Admin: Created page with "'''Tonnage''' is a soft empire-wide ceiling on military mass — ships and planetary defenses. It does not block construction outright; going over capacity multiplies ship and defense '''build time'''. Capacity comes from your Shipyard and Defense Yard levels across colonies (with moon yards counting at a reduced weight). Long-term power is meant to grow from monuments and strategy more than from endless fleet size. This page covers how capacity is calculated, what coun..."

2026-07-31T11:42:31Z

Created page with "'''Tonnage''' is a soft empire-wide ceiling on military mass — ships and planetary defenses. It does not block construction outright; going over capacity multiplies ship and defense '''build time'''. Capacity comes from your Shipyard and Defense Yard levels across colonies (with moon yards counting at a reduced weight). Long-term power is meant to grow from monuments and strategy more than from endless fleet size. This page covers how capacity is calculated, what coun..."

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'''Tonnage''' is a soft empire-wide ceiling on military mass — ships and planetary defenses. It does not block construction outright; going over capacity multiplies ship and defense '''build time'''. Capacity comes from your Shipyard and Defense Yard levels across colonies (with moon yards counting at a reduced weight). Long-term power is meant to grow from monuments and strategy more than from endless fleet size.

This page covers how capacity is calculated, what counts as used tonnage, over-capacity penalties, unit values, alliance bonuses, and related systems (Ship Graveyard, boss FCS, ally moon tests).

== Contents ==

* Why tonnage exists
* How it works
* Empire capacity
* Moon yard contribution (75%)
* Used tonnage
* Over-capacity penalties
* Ships
* Defenses
* Alliance effects
* Related systems
* When to plan around it
* Quick reference
* See also

== Why tonnage exists ==
End-game play centres on PvP, coordinated pirate-boss raids, and alliance warfare. Without a ceiling, fleets and turret walls would grow without bound. Tonnage:

* Caps how large an empire can grow in ships and defenses '''without hard-blocking''' builds
* Slows construction when over capacity instead of forbidding queues
* Pushes late-game power toward '''monuments''', class choices, and strategy rather than raw hull count

Most players hit a meaningful first ceiling after roughly 3–4 months; after that, expansion of military mass is deliberately slower.

== How it works ==
Every ship and defense unit has a catalog '''tonnage''' value. Your empire’s '''used tonnage''' is the sum of those values across hangars, active fleets, and planetary defenses. Your '''tonnage capacity''' is the sum of capacity from all Shipyards and Defense Yards (plus an optional Fortress doctrine bonus).
{| class="wikitable"
!Concept
!Meaning
|-
|'''Capacity'''
|Soft cap from yard levels (and alliance Fortress %)
|-
|'''Used'''
|Hangar ships + active fleets + planetary defenses
|-
|'''Headroom'''
|<code>max(0, capacity − used)</code> — room left under the cap
|-
|'''Penalty'''
|Build-time multiplier when used exceeds capacity
|}
'''Tonnage does not change combat stats''', fleet speed, hangar protection, resource production, or score directly. It only gates construction speed (and a few special systems listed below).

Ships and defenses share '''one combined empire pool'''. Building either type checks the same empire capacity vs the same empire used total.

== Empire capacity ==

=== Yard bases ===
{| class="wikitable"
!Building
!Base <code>tonnageCapacity</code>
!Growth
|-
|'''Shipyard'''
|'''45,000,000'''
|Power curve (below)
|-
|'''Defense Yard'''
|'''25,000,000'''
|Power curve (below)
|-
|'''Alliance Defense Yard'''
|'''2,000,000,000 per level'''
|'''Linear''' (separate system pool — see Alliance Defense Yard)
|}

=== Effective levels ===
Across every colony that has a Shipyard or Defense Yard:
<code>effectiveLevelContribution = isMoon ? level × moonFactor : level
effectiveLevelSum = Σ contributions (separately per building type)</code>
Default <code>moonFactor</code> is '''0.75''' (see Moon yard contribution).

=== Capacity formula (player yards) ===
<code>capacity = floor(baseTonnageCapacity × effectiveLevelSum^1.1)
combinedCapacity = shipyardCapacity + defenseYardCapacity</code>
Shipyard and Defense Yard are computed separately (each with its own base and effective level sum), then '''added'''.

