industrialist | ×1.0 |
Explorer special drops
If at least one Explorer is in an FCS pirate fight, the chance of special drops (tech/nano boosts, relic pieces, monument pieces, cosmetics) is increased (~+25% relative chance). Drops go to the rally lead fleet.
Choosing a class
| Class | Playstyle focus |
|---|---|
| Warlord | Aggression — faster attack fleets, stronger fleet attack, more pirate debris; weaker defenses, less expedition loot, higher trade fees. |
| Guardian | Defense & holding ground — tougher defenses and defender firepower, stronger Carrier rapid-fire screen, faster asteroid harvest; slower attacks and weaker fleet offense. |
| Explorer | Expeditions & discovery — better loot, success, anomalies, and exploration speed; weaker combat stats. Strong on System Survey. |
| Industrialist | Economy & logistics — faster convoys, lower trade fees, much higher Planetary Harvester bonus ceiling; weaker combat. Strong on System Harvest. |
Monuments by class
Each class has one Core and one or more Support monuments:
Warlord
- Titan-Class Mech (Core) — also grants +3% base PvP loot rate (scales with monument level like other percent boosts, hard-capped at +30%)
- Stargate (Support — defensive mobility)
- Mass Relay (Support — offensive mobility)
Guardian
- Halo Ring (Core)
- Ancient City-Ship (Support — defensive fortress)
- Precursor Forge (Support — defender combat)
Explorer
- Celestial Orrery (Core)
- The Monolith (Support — research & progress hybrid)
- Crystalline Spire (Support — research focus)
Industrialist
- Dyson Sphere Fragment (Core)
- The Pyramids (Support — balanced production)
- Interstellar Trade Nexus (Support — trade focus)
Monument percentage boosts also scale with monument level (~+50% of the base boost per level above 1). Slot-cap boosts gain +1 per level instead.
FAQ
Do Support monuments change my class effects? No. Only your Core sets the class effects table. Supports add Sub Class tags and their own monument bonuses.
Can I change class later? Yes. Deploy a different Core on your capital. Effects update after the new Core finishes activating.
Where can I see my live bonuses? On your profile under Class Effects, after a Core is active.
Is Guardian harvest speed the same as System Harvest? No. Guardian’s harvest speed bonus is for asteroid fields. System Harvest’s large multiplier is the Industrialist alliance bonus.
Do class speed penalties slow FCS rallies? No. Hostile fleet speed is solo-attack only. FCS travel ignores that class effect. Station fleet speed is unrelated to FCS.