Expeditions/Fleet Mechanics

Expedition Fleet Composition & Support Mechanics

This page explains how fleet composition affects Expedition results. Formulas below are simplified to help players estimate maximum potential.

All bonuses use diminishing returns and have maximum caps.

1. Return Type Specialist Ships (Max +10%)

Certain ships increase the chance of specific reward types.

Reward Type	Specialist Ship	Max Bonus
Relics	Orbital Refinery	+10%
Monuments	Advanced Recycler	+10%
Nano	Support Vessel	+10%
Tech Boosts	Frigate	+10%

Rules:

• Only one specialist ship type applies per reward roll.
• More ships = higher bonus.
• Gains slow down at higher ship counts.
• Maximum possible bonus is +10%.

Approximate scaling formula:

bonus ≈ 10% × ( specialistShips / (specialistShips + 150~200) )

This means:

• ~150–200 ships → about +5%
• ~500 ships → about +7–8%
• 1000 ships → about +8–9%
• The bonus never exceeds +10%

This helps estimate how close you are to the cap.

2. Probe – Find Chance Bonus (Max +10%)

Probes increase the overall chance of finding anything.

• Affects whether something is found.
• Does not affect reward type.
• Maximum bonus: +10%.

Approximate scaling formula:

bonus ≈ 10% × ( probes / (probes + 150) )

Examples:

• 50 probes → ~2–3%
• 150 probes → ~5%
• 500 probes → ~7–8%
• 1000 probes → ~9%

3. Exploration Ship – Quantity & Quality Bonus (Max +100%)

Exploration Ships improve:

• Amount of resources or ships found
• Reward quality tier

This bonus grows logarithmically.

Formula (exact):

bonus = MIN(100%, log₂(explorerCount + 1) × 10%)

This means:

• 1 ship → ~10%
• 3 ships → ~20%
• 7 ships → ~30%
• 31 ships → ~50%
• 127 ships → ~70%
• 511 ships → ~90%
• 1023 ships → 100% (cap)

Each doubling of ships adds roughly +10%.

4. Combat Ship Discovery Logic

Combat ships influence which ships can be discovered.

• Sending low-tier ships → low-tier discoveries
• Sending high-tier ships → unlocks higher-tier discovery pools

Examples:

• Kamikaze → Kamikaze / Fighter-class discoveries
• Battleship → Destroyer / Frigate-class discoveries

5. Overall Fleet Size

Larger fleets:

• Increase total resource volume
• Increase number of ships recovered

Fleet size affects volume, not probability caps.

6. Cargo Requirement

Cargo ships determine how much you can bring back.

Insufficient cargo capacity results in:

• Lost resources
• Lost recovered ships

7. How Bonuses Stack

The following stack together:

• Probe bonus (find chance)
• Specialist ship bonus (specific reward type)
• Exploration Ship bonus (quantity & quality)

All caps still apply.

Strategy Insight

Because of diminishing returns:

• The first 100–200 specialist ships give the biggest impact.
• Extremely large stacks give smaller additional gains.
• Exploration Ships benefit strongly from doubling counts.

Balanced fleets are usually more efficient than extreme stacking.