==== Sample capacities (single yard type, planet levels only) ====
{| class="wikitable"
!Effective level
!Shipyard
!Defense Yard
!Combined
|-
|1
|45.0M
|25.0M
|70.0M
|-
|10
|566.5M
|314.7M
|881.2M
|-
|20
|1.21B
|674.6M
|1.89B
|-
|30
|1.90B
|1.05B
|2.95B
|-
|50
|3.33B
|1.85B
|5.18B
|-
|80
|5.58B
|3.10B
|8.68B
|-
|100
|7.13B
|3.96B
|11.09B
|}
Levels from different colonies '''sum''' before the curve. Two planet Shipyards at L15 count as effective level '''30''', not two separate L15 caps.

==== Worked example ====
Planet Shipyard L30 + moon Defense Yard L40:

* Shipyard effective levels: '''30''' → ≈ '''1.90B'''
* Defense Yard effective levels: '''40 × 0.75 = 30''' → ≈ '''1.05B'''
* Combined ≈ '''2.95B'''

== Moon yard contribution (75%) ==
Yards on '''moon''' colonies contribute only a fraction of their building level toward empire capacity:
{| class="wikitable"
!Config
!Default
|-
|<code>tonnage.moonYardCapacityFactor</code>
|'''0.75''' (75%)
|}
<code>moon contribution = buildingLevel × 0.75
planet contribution = buildingLevel × 1.0</code>
In practice this mainly affects '''Defense Yards''': Defense Yard may be built on moons and planets; Shipyard is planet-only under current building rules. The factor still applies to any moon yard that exists in data.

Moon yards are a useful place to add defense capacity — just remember each moon level is worth '''three-quarters''' of a planet level toward the empire cap.

== Used tonnage ==
<code>totalUsedTonnage = hangar ships + active fleets + planetary defenses</code>
{| class="wikitable"
!Component
!What counts
|-
|'''Hangar'''
|All docked ships on all colonies (<code>colony_ships</code>)
|-
|'''Active fleets'''
|Fleets with status <code>traveling</code>, <code>stationed</code>, <code>returning</code>, or <code>onMission</code>
|-
|'''Defenses'''
|All planetary defenses on all colonies
|}
Per unit: <code>catalog.stats.tonnage × quantity</code>.

'''Not counted:'''

* Ship Graveyard '''awaiting''' hull (not yet bought back)
* Permanently destroyed ships that became debris

'''Counted immediately on graveyard buyback:''' recovered ships are added to the colony hangar when purchased, so they consume tonnage '''before''' recovery finishes and they can launch.

== Over-capacity penalties ==
When used tonnage exceeds capacity, ship and defense '''build times''' are multiplied. Below 5% over, there is no penalty.
{| class="wikitable"
!Excess over capacity
!Penalty level
!Build-time multiplier
|-
|< 5%
|—
|'''1×''' (none)
|-
|≥ 5%
|1
|'''5×'''
|-
|≥ 10%
|2
|'''10×'''
|-
|≥ 15%
|3
|'''20×'''
|-
|≥ 20%
|4
|'''100×'''
|}
<code>excessRatio = (used − capacity) / capacity
finalBuildTimeMs = floor(baseBuildTimeMs × multiplier)</code>
The penalty applies to both Shipyard and Defense Yard queues against the '''same''' empire combined totals. Negative energy (a separate system) can pause production entirely; that is not a tonnage effect.

== Ships ==
Each ship type has a fixed catalog tonnage (design baseline: Light Interceptor / Kamikaze = '''1''').
{| class="wikitable"
!Ship
!Tonnage
!Ship
!Tonnage
|-
|Probe
|1
|Carrier
|69
|-
|Kamikaze
|1
|Orbital Refinery
|71
|-
|Cargo Ship
|1
|Destroyer
|81
|-
|Recycler
|3
|Heavy Cruiser
|94
|-
|Freighter
|5
|Science Vessel
|127
|-
|Colony Ship
|6
|Dreadnought
|133
|-
|Fighter
|9
|Planetary Harvester
|147
|-
|Advanced Recycler
|9
|Support Vessel
|165
|-
|Corvette
|20
|Megahauler
|65
|-
|Frigate
|27
|Battlecruiser
|975
|-
|Bomber
|33
|Titan
|1888
|-
|Cruiser
|36
|Colossus
|2829
|-
|Battleship
|45
|
|
|}
Capital hulls (Battlecruiser, Titan, Colossus) dominate late-game used tonnage. Utility ships such as Planetary Harvesters (147 each) also add up quickly if mass-produced.

== Defenses ==
{| class="wikitable"
!Defense
!Tonnage
!Defense
!Tonnage
|-
|Rocket Turret
|1
|EMP Emitter
|24
|-
|Laser Turret
|2
|Railgun Tower
|45
|-
|Flak Cannon
|4
|Plasma Cannon
|53
|-
|Ion Turret
|9
|Large Shield Dome
|57
|-
|Heavy Laser
|12
|Planetary Dome
|210
|-
|Missile Battery
|15
|Prism Tower
|220
|-
|Small Shield Dome
|22
|
|
|}
Defenses share the empire pool with ships. Heavy late-game turrets and domes are expensive in tonnage; stacking them without upgrading yards will push you into penalty bands.

== Alliance effects ==

=== Fortress doctrine (capacity %) ===
Connected '''Fortress''' nodes grant an alliance-wide '''percentage bonus''' to tonnage capacity:
<code>effective% = (tonnageCapPct × L) / (L + tonnageCurveK)
boostedCapacity = floor(baseCapacity × (1 + effective% / 100))</code>
{| class="wikitable"
!Config
!Default
|-
|Cap (<code>territory.tonnageCapPct</code>)
|'''5%'''
|-
|Curve K (<code>territory.tonnageCurveK</code>)
|'''25'''
|}
'''L''' is the sum of main-building levels on connected, active Fortress nodes (with signature building ≥ 1).
{| class="wikitable"
!Fortress levels (L)
!Effective bonus
|-
|25
| +2.50%
|-
|50
| +3.33%
|-
|100
| +4.00%
|-
|200
| +4.44%
|-
|400
| +4.71%
|}
The bonus applies to player empire capacity for members, and to alliance Defense Yard capacity on systems. Full doctrine rules: Alliance Territory.

=== Alliance Defense Yard ===
Alliance system defenses use a '''separate per-system''' pool:
<code>allianceCapacity = yardLevel × 2,000,000,000</code>
Max level 15 → '''30B''' before Fortress %. Penalty compares '''that colony’s defense tonnage''' to '''that system’s''' Alliance Defense Yard capacity — not the player empire pool.

Build speed on the Alliance Defense Yard is separate: '''−25% time per level''' (<code>0.75^level</code>), unrelated to the tonnage curve.

== Related systems ==

=== Ship Graveyard ===
Hull lost in PvP can enter the Ship Graveyard. Buyback is limited by '''tonnage headroom''' (<code>capacity − used</code>). Awaiting graveyard inventory does '''not''' count toward used tonnage until purchased; after buyback, ships count immediately even while recovering.

=== Boss FCS minimum fleet tonnage ===
Boss coordinated strikes require each participating fleet to meet a '''minimum fleet tonnage''' that scales with realm (whole fleet — attack, defense, and support ships all qualify):
{| class="wikitable"
!Realm
!Minimum fleet tonnage
|-
|1
|100,000
|-
|2
|1,000,000
|-
|3
|10,000,000
|-
|4
|1,000,000,000
|}
See Pirate Bosses.

=== Ally moon test attacks ===
Solo fleets attacking an ally’s moon are capped at '''1,000,000,000''' fleet tonnage. Group FCS attacks do not use this exemption path.

== When to plan around it ==
{| class="wikitable"
!Stage
!Guidance
|-
|Early realms
|Basic yard levels usually cover any ship tier you can unlock
|-
|Realm 4+
|Watch the tonnage bar, especially with capital ships
|-
|Approaching / over cap
|Upgrade yards, scrap older hulls, or stay under the limit before queuing more
|}
Actions that help when over capacity: raise Shipyard / Defense Yard levels (planet yards give full weight), scrap or lose obsolete hulls, use alliance Fortress investment for a few percent more capacity, or delay further builds until headroom returns.

== Quick reference ==
{| class="wikitable"
!Item
!Value / rule
|-
|Shipyard base capacity
|45,000,000 × L^1.1
|-
|Defense Yard base capacity
|25,000,000 × L^1.1
|-
|Moon yard level weight
|'''75%'''
|-
|Combined pool
|Ships + defenses vs SY + DY capacity
|-
|Penalty bands
|5%→5×, 10%→10×, 15%→20×, 20%→100×
|-
|Fortress tonnage bonus
|Up to +5%, K=25 diminishing return
|-
|Alliance Defense Yard
|2B × level (linear, per system)
|-
|Combat stats from tonnage?
|'''No'''
|}

== See also ==

* Alliance Territory — Fortress doctrine, tonnage % curve, projection
* Alliances — alliance overview and doctrines summary
* Pirate Bosses — FCS boss raids and minimum fleet tonnage
* Player Classes — monuments and long-term power growth
* In-game Quick Guide: '''Settings → Quick Guides → Tonnage'''

Tonnage - Revision